Good morning, everyone.
My name is Sean, for those of you who don't know me,
and it's my joy to preach God's word to you this morning.
Please turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 18.
If you don't have a Bible, if you raise your hand,
we'll give you a copy that you can use.
And you can keep that, actually.
Revelation chapter 18.
Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.
Father, we are poor,
so we come to you who are rich.
Father, grace us
with your heavenly generosity,
your mercy.
We are naked,
so we come to you for raiment,
to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
Impress upon us our desperate need for you
and expose
the ways in which we have
consorted with
Babylon,
the sinful city of man.
And consecrate us,
sanctify us this morning
to yourself
and to your son,
our bridegroom,
Jesus Christ,
the lamb
who takes away the sin of the world.
Address us now
from your word,
we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
We stand to honor God
and his words,
if you please,
if you're able,
stand,
and I will read
from Revelation chapter 18.
Amen.
After this,
I saw another angel coming down from heaven,
having great authority,
and the earth was made bright with his glory.
And he called out with a mighty voice,
Fallen,
fallen is Babylon the great.
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.
For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion
of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich
from the power of her luxurious living.
Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins.
Lest you share in her plagues,
for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
and repay her double for her deeds.
Mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed,
as she glorified herself and lived in luxury.
So give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
I sit as a queen,
I am the widow,
and mourning I shall never see.
For this reason,
her plagues will come in a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and she will be burned up with fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.
And the kings of the earth,
who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her,
will weep and wail over her
when they see the smoke of her burning.
They will stand far off in fear of her torment and say,
Alas, alas,
you great city,
you mighty city,
Babylon,
for in a single hour your judgment has come.
And the merchants of the earth
weep and mourn for her,
since no one buys their cargo anymore.
Cargo of gold,
silver,
jewels,
pearls,
fine linen,
purple cloth,
silk,
scarlet cloth,
all kinds of scented wood,
all kinds of articles of ivory,
all kinds of articles of costly wood,
bronze,
iron,
and marble,
cinnamon,
spice,
incense,
myrrh,
frankincense,
wine,
oil,
fine flour,
wheat,
cattle and sheep,
horses and chariots,
and slaves,
that is human souls.
The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you,
never to be found again.
The merchants of these wares who gained wealth from her will stand far off in fear of her torment,
weeping and mourning aloud.
Alas,
alas,
for the great city that was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels and with pearls,
for in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.
And all shipmasters and seafaring men,
sailors and all whose trade is on the sea,
stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke were burning,
what city was like the great city?
And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned,
crying out,
alas,
for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth,
for in a single hour she has been laid waste.
Rejoice over her,
O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has given judgment for you against her.
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea,
saying,
so will Babylon,
the great city be thrown down with violence and will be found no more.
And the sound of harpists and musicians of flute players and trumpeters will be heard in you no more.
And a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more.
And the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more.
And the light of a lamp will shine in you no more.
And the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more.
For your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of all who have been slain on earth.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
You may be seated.
Many of you have heard this parable before.
I heard it,
I think,
from David Foster Wallace first.
Two fish are swimming in the ocean,
and then two young fish are swimming in the ocean.
And then an old,
more seasoned fish swims right by them,
and then asks them,
morning boys,
how's the water?
And the two young fish swim on for a bit,
and then eventually one of them looks over to the other and says,
what in the world is water?
It's a parable that teaches us
that sometimes the most obvious
and pervasive and important realities
are the hardest for us to see and talk about.
When you're so immersed in something
every single day of your life,
it becomes hardly noticeable.
Such is the case with money.
In seminary,
pastors in training are warned
about various heresies
and erroneous theological trends,
but rarely are they warned
against the dangers of wealth
because we're all entangled in it.
In discipleship groups,
in churches,
and in accountability groups,
sins like lust are often confessed,
but finding one's identity
and security in money
and what it could buy
is rarely confessed.
Every day,
we're clicking the buy button,
swiping the credit card
and depositing our checks
and Venmoing money,
but so many of us
spend very little time
reflecting critically about money
and the way we view it
and the way we relate to it.
The word of God, thankfully,
does not share our blind spot.
Jesus taught
that it's easier for a camel
with its enormous hump
to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich person
to enter the kingdom of God.
And the fall of Babylon
that we see here
in Revelation 18
bears out that reality.
All those people
who committed sexual morality
with Babylon,
the kings of the earth,
the merchants of the earth,
the shipmen,
the seafarers of the earth,
fall along with Babylon,
come to judgment.
Babylon,
the great prostitute,
as I mentioned last week,
represents the city of man,
the center of the sinful world's
cultural influence
and economic power.
And in this chapter,
John uses the Old Testament language
of divine judgment
on wicked cities
like Sodom and Gomorrah
and Nineveh
and Edom
and Jerusalem
and most pertinently,
Babylon and Tyre
to describe,
it uses the language
of the judgments
of those cities
in the Old Testament
to describe
the end-time destruction
of Babylon.
And God's main exhortation
for us in this chapter
is found in verses 4 and 5.
