Great songs isn't music wonderful the way it can just take trues and and make it fun and refreshing and also contemplative as well We're breaking this week from first Peter I I'm not one who likes to do New Year's resolutions because they usually don't last the whole new year and But anytime a new year happens, right, we get contemplative, we reflect the past year, we look forward to the next year. And who knows what the Lord has for us as church and what he has for you each individually. But we do know that we can trust the Lord. He's sovereign on his throne, ruling and reigning, that he desires us to be more faithful, to be more obedient, to share the wonderful gospel of those around us who so desperately need to be washed in the blood of the lamb. So I'm going to take a break this week. We'll be back in the First Peter next week. But as we're getting to New Year, I wanted us to consider a passage that you probably don't think of when you think of New Year. It's Revelation chapter 18. So if you want, you can turn there. Although it's a passage primarily with application for those living in the tribulation, Because we are the bride of Christ, we will not be in the tribulation. Let's just clear that up right away. However, the principles then that will be for their day are very relevant to us in this day. Now, a quick background on Babylon, a little history lesson. Her roots, this Babylon of Revelation, go all the way back to Genesis 11, the famous Tower of Babel, where God confused the languages for man's rebellion to Him. I'm going to read that passage, nine verses, just to kind of help us see the picture. Now, the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and settled there. They said to one another, Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they used the brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top we'll reach into heaven. And let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we'll be scattered abroad the face of the whole earth. The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, behold, they are one people and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do." Now this next sentence just blows my mind because this is God speaking about men. And now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so they will not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the old earth, and they stopped building the city. Therefore, its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth." And today we still live with foreign language problems, right? I don't understand what you're saying. Of course, AI and other technology pretty much has eliminated that. And now we're back to a one-world language again. We can interface with anyone. Now, Babylon of the future is rooted in Babylon of the past. And Babylon was built in rebellion to God. Babel is geographical, a literal city, a centralized and self-sufficient city. Men, by the way, were supposed to fill the earth, and they disobeyed God by remaining in one location. Genesis 128. Babel was political. I don't know if you know this, but Nimrod, who was a mighty hunter, he founded not only Babylon, but Nineveh, two great cities that would be antagonists to Israel. and this became a rebellious kingdom. Babel was also spiritual, in building a tower to reach into heaven, but it wasn't to reach God. It was to make a name for themselves. It's also implied that Babel was commercial, since a centralized city needed to sustain itself with goods, trade, and wealth, and so forth. According to scripture, the spirit of Babylon is still with us today, as is the geographical location. I don't know if you know this, but they are doing some rebuilding in Babylon today, the literal location. But the Babylon of the tribulation has not arrived yet. It is still yet ahead. Now, Babylon the Great, as it's called in the book of Revelation, is called the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth. She is a pitcher of all false religions. and other things. The spiritual Babylon has led men, women, and children away from God into idolatry and ultimately into eternal destruction throughout the ages, the spirit of Babylon. Revelation 17 shows us how in the tribulation this will culminate into this worldwide influence. And in the future, the Antichrist initially kind of works with Babylon, but then at the end goes in and defeats Babylon, which is a really strange situation. And at some other time, we can go into more details on that. But as Babylon in tribulations established, all worship is going to be centralized. And that, of course, is to worship the Antichrist. And at the midpoint, the Antichrist will reveal himself, about three and a half years in tribulation. Now, this idolatrous worship is very similar in its imagery to what Daniel and his three friends faced when King Nebuchadnezzar was king of the world of Babylon, and he had everyone come to that idol to bow down and worship it. Satan has had a long history of influencing world leaders, not only Nebuchadnezzar until he got saved, though I believe he is saved based on other passages, but the king of Tyre is mentioned in Ezekiel 28, the kings of Babylon mentioned in Isaiah 14, and even when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, do you remember when Satan says, you know, bow down to me and I'll give you all these nations, as if the kings of the world were in Satan's back pocket, and many are, whether they realize it or not. There are some of you here today who probably once caught up in a false religious system. I know I was, but today you can testify how Jesus Christ rescued you from spiritual Babylon, from the kingdom of darkness. Praise God for our great and glorious savior and deliverer, Jesus Christ, who delivers us and transferred us to his kingdom of light. Now, in this passage that we have