Okay, Revelation 18, now look at verse number two it says and he cried mightily
with a strong voice saying Babylon the great is fallen. That's the title of the
sermon this morning Babylon the great is fallen. Now we actually saw in
Revelation 17 you may if you recall that that's when Babylon was destroyed,
destroyed by the hands of the Antichrist and the ten kings that gave him his
power and the Bible says in Revelation 17 that he destroyed it with a fire in
an hour a specific hour that was given to the Antichrist and you know I was
describing how this was kind of the final hurdle or the final roadblock to
the Antichrist taking full control over the entire earth instead of him sharing
his power with the Babylon system he's now got full power for himself he
destroys that system but it's a very short-lived time that the Antichrist
gets entire the entire power over all the earth because soon after this Christ
comes back in Revelation 19 and destroys the Antichrist and his kings and his
armies so he has a very short-lived time when he finally takes control over the
entire earth but if you can look at Revelation 18 verse number one and after
these things I saw another angel come down from heaven having great power and
the earth was lighted with his glory and he cried mightily with a strong voice
saying Babylon the Great is fallen is fallen and has become the habitation of
devils and the holder of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird now very quickly come back with me to Revelation 14 Revelation 14
and verse number 8 Revelation 14 and verse number 8 now when we go back to
Revelation 14 verse number 8 we're going back to close to the midpoint of that
seven-year period when the Antichrist rises to power and it is prophesied by
an angel in heaven in Revelation 14 verse 8 it says and they followed another
angel saying Babylon is fallen is fallen that great city because she made all
nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication so all I'm showing
you there is that it was prophesied in Revelation 14 verse some eight that this
would happen and then we wouldn't get to Revelation 18 it does happen okay but
remember the events of Revelation 18 have followed the seven trumpets it's
followed the seven vials of God's wrath this is the near the final hour of the
earth as we know it before Christ comes back on his cloud okay and not on his
cloud sorry when Christ comes back on his white horse and we have the Battle
of Armageddon and that's when Christ comes and destroys the armies of the
Antichrist but what I want to show you here is that when we talk about verse
number two Babylon the greatest fallen is fallen become the habitation of
Devils so this great city which is the capital city of the great kingdom in
this final period of time is known as the habitation of Devils you know it's a
place that is full a field of the Devils and it says look and the hold of every
foul spirit so you can definitely see in the end times this city is you know
populated not just by people of course but it's highly influenced by the
spiritual realm okay and then it says and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird now I'm gonna tell you something please please don't go crazy on the end
times please don't go crazy I think I've seen some pastors go crazy and they read
verse number two I'm not joking here okay so when it says habitation of
Devils every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean hateful bird you know I've
heard past say well birds are Devils okay so when you think birds flying in
the air that's basically just the devil cuz you know the Bible says that the
devil is the prince of the power of the air and so you got birds flying in the
air and here we've got the birds and I love birds that's a problem like I love
birds I had a pet bird growing up a little cockatiel I love that bird and
then I heard a past say well the Devils look that's when you go crazy that's
when you start going insane you got to slow down a little bit the fact that it
says every unclean hateful bird is you know it's going back to the Old
Testament ideas of there being clean and unclean animals and when it came to being
able to choose what kind of foul bird you could eat of you were not allowed to
eat birds of prey like owls and hawks and eagles those were our birds that
were considered unclean you know under the old Jewish system okay so when we
talk about birds of prey we're talking about birds that basically a scavengers
eat their bodies and you know the fact that it's been related to Babylon is
because we already saw that Babylon in these end times was the political power
that allowed the Antichrist to put people to death okay you know the
Antichrist was the one making war the Saints but of course you need to
understand that the world just doesn't operate on a dictatorship level it gets
the dictatorship level at the end of this okay but he needs to go for the
proper political channels to make sure he can actually destroy and kill and
murder people especially believers and it's Babylon that's given him that
authority that's the political power of the day that gives him the authority to
go and murder people and so if there are going to be deaths and murders and
Saints being put to death then of course that's going to then attract the
vultures you know the birds of prey and so the idea behind that is that Babylon
is the one that's feeding the birds of prey okay they're doing the murder they
kill the Saints blood is being spilled and so it you know poetically the birds
are receiving instruction from Babylon to go and eat those dead bodies on the
street so you know don't believe for a moment that birds are unclean spirits or
anything like that okay now why is it that this city is being referred to as
a habitation of Devils in the hold of every fell spirit is we need to just go
back a little bit come back with me to revelation 12 revelation 12 and let me
strongly encourage you when you're studying the end times please do your
best to follow the narration try to understand look it's not like we're in
chapter 12 and it's detached or 18 it's attached in chapter 12 it's all
following a chronology of events okay and you need to kind of just see what's