Come out of her,
my people,
lest you take part
in her sins,
lest you share
in her plagues,
for her sins are heaped
high as heaven
and God has remembered
her iniquities.
The angel's warning
gives us two reasons
why we should come out.
Actually,
that voice,
saying that in verse 4 and 5
may be the voice of Christ,
it's not identified directly
and when he's not identified
usually in Revelation
it's the voice of Christ.
It says,
come out of the self-glorying
luxury of Babylon.
The first reason
why we should come out
of Babylon
is lest we take part
in her sins
and the second reason
why we should come out
is lest we share
in her plagues.
The first reason
is so that we might
avoid the defilement of sin
and the second is
so that we might avoid
the destruction
on account of that sin.
So I'm going to talk
about those two things
in turn.
It says in verses 1 and 2,
an angel from heaven
having great authority
whose glory illuminates
the earth
calls out with a mighty voice
and whenever an angel
cries out with a loud voice
in the book of Revelation
or a mighty voice like this,
there's an authoritative
pronouncement that follows.
This angel does not speak
timidly or quietly
or uncertainly rather
with great authority
and a mighty voice
because he has the authority
of the king of kings
behind him.
And that means
the judgment
that's announced here
about Babylon
is inevitable.
It's certain to come.
And that certainty
is expressed
in the past tense
of the announcements
that it uses.
It says,
fallen,
fallen is Babylon the great.
She has become
a dwelling place
for demons.
This is interesting
because we know later
from verse 21
that Babylon
has not yet fallen.
It doesn't fall
until the end.
And yet here,
so there it says,
so will Babylon
the great city
be thrown down
with violence.
That hasn't happened yet.
And yet,
when the angel
pronounces
the judgment of Babylon,
uses the perfect tense,
the past tense,
as if it has already happened,
to indicate the fact
that its fulfillment
is certain,
as good as done.
That's what the Hebrew grammarians
call the prophetic perfect.
Just as ancient Babylon
and ancient Tyre
and Sodom and Gomorrah
fell,
this chapter
uses that same language
to say that
this city of man
is doomed to fall.
And verse 2 continues,
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.
This judgment
continues the contrast
between Babylon the harlot
and New Jerusalem,
which is the bride of the lamb,
as I began to talk about
last week.
In chapter 21,
verse 3,
the bride of the lamb,
which is the people of God,
the church of Christ,
become the dwelling place
of God himself.
But here in chapter 18,
verse 2,
Babylon the harlot
becomes a dwelling place
for demons.
That's the ultimate destiny
of the city of man
in its hubris
and luxury.
Those who feel at home
in this sinful world
will soon become
a dwelling place
for demons.
But Christians
who live as exiles
and aliens
in this sinful world
will soon become
the dwelling place
of God.
And when it is judged,
Babylon will be a haunt
for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean
and detestable beast.
This judgment echoes
the judgment of ancient Babylon
prophesied of in Jeremiah 51, 37,
which says,
Babylon shall become
a heap of Romans,
the haunt of jackals,
a horror and a hissing
without inhabitant.
The fact that Babylon
in this picture
is overrun
by these wild beasts
and demons
is a sign
that Babylon
will be desolate
and abandoned.
It will have no inhabitants.
The repetition
of the word unclean
exposes the skeleton
that's in Babylon's closet.
In Revelation 17, 4,
when the Babylon,
the prostitute,
was described
as this beautiful,
seductive woman
arrayed in purple
and scarlet
and adorned with gold
and jewels and pearls.
However,
she was holding
in her golden chalice
inside it
abominations
and the impurities
of her sexual immorality.
And that word impurity
is the exact same word
as a noun form
of the word unclean
that's used here
in chapter 18.
So in her beautiful
and luxurious golden chalice,
Babylon hid
the uncleanness
of her sins,
of her sexual immorality
and idolatry.
And now that uncleanness
is exposed
once and for all
in God's judgment
of Babylon,
her punishment
fits the crime.
She filled the world
with her uncleanness
and now she will be filled
with all kinds
of unclean spirits
and beasts.
Verse 3 confirms this,
this last clause explicitly
hones in on the economic power
by which Babylon seduces
kings and merchants
and seafarers.
Babylon's sexual immorality
is a metaphor
for her idolatrous
economic activity.
Similar to how
the city of Tyre
is described
in Isaiah 23, 17
as prostituting herself
with kingdoms.
Chapter 18
is structured
like a sandwich.
The two pieces of bread
at the beginning
and the end
are the angelic pronouncements
of Babylon's judgment
verses 1 to 8
and verses 21 to 24.
And in between
those two sections
at the heart
in the middle
where the meat would be
are three dirges
or elegies,
funeral songs
sung by three different
classes of people,
the kings of the earth,
the merchants,
and the seafarers,
all mourning
the loss of Babylon
because they had grown rich
by their immorality
and idolatry
with Babylon.
And this structure
makes the heart
very center of the passage
the funeral song
of the merchants
in verses 11 to 17.
In verse 16,
the merchants
who had been enriched
by their dealings
with Babylon
mourn her fall
saying,
Alas,
alas,
for the great city
that was clothed
in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels,
and with pearls.
