1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,760 I think I've sung that in probably 13 years since I left the church in Kentucky where 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:09,040 we were pastoring at the time. 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:11,760 We used to sing that frequently there. 4 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:16,040 And I'm glad you found that chorus somewhere. 5 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:17,680 And I'm eager for all of you to learn it. 6 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:19,720 It's a great chorus. 7 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:24,760 Well, let's open our Bibles this evening to Revelation chapter 18. 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:29,440 As you're turning there, I would like to introduce some of my family here. 9 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:35,920 I don't usually do this because, I don't know, I guess I feel a little awkward about 10 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:38,200 it and they do as well. 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:43,240 But they're here tonight, more of them than usual on one occasion, so I'm going to ask 12 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,440 them to stand up back there. 13 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,840 Row two, back section, would you stand up? 14 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:52,520 I will start on my right. 15 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,600 Marilyn Hall is Jeanette's sister. 16 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:04,000 And next to her, Lindsay and David Mitchell, the children of my sister and brother-in-law 17 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,800 from Kansas. 18 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:11,800 They came up with Grandpa, my stepfather, John Duffield, who's next to David there 19 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:13,160 and lives in Kansas. 20 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:20,840 And then Harmon Eggleston and his wife, the Miracle Lady, my mother-in-law, the Lord delivered 21 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,000 from that accident a couple of weeks ago. 22 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,000 She's looking good, isn't she? 23 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:40,520 Now that last comment will be worth an extra big sliver of pie when I eat at her place. 24 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:46,400 Revelation chapter 18. 25 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:54,720 Chronologically speaking, chapter 19, the next chapter, follows chapter 16. 26 00:01:54,720 --> 00:02:02,160 So chapter 17 and 18, sandwiched in between those two chapters, are an informational interlude. 27 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:07,040 This is not the first time we've seen this in the book of Revelation. 28 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:12,520 These two chapters are not coming to us in the book in chronological order, but they're 29 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:19,620 given to us to fill out some details that take place throughout the period. 30 00:02:19,620 --> 00:02:23,240 These two chapters deal with Babylon. 31 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:30,040 Babylon is both a system and a city. 32 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:37,360 Babylon symbolically represents the rebellion of man against God. 33 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:43,620 It was founded, Babylon, the original city of Babylon was founded by Nimrod back in Genesis 34 00:02:43,620 --> 00:02:46,560 chapter 10. 35 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:53,840 Babylon has always represented that which is opposed to God. 36 00:02:53,840 --> 00:03:01,680 These two chapters give us two aspects of Babylon in its final form. 37 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,680 Chapter 17 deals with religious Babylon. 38 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,880 We've dealt with that. 39 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,280 It is a religious conglomerate. 40 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:18,840 It is the final ecumenical movement that will at its heart be anti-Christ, but will on its 41 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:29,960 surface be nice and religious and perhaps even Christian, but broadly speaking, Christian. 42 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:36,720 This religious system that we looked at a few weeks ago in chapter 17 will be used by 43 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:45,400 the political system for what is probably the first half of the tribulation period. 44 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:52,240 The political system headed up by anti-Christ will use the religious system to accomplish 45 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:53,240 its ends. 46 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:59,160 It's not the first time we've seen political powers use religious groups for their own 47 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,360 purposes. 48 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:09,000 But this religious system will be hated by the people that it dominates and will ultimately 49 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:10,680 be destroyed by them. 50 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:12,880 We saw all of that in a previous study. 51 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:18,040 Now as we come to chapter 18, we see a second aspect of Babylon. 52 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,040 Here it's not the religious aspect. 53 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:29,880 It's the commercial and political aspect of this system city that is headed by anti-Christ. 54 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:38,140 This aspect of Babylon is loved by its citizens, unlike the religious system. 55 00:04:38,140 --> 00:04:43,800 This is the part of Babylon that enriches them and makes their lives fun. 56 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:48,400 It fills their lives with the devil's anesthetic. 57 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,360 They love it. 58 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:55,520 It is not destroyed by them as the religious system was. 59 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:02,120 This aspect of Babylon is destroyed by God. 60 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:07,840 Now the political economic Babylon that we look at here in chapter 18 seems best understood 61 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:15,600 as the beast's empire, the empire of anti-Christ. 62 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,960 As well as being an empire and a system though, it is a city because several times in this 63 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:27,960 chapter, in verse 10, verse 16, verse 19, verse 21, it's called that great city. 64 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:31,880 And so it seems that there is something more than a system here, but there is actually 65 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:41,760 a city which might be described as a capital city of this empire of anti-Christ. 66 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,720 Now who is this Babylon? 