WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:04.400 The rest of us, if you would, go ahead and open up your Bibles to the book of Revelation. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:11.359 If you haven't been with us, we've been making our way through this last book of the Bible, and uh we are nearing its end. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:19.760 We are gonna be looking at this morning chapter 18 through the beginning of 19, first 10 verses of chapter 19. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.839 If you don't have a Bible with you, no worries. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:24.320 There should be one under a chair around you. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:25.679 Grab that, use that. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:27.839 You can even take it home with you if you need a Bible. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:29.679 But you can also open up your bulletin. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:32.799 It's a long passage, but we were able to fit it all in the bulletin. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:33.920 Thanks, Holly. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.960 Um, but you could open that up, but it would be really helpful. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:38.719 You'll even look just in the bulletin. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:45.840 There's a lot of text and a lot that we're gonna look at, and I think it'd be really helpful for you to have your eyes on it as we make our way through it. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:50.479 This morning we're gonna look at leaving and longing. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.960 You know, sometimes leaving is actually really, really easy. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.240 Like I love leaving the dentist. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:02.719 There's a certain joy in leaving the hospital. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:05.920 Um can't wait to get out of the BMV. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:10.079 There's pure bliss to leave traffic behind. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:14.159 Sometimes it's just really nice to leave an awkward conversation. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:18.239 Or maybe even an awkward, maybe more so, an awkward party. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:20.480 Sometimes leaving can be super easy. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:24.719 But I think most often when we think of leaving, we think about it being difficult. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:26.640 And sometimes just in silly ways. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:28.159 I don't know if you've ever had this experience. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:28.959 I have it often. 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:35.760 Some of us find it difficult to leave a favorite chair or maybe spot on the couch that we've settled into. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.640 It's it's nice and comfortable. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:45.760 Somehow in Indiana in May, it's warm and so it feels great when it's really cold outside. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:56.079 There's all sorts of ways in which it can be difficult to leave, but most of the time, it's most difficult to leave things that our hearts are attached to. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:04.879 Think about maybe it's difficult to leave a job you love, maybe to leave the known for the unknown, to leave co-workers who have become friends. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:07.359 Sometimes it can be really difficult to leave a home. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:22.719 Many of you have experienced that or are in the midst of that, to leave a house to move, uh, you know, a place where you've made a lot of memories, neighborhoods where you've walked, normal routines and patterns, favorite coffee shop or restaurant or store. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:28.479 But usually what we find most difficult is leaving people we love. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:35.120 Maybe it is from moving or a job or other things, but to leave family or friends. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:43.120 See, leaving is hardest when we have to leave something that our hearts are attached to. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:47.280 You know, there's a call in our passage this morning to leave something. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:53.280 And it's not an easy thing to leave because our hearts indeed have become attached. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:58.479 And here's a category of leaving that maybe we don't think about very often. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:01.680 Sometimes it's hard to leave bad things. 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:10.240 Sometimes we don't want to leave things that we know we should leave, or even that we know we must leave. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:12.400 Now, the reason for that is simple. 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:17.680 It's because in our sinfulness, our hearts often get attached to the wrong things. 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:22.400 You know, this is how theologians really throughout history have talked about the very essence of sin. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:27.919 It's loving the wrong things, or even loving good things, but in the wrong ordered. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:32.639 Augustine, the famous church father, used to talk about disordered loves. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:35.919 It's often how we see our own sin. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.120 That's what our passage seeks to show us. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:46.719 That in our sin, our hearts have become attached to this fallen world and its sin. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.039 If we're honest with ourselves, we love this world too much. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:54.159 And by this world, I don't mean its people per se. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:00.479 I mean its promises, its pleasures, it's its pride, its possessions. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:02.639 This is much of what we saw last week. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:06.240 Last week we looked at the dangers of worldliness. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:10.879 This morning, what we're gonna see is that that worldliness dwells in us. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:13.360 We are, in fact, worldly. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:18.720 And Christ's call this morning in Revelation 18 and 19 is simple. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:21.600 We must leave this world. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:28.879 Now, let me be really clear: not leave to go to the moon or to start a new kind of society on Mars. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.720 We shouldn't leave for the hills or leave for the countryside. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:37.519 No, we're talking about leaving spiritually in our hearts. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.120 The point is that we need to love Christ more than this world. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:46.079 We need to long for him more than we long for the things of earth. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:50.800 Simply put, he must be our God and not this world. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:58.000 Friends, I think we know in our own hearts that often we are too comfortable in this world. 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:01.199 So often we are too settled in this world. