Revelation 18:1-24 (Christ is the Better Ark)

Revelation 18 describes the fall of Babylon, representing the entire worldly system separated from God. Just as Pompeii's residents ignored warning signs before Mount Vesuvius erupted, our world remains intoxicated by earthly pleasures despite coming judgment. God calls His people to come out of Babylon - not physical separation, but refusing to conform to worldly ways while still living as salt and light. When Babylon falls, kings, merchants, and sailors will mourn their losses but not repent of their sins. Heaven rejoices because God's justice is finally served and Christ's victory is complete. Like Noah's ark provided salvation from the flood, Jesus Christ is our ark of salvation from coming judgment.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You would turn with me to Revelation chapter 18, and um we will be doing the whole chapter this morning. When um Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, the residents of Pompeii had warning signs. Um there were tremors for days, there was some smoke rising from the mountain, but most of the population stayed because they couldn't imagine losing everything that they'd built. Archaeologists, as you may be aware, have discovered uh bodies found frozen in mid-activity with this eruption, eating, conducting business, sleeping. And they didn't leave because Pompeii was their life. Even the possibility of a shattering danger coming towards them did not cause them to flee to safety. And perhaps there just wasn't quite enough warning signs for most of them to weigh the risk of leaving everything they thought that they couldn't live without behind them. Now that's similar to what we see in a world that's under the seduction of the world. They're not leaving it no matter what the danger is. I'd ask you to imagine living in Noah's day, uh, but not being in the chosen of Noah's family that were in the ark, that knew of the coming flood, that had respite from it. The earth was full of corruption, and the people reveled in it. Violence is everywhere, and the innocent are taken advantage of. Genesis 6 5 tells us the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his hearts was only evil continually. It truly was just this combination of eat, drink, and be merry, plus everyone did what was right in their own eyes, built on a system that lacked any sense of justice. Now imagine living in that world and you know nothing else. And a crazy guy outside of town builds this huge boat and says a flood is coming, and everyone laughs at him. But he finishes construction on this random boat, and it starts raining, and it doesn't let up. And you remember the boat. So you leave all your possessions behind, and you trudgingly make your way through the rising flood waters, now up to your knees, as far as you can see, and you make it to the man's boat, and you look up, and the worst thing that you can see has happened. The door is shut. The rain continues to fall, the waters rise, and there is no escape for all who are not on Noah's ark. Revelation 18 is the pronouncement of the next catastrophic event that's coming. The difference is this announcement is being made to the world that it's coming. It's written down, we're proclaiming it this morning, and we have a far better ark to run to in Jesus Christ. All of humanity was destroyed during the flood, except the eight people that were on the ark. And of course, the pairs of multiple kinds of animals, but eight people. But for the salvation of the entire elect of God's people for all time, the entire church, in the words of Chief Brody and the 1975 classic movie Jaws, you're gonna need a bigger boat. Revelation 18 is a call and reminder to God's people to come out of the coming destruction by not attaching yourself to the ways of the world, but to run to Christ. And unlike the story of Noah's Ark, tell as many people as you can to get off the tracks because the train is coming, and any and all can have salvation in Jesus Christ if they only look to him. And I hope that as we move through this text, that believers, that you're encouraged not to get too attached to the world, but to make your dwelling place with Christ as we await our final deliverance into glory. And for the non-believer, I pray that you would see the coming doom, that you would repent and then you would turn to Christ to escape the judgment of Babylon and find your salvation in Christ Jesus. In Noah's day, there was one ark to escape judgment. In Revelation 18, as we're going to read through this morning, there is still only one refuge. But now his name is Jesus Christ. So, firstly, this morning we have the announcement of her fall in verses one through three. Follow along with me. 