happening and then you can kind of understand why is it that this city in
particular is filled with so much Devils okay because you may recall there in
Revelation 12 verse number seven it says and there was war in heaven Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon that's Satan of course and the dragon
fought and his angels so the angels of Satan or other devils are fighting this
spiritual war in heaven verse number eight and prevailed not neither was
their place found any more in heaven so we learned that even today Satan and
Devils can go to heaven okay and and and accuse the brethren before God and
and whatever havoc they're trying to cause and try to destroy your testimony
try to destroy my testimony they're going before God and saying did you see
brother or did you say you know us brother so-and-so sister so-and-so go
and and commit some wicked sin and of course we have Jesus Christ whose blood
speaks of of our salvation of the grace of God of our forgiveness also upon the
mercy seat of heaven but then it says in verse number nine then Revelation 12
verse number nine and the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil
and Satan which deceived the whole world he was cast out into the earth so not
just the devil and his angels were cast out with him so now from from this point
forward at the midpoint of the seven-year period the Devils only have
one place to operate from that's the earth okay and they've chosen to go to
Babylon okay where it's given them it's given the Antichrist the political
strength and power to go and murder the Saints and they're located operating out
of Babylon okay out of that end times Babylon City now come with me to
Jeremiah 51 keep a finger there in Revelation 18 and come with me to
Jeremiah 51 Jeremiah 51 and if you're familiar with the book of Jeremiah you
know the majority of the book of Jeremiah is God's judgment on the
southern kingdom of Judah but then toward the end of Jeremiah several
chapters into it God is judging other nations but when you get to Jeremiah 50
and 51 God begins to judge Babylon okay earthly Babylon but and I encourage you
in your own time in your own time read through Jeremiah 50 and 51 and just see
how many parallels you see with end times Babylon okay I'm just gonna give
you a taste of you know some similarities Jeremiah 51 please and
verse number 8 Jeremiah 51 verse some 8 it says Babylon is suddenly fallen and
destroyed how for her take balm for her pain if so she be so yeah if so be she
may be healed we would have healed Babylon but she is not healed forsake
her and let us go everywhere into his own country for her judgment reacheth
unto heaven and is lifted up even to the skies so that that proclamation of
Babylon is fallen or it says here Babylon is suddenly fallen is also given
to you know Babylon in the time of Jeremiah okay on the earth all right not
only that we see that you know the instruction is going out it says let us
go everyone to his own country you know those instructions flee get out of
Babylon okay why because her judgment reacheth unto heaven I want you to
remember that okay people are fleeing out of Babylon her judgment reaches unto
heaven and is lifted up to the sky so we're gonna see some similarities of
this as we keep going through Revelation 18 but please keep a finger there keep a
bookmark in Jeremiah 51 I want to show you some other parallels come back with
me now to Revelation 18 and verse number 3 Revelation 18 verse number 3 it says
for all 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 wax rich through the abundance of her delicacies all right so
you can see here that the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication now come back with me to Jeremiah 51 Jeremiah 51 and verse number
7 Jeremiah 51 verse number 7 it says Babylon have been a golden cup in the
Lord's hand that made all the earth drunken the nations have drunken of her
wine therefore the nations are mad when the
Bible says therefore nations are mad it's saying they've gone insane okay not
mad as in angry they've gotten the nations have gone insane Babylon is
such an influence on the surrounding nations and Anton's Babylon is also
going to have that influence of drunkenness you know moral decay decay
sorry you know it's a place of of just all kinds of horrible influences you
know you might think today like what are the horrible influences today you know
you think of the media you might think of you know pornography you might think
of the celebrity you know the music industry and the Hollywood industry all
these things that promote perversion and deterioration of society Babylon at the
end times is going to essentially be doing the same thing to the entire world
now come back with me to Revelation 18 keep a finger in Jeremiah 51 look at
verse number 4 it says and I heard another voice from heaven saying come
out of her who my people that ye be not partakers of her sins that ye and that
ye received not her plagues now you say about pass ah how is it that there's
still people in Babylon what we raptured God's people were raptured long ago a
bit a bit past the midpoint of the seven-year period we're now coming this
is near the end of the seven-year period Christ is about to come back on his
white horse Babylon's been destroyed and God is telling his people to get out of
Babylon I don't know I'm encouraged by this to be honest of you because again
it confirms for us that people are still getting saved even after the rapture
all right people are still getting saved as God pours out his wrath in fact I
just um just on Thursday I was at blessed by the church we're going for
the book of Isaiah and I don't know what chapter I'm up to was it Isaiah 18
oh you remember okay I was all right seen and you know it starts with a
judgment against Egypt the burden of Egypt it is and then it ends so
wonderfully like it's clearly about the end times and it ends so wonderfully
that God says about the Egyptians those are my people what you are the people
of God are the Egyptians and it's clearly about end times events why
because God's people are from every nation of every tribe of every tongue
okay and it shows us that there are going to be people that push against the
Babylon system there are going to be people that push against the antichrist