This is largely
a repetition
of the description
of the Babylon
prostitut we saw
in chapter 17,
verse 4 last week.
And interestingly,
these exact items,
fine linen,
purple and scarlet cloth,
gold,
jewels,
and pearls
are all listed
in verse 12
where it lists
the cargo
that Babylon
trafficked in
and traded
in order to enrich itself.
As I mentioned
before,
in the first century
during John's
time of writing,
Babylon was Rome.
Rome was the primary
expression of this
city of man,
Babylon.
And all the items
listed in 12 and 13
are items that Rome
trafficked in.
He traded those things.
You can see that
in the historical
writings from the time.
And these trade items
of Rome
that made the city rich
are like the fine
clothes and jewelry
that a prostitute
accumulates
as payment
from her clients,
from her sexual
morality.
I wrote out
kind of detailed
descriptions
of what all these
are like
in comparison
to what it's like
in our modern day,
but unfortunately
I don't have time
to go into that
because of time
constraints.
I will just mention
one maybe
representative example
of just the luxury
that Babylon
indulged themselves in,
and that's of pearls.
Cleopatra
was queen
of Egypt,
which was under
Roman rule
at the time,
and then she hosted
the Sumptuous Party,
and she at one point
boasted
to her guest
that she was going
to consume
what would be
worth of
$527,000
worth of food
and drink.
And the guest
asked her,
well,
how in the world
are you going
to consume
that much?
And then she promptly
asked her servant
to bring
a cup of vinegar in,
and then she removes
one of the most
expensive pearls
known to man
at the time
from her ears,
and puts it
in the vinegar
so that it dissolves.
Apparently pearls
dissolve in vinegar,
I didn't know that,
and then she drinks it
just to show,
to flaunt her wealth
and show what kind
of luxury
she lived in.
It's not
dissimilar from
musical artist
Post Malone,
who
I read
in the New York Times
has,
how much?
$1.6 million
worth of teeth done.
How many teeth
does he have?
And the reason
why it's $1.6 million
is because he has
18 porcelain veneers,
8 platinum crowns,
and 2 6-carat diamonds
to replace
his upper canines.
It's the kind of luxury
some people
in Babylon live in.
Now,
you may have already
noticed that these
categories of trade items
that I read
are each
in descending
order of value.
It first
lists
all the precious
metals
and stones
and jewels
in descending
order of value,
starting with gold.
And then it lists
clothing items
in descending
order of value.
And then it lists
construction
and craft materials in descending order of value.
And then he lists incense and perfumes
in descending order of value.
And then he lists food items in descending order of value.
And then finally, it lists livestock, labor
in descending order of value.
And the fact that slaves, that is human souls,
are mentioned at the very end,
after cattle and sheep, horses and chariots
is an indictment of Rome and Babylon's value system.
It's a culture that values animals more than humans,
where humans are treated like animals.
And the fact that slaves are described expressly
as human souls is a scathing critique
of Babylon's contempt for human life.
How do you deal in the trade of humans for your merchandise?
But all this busy trading will come crashing down
when God judges Babylon.
Verse 14 says,
The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you, never to be found again.
The word delicacies conveys Babylon's indulgence in luxury.
The word splendors conveys Babylon's
extravagant display of wealth.
And in what ways, I want to ask,
are we complicit in this self-glowing luxury of Babylon?
Just this past week, I saw in the news,
in the headlines,
the vice president and head of communications at Baidu,
which is the Chinese equivalent of Google,
came under fire because of her unapologetic promotion
of her work-till-you-drop mindset
and her cutthroat management style
on her social media accounts.
I don't know if some of you guys saw that.
She posted a series of short videos
where she excoriates an employee
for refusing to go on a 50-day business trip
during the COVID pandemic.
And then she says,
quote,
Why should I take my employees' family into consideration?
I'm not her mother-in-law.
I'm 10 years, 20 years older than you.
I didn't feel bitter about it or tired,
even though I have two children.
Who are you to tell me that your husband can't stand it?
In another clip,
she talks almost both about how she worked so hard
that one time she forgot her older son's birthday
and what grade her younger son is in.
And then she insists that she has no regrets
because she, quote,
chose to become a career woman.
In another video, she says,
If you work in public relations,
don't expect weekends off.
Keep your phone on 24 hours a day,
always ready to respond.
This is what many executives think throughout the world.
She just has the gall to be in your face about it.
And she was foolish enough to post it on social media,
so I think she got fired eventually
because it was a public relations disaster.
Similarly, in 2019,
Alibaba co-founder of Jack Ma
endorsed the 996 trend,
meaning working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
six days a week.
That's a 72-hour work week,
which is actually not uncommon here in Cambridge.
Don't think that this happens only in China.
In 2021,
a presentation entitled
Working Conditions Survey
by first-year analysts at Goldman Sachs
became public.
And the answer to the question,
How many hours have you worked this week?
was 105 hours.
And then the question,
How many hours have you worked per week on average?
was 98 hours.
In New York Times article,
David Brooks comments,
quote,
I've heard countless presidential candidates say
they are running on behalf of their families
for their future,
to care for them,
even though their entire lives
have been spent on the campaign trail
away from their families.