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:04.720 Our hearts are too attached to the things of this world. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:11.120 And for many of us, when we think about leaving this world, it actually is really difficult. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:15.519 I was convicted by these words from Charles Spurgeon this past week. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:21.920 He said this it ought to be a daily disappointment when our Lord does not come. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:27.040 That to me is probably not the experience of most of us. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:31.759 That we are daily disappointed that our Lord has not come. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:41.439 We are not very often, like Spurgeon encourages us to be, to be on the tiptoe of expectation, always longing for the return of Jesus. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:51.839 And I think the reason is because so often our longings are more frequently and fervently for the things of this world and not for Christ. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:57.600 See, Revelation and 18 is gonna show us two sort of contrasts, two realities. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:03.920 It's gonna show us two contrasting realities, a funeral and a feast. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:14.399 And then it's gonna show us two contrasting peoples, those who mourn the fall of this world and those who celebrate the feast of the Lamb. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:22.319 You know, our main idea this morning is this we must leave this fallen world and long for the feast of the Lamb. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:26.879 We must leave this fallen world and long for the feast of the Lamb. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.439 We're gonna have a huge chunk of scripture. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:34.560 Let me read chapter 18 for us, uh, and then we will dig into its truth. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:43.360 Here's what it says After this, I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:46.399 He called out in a mighty voice, It has fallen. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.120 Babylon the Great has fallen. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:07:00.480 She has become a home for demons, a haunt, a gathering place for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and despicable beast. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:04.240 For all the nations have drunk the wine of her sexual immorality. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:09.839 It's speaking in pictural form of unfaithfulness, which brings about wrath. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:16.800 The kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:24.240 Then I heard another voice from heaven, Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or receive any of her plagues. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:28.720 For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:33.839 Pay her back the way she also paid, and double it according to her works. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:38.000 In the cup in which she mixed, mix a double portion for her. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:46.079 As much as she glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways, give her that much torment and grief. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:49.120 For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:52.879 I'm not a widow, and I will never see grief. 00:07:53.199 --> 00:08:03.839 For this reason her plagues will be will come in just one day, death and grief and famine, she will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is mighty. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:12.800 The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and shared her sensual and excessive ways will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:22.240 They will stand far off in fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city, for in a single hour your judgment has come. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:27.439 The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any longer. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:51.840 Cargo of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls, fine lemon, purple, silk, and scarlet, all kinds of fragrant wood products, objects of ivory, objects of expensive wood, brass, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh and frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour and grain, cattle and sheep, horses and carriages, and slaves, human lives. 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:54.320 The fruit you craved has left you. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:57.360 All your splendid and glamorous things are gone. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.600 They will never find them again. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:14.480 The merchants of these things who became rich from her will stand far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, Whoa, woe, the great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:19.600 For in a single hour such fabulous wealth was destroyed. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:31.679 And every shipmaster, seafarer, the sailors, all who do dis business by the sea, stood far off as they watched the smoke from her burning and kept crying out, who was like the great city? 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:45.440 They threw dust on their heads and kept kept crying out, weeping and mourning, Woe, woe, the great city, where all those who have ships on the sea became rich from her wealth, for in a single hour she was destroyed. 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:55.200 Rejoice over her, heaven, and you saints, apostles, and prophets, because God has pronounced on her the judgment she passed on you. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:10:07.200 Then a mighty angel picked up a stone, this is straight from Jeremiah, like a large millstone and threw it in the sea, saying, In this way Babylon, the great city, will be thrown down violently and never be found again. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:09.679 You think about a stone that disappears in water. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:15.600 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:18.799 No craftsman of any trade will ever be found in you again. 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:28.240 The sound of a mill will never be heard in you again, the light of a lamp will never shine in you again, the voice of a groom and bride will never be heard in you again. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:31.360 These are all pictures of life and joy. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:38.960 All this will happen because your merchants were the nobility of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:45.360 In her was found the blood of prophets and saints and of all those slaughtered on the earth. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.679 First point that I want us to see this morning is the fall of Babylon. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:57.759 Some ways is what we've been working up to for many, many weeks in Revelation, this fall, this judgment on Babylon. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:00.080 And there are two clear halves in our passage. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:05.279 Maybe you notice the first eight verses talk about the fall of Babylon, its destruction. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:09.919 The last 16 verses give us the funeral of Babylon. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:13.519 Now, remember, if you haven't been with us, Babylon is a picture. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:15.120 It's not a literal city. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:18.639 In some ways, it encompasses all cities, all cultures. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:24.559 It is everything that is wrong with this world pictured as a city. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:29.039 It is all those who oppose God and his ways. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:35.919 And this city, this fallen system, look at what Revelation 18, 2 says. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:38.159 It has fallen. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:41.600 Babylon the great has fallen. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:44.320 Now, friends, think about this picture for a moment. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:50.000 Not just this one individual city, but think about how monumental this is. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:55.840 This includes all cities, all cultures, in some sense, all of civilization is fallen. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:01.519 All that is sinful and wrong and opposed to God is fallen in a moment. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:12.320 Scripture is adamant that one day this sinful world and its fallen systems, sinful systems, will fail. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.720 They will be punished and judged. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:17.200 And this judgment of God is deserved. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:24.159 We've seen that in weeks to come, but it's highlighted again here because their rebellion against God is rich in sin. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:25.519 Look at verse 5. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:27.039 So telling. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:31.120 For her sins are piled up to heaven. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:36.399 Babylon, this sinful, fallen world, her sins are piled up to heaven. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:42.799 If you remember, the way the first origin of the idea of Babylon goes all the way back to Babel. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:45.600 This is an allusion to the Tower of Babel. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:52.240 When the people of the earth tried to build this glorious tower all the way up into heavens. 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:57.200 They wanted to show that they were like God in some ways to take God's place. 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:03.440 And what we see here at the very end of the Bible is that ironically, they see they succeeded. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:08.320 They did build a tower to heaven, but not a glorious one. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:12.480 They built a tower of sin and of shame. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.399 And what was at the very heart of that pile of sin? 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:17.840 Well, look at verse 7. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:26.720 It says, She, Babylon, glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:38.320 See, sin and this sinful world is filled with self-glory, self-worship, self-serving, self-exaltation. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:40.559 This is the way of our world. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:43.360 And verse 7, the end, makes it particularly clear. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:44.399 Look at what it says. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:47.919 For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen. 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:49.120 I'm not a widow. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.919 I will never see grief. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:55.519 This fallen world thinks it's invincible. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:14:00.799 And a quote like this might seem a little bit weird to you, but it's actually directly from Isaiah 47. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:04.639 And I think in context, we can see something a little bit even more clear. 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:06.960 Here's what Isaiah 47 says. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:11.120 You said, This is Babylon, the sinful system of our world. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:13.360 I will be queen forever. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:15.200 And then here's what the Lord says. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:24.000 So now hear this lover of luxury, who sits securely, who says to herself, I am and there is no one else. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:28.799 I will never be a widow or know the loss of children. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.200 Do you see the pride in that statement? 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:34.159 I mean, it's incredible pride. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:39.039 I will do what I want, and nobody will do anything against it. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:40.639 That's the statement. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:42.879 And friends, we need to see that this is the spirit of sin. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:46.879 In fact, this is the spirit that lingers in our own sin and sinfulness. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:54.399 Every single time that we sin, here's what we declare: I am and there is no one else. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:56.320 Have you ever thought about that? 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:09.919 I mean, realistically, if you think of even maybe a way in which you've sinned, even this morning or this past week, or if you see sin or battling sin in your life, is it not so often the sort of sin, when we sin, what we're saying is, I am and there is no one else. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.960 I care about me and no one else. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:16.080 See, the Bible is very clear. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:17.679 There is an I am. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:21.679 But the only I am in Scripture is God Himself. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:33.840 And every single time that we sin, what we are doing is we are professing to be the I am, to be God, to stay up in the place of God. 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:37.039 See, Babylon will fall. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.600 God will judge all sin. 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:44.559 But what will happen at this funeral of Babylon? 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.039 Well, the world will mourn. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:52.879 It's a long section, these last 16 verses of chapter 18, but we're gonna look at two primary points. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:57.039 We're gonna look at what their grief looks like and what their grief says. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:00.559 First, let's think about what their grief looks like. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.360 Their grief is deep. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:04.879 Look at verse 10. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:10.480 Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:15.120 If you read through this section, if you remember, there are just woes after woes. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:17.039 This is repeated throughout. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:18.480 It's almost a refrain. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:21.200 Woe, the great city. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:32.000 The word woe is a word that is almost the most profound sorrow and even despair that we can feel. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:05.359 Verse 15, the merchants of these things who became rich from her will stand far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:21.680 Verses 17, uh it says, Every shipmaster, search seafarer, the sailors, and all who do business by the sea stood far off as they watched the smoke from her burning and kept crying out, Who was like the great city? 