67 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:52,000 We have identified the religious Babylon as being a religious movement, a conglomeration 68 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:57,960 of many different kinds of religions that will come together under one banner in the 69 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,480 last days. 70 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:02,920 And it seems as though it focuses on Rome. 71 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:08,920 In chapter 17 it talks about the city of seven hills. 72 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:13,960 And so Rome, the city of Rome, seems to be the headquarters for this final religious 73 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:19,160 movement that anti-Christ will use in the first part of the tribulation period. 74 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:27,720 But what is the capital of his empire, of the political, commercial, economic Babylon? 75 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:32,640 Well there are some who say that it is Rome itself, that Rome will not only be headquarters 76 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:39,440 for the religious Babylon, but for political Babylon as well, and that is very possible. 77 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:45,680 If that is the case, then the word Babylon here stands symbolically for Rome. 78 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:51,720 And it seems that that was rather customary for the people of the New Testament days when 79 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,440 it was being written to refer to Rome as Babylon. 80 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,760 It was sort of a code word. 81 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:03,240 And it helped keep them from getting into trouble when they talked about the godlessness 82 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:06,960 of Babylon and the judgment of God upon Babylon. 83 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:13,040 And they meant Rome, by saying Babylon, then they might not get into trouble. 84 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,360 It was a code word. 85 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:24,040 But then there are others who believe that this Babylon, this Babylon is a rebuilt, restored 86 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:31,000 city of Babylon, which would be located in the modern country of Iraq. 87 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:39,120 That it will be a new power, that Antichrist will somehow tie Europe together with the 88 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,320 Middle East and the Arab nations. 89 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:47,400 And all of that will play into his movements in Israel. 90 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:52,880 I guess personally I lean away from that thinking that probably because Antichrist will arise 91 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:58,540 out of the European power base, that his capital city will be in Europe and maybe the city 92 00:07:58,540 --> 00:08:01,160 of Rome. 93 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:08,680 Nonetheless, whatever its identity will be, we see in this chapter its complete and utter 94 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,760 judgment and destruction. 95 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,840 The arrival of judgment for Babylon has come. 96 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:22,240 It began as the city of Babel all the way back in Genesis chapter 10. 97 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:27,760 And over these thousands of years it has stood for rebellion against God. 98 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:33,500 At times it has been a powerful entity in the world and at times it has been nothing 99 00:08:33,500 --> 00:08:41,440 but a place for the jackals of the desert to inhabit, as was prophesied. 100 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:51,240 But in the last days this Babylon will face its final accounting from a sovereign God. 101 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:57,680 We begin the chapter with the angel of judgment in verse 1. 102 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:04,280 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, 103 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,280 and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 104 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:15,120 Now John is still an ear and eye witness of the events that he is writing about. 105 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:20,520 He describes an angel coming out of heaven that he calls another angel. 106 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:29,400 This ties together with six angels in chapter 14 that were also described as another angel. 107 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,760 They're the same kind of angels. 108 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:39,440 They are unnamed, they are faceless as far as we're concerned from the context here, 109 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:43,960 but they are angels that are involved in God carrying out his judgment. 110 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:50,280 This angel has great authority, it says, which seems to indicate that it is of superior 111 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:56,960 rank perhaps even to those mentioned in chapter 14. 112 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:04,840 So glorious is this angelic being that it says the earth is made bright with his glory. 113 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,160 Some therefore take this to be Jesus Christ. 114 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:11,760 I don't think that's a good interpretation of it. 115 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,740 Jesus isn't called an angel in this book. 116 00:10:15,740 --> 00:10:25,160 Here it's talking about an angel, a spiritual creature serving God who is of great prestige 117 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:33,160 and so elaborate is his glory in serving God that in some measure the earth is illuminated 118 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:39,520 by his glory as he passes over the earth. 119 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:45,360 It might be good just to stop for a moment and to remind ourselves of the part that spirit 120 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:50,000 beings play in the affairs of human history. 121 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:51,760 It is immense. 122 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:57,800 I don't think we begin to understand how important a role they play in the affairs 123 00:10:57,800 --> 00:10:59,260 of men. 124 00:10:59,260 --> 00:11:03,960 We have it suggested to us, don't we, in the book of Daniel where we learn an awful 125 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:11,900 lot about angels and how they interact with human history and what a role they play. 126 00:11:11,900 --> 00:11:16,880 And here we see angels acting once again in the book of Revelation and carrying out the 127 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,880 judgment of God. 128 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:22,720 Angels are real beings. 