Well, I'm going to briefly take you through, without a lot of comment, chapter 17. Because chapter 18, you won't understand chapter 18 if you don't see chapter 17. I know we preached chapter 17, so I'm not going to re-preach it. But I think it's good to read it, and then we'll unpack 18. I think I told you the last time we were in Revelation, last week I took a break and looked at the resurrection, that there's some tough chapters in the book. And I was like, hang in there. We're about to get to the glorious victory of Christ. And it's passages in 19 and 20 and so on that I'm really looking forward to preaching. These are difficult passages, but we'll take a look at them. But let me pray for the Word. Our Father and our God, we ask your blessing on your word, and Lord, we ask your blessing on us. Lord, that you'd enable us to understand this very difficult book, and Lord, not to stray into conjecture, but Lord, to stick to your scripture and to learn from it and grow by it. So Lord, we ask you to do this work in us, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. So let me read through, I'm not going to take a lot of time, but let me read through chapter 17 and I'll do it in three bits here. But the seducing harlot, we looked at this a couple of weeks ago. So this is verses one to six of 17. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornications. And on her forehead a name was written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great wonder. amazement. I'll stop there for just a second. So who's the woman? I think to John's original audience, this would have been Rome. But I think when I preached on this, I said, but Rome is a type of an evil empire that ultimately the power behind all evil empires is Satan. And that's kind of where this goes. Ultimately controlled by the Beast, according to Revelation, Antichrist, the anti-Christian world powers that exist. And I believe they've crept up over time, and I do believe that there's going to be a crescendo to one grand evil empire at some point before the coming of Christ. So the mystery is revealed in the second part of verse 6, where it says, And when I saw her, This is John. He sees this woman on the beast. He says, when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. But the angel said to me, why do you marvel? I'll tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was and is not and yet is. Here's the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. Obviously, that's very much a conundrum. There's a lot of views of what's going on here in this. I mean, to me, the seven hills is blatantly a reference to Rome. Some see at the end of time some form of the Roman Empire will re-emerge and maybe that's what this is talking about. But I think there is a future sense to this, but we don't want to put everything to the future. There's been evil empires, guys, that have risen up time and time again. And I think part of the, it was, and then is not, and then is, is that as soon as we think one's been toppled, it seems like all of a sudden something else emerges, some other evil empire. And there's been many, many empires. And we don't put our hope in national empires and national leaders. If one of the messages that's clearly there in the book, and I think every view can agree, is that Christ is King. Christ is Lord. That's going to come shining through as we get to the latter chapters. And as much as we, at times, God gives us godly leaders. And praise God when he does. That it goes well with the church and the gospel can be heralded, unheeded. But you know, there's nations and empires, if you will, where they're flat out evil, controlled by Satan, and the gospel is attempted to be stifled, right? So I think that's more or less the way I would view that. Verse 11, and the beast was, is not, himself also an eighth and a seventh. If you want to get digging into that, go listen to the sermon I preached when I was 17. I'm not going to get into that today. So interpreting this harlot, in verses like 15 through 18 then. Then he said to me, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, Make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts." Now, does he who's in ultimate control here? God will put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose to be of one mind and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman who you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the world. And I do believe that cryptically, in John's day, it was speaking about Rome at the time. But I think it speaks beyond Rome. And again, Rome is a type of evil empires that crop up. And I do believe that before Christ comes back, probably a grand evil empire will take place in some form or fashion. One of the things I think Revelation is trying to tell the church, us, is don't fear these things. Don't fear. Jesus is King. Jesus is Lord. Now, when we get to chapter 18, it's going to be a lament over the fall of great Babylon, right? And so let's look at 18. And this is what I want to preach. But with all that said, let's look at this lament of the world over the fall of Babylon. So in verses one to three, the verdict is announced. 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 mightily with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. And as we move through the chapter, I'm going to spend a little bit of time, and I told you I think two weeks ago, that chapter 18 is much. It's more than just this, but it's at least this. It's a warning against materialism. And we'll look at that when we get to that section of chapter 18. So this angel comes and lumens the entire earth. Right? Filled with the glory, the reflected glory of God Almighty. So this angel obviously, from the presence of God, now comes to the earth with his announcement, which is really God's announcement through his angel. It harkens back, it reminds me of like Moses when he met with God and came off the mountain and his face glowed because he had the reflected, refracted glory of God in his face. So you see that language in like Ezekiel 43 verse 2. Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East. His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone, the entire earth shone with his glory. Right? And beloved, we'll get to see that glory someday. Right? The glorious beatific vision, the theologians call that. When we finally get to see our God face to face, when we're glorified and we get to see him. So fallen Babylon, it says in the first couple of verses here, has become a prison. The English Standard Version of that verse says, she has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. It's become desolate, right? This grand empire that was so powerful, was a terror to the nations, right? And was such a provider of material goods to everybody, is now desolate. It's been utterly destroyed. It mentions it's a dwelling place for evil spirits or demons because demons inhabit desolate places. If you look through the scriptures and do a study on demons, you'll find that true almost in every text you come across. Like in Luke 8.29, says he commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for it had often seized him. And he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles. And he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness." Right? Into the wilderness. So that's the idea of the language here. It's a desolate place. The unclean live here. In other words, it's godless. Absence of God. And you see in verse 3 these godless alliances, political alliances. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth. have committed fornication with her. And the merchants are included here. The merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. And you can see the compromise, can't you? Gold is king. The merchants compromise themselves with an evil empire to get rich. To get rich, the power of gold. If you ever read Tolkien's books, Tolkien talks a lot about that. Tolkien and The Hobbit has a dragon called Smaug. And Smaug had accumulated this treasure, and all Smaug the dragon did was guard it. That's all the dragon did. It didn't use it for anything. It's just the power of the gold, right? And when they come and Smaug is killed and they take the treasure, then the power of the gold begins to infect human beings and men and dwarves, right? If you ever read those books. And there's a real danger in that, guys. And I know, I was thinking this when I was preparing. I thought, well, and don't take offense at this. I'm preaching to an older crowd, so don't be offended by that. But I mean, some of you already know that, and that's why you've endured in your faith so long. But I bet you all of you have been tempted at some time in your life with the power of gold, at some point or another. I know I have. And it's by the grace of God that we don't chase after those things. We serve the living God, right? He'll take care of us. So these nations, right, are involved here. The kings and the leaders are involved here. Somebody wrote, their God is money, so they bow to great Babylon and away from the true and living God. Oh, it's such a temptation. And Satan loves to tempt us with that, doesn't he? Didn't he tempt Jesus with, I'll give you all these kingdoms, everything will be yours if you just bow to me, right? And we've all heard him whisper in our ear at some point, those very same things, just a compromise, just a little compromise, just a little, nobody's going to know, right? Because we're being tempted by money and gold and power and all these things. Holman writes, the commentator in Holman, civilizations unceasingly demand for more comfort, more goods, more services. They grew rich from her excessive luxuries. This is literally grew rich from the power of her luxuries. This picture's materialism, comfort, and sensual gratification is having the power to bring wealth to those who satisfy the world's basest desires. Any roll call of the world's richest individuals without fail includes primarily just such merchants of the earth. Commerce and trade are not condemned as inherently evil, only commerce and trade that's run amok." And it happens, guys. I see it all the time in my day job. It happens, and we're all tempted to it, and we have to be mindful of it. So there's this command with that in mind. There's a command now to flee. God now speaks to his own children and says, flee from all of this. Don't get wrapped up in this worldliness. So verse 4 to 8. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works in the cup which she has mixed. mix double for her, in the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow. For she says in her heart, I sit as queen. I am no widow and will not see sorrow. Therefore her plagues will come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her." Do you see the warning? come out of her. Karen and I were listening yesterday on the way home from a trip we took to D.A. Carson, and he said, you know, he's not saying for the church to come out of the world. Remember Paul wrote that, he said, when I told you to stay away from sexually immoral people, I didn't mean the sexual immoral people, you'd have to leave the world. We're in the world, but not of the world. And that's what he's saying. If you live in this empire, this powerful nation, that maybe is being actually utterly controlled by Satan, don't partake of her sins. Even though in a nation, in a culture like that, that's going to bring you persecution. Maybe even speaking as God's prophet to the people and saying, this is wrong. You'll be persecuted for it, but that's what the Bible says, is come out from that. Don't be a part of that. Don't be attached to that, because all that's burning with fire. All of it. So we have to be cautious with this. 2 Corinthians 6. And you know these passages, but it's applicable here. 2 Corinthians 6.14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with the Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. And Paul writes, similar to the Romans in Romans 12 too, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. When the whole culture is running amok, be transformed. Have your mind set on the things of God, that you're rising above the baseness of the culture. No matter what the culture starts to accept, whatever the culture starts to promote, we in ourselves say, this is wrong. I won't partake of this. And we rise above it. That's what transform means, actually, in the actual original language. It means to rise up and above. We do transatlantic flights, up in a bond, beyond and across. And that's what the Bible's talking about there. Jesus' own