In what ways
are we
complicit
with the self-glorying luxury of Babylon?
In what ways
do we perform
a kind of
child sacrifice
at the altar of success
and prestige
and wealth?
Jonathan Weber
writes in The Atlantic
in an article entitled
Greed, Bankruptcy, and the Super Rich
that exorbitant
executive salaries,
emphasis on luxury goods,
a cavalier attitude
toward enormous amounts of debt,
and risky, greedy deals
that enrich the dealmakers
at the expense of the common worker
are the
economic zeitgeist
of our age.
The spirit of the times.
In what ways
are we
in our work,
in the way
we manage our employees,
in the way we do our work,
complicit with the self-glorying luxury
of Babylon?
Sure,
we might not make
as much money
as Jeff Bezos
or Elon Musk,
but haven't we also
profited
from the wealth
of Babylon?
What do you think
the global median income is?
Americans were asked
that question
in a survey
in 2018,
and the average guess
was $20,000,
which is not that high
by our standards,
but the actual number
then was
$2,100 a year.
Some of you make
more than that
in one week.
The global median income
is now a little higher.
It's still
shockingly low
compared to
what we make here.
The Washington Post
article entitled,
Most Americans
Vastly Underestimate
How Rich They Are
Compared With The Rest
of the World
claims that,
even the developed world's
poor and middle classes
are,
by global standards,
extraordinarily rich.
After adjusting
for cost of living
differences,
a typical American
still earns an income
that is 10 times
the income received
by the typical person
in the world.
After adjusting
for cost of living
differences.
most of us live
in an embarrassment
of riches.
And greed is a very
insidious thing
if you think about it.
It can creep in
and take us captive
without our noticing
because we don't
usually compare ourselves
with the rest of the world,
do we?
We compare ourselves
to the people around us.
And we're in
the city of Cambridge,
a very wealthy city.
There's already
a self-selected group
of people who can afford
to live here
living around us.
And so when we compare
ourselves to them,
oh, I don't live
lavishly like that person.
Oh, I don't take
vacations like that person.
So we think,
oh yeah,
I live pretty modestly.
That's what we think.
I think that's why,
according to a survey
from Gallup,
73% of people
in the U.S.
consider themselves
to be part of
the middle working class
while only 2%
think of themselves
as belonging
to the upper class.
because they're all
doing this peer comparison.
Oh, I must be
in the middle class.
I will venture to guess
that many of us
have standards of living
that are way higher
than they need to be
and or used to be.
When I was a college student,
I was challenged
by a pastor
to not let my standard
of living increase
with my income
but to maintain
a modest lifestyle
so that I can be
more generous with people.
I have not been
entirely successful
in that endeavor.
What kind of difference
would we make
in the world
if we all strive
to live like that?
In what ways
are we complicit
with the self-lowering
luxury of Babylon?
Do you know
that the gambling industry
in the U.S.,
including brick-and-mortar
casinos
and online casinos
and sports betting
generates $175.4 billion
a year in revenue?
That's more than
the revenue generated
by the entire
recorded music industry
and the entire
domestic box office
put together,
which is only $26 billion
compared to $175.4 billion.
One time
at a regional
pastor's retreat,
this is a little bit
embarrassing
to tell you this story,
we were doing a retreat
at an Airbnb
in New Jersey
and they decided
that we should go
have dinner
at Hard Rock Cafe.
I don't know
if you've been
to Atlantic City.
And so we're trying
to go to Hard Rock Cafe
and none of us
had ever been there
and so none of us
knew that in order
to get to Hard Rock Cafe,
you have to walk
through the entire
Hard Rock Casino.
And so that's the first time
I've ever walked
through a casino
and so for a pastor's retreat,
I know.
And so I'm walking through
and it was shocking.
I mean,
all the lights,
all these slot machines
and the card tables,
honestly,
it looked like a temple.
It looked like a temple
to the God of mammon, money.
These slot machines
are these totems
that people pray
and these card tables
are these altars
where they sacrifice
what they have.
And you know what?
What they have
for decorations,
I don't even know
who thought of this,
red dragons.
Like what you see
in Revelation 12.
The appeal of gambling
primarily, isn't it?
Isn't the appeal of gambling
primarily the thrill
of winning free,
unearned money?
Or the thrill
of gaining vast sums
of money quickly?
Isn't that the appeal
of gambling?
Proverbs 13, 11
teaches us,
wealth gained hastily
will dwindle,
but whoever gathers
little by little
will increase it.
The wisdom of Proverbs
is borne out
by the experience
of lottery winners
all over the country.
Certified financial planner
Board of Standards
estimates that nearly
one-third of lottery winners
go bankrupt
within three to five years.
Wealth gained hastily
dwindles.
1 Timothy 6, 6-10
says,
But godliness
with contentment
is great gain,
for we brought
nothing into the world
and we cannot take
anything out of the world,
but if we have food
and clothing with these,
we will be content.
But those who desire
to be rich
fall into temptation,
into a snare,
into many senseless
and harmful desires
that plunge people
into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money
is the root
of all kinds of evils.
