Turn with me to the book of Revelation, chapter 18. Let's pray together. Our Father, we ask your blessing
upon your Word. We ask Your blessing upon our
hearing. We pray and thank You for Your
goodness to us, for Your mercy that You've shown because You
chose to do so. We ask this night, cause us to
hear, may we worship by a new heart taught by Your Spirit as
we rejoice in the Lord. Amen. This morning, John heard the
mighty angel, another angel of the same sort, say, Babylon the
great is fallen, is fallen. That is, as we said in closing
this morning, Babylon the Great, Mystery Babylon, the mother of
all harlots, false religion, is under the judgment of God.
It has fallen under God's judgment. And it says in the latter part
of that second verse, and has become the habitation of devils
and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird." Well, Mystery Babylon, Babylon
the Great, the one under the judgment of God, the Scripture
says, is become the habitation. It is. That word become means
is generated or brought into being to be a habitation of devils. As Scott just read in that passage,
this was as the psalmist wrote under the inspiration of the
Spirit of God. It said concerning Christ, you
are my hiding place. You're my dwelling place. You're
my great tower, Bob." That's what he said. Lord, You are.
But mystery Babylon is generated or brought into being to be the
habitation. God has a place. Everything is
in the control of Him who does all things according to the purpose
of His own will. And it's the habitation of every
foul spirit and unclean and hateful bird. Now, I'm going to look
at that. We're going to look at that in just a minute. Why
do you say unclean and hateful bird? But turn over to Revelation
22. He has become the habitation
In Revelation 22, verse 10 to 12, the Lord is speaking, and
as we get to this, we will cover this more deeply, Lord willing,
but Revelation 22, 10, He saith unto me, Seal not the sayings
of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He that
is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy,
Let him be filthy still. He that is righteous, let him
be righteous still. He that is holy, let him be holy
still. And behold, I come quickly, and
my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work
shall be." Now, this is what that last Scripture we just read
said. Where a man dies, It is then
evident where God has always seen Him. Where a man or a woman
dies, obviously loving the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, believing
Christ, holding to Christ, that is where God has always seen
Him. Always seen Him in His Son. If He has eternally seen Him,
He has always seen Him in Christ. We don't always see. There are
some that may be God's sheep who have yet been called out
of darkness. God knows them. He said, I know
my sheep. I call them. I call them by name.
They've always been His sheep. Other sheep I have, He said,
that are not of this fold. Them I must bring. But the Scripture says in that
last verse, and this is a summary of what it says, Where a man
dies, that's where he stays. He that's unjust, let him be
unjust still. He that's filthy, let him be
filthy. He that's righteous, he that's holy, let him be holy
still. It says here that Mystery Babylon,
the great, that is fallen under the judgment of God, is generated
or brought into being to be the habitation of devils. two instances in all of Scripture
where that word habitation is used. Two times. Here in this
verse and over in Ephesians 2.22. Turn over to Ephesians. Ephesians
2.22. I'll tell you what, let's just
read starting in verse 19, Ephesians 2, 19 to 22. We'll get the context
there. Now therefore, ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are
builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." That's
the second time. Two times, two times the word
habitation is used. The Lord has caused Babylon to
be the dwelling place, the Scripture says, of demons and the prison,
the cage, the holding place of every impure and hateful bird,
flying creatures which God declares to be unclean. Now, turn over
to Jude 6. Turn back, Jude, the last book
before the book of Revelation. Jude, verse 6. These evil spirits, who are their
habitation? Habitation. Mr. Babylon is the
habitation. The Scripture says, And the angels
which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,
he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, under
the judgment of the great day. Look at 2 Peter 2.4. 2 Peter 2.4. The Scripture says, If God spared
not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered
them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment,
and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person,
a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the
world and the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an
example unto those that after should live ungodly." You see
back that first one that we read, they were reserved in verse 4.
Reserved, delivered into chains of darkness. Chains of darkness,
they're held, they're in prison, they're kept there. These chains,
they're not chains of steel. They're not reserved in chains
of steel. But in chains of darkness, bound,
held up, this is mystery Babylon, this false system, this false
religious system. Turn over to Isaiah 13. Isaiah
chapter 13. Isaiah 13, verse 19. Now this
is speaking of Mystery Babylon. It's speaking of Babylon, but
it's a picture here of Mystery Babylon the Great. Isaiah 13,
verse 19, And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the
Chaldees, Excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and
Gomorrah, and it shall never be inhabited. Neither shall it
be dwelt in generation to generation, neither shall the Arabian pitch
tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their foal there,
but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses
shall be full of doleful creatures. The owl shall dwell there, and
satyrs shall dance there, and the wild beasts of the island
shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant
places, and her time is near to come, and her days shall not
be prolonged." The false religious system of this world shall be
destroyed. That's what Isaiah just said.
