Revelation 18 and we're reading verses 9 to 24. And the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and live 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 any more, the merchandise of gold and silver. of precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thine wood, and all manner of vessels, all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner of vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, 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. 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 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 torment, weeping and wailing. and saying alas alas that great city that was clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls for in one hour so great riches is come to nought and every ship master 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 wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness, for in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her, 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. The voice of harpers and musicians and of pipers and trumpets, trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee. No craftsman of whatsoever craft he be shall be found any more in thee. 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. And the voice of the bridegroom and the bride. and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth, 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. And may God bless his word this morning. Now you recall in the first part of the pilgrim's progress, there's a town called Vanity. And it's a town through which Christian and faithful, they had to pass. And in that town of Vanity was a fair. Vanity Fair, we get that name. And that fair, Bunyan says, was established by Beelzebub, Apollyon and Legion with their companions. And it sold all sorts of vanity, as he says, houses, lands, trades, places, honors, preferments, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures, and delights of all sorts as harlots, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, pearls, precious stones, and whatnot. All these things found in Vanity Fair. He says, moreover, Moreover, at this fair there is at all times to be seen jugglings, cheats, games, plays, fools, apes, knaves and rogues and that of every kind. He said there's also thefts, murders, adulteries, falseware and that of a blood red colour. He also says the wear of Rome and her merchandise is greatly promoted in this fair. He goes on to say the Prince of Princes went through that fair and he was tempted there, but he refused the temptations of it. And of course, when Christian and faithful entered the fair, there was a great hubbub, as it were, and all the town and the fair went into an uproar. And the reasons they went into an uproar over Christian and faithful was because they dressed and spoke differently and they refused their merchandise. It says, they cared not so much as to look upon them. And if they called upon them to buy, they would put their fingers in their ears and cry, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. And they would look upward signifying that their trade and traffic was in heaven. So the long and short of it is, they are taken, they are captured by the people and the authorities of vanity. They are put to trial by a wicked judge and a wicked jury. And Faithful was found guilty, judged guilty. He was condemned to be put to the most cruel death that could be invented. They therefore brought him out to do with him according to their law. And first they scourged him, then they buffeted him. Then they lanced his flesh with knives. After that, they stoned him with stones, then pricked him with their swords. And last of all, they burned him to ashes at the stake. Thus came Faithful to his end. a vivid description that Bunyan gives of this world, this whole world system, all its lusts, its temptations, and how opposed to God it is, and how opposed to the people of God this world is. And just as the Pilgrim's Progress describes this town of vanity and how it pictures this evil world, So the city of Babylon in the scripture describes the same great satanic system which has corrupted the earth for the last 6,000 years. A lot of parallels there and we've talked about that. We saw how in Revelation chapter 17 we have religious Babylon which will reach its fullest manifestation in the ecumenical religious system that will pollute the earth following the rapture. the one world church or however you want to describe it. And then in chapter 18 we have commercial Babylon and this will become the global economic system of the final world empire under the rule of Antichrist centered in Rome. economic and religious Babylon, these two wings of it. But here we have the downfall and the judgment of Babylon. And this is one of the major events recorded in Revelation. You think of how much of this book is devoted to Babylon. And so this is a very significant thing in God's eyes. And so when will this destruction of Babylon take place that we're looking at here in chapter 18? Well it takes place as the final seven vials or plagues as they're called. are poured out immediately prior to the second coming of Christ. Armageddon, his coming in the clouds, it's all in chapter 19. And so this is right at the close of the tribulation, the fall of Babylon. Remember the great earthquake that will just level the whole earth basically. And you see all this taking place prior to Christ's coming. But what we're reminded here and what God wants us to realize is that this is the direct judgment of God upon her wickedness. And we were told that in verse eight, at the end of verse eight, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. This is God's judgment. It's been a long time coming, but it comes and it will come and it will be a violent judgment that God pours out upon Babylon. But what we're looking at today and what