and the mark of the beast like these people are going to exist on the earth
okay and so of course when it comes to the time of great tribulation even
though the majority of the world is taking the mark of the beast there's
still going to be a percentage of people ready to receive you know the
gospel of Jesus Christ ready to find a solution and answer okay to everything
that's happening on the earth and so God is telling you know his people look it's
time to get out of the city it's time to get out of Babylon so you don't suffer
when God pulls out his plagues upon this city and by the way you know I'm not
misspeaking here it's the antichrist that destroys Babylon but it is God's
judgment on Babylon God puts it in the heart of the antichrist to go and
destroy Babylon okay let's keep going there verse number back to Jeremiah 51
please Jeremiah 51 verse number 45 Jeremiah 51 verse number 45 my people
is God speaking about earthly Babylon my people go ye out of the midst of her and
deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord okay so when
Babylon was destroyed it was destroyed by the middle Persian Empire God is
instructed if there's anyone left in Babylon like most of his people as far
as the Jews are concerned they were taken into captivity they would have
already gone back into the land all right they would have gone back and
taken their inheritance or moved back to Jerusalem whatever city they belong to
but there were still some people living in Babylon and God gives this
final structure look get out before my anger falls on Babylon okay so you can
see and I'm just giving you a taste if you spend time in Jeremiah 50 and 51
you'll find so many similarities between these two it's almost like God judged
the head and now God is judging the tail like this whole Babylon system is falling
into the judgment of God and it's essentially just playing out again in a
very similar way symbolically from the earth but obviously its full fulfillment
is happening in the book of Revelation back to Revelation 18 verse number 5 it
says for her sins have reached unto heaven and God have remembered her
iniquities remember about earthly Babylon it said for her judgment reach
her for unto heaven well he had say for her sins have reached unto heaven God
have remembered her iniquities reward her even as she rewarded you and double
unto her double according to her works in the cup which have filled filled to
her double you know what's being said here is that God is going to give a
double payment now some of you guys might work a job you might work on a
public holiday or the weekend sometimes you might get double pay right right
double pay so you know you get your normal pay and then you get double you
know well Babylon's gonna have a double pay Babylon's gonna have a double
judgment you know for every you know for every murder Babylon has committed God
is going to double the deaths in Babylon for every wickedness every judgment
every cruel action of Babylon God's going to double its judgment upon that
city and so this is essentially God's final blow it's actually not the final
blow because we still have the Antichrist but when it comes to the
final blow of the great system of Babylon you know God is making sure that
it receives more than what it even dished out
verse number seven how much she had glorified herself and lived deliciously
so much torment and sorrow give her for she saved in her heart I sit a queen and
am no widow and shall see no sorrow therefore shall her plagues come in one
day in fact it's one hour you since see okay it says here death and morning and
famine and she shall be utterly burned with fire for strong is the Lord God to
judge of her when it says famine so how can you how can people suffer famine in
one day one hour obviously it's talking about not just a city being wiped out
but it's surrounding you know farmlands and agriculture whatever it is that's
feeding now the people are sorry the people of the city well whatever they're
drinking whatever they eating essentially is being wiped out the
entire city is being destroyed by the plagues that are going to come upon upon
her by the Lord now again this is an entire city been destroyed there in one
day it says she shall be utterly burned with fire and you know I have to think
like my my thoughts and again my thoughts can be wrong but I think of
this as a nuclear annihilation like what can destroy an entire city in one hour I
mean fires can be pretty destructive in general but fires need to spread and
they take time to spread and to destroy this all gets destroyed within an hour
like if you're trapped in the city you know you're trying to make your way out
traffic jams you're not going to escape the judgment of God now what's really
interesting about this we're going to look at it in a moment in Revelation 17
actually let's go back there let's go to Revelation 17 let's just remember
remind ourselves are a few things revelation 17 verse number 12 revelation
17 verse number 12 I want to show you a comparison with the Kings in Revelation
17 and the Kings in Revelation 18 okay in Revelation 17 12 it says and the ten
horns which thou saw us are ten kings which have received no kingdom as yet
so these King if they don't have a they're not powerful yet that they don't
have authority yet it says here but receive power as Kings one hour with the
beast all right so this hour with the beast this hour is going to be used to
destroy Babylon okay if you just if you follow the narration the Antichrist uses
this hour to destroy the Babylon system okay but the ten kings they're going to
give the Antichrist this power drop down to verse number 16 and the and the ten
horns which thou sawest upon the beast look at this shall these shall hate the
whore the whore is Babylon okay so again does the Antichrist and do the ten kings
love the whore they hate the whore okay they hate the whore and shall make her
desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire so again
just confirming that it's the Antichrist and these ten kings that are destroying
Babylon but look at verse number 17 for God have put in their hearts to fulfill his
will and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words