It shall be destroyed. Not maybe in the same manner
as Sodom and Gomorrah, but as Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed,
this false religious system shall also be destroyed. This religious
system is a scene of desolation. and shall be shown to be a place
of absolute no rest." Now, I want you to look at the book of Zephaniah. Now, you know there's two books
that start with a Z. Zephaniah and Zechariah. They're
right before, just a few books before Malachi, which is the
last book. Between Zephaniah and Zechariah
is Haggai. So if you can kind of remember
that the two Z's are just two or three books back. have a Cambridge
Bible, you can turn to page 1165, and you'll be on the right page
there. Zephaniah chapter 2, verse 13. Zephaniah 2.13. Now remember,
the Scripture said, you get to Zephaniah 2.13, Revelation And the verse that we looked
at in verse 2 says, This mystery Babylon, the great fallen, has
become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit,
and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Now, you know,
when I first read that, I thought, I knew that it meant something,
Neil, other than what was obvious. Every hateful bird. What kind
of hateful birds is it talking about? Zephaniah 2 verse 13. It says, ìHe will stretch out
his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and will make
Nineveh a desolation and dry like a wilderness. And Phlox
shall lie down in the midst of her and all the beasts of the
nations, both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the
upper lintels of it, their voice shall sing in the windows, desolation
shall be in the thresholds, for he shall uncover the cedar work."
This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly and said in
her heart, that is, Mystery Babylon, the rejoicing city that said
in her heart just what she said, I am, and there is none beside
me. You think about what Mystery
Babylon just said. Who said that? God said that. He said, I am that I am, and
there is none beside me. And this harlot, this usurper
of the authority of Almighty God, this one who raises herself
up and says, the Scripture says, in her heart, I am. and there is none beside Me,
how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down
in? Every one that passeth by her
shall hiss and wag his hand." Let me tell you who the Scripture
says back in that 14th verse. This is who the Scripture says
who is going to lie down in the midst of her. The cormorant. Now, if you look in the middle
part of your Bible, if you have a reference there, it says the
cormorant is a pelican. Okay? A pelican. Well, that still
doesn't tell me anything. A pelican. A pelican is a bird. I understand that. But the root
word of the word cormorant Pelican. You know what it is? Vomit. That's
what the word means. Vomit. Turn to Job 20. Just hold your finger there in
Zephaniah. Turn to Job chapter 20. The Scripture
says those that say, those that are with, those that bow, those
that drink the wine of this great harlot here. They're going to
be desolate. I'm talking about that one that
said in her heart, I am and there's none beside me. Those that are
going to lie down in her. Those that are the habitation
of her. The cormorant. The vomit one. Job 20. Job chapter 20. Look at verses 4 and 5 first. Knowest thou not This of old,
since man was placed upon earth, that the triumphing of the wicked
is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment."
Look at verse 7, "...yet he shall perish forever like his own dung. They which have seen him shall
say, Where is he?" Look at verse 15, "...he hath swallowed down
riches, and he shall vomit them up again." and God shall cast
them out of His belly." Who is going to be the ones that will
be in the habitation of this great harlot? Who are they? I
tell you, those, the Scripture says, that have swallowed down
riches, the ten horns of this world. Men that have been seduced
by the great beast of this world, the lust of the eyes, the lust
of the flesh, pride of life, those that the things of this
world have been their God. The cares of this world, the
thorns that have choked out the Word, they're going to swallow
them down. And the Scripture says they're
going to vomit them up again. Or in other words, they're going
to hate the whore. That's what we looked at last
time. These ten horns that shall hate the great horn. And then
back in Zephaniah, the bittern, the bittern, those were birds
is what they were. The cormorant and the bittern. But the word bittern there means
the cut off one. Who is going to be in this habitation
back in Revelation chapter 18? Babylon is fallen and has become
the habitation of devils, those that kept not their first estate,
and those that are reserved in chains of darkness. And it's
the hold, it's the prison of every foul spirit and a cage
of every unclean and hateful bird, all the cormorants and
all the bitterns, all the ones that drink in the things of this
world and have to have and have to Possess and they're going
to vomit them all back up. They're the vomiting ones. And
the cut off ones. That's who it's going to be,
the hateful birds. Surely, Mystery Babylon, the
mother of harlots, shall be exposed. But I'll tell you this, even
in the exposing and the judgment, of Mystery Babylon, we will see
Romans 8, 28, that's what we just sang about, all things work
out for good to them that love God. Even in the exposing and
the judgment of false religion, we shall see God's will and God's
purpose accomplished in that. 1 Corinthians 11, 19 says, For
there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved
may be made manifest among you. Almighty God will take the wrath