we see in our text here are two vastly different reactions to the fall of Babylon. You have some people are completely devastated, while others are elated, they rejoice. The same event, but two completely different responses. And the response is determined by which kingdom one belongs to. Now, for instance, you think of a sporting event, a game of football or something, you have all the crowd watching the game, the final siren sounds, the game has ended, you look in the crowd, you see someone jump out of their seat, they've got their hands in the air, they're cheering, they're whistling, they're clapping, and they're just completely excited about the result. But in the seat next to him, you see someone with their head in their hands. They just can't bear to think about it. They might even be weeping. They've seen the same event. But what's the difference? They support two different teams. They support two different teams. And that's really what we're looking at here. People demonstrate their allegiance by the way they respond to good and evil. okay we demonstrate which team we belong to and there's only two teams or kingdoms there's God's kingdom and then there's Satan's kingdom the kingdom of darkness and we can get an indication of which kingdom you belong to by how you react to both good and evil so those in the kingdom of darkness the wicked They hate the good and love the evil. You find that in Malachi chapter 3, the opening verses. The princes of Israel, the leaders of Israel, they were condemned because they hate the good and love the evil. It's completely not how it should be, but they showed that they are of the devil's kingdom by their reaction to good and evil. But on the other hand, this is how it should be. The righteous, according to Romans 12 verse 9, abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good. They hate the evil, but they love the good. They rejoice in the good. And God's people show that. They demonstrate that they're God's people by hating evil and loving good. And we think about different responses to the gospel. We preach the same gospel to all people, but you think of the different responses that people have to it. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 18, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. That's a joke. What you're telling me is just utter foolishness. This idea about God and him being the creator and we being sinners and there being a heaven and a hell and Jesus dying for sinners. It's just foolishness. That's to them that perish, but unto us, which are saved, it's the power of God. It's the power of God. It's the same gospel, the preaching of the cross, but to the devil's people, it's foolishness, but to God's people, it's the power of God. It's the sweetest message that we've ever heard, right? And so we see these different reactions. We hear sayings like, one man's meat is another man's poison. or one man's trash is another man's treasure. We understand this and it's a common understanding. The same thing to different people can have different reactions to it. And so that's what we're thinking of today. Consider the fall of Babylon and the contrasting responses to it. And really there's just two elements to this. The first is Earth's lamentation at Babylon's destruction in verses 9 to 19. And here in this section we have three groups that lament Babylon's fall. There's the governmental world, the commercial world, and the maritime world. So we think of that, the first governmental world, the monarchs lament. Who are these people? The kings of the earth. Kings of the earth, and they committed fornication and all the rest of it, but here they are. They're lamenting at the fall of Babylon. So these kings of the earth, now we've seen these kings of the earth previously. back in chapter 16 and verse 14, you have the summoning and the gathering of these kings of the earth at the pouring out of the sixth vial. It says there, these are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth under the kings of the earth and the whole world to gather them under the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And so the spirits, they gather the kings of the earth, even the whole world, to Armageddon, that battle of Armageddon. So there's a gathering take place, which also hearkens back to the Second Psalm. The kings of the earth, they set themselves, the rulers take counsel together against the Lord. This is the fulfillment of it at Armageddon. And it'll be during this time that they will see Babylon fall and they'll join together in lamentation. There'll be a great corporate lamentation of these kings of the earth gathering themselves to lament the fall of Babylon and So these will be the leaders of nations They profited through the diabolical global economic system and they will be devastated to see its collapse They've profited from this from Babylon They've gained pleasure from her, they've committed fornication, but there's this union of these political leaders and the governments with the commercial wealth, and they've lived deliciously. with her, they've had all these expensive luxuries, they've gained them all through Babel on this wicked system, but it all collapses, and they're devastated. And you see the emphasis of this, how upset they are, how desolated they are by the words that are used here. You find, for instance, in verse 9, they shall bewail her, bewail, it's also translated as weep, and it has the idea to sob and to wail aloud. It's not a quiet one, there's a vocalisation, they're sobbing and wailing out loud. This is used in verses 9, 11, 15 and 19. The word lament, also in verse nine, and it's only used in this verse, in this chapter. And it literally means to beat the breast in grief. It's the idea of thumping the breast. This is a great, a deep lamentation. Another word that's used in verse 11, 15, and 19 is mourn. It means to grieve and