It is through this craving
that some have wandered
away from the faith
and pierced themselves
with many pains.
If we really believe
what the Bible teaches
about money,
that the love of money
and the desire
to be rich
is the root
of all kinds
of evils,
then we have no business
as Christians
wanting to be rich.
Why do you want
to be rich?
So that the destruction
of the deceitfulness
of riches
and the desires
for other things
can choke the word
of God,
the gospel in our lives,
so that it doesn't
bear any fruit?
That's what Jesus warned
about in Mark 4,
18-19.
Come out of her,
my people,
lest you take part
in her sins.
That's the exhortation
of this passage
in verse 4.
This exhortation,
come out of her,
is picked up by Paul
in 2 Corinthians 6,
14-18,
where he writes,
Do not be unequally yoked
with unbelievers.
For what partnership
has righteousness
with lawlessness?
Or what fellowship
has light with darkness?
What accord
has Christ
with Belial?
Or what portion
does a believer
share with an unbeliever?
What agreement
has the temple
of God with idols?
For we are the temple
of the living God.
As God said,
I will make my dwelling
among them
and walk among them
and I will be their God
and they shall be my people.
Therefore,
go out from their midst
and be separate from them,
says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing.
Then I will welcome you
and I will be a father to you
and you shall be sons
and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.
This passage is often used
to counsel Christians
not to marry non-Christians,
which is a good application
of this principle.
But this passage
is articulating
a more general principle
that applies across the board.
If we are yoked
or hitched
to an unbeliever
or to an unbelieving world,
imagine two oxen
being yoked together.
No matter how much
you strain and strive,
you will never be able
to go where
that other ox
doesn't want to go.
You're yoked.
You have to go
where that other ox goes.
That's why this is so important.
Come out of her.
But how do we do that exactly?
I don't think it means
literally remove ourselves
from the world's
economic system
and then go live
in a monastery.
Why do I not think that?
Because none of the seven churches
that are addressed
in chapters 2 and 3
by John
were in Rome.
So they never had
to actually leave Rome
because they were already
not in Rome.
I don't think this means
we need to go live
off-grid somewhere.
If we retreat
to a monastery,
then we forsake
our Christ-given mission
to bear witness to him
and to make disciples
of all nations.
You can't do that
as a recluse.
So what does it look like
to come out of Babylon then?
I'm going to share
a quote with you.
It might seem irrelevant
at first,
but I think it will be relevant.
In the book,
The Tech-Wise Family,
which is about
putting technology
in its proper place
so that it doesn't
dominate the lives
of our family members
and children,
the author,
Christian author
Andy Crouch,
writes that while
his approach,
quote,
doesn't require us
to become Amish,
entirely separating ourselves
from the modern
technological world,
it requires making choices
that most of our neighbors
aren't making.
He summarizes
his point this way,
quote,
you don't have to become Amish,
but you probably
have to become
closer to Amish
than you think.
I agree with him
when it comes to technology,
and I believe
that sentiment
is also true
when it comes
to our engagement
with the consumeristic
and materialistic world.
You don't have to
become Amish,
but you'll probably
have to become
closer to Amish
than you think.
we need to flee
its influence.
I think coming out
of Babylon
looks like finding
contentment in Christ.
Hebrews 13, 5 says,
keep your life
from the love of money
and be content
with what you have.
For he has said,
I will never forsake you
or leave you.
Are you discontent?
Are you always looking
for something else
to satisfy you,
something you don't have?
Are you envious
of others
who have something
that you don't have,
or are you content
in Christ
who said to you,
I will never leave you
nor forsake you?
I think coming out
of Babylon
looks like trusting
in God's provision
instead of our own
provision for ourselves
or the world's provision.
He says in Luke 12,
29 to 32,
do not seek
what you are to eat
and what you are to drink,
nor be worried.
For all the nations
of the world
seek after these things,
and your father knows
that you need them.
Instead,
seek his kingdom
and these things
will be added to you.
1 Timothy 6, 17
commands the rich
in this present age
not to be haughty,
nor to set their hopes
on the uncertainty
of riches,
but instead
to put their hope
in the certainty
of the God
who richly provides
everything we need.
I think people
who are content
in Christ
will be appropriately frugal,
but frugality
in and of itself
is not the goal
because people
can be frugal
because they trust
in money
as their sense
of security.
I need to have
more money
in the bank account.
I need to spend less
because if I don't,
something might happen.
that's still idolatry
of money.
Every bit as much
as spendthrift spending.
Job said in 31,
Job 31, 24,
to make gold
our trust
or confidence
is to be false
to God.
Riches are uncertain,
but God
who provides for us
is certain,
and that's
our anchor
and foundation
for us as believers.
I think coming
out of Babylon
looks like
radical generosity.
Jesus says
in Luke 12,
33, 34,
Sell your possessions
and give to the needy.
Provide yourselves
with money bags
that do not grow old,
with a treasure
in the heavens
that does not fail,
where no thief approaches
and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is,
there your heart
will be also.
Similarly,
continuing the reading
from 1 Timothy 6,
18 and 19
I read earlier,
Do good,
be rich in good works.