of God shall be fulfilled okay so this is known I make I don't know if it's
known I'm making it known this is this is what I call the Antichrist hour of
power okay so he wants to wipe out Babylon his his Kings his power base
they hate the whore like I'm saying the Antichrist wants complete power for
himself he doesn't want to share it with some other system that's in the world he
wants to bring in a new system you know the the new world order whatever it is
right people look whenever there's a Babylon is a new world order essentially
whenever there's a change of Babylon there's a new world order but he wants
his own world order where he is essentially the dictator of the earth
there's no one to answer to there's no one to get permission from there's no
political games that he has to play to get his way he wants his say to be the
only say and so it goes and destroys Babylon but I want to show you these
King this power base they hate the whole they're not part of the old system they
use the system they use her as a whole for their purposes but now they want to
get rid of the whole okay now when you go back to Revelation 18 and verse number
9 it says here and the kings of the earth now you guys you're going to see
that these are not the same as the ten kings and the kings of the earth who
have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her shall be way with
her and laments for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning 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 so when we
talk about the Kings in verse number nine are they the same Kings as the ten
kings no okay these kings were part of the old Babylon system okay they were
under the authority and power and prestige of the old Babylon system but
now we have a new system the system of the Antichrist they hate the whole but
the old system the old kings they loved the whole okay it's what made them rich
it's what made them powerful but the Antichrist wants power for himself and
himself only okay I think it's important to just highlight that there is a power
struggle even deep into the 70th week okay you know the reason I say this is
because a lot of conversations I have people have this idea that Babylon is
just going to rule the entire earth you know for seven years or he's going to
rule it for three and a half years from the midpoint onwards look he's got a lot
of power he obviously he increases in power as time goes on he's got to work
the system he's got to raise himself up he's going to he's got a bring people to
his table and eventually he gets these ten kings and we saw how the crowns
change from seven heads talking about the old system to ten horns being the
ten kings and then those ten kings give their power to the Antichrist but the
Antichrist power like his success is one hour long and a lot of people don't
understand this they think he's going to rule over the whole period you know
he's just you know the what he says just goes and everyone's just going to go
with him no there is turmoil people are not there's going to be people that are
not buying into the system of the Antichrist okay and of course if these
kings are lamenting the destruction of Babylon they're not on the side of the
Antichrist they're probably I'm just assuming they're probably saying what
have we done who have we allowed to take power over the entire earth like they
loved Babylon but the Antichrist and his ten kings they hate Babylon and this is
what I love about the Bible you know sometimes you know again people have
this idea oh man the Saints are just gonna have this or the Antichrist is
just gonna be like have this great success in the end times it's his
success is one hour it's one hour and then Christ comes back on his wife like
I told you the devil is a loser he always loses when he's up when he it
seems like he's about to achieve his you know get to the climax of his power and
it's gonna take over everything is when Christ comes back and just wipes him out
I mean I like that I like that idea I mean I can see in the scriptures here I
pretty much prefer that than to say that the Antichrist has this just global
power from the very beginning or even from the midpoint I don't see that
because that's not how even that's not even how you know politics works today
now there's you know if you want to rise in power you're gonna have to rub
shoulders with people you're gonna have to win votes you're going to have to
whatever you know have generals and armies that want to get behind you you
have to grow in power you're gonna have to try to bribe people you know you're
gonna have to try to you know a smile and in someone's face and then backstab
them later on you know to rise in the political system and so it takes time
for the Antichrist to do this you know but when he finally does it's one hour
long and we're not gonna be here anyway we've been we've been raptured long ago
but I just want to show you look the whole world is not just going with the
Antichrist these Kings going what have we done like what have we allowed who
have we allowed to rise in power they've been deceived even by the
Antichrist verse 11 Revelation 18 verse 11 and the merchants of the earth shall
weep and mourn over her for no man buy off their merchandise any more this is
important okay so again this is only one hour so it's not like it's not like
they're going a long time where people aren't buying their merchandise it's just
like Babylon was our primary buyer you know everything we had what kind of
merchandise first of all the merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones
and of pearls and fine linen so you know gold and silver representing what they
mind the values you know other costly things it says here purple silk and
scarlet and all fine wood and all manner of vessels of ivory so these are all
very wealthy rich items and all manner of vessels of most precious wood and of
brass and iron and marble and cinnamon and odors and ointments and frankincense
and wine and oil and fine flour and wheats and beasts and sheep and horses
and chariots notice the next phrase and slaves and souls of men so the slave
trade is back you know in these end times okay again I don't know who these