wail. And then you see in verses 10, 16, and 19, this repetition of alas, alas. It repeats for emphasis, uai. I believe it's an onomatopoeia in the Greek. It sounds like what it means, it's woe, alas, woe, woe, and you find it translated in other places as woe. And this is the worst thing imaginable for them and they're so deeply upset about it. All right, and so this is the kings of the earth. They're devastated. So you see them, but then it continues when you look at verses 11 to 17. It turns to the merchants of the earth. And they are so devastated as well. They weep and mourn over her. Why? Because no man buyeth of their merchandise anymore. Their profits are gone. They're not going to be able to make their money anymore, which is what they live for and So if what they live for is taken away well this their whole lives are undermined and So there's a list given here When you look at verses 12 and 13 and we went through we read through that previously and And it's a list of 28 items of merchandise, and you can group them. And the grouping goes like this, a group of four, another group of four, then a group of six, then another group of four, another group of four, and another group of six. So it's four, four, six, four, four, six. And God is all about patterns and all these things, and numbers mean different things. And there's meaning to those numbers. What's the number four mean? It's the number of the earth, isn't it? There's four seasons, there's four points to the compass. it's the number of the earth and what's the number six it's the number of man and so this is all all these um items these commodities they they're all from the earth you can see all these things they they come you know whether they're dug from the earth or they're animals that come from the earth they're all earthly things but they're man's use of them. They're not used for the glory of God, they're used for the glory of man and just to benefit man and for man's pleasure alone. That's not why God created these things in the earth. He created them for us to use, but to be stewards of them and to use them for his glory. And so we think about these these different items of merchandise. The first grouping of four is the investment market. You have gold, silver, precious stones, pearls. All right, and these are precious metals. You go through all these things, these are very precious things. Most of us, if we have any of these things, we have them in very small amounts. We might have a wedding band of gold. But Babylon, they gather up these precious things. And this is what they are all about, the investment market. Then you come to the next four, the commodities market. There's fine linen, there's purple, silk and scarlet. These colours represent the expensive items of luxury. They're fine linen, this isn't coarse linen, it's fine linen and purple, the colour of royalty and so on there. This is what Babylon is garbed in, these colours. Then you have the materials market. This is the next six. Thine wood, ivory, most precious wood, brass, iron, marble, thine wood, the citron wood, it's from Africa. It's a precious wood. And ivory, of course, from the elephant tusks, a very, very precious thing. And all these things they use to construct things, marble, all these precious materials. And then the next four is the luxury market. Spices and herbs, cinnamon, odours, ointments and frankincense, these precious things that are gathered from certain lands and they're carried to other markets and they're sold for very high prices. See Babylon uses these things. Then you have the next four, the food market, wine and oil and fine flour and wheat. And of course Babylon is drunk with wine and making the world drunk with their wine. And you can imagine during the tribulation wine will be devoured in large quantities. The food market and of course we know that the Antichrist will institute this economic system where no man can buy or sell unless they take the mark and he will have the ability to withhold these things. And then the final group, we might call the beast and slave market. So here you have animals and people. And so you have, what do you have there? You have beasts, you have sheep, horses, chariots, slaves, and souls of men. And that final six there, at the end of verse 13, you could divide them into three pairs. So the livestock, you have beasts and sheep, You have transportation, horses and chariots, and then manpower, slaves and souls of men. And these all encompass what these merchandises who are affiliated with Babylon, how they heap up riches to themselves. And so we see those things, but it's curious here, we look at the, just focus on at the end of verse 13, slaves and souls of men. The word for slaves is soma, which is translated as body or bodies, and soul is suke. So you could almost translate it as the bodies and souls of men, bodies even souls of men. But most understand it to be relating to slavery, those two terms. bodies and souls of men, they're just humankind being used for commerce and just treated as beasts and so on there. Slavery, and slavery has been in existence for millennia and it still is operating in a big way today. Today it's called human trafficking, people just trafficking other people against their will for money. And I read an article from February, Forbes magazine. Annually, the business of human trafficking globally generates an estimated $150 billion in profits. And that's US dollars. $150 billion. You know, these drug cartels in different places in the world, they have their drugs, but after the drugs, it's the human trafficking, where they make big money. And you think of a place like Mexico, and just, they have these people, they have them under their power, and they're just a commodity. They just trade them, and they extort money out of their relatives to have them released, and all these different things. And so it's in operation