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All right, we're there in Revelation chapter 18, and we'll finish up Revelation chapter 18 in kind of our four-part mini-series on this mini-Babylon series within the book of Revelation. And it's an exciting time tonight. Christmas season has started. We just got done soul winning, and I got to have an energy drink, so man, this is going to be awesome. You know, this is going to be a good night, all right? I'm ready to go. But we're finishing up here. The Judgment of Babylon is the name of this sermon, The Judgment of Babylon. As I mentioned last week, you know, with the identity of Babylon, I believe this to be the United States of America. And if it's going to come within the next 20 years, there's no doubt that's really the only country it could possibly fit with. Obviously, if a lot of time goes by, things could change, and we see through a glass darkly when it comes to things, especially during the end times. But notice here, Revelation 18, verse 1, where it says, And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. Now, let me just say this before we really get started, that right now, this world is kind of in a madhouse right now, and the United States even more so, with all the protests and rioting for like three and a half straight months and everything. And this is why we really need to stick to the Bible to see these things about the end times, because there's a lot of people that say, man, the end is coming, Jesus is coming back now, and everything like that. But quite honestly, you know, throughout my life and throughout the last hundred years, a lot of events have taken place, and they always bring you closer to the end, and people see certain things fit, and they say, well, seeing the end is coming here in the next five years. But just because we're getting closer doesn't mean that we're there, right? We've been going through Revelation, and the things that are going on today, honestly, that doesn't really fully line up with what we've seen in the book of Revelation. I have no doubt that we're getting closer to that point where governments have control and things like that. But this is why we need to stick to the Bible, especially when it comes to prophecy and kind of deep, dark things and things like that. Notice what it says in verse number two. Our first point is this, an astonishing judgment. The judgment of Babylon is going to be astonishing. Notice what it says in verse two, and he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become the habitation of devils in the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Notice the surprise in this statement, Babylon the great has fallen? It's an astonishing judgment. People have this attitude with this end times Babylon that it is never going to fall, okay? It has always been like this throughout human history. Egypt was powerful. There's no way Egypt could ever be taken out, and then they fall. Babylon was powerful. There's no way they're going down. I mean, we get insight with the kingdom of Assyria, especially where you listen to them saying, who's going to possibly take us out? And then boom, they're destroyed like that, okay? It's always been like this. Whenever somebody is mighty and powerful and they get really prideful as a nation as well, they get brought down, and it will happen. It's going to be astonishing to people. It's going to be surprising because they think they're too powerful, but it's going to happen. Verse three, for all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. The Bible says all nations. So this is an empire, this is a kingdom, the United States, I believe, where all nations are defiled by this country, okay? Go down to, we'll look at this, the last of the verse, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Go down to verse number seven, verse seven. How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously. So much torment and sorrow giver, for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen and am no widow and shall see no sorrow. And I want you to notice when it says, I sit a queen, that is in present tense. And so even when this is taking place, even with all the chaos in the world, the attitude is still, I sit a queen. I'm still powerful. I will not be taken out. And this end times Babylon is going to have this attitude that even when all this chaos is going down, oh, we won't be taken out. Look, I can promise you growing up in the US that it is a very prideful country about how it is the greatest country in the world. Now I understand when you grow up in a country, it's kind of natural to love your country, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing. But there's always been this attitude, and you don't really realize it when you're young, but basically no matter what the United States does, they can do no wrong. They are perfect no matter what they do. They start a war with a country. It's obviously the other country's fault that they do. Now look, it is foolish to ever be too attached to one particular country. That is a foolish thing. Now look, I love living here. I'm happy to be here, but it would be foolish to sit here and say everything this country does is perfect. Wouldn't that be foolish? Is there any country you could even that you could look at and say everything they do, every law, everything is just perfect. No. And look, that's why you preach hard against the sins of the country because you want to fix the problems. Because if you do love and care about the country, you want it to become better. You want to fix those problems, okay? Notice what it says in verse eight, Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire. For strong is the Lord God who judgeth her, and the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her shall bewail her and lament 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. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore. I mean, do you notice the shock in verse 10? How they're just astonished? How they say that great city Babylon, that mighty city. How could this city be brought down? How could this kingdom be brought down? People are going to be stunned. People are going to be surprised by this, okay? Verse number 12, the merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones and of pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet and all thion wood and all mannered vessels of ivory and all mannered 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 wheat and beasts and sheep and horses and chariots and slaves and souls of men, pretty much anything that you can think of. Verse 14, and the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee and thou shall 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 torment weeping and wailing and saying, alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and deck with gold and precious stones and pearls. You're seeing an empire that's very powerful. It has everything it could possibly want. Now in today's world, it's not really unique for someone to wear a purple shirt or a scarlet shirt. Colors are very accessible, but when the Bible was written, it was actually pretty unique. Those colors were something that people of royalty or people that had a lot of money had. And so what it's indicating in verse 16, obviously gold is still very valuable, but purple and scarlet, maybe not so much, but it's saying this country has everything it could possibly want. They are rich, they are powerful, nothing could logically bring them down. It's going to be an astonishing judgment. Verse 18, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning saying, what city is like onto this great city? And see people are saying about this city that there is no city like this great city. There's no country like this great country. I believe you could say that about the United States of America in terms of power today. No country has the power, the money, the influence like the United States has. And in times past, there was other empires that had that sort of influence. Now there have been times when there was really no dominant power in the world. Right now, by all measurable charts that you have, the United States is the dominant empire. Now that could change, but right now I think people would be astonished. If the United States got destroyed just overnight, people would be stunned. People would be shocked. I mean, there's a lot of countries in the Middle East that if you wake up tomorrow morning and find out that they got bombed by Israel or whatever, it's not going to shock you. I mean, if some country gets taken out by another country and then they bomb and kill thousands of people, it's not going to shock you. And if that happened to a country like the US, you'd be pretty shocked. Like man, how did people take out that country? I mean, they're so powerful. Go to Nahum chapter three, Nahum chapter three, Nahum chapter three. We're going to be in two places here tonight, Nahum and Revelation 18. So you might want to put a bulletin or a pen or something in the book of Nahum because you know, we're going to be going back and forth. And because the book of Nahum is a hard book to find, right? So you don't want to be like going to Revelation and oh man, back in Nahum again, it's like, all right, Minor Prophets, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, all right, after Micah, okay? So you might want to put a bulletin or something there in the book of Nahum. And look, throughout history, this is how God operates. His judgment is astonishing. Sodom and Gomorrah got taken out out of nowhere, right, and you know, even past the times of the Bible, right? We talked about Pompeii before in his sermon. I think it was during the Revelation series, it was kind of like a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, and it had been forgotten for like 1800 years because it got taken out. And then they dug up the archaeological remains, they found out it was a very powerful city, volcano comes, then boom, they're destroyed, right? God operates like this. He's always operated like this. And one place he's operated like this is with the Assyrian Empire. Now we know the book of Jonah, you think of, you know, Nineveh, but the book of Jonah is like the warning to Nineveh. It's really more about Jonah than it is about Nineveh. The book of Nahum is all about Nineveh, and it's about the destruction of the Assyrian Empire and the destruction of Nineveh, okay? Nahum chapter three, verse seven, and it shall come to pass that all they that look upon these shall flee from thee and say, Nineveh is laid waste, who will be monger? When shall I see comforters for thee? Without better than populous snow, that was situate among the rivers that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was a sea, and her wall was from the sea? Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite. Put and lube them were thy helpers, yet was she carried away. So what he's referencing in verses nine and 10 is that the power of Egypt was infinite. But do you know what's more powerful than infinite is the omnipotent God that we worship. From a logical human perspective, Egypt was as powerful as it could get. And honestly, when I look at this, I think that probably means they were the most powerful because infinite means the top possible level, right? You know, infinite is, you know what, those two little whatever they call that infinity sign, you know, whatever, you know, those two little sideways ovals or whatever. But it's like, look, infinite, it doesn't get more powerful than that. And yet Egypt was destroyed, okay? Now this is being mentioned to Assyria to kind of, you know, slap Assyria across the face and say, I mean, Egypt got destroyed, and they were more powerful than you. So why would you think that you wouldn't get destroyed? But you know, people don't read the Bible. So I mean, there's people that have thought throughout the last thousands of years like Rome will never be destroyed. The United States will never be destroyed, right? The United Kingdom will never be destroyed, will never lose its power. And yet this happens over and over and over again. People rise to power, and they get taken out. You say why? Because God's the one who can grant and take away power, okay? Ethiopia and Egypt were strength, verse nine, and it was infinite. Putt and Lubin were thy helpers, yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. Look, I believe that God intentionally waits until the judgment is just shocking and astonishing to people. When people think it would never happen, I think he intentionally waits. You say why? Because his name gets glorified throughout the entire world when this takes place. And people are shocked by the judgment of God. Look, the judgment of God brings people to Christ. It does not take people away from Christ. There's this wrong attitude. And look, I understand this. I've been in churches before, and I remember a long time ago when I was in my 20s, I'd be bringing a visitor to church or whatever, and I'm just thinking, oh, man, I hope the pastor doesn't just let it out too hard. They might get scared or whatever, but honestly, that's the wrong attitude. And the truth is this. People can take preaching a little bit more than we realize, okay? You have to understand, when it comes to preaching, this is the method that God designed that people can change their lives. If I were to individually go to someone and say, you know what? You're this, this, and this, I mean, people would get offended, right? Which is the same thing if you were to talk to people at our church and say, you've got to change this and this and this. It's like quit listening to rock music, quit listening to TV, quit listening to this. People would get offended, rightfully so. If I did that to people outside of the pulpit, people would get offended. But here's the thing. When I'm preaching a sermon, I'm not like saying, okay, the judgment on Brother Ehrman, all right? Part one, right? Because that would be offensive because I'm signaling him out. When preaching has taken place, I mean, it's to everyone. You know, I write sermons. I'm not specifically thinking of anybody. I'm just writing sermons, preaching the word of God. This is the method that God has designed, okay? And people can actually take hard preaching. And the judgment of God leads people to Christ. Isn't it true in this room that we all got saved because we were afraid of the judgment of hell? I didn't get saved because it's like, oh, man, I got a God-shaped hole in my heart. Man, the glories of heaven and everything. No, I got saved because I was scared of burning in hell, okay? And throughout the Bible, you see that the judgment of God, I mean, Rahab the harlot got saved because of the judgment of God. She had heard about it, and she said, man, truly, that is the true God. And she believed. She got saved because of the judgment of God. Same thing when Jonah was in the ship and how they commented, oh, no, not that God. Not the Hebrew God. And they were afraid. Why? The judgment of God brings people to Christ, okay? Here we're speaking about the judgment of Babylon, and what we see is this, that this judgment is gonna be astonishing. It's gonna shock people. They are gonna be surprised even when it takes place after all the chaos that's taken place in the world. Go back to Revelation 18. Remember to keep your place in Nahum as well. Go to Revelation 18. Revelation 18. But see, not only is this judgment astonishing, this judgment is abrupt, which means it's very short. It doesn't take much time. See, the judgment's gonna be astonishing. It's also gonna be abrupt. It's gonna take place like that. That's what it says in Revelation 18, verse 8. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day. One day. Now, one day is not a long time. I mean, especially when you're thinking of the most powerful kingdom in the world. In one day, they would just lose all their power. In one day, death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. See, the Bible's saying this. This judgment is going to be abrupt. It's gonna be quick. It's gonna be short because the Lord God is strong. He's powerful, and by doing it very rapidly, when they're at the peak of their power, it's gonna be like, whoa. It's astonishing, and it's gonna be abrupt, and see, God is showing his power by doing it this way. Okay? Go to verse number 9. Verse 9. And the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her shall be wailer and lament for her. And 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. Notice this. For in one hour is thy judgment come. In one hour. Right? I mean, one day was a pretty small amount of time. Now it's saying one hour. That's not much time at all. In one hour, just boom, everything just from powerful to just destroyed. Okay? Now, in our modern day, it's a little bit easier to understand how something like this could take place. I mean, obviously, you've got, you know, nuclear weapons, you've got missiles, you've got all of this stuff. And look, if all these nations decide to turn on