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 her power, from the power of her luxurious living. What we see here in verse one is the authority of this messenger. This angel has great authority, and all the earth is brightened by the glory on display from the angel. This is not a message that can be ignored by anybody. This is not a preacher on the street corner that we can walk by or pass by. Crowds continue to pass by. The presence of this angel demands the world's attention. And not only that, but also the world's compliance. And then verse 2, we see the nature of the city Babylon, the city that once dazzled continues this story of having that curtain pulled back. Everything worldly that attracts us and tempts us is revealed to be not just humanity, but the work of demonic forces. This is not just one city. This is not just one empire. This is all of the world connected in a globalized organization that is based on a system that is separated from God, which overflows into economic, cultural, political, and even the religious facets of that world. Now, occasionally in this day and age, we do see that curtain pulled back a little bit. We do see evil get exposed. But if you will think about the evil that we see, the world's response to that evil is always filtered through a numbness. That's not what this is. This is a complete exposure of the evil that's underneath the foundation of all that is worldly. It will be exposed in the light. And this is very important for us as believers to understand because we should add that to a pile of reasons as to why we are not enticed by the worldly ways. We are battling actual, literal schemes of demonic forces. Charles Spurgeon observed that the world does not appear to the Christian as a ghastly ruin at first. It appears as a queen. Only in the light of God's word is she revealed as the haunt of demons. We must remain vigilant because Babylon has yet to be fully exposed. The beauty that entices the world, that entices many people we know, that sometimes even entices us, is often the work of hunting demons. And in verse 3, we see the intoxication of her commerce and her dealings. The entire network is drunk on the immorality of Babylon, kings and merchants alike. Now, this is not just elite kings that trample on all the people. This is a global network of leaders and participators in a system that gives them great benefit to continue to lavish themselves in the mud of Babylon that they so much enjoy. And here's the sad part. This is their heaven. This is all the joy and all the glory that they will ever know. And how sad is that? That the maximum amount of joy that so many people will experience is determined by their bank account. And this is why so many people chase after money, because for those outside of Christ, it truly is a means to an end. But for those of us in Christ, we know we don't need wealth. We don't need the pleasures of this world. We have everlasting joy in Christ Jesus. He goes before us to prepare a place for us, a place where earthly currency has no value. As Paul writes in Ephesians 1:14, he is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. We don't need to win the lottery. We've got something infinitely better. We've got Christ Jesus. And the Holy Spirit for God's people is securing the inheritance that Christ has bought for us. And that's a security system that can't be defeated, that can't be beat, that can't be broken into, that can't be taken away from you. You have an inheritance waiting for you, eternal and everlasting joy in Christ Jesus, fully glorified when we go to be with Him. The world doesn't have that. All they've got is their money. You see the casmic difference between the two. We don't need what the world needs. We don't need what the kings and the merchants and the sailors are going after. We as the church know that all we need is Jesus. We have to constantly be reminded of this. If you're at a point in your life where all you have is Christ, rest assured you have all you need. That's what John is saying to the churches here. You've lost everything. But you are rich. You have Christ. Now, what's the Noah parallel here? The pre-flood world was saturated with violence, saturated with corruption, and those inside that culture could not see it clearly. Only the one who walked with God perceived the judgment coming. We live in days similar to the days of Noah. Open up your eyes and see the corruption of sin in the world. Secondly, the call to come out in verses four through eight. Follow along there. 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 no 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. What we see in the first part of verse 4 there is God still has people in Babylon. He calls them my people. We saw this in last chapter 17. They are the called, the chosen, the faithful, scattered across the globe to the four corners of the earth. God has people on every single continent of this earth. We are a scattered people, and he's calling his people to come out of Babylon. Now, until Christ returns, the church will continuously find itself amongst the world, outnumbered, and the ten kings will unite to wage war against us. The beasts will wage war against us. That's our position until Christ comes back. Okay. We will continue to be in the world, but not of the world. We are not to be of the world. In fact, Jesus specifically prayed for this in the high priestly prayer. In John 17, 16, he said, They, referring to us, are not of this world, just as I am not of this world. So the danger for the church, the danger for you and for me, is not our proximity to the worldly ways. The danger for us is our participation in them. And we see in the second part of verse 4, there's this urgency of separation. And this reminds me of Paul's commandment in Romans 12, too, do not be conformed to this world. Don't do it, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. I want to be clear, what Paul is saying here, what we're seeing in Revelation 18 come out of Babylon, this is not a call to live in