today. They're trading in the bodies and souls of men. How else are bodies and souls of men being used for commerce today? Abortion. Abortion. The abortionists, they sell the body parts of the children they kill for many thousands of dollars. This is from 2016, inquiries in the US into what Planned Parenthood and these groups who basically they harvest unborn children, they found that A researcher paid a middleman procurement company $3,340 for a fetal brain, $595 for a baby skull matched to upper and lower limbs, $890 for upper and lower limbs with hands and feet. They've put a dollar value on all these body parts of little children. It's inhuman. And you know, they say, well, these abortionists, they say they're just concerned about the woman's welfare and her quality of life. No, they're concerned about making money. And it's about, it's a business. The love of money is the root of all evil. And how evil is abortion? And you find the love of money is at the root of it. A wicked thing. They're trading in slaves and the souls of men. Another thought was particularly the souls of men. How could a person trade and make money from the souls of men? Well, Rome, of course, was probably the chief one who's devised a way to do that by inventing the doctrine of purgatory. And you've heard of purgatory. You won't find it in the Bible. But they invented purgatory, this middle place between heaven and hell, where even the souls of the righteous go to burn for a while before they're released to go to heaven, well how are they released from purgatory? Well, how can I get my dead relative out of purgatory? Pay for masses to be prayed. You pay the church money, they'll help get your mum out of purgatory quicker. This was an article put out in the Berean Call. And it relates about a woman named Susan Tassone. And it says her passion is to get people out of purgatory. Since the Roman Catholic Church accepts money for masses to be said for the dead Mr. Soane urges people to hand their last will and testaments over to the Roman Church to get people out of the burning fires of purgatory. She founded Holy Souls Mass Apostolate in 1993. All the funds raised are given to the church for masses and she's raised two million dollars for mass stipends. She says the best way to get someone out of punishment is to have a Gregorian Mass said. The next best thing is the Rosary. She also recommends the Stations of the Cross because you get indulgences when you practice this devotion. You know, because you tell Catholics, oh, you know, these people paying for masses to get their relatives out of purgatory. They say they don't do that anymore. They're still doing it. They're still making money. And they're still trading in the souls of men. A wicked thing. Such a wicked thing. And this is how the world views humans. And most of the commercial world today regard their laboring workers as mere commodities. And so they look at it merely from an economic standpoint. And so an economist, they look at the workforce, they calculate the output of this many workers, how much they'll be able to produce in this amount of time, how much money they can make the company, their projections, and in its place, that's fine. But if all they see is those humans as mere you know, dollars on a page, they're basically Babylon. If they don't see them, their workers as being created by God, as made in the image of God, whose lives are sacred, then that's Babylon. And so yes, we need to, we can, employers can have workers and different things, but we need to see these people are made in God's image, they're humans, and we need to show them love and compassion and so on. not Babylon and so these were made rich by her made rich by her verse 15 they shall stand afar off and so they're weeping they're upset not just for their loss But it also says there in verse 15, for fear of her torment. For fear of her torment. It also says in verse 10 of the kings of the earth, they're standing afar off for the fear of her torment. They realize that this is a dreadful thing that is happening to this city of Babylon. And they have to remove themselves. They don't want to be caught up in this destruction. Of course they will be. but there's a fear that creeps in. It's not a godly fear, it's a carnal fear, which many people have, a carnal fear of being destroyed, but it's not a godly fear. Now, I would add here something that I also found and I thought was worth adding in and that I couldn't improve on. is by William Newell, and this is in the 1930s, and he pointed out some of the evils of modern commercialism. This is what we're talking about, the commercial system, the godless commercial system, and how it's against God and how it turns people against God, this love of money. And I'll just run through these, these aren't my words, these are from William Newell. What's wrong with the modern commercialism? One, it enables man to avoid, as far as possible, God's command to till the earth and to live by the sweat of his brow. You can just sit back and make money. You just click a button and here you've got all this money pouring in. No, God wants people to work. That's his command there. It tends to unify the humanity that God has definitely divided into nations for the very purpose of covering the earth with the spirit of self-confidence and rebellion as before Babel. The commercial system, it's global, isn't it? And it unites mankind into one people, which God says, no, you're not to be, you're to be separate nations. So it promotes globalism, and we can see that even much more than he could have in the 1930s. It enables individuals, cities, and nations to become unduly swollen with riches. It begets universal covetousness, which is idolatry, in that the man who has money can be independent of God. That's the danger of riches, isn't it? They trust in those uncertain riches instead of God. It is contrary to God's will