the United States, and then they would just, you know, pour out their judgment on the US, which would be God's method, then look, it could happen like that in one hour. Go to verse number 17. Verse 17. For in one hour, so great riches has come to naught. And every shipmaster and all the company and 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? And they cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, where and were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness. For in one hour is she made desolate. In one hour, she's going to be destroyed. Now, we can try to theorize why this is going to take place. I believe missiles are probably the most likely thing. And but in one hour, the destruction is going to take place. Now go back to name, go back to name, go back to name. But when you look at the stories in the Bible, when you see God's judgment, it takes place very rapidly. I mean, Sodom and Gomorrah was perfectly fine, and then completely destroyed in a short amount of time. Right? I mean, you look at the history of Pompeii, it was in less than a day, right? There's a video I linked in the group chat a long time ago, that is a cool video of seven minutes long or something just shows the time of day and how, you know, kind of an animated version of how it could be destroyed really quickly. And it just happens in a really short amount of time. I mean, even in the Bible, I mean, you start the book of Daniel, and Babylon is in control. And then like, out of nowhere, Babylon's completely gone. It's like, what happened to Babylon? They got taken out, just like that. It's the way it happens with Assyria in the Bible. So this is God's method. And it's something that, you know what, we ought to keep in mind, even as believers, because look, you know, judgment must begin at the house of God. And as believers, when we live a wicked life, it can be destroyed just like that. And God might be very long suffering with you for certain sins you have. Let me tell you something. It can go from everything's going well in your life and God says, you know what, I'm very long suffering, but my mercy has run out and then boom and then judgment and then everything's destroyed. That could happen as a believer as well. Obviously, we know you'd still be saved and go to heaven. Let me tell you something. If you're hanging on to something, God might be merciful to you for a while and then just boom, everything's taken away. Nahum chapter one, verse eight, Nahum chapter one, verse eight. It says, but with an overrunning flood, he will make an utter end of the place thereof and darkness shall pursue his enemies. Now, I don't believe in verse eight. This is referring to of Nahum chapter one, Nahum one, verse eight. I don't believe when it says an overrunning flood. I don't think it's literally referring to a flood of water. Okay. Now, in an earlier sermon in Revelation, I don't remember the sermon. I talked about how, you know, a flood could be referring to an army and there's a lot of references in the Bible. If you look at the history of the destruction of Nineveh, there's nothing to say it was a flood of water that destroyed it. Okay. But I think it was a flood of an army that just boom, they're destroyed. But I think the reason why he's mentioning flood is because we learn something from those attributes. A flood happens slowly or quickly. When a tsunami takes place and the water hits the land, does that flood overtake the land slowly or is it quickly? It's pretty quick, isn't it? You're not going to outrun that water, are you? I mean, if you're a couple feet away from the water and you start running when you see the wave like this high in the air, you're going to be dead unless a miracle takes place in just a few minutes. Right? Because that flood takes I mean, I've watched plenty of videos with tsunamis before, and it's just amazing how that comes really rapidly, really abruptly. It just comes. And the reason why he's referring to it as a flood and using symbolism is he's letting them know it happened boom, like that really quick. Another thing to keep in mind about a flood, if a flood were to take place, is there any part of this ground that would not be covered with water? Everything would be covered. Right? I mean, a flood covers everything. It's not like it just skips over something. No, it will cover everything. Water will cover this. If we just had a ton of water just dumped in here, everything, all of the floor would have water on it. It doesn't miss a spot. That water will find a way to get to everything. And so I think what he's saying with Nineveh is it happened very quickly, but also just no matter where you are in that country, you're not getting away, okay? This is God's judgment. It is very abrupt. It's quick. And this has always been God's method. God's method, it's astonishing to people, and it's also abrupt. Turn back to Revelation 18. Revelation 18. As you're turning back to Revelation, I'll just read you in the book of Daniel where it says, Therefore the he goat waxed very great, referring to Alexander the Great. And when he was strong, the great horn was broken. And four came up, four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. When he was strong, the great horn was broken. So Alexander the Great rises to power. When he's at his peak, all of a sudden, boom, it's over. It was astonishing to people, and it was very abrupt, and all of a sudden he's dead. And that wicked reprobate is now in hell forever, okay? Came out of nowhere, and then boom, he's at his peak, and then he's destroyed. This is God's method. God's judgment is astonishing. God's judgment is abrupt. But you know, God's judgment is appropriate. It is the right