like you know we kind of just have to take a guess who these slaves are okay
and souls of men I mean this could be the trafficking system you know child
trafficking and what kind of things are going on but Babylon is known for being
the world's number one purchaser of items like you know so what this tells
me like if the people that are making merchandises trying to sell if they're
like boy Babylon's destroyed who's gonna buy our things now it tells me a few
things about Babylon okay and again I'm not gonna see you know as I explained a
few things I'm not trying to tell you who Babylon is I don't know I'll be
honest with you I don't know because I know I know the geopolitical world
changes so rapidly you know in my own life how old was I ten years old when
the Soviet Union collapsed you know and it changed you know the look of you of
Europe you know and and borders change and powers rise and powers fall and we
live in such a small sliver of history you know when we start to look at
hundreds of years and thousands of years things can be completely different you
know Australia might be new China in the end times as I'm not at all you know I
mean things can rapidly change and you know again I think the big mistake we
often make and I'm gonna make the same mistake but it's more to get you
thinking okay but the big mistake I think a lot of people make is they just
look at the sliver of history you know I'm 40 years old so I look at my 40
years and now I'm interpreting the book of Revelation in my 40 years of
experience and what I see the world and how I see the nation's and how I see the
cities you know we can do that but anyway the point I'm trying to drive
here is that obviously Babylon is the world's number one purchaser of items
the city of Babylon must be a heavily populated city would you not agree with
that like you know there must be a large city with a great populace of people now
just for the sake of this experiment okay just to give you some thoughts make
you think I'm not trying to tell you what to think okay but when I looked at
the 10 largest cities on the earth into you know in our day in 2020 or actually
the numbers are from 2018 but the number one largest city on the earth does
anyone know what it might be sorry Tokyo so we're gonna say Bangkok Tokyo
has in Japan has 37 million people I mean if you wiped out a city of 37
that's more than all of Australia's population that's crazy right I mean
that's gonna be a large consumer of your goods right Delhi India is number two
28 million Shanghai China 25 million fourth place Sao Paulo in Brazil 21
million fifth place Mexico City Mexico 21 million Cairo in Egypt 20 million
number six number seven Mumbai India with 19 oh actually all these have 19
millions but the order is number seven Mumbai India number 8 Beijing China
number 9 Dhaka Bangladesh Osaka Japan with 19 million now that's number 10 but
I wanted to include number 11 here number 11 is New York City in the USA
with 18 million people like these are major cities okay now of course if we're
going through the tribulation at this point in time and we saw and and these
this is what the numbers of the cities I'll be like it could be one of these
one of these in the least potentially based on on the great popular again we
don't know what's going to happen in the end times we already know there's going
to be a great warfare you know quarter the population is going to die then God
pulls out his wrath and a third of what's left gets destroyed by the by the
wrath of God with a you know the chariot the horsemen and was again the
the the angels that come out of the river Euphrates and they lead that army
and they wipe out a third of the population so again things can change so
dramatically okay so I'm not trying to say that it's one of these cities okay
but I want to show you just by looking at this it must be a great populace you
know it must be a city with so many people that by losing that city people
are like well who's gonna buy our things now as we went through that list
though would you say that all of those cities are known as very rich wealthy
cities purchasing the goods of the world probably not you know when you're gonna
start we're gonna look at like obviously not only is it a city with a great
populace but it's got to be a city of great wealth in case we keep going for
this so come back with me to verse on us 14 revelation 18 verse number 14 it says
and the fruits that by soul lusted after are departed from thee and all
things which are dainty and goodly are departed from thee and thou shalt find
them no more at all the merchants of these things which were made rich by her
shall stand afar off for the fear of her torments weeping and wailing and saying
alas alas that great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple and
scarlets and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls so we see
here that this city is a very wealthy city okay very wealthy city whatever the
city whatever people the city want whatever they lust for they get they get
the best of the best not only is it a wealthy city but it's making other
people wealthy as well okay those are of course are selling their merchandise
into the city so what I get out of these verses like I said to you not only is
this a large city but it must be a wealthy city okay and so I looked up
what are the 10 most wealthiest cities on the earth today again don't go with
what I'm saying today things can change very much I'm not trying to and in fact
I expect things to change but I say this just to get you thinking okay does
anyone want to guess what the wealthiest city on the earth is today Dubai a lot
of young people might think that but Dubai also has a lot of poverty okay so
what you think New York City yeah New York City is the wealthiest city on the
earth that's number one number two is Tokyo okay number three they call it the
Bay Area that's San Francisco and the tech Silicon Valley you know where all
the IT and tech you know Google and all that kind of exists number four is
London number five is Singapore number six is Los Angeles number seven Hong
Kong number eights Beijing number nine Shanghai and number ten is Sydney okay
so when we look at those lists we look at the list of you know cities with