129 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:27,400 You've probably heard the question how many angels can stand on the head of a pen. 130 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,640 Have you heard that debate from the Middle Ages? 131 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,960 Well, it's really a nonsensical debate. 132 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:40,240 And I say that because angels have no mass. 133 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:43,200 They are spirit. 134 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:47,240 And so to talk about an angel taking up any room is ludicrous. 135 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:48,240 They don't. 136 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:49,240 They're spirit. 137 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,200 Now they can assume form. 138 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,800 But they are spiritual in their essence. 139 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:56,800 But they're real. 140 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:57,800 They're real. 141 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:03,480 That's sometimes hard for us to understand with the world view that we are given in our 142 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,080 culture. 143 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:10,820 But angels are real and this spirit being now comes out of heaven bringing the judgment 144 00:12:10,820 --> 00:12:15,920 of God upon the city and the system of Babylon. 145 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:20,600 This is followed by the announcement of judgment in verses 2 and 3. 146 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:28,360 This angel cried mightily with a loud voice saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. 147 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:34,940 And has become a habitation of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every 148 00:12:34,940 --> 00:12:37,720 unclean and hated bird. 149 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:43,880 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 150 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:47,700 The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. 151 00:12:47,700 --> 00:12:53,880 And the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury or 152 00:12:53,880 --> 00:13:00,040 the abundance of her sensuality, as some translations put it. 153 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:04,800 Now remember that this is not the same Babylon precisely as chapter 17. 154 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,680 That's the religious system. 155 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:15,440 There there are 10 kings and the beast that rules over them who destroy religious Babylon. 156 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:20,800 And there is no lamentation on the part of anyone over the destruction of that religious 157 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:22,380 system. 158 00:13:22,380 --> 00:13:28,120 That is not the case however in chapter 18 as we shall shortly see. 159 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,840 The angel says Babylon has fallen, has fallen. 160 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:37,880 The tense in the Greek language here is what is called a prophetic heiress which means 161 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:44,660 it is spoken of as already happening but it's still in the future. 162 00:13:44,660 --> 00:13:53,160 The point is that it's so certain to happen that it's spoken of in a past sense. 163 00:13:53,160 --> 00:14:00,200 The doom of this religious system that anti-Christ will rule over, and I think I can say, at 164 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:07,760 least to my own satisfaction, that this system is being put together in our world today. 165 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:12,440 The doom of this system is absolutely certain. 166 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:19,600 There is no doubt that it will be crushed and destroyed by the action of God in bringing 167 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:22,240 it into judgment. 168 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:29,680 Now Babylon, this system is a stronghold of demonism. 169 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:36,280 You will notice that it is described as a habitation of demons, a prison for every foul 170 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:42,840 spirit, which is another expression similar to that. 171 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:47,440 And then it says a cage for every unclean and hated bird. 172 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:53,840 Now it's not talking about your aunt's canary that you can't stand there, or the pigeons 173 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,320 down at the park. 174 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,280 It's talking about demons again. 175 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:03,640 The birds here are symbolic of demons. 176 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:12,140 I don't know which of Peretti's books it was, but in one of them, the city where this 177 00:15:12,140 --> 00:15:22,640 evil person was doing his thing in the spiritual realm was overshadowed by a great cloud of 178 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:23,640 demons. 179 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:27,960 If you've read the book, I think it was the second one, wasn't it? 180 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:32,600 And he pictures it this way, and remember it's fiction, okay? 181 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,400 But it's pretty graphic. 182 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:48,140 He sees above this area this swirling mass of darkness, like a slow moving tornado. 183 00:15:48,140 --> 00:15:52,460 And it goes up and up and up into the sky. 184 00:15:52,460 --> 00:15:59,840 Now it's his way of picturing the fact that there is great evil that is overseeing what's 185 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,720 happening in this place. 186 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:07,920 Well, it's that kind of a word picture that John paints here about Babylon. 187 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:14,040 It is amassed with evil and with demons, who again are real. 188 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:16,440 They are spirits. 189 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,060 They are followers of Satan. 190 00:16:18,060 --> 00:16:25,960 They are angels that fell out of heaven with him when he rebelled against God. 191 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:31,900 And this whole system is fraught with demonic spirits. 192 00:16:31,900 --> 00:16:38,760 They are involved in putting it together, and I think are working to do that today. 193 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:49,920 There is so much more behind the scenes that you and I cannot know and are unaware of. 194 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:54,480 Someone in the church mentioned to me a book, which I checked out of the library and my 195 00:16:54,480 --> 00:17:02,160 wife read, called Captains and the Kings. 