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Text Sermons : Zac Poonen : (The Final Triumph) 18. Chapter 18

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Verse 1, 2: After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.'

Whereas chapter 17 showed Babylon as a religious system, chapter 18 shows Babylon as a commercial system. The two are interlinked.

How did Babylon become the dwelling place of demons? How did these evil spirits get a foothold in it? Because purity and holiness were not emphasised. If a church emphasises greatness, honour and prosperity, unclean spirits will very soon build their nests in its midst. If on the other hand, holiness and purity are emphasised, the unclean spirits will be driven away in no time at all. But it is rare to find a church these days that emphasises holiness. If a church begins to emphasise it, they are soon accused of preaching perfectionism - and the leaders of the church soon back off in fear, and stop preaching it. On the other hand, some churches that began with an emphasis on true holiness, have today become full of legalistic Pharisees. And the unclean birds find a haven among them too! So we must watch both extremes of worldliness and legalism.

Verse 3: 'For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her; and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.'

One example will be sufficient to show how worldly businessmen have become rich through Babylon. Think of the millions of rupees and dollars that are spent every year around the world, at Christmas-time, on cards and gifts - all in the name of Christ! Celebrating "the birthday of Christ" has become an opportunity for big business everywhere. Even so-called believers hob-nob with Santa Claus at Christmas time!! All this is Babylon, through and through. But what Christendom is actually celebrating on December 25 is the birthday of the sun god. The people of Europe worshipped the sun-god and celebrated his birthday (for many centuries before they converted to Christianity) on that date, because that was the date of the winter solstice, as per their calculations. (We now know that December 22 is the actual date when the sun moves northwards from the Tropic of Capricorn). The days started getting longer once again in the northern hemisphere after that date - and so that date was celebrated as the birthday of the sun-god. When those pagans changed their religion to "Christianity", they just changed the name of their feast and called it "the birthday of their new god, Christ"!! That has now given businessmen all over the world an opportunity to rake in millions!

Verses 4, 5: And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, My people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues. For her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.'

What a grief it must be to God that some of His children too are caught up in this corrupt Babylonian system. So the voice from heaven calls saying, "Come out of her, My people". Can you see the grief in the heart of God when He says:

You are My people. How can you stay in this corrupt system? Come out of her at once, so that you don't take part in her sins. If you don't, then you will also have to share in her punishment.
The call to every believer is to come out of every system that has religion without purity, and where man's traditions have replaced the Word of God.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Verses 6, 7: 'Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, "I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning."'

Then the voice from heaven proclaims judgment.

Here in these verses we can see in a nutshell the essence of Babylon - "She glorified herself". She sought the honour of men. This is what we need to beware of most of all. Anyone who seeks his own glory will soon become a part of the Babylonian system.

The bride of Christ glorifies Christ. She sings the new song: "Thou alone art worthy, O Lord! We are not worthy". She does not seek or desire position, greatness, money or honour or anything in this world in the name of religion. She only wants to be a servant and to humble herself constantly.

But Babylon glorifies herself and lives sensuously and luxuriously in the name of Christ - using the money given for God's work to live in luxury. Babylonian leaders justify their lifestyle saying, "We are serving God. The King's sons deserve the best!!" Thus these wicked men live off the offerings of poor widows and poor people, without their conscience convicting them one bit. This is the abomination that is taking place everywhere in Christendom today. We read that God will give such people DOUBLE the punishment that He gives others. The one who knew his master's will and disobeyed it will be beaten with more stripes (Luke 12:47).

Babylon sits as a queen and does not know what it is to mourn for her sins. She only knows how to have grand parties and picnics and to live in style, spending the Lord's money in the name of Christ.

Verses 8-10: 'For this reason, in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire, for the Lord God who judges her is strong. And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, "Woe, woe, the great city Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come."'

Babylon's judgment is going to precede the battle of Armageddon. The rulers of the earth will then see her being judged.

Verses 11-13: 'And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more; cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives.'

When God's judgment falls on Babylon, the businessmen who made money in the name of religion, will weep and mourn - because their sales drop to zero.