of man, the hatefulness that man by nature has against God
Himself, and the belief of this heresy. And God will take it
and show those that are approved in the midst of the heresies. There must be heresies, Paul
said among you, that they which are approved may manifest. How
do you know what the exposure of right is unless you see wrong? God Almighty. Now, you're talking
about the indescribable wisdom of Almighty God who orders all
of these things, everything, to His glory and the good of
His people. There must be heresies among
you, Paul said, that they which are approved may be manifest
unto you through the open and obviously blasphemous free-willed
lies that are being preached. God's people are distinguished
in this world. That's exactly right. And when
Babylon has served the purpose of God, He will justly destroy
her. And why will His wrath and her
destruction be just? Verse 3 says, For all the nations
have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and
the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. And the
merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of
her delicacies, Mystery Babylon, false religion, Satan's desire,
and God's golden cup. Mystery Babylon is God's cup,
God's golden cup. We looked at it in a minute in
Jeremiah 51. Mystery Babylon, God's golden cup, has done exactly
what she wanted to do and exactly what God must judge. All that
have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication have
done exactly what they wanted to do. No one is going to say,
I believe that, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to believe
that lie. I really wanted to believe the
gospel. Every person that believes a
lie does it because they want to. They desire to. Because they will not receive
the love of the truth, God sends them strong delusion that they
should believe a lie and gives a man exactly what he desires. That's what I said. Believe me,
God gives a man just exactly what that man wants. God gives
a man exactly what that man wants. Thanks be to God that He gives
His people a heart for Christ. They want Him, and the Lord gives
Him. He gives a man just what he wants.
He's a just God. God Almighty, if God left a man
to Himself to give a man exactly what he wanted, God would judge
him justly. But thy people are willing in
the day of your power. That's why I said this morning,
God gives His people a heart for Him. He said, I'll write
my law on your heart. I'll write. Don't you do what
you want to do? Don't you? Yes, you do. You do
exactly what you want to do. Everybody does. There's not one
person in this room, Gary, that's doing what they don't want to
do. Oh, they may fake it for a while. You may do it for a
while. You're going to do what you want
to do. I will too. Everybody does. We do exactly
what we desire. The Lord gives us a heart after
Him. You that believe, did you really
want to come in here? Sure you did. I understand the
weakness of the flesh. I know the war that goes on.
I know how we battle, you know, with ourselves, but I understand
that. But I'm telling you, there's
a heart within a believer that wants to hear. Tell me one more
time. Tell me how the Lord has called
me and kept me and saved me and preserved me and won't impute
my sins. Tell me one more time He put
away my guilt. I want to hear that. I want God
Almighty. I want to hear of a sovereign
God. I want to hear that. that have
drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication have done
what they wanted to do. The Scripture says in Acts 7.51,
Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always
resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye. A man or a woman with a spiritually
uncircumcised heart and uncircumcised ears. They do always resist. Why? Because they want to. That's what they want to do.
They'll always do it. The Lord has to give a man a
new heart. He has to make a new creature.
He has to reborn him. He has to be born from above.
That which is flesh is flesh. He'll never, never, never bow. The kingdoms of this world, the
Scripture says, have committed spiritual fornication with her.
But you remember, Babylon's destruction. She's fallen. She's under the
wrath of God. She's become the habitation of
devils, the hold of every foul spirit and cage of every unclean
and hateful bird. Babylon's destruction still shows
that the will of Almighty God is always accomplished. Turn over to Jeremiah 51. Jeremiah
51, verse 7. This is that scripture
I was talking a while ago. We read this a few weeks ago.
Jeremiah 51. It says in verse 7, Babylon hath
been a golden cup in the Lord's hands, that is, that made all
the earth drunken. The nations have drunken of her
wine, therefore the nations are mad. The Lord God, the Scripture
says, holds Babylon as a golden cup, the lot of His purpose. He gave the rebellious ones exactly
what they wanted, to not receive the love of the truth. That is
what they wanted. That's what they got. Verse 8
says, Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed. How for her? Take balm for her pain, if so
be she may be healed. She's fallen. She's under God's
wrath. Jeremiah 51, 20. Look at that. Just look over. Just hold your
finger right there. Just look at it. He says, Thou art my battle
axe. and weapons of war, for with
thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I
destroy kingdoms." Listen, this whole system is not out of control. God Almighty is in control of
everything. Remember, He is God Almighty. He is doing as He will. The Scripture
says, that is what Nebuchadnezzar said in Daniel. Daniel 5, I believe. He says, He doeth as He will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the world.