great populations but then a city of excessive wealth you know the wealthiest
cities in on the earth and look again maybe in five years time these cities
will change a little bit someone might become off the list and some will be
added to the list who knows okay but when I look at both those lists these
are the cities that appear on both okay Tokyo Japan Shanghai China Beijing China
and New York City okay so he's one of those Babylon pasta I'm not saying I'm
not saying it is okay but when I think of the United States I do think of the
United States as a Babylon as a Babylon you know it has the spirit of Babylon
today okay it's it's been involved in so many wars it's got its it's got its foot
in so many nations even in Australia there are several military bases where
the United States if they have to go to war they can you know have their troops
and have their bases in Australia and you know they're all over the place so
they are in very in many ways a spiritual Babylon and if if New York
City is is the wealthiest city and with a great populace it's also where the
United Nations reside it's where they meet you know the United Nations
building is found in New York City and so I'm not saying that it is New York
City again things can change so dramatically but it's something that I
want to be thinking about of course you know if we are happen to be that final
generation that goes through the end times even though we're not going to see
Babylon destroyed but when we start to see a city with all these hallmarks you
know then you can be pretty sure look that must be that mystery Babylon that
God prophesied in the book of Revelation all right now come back with me to
Revelation 17 verse number 10 Revelation 17 verse number 10 something else that I
want to think about when it comes to the city just in case just in case you take
what I just explained to you too far where you're like okay pastor Kevin said
I'm looking for the wealthiest in 2024 and I'm looking for the city with the
greatest population and I'm looking for the city that's got child trafficking
and all kinds of slave trade happening well just a reminder in Revelation 17
verse number 10 it says and there are seven kings five are fallen one is and
the other is not yet come and when he cometh this is important he must
continue a short space okay then verse number 11 and the beast that was and is not
he even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition so we
know that the eighth king or kingdom of the earth is the beast is the Antichrist
but we know before the Antichrist takes power there's the seventh but but the
seventh it says in verse number 10 it says he must continue a short space so
again I take this to mean I could be wrong but I take this to mean that we
are not going to know who that Babylon is until we get into that final seven
year period because it's a it's a kingdom that only continues for a short
space a short period of time okay and then of that seven comes the Antichrist
comes the beast he destroys number seven as it were and he takes power for
himself but he even continues even shorter only one hour his rule of the
whole earth is only an hour long and then it says in verse number 12 and the
and the ten horns which are sort of ten kings which have received no kingdom as
he already read these but receive powers kings one hour with the beast so again
the the final kingdom of the Antichrist lasts one hour okay and we're gonna see
what he does with that hour back to Revelation 18 verse number 17 Revelation
18 verse number 17 for in one hour so great riches are come to naught naught is
nothing okay and every ship master and all the company in ships and sailors and
as many as trade by sea stood afar off and cried when they saw the smoke of her
burning saying what city is like unto this great city they're mourning about
all the wasted riches and wealth and destruction that's happening in that
city but remember it says therefore in one hour in fact the Bible repeats this
several times in this chapter to get it in our heads that the Antichrist has his
rule for one hour and in that hour he destroys Babylon it's a sudden
destruction of this great city now just to sidetrack a little bit I want to take
something application for us today can you come with me to first Timothy chapter
6 first Timothy chapter 6 and verse number 9 first Timothy chapter 6 and
verse number 9 look we're talking about an ungodly world and what is their
reaction to the destruction of great wealth they're weeping they're so
saddened the sorrowing who's gonna make us rich look that is the way of the
world okay sorrowing weeping over wasted riches all right now when we look
at first Timothy chapter 6 verse number 9 the Bible says but they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which
drown men in destruction and perdition say pastor I want destruction and
perdition that's damnation I want my life to be damned and I want my life to
be destroyed pastor what do I do no one's ever asked me that question but my
answer would be will then desire to be rich you know don't say God's will your
will is make riches your will then should be make as much money as you can
because that's what people think if I make as much as I can my life is going
to be a breeze no God says you're gonna have all of these destruction you're
gonna have but you're gonna be drowned drowned men has anyone ever like I
remember when I was learning to swim I felt like I almost drowned and you
swallow water and panic and you know you don't know am I gonna get out of here
or what that's what riches does the more riches the more possessions the more you
have it's true the more you have the more you have to worry because now
you're worried about losing those things look that's how the world is reacting to
the loss of their trade and their riches the loss of this great city for everyone
we ought not to be like that right the Bible says in verse number 10 then verse
number 10 first Timothy 6 10 for the love of money is the root of all evil
you know if you love money it can cause you to do get into in all like it can
get you to get involved in all manners of evil all manners of harmful things
when I was driving back from Sydney I was driving from Brisbane Airport my