This is what he commands
the rich people to do.
Do good,
be rich in good works.
Be generous
and ready to share
the storing up treasure
for yourselves
as a good foundation
for the future
so that you may take hold
of that which is truly life.
Are you storing up
treasures in heaven
or are you storing up
treasures on earth?
Adam Smith,
the father of modern capitalism
and the author
of Wealth of Nations
understood
that the foundation,
the basis
for our capitalistic economy
is self-interest.
It works.
It works as a system
because humans are sinful
and selfish.
That's why socialism
doesn't work.
But,
as Christians,
we ought to do more
than generate capital
by enriching ourselves.
What purchases
can we forego?
What possessions
can we sell?
And how can we
order our finances
so that we can
give more
to the cause
of the gospel
and to the needs
of the saints?
That's how people
who are investing
in heavenly treasure
rather than
in earthly treasure
live.
Come out of Babylon.
French philosopher
Jacques Ellul
writes in his
provocative book
Money and Power,
I think I have a quote
if you want to
follow along with me.
The ultimate expression
of this Christian attitude
toward the power of money
is what we will call
profanation,
to profane money.
Like all other powers,
to profane money
is to take away
its sacred character.
We must bring money
back to its simple role
as a material instrument.
When money is no more
than an object,
when it has lost
its seductiveness,
its supreme value,
its superhuman splendor,
then we can use it
like any other
of our belongings.
There is one act,
par excellence,
which profanes money
by going directly
against the law of money,
an act for which
money is not made.
That act is giving.
It is, as a matter of fact,
the penetration of grace
into the world
of competition and selling.
We have very clear indications
that money in the Christian life
is made in order
to be given away.
Giving to God
is the act of profanation,
par excellence.
We need to regain
an appreciation
of gifts
that are not utilitarian.
We should meditate
on the story
in the Gospel of John
where Mary wastes
precious ointment
on Jesus.
The one who protests
against this free gift
is Judas.
He would have preferred
it to be used
for good works,
for the poor.
He wanted such
an enormous sum of money
to be spent usefully.
Giving to God
introduces the useless
into the world
of efficiency.
And this is an essential
witness to faith
in today's world.
Have you ever done
something for God
that is absolutely
wasteful
and extravagant?
Not for the sake
of usefulness
or efficiency,
but out of your love.
We also must come out
of the self-glorying
luxury of Babylon
lest we partake
in Babylon's plagues.
As it says
in verse 4,
the fall of Babylon
approaches
ineluctably
and when God
finally judges
Babylon,
his judgment
will be fair
and will be swift.
First,
God's judgment
of Babylon
is going to be fair.
As we saw
in verse 2,
Babylon the prostitute
filled the world
with her uncleanness
and she is herself
going to be filled
with unclean spirits
and unclean beasts.
Punishment fits
the crime.
Verses 6 and 7
say,
Pay her back
as she herself
has paid back others
and repay her double
for her deeds.
Mix a double portion
for her in the cup
she mixed.
As she glorified herself
and lived in luxury
so give her
a like measure
of torment
and mourning.
As Babylon glorified
herself
and lived in luxury
so God will give her
a like measure
of torment
and mourning.
But that principle
of equivalent punishment
or just retribution
seems to be contradicted
by the second half
of verse 6
where it says
repay her double
for her deeds.
makes a double portion
for her
in the cup.
How is that fair
or proportionate?
The word double
in Greek
is versatile
just says it is
in English.
It can mean
in certain contexts
twice as much
but in some other
contexts like here
it means duplicate
or twin
or matching equivalent.
punishment.
So when an actor
has a body double
in the movie
that means the double
takes the place
of the actor
for certain stunts.
It doesn't mean
that the double
appears with the actor
in the same scene
so that there's
two of them.
Right?
So in a similar way here
when it speaks
of double
it's not talking
about twice as much
it's talking about
equivalent punishment
a duplicate punishment
for the exact thing
that she has done.
That's what the word
double means
when it's used
in the context
of repayment
or recompense
as you hear
in Revelation 18
verse 6.
So that means
the biblical principle
which is consistent
throughout all of Scripture
of lex talionis
which means eye for eye
the law of retaliation
is still holds here.
God punishes
in a fair
and commensurate way
that's equal
to their crime.
And this fairness
of God's judgment
is expressed
in the repetition
of key words.
For example
the word found
is repeated
four times.
It says in verse 14
all your delicacies
and your splendors
are lost to you
never to be found again.
Verse 21
says so will Babylon
the great city
be thrown down
with violence
and will be found
no more.
Verse 22
the sound of harpists
and musicians
of flute players
and trumpeters
will be heard in you
no more
and the craftsmen
of any craft
will be found
in you no more
and the sound
of the mill
will be heard
in you no more.
And why will
none of these things
be found anymore?
Because verse 24
says in her
was found
the blood
of the prophets
and of saints
and of all
who have been slain
on earth.