How many inhabitants of the world? All of them. All of them. And no man stays
His hand. No man stops Him. He does exactly
what He wants to do. He's God. God Almighty. Look at Jeremiah. Jeremiah 51,
verse 10. Jeremiah 51, 10. Yes, I mean
9. We would have healed Babylon,
but she's not healed. Forsake her and let us go every
one into his own country, for her judgment reacheth unto heaven
and is lifted up even to the skies. The people. When it says right there, we
would have healed Babylon. but she's not healed. What was
the writer saying? The people of God that were captives
among the Babylonians were faithful to the Word of God to be truthful
to those that opposed themselves. We would have healed her. That's what it says. Babylon's
fallen. Verse 9, we would have healed Babylon, but she's not
healed. In Jeremiah, turn back, just
hold your finger there, but just turn back to Jeremiah 10.10. Jeremiah 10.10. We would have
healed her. What is being said? We would
have healed her, but she's not healed. Jeremiah 10.10. But the Lord is the true God.
He's the living God. everlasting King, at His wrath
the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able
to abide His indignations. Thus shall ye say unto them,
unto those that oppose themselves, Say unto them, The gods that
have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish
from the earth and from under these heavens. He hath made the
earth by His power. He hath established the world
by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by His discretion."
Now, they were telling them, say to them, these gods that
you make. Now, if you wanted to go back
and read the first, say, six or eight verses of that tenth
chapter, What he was talking about is men that'll take a piece
of wood and they'll carve it out and they'll cover it with
gold and they'll look at it and put some eyes on it and put a mouth on
it and say, you know, that's my God right there. As I said
last week and used the illustration of my daughter that had an imaginary
friend, that one I asked later as she grew up, did you truly
believe that that imaginary friend was there? Yes. Described her
to me. Blonde hair, tall. Then, you
know, it looked sort of like her, what it did, but it was
her imaginary friend. And she saw that friend and understood
and talked to her. Talked to her friend. Man by
nature has an imaginary God. The God of an image that they
say in Jeremiah, God says to them, say unto them, The gods
that didn't make heaven, they're going to perish. The god of your
imagination. So when the Lord told them, He
said, you say to them, you tell them, be truthful with them.
That's why back in Jeremiah 51 and verse 9, it says, we would
have healed Babylon. How would we have healed Babylon? By preaching to them. By preaching
to them. I could say, This church that
has stood for the gospel of God's grace, by the Lord's mercy and
grace, there has not been one person that was ever told, you
are not welcome to come and sit and hear the gospel of free grace. Come, we would have healed. We
are preaching the truth. We would have healed, but they
are not healed. The preaching of the gospel is
being a friend to people. This is the calling of every
pastor, of every assembly where God has raised up a hearing of
the truth. We are commissioned, love your
neighbor as yourself. I dealt with that about a year
or so ago on what is it to love your neighbor. And this is the
summary of it. Ben, just be truthful with them. Be truthful. Somebody that will
lie to you doesn't love you. They just don't love you. If
I lie to you, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't care about
you. But a person that loves you, that truly loves you, and
I'm telling you to preach the gospel. Katie Baptist Church
has been a friend to this community, has been a friend, and has loved
it. Katie Baptist Church has loved Fairmont, West Virginia. Why? Because you've been honest. You told them the truth. You
preached the gospel to them. Now, I understand that they may
not interpret that as love. I understand that. But that does
not change the truth of the fact that the truth that's been preached
in here. When Jeremiah said, the Scripture
says, we would have healed Babylon, but they're not healed. We told
them the truth. Preach to them. Love your neighbor. Be truthful with him. You see,
men are liars by nature because they are of their father the
devil. Liars. Christ said, you will know the
truth. The truth will set you free. But leave a man to himself,
and he will go the way of the kings of the earth that have
committed fornication with the great whore. And back in Revelation
18, the merchants of the earth are waxed rich. through the abundance
or the power of her delicacies or of her strength." That's talking
about, again, these ten horns. Remember, this great whore sets
upon the beast of this world's economy. And the ten horns, the
things of this world, the cares of this world is her appeal and
her strength and her power. And this appeal for the world
is truly the religion of this world, then men say that gain
is godliness because they covet the things of this world. That's
why men say, gain is godliness because I want the stuff. They
say that health is God's will for all because they have really
no hope in dying. They say that God wants everybody
to be healthy. because really they don't have
a hope in leaving this world. They say that money is God's
will for all because really they're spiritually bankrupt. They make
a god out of it. And this thinking is common to
all men, but you consider the mercy of Almighty God that would
not leave His own to themselves. And John said in verse 4, I heard
another voice from heaven saying, of her, my people, that ye may
be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not her plagues."