brother Michaels on here anyway brother Michael said to me you know is your
crawler still a money box and I said no no it's been working well anyway just on
Thursday on Friday when I was driving back my car broke down on Bruce Highway
it's just the alternator it's nothing too massive I think hopefully all right
and anyway so the tow truck picks me up and the guys telling me oh man we had
this this guy who just recently just just today crashed his Lamborghini okay
some guy did a Utah in front of him he crashed his Lamborghini and it's like oh
man like can you imagine like what would he be going through and I'd be like yeah
I guess it'd be distraught and worried and he goes yeah but you know what he
said he goes oh don't worry I'll drive my other Lamborghini like like this guy
like you get to a point where you have so much wealth that one Lamborghini is
not enough just in case I crash it I've got Plan B I've got Lamborghini Plan B
in my garage now obviously when you get to a point where you just don't know
what to do with your wealth you start spending it on all kinds of toys and
gadgets you know that's going to cause a lot of heartache a lot of problem like
concerns about this and that and maintain my wealth making sure that I
leave a legacy and a name for myself look it doesn't say money is a root of
all evil we all need money to function there's nothing wrong with it in of
itself but love in money you know we ought to love God and I do love riches
but those riches in heaven that's where I want my heart to be okay we have to
function we need to you know keep a budget and keep a spreadsheet if you
have to and and spend within your means we should be responsible alright and be
generous when we can and things like that but at the end of day we don't want
to be like these end time kings and merchants weeping over wasted wealth you
know our wealth will never be lost whatever we do for Jesus Christ the
trees that we lay up in heaven Jesus Christ says that thieves cannot break in
and still muffs cannot come in and corrupt those riches those riches in
heaven are eternal and look at verse 11 person with you 611 but thou O man of
God Lee these things and follow after righteousness godliness faith love
patience meekness look these are the real riches of life if you have these
qualities you're gonna live a satisfied content life even if your bank account
shows zero okay but if you've added righteousness godless faith love
patience meekness boy those that's what God looks down and says that person is
rich that person is rich in spirit back to Revelation 18 verse number 19 but
what if what if what if you lost everything today everything you worked
for whatever your possessions are and you just lose it all maybe those that
don't have much of like well who cares it's not much but those that have a lot
obviously it's gonna hurt a lot more I think of job the story of job man what a
wealthy man you know what a great man of God and he God took it all away and he's
still rejoicing he's still worshiping he's still praising God you know would
that be you if God took everything away from you would you still be praising God
and I think it's it's good to just stop and analyze where your heart is again
pastor you're saying possessions and wealth are ungodly no no no but the love
of those things is where the problem lies okay these kings of the earth they
love Babylon they love her riches they love us you know selling and making
wealth making profit for themselves that's where their heart lies and that's
why you see look at verse number 19 Revelation 18 verse number 19 and they
cast dust on their heads and cried weeping and wailing and saying alas alas
that great city we're in were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason
of her costliness for in one hour is she made desolate but that's the world but
then we're in heaven are we we're already been raptured if our Lord Jesus
Christ how should we respond verse number 20 rejoice over her thou heaven
and ye holy apostles and prophets for God have avenged you on her so the earth
is mourning weep you know so sad Babylon's destroyed in heaven we're
having a party praise God you know this wicked city has been destroyed this
wicked cities that's been killing the people of God through the Great
Tribulation now God has finally avenged the apostles and prophets who have died
by the hands of Babylon that's why in Revelation 6 10 and they cried with a
loud voice saying how long Oh Lord holy and true does thou not judge and avenge
our blood on them that dwell on the earth those are the martyrs that died
during the Great Tribulation and now God is saying hey rejoice now is the time to
rejoice God has avenged you on her verse number 21 and a mighty angel took
up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea saying thus we
violence shall that that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be
found no more at all okay so once Babylon's destroyed it's it's never
going to recover it's it's wiped out okay it says shout and shall not be
found no more at all okay when this place gets completely annihilated okay
there's nothing left of this city it's never going to be rebuilt it's never
going to be inhabited again and if you couldn't come back with me to Jeremiah
I don't know if you kept a finger there come back with me to Jeremiah 50 please
Jeremiah 50 and verse number 39 Jeremiah chapter 50 and verse number 39 talking
about the destruction of you know the the first Babylon it says there in
Jeremiah 50 verse number 39 therefore the wild beasts of the desert and the
wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there and the owls shall dwell therein
and it shall be no more inhabited forever neither shall it be dwelt in
from generation to generation so again God is just you know fulfilling what is
symbolic about the first Babylon and it's complete judgment of the whole
system of Babylon the spiritual system of Babylon if you want to call it that
is wiped out that city is destroyed it will never be found again you'll never
be inhabited again okay it's good for animals to walk around and whatever they
need to do but it's not going to be ever utilized by human beings ever again back
to Revelation 18 verse number 22 and the voices and the voice of harpers and