judgment. God is right in the judgment that he pours out. Revelation 18, verse 4, And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Now this verse here, I kind of joke with Pastor Menes before about when I was coming out here to start this church about, you know, instead of starting a church in the US, coming out here to the Philippines, I said, The Bible says, Come out of her my people, right? So it's just like, I'm just getting a bit of a head start. You know, I know we're not in Revelation 18, but I'm trying to get a bit of a head start. Come out of her my people, right? And so obviously, that's not referring to now. I mean, you can still serve God in the US and everything. This is far into the future. But when this judgment is taking place, it's like, yeah, come out of her my people, because you will be destroyed with her. And one thing we need to realize is this, that sometimes, even if you're not guilty of the specific sin, if you're involved in the situation and you do nothing, you could go down with it, okay? It says, Come out of her my people. Notice what it says in verse five, you say, Why do you say the judgment is appropriate? For her sins have reached on to heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. The Bible says about the sins of this end times Babylon that they reached on to heaven, okay? What he's trying to drive home with the symbolism, I mean, because God is very long suffering. He's very merciful. Now I'm not saying it works like this, but try to think of it the way the Bible is trying to describe it here. They've reached on to heaven. Imagine that your sins are kind of like this. They're slowly getting higher, slowly getting higher, and eventually, once they reach on to heaven, they're getting higher and higher, God's long suffering, God's long suffering. But once they reach a certain point, it's like, bam, the judgment's being poured out, right? That's kind of the symbolism he's trying to drive home in verse five, that they've reached on to heaven. Eventually it got worse and worse and worse and worse, and eventually it made it up to heaven, and God said, I'm pouring out my judgment. There was time to fix the situation. There's always time to fix the situation if it's not too late. Now, obviously, you can still have judgment poured on you. You reap what you sow, I understand that. But what I'm saying is this, that you know what? God is being very long suffering, but eventually it's like, you know what? It's too much. The sins have now reached on to heaven, and God's wrath is going to be poured out. Verse six, reward her even as she rewarded you. Reward her even as she rewarded you. Now, why does it say that? Well, because the United States, this end times Babylon, will be persecuting believers. Okay? Now, in today's world, you know, you really don't see that too much. Now, I don't know. I think some people in the US think that Christians are really being persecuted in the US. They're really not. It's like, go to a Muslim country and tell me Christians are being persecuted. That's not taking place right now. I mean, losing a YouTube channel or whatever, obviously that's not good. I mean, hopefully we'll be able to have our YouTube channel and stuff like that. But you know, that's not hardcore persecution like is going on to Christians all over the world. Now, I heard a good sermon recently from my friend Pastor Jason Robinson in the US, and he was kind of talking about how one day all of us will lose our YouTube channels. We'll all lose Facebook and YouTube, but God's word is not bound, and it will still go forth. And that's the truth. Because, look, people were serving God far before there ever was a YouTube 20 years ago. And these websites, you know, YouTube and Facebook, by all means, I think we can use them for good. Right? Like on Facebook today, just a message in the morning, hey, soul winning at 3.30. Very convenient, works very well. But these websites are run by wicked devils. That's the truth. That's a strike. I don't know. These websites, these things, they're run by wicked people. They're run by evil people. And what we're seeing is a shift, especially I've seen it on Facebook more than YouTube about how they try to censor good information. Have you ever noticed this now? Somebody posts something on there, and all of a sudden you see, it's a fake news. This is not real. Anything against what the media is saying is fake news. Right? That's what they're doing now. I mean, anything that is against the mainstream opinion by the liberal wicked media, it's fake news. Right? That's what they're trying to shove down our throats now. I mean, honestly, it's going to be a scary world because when they really censor social media completely, we as Christians that read the Bible, we know what we believe because of what the Bible says. Everybody else is just going to be brainwashed. They're going to be a brainwashed robot being led to the slaughter by the evil governments and these websites and everything like that. The agenda that they're pushing, you can see that taking place now. I don't think it's going to take place in the next couple of years, but you can tell we're heading down to that point. Anything that's against the mainstream opinion, this liberal wicked media, liberal wicked agenda, they are trying to censor it, and they will censor it even more and more. Now it's kind of exciting to see what's going to happen after that because as a church, we're still going soul winning. We're still going to get people saved and perhaps we're going to see people more motivated to go to church when they can't listen to the sermons online. I don't know. It might end up being a good thing, right? Maybe people will be