words in John 15, 19, He says, and I know I've said this many, many times, but I just love how honest Jesus is when he talks. And this is John 15, it's right before he goes to the cross in John 15. But he says, if you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you're not of the world, but I chose you. And take that personally. Just hear Jesus say that to you individually. But I chose you out of the world. Therefore, the world hates you. And it's almost as if Jesus is saying, but you're mine. You're mine. You're my child. I pulled you out of this stinking, rotten world that you'd be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That's what Jesus did. So her sins, the evil world system here, they've reached heaven. And there's a lot of language in that text there, 4 to 8, about measurement. The equal to the measurement of your sin and abomination is your just punishment, is what God says. So we're to get out of that, because the punishment will be equal to the crime, so to speak. Jesus taught this. The Bible teaches this. Luke 12.47, the servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do according to his will. He knew what the master required, but he didn't do it. He says, he shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things that are deserving of stripes, he'll be beaten with few. Right? It's the measure. I remember a long time ago, we set up a tent out here in the grass. You probably remember that. Remember we used to have the tents and we brought in an evangelist. and opened up to the town to come. I remember his sermon, but I remember when he was done preaching every night, he would say, now you've just received new truth that you're now responsible for. And he was right. And I can't tell God I didn't know, because he just preached that truth, and I knew it was God's word. And it was a new truth, new to me. And I was responsible to live in that truth, right? And that's what Jesus is saying. So there are degrees of sin and there's degrees of punishment in the Bible. I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than it is for you. There's some measurement in that, right? But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you, Jesus taught, right? So that's what's going on here in 4 to 8. So God has remembered her iniquities. Now, hone in on that. That God says, I remember your iniquities. Because in Christ, the Bible says, like in Hebrews 10.16, this is the covenant I'll make with them after those days. says the Lord. I'll put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds I'll write them. Then, he adds, their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. God chooses in Christ for you and me that are in Christ to not remember our sins against us. He doesn't get divine amnesia. I mean, God's fully aware of everything, but he chooses not to remember them against us, right? Maybe you've been married a while. I've been married for 36 years, and there's things that we choose not to remember against each other anymore. We just don't bring it up. It's like, look, that's past. What good is it going to do to bring up old stupid stuff? But God, in His grace, chooses not to remember our sin against us anymore. She glorified herself with luxury. the Bible says, right? Verse 7, in the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously in the same measure, I'll give her torment and sorrow. Do you remember the fate of King Herod? This came to mind when I was studying this in the book of Acts. I mean, it's really quite a ghastly passage. I'm going to read it to you, but hang in there. It's pretty gruesome. But it says in Acts 12.21, So on a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel. Doesn't that sound like the dress of this harlot? Arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. He gave a wonderful speech. And the people kept shouting, the voice of a God and not of a man. Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God. He was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied. He wouldn't give glory to God. He allowed people to deify him. And that's what was going on in first century Rome. I think we talked about that, right? That the Caesars were gods. The people were commanded to bow and give homage to them. Right? How more wicked can you get than that? How much more of an abomination and blasphemy can you come up with than that? And yet that didn't end with Rome. There's powerful men today that act like they're God. You know, they don't bow their knee to Jesus Christ. They want people to bow to them. And the Bible has strong, strong warning about that. So I'm going to read a big chunk here of chapter 18. Let's read 9 to 20. And now we're going to see the world mourning over the fall of Babylon. Not because they love Babylon, because they love the stuff. So here we go. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour your judgment has come. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore. Merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, Every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and incense, and fragrant oil, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and bodies, and souls of men. The fruit that your soul longed for, has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you. and you shall find them no more at all. The merchants of these things who became rich by her will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, for in one hour such great riches came to nothing. Every shipmaster, all who traveled by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance, and they cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What is like this great city? They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing and saying, Alas, alas, that great city in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth. For in one hour she is made desolate. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. That last line's a call to the people of God, right? Those prophets, those people of God to rejoice that God's judgment was finally poured out on this harlot, this city, this empire, right? Because she was wicked. She was wicked. So a little bit on the danger of materialism. And again, I think most of you have probably gotten to a place in your life. I know I have. Stuff's just stuff. I mean, I'm looking and I'm thinking, how many more years do you think we've got? And we'll be in glory. And now we're thinking more like, we've got to clean out the garage so our kids don't have to tilt it when we're gone. Whatever junk's down there. And it's just junk. It's just stuff. My whole perspective of stuff changed so much when I became a Christian. And all of a sudden, one, God is going to hone you. I mean, he chips away at us in a godly, wonderful way to get our fingers off of junk and stuff. And I started just seeing stuff as something else I've got to maintain. You know, lawn mower, I've got to change the oil. The house, I've got to stain the side. I mean, I praise God that he allows me to have these things. I mean, they're all tools and useful, and God's gracious to let us have them. But it's a lot of work. It's just stuff. And I can tell you, because of what I do for a living, that there's people that have stuff, and there's people that thank God for the stuff, and there's people whose stuff has them. And they mourn tragically. It used to be almost like an unknown thing, and I can tell you it's epidemic now, hoarding. It's amazing to me how many people, and you wouldn't even believe it if I told you how many people, when we try to go in and fix their houses, we can't get into the house. It's stacked floor to ceiling with stuff. I had a situation with a woman one time down in Baltimore. I went in and she was addicted to the Home Shopping Network and she had boxes unopened everywhere. And she was watching the show when I walked out. I was doing my thing. She goes, oh yeah, I just love... It's like Christmas every day when they deliver a package. And she was addicted to it. It was just stuff. And that was her whole life. It was so sad. So sad. We don't want to be those people. I don't do much on Facebook, as you probably know, but one of the little groups I joined is called Theology Matters. And I'm coming to suspect it's about 15 young guys that are really excited about theology because they post some crazy stuff. And I enjoy it. But the other day somebody posted this on my Facebook. And I thought it was good. And I thought, well, I'm preaching on this. They posted, no one is going to stand up at your funeral and say, she had a really expensive couch and great shoes. And I thought, you know what? There's wisdom in that. There really is wisdom in that. I mean, if we just keep the perspective right of what we're pouring our short lives into in this life to make an eternal impact on people, right? So let me look at this lament here. There's this dirge of those that profited. And if you've noticed when we went through it, it's three groups of people. It's the kings of the world who profited. the merchants of the world who profited, and the maritime industry. When I look at that, I think, well, nowadays, I'm thinking FedEx, UPS. I mean, they're making all this money because everybody keeps buying stuff. And they drive up your driveway, and they're making money. And Kendall Easley, in his commentary, did a good job of dividing up the stuff. And I didn't really see it till I read his commentary, the Holman commentary. And he divides it like this. He has eight categories. From the jewelry store. I thought that was pretty good. The jewelry store. Gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls. From the clothing store. Fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet cloth. From the furniture store. Citron wood, ivory, and costly wood. From the interior decorators shop. Bronze, iron, and marble. From the perfumery, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense. From the food store, wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat. From the animal sale barn, cattle, sheep, horses, and carriages. And ghastly, at the end, from the slave market, bodies. and souls. I will read you what he wrote about the bodies and soul. He wrote, bodies, extravagant lifestyles were supported by slaves, cruelly sold in the slave markets just like animals. But by some estimates, there was 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire at this time in the first century. I mean, our country's guilty of the same, right? and really the souls of men. And he writes, this is a reminder that slave traders weren't dealing with just bodies, but with infinitely valuable human souls that were created in God's image. How ghastly is that? Slavery. I mean, it's just ghastly. So the world laments, but God's people rejoice, right? Rejoice over her, O heaven. You holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. And then this song of destruction, verses 21 to 24. When a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, thus, with violence, the great city, Babylon, shall be thrown down and shall not be found anymore. The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore. And the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore. And the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and of all who were slain. the earth. She's done. She's destroyed. I think no matter what view you take of this, and I don't have any beefs with anybody that takes other views, dispensational view and whatnot, and there's futurists who think everything's future. I kind of tend to think this is something that just happens over time, over and over, but probably leading to a grand world empire, satanic. But you have to see the main thrust to the Christian is don't get caught up in this stuff. It's all going away, right? There's another passage in scripture that says, since this is so, this is what's coming, how should we live our lives then, right? In godliness, right? Not wrapping our hands around the stuff of this world. And I thank God, I praise Him that He allows me to have this nice house, and we have a little deck that we sit on. It's not like I'm not appreciative of that stuff, but it's stuff. It's stuff. You know, he's the king. He's coming. You know, there should be none of us that when he comes, if we just say, could you wait one more day? Because I'm really enjoying this TV show. We should be hastening the day that he comes. Because that's where our heart's at. I'm starting to get to an age where I've got more and more people on the other side. I told you I got together with my 6th grade class yesterday and one of the