196 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:07,080 A book by Taylor Caldwell, a lady who I think has now passed away. 197 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:09,040 She wrote this back in the 1970s. 198 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:17,400 It's a fiction, a fascinating book, and as you read this novel, it's very clear, at least 199 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:24,760 I think it's clear, that she is describing a family that is very powerful in our nation 200 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,760 today, and I'm not going to name it. 201 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:40,880 But in the book, it talks about how many things are happening by subterfuge in our government. 202 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:47,280 And the fact that politicians are easily and cleverly manipulated. 203 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:48,880 The citizenry never sees this. 204 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:54,400 We don't hear about the kinds of money that are passed behind the scenes. 205 00:17:54,400 --> 00:18:01,680 The manipulation that takes place, the way that presidential candidates are groomed and 206 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:09,160 then put into place and promoted by the powerful interests, the financial interests in the 207 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,920 world. 208 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:17,520 There is so much more that we don't recognize, that we don't see. 209 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:23,280 And if you'd like to have your mind just kind of challenged and you enjoy reading novels, 210 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:24,760 that would be a good one to get a hold of. 211 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:29,240 Go to a library and check it out so you don't have to buy it. 212 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:35,840 But it's an interesting fiction because it gets behind the scenes on the kind of thing 213 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:37,640 we're talking about here. 214 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,360 Now, she doesn't in that novel talk about demons. 215 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:44,120 That's not a part of her whole thing. 216 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:45,960 But she talks about the human element. 217 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:51,480 You add to that what is being said here regarding the fact that it is all being demonically 218 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:53,120 manipulated. 219 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:57,720 And you see that what the world system really is. 220 00:18:57,720 --> 00:18:59,760 This system is in for judgment. 221 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:01,600 The cause for her judgment is cleared. 222 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:09,160 It's a ruthless system that enriches itself off of people. 223 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:16,320 It is an alliance of government and business which preys upon the average person. 224 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,360 And it excludes God entirely. 225 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:22,520 It is a conspiracy. 226 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:30,360 A conspiracy between the economic powers of the world and the political systems to victimize 227 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:31,520 the common people. 228 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,480 And they don't even realize what's taking place. 229 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:40,000 It mentions here merchants who are traveling brokers in the language of the New Testament 230 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:47,040 who were middlemen who were robbing both producers and consumers. 231 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:59,520 And they have become wealthy by the power of their sensuality, their excess, their self-indulgence. 232 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:05,360 Now beginning in verse 4 and on into verse 5 we have an appeal before judgment. 233 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:08,520 It seems as though this is Christ speaking. 234 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:10,840 It is a voice out of heaven. 235 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:12,560 And here is the appeal. 236 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:24,160 Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins and lest you receive of her plagues, 237 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:30,160 for her sins have reached to heaven and God has remembered her iniquities. 238 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:37,640 So here is an appeal from God to believers in that day to come out and to separate themselves 239 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:43,520 from this system, this godless commercialism. 240 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,320 Why? 241 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:51,200 In the first place not to be fellowshipers with Babylon in her sins and secondly so that 242 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:55,560 they will not receive, be a part of the plagues that are about to come upon her. 243 00:20:55,560 --> 00:21:00,160 Now I take this to be a literal physical separation. 244 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:06,160 Certainly there is to be a moral and spiritual separation of God's people from anything 245 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:10,120 like this and it is true in our world today. 246 00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:18,720 It is frightening, it is convicting to consider how much the world's tentacles have already 247 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,200 come around us and hold us as the people of God. 248 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:33,320 How much we are held and controlled in our thinking, in our values by the world. 249 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:40,200 God calls us to come out and to be different, to separate from the godlessness in a moral 250 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:41,200 and spiritual sense. 251 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,520 We are not to partake of that system. 252 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:48,080 Now we have to work in it, we have to live in it, but we are not to have the same values, 253 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:56,000 we are not to allow the thinking of this anti-Christ system around us to dominate our minds. 254 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:00,780 But it seems to me here there is something even more than that involved. 255 00:22:00,780 --> 00:22:05,600 God is calling his people physically to separate themselves, to get out of the city. 256 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:11,840 But this wouldn't be the first time God has done that would it? 257 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:16,760 God has called people to come out before his judgment fell. 258 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:18,520 God has a very good memory. 259 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:25,320 And all of the centuries and the millennia of rebellion against him represented by Babylon 260 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:29,120 will be brought to bear at this time of judgment. 261 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:32,320 Now the act of judgment is described beginning in verse 6. 