We're going to be talking about
Revelation 18. Kings and merchants of the earth. Verse 9 of Revelation
18 talks about the kings of the earth. Verse 9, the kings of
the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously
with her. The her there is Babylon. And it says, they shall bewail
her. They shall lament for her. That's
sorrow, like a death sorrow. When they shall see the smoke
of her burning. The smoke of her burning is the
wrath of God coming down upon Babylon. And then it's gonna
be talking about the merchants of the earth, the kings of the
earth, the merchants of the earth. Now to understand this and to
put it in the proper perspective, consider the Lord Jesus Christ
when he spoke to the Pharisees. Pharisees, unbelievers, legalists,
who had bought into the natural way of thinking, which is salvation
by the works and the will of man, legalism, and all that they
adhered to in their unbelief. And one of the things that he
described them as is this, they were the blind leading the blind. And he says of the blind leading
the blind that they will all fall into the ditch together. And that's what you're seeing
here in Revelation 18 about the kings and the merchants of the
earth. This whole passage well back
in Revelation 17 and in Revelation 18, has been talking about the
fall of Babylon. And you'll recall that Babylon
represents false religion. And that includes false religion
that comes in the name of Christ, but denies the doctrine of Christ. And so what we're seeing here
is not only the fall of Babylon, but also the downfall of all
of Babylon's followers. So the blind leading the blind,
and they all fall in the ditch together. They all come under the wrath
of God. And so when we see the fall of
Babylon come about, the final fall, we see that heaven celebrates
that fall. And it's not in a vengeful way. It's not in a way of some kind
of a sadistic way or anything like that. But it is the triumph
of the glory of God in Christ. We know that in the salvation
of sinners, God can only be glorified through the glorious person and
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by God's
sovereign grace. based upon the blood of the Lamb,
the righteousness of Christ, freely imputed and received by
faith, there's no other way that God can be glorified in salvation. So every other way of salvation
that man devises, and it goes all the way back to Adam and
Eve and their fig leaf aprons came with his works of his hands. The Tower of Babel, remember
what Babel means in the original language, it means gate of God. Man trying to work his way into
God's favor. Man trying to make himself righteous
by his works in order to be saved. All of that. It goes all the
way back to that. And every form of human religion
is some form of the religion of Cain. The religion of Babel. And that's what Babylon stands
for. any way but the way of God's
grace. That's why Christ said, I am
the way, the truth, the life. No man can come to the Father
but by me. There's none other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. There's no other way of
forgiveness of sins. There's no other way of righteousness
before God. but Christ. And anybody that
tells you that there are many ways, they are an inherent and
follower of Babylon. Now that's the long and the short
of it. That may seem hard, it may seem mean, it may seem exclusive,
but it's just the truth. Paul wrote in Galatians chapter
1, if they come preaching any other gospel than that which
we have preached unto you, let them be anathema. Well that's
what you're seeing here in in these kings and merchants. The
kings, you remember the kings represent government, empires,
political figures, not just those who are called king, but even
presidents or premiers or whatever that support in some way or promote
false religion. And so these kings of the earth,
look at verse nine again, the kings of the earth, they committed
fornication, that's spiritual fornication. That's what he's
talking about. The Bible often speaks of fornication
and adultery. And we know that physical fornication
and physical adultery are sins against God, sins against man.
But what this is talking about is spiritual fornication, spiritual
adultery. In other words, one prostituting
him or herself out to a false god. And they've committed this
and it says they've lived deliciously. That means in the lap of luxury
and false security, false refuge. I think it was a few weeks back
that we turned over to Isaiah 28, where the leaders of Israel, were boasting in their works,
boasting in their security. We've made a covenant. Remember
they said in Isaiah 28, we've made a covenant with death and
with hell. And when the overflowing scourge comes through, when the
wrath of God comes through, it will not fall on us, for we have
made lies our refuge. Now they didn't say that, that's
the prophet, the prophet of God saying that. exposing their lies. See, people today, think about
this, people today see themselves as secure in their religion.