Babylon enriched
herself
by impoverishing
God's people
by cutting them off
from its wealth
for their refusal
to partake
in her idolatry
and sexual immorality.
and Babylon
made Mary
at the expense
of God's people
persecuting them
while she partied
and reveled
in her sexual immorality
but in the end
the blood
of martyrs
that were found
in her
will cry out
for vengeance
and Babylon
will be found
no more.
Several times
in this passage
Babylon the prostitute
is described
as great.
She's called
Babylon the great
verse 2
the great city
in verses 10
16, 18, 19, 21.
in verse 23
it says
your merchants
were the great ones
of the earth.
Those who consort
with Babylon
in her sexual immorality
are the kings
of the earth
the merchants
the seafarers
the great ones
of the earth
and don't we all
have the tendency
to idolize
and worship
those who are great
and powerful
and rich
and famous.
But don't marvel
at the self-glorying
luxury of Babylon.
The great city
will fall
because her
corresponding punishment
will be great.
Her judgment
is announced
by an angel
having great authority
in verse 1.
Verse 21
says a mighty angel
took up a stone
like a great millstone
and threw it
into the sea
so will Babylon
the great city
be thrown down
with violence.
This verse
is an allusion
to Jeremiah 51-63
where the book
or the scroll
containing the prophecies
of judgment
God's judgment
on the ancient city
of Babylon
is contained
this scroll
and Jeremiah
instructs his servant
to take it
and tie a stone
around it
and then throw it
into the Euphrates
so that it can never
rise again.
And that symbolic act
is depicting the fact
that Babylon
will be judged
like that judgment scroll
that is sinking
to the bottom
of the waters
that will never
rise again.
There will be no
resurrection
after that final judgment
for the city
of Babylon.
It's a frightful
thing to think about.
I mean,
I think the Titanic
I think is still
at the bottom
of the ocean.
Nobody could get it out.
And to that Jeremiah
allusion,
John ties the idea
of the great millstone
which Jesus talked
about in Matthew 18.6.
Whoever causes
one of these little ones
who believe in me
to sin,
it would be better
for him to have
a great millstone
tied around his neck
and thrown into the sea.
Babylon,
the prostitute
who made
the people
who believe in Christ
to sin
will be sunk
to the depth
of the sea
with a great millstone
around her neck
never to rise again.
In verse 10,
Babylon is called
a mighty city.
So it is all the more
fitting that a mighty angel
takes that stone
like a great millstone
and throws it into the sea
in verse 21.
And it says
in verse 8,
For this reason
her plagues
will come
in a single day,
death and mourning
and famine
and she will be
burned up with fire
for mighty
is the Lord God
who has judged her.
In this day,
Babylon
appears mighty
to us.
But on that day,
we will all see
and the whole world
will see
that the Lord God
is mighty.
So will you
throw in your lot
with Babylon
or will you
throw in your lot
with the Lord God?
The wise investor
will take up
the yoke
of the Lord Jesus Christ
no matter how hard
things get
in this life.
God's judgment
of Babylon
will not only be fair,
it will also be swift.
Verse 8 said
that her plagues
will come
in a single day.
That idea is echoed
in the expression
single hour.
Verse 10,
for in a single hour
your judgment has come.
Verse 17,
for in a single hour
all this wealth
has been laid waste.
Verse 19,
for in a single hour
she has been laid waste.
This is a shocking revelation
because Babylon,
which was Rome
in John's day,
seemed permanent
and indestructible.
You can hear that boast
of Babylon
in verse 7,
I sit as a queen.
I am no widow
and morning
I shall never see.
That's her boast.
But for all her boasting,
God's judgment
comes on her
on a single day,
in a single hour
and she becomes
a burning city
and a desolate,
abandoned
prostitute.
Poets
like Tibulus,
Virgil,
and Livy
extolled Rome
as the eternal city.
and Ovid
called it
the capital
of the world.
As the proverb goes,
popularized by
English playwright
John Haywood,
Rome was not built
in one day,
but Rome was sacked
in one day.
August.
The fact that God's judgment
is swift
doesn't mean that God
is impatient
or quick to anger.
He is slow to anger.
We see that clearly
in verse 5.
For her sins
are heaped high
as heaven
and God has remembered
her iniquities.
God has delayed
his judgment
out of his patience
and mercy
until Babylon's sins
are heaped high
as the heavens,
literally right up
in his nose.
God waits
in his patience
until then.
But when
the time to judge
comes,
God will bring
all the iniquities
of Babylon
to remembrance
and then
she will perish
in a single day.
What looks glorious
and beautiful
and luxurious
to you
in this world?
The billionaires,
the CEOs,
Amazon,
Google,
Meta,
Harvard University,
MIT,
Boston,
New York City,
Wall Street,
Hollywood,
they might all
seem eternal
and glorious
to us,
don't they?
But they are not.
If Rome can fall,
so can they.
And Babylon
will fall
in a single hour.
But the church
of Christ,
the people of God
who endured
in their faithfulness
to Christ
without committing
sexual immorality
with Babylon,
those who have
repented of their sins
and have trusted
in Jesus for salvation,
they will be
sacrificed
as his forever bride.
And that's why
this passage
exhorts us
to come out
of the self-glorying
luxury of Babylon
lest we partake
in Babylon's plagues.