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:23.839 See the repeated phrase? 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:25.279 Far off. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:28.240 They stood far off. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:33.119 They grieve the fall of Babylon, but they grieve it from afar. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:35.519 Now, why is that a repeated phrase? 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:36.720 What's the significance? 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:38.079 Well, I think it's clear. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:42.960 They don't grieve for Babylon, they grieve for themselves. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:49.440 They didn't love Babylon, they loved what Babylon could give them. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:52.400 Friends, I think that's so clear in their laments. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:53.599 Why do the kings lament? 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:54.799 Look again at verse 10. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:00.559 It's because they lost in their share in uh the greatness, might, and glory of Babylon. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:02.160 Why do the merchants lament? 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:09.039 Look at verse 11, because no one buys their cargo any longer, because all their splendid and glamorous things are gone. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:11.359 Why do the workers, the sailors, lament? 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:15.359 Verse 19, because they became rich from her wealth. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:21.599 I don't think it's difficult or hard to see what is the driving attraction of Babylon. 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:25.359 What is the driving attraction of this fallen world? 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:32.079 It is wealth and riches, power, comfort, luxury. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:34.799 Church, I think this is so helpful. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:40.319 The attractiveness of sin is so rarely in the sin itself. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:46.480 It's what the sin offers, or at least seeks to offer. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:51.839 What the sin seems to promise is what so often grabs our hearts. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:19:00.960 And what we see here is that the premier temptation of this sinful world is stuff, is wealth. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.079 I think this is why scripture is so clear to us. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:16.640 I think why Paul is so adamant in 1 Timothy 6 10, he says this for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, not money itself, but the love of money. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:29.440 And by craving it, wanting it, having to have it, some have wandered away from the faith, some have denied God and pierced themselves with many griefs. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:35.279 They've so craved wealth and money that they've actually pierced themselves with many griefs. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:39.599 What Paul states, Revelation 18, is showing us. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:44.559 That's what their grief looks like, but let's consider what their grief says. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:56.720 Because you might wonder why is there such a long and lengthy explanation, detailed explanation of the laments and mourning because of the demise of Babylon? 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.119 Well, I think the reason is simple. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:02.799 It's because their sorrow communicates something significant. 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:06.559 Their woes show their worship. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:12.000 See, Tim Keller, pastor, he's passed away, but he defined an idol in this way. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:15.920 An idol is anything more important to you than God. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:20.960 Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:26.720 Anything you seek to give you what only God can give. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:31.119 This is exactly what we see of the world towards Babylon. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:48.400 And one of the clearest ways that we can see and detect idols in our heart, Keller continues to say this an idol is anything that is so central and essential to your life that should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:51.920 Friends, I think that's what we're seeing in Revelation 18. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:55.279 We're seeing a world of people who have lost their idol. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:57.680 I think the text is clear. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:02.720 They believed Babylon to be great and mighty. 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:07.200 Those are words that scripture alone uses for the Lord. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.359 And we see this repeated affrain again and again in their laments. 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:13.759 Great is Babylon. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:17.920 You might think about the worship chants in Ephesus. 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:21.119 Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.359 This is worship language. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:35.279 Here is a people who have lost what is most central and essential to their life, who have trusted in Babylon to give them what only God can truly give. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:41.839 See, here is a people who have staked their life on Babylon and are now mourning its demise. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:46.319 And I think the reason is clear because they know that it is also their demise. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:54.720 When that which you have most held on to for life is destroyed, then you know you yourself are destroyed in that. 00:21:54.799 --> 00:22:12.480 I think that is partly why they stand far off, because that they know they have taken part in the Sin of Babylon, they know that this is the judgment of God, and so they stand far off to mourn losing the things of God, but to act as if they have no part in their sin. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:17.680 You can see what is entirely absent from this entire chapter. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.480 It's any sort of repentance. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:30.319 Friends, I think this is so helpful because I think many times we think that repentance is being sorry or it's having sorrow. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:37.039 We see so much sorrow in this passage, but it is sorrow over the consequences of sin. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:39.680 It is not sorrow over the sin itself. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:45.359 So often in our own hearts, what we mourn is not that we have sinned against our God. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:51.599 What we mourn is that there are consequences for our sin or that we have been caught in our sin. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:53.200 That's what we see here. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:55.599 That's what their grief shows us. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:58.720 Church, this world will fall. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:01.759 It is not ultimate, it is not God. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:07.839 And therefore, the application, the call of this passage is so clear to God's people. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:09.119 Look at verse 4. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:11.440 This is the command of this passage. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:23.200 Then I heard another voice from heaven come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or receive any of her plagues. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:26.799 Now, I want you to see there is an assumption there, isn't there? 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:29.359 Come out of her, my people. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:38.720 The assumption is that we are in the world, that we are of the world, that we have become worldly. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:40.319 That's the assumption. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:53.440 If you look at the chapters, if you remember from Revelation 2 and 3, as Jesus writes letters to these seven churches, five of the seven churches have compromised Christ for the benefits and riches of Rome. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:24:00.960 Church, we know far greater benefits and riches in our day. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:11.039 In some ways, we are much uh, it is, it would be much easier for us to succumb to these temptations, to mourn this world. 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:16.880 Because we have almost, it seems like, the entire world at our fingertips. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:22.720 Our staff is reading, uh, we read books together, and we're reading, just started, a book on heaven. 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:31.039 And one of the things that the author is saying is that often the reason we don't think more of heaven is because we live in a world of instant gratification. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:32.480 That is crazy. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:40.000 One of the examples that they give, that you can hop on Amazon in the middle of February and you can order grapes. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:44.400 And you can have those grapes delivered to your door that afternoon. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:48.079 And that to us just seems perfectly normal. 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:58.880 That we don't have to do any sort of work, it can be out of season, these things could come from far off, and we simply type some things and they show up at our door. 00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:01.599 This is the life we live. 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:07.599 Friends, there are so many ways in which the world gets into us. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:17.759 Just want you to think if this is the sort of world that we're living in, these sorts of luxuries and wealths at our disposal, here's how the world might actually get into our hearts. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:21.759 I think we see the world in our hearts when we expect life to be easy. 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:24.160 And I see this in my own heart. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:29.519 We think hard work and hardships are the outliers, not the norm. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:34.240 We so easily think that what is best is what is easy. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:41.599 We conflate easiness with goodness, partly because we live in a world that is our fingertips. 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:46.960 I think we can see the world in us when we expect it and everything to serve us. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:49.039 I mean, you just think about it. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:55.039 You you could get grapes at your door in an afternoon in the middle of February. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:57.200 Everything serves me. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:05.920 And I think it's so easy to think to think that things, um, circumstances, even people sometimes are there for us. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:15.519 So often we see this world in our hearts when we get frustrated that people don't notice us, people haven't considered us, people haven't praised us. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:22.559 I think we see this world in us when satisfaction eludes us, when nothing is ever enough. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:33.359 There's always more renovations needed, always more toys and gadgets we can buy, there's always more vacations, more money, more success. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:36.960 There's this insatiable want in us for more. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:40.720 Because the world acts like we can have everything. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:47.279 We see this world in our hearts and minds when we are constantly running in our minds. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:52.880 There's always more problems to solve, there's always more worries to fret over. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:56.720 All we think about are all of these different things of the world. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:27:00.319 There's so many ways in which the world attaches itself to our heart. 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:02.880 But can I tell you the thing that convicted me most this past week? 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:08.000 I was listening to a podcast with Glenn Scrivener, it's a great evangelist from Australia. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:13.200 And he was talking about why is it that it's so awkward when we talk about Jesus? 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:17.759 Why is it that it's awkward when we talk to a neighbor about Jesus? 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:24.799 And he says that it's awkward because everything else in our life looks so much like the world. 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:31.200 That actually, what really the scripture has in mind is that our lives are so awkward. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:39.359 Our lives are so not normal in this world that when we talk about Jesus, it actually brings relief to our neighbors. 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:41.759 They're like, oh, that's why they're weird. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:48.960 But what we do so often as a people is we minimize our distinctiveness. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:52.079 We want to be like the world. 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.440 There's so much of the world in our hearts. 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:59.519 Friends, if there are fruits of the Spirit, there are fruits of worldliness. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:05.359 Things like laziness and pride, impatience and gratitude, distraction, stress. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.480 And the call of this of Christ is to leave this world. 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:09.920 But let me be really clear. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:13.279 It doesn't mean that we should all go out and be homesteaders. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:14.880 No, no, no. 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:19.279 When we're talking about leaving this world, it doesn't mean that we can't order grapes in February. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:21.200 Go ahead, it's fine. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:23.839 No, scripture, I think, is so wise. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:29.920 Christ came not to take his people out of the world, he came to take the world out of his people. 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:35.200 See, that's what it means to leave this fallen world is to get the world out of our hearts. 