more likely to bounce back to church. I don't know. Okay. Or it could just be getting worse and worse until we reach the end. We do know that the gospel is going to be preached to the ends of the world. Now I believe there's safe people in every country today except Vatican City because it's not really a country. Okay. I don't know why you call it a city and say it's a country at the same time. It's not a country, but in every country in the world, there's safe people. There's safe people in North Korea and Iraq and Saudi Arabia. So there are people that are saved there and people still get saved on occasion there. But I believe with the gospel being preached to the ends of the world, it's going to be a mass pouring out of the gospel to the ends of the world. You can't say right now that in North Korea, man, the word of God is just boom, just flying off the charts. Okay. But it will one day reward her even as she rewarded you. Why? Because this end times Babylon. This is why God said, come out of her my people because of the fact this end times Babylon is wicked and double onto her double according to her works and the cup which she had filled fill to her double. So it's basically getting a double judgment twice as much verse 20 rejoice over her thou heaven and holy apostles and prophets for God hath avenged you on her. Rejoice over her. Okay. See, the Bible is saying this, that holy apostles, prophets, safe people, look, they're going to be rejoicing that this judgment actually came forth. They're going to be happy for it. Why? Because they're persecuting Christians. It's interesting when you see a country that's really judged by God for a specific situation. And then it's just like, you know, the country I can think of, you know, a long time was like 10 years ago, there's a major earthquake in Haiti, and Haiti is like the most voodoo country that there is. The religion of Haiti is technically Catholicism, but they call it a I can't remember the term where basically you can worship Catholicism and worse, but another religion at the same time. Not synthetic, something closest, but basically, you know, everyone there, they're all Catholic and they're all also voodoo. And if you ever watch videos over there in Haiti, it's like you see a bunch of possessed people at these Catholic church services where they're doing dancing and everything like that. And they have fires going in skulls and stuff, and you're like, What in the world? But they had this major earthquake, like the most devastating one. It killed I don't know how many people, like 100,000 people and everything. And it was like this big humanitarian effort to just give them financial aid and stuff like that. Look, God's judgment went forth on that country. Right? I mean, it's one of the most wicked countries. I mean, voodoo is the religion. I mean, voodoo right now, voodoo is the one. And I understand not all of voodoo does it. But you know, the dolls where you prick them and everything that's devil worship. That's what the religion is. They're worshiping Satan. Oh, you can still worship Catholicism, worship Satan at the same time. Yeah, of course you can. I don't disagree with you. You can't be a Baptist, though, and do voodoo at the same time, right? We're making jokes, you know, down in Pampanga about, like, VBC, like, if you were to rename it in a couple of years, you know, to keep the same, you know, letters. We're trying to think of what V could be. We're like Vishnu Baptist Church, like the Hindu God, Voodoo Baptist Church, Vegetarian Baptist Church. Right? Look, you cannot be a Baptist and practice voodoo at the same time. Right? That is Satan worship. And look, in our world today, you got Christians, they'll celebrate All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Halloween. It's devil worship. It's like, what are Christians doing this stuff for? It's funny, you know, I know someone in the US and he grew up in Romania. Okay. And he goes to Verity Baptist Church, but he grew up in Romania and Romania is famous for, like, these occultic, like, vampire type things like Transylvania. You know, if you've heard of that and stuff like that, it supposedly has all this, like, you know, in movies and stuff like that, all of this, like, satanic sort of stuff. But you know, he said he came to the US and I guess when he was young, they didn't practice Halloween or whatever. And, like, the first Halloween, like, he's like, what in the world is going on? Because there's, like, skulls in people's yards and everything and these witches. And he's like, what in the world? It's because, I mean, it's Satan worship, right? And so, look, I don't even know how I got on that rabbit trail. Where are we? Where are we? Verse 20. Revelation 18 verse 20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on him. Now, here's what I'm saying. When God's judgment is going forth, God's people are rejoicing over this, that it's a good thing. And, look, when God's judgment goes forth, we should not have the attitude like, oh, this is terrible or whatever. I don't think there's any question, however you want to look at it as a financial judgment or whatever. Look, 2020 has been a crazy year and God's judgment is going forth. Now, look, to this date, there are less than 900,000 people that have died from COVID. I mean, it's a real disease. It's not like the black plague or anything like that, but it certainly is a financial judgment. I mean, it's certainly prevented people from coming to church and things like that. You know, by all means, it's just like, and look, I understand the governments are reacting the wrong way and everything like that. And I don't agree with everything that's going on, but it's certainly