today, Revelation 18, one through eight, we're provided additional insights into this ungodly city. John's going to reveal to us God's judgment on this literal city and these people. And chapter 18 focuses on the final fall and judgment of this future revived world dominating Babylon. However, let me warn you. Though this passage is yet future, as a reminder, us true believers will be raptured. We won't have to go through these events. But there are still significant and profound lessons for each of us that we need today to live. So today we're going to learn eight principles, and those are listed on the handout, to protect you from being entangled and enslaved by the spiritual and commercial idolatrous Babylon. So, if you would, turn to Revelation chapter 18 and let us read the first three verses. After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a dwelling place of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality. Now, when you read this phrase, after these things, and again, we're dropping ourselves in the middle of Revelation here, John is giving us another vision that chronologically follows the previous vision. A new angel with authority has arrived on the scene. This angel has literally left the throne room of God. You can be certain that the actions the angel takes, the words he proclaims, will reflect the very will of God that he received face to face from the Father, and it is authoritative. And when this angel enters the earthly realm, he will bring light to the earth. This is significant because the fifth bowl judgment, even though this is the seventh, if you remember in the book of Revelation, Revelation 16, plunged the beast kingdom into darkness. Very similar how in Exodus, Egypt was placed in darkness. So imagine, I think we're not certain, but we believe the darkness was continuing up to this point. So imagine being in darkness, and then this angel of glory comes in God's holy light, illuminates the earth. This would be surprising, astonishing, and for unbelievers, distressing. Just when the people's eyes are beginning to adjust to the blinding bright light of this holy angel, their ears now have to adjust to the angel's deafening voice. The voice is described as crying out or shouting. It's mighty, it's powerful. It's a loud voice and everyone will hear. It will sound above their streaming TV and streaming music. The words that follow though will be terrifying. Twice the word fallen is repeated, confirming certainty. You might recall from Revelation earlier in 14.8, the prediction of Babylon's fall. Fallen was repeated twice and first in that passage and here as well. God's judgment has arrived. And this word fallen literally means to fall down without the implication of never to rise again. Scripture interestingly pictures similar imagery when Babylon the past, which we read earlier, had fell during Daniel's time to the Medes and Persians. Listen to Isaiah 21.9, These words literally repeat themselves, helping us see this connection. All the images of our gods are shattered on the ground, because Babylon of then, of old, was idolatrous, and Babylon in the future will be idolatrous. As terrible though as this past judgment on the former Babylon was, this future judgment is far worse and far more extensive. I would suggest that even some of the portions of the Old Testament on Babylon were not completely fulfilled, and they will find their final fulfillment here in Revelation 18. and the bowl judgment. Now, I may add that God has been, from the beginning, warning us for thousands of years about Babylon. Therefore, we see a principle of God's justice and wrath. This is your first one. I'm not going to read that passage. The longer the warning, the greater the ignoring, the severer the destroying. This is a principle that we see throughout scripture. God is patient. He is. He's patient right now for 2,000 years, warning people to repent and believe. And with a greater, longer warning, the severer the punishment will be. Now Babylon is described as great. Don't think this implies that there was anything redeeming about it. Instead, it informs us of its significant size and its worldwide corrupting influence. The remaining words of its judgment, exclaimed by the angel, is startling in its implication. It's exceptional in its structure. It's really like a funeral dirge. It's poetic and has parallelism. Fallen, fallen, Babylon the Great. Now, there's some parallelism right there. Now, the introduction speaks of what Babylon will look like after it is destroyed. This is kind of giving you a sneak preview before it's destroyed. This is one of the reasons why it's being destroyed. This once great Babylon is now fallen, never to rise again. It's a dwelling place of demons, a prison of every false spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hated bird. These three phrases are actually repeating the same idea. So I believe after studying this passage that these unclean birds are not literal birds that we hear about later in Revelation. This is all in parallel. This is just describing these angels. And we know the angels sometimes have wings and so forth, but it's just, this is all connected. These three phrases repeat the same idea. And according to Revelation earlier, 200 million demons were released in the world. And so think of 200 million demons in this Babylon city. Just think of the seven demons. Remember the Son of Sceva incident, where these guys come in, try to do some exercising of demons. And they're like, I know Jesus and I know Paul, but you guys, I don't know. And they jumped on these guys and beat them all up. That was just seven. How about 200 million demons congregating in a city? This is an evil, wicked place. Consider Revelation 18.3. for all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality." So