262 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:40,620 Render to her, just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works. 263 00:22:40,620 --> 00:22:45,480 In the cup which she has mixed, mix for her double. 264 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:51,880 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously or sensually, in the 265 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:56,440 same measure give her torment and sorrow. 266 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:03,600 For she says in her heart, I sit as queen, and am no widow and will not see sorrow. 267 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,400 That's what Babylon says. 268 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:11,520 Therefore her plagues will come in one hour, death and mourning and famine. 269 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:19,400 And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. 270 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:25,800 And so perfect justice is now going to be fulfilled on this system of evil. 271 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:32,440 As she has worked iniquity, so she will receive double to herself because of the enormity of 272 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:33,880 her sin. 273 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:41,880 The attitude of Babylon is one of taking for granted, of continued self-indulgence. 274 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:50,040 Prosperity and luxury has blinded Babylon to the judgment of God. 275 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,240 But judgment is about to come. 276 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:59,520 In one day, some translations say in one hour or one day rather, what it really refers to 277 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:04,520 is the suddenness with which it will come, this destruction. 278 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:10,920 It's not going to be a process it seems, but it's going to be a blow that will come against 279 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:12,500 Babylon. 280 00:24:12,500 --> 00:24:18,540 Some kind of a blow that God will give or that God will permit that will utterly in 281 00:24:18,540 --> 00:24:23,280 one act, one event bring this whole system down. 282 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:32,120 It involves death, it involves mourning, famine and fire, utter and total devastation. 283 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:39,880 It will be meted out, this judgment, by the Lord who is strong and who is able to do it. 284 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:44,720 What is the response to Babylon's destruction? 285 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,900 Two contrasting responses. 286 00:24:47,900 --> 00:24:52,560 In verses 9 through 19, it is weeping. 287 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,320 It is mourning on the part of the citizens of the earth. 288 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:03,680 What happens in Babylon will create a panic that will far supersede anything that has 289 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:10,660 been known to man thus far, including the collapse of the stock market in 1929. 290 00:25:10,660 --> 00:25:18,620 The economic and political structure will just collapse in Babylon, in one event the 291 00:25:18,620 --> 00:25:27,440 whole rug will be pulled out of the system and everybody will be thrown into chaos. 292 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,560 It mentions the kings specifically. 293 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:35,040 It says the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her 294 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:41,680 will weep and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance 295 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:50,980 for fear of her torment saying, alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, 296 00:25:50,980 --> 00:25:53,160 in one hour your judgment has come. 297 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:54,160 They are in unbelief. 298 00:25:54,160 --> 00:26:02,120 They just can't believe that this whole system that seemed to be so secure and so powerful 299 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:11,480 could come down so quickly and they cry out mourning, alas, in one hour it's gone. 300 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:19,100 They stand afar off to avoid the fire. 301 00:26:19,100 --> 00:26:20,560 Complete speculation. 302 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:29,840 Is this an atomic act of some sort that God allows to be perpetrated against Babylon? 303 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,800 Is that the way God will choose to do this? 304 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,000 I don't know. 305 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:36,240 But it does involve fire. 306 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:44,800 It involves fear to get near this city as it is burning and being destroyed. 307 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:48,000 Now the merchants are specifically mentioned. 308 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:52,840 They will weep and mourn over her for no one buys their merchandise anymore. 309 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:55,920 Now we understand why they're crying. 310 00:26:55,920 --> 00:27:01,320 Not because the city's been wicked, not because they're sorry for its sin, but because they 311 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:02,960 don't have anybody to sell to anymore. 312 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,080 Their system has collapsed. 313 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:08,360 They can't make any more money. 314 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:13,640 Merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and 315 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:18,720 scarlet, every kind of citrine wood and every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object 316 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:24,840 of most precious wood, bronze, iron and marble and cinnamon, incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, 317 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:30,000 wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies 318 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:37,200 and souls of men. 319 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:43,280 You see here the kind of self-indulgence that these merchants were involved in, in the price. 320 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:49,560 The price was the enslavement of men, body and soul. 321 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:55,240 Raymond Strauss says, the last commodity, the souls of men, reveals how low Babylon 322 00:27:55,240 --> 00:28:03,240 has stooped in order to fill her coffers with wealth of this world. 323 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:08,320 We have an ugly picture of what the world system is really like. 324 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:18,280 It grinds and it crushes the common man in order for those in power to be enriched. 325 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:22,520 And for that it is judged. 326 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:27,160 These merchants lose the fruits that their souls had lusted after. 