a financial judgment from God. God's allowing it to take place. And look, you know, obviously we hope it ends. We pray that it ends, but if this is part of God's judgment, he says, hey, you got a whole year of this, then that's what we have. We got to live with it. Now we're still able to get people saved as a church. You know, we still get, you know, around 40 people saved every week right now. It's going to, I assume, press forward. We're having a good week so far, but obviously we hope it ends, but what I want you to understand is God's judgment is appropriate. Even if we don't like it, it's still appropriate, right? Look, when, when, when, you know, Mount Pinatubo took place, there's plenty of saved people that live in Pampanga, right? That judgment still went forth, and if you lived in Pampanga, you're out of your home for a long time, right? I mean, yeah, there's saved people that are dealing with this stuff, but you know what? That's just the way it is. You know, God's judgment is appropriate. Verse 24, and in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth. See, the Bible says this, that this Babylon is the murder of prophets and of saints. Okay. I don't believe that's just a reference to the end times Babylon, because I think that's a reference to all of the Babylon's is true, but it's going to be a reference to the end times Babylon as well, especially as we press more toward that day as they get more and more control. And look, they will be killing saved people. They will be persecuting saved people. They will be preventing the message from going forth. Now in today's world, when the US starts wars with countries, they always say, well, you know, the Muslims wicked and everything like that. And they say they're doing it in the name of Christianity. That always bugs me because, you know what? Killing a bunch of innocent people and saying it's in the name of Christianity. That's wicked. Okay. Obviously, we get that Islam is a false religion, but killing children and women that have done nothing wrong, it's just like, you know, you can't say, well, this is just and we're a Christian country. So we're doing this. No. Eventually they're killing Muslims. Now they're gonna be killing the fundamental Baptist one day. That's the truth. Revelation 18 verse 19. Number one, God's judgment is astonishing. Number two, God's judgment is abrupt. It's very quick. Number three, God's judgment is appropriate. Revelation 18 verse 19. Number four, God's judgment is absolute, meaning it's a complete destruction. It's absolute. It destroys everything. Revelation 18 verse 19. And they cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, alas, alas, that great city wherein we're made rich, all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness, for in one hour is she made desolate, a complete desolation. There's nothing left completely destroyed in one hour. Verse 21. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all. Okay, this end times Babylon is completely destroyed. It will never be found again. Okay, now this is why I'm not trying to go in too big of a rabbit trail, but this is why this can't be Jerusalem, because it will be found no more at all. And then there's New Jerusalem just in a few chapters. Okay. This is clearly not referring to Jerusalem because it's completely destroyed. It will never be found again, the Bible says. Okay, now I believe this is referring to the United States of America. I believe it's referring to some major powerful empire. It says it will be found no more at all. It's completely destroyed. Okay, verse 22. And the voice of harpers and musicians and of pipers and trumpeteers shall be heard no more at all in thee. And no craftsman of whatsoever crafty be shall be found any more in thee. And the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee. See how specific he is that you're never going to have the light of a candle, the sound of a millstone, it's never going to come. And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. Okay, no more marriage has taken place. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth for by the sorceries were all nations deceived. Go back to Nahum. We're going to close up in the book of Nahum, the book of Nahum. Look, I don't mind if you have a different opinion about end times Babylon, but whatever this end times Babylon is, the judgment is going to be astonishing. It's going to shock people because it's such a powerful country. It's going to be abrupt. It's going to happen like that. It's going to be really quick. It's going to be appropriate. It's the correct and proper judgment. And it's going to be absolute. It's going to completely destroy. And look, this is the method God has used throughout history. God takes an empire that's at the peak of their power and he'll take it away. And it's a very quick judgment. It's the right judgment because of the sins of that wicked empire. And oftentimes they are completely destroyed. Now look, not always are they completely destroyed. Sometimes powerful empires, they get judged, they get taken down a notch, but they're not completely destroyed. They're completely destroyed if they're just so wicked and they've done so much evil that God has to destroy them. Now there have been powerful empires that were taken out, but not completely destroyed. I mean, Rome still exists, right? Greece still exists. They lost their power. They weren't completely destroyed. Even Egypt, very powerful, and they got taken down. They got taken away and changed and stuff like that, but they're still around. They're not powerful today. They were around. They're powerful. They were taken out and everything like that. Assyria, on the other hand, as