Here is the effectual call to separate by God's grace, calling
His people out of darkness, come out from among her. Why does
a man, why does a woman come out? Why do they come out of
false religion, false Babylon, this mother of harlots? Why do
they come out? John says, because I heard another
voice from heaven saying, come out of her, listen to who it
is, my people. Come out of her, my people. That's
who the Lord calls. My people. Always been His people. His beloved, His blessed, His
chosen come out. See, that's where we were. That's
where we're born, even for those that possibly take a situation
like this church here. Grew up under the gospel. But
a man or a woman can be sitting under the gospel and still be
in false religion, false thinking, dark and a god of their imagination,
but God calls a man out of darkness and reveals Christ to him, the
hope of his glory. Come out of her! And in their
heart, God Almighty speaks to them, that ye be not partakers
of her sins. The Lord who has chosen His people,
that they should be holy and without blame. before Him in
love. You come out, He says, from among
her." Come out of her, that you be not partakers of that which
she loves and that which she desires and that which she craves,
that you not receive of her plagues. It is not the will of Almighty
God that God's people continue and participate in her sins.
That is the unbelief of the gospel. Come out of her, that ye be not
partakers of her sins." What sins? They don't believe God. They don't believe Christ. They
don't trust Christ. They trust themselves. "...Nor
that they should receive of her plagues, of her wounds, of her
calamity." Isaiah 48, 20 says, "...Go ye forth of Babylon. Flee
ye from the Chaldeans with a voice of singing. Declare ye, tell
thus, Utter it evenly to the end of the earth. Say ye, the
Lord hath redeemed His servant Jacob. Come out from her. And
the reason that the Lord has effectually and powerfully commanded
His people to come out from her, verse 5, for her sins have reached
unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities. The Lord told
His people. Come out of her. Come out of
her. That you not be a partaker of
her sins and that you don't receive of her plagues because she's
going to. You come out. There's the mercy
of Almighty God calling His people. In verse 5, and I'm going to
say something about verse 5 and then we'll stop right here and
we'll just pick it up, Lord willing, next time. But it says, look
here, verse 5, her sins have reached unto heaven. The sins of Babylon the Great,
the mother of harlots, are her sins. For the sheep, the Scripture
says, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, For He hath made Him to be sin,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him." The sins of Babylon are her sins. For God's people, the Lord Jesus
Christ made their sins His own. He bore them. He sold. was made
an offering for their sins. Her sins, the Scripture says,
have reached unto heaven. That word reach, that means they
followed her. They followed her. The sins of
God's people are cast as far as the east is from the west.
Cast behind God's back. Cast into the ocean. And the
Scripture says that God has remembered her iniquities. But for His people,
turn over to Hebrews 8. Hebrews 8. Hebrews 8.10. Hebrews 8.10. For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, saith the Lord. I will put My laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to Me a people. And they shall not
teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for all shall know Me from the least to the
greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities, will Remember
no more. You read a minute ago, blessed
is the man whom the Lord will not impute sin. Blessed is the
man whose transgression is forgiven, whose iniquity is covered, covered
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, in His mercy,
in time, When it pleased Him, Paul says, when it pleased Him,
call me out of darkness. The Scripture says that the Lord
says to His people, come out of her, my people, that you be
not partakers of her sins, that you receive not of her plagues,
for her sins have reached into heaven and God hath remembered
her iniquities. But for all that He has everlastingly
loved and chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ, He does not remember
their sins anymore. Pardon. The word remember there
means to bear in mind to reward or to punish. To remember. That word remember. To bear in
mind to reward or punished. It says here that God remembered
her iniquities when that thief was on that cross, the one that
the Lord was pleased in His dying moments to give Him a heart to
behold the Lamb of God that was dying in His stead. And He knew
that. He said He knew. that He was
dying to substitute of sinners. He knew that He was a King. He
was the King because He said, Lord, when You enter into Your
Kingdom, what did He say? Remember Me. Boy, wouldn't that
just... You think, what kind of a thought
of comfort and peace on your dying bed you leave in this world
and to truly have a heart of remembrance to say those words
with a heart of confidence and hope and say, Lord, would you
remember me?