that each man live beneath his own vine and fig tree, content with such things as he has. Okay, that's what the desire, that's what will be the case in the millennium. Every man under his own vine and his fig tree, his content, that's the picture of contentment. But there's no contentment in this system. Doesn't matter how much people have, they want more. This is what drives it, it's covetousness. And so this is what Newell says, our forefathers were content with their living. They had domestic ties, family reunions, quiet church affiliations, gladly worshipping in the same old church, generation after generation. They had a deep, kind, loving patriotism. But the forgetting of God is fast falling upon earth under the soul-stifling power of universal greed. Everyone wants to be rich, which damns its tens of millions. And that's definitely the case today. Even amongst professing Christians, they're just not content. It is an excuse most common in the thoughts of men for not serving God and not serving the Lord. And they say, well, I've got too much business. I've got too much work, my employment. That's the excuse you hear. I'm too busy. With what? Business. And it becomes their God. and like the rich young ruler, it's the business before God. It is atheistic, it is self-indulgent, it is self-confident. Seven, it is fast blotting out real human ties to home, church or country. And it just severs those ties that we should have, that God wants us to have. Eight, it brings spiritual deadness and insensibility as nothing else does. Rich is when business takes a claim upon the heart and he says your spiritual life begins to shrivel. For a man to do an honest day's work is not to yield to the claims that business makes upon humanity. God told us to work, to work with our hands, to do with our might what our hands find to do, to do the humblest tasks, even those of a slave, as unto the Lord. The thing called business has to be discerned distinctly by you if you are to understand the hideousness into which the whole world will leap. And alas, how shortly. Describes this commercial Babylon, doesn't it? And so there's the lament of the merchants. And then we see in verses 17 to 19, the mariner's lament. And so it turns there, and this is the second part of verse 17. And every ship master and all the company visiting ships and sailors, many as trade by sea, they stood afar off. Okay, and so why has it turned to these seafaring people? Well, the great commerce and trade system that relies on sea transport will come to an end. And so, you know, we rely on sea transport today. You think of those big ships that carry all the goods from all parts of the world. It'll come to an end. We have the four types of mariners there, the shipmasters, the accompanying ships, the sailors, there's trade by sea. And the seas are going to be greatly afflicted, not just here at the end of the tribulation, but all through the judgments of the tribulation, the seas will be afflicted. Under the second trumpet in chapter eight and verse nine, a third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died, and a third part of the ships were destroyed. That's early on. When the, that was, yeah, the second trumpet, and the second vial, which is poured out in chapter 16, verses three and four, the sea became as the blood of a dead man, all the sea. The third of the angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood. So all the waters turned to blood. That's gonna make shipping very difficult, when water gets turned to blood. And then, of course, with the fall of Babylon, it's just, it's completely wiped out. And they show their grief in verse 19, they cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, alas, alas. And yeah, this is casting dust on the head. You'll be familiar with that through the Old Testament. It expresses intense grief, casting the dust upon the head and ashes upon the head. You see that all through the Bible. So we see that first reaction in response to the fall of Babylon. Earth's lamentation at Babylon's destruction. But then we see in verses 20 to 24, heaven's jubilation at Babylon's destruction. And so there's a complete change here in verse 20. It's a call, rejoice over her, thou heaven and holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her. It's a call to rejoice. Who's calling? Well, it's probably the voice out of heaven, this angel who's speaking you see early in the chapter. verses one and two, and then verse four, another voice from heaven, it could be the angel, it could be the Lord Jesus, could be God the Father. Some have even surmised it could be John, the apostle, as he even inserts him, he reads this, and he, under the inspiration, writes, rejoice over her, thou heaven, it could be him, but ultimately it comes from the Holy Spirit, and it's a command given to to heaven and apostles and prophets and all the rest. And so it's a call to rejoice. Now we think of some other rejoicing that takes place in Revelation. Remember back in chapter 11, remember the two witnesses? They preached and they brought down plagues and judgment and they withheld the rain and everything else. They performed these mighty miracles which evoke the hatred of all the world, particularly of the beast. And they were killed by the beast. What happened then in chapter 11 and verse 10, and they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry and shall send gifts, because they were tormented by the two prophets. And so here they are, they're rejoicing at what? At the death of God's people. But when this happens, when Babylon falls, they won't be rejoicing, they'll be wailing. they will be wailing. And we also saw rejoicing in chapter 12 and verse 12, when the dragon was cast out of heaven, cast out of the earth, remember that? It says there, therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth. See the two contrasts again. Woe on earth, but