you can see this intertwining of this interconnectedness, this interplay between corrupted spirits and and corrupted men. And this brings us our second principle. The corrupted spiritual realm interacts with the corrupted physical realm. If you wonder why sometimes evil in this world really is evil, is there's a demonic force sometimes behind those things. This problem exists in our world today, but not on the kind of scale it will in future Babylon. You know, even in Paul's day, he spoke of this. Remember, Paul's in Rome, he sees the temples, And this is what he writes, What do I mean, then, that a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake at a table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he, are we? This is the challenge. We live in this world and there is idolatry around us. It's not like India where we're literally seeing figures of idols to bow down to, but there's other types of idolatry, which I'll mention in a moment. We have to guard our hearts from the worldliness, from idolatrous behavior that we see around us. The world is inviting the judgment and chastening from our heavenly father. James, the half-brother of Jesus, saw the problem in the early church, and he wrote this. What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source of your pleasures that wage war in your members, them desiring to have things? They cause conflict over that. You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives. so that you may spend it on your own pleasures. You adulteress." Now, this is James talking to the church. Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Now, James is making it clear that what he means by friendship with the world, it's another way of saying embracing worldly ways. It's being sinful. It's appropriate to make friends with people at work and so forth for the opportunity of the gospel. That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about embracing the worldly sin. And that puts you in the sight of God's chastening and judgment. This is why Paul says we must put on the full armor of God every day in order to fight these spiritual battles. Now let's return to our passage. Before Babylon falls, lost men, lost women, lost children, they have at this point rejected God and Christ. They've taken the mark of the beast and they are fully worshiping the beast in his image. Just so you know, you cannot take the mark of the beast now because it's not in play. Satan and his fallen angels are roaming the earth. spreading the influence everywhere. And as mentioned earlier, the Sixth Bowl has unleashed these 200 million unclean spirits. They're out in the world. They're getting ready to gather the kings and the people to go in this futile battle called Armageddon, which they're going to lose. And so before the fall of Babylon, God needs to bring destruction to Babylon. Unbelievers in Babylon and elsewhere in the world are influenced by these demons. and they're all heading into this ultimate battle that they'll lose. This is nothing new, but it reaches an epic proportion here in the book of Revelation. But think about this, go back in time, since the garden, the flood judgment in Genesis six, angels came down, And it says, sons of God, marry the daughters of men. There was demonic influence and God had to bring a flood. Think about Egypt and Pharaoh going in madness, pursuing Israel to only again be flooded as well. Judah, Assyria, all these, you know, judgment comes to these countries. And Satan and his fallen angels have tempted men, leading them directly or indirectly into this fight against God. And it never ends well. By the way, if you're wondering about the birds, like I said, I believe this is referring to demons and that the birds that come and feast on the flesh of men, that's later. It should be pointed out though, that this future fallen Babylon, which is home to unbelievers and demonic spirits and unclean, stands in sharp contrast to our future home. Just listen to these words of what we will experience. I saw no, this is the new heavens and new earth. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light. The kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime, for there will be no night there, its gates will never be closed, and they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it, and nothing unclean, and no one who practices an abomination and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the land's book of life." In other words, only believers. Now let's return to verse three, which describes Babylon's spiritual corruption in even more detail. This verse expands on the earlier insights of Revelation 17.2, which is nearly identical passage. But here in 18.2, wrath is added. Nations and kings and merchants. represents all the unbelieving influencers living the world during this future time. This is a marriage between the political, the commercial, and the spiritual. And these passages reveal the inherent judgment built into such spiritual adultery by God himself. And this brings us to principle number three, which is the corrupted spiritual realm was corrupting the physical realm. And this is how it works. When we begin to lose sight of our spiritual priorities, we then make room for the flesh priorities. And this is always a battle because of the two natures that we have, right? Inside, we're the new creature in Christ. That's born again. And that has a spirit helping us obey. But we're still in this old flesh, which sometimes, if we yield to it, we end up disobeying the Lord. And so this is a real challenge, so we have to be careful. If we want to understand how the people of this future Babylon were expressing their idolatry, all we have to do is look at Colossians 3, 5. And this really tells us what true idolatry is. Paul writes, therefore, consider the members of your earthly body, that's this, as dead to, and then here's the list, immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. So bowing down to a block of wood shaped to some figure, yeah, that is idolatry. But what was behind that? It was this kind of behavior. And if you want to understand Babylon in the future, this is how they were acting. These words by Paul are so unsettling because he's writing this to believers. Consider Galatians 5.19. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. As if that list wasn't enough, Paul throws in everything else like this. Of which I forewarn you just as I forewarn you that those who practice, in other words, this is their habit of their life. This is how they are identified. Such things will not inherit the King of God. This is a picture of what Babylon future looks like, but this is very real in the world now. Spiritual idolatry corrupts our flesh, our lives, and our relationships. Idolatry opens the door like a gateway drug to all sorts of fleshly sins and pride. And Paul reveals that even you and I Those spirit filled can quench the spirit. And Peter says we can stop being diligent in our faith. And when this happens, we can be influenced by the culture of Babylon. So how are you doing in your walk in this world? What do you see when you look into the mirror? What do others see when they look at you? But most importantly, what does God see in your heart? He knows. if you're like Lot, right? Who looks at the situation and grieved. We'll talk about Lot in a minute. He knows your struggles and we need to lean upon him to help us confront the sin of our lives and overcome it by his power. Are you influenced by the kingdom of Babylon or are you living for the kingdom of God? Now, at the end of verse three, we're introduced to a third group, the merchants. Who are these merchants? Why are they condemned? These merchants reveal that the Antichrist empire will combine idolatry with central materialism. It's really fascinating right now what's going on in the world with artificial intelligence, robotics, special other technology in biomedicine with genetic engineering. Elon Musk has said this, and I think he's accurate. Given a little more time, we could have a robot in every home. We could have a robot in every factory. And men and women would never have to work. The robots could do everything. Now, imagine a world where the robots are doing everything. That's a scary world in my eyes. And you can see how that can lead to incredible prosperity, because someone is doing all this incredible work. But it also means we're all at this free time. And that could be dangerous. So these are things that are happening before our eyes, and who knows how this will play out. To grasp these future merchants' sin and how they contributed to Babylon's judgments, let me contrast you with another merchant, one from the parables of Jesus. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls. And upon finding the one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had What a contrast! Jesus' parable portrays someone who abandons everything worldly for the kingdom of God alone. In comparison to the merchants of Revelation, they abandon everything of the kingdom of God for worldliness alone. There's another contrast for us to consider. The merchant of Babylon becomes earthly rich, extravagantly wealthy. Consider the following contrast from another parable of Jesus. He said to them, and be on your guard against every form of greed. For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. And then he goes into this parable. The land of a rich man, you know this, was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, what shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops? Then he said, this is what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there I'll store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease. Eat. Drink. and be merry." He left out the part for tomorrow you die. But God said to him, you fool, this very night your soul is required of you. And now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God. These merchants are the fools laying treasures up for themselves, but being bankrupt before God. Now, this last insight about the future merchants is that they become rich by the wealth of her sensuality. In the original language, this implies that not only did they have power and wealth, but they lived arrogantly and sensually. They indulged themselves. They could have every desire fulfilled and they fulfilled every desire. Jesus shares another story that informs us regarding the deceitfulness of riches. Now there was a rich man, this is Luke 16, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And you know, there is a poor man named Lazarus, laid at his gate, covered with sores, longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table. And besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angel to Abraham's bosom. That's another word for the third heaven, that's where God resides, paradise. And the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and he saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and says, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame. Great example of unbelief, but living in this world indulgently. This is why Paul warns Timothy to warn others in 1 Timothy 6, for the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by loving it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. And then he goes on, but flee these things, you man of God. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you are called. And you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In other words, flee Babylon, Timothy, and tell others to flee Babylon and its corrupting influences. If God has blessed you materially, praise God. Guard your heart. Don't let those riches. become your security. As Proverbs says, it'll grow wings and fly away. So the question is, how do we, especially us in America, how do we steward these many material blessings that we have? And it says this, instruct those who are rich in this present world, not to be conceited or to fix hope, their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God. who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so they may take hold of that which is life indeed." In other words, use the prosperity that you have for moving the kingdom of God forward. There was a time in our nation's history where many, many wealthy people supplied money to missions. And the gospel went around the world, funded by that. Many people through church history have been protected and paid for by some of these wealthy individuals, allowing us for us to be blessed by their works and writings. As I transition to this next passage, though, let me share a bit of wisdom from John Wesley. I've always appreciated this quote. And this is what he says. Wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore, I do not see how it is possible in the nature of things for any revival of religion to continue long. for religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality. In other words, when you become saved, you see the value of work, you see the value of proper stewardship, that's industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce wealth, riches, he says. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches. Pretty insightful. He's not saying there's anything wrong with the frugality and the industry. But if it joins pride, if that prosperity leads to idolatry, well, that could be a problem. In other words, when industry joins frugality, it will produce prosperity, and we have to be careful that that prosperity does not lead to idolatry. May you and I flee both spiritual and material idolatry of Babylon in our day. Beware of the corrupting influences that will lead to personal failure and sin. This can be summarized in our Fourth principle, let me jump ahead here, got behind, guard against materialism. Now the next two verses, verses four and five, reveal how alarming and challenging the situation is for believers. living at the time of Babylon's pending destruction. This is really amazing. Listen to 18 verses four and five. I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues. For her sins have piled up as high as heaven and God has remembered her iniquities. Now, a different angel from heaven comes forward. This is a different angel from verse one. This angel issues this command, come out. In the Greek, it literally means leave and never go back. It's a one-time decisive decision with no turning back. And this expresses our fifth principle, do not fellowship with darkness. But with this command, there are warnings given to the believer, two warnings actually, that should they stay behind and disobey the command, they will participate in Babylon's sins and they'll receive of her plagues. This word participate has the same idea and is directly connected to sin itself. It's the same word as I'm going to read here in Ephesians 5.8. Listen to this. Paul writes, For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as a throne of light, for the fruit of light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them. For it is disgraceful even to speak of these things which are done by them in secret. So this is the idea, don't participate. The word receive implies that all the plagues will be placed upon the believer. This is a strange thing. They're a believer, they're saved, but they've allowed the world to get into their life. Can you imagine what it'll be like for a believer to survive the tribulation? This is always just, whenever I contemplate it, I just can't contemplate it. It's so huge. Think about the seven seal judgments, the seven trumpet judgments, the sixth, and now heading to the seventh bowl judgment, being surrounded by a whole world committing spiritual idolatry, engaging in central materialism, and all the while, God is about to destroy this city in which you live. And he says, now flee. It's a terrifying picture. How does a believer even deal? I don't know about you, but living in this world, I don't know how I would live in this world without the Holy Spirit. And if we look at the Old Testament and wonder why so many believers, you know, made some pretty big mistakes, they didn't have the permanent indwelling Holy Spirit, which we have. Thank the Lord for that. I think the closest picture we can get to truly understand what this believer is like in the tribulation, living in Babylon, is Lot, Abraham's nephew. I'm sure you recall the story of Genesis 19, when the angels come to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, but they've been sent to rescue Lot and his family. Lot was spiritually compromised while living in a Babylon-like land, Sodom and Gomorrah. Let me just list some of his failings. He offered his two virgin daughters to a mob of sexual predators. Thanks, Dad. He is perceived as a hypocrite by his neighbors. His son's in-laws thought he was joking when he talked about the pending judgment of God, so they didn't even take him seriously. I think behind that is you're a hypocrite. What are you kidding? You're just like us. Lot lingers and hesitates to even leave his house, and he's even unwilling to leave. Lot does not lead his family out of the house. Instead, the angels have to forcibly remove Lot, his wife, and daughters. Lot is so physically out of shape, he can't make the full journey to escape the judgment, which probably implies he's gained some weight over time. Lot failed to shepherd his wife spiritually, and so she disobeyed the angels, looked back at Solomon Gamora, and turned into a pillar of salt. Lot allows his daughters to get him drunk, and Lot failed to shepherd his daughters in the eras of sexual purity, and they committed incest with him when he passed out drunk twice. And yet, in spite of this incredible list, which on the surface you'd say, that guy's gotta be an unbeliever, right? It says in 2 Peter, and if he rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men. So even though, so Lot was in a sense living in Babylon as a Babylonian, spiritually failing, but he was a believer. It goes on to say, for by what he saw and heard, that righteous man repeated again, while living among them felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deed. This can happen to us. We can be truly born again, love God, love Christ, but we have allowed the flesh to rule. But this is a great promise. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation. and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment. Are you like Lot, spiritually compromised by the influences of worldly Babylon, but are a true believer in Christ? If so, repent, cry out to the Lord, ask for help, find a trusted believer, grab their hand, and flee from Babylon's influence in your life before you lose everything near and dear to you in this life. This can be summarized in our principle number six, flee Babylon's influence immediately. Now to help us grasp how sinful Babylon really is and why believers must flee, we're given a visual picture in 18 verse five. for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities." Picture a giant heap of bricks, each sin on top of another. It is reminiscent of that sinful tower of Babylon bricks, whose sin and arrogance sought to touch the top of heaven in order to make a name for themselves. The scripture describes Sodom and Gomorrah's sin, reaching God. Nineveh's wickedness is described as reaching to the heavens. Babylon's sin in Jeremiah's day came before the throne of heaven. When this text says, remember, it doesn't imply that somehow God forgot. It means He's ready to respond, that He is obligated to carry out his justice towards sin. And this is a warning for all of us to heed, believers and unbelievers alike. Proverbs 28, 13, he who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them, he'll find compassion. That was one of the most amazing things for me to experience, going from an unbeliever to a believer, coming out of drugs, alcohol, and all that lifestyle, and discovering that Christ was willing to forgive me, and then being compassionate towards me, even though I had rejected him and rebelled against him for so many years. We have to remember that when we're caught up in our sin, the Lord's compassionate, but it does mean you gotta turn from it. So how does God respond to Babylon and her people's sin? With holy justice and perfect vengeance. Let's take a close look at verse six and seven. Let me read those. In this passage, we see a three-fold judgment with three strong commands. The first one, pay her back. even if she is paid. The underlying Greek word implies reward, but this is a negative reward. In other words, give back to her the way she gave the others. We call this the lex talionis. It's the idea of the law of retribution. The punishment should fit the crime. Exodus 21, if there's a further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. Now, this later became corrupted and people use this as vengeance. That's what Jesus corrected. But this is simply saying, look, just punishment for the just crime. The second one is give back to her double according to her deeds. In the original language, it's a figure of expression that literally reads double the double things. It represents complete fullness, but it also means double payback. And there's several examples in Old Testament where penalties are doubled. Exodus 22, 7, if a man gives his name or money or goods to keep for him and it is stolen from the man's house, if the thief is caught, he shall pay double. Jeremiah 16, 18, I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because they polluted my land. They have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations. And then the third penalty is mix twice as much. In the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. This image of cup and wrath, this is an old ancient picture of God's wrath. Listen to Jeremiah. For thus the Lord, the God of Israel says to me, take this cup of wine of wrath from my hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. This image is a hinge to the first two judgment pictures and also what we're about to read, another double judgment. Such a double judgment stresses intense and severe judgment. In verse seven, we gain several more insights into Babylon's sins. Look at this, the first insight, she glorified herself. In other words, she exalted herself, pride. The second insight is she lived luxury. The third insight, and you could say that's the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. The third insight, she says in her heart, I sit as queen. I am no widow. Now you join all these together and we have a literal living example of 1 John 2.16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, this is not from the Father, but is from the world. Babylon future is the literal incarnation of this passage, and the people in it live as such. This imagery is ancient. In fact, Babylon, Tyre, and Nineveh all said the same thing. Listen to this. This is crazy. Isaiah 47, 7. Yet you said, I will be queen forever. These things you did not consider, nor remember the outcome of them. Now then, hear this, you sensual one who dwells securely, who says in your heart, I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a widow, nor no loss of children. Here's another one, Isaiah 47. This one is, I think, that was Babylon. No, yeah, this