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:40.960 See, to leave the world means to leave its grip, not its ground. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:46.079 We still walk in this world, but we don't become of this world. 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:48.559 And is that actually possible? 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:52.160 Can we actually get the worldliness out of our heart? 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:54.400 Look at what Galatians 1:4 says. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:59.119 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned. 00:28:59.279 --> 00:28:59.599 Why? 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:00.799 For what purpose? 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:05.680 In order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:08.240 This is exactly why Christ came. 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:17.359 Christ came to rescue us from this sinfulness in our own hearts and from the temptations and deceptions of this world. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:22.319 And he came so by dying for our sins and then raising to new life. 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:27.759 And here's the promise of Christ: that in Christ, when we trust in Christ, we are dead to sin. 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:32.240 We are dead to worldliness, and we are alive to God in Christ. 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:35.359 And so, how is it that we leave this world? 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:39.440 We walk in this newness of life in Christ. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:47.200 I think most importantly, what our passage would show us is that we feast and long for something better than this world. 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:54.240 See, we must leave this fallen world and long for the feast of the Lamb. 00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:56.640 That's the second point, the feast of the Lamb. 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:59.759 Look at the first 10 verses of Revelation 19. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:06.640 After this, I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah! What a contrast. 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:18.079 Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous, because he has judged the notorious prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality. 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:21.839 And he has avenged the blood of his servants that was on her hands. 00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:26.799 A second time they said, Hallelujah, her smoke ascends forever and ever. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:33.440 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying, Amen. 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:34.799 Hallelujah. 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:41.680 A voice came from the throne saying, Praise our God, all his servants, and the ones who fear him, both small and great. 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:53.119 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God the Almighty reigns. 00:30:53.359 --> 00:31:00.400 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has prepared herself. 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:07.759 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure, for the fine linen ripres represents the righteous acts of the saints. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:13.759 Then he said to me, Right, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:16.960 He also said to me, These words of God are true. 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:19.039 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:20.480 But he said to me, Don't do that. 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:25.599 I'm a fellow servant with you, and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to the testimony of Jesus. 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:31.119 Worship God, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:35.680 See, throughout Revelation, as we've said, there have been these contrasts. 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:37.440 That's how Revelation teaches. 00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:39.359 And here we see a stark one. 00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:42.640 This is a very the same context. 00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:50.960 In both 18 and 19, the fall of Babylon, but the response to that fall is markedly different, isn't it? 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:52.799 There's no mourning. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:54.400 There aren't woes. 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:56.319 It's rejoicing. 00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:00.000 And look at verse 1, verse 3, verse 4, verse 6. 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:01.680 What's the repeated word? 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:03.279 Hallelujah. 00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:08.799 I mean, that is that word literally means praise the Lord. 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:12.559 The Lord is to be praised. 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:14.720 That's the whole point of this passage. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:16.799 Just look at all of this throughout. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:19.519 The Lord is the undeniable focus of this passage. 00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:22.880 Verse 1, salvation, glory, and power belong to who? 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:23.839 Our God. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:29.599 Because his judgments are true and just, because he has judged, and he has avenged. 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:30.640 Look at verse 4. 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:34.960 Then the 24 elders and four living creatures found down and worshipped God. 00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:38.480 Verse 5, a voice came from the throne saying, Praise our God. 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:48.000 Verse 6, then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, all of them saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God the Almighty reigns. 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:52.880 Verse 7, let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory. 00:32:54.480 --> 00:33:01.119 Now, this is no, and I think it's so important, this is not the self-serving cheers of a winning team. 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:04.319 There's no spite in this rejoicing. 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:07.279 There's no pride-filled glee and triumph. 00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:10.319 No, this is holy God-centered. 00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:14.960 This is praising God for who he is and what he's done. 00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:25.759 And friends, what we see in Revelation 19 shows us that we have the absolute best grounds for rejoicing in God. 00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:33.279 Look at three things, three truths that I think should all like anchor our longings. 00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:38.160 First, notice that the passage tells us that God will judge Babylon. 00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:40.799 And we've seen that, but it bears repeating. 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:47.200 He will bring down the fullness of the evil systems, sinful systems of this world. 00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:49.119 We even talked about this morning. 00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:52.079 He will make all things right. 00:33:53.119 --> 00:33:54.480