327 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:32,600 Verse 14, the fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you. 328 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:37,880 And all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you will find them 329 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,800 no more. 330 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:47,600 The merchants of these things who became rich by her will stand at a distance for fear of 331 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:48,600 her torment. 332 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:54,240 Notice the same separation here as with the kings. 333 00:28:54,240 --> 00:29:00,000 Weeping and wailing and saying, alas, alas, that great city that was clothed with fine 334 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:06,160 linen and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. 335 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:11,000 In one hour such great riches came to nothing. 336 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:19,200 Oh, the people of Wall Street could understand what that says. 337 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:24,320 The people of our world who are living for money and whose whole lives are given for 338 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:31,240 the pursuit of greed and whose souls are wrapped up by demons who are giving them wealth. 339 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:36,480 If only they could understand that all of those material things come to nothing in the 340 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:37,480 end. 341 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:38,480 They mean nothing. 342 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:39,480 Nothing. 343 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:54,800 Babylon is here in its greed, in its self-indulgence, unmasked and stripped naked. 344 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:56,720 Then we see the ship masters. 345 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:02,920 In one hour with such great riches they came to nothing, it says, in every ship master. 346 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:09,600 And all who traveled by ship, sailors and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 347 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:17,360 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning saying, what is like this great city? 348 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:23,360 They threw dust on their heads and cried out weeping and wailing and saying, alas, alas, 349 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:29,120 that great city in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth for in 350 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:32,800 one hour she is made desolate. 351 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:37,000 She's been laid to waste in one event. 352 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:42,840 Now all that they have bargained for and all the commerce that made them rich, it's over, 353 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:43,840 it's done. 354 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:50,440 Alas, the mourning and the weeping that takes place. 355 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:58,080 So when this system is done in, when this angel acts out the judgment that God places 356 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:04,480 upon it, the citizens of the world just go to pieces. 357 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:12,240 What they've lived for, what they thought was important, is now nothing. 358 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:18,580 In contrast to the weeping in the world is the shouting in heaven. 359 00:31:18,580 --> 00:31:22,760 So often what makes the world sad causes heaven to rejoice. 360 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:28,440 But what causes heaven to rejoice the world could care less about. 361 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,560 Here we see the citizens of heaven rejoicing. 362 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:33,980 This is you and me. 363 00:31:33,980 --> 00:31:35,240 This is the saints of God. 364 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:39,060 These are the angels of God that are seen here. 365 00:31:39,060 --> 00:31:50,040 Verse 20, rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for 366 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:54,760 God has avenged you on her. 367 00:31:54,760 --> 00:32:03,800 In the twelfth chapter of Romans we are told never to take our own vengeance. 368 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:15,680 If you have been abused, cruelly mistreated, victimized, it's hard not to want to take 369 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,800 your vengeance. 370 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:25,120 What parent here couldn't identify with that father who screamed in the courtroom in West 371 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:31,160 Memphis this week to that young man who had killed those and abused those three boys, 372 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:35,000 I'll chase your soul to hell. 373 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:41,040 And he lunged for him. 374 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:42,520 We want vengeance. 375 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,280 But we are told not to take our own vengeance. 376 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,960 God says vengeance is mine. 377 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:53,600 I will repay you. 378 00:32:53,600 --> 00:33:01,240 We look out at the world and we say, God, there is so much evil, there is so much injustice, 379 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:08,400 there is so much wrong, and it just seems to increase and it's not judged, it's not 380 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:09,400 dealt with. 381 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,880 Lord, where is justice? 382 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:23,000 God says to us saints, be patient, vengeance is mine. 383 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:27,920 But God, don't you see what they are doing to people, how they are mistreating children? 384 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:33,920 Don't you see how poor people, impoverished people are oppressed? 385 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:38,120 Don't you see how innocent victims are dying in places like Bosnia? 386 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:42,860 God, don't you see these things? 387 00:33:42,860 --> 00:33:55,680 God says to us, saints, all sin and evil ultimately is directed against me. 388 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,160 I'm the giver of life. 389 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:02,160 The world is mine. 390 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,200 Vengeance is mine and I will repay. 391 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:12,320 What we see here is payday for Babylon. 392 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:18,740 And all of the accumulated sin and oppression that has taken place throughout the thousands 393 00:34:18,740 --> 00:34:28,640 of years by this evil system will now be dealt with and the citizens of heaven are called 394 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:30,520 upon to rejoice. 