And it's always been the case. When Cain approached God by the
works of his hands, he fully expected God to receive him and
bless him. And when God rejected Cain in
his offering, Cain was shocked And you remember the Lord came
to him, he said, when the Bible talks about, it says his countenance
falls, that's his expression. He comes merrily, he comes happily,
he comes securely, bringing the works of his hands, and then
he finds out, just like the false preachers and false believers
in Matthew 7, depart from me, I never knew you, you that work
iniquity. And his countenance fell. Remember
the Lord said, well, why are you angry, Cain? Why are you
surprised? If you do well, you'll be accepted. Well, what is it
to do well in the sight of God? It's to bring the blood of the
Lamb. It's to plead the righteousness
of Christ. And everyone who refuses or fails
to do that, here's what's going to happen. Look at it, verse
9. They may live deliciously here on earth. They may be in
the lap of luxury. They may be in security in their
own mind, but it says they shall bewail her and lament for her
when they shall see the smoke of her burning. That's the state
of all sinners without Christ. If we're found in the end or
at judgment without having been washed in the blood of Christ
and clothed in his righteousness imputed, this is the state that
we'll be found in. And it says, it says here in
verse 9, it says, these kings of the earth, these kings of
the earth, they'll bewail her. And the reason they'll bewail
her, because they will know that her downfall is their downfall. They'll have no excuse. Somebody
says, well, we didn't know. Well, why didn't we know? Because
of the deception, because of self-righteousness, because of
self-love. Look at verse 10, it says, standing
afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, alas, alas,
that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour
is thy judgment come. See, here's the amazement of
those who have this false religious security without Christ, without
the grace of God, without the blood, without righteousness.
And that which they viewed as being great, now they're seeing
the downfall of it. And they bewail it, alas, alas,
that great city Babylon, that mighty, that which we thought
was great and mighty and impenetrable, invincible, our protection. And all they're going to see
is, they're going to stand in astonishment that all of their
hope And all of their security of salvation and blessing is
nothing but dead works, fruit unto death, even iniquity. So what they saw before is great
and glorious and high and mighty. is gone. Now notice it says there
that for in one hour, verse 10, for in one hour is thy judgment
come. Some translations translated
that this way, the hour of her judgment is come and that could
be it. But obviously the King James
says in one hour. What that could mean is that
it's not going to take long now. In other words, this is not going
to be some big, long, drawn out battle. This is, you know, I
know whenever we think of the second coming of Christ, you
know, a lot of people, they have a lot of myth and fiction that
they bring to the table with that because of the symbols that
they misuse. And they act like it's going
to be some great, big, long, drawn-out battle, you know. And
it's almost like a football game, you know. We're going to see
who wins in the end, you know. Maybe Satan will throw a Hail
Mary pass or something like that. That's not it. No. With the word
of his mouth, the blast of his nostrils sometimes, there it
is. You see, the Lord did this just
like sometimes the cross, where Christ took the wrath of God
for his people. And you know, people argue about
the timing and time and all that. Why? Christ on the cross, as
the substitute and surety of God's elect, took the full penalty
and wrath of God for their sins, imputed to him. And some say,
well, in three hours time. Well, I don't know. I mean, I
know it was a short work. But God's wrath, what is God's
wrath? It's the punishment that's coming
down upon them. Look at verse 11, Revelation 18. Now he goes to
the merchants. And the merchants of the earth
shall weep and mourn over her. For no man buyeth their merchandise
anymore. Merchandise. It's no news to
us that false religion is big business, isn't it? Money making
business. You know, we see all the time
on television these preachers who, you know, they buy jets
and things like that and they air condition their dog houses
and stuff like that. They live sumptuously and things
like that. And of course, that is included. Back in John's day, many of the
cities, the commercial cities, their income Their economy revolved
around idolatrous temple worship. I think it was in Ephesus that
there was a temple of Athena or a temple of Aphrodite. I can't
remember which Greek god or Roman god or goddess was there, but
they had a big temple there. Corinth, there was a temple there.
And a lot of people made their living connected with that temple
worship, making idols, And then you recall when the Lord came
on the scene in Jerusalem, remember when he first went to the temple,
what happened? He had the money changers there
and he drove them out. So there's no doubt that we can
see the application here to false religion and money making, filthy
lucre, filling their own appetites. Remember in Romans 16 it talks
about marking them that calls division among you contrary to
the doctrine that is the gospel that we preach because all they're
doing is serving themselves and they're fulfilling their own
appetite. So that would be applicable here. You have that. But if we don't
go a little bit beyond that according to the scripture, we're going
to miss the point. And the Lord himself, when he talked about
the Pharisees again and their false religion, one of the ways
that he described them in the book of Matthew was that they
were those who made merchandise of men's souls. So it's not necessarily
the big business and money-making machine of false religion. It
also has to do with the false gospel that makes merchandise
of the souls of men and women. If I were to stand up here and
tell you that God will save you if you'll do your part, that
is exactly what I'd be doing, making merchandise of your soul. I preach the gospel, which is
the glorious person and the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And God's Word tells those whom God has blessed in this world
with material wealth that they're to use their riches for the glory
of God and to promote the gospel and for the good of others. But
as we look at Babylon and the nature of Babylon, we have to
always bring it down to her message. And what he's talking about here
is false preachers who seek to profit from their support of
the harlot and her spiritual idolatry. You know, I would love,
and you all too, you would love to see this building filled up.