ladies brought her mother. And I had an insurance claim on their mother years ago. And I went over to her, and she's getting up there. And I get down on my knees, and I held her hand. I said, do you remember me? And she goes, I do remember you. And I said, do you remember what I said when I called you? And she goes, yes, I do. You said, do you have a daughter named Kelly? She goes, you took really good care of me. I said, of course I did. You're from the brook. But she was a sweet lady. But I talked to a lot of the other people that were our friends. And their parents are on the other side. And we started talking about that. And they knew my parents. They grew up on the same street as me. Two of the kids live right across the street. And her mom just died, Nancy Long. Her mom just died. And she was a great lady. And I said, she made great pudding, Nancy. She goes, I hated that pudding. I said, it was like real pudding. You guys ever have real pudding where they baked it and it was hard on top? I love that. She's like, I had that nasty crusty thing on it. I was like, that's why it was good. But she said, I really miss. She was tearing up. She goes, I really miss my mom. I said, you know, Nancy, I said, I really miss my mom and dad. But I'm going to see them again. And I'm getting to an age where I've got more and more people on that side. And I'm looking forward to getting there and seeing them. I guess that's the way God designs us if we grow to a good age. So John, in the spirit here, he's actually, going back to our text, he's borrowing from Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 51-63, and he does that a lot in Revelation, by the way. In the Spirit, he's not just coming up with stuff. I mean, the Holy Spirit is teaching him here. But in Jeremiah 51-63, it says, Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then you shall say, thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her, and they shall be weary." National Babylon, which was destroyed. And now that language as Babylon as a type is now, I believe, talking about Rome and also talking about all future kingdoms and probably the ultimate anti-Christian kingdom that will arise. And if you notice in the text, the judgment, everyday life events have ended. Did you notice that when I was reading that? No more in you. Right? Over and over. Music is silenced. Craft and industry is done. The sound of the millstone grinding the wheat, you don't hear that anymore. Lamps don't shine. All is utter darkness. No weddings or festivals any longer. All that was going on and it's all done. It's all done. Jesus is coming, right? When Mary In the gospel of Luke, when she hears what God's gonna do, and I just love that text. I don't wanna preach that, but I just love that text, because Mary goes, how will these things be? I just let a little girl, some say 14 or something, maybe. She was okay to it, she just didn't understand it. How would these things be? Well, she's told, and later she sings a song. The church is known as the Magnificat. Because it begins with that word in Latin. And in the Magnificat, she gives a lot of wisdom by the Spirit. And listen to what, it is just a verse or two. He has shown, God, He has shown strength with His arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. That's our God. That's what He does, right? That's why we want to remain humble and God will lift us up in due time. I mean, the Bible says to remain humble. I'm going to finish up with a little teeny bit of a poem. And it's a long poem, but I encourage you to look it up. It's all over the internet. I had it in a book of poetry, Christian poetry, that I had. And so I read this years ago and fell in love with it. But it's by Matilda Edwards. And it's a poem called The Church Walking with the World. And I was going to read you a couple little excerpts from it. So this is kind of hodgepodge, but I didn't want to read the whole thing. I'm going to be here for an hour. But this is what the poem says. In the poem, the world is trying to allure the church to be pressed into its mold. And so in the poem, it says, half shyly, the church approached the world and gave him her hand of snow. The old world grasped it and walked along, saying in accents low, Your dress is too simple to please my taste. I'll give you pearls to wear, rich velvet and silks for your graceful form, and diamonds to deck your hair. I'll change my dress for a costlier one, for satins and gems and pearls. And over her forehead, her bright hair fell, crisped in a thousand curls. So the alluring world and the gullible church walk closely hand and heart, and only the Father, who knoweth all, could tell the two apart. But love, that's not to be the bride of Christ. We're not to be so caught up in the world that no one can tell us apart, right? We're to be distinct, we're to be his people, right? In a world that often walks in complete materialism and worldliness. So we have to be aware of the allurements of the world. One last thought. If you ever get a chance to read Pilgrim's Progress, and there's modern versions of it. When I first read that book, I read it in the original, difficult, Elizabethan style. It's a little tough. But there's modern translations of it. But one of the things that happens in that story, the whole thing's an allegory, is a young Christian is making his way to the celestial city. And he has to go through the Vanity Fair. And the problem with Vanity Fair was there's so many trinkets and so many things to get caught up in that a lot of people get that far and never leave Vanity Fair to move on to the Celestial City. And that's Bunyan's warning to us, is you're in the world. You have to pass through Vanity Fair. Don't get caught up in it. Head on to the Celestial City. Let me close with that. Our Father and our God, we thank you for the warning of your word, Lord. And we pray by your grace that we would not get caught up in the trinkets of Babylon and the amazements of Vanity Fair, but would remain your Holy Bride heading off to the Celestial City. So Lord, for your goodness and your grace and your glory, we pray you do that work in us. In Jesus' name, amen. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Go in the peace of Christ to a world that desperately needs to hear the gospel. In Jesus' name, amen.