Make sure that you don't have the slightest interest in accumulating luxurious articles for the sake of vanity and honour. Slaves and human lives are mentioned at the end of the list - or "the bodies and souls of men". When people get involved in the pursuit of unnecessary luxuries, finally their bodies and souls also get enslaved to Babylon.

Verses 14-20: 'And the fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, "Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!" And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, "What city is like the great city?" And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, "Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!" Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.'

God finally brings judgment on a Christianity that lived only for this world and its greatness, honour and wealth.

What do we learn from these two chapters? Chapter 17 warns us to beware of a religion that seeks greatness instead of purity. And chapter 18 warns us to beware of pursuing after luxurious living - especially if it is in the name of Christianity.

Christianity mixed with money has probably led more people away from God than perhaps anything else. Those who don't give heed to this warning and who are not careful to avoid these matters will finally become a part of this commercial, religious "Christian" system called Babylon, that will finally be judged by God. The Word of God comes afresh to such people saying, "Come out of her, My people". He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Verse 21: And a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying 'Thus will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence and will not be found any longer'.

In chapter 2:20, 21, we read of "Jezebel" the false prophetess. Some of the things said about her there are very similar to the things said about Babylon. She led God's bond-servants astray so that they became immoral and idolatrous. God gave her time to repent, but she didn't. Jezebel brought the spirit of Babylon into a Christian church and the elder of the church did not restrain her. In the Old Testament, Queen Jezebel was finally thrown down and killed (2 Kings 10:33). The same fate awaits Babylon.

The difference between Babylon and Jerusalem is one of repentance. The only way to avoid becoming a part of Babylon is by ensuring that there is a spirit of repentance in our lives constantly.

Verse 22: 'And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer.'

Notice the mention of music here in Babylon. Music can be a good thing if it is kept under the control of the Holy Spirit. But in much of Christendom today, it is under the control of Satan. We even have "Christian rock-music" nowadays - "Christians" have started imitating Satan!! And believers sit back and accept all this as glorifying to God!!

In Genesis 4:21, we read that it was the sons of Cain who first invented musical instruments - and they were invented after Cain was driven away by the Lord. Isn't that significant? Music is not evil. It was created by God, not by Satan. But like many other things that God created, Satan has used music too to lead people to hell. Many young people have committed suicide after going to rock-concerts. Rock musicians have popularised drugs and Satan-worship around the world. And music is found in Babylon too. There is a spirit in all music, and we must discern whether we are worshipping God through music or worshipping the music itself! Many Christians don't seem to be able to discern between the two.

Verse 23: 'and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery'.

The businessmen in Babylon were the great men of the earth. Notice the emphasis again and again on "greatness" in Babylon. If we are the bride of Christ, our calling is to be like our Bridegroom - despised and rejected by men, and certainly not great in the eyes of men.

It says here, that all nations were deceived by her sorcery. The Amplified Bible says that the nations were deceived by "her magic spells". It is amazing that the spirit of Babylon has deceived Christians in every nation - by teaching them that they can live for the world - for money, pleasure and honour - and still be pleasing to God and go to heaven when they die, just because they "believe in Jesus". It is exactly as though a spell had been put on them to believe something so contrary to everything that Jesus and the apostles taught and that we read in the entire New Testament. This is the result of the magic spell that Babylon has put upon them, so that they cannot see! It is sorcery!! It is deception!!

Consider just one example: Jesus said, "You cannot love God and money. If you love the one, you will hate the other" (Luke 16:13). Yet there are multitudes of believers who think they can love both. They will discover in the final day, that Babylon had put a spell upon them - that they only imagined that they loved God, whereas they loved only money with all their hearts and actually hated God.

Verse 24: And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.

Many true servants of God have been slain by this Babylonian system. When a prophet denounces this Babylonian system, he won't be popular with Christians who are a part of that system. He will be slain or persecuted in one way or the other. Babylon is guilty of the blood of many prophets who through the centuries have stood against her corruption, her immorality and her worldliness. The Lord has nothing to do with this system. So "COME OUT OF HER IMMEDIATELY" - before it is too late!





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