This picture
of fleeing
from a city
that is about
to fall
under God's judgment
is a common motif
in the Old Testament
for prophetic books.
It says that
about Babylon
in Jeremiah 51,
but I think
probably the more
vivid images
that you're familiar
with is the story
of Korah
and Dathan
and Abiram
in Numbers 16.
They rebel
against Moses,
God's appointed prophet
and leader
of God's people,
and when they
refuse to repent,
Moses tells the Israelites,
depart, please,
from the tents
of these wicked men
and touch nothing
of theirs
lest you be swept away
with all their sins.
And when the people
of God
separate themselves
from them,
the earth opens up
and swallows
the wicked men.
Similarly,
in Genesis 19, 15,
before he unleashed
the fire and sulfur
on the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah,
the angels of God
urged Lot,
saying,
up,
take your wife
and your two daughters
who are here
lest you be swept away
in the punishment
of the city.
As they are coming
out of Sodom,
however,
you know the story,
Lot's wife
looks back
at the sinful city
that is burning.
despite the fact
that she was
specifically committed
not to look back.
And consequently,
she becomes
a pillar of salt.
Brothers and sisters,
what is preventing you
from coming out
of Babylon?
What keeps you
looking back
with longing
and regret?
Leave it all behind.
Come out of her
lest you share
in her punishment.
Andrew Carnegie,
as you guys know,
was a 19th century
industrialist
who became
one of the richest
Americans in history
through his steel industry.
By the age of 33,
he was already
filthy rich.
And at that point,
he still had
incredible self-awareness.
He was raised
in a Christian home
and I think
he speaks of
the idolatry of money
and he wrote
a memorandum,
a note to himself
because he could
feel the creeping
effect of the
idolatry of money.
And he made
a note to himself
that he would
resign business
at 35
in two years.
Because he said,
to continue much longer
overwhelmed
by business scares
and with most
of my thoughts
wholly upon the way
to make more money
in the shortest time
must degrade me
beyond hope
of permanent recovery.
I would resign
business at 35.
Carnegie,
unfortunately,
never came out
of Babylon.
He did not
resign business
at 35.
He worked
to the ripe old age
and the worship
of money
did degrade him
beyond hope
of permanent recovery.
Despite his many
philanthropic works
in his name,
his steel company
was known
for brutal hours,
crowded and filthy
working conditions
so that most
of his employees
died before the age
of 40
from accidents
or disease.
Andrew Carnegie
died having lost
his faith in God
altogether
as a man who thought
much of his own
wealth and philanthropy
but not much of God
and his philanthropy
toward us in Christ.
Christ,
we ought to come out
of the self-glorying
luxury of Babylon
lest we partake
in Babylon's sins
and plagues
but how do we find
the strength to do it?
If Andrew Carnegie
failed,
how do we know
we won't fail?
When Paul
is exhorting
the Corinthian believers
to give generously
toward the needy saints,
he reveals to us
the truth,
the gospel
that has the power
to set us free
from the love
and idolatry of money.
He says in 2 Corinthians 8, 9,
for you know
the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
that though
he was rich,
yet for your sake
he became poor
so that you
by his poverty
might become rich.
Jesus traded
his heavenly throne
for an earthly stable
and he was born
in the form
of a servant
in the humiliating
form of man.
Jesus gave up
the treasures
of heaven
in order to make us
sinful wretches
that we are
his treasured possession.
He gave up
his heavenly treasures
to make us
his treasured possession.
And do you remember
that glorious
throne room scene
of God
in chapter 4,
verse 6,
the beautiful
sea of glass
like crystal,
a pavement
of sapphire stone
like the very heavens
for clearness.
That's
what Jesus left
to walk
the dirty streets
of Jerusalem
so that he can die
on the cross
and pay for our sins
and redeem us
from our slavery
to sin
and death.
Jesus moved in
to the ghettos
and the slums
of sin
so that he might
remove our rags
and clothe us
with the splendid
rose of his righteousness.
And that's why
later on in Revelation 21
when it describes
the attire
of the bride
of the lamb
or the decorations
the precious stones
that are on
the new city
of Jerusalem.
It mentions all kinds
of precious jewels
and gold
and pearls
because that's what
Christ won for us.
And it's when
we behold
Christ
who forsook
his heavenly treasure
to make us
his treasure possession.
That's when
the allure
of money
the power
of money
the way you find
your security
in money
and your significance
in money
loses its power.
Oh my.
Christian brothers
and sisters
one day
we're going
to be rich
beyond measure.
We're going
to be beautiful
beyond compare.
But that day
is not yet.
So let's come
out of Babylon
and be faithful
to our bridegroom
until that day
when God dwells
with us forever.
Let's pray.
God
fill our hearts
with wonder
at your mercy.
How can it be?
How can it be
that Jesus
our Lord
died for us?
That the
Son of Heaven
came to the
ghettos of earth
the slums
of our sin
to bear
our burdens.
and lift us
up from our poverty.
God
you deserve
our eternal praise.
Help us
to treasure Christ
so that we
can come out
of Babylon.
In Jesus name
we pray.
Amen.