I've always said, they're the most wicked empire clearly in the Bible. And the only reason why we don't remember Assyria is because of the fact God said, I'm going to completely wipe you out. I mean, you could walk down the street and talk to people and ask them, hey, have you heard of Rome before? Have you heard of Rome being powerful? Of course, Egypt. Yes, Babylon. I've heard of Babylon. Greece. Yeah, it's the end of the great. I know him. Assyria. Assyria. It's like ask someone to name a king from Assyria. Nobody knows a king from Assyria. I mean, unless you've read the Bible, it's like nobody knows who Shalmaneser or Tilgath. I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right. I need to listen to score before Tilgath, Pilsen, Neir or whatever. Nobody knows those names. Sennacherib. Nobody knows those people. They are forgotten. You say, why? God made it that way because Assyria was so wicked. This end times Babylon is going to be that wicked, the Bible says. Now I don't believe we're at that point yet with the United States. I believe it will get more wicked. I can say this, though, and look, I don't know how God compares all these different countries. It's kind of hard to see, but the United States is responsible for more bloodshed than any country in the world. It's not even close. They start wars with so many countries and kill so many people. And every war they're not involved in, they're kind of involved as well. They kind of give the green light or, hey, we'll send in some extra troops or whatever or make sure, blah, blah, blah. So they're responsible for more bloodshed. And even from a standpoint of abortions, there are one million babies aborted every year in the US. One million is a lot of babies. It's a lot of babies that are being killed. Now I'm not saying they're the leading country in that, but God's standard is they're so wicked that they will be completely destroyed. I don't think they're at that point yet, but here's what we need to understand. When you have major influence, you're going to be held more accountable for what you do wrong. Right? I mean, if you're someone who's in a position of power, I mean, think for example, you know, me running this church, preaching these sermons. If I fall into wicked sin, I will be judged more harshly than the average person. Why? Because of the fact I have more influence than other people. Now everybody at church is important. Don't misunderstand me. If the leader of a church falls into a wicked sin, that's devastating to the church, right? If we had a member of our church fall into wicked sin, you know, by all means this Sunday I'll be preaching about, you know, church discipline. By all means, that person would be kicked out and everything and obviously it would be terrible. I mean, people would be sad about it and everything like that. But if the leader gets, you know, into some major sin, oftentimes, you know, churches just completely fold, right? The United States, they may not be the most wicked in terms of how each individual person is, but they have more influence. Their music is influencing everybody around the world. Right? I mean, everybody knows who Katy Perry, probably even in North Korea, they know who Katy Perry is. Right? Anyways, Nahum chapter one, verse eight, Assyria was the same way. Nahum chapter one, verse eight, but with an over running flood, he will make an utter end of the place thereof and darkness shall pursue his enemies. Notice how he says he will make an utter end of the place thereof. What is he saying? He's saying you're going to be completely destroyed. What do you imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end. Affliction shall not rise up the second time. He's saying it's going to be an absolute judgment. He'll make an utter end. Hey, afflictions not rising up a second time. What is he saying? Oh, you're done. There is no second chance. It's like you're already dead. You're gone. You're destroyed. There's no chance that you coming back and fighting against us. Go to Nahum chapter three, chapter three. We'll close up chapter three, chapter three, chapter three, verse seven, and it shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee and say, Nineveh is laid waste. Who will bemoan her? When shall I seek comforters for thee? Nineveh is laid waste, the Bible says. Think of a wasteland. There's nothing there. It's going to be complete. It was completely destroyed. Look, that's what it's going to be for the end times Babylon. That judgment is going to be absolute now as a church that's not in the U.S. in another country. I mean, how do we look at this? Well, if that doesn't really affect the great preaching that's going on in the U.S. now, I'm not saying we ought to hate that country. I mean, I don't. I don't hate that country. And I don't. I don't particularly think we're that close to the end times personally. So I mean, I think this is still a long ways off, but I want you to realize that God's judgment is the proper and correct judgment. It is going to be an absolute judgment. It's going to be astonishing. And you know what? It is the correct judgment is the appropriate judgment. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see your word and help us to understand these dark sayings, this end times prophecy. We realize we see through a glass darkly and things can change. And you know, obviously with this end time stuff we have to study and you know, some of the things I say might not be 100% perfect. You know, we see through a glass darkly, God, but help us to do the best we can to understand this end times prophecy, God, and motivate us to live for God now, God, we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.