is continued Babylon. Let me go to Tyr, Ezekiel 27.3. And say to Tyr, who dwells at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples, to the many coastlands, thus says the Lord God, O Tyr, you have said I am perfect in beauty. Same thing. Nineveh, Zephaniah 2, this is in the exultant city, which dwells securely, who says in her heart, I am, and there is no one besides me. Now, how she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in contempt. Do you see how these nations begin to become so arrogant that they think, I'm never going to be a widow. When he talks about the children, he's talking about the people in the country. We'll be here forever. Does America think life's way? Yeah. The fourth insight is that believers believe she'll never mourn. She'll never know sorrow. And this revived Babylon believes she'll never see an end to her way of life. As soon as you arrogantly think you are untouchable, I'm telling you, the Lord has a providential way of dealing with such pride, and it usually ends pretty badly. There's another command of judgment in this passage. To the same degree, give her torment and mourning. This is our seventh principle, and that is beware of self-deception. That's the problem with pride. It blinds us. Consider the Pharisees, right? Consider Herod, who was eaten by worms. Oh, Herod, you're the voice of God, and you didn't give glory to God. and others whose pride ultimately lead to their fall. Let us be mindful of God's word and his wisdom on pride. Proverbs 16, 18, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling. Take that to a level of a nation. Our final passage reveals how foolish such prideful proclamations invite the judgment of God. And that's verse 18, our last verse. For this reason, in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she'll be burned up with fire, for the Lord God who judges her is strong." God reveals the swiftness of his judgment in one day. This echoes Isaiah when Babylon came in the first time. But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day, loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in full measure in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of your great power of your spells. That's the thing with the Lord. Destruction can come swiftly and powerfully. Now, I hope by now you're starting to see the connection between the city and her people. They are one in the same. This revived Babylon reflects the sins of the people who dwell in this city of idolatry and materialism. And this sin has reached to the very throne room of God, and God remembers. It's time for judgment. And God targets her sin with three plagues, death, mourning, and famine. It's not by accident. Look at this. Death brings an end to her claim. She'll never be a widow experiencing death. Mourning brings an end to her lust-filled so-called joyful and happy indulgences. And famine brings an end to her abundant materialism and luxurious living. God's judgment is targeted and precise. These three plagues are fulfilled when she's utterly burned with fire. This is the same judgment mentioned in 1716. Which reads, in the ten horns which you saw in the beast, these will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn her up with fire. And this is the irony. The Antichrist first joins with Babylon, uses her, and in the end, destroys her. So it brings it to full circle. God judges the city of Babylon, which has been working her way through history since the fall. Who is spiritually and commercially idolatrous. The Antichrist and his confederacy of 10 kings turns on Babylon and becomes the tools, which is really, God does this all the time. He takes sometimes a more wicked tool to destroy the other wicked. This is not the first time that God uses wicked vessels to accomplish his ultimate will. The last phrase reminds us of who God is. He is the all-powerful, righteous judge. For the Lord God who judges her is strong. And this brings us to our eighth and final principle. And that is, remember that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, righteous judge. So, in review, here are the eight principles to protect you from being entangled and enslaved by the influences of the spiritual and material and commercial idolatrous Babylon, which has its presence even in our time. And that is, heed God's warnings, Beware of spiritual adultery. There are consequences for sin. Guard against materialism. Do not fellowship with darkness. Flee Babylon's influence today. Beware of self-deception. And remember that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, righteous judge. I hope that this serves as a happy New Year reminder. But it's reminders that we need each and every day, isn't it? Because we live in this world, and the world has its way of influencing us. So may God guard our hearts and protect our walk. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I just ask that you would help us to be holy. Help us to have, to yield to your wisdom and to your word, to help each other, that when we see each other maybe heading in the direction of sin, that we would lovingly confront one another. Help us to pray for one another so that we will not be tempted. And Father, in this year ahead, help us to be lights and salt so that the unbelievers around us can see and taste your goodness. We do ask, Lord, for your blessings, but we also ask for your chastening because we don't want to sin. And if there is anything in us that is hindering our walk, hindering our relationship with you, help us to see it, to repent from it, and to draw closer to you, Father. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Well, thanks for letting me take a little break from 1 Peter so that you can flee Babylon. Next week, we'll return to 1 Peter chapter 4. Have a great and blessed week. Thanks.