musicians and of pipers and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee
and no cross and of course what we're about to read here are just things that
people use for entertainment and fun okay and you might say you know one
reason why people think it's the Babylon the United States is because again when
it comes to the you know the the music that you know celebrities what do you
call them stars musics pop stars you know largely that music is coming from
the United States and so some people think well because see the harpers
musicians pipers trumpeters aren't gonna be heard ever again so this might be a
reference to United some I don't know but if we keep going it's just talking
about like just the fun and enjoyment the the average things that people do
day-to-day it says a no craftsman and what sort of craft he be shall be found
any more Indian the sound of a millstone shall not be heard any more at all in
these so it those people aren't using the city anymore there's no one's
residing the city they've been wiped out it says and the light of a candle shall
shine no more at all in thee and the voice of the bridegroom and of the
bride shall be heard no more at all in thee so no more weddings no one's gonna
be living there no one's getting married on time families for thy merchants were
the great men of the earth and for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived
and in her was found the blood of prophets and of Saints and of all that
was slain upon the earth now again when you look at verse number 24 you can
either apply it to the direct context which of course was the Great
Tribulation the persecution the war against the Saints or you might want to
expand this down that all of set you know all of human history anyone that's
been martyred for the name of Christ that destruction may very well be falling
you know on this end times Babylon I'm not sure how you decide to read that but
again I usually just try to keep it within the framework of what we're
looking at and I believe what it's talking about here is the blood of
prophets and Saints being the Great Tribulation the war against the Saints
that the Antichrist started with the use of Babylon as her power so revelation 18
Babylon the great is fallen okay now I don't know how you feel about that like
you know the Bible says we ought to rejoice over that and I think it's it's
good to learn on what I love about this church and not so much because I'm the
pastor because so many other people are on board with this is that in many
Baptist churches we're not really instructed or not really given clear
guidance of how we can rejoice over the destruction of the wicked okay there's
almost this idea that if you rejoice of God's judgment and God wiping out the
wicked and God sending the wicked to hell there's almost this idea that
there's something wrong with you to want that but when it comes to the
Bible we need to understand that yes God is a God of love and mercy and
long-suffering he's even long suffering with Babylon he gives his
people time get out of there right when God was going to destroy Sodom you know
he gave lot in his family time to get out of there when God decided to
destroy the earth with a flood Noah was years building that arc Noah was a
preacher of righteousness God gave people opportunity if they wanted to to
get on the arc gave them warning before God destroyed and so we love the love of
God and his long suffering and his goodness and his mercy and we ought to
you know we ought to speak highly of that God that God of love God is love
but we also understand that God is a just God you know he's a judge and if he
decides that a city like Babylon the needs double its judgments then God is
right all the time if God decides I'm going to destroy a city with fire and
people are just going to burn to death then we ought to say hey God that's
righteous that's good I'm going to rejoice in you and if God says these
people deserve to go to hell in particular those that have taken the
mark of the beast and have worshiped the dragon and the image you know then yes
God you're doing what is right and we have to be able to rejoice in the
judgment of God it's almost like a lot of churches or pastors are afraid of
being called hateful because God hates we're gonna look at that actually this
afternoon okay but no look we need we need to know the God of the Bible you
know sometimes people say have you heard people say I don't like the God of the
Old Testament it's too rough there's too much judgment there's too many wars I
like the God of the New Testament well we're on the last book of the New
Testament and this is the real God of the Bible and from cover to cover this
is the God that we worship you know when I talk about having a fear of God yeah
we ought to have a fear like it ought to cause some terror to think that there
is a perfect God without sin a perfect God without sin who loved the world so
much that he gave his only begotten son to die on the cross wow what if you
reject him what if you reject him not only did you offend him by sinning
against him but what if you reject him by rejecting his son the sacrifice of
death the blood of his son you know it's it's it's helpful to understand the God
that we worship is a just God and he hates sin and sometimes yes he hates the
sinner that's stupid statement God hates sin but not the sinner it's not even in
the Bible can someone tell me where that comes from again Gandhi not even our
faith not even our religion New Age movement and it's been quoted across
churches God loves a sinner but hates the sin or God can hate the sinner as
well okay and that is found numerous times in the world I don't know how
people don't see it anyway I'm getting sidetracked Babylon the great is fallen
you know we ought to learn not to be afraid and oh God maybe you're getting
too carried away no we need to learn to go well Lord if that's this strike if
that's a judgment Lord then I'm gonna rejoice in your judgment but until you
destroy the surf Lord I can see that you're merciful I can see that you're
slow to anger okay then I'm gonna use that time to win as many souls that I
can for you so they don't have to face the wrath of God okay let's pray