rejoicing in heaven. And so that's what we have here. And so it, well, who is to be rejoicing here? You have all of heaven. So that's all the saints in heaven, even the angels of heaven. But then it continues and it has ye holy apostles and prophets. It singles out the apostles and prophets. And why them particularly? Well, It's they're the leaders of God's people. And often it's the case, and it has been throughout history, it's the leaders of the people of God, the leaders of the churches and so on, that have been singled out by Babylon, by Satan's people, to be tormented, persecuted, tortured, and martyred. And, you know, they strike the sheep and they might scatter, sorry, strike the shepherd and scatter the sheep. And so they're particularly, they can rejoice. And why would they rejoice? Because God has avenged his people. God hath avenged you on her. And remember, that's God's prerogative, to avenge. It's not our role to avenge, to render evil for evil. No, we are to commit the keeping of our souls to God in well-doing. And we leave it in his hands, because he will handle it. Romans 12 verse 19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. And he will repay. And he'll do it far more justly than we can and more thoroughly. Remember that prayer of the martyrs under the altar in chapter six? It says that they were slain for the word of God, but in chapter six and verse 10, they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Well, this prayer is being answered, isn't it? Vengeance, God clearly says he's avenging the saints, the apostles and prophets. and the details of this song of rejoicing, we don't have it in this chapter, that's when you get to chapter 19. And you have these alleluias, this repetition of alleluia in these opening verses of chapter 19, and we'll look at that in due time. But I believe that leads on from chapter 18, where this call for rejoicing, and then we have the actual details, the alleluias of the people in heaven rejoicing. rejoicing over the destruction of Babylon, over the marriage of the supper of the lamb and the coming of Christ and all the rest of it. And then so in verses 21 to 24, you have some more details about this destruction. There'll be no more rising up of this city. And we know that because verse 21, you have this image of this mighty angel taking up a stone like a great millstone nothing heavier than a 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. This millstone, this great big stone which is used for grinding the grain, cast into the sea, you'll never get that back up from the sea. There'll be no more rising up. It's permanent destruction. And then there'll be no more music. We're told there in verse 22, voice of harpers, musicians and pipers, trumpets shall no more at all be in thee, heard no more at all in thee. What do we have music for? Music is for joy and we sing for joy and mirth and happiness. It's gone. All that that music represents is gone. No more joy there. No more industry, no more craftsmen of whatsoever crafty be shall found any more in thee. The sound of a millstone shall be no more heard at all in thee. And so it's all gone. No more industry. The commerce and the production of things, It's just not going to be heard anymore. There'll be no more light. He said there's no more light of a candle shining at all in thee. Even the smallest light will be snuffed out. What will be left? Darkness. Complete darkness. Everlasting darkness. And there'll be no more marriage. The voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall no more be heard in thee. What's marriage represent? Represents love, relationship, union, but also it represents procreation. So there'll be no more future. There'll be no next generation in Babylon. And you see all this graphic language, it shows us that it just all describes a complete desolation and destruction. And then, furthermore, there'll be no more deception. And this is where you come to the end of verse 23. For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. Sorceries is pharmacia. It has the idea of witchcraft associated with drugs. And we saw that word back in chapter 9 and verse 21, they wouldn't repent of their sorceries. And there's a connection there, the drug use, demonism, deception, they're all tied together. People who are on drugs have an altered state of consciousness. They're more susceptible to demonic influence and even possession. And Babylon trades in drugs, whether they be illicit drugs, whether they be legal drugs. It's a great problem in the world, in Australia, even in Stanthorpe. People addicted to these drugs of all kinds, and they fall into deceptions. Their minds are altered. They can't think properly. They don't take any concern for their souls. He says, this is what Babylon does. and she deceives the nations by her sorceries, but no more, no more will that happen. And in the final verse, verse 24, there'll be no more righteous blood spilt, no more righteous blood spilt, because what was found in her, the blood of the prophets and of saints and of all that was slain upon the earth, all that was slain, this goes throughout all history. And we could go back to the very first martyr, Abel. And from that very first martyr, Babylon has been filling her cup with righteous blood and continues to do so today, the blood of righteous Abel. And that blood is not forgotten by God. Remember what the Lord said in Genesis 4 verse 10? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. That's what God said to Cain. And that blood cried out, and that blood of the martyrs throughout all history, even today, that's being spilled, even as we speak, is crying out to the Lord, crying out for vengeance. And it will soon be answered in divine wrath. And God will avenge that blood. You think of all the faithful in Hebrews 11. and how they're described there. Others had trial of cruel mockings of scourgings. They were over of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. These are the faithful ones who walk by faith as strangers and pilgrims. And they were abused and many of them were killed. But now they're at rest. But God still will avenge their blood. People of whom the world was not worthy, not worthy of them. All right, so I want to just tie things together and finish off sort of where we started with some application. How we react to the events in the world and in our lives shows what kingdom we belong to. It tells us and it tells others what kingdom we belong to. So for instance, remember the sodomite marriage vote back in 2017? And you remember when the result of the ballot was announced? and the reaction of the sodomites and of all their supporters in the media and all the rest of it, remember what ecstasy they had. And they waved their rainbow flags and they just were beside themselves. They just went crazy with celebration. But do you remember the response of the Christians? And what was your response? The Christians wept and were disgusted and were grieved of what the nation had chosen to do. Good indication of what kingdom you're in in that reaction. And so we need to think, well, what brings me joy? What makes me rejoice and glad and happy? Is it the things of this world? Are those the things that excite me? the entertainment of this world, the music and the films and the games, do they make me rejoice? Or is it the things of God? Is it the word of God? Does that fill my heart with rejoicing? These are things of the joy of my heart. Being able to witness, does that make me rejoice? To hear a sinner come to Christ and as the heaven rejoices, does it make me rejoice too? What brings you joy? The world rejoices to see sin and iniquity prevailing. But what do we do when we see sin and iniquity prevailing? Are we like the Psalmist? Psalm 119 verse 136, rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law. They make me weep. Do they make you weep when you see iniquity prevailing? And many people today, this is a timely message. This is a timely message for the people of our day when we look at the situation economically. People are like the kings and merchants and mariners, they're mourning over the economic downturn. and you know they just they're upset they think well what's going to happen with the economy how are we ever going to repay this debt they're mourning over the economy but they fail to mourn over what they should be mourning over James 4 verse 9 says be afflicted and mourn and weep Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. See, there is a mourning that we should be undergoing today. It's a mourning for our pride and our lack of humility, lack of reliance on the Lord, our lack of repentance. We need to mourn and weep and be like Job and abhor ourselves and repent in dust and ashes. Because the Lord says in Matthew 5, verse 4, blessed are they that mourn. for they shall be comforted. Not the mourning of these supporters of Babylon, it's the mourning over our sins, mourning in repentance and turning to God. And you know, these people, they mourn over the fall of Babylon. You know, it also talks about their mourning in chapter one in those opening verses of Revelation. when it tells us that in verse seven, behold, he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. They shall wail, why? Because Jesus is coming back with his sword. And it will be a time to wail. But for the believer, those who've been washed in the blood, it'll be a time of rejoicing and great happiness. And these verses also highlight the great discord between God's holy throne in heaven and the wicked state of the world in rebellion against God. They show that great discord, what the will of man being fulfilled on earth, it is completely opposed to the will of God in heaven. But that's going to change. It's going to change very soon when Jesus comes back. And that prayer that we've been commanded to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. As the hymn says, earth and heaven be one. There'll be a concord, not a discord, a concord between heaven and earth. But it's not the case at the moment. And a final thought as we, just thinking back in that verse where it says that, in verse 13, where Babylon trades in the souls of men. You know, it's significant. You have that list of 28 items. The top of the list is gold. The bottom of the list is the souls of men. And I think that's significant because the world, if you have the soul of man and gold here, they'll take gold. Gold is far more valuable than the soul. The children of this world put little value on the soul. But in reality, the soul is more valuable than all the gold in the world, than all the world itself. For what shall I profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? You've lost everything if you lose your soul. You know, the devil knows this. The devil knows how valuable the soul is. That's why he's working ceaselessly to bring souls down to hell, to turn people away from Christ and the gospel. But do we value the soul? The devil knows how valuable the soul is. Do we know how valuable it is? Do we value our own souls? Is the care of our souls the chief thing in our life? Or do we put the body first? The care of the body. Are we nourishing and feeding our souls? And do we value the souls of others? Proverbs 11 verse 30 says, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise. The one who wins souls is wise. What's the soul winner? It's someone who values souls. He says there's far more important things than gold or silver, than dollars and a big bank balance. It's the souls of men. And before I win money to myself, I want to win souls. I'm going to put that as my priority in life. And we might finish with the words of William Booth. Some men's ambition is art. Some men's ambition is fine. Some men's ambition is gold. My ambition is the souls of men.