395 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:33,920 We have a completely different viewpoint than the people of the world. 396 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:40,760 It is not wrong to rejoice when God brings His judgment. 397 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:45,000 Indeed, we ought to rejoice in God's judgment. 398 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:49,680 When we are devoted to the holiness and the righteousness of God, our hearts can't help 399 00:34:49,680 --> 00:35:00,640 but sense joy when God and His name and His righteousness are vindicated. 400 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:05,400 What is signaled here is the vengeance of God upon a proud world system and it will 401 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:12,080 very quickly consummate now with the second coming of Jesus Christ as we get into chapter 402 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:13,080 19. 403 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:19,200 In chapter 17, religious Babylon seems to be destroyed about midway in the tribulation 404 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:21,640 period. 405 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:28,000 What we see in chapter 18 seems to take place toward the end of the last three and a half 406 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,800 years, if not right at the very end of it. 407 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,520 And as I say, it will be consummated with the second coming of Christ. 408 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,720 Notice the things that are no more in Babylon. 409 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:40,640 Let's begin in verse 21 and catch up in our reading. 410 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:46,400 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, 411 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:52,620 saying, Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down and shall not 412 00:35:52,620 --> 00:35:55,400 be found anymore. 413 00:35:55,400 --> 00:36:02,600 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. 414 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:07,640 And no craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore. 415 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:12,920 And the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 416 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:18,160 And the light of the lamp shall not shine in you anymore. 417 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:24,960 And the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall not be heard in you anymore. 418 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,760 Notice all the things that are to be no more in Babylon. 419 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:34,840 The music, the arts, the entertainment. 420 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:38,720 I'm tempted to elaborate there, but I won't. 421 00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:47,320 The crafts, the trades, society, happiness, even the joys of normal social events, all 422 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:55,080 of those things are done as the judgment of God comes upon Babylon. 423 00:36:55,080 --> 00:37:02,840 It says, Your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the 424 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:04,760 nations were deceived. 425 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:10,600 This word sorcery is that one in Revelation found several times that is in the original 426 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:17,560 language, pharmakeia, and you hear there the word pharmacy. 427 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:24,160 It refers to magic spells and drugs that were part of sorcery. 428 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:28,040 Now all of that is going to somehow be a part of Babylon. 429 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:40,240 Does it perhaps suggest that this evil system will be deeply involved in drugs in the last 430 00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:41,240 days? 431 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:45,360 That that will be a part of it? 432 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:47,240 Certainly there is deceit and lies. 433 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:52,680 It says, and in her was found the blood of the prophets and saints and of all who were 434 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:56,480 slain on the earth. 435 00:37:56,480 --> 00:38:03,200 God will hold this system accountable for its sins, just as He holds all people accountable 436 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:08,400 for the works of their lives. 437 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:13,600 This is kind of a heavy chapter as we deal here with the complete destruction of that 438 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:19,520 system of politics and commerce and economics that I think is being put together today, 439 00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:26,260 but which will finally come into some flower under the leadership of Antichrist. 440 00:38:26,260 --> 00:38:31,120 God is going to deal with it, and in chapter 19 the return of the Lord Jesus Christ will 441 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,080 deal with Antichrist himself. 442 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:39,560 We will soon be into that study, I think as soon as next week, if the Lord willing, as 443 00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:42,240 we get into chapter 19. 444 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:53,320 I would like to close tonight though by turning back to the book of 2 Thessalonians. 445 00:38:53,320 --> 00:39:04,680 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, here are some words that I think cause rejoicing in our hearts 446 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,360 and a sense of hope. 447 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:14,520 Beginning in verse 3, we are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is fitting, 448 00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:20,640 because your faith grows exceedingly and the love of every one of you all abounds toward 449 00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:25,800 each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among all the churches of God for your 450 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:31,480 patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. 451 00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:37,040 Now Paul is writing to a group of people in that day, but it is true that the people of 452 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:45,000 God have been a suffering people for the most part really in the last 2000 years. 453 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:50,600 And it seems as though in the cycle of things we are moving into a period like this. 454 00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:55,480 I was in a community meeting this last week in which one person who is a leader in our 455 00:39:55,480 --> 00:40:00,800 community got up and warned the whole group about people like you and me. 456 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:05,040 It was a public meeting. 457 00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:11,860 Now the words were couched very carefully, but it was very obvious what she was saying. 