You'd love to see us get into a position where we had to either
tear it down and build a bigger one or move somewhere else and
had thousands of people. The question is, how can we get
more people in? Do you know that's a question
that only Babylon asks and answers? I want more people to come in
and hear the gospel. And we're going to make it available
to them. But whenever I use human means or human efforts, To get
more people in, what would I have to do? To get them in, keep them
in? I'd have to change the message. That's exactly what I have to
do. I've had people tell me over the years, say, well, you shouldn't
say that. That's going to run people off. Well, if it's the
word of God, there it is. That's it. Preach the gospel. Don't change the message to make
merchandise of men so. Look at verse 12. What he begins
here, he says, the merchandise of gold and silver, precious
stones and of pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, and all
fine wood, or you might see in your concordance there, I can
hardly see with my glasses even on, sweet wood. all manner of vessels of ivory,
all manner of vessels of most precious wood and of brass and
of iron, and he goes on down through there, and we'll pick
up there next week. But what he begins is a list of what these
merchants of the world are selling. And it's a symbolic description. These are symbols of their treasure.
And what we have to understand, before I get into the list of
that beginning next week, Understand that in the Lord Jesus Christ,
we have the greatest treasure of all. Everything that he mentions,
if you would limit this to the physical things as he lists them,
ivory, gold, even pearls, all of that. These are things that
will vanish away. Their value will be nothing. The things of this world, will
vanish away. But the word of the Lord goes
on and on and on. And so we have Christ. We have
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We have Christ
who himself is our treasure. We have Peter, I've got this
in your lesson, how Peter talked about an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
us." Now who has that? That is a possession. That's
not something that we're reaching for or that we have to earn or
that we have to put ourselves in a position that we deserve.
That's something that comes to us. If you read that passage
in 1 Peter chapter 1, if you go all the way through that,
it comes down to the one thing. that gives us the possession
of this incorruptible, undefiled inheritance that fades not away.
And that one thing is the incorruptible precious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's it. And that is the riches
of His glory. We call it, Paul called it in
Ephesians 2.7, the riches of His grace. See, that's not what
we earn. That's not our rewards that we
earn by doing better here and doing less there. In Ephesians
3a, Paul called them the unsearchable riches of Christ. We have a hymn
that we sing. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. But these riches have to do with
all the blessings of eternal life and glory that we have based
upon Christ's righteousness imputed. And that's the only way we receive
them and possess them. And because of him, they can
never be corrupted, they can never fade away, and we can never
lose them. That's what we have. So, when
we talk about these merchants of the earth, I've got in your
lesson here, remember, he's not just talking about people just
out trying to make a living. The Bible tells us to try to
make a living, to work and labor for what we have. But he's talking
about those who follow the great harlot Babylon in their false
religion, making themselves rich from that endeavor, or making
merchandise of men's souls. Turn back to Revelation 3, and
we'll conclude with this. Revelation 3, you know, in Revelation
2 and 3 he talks about the seven churches and in the last one
is the church at Laodicea. Well look at what he says to
the church at Laodicea in verse 17 of Revelation 3. And he has
nothing but admonition and condemnation for these people. He says, because
thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. I've got what I need. My religion
is good enough. And knowest not that thou art
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. He says
in verse 18, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,
that thou mayest be rich, white raiment, that thou mayest be
clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear,
and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see.
Now here's what's happening here. Here's a people who are just
in their minds as sure for heaven as if they were already there.
We're rich. My religion's good enough. Well,
let me tell you something. If your religion is truly good
enough, then it will stand the test of scripture. And you need
to test it. I need to test it. I've told
people that's why I've written these books. What is salvation?
What is Christianity? Even the book that's coming out
on scriptural interpretation, Rightly Divided, these are exercises
in self-examination. Is my religion really good enough?
Am I rich? Now when he says, I counsel you
to buy gold, when he says that, he's not talking about we can
buy salvation. Kind of like back in Isaiah 55
when he says, ho everyone that thirsteth. He says, come and
buy without money, without price. What he's talking about is the
gift of God's grace that cost us nothing, but cost Christ everything. In other words, if I think I'm
clothed in white raiment, what is that? Well, that's righteousness. That's what that white raiment
stands for. Well, am I gonna be like the one who stood before
God at judgment back in the book of Zechariah chapter three and
find out that what I think is my white raiment is really filthy
rags? It looked good to men. Babylon
said it was all right. Babylon said it was fine. But
what does God say? Well, if it's anything but Christ
White Raymond, the merits of his righteousness imputed, it
will not stand the test, will it? And you will be well, just
like the kings of the earth and the merchants of the earth. All
right.