458 00:40:11,860 --> 00:40:18,760 We are cycling into a time when we are going to experience persecutions and tribulations. 459 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:19,760 Should we be afraid? 460 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:21,040 No. 461 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:27,040 We ought to allow love for one another to grow and faith and patience in it. 462 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:32,340 He says that this is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may 463 00:40:32,340 --> 00:40:36,240 be counted worthy of the kingdom of God. 464 00:40:36,240 --> 00:40:41,840 We should not think it strange that we enter into the kingdom of God by suffering our Savior 465 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:45,640 who charted the path for us. 466 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,080 We follow in His steps. 467 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,600 He suffered and we will suffer. 468 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:57,540 For which you also suffer since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those 469 00:40:57,540 --> 00:40:59,920 who trouble you. 470 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:01,800 Here is the other side of the coin. 471 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:07,120 We may face suffering in this world and will face suffering in this world. 472 00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:14,080 But on the other side of it, God is working and He is repaying those who persecute us 473 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:16,920 with tribulation to them. 474 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:23,880 And He says He will give you who are troubled rest with us tomorrow afternoon. 475 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:27,320 Is that what it says? 476 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:28,320 No. 477 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:33,240 It doesn't even say we are going to have rest in this world at all. 478 00:41:33,240 --> 00:41:39,400 We may go out of this world suffering and in persecution. 479 00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:45,720 But it says that we are going to have rest when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven 480 00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:49,520 with His mighty angels. 481 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:56,060 In flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not 482 00:41:56,060 --> 00:42:03,040 obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, these shall be punished with everlasting destruction 483 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:08,800 from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power when He comes in that day 484 00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:17,080 to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony 485 00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:21,160 among you was believed. 486 00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:23,360 These are great words. 487 00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:31,760 They exhort you and me even as we face a darkening day in our world. 488 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:36,560 Even as we come down the line, I think, to the days that are described in the book of 489 00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:39,360 Revelation toward that. 490 00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:44,200 As we are coming into these last days and face what we are facing, these are words of 491 00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:46,920 encouragement. 492 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:48,920 God hasn't forgotten us. 493 00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:54,320 He encourages us to be strong and patient and faithful and loving and to know that one 494 00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:57,520 day we are going to be rewarded when Jesus comes. 495 00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:58,520 We will be with Him. 496 00:42:58,520 --> 00:42:59,520 And at rest then. 497 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,880 In the meantime, we are called to be His faithful people. 498 00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:07,320 Let's be that this week. 499 00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:16,360 We don't rejoice in one sense that the ungodly will experience what they will. 500 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,120 There is of course compassion in our hearts for them. 501 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:25,080 But on the other hand, we do rejoice that God is going to be vindicated and that the 502 00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:34,720 blasphemy that has been given against His name is one day going to be answered by Him. 503 00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:40,760 And all of those who lift their fists against God in rebellion will one day find that their 504 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:45,560 rebellion has brought them into judgment. 505 00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:57,600 God is glorified even when His justice burns like fire, as it will on the city and the 506 00:43:57,600 --> 00:43:59,920 system of Babylon. 507 00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:03,120 Let's pray together. 508 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:11,640 I invite you to stand with me as we close our service. 509 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:18,120 And Father, as we study this chapter and the certain judgment that will come upon the system 510 00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:28,280 of evil under Antichrist, our deep desire is within our hearts that we might be faithful 511 00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:36,500 to you in the midst of this system as it begins to form and take shape. 512 00:44:36,500 --> 00:44:43,720 Show us how we must come out and be separate from it as the people of God. 513 00:44:43,720 --> 00:44:50,980 Deliver us from compromise with it wherein it has influenced us and its tentacles are 514 00:44:50,980 --> 00:44:59,400 around our hearts and we have conformed our minds and our values to its way of thinking. 515 00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:04,660 Show us that we might repent and be delivered from that. 516 00:45:04,660 --> 00:45:06,800 We want to be your people. 517 00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:13,360 And should we enter into suffering as a result of our faithfulness, we pray that you will 518 00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:20,520 give us strength and patience, that we might be a faithful people in the midst of that. 519 00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:27,320 And even this week as we go out and live and serve you, may we serve you well. 520 00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:31,560 May we serve you as your people, knowing that there will come one day when we will be at 521 00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:36,880 rest, when Jesus will come and we will share his glory and his kingdom. 522 00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:39,560 Hasten the day. 523 00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:43,880 In Christ's name we pray, amen. 524 00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:44,880 And good night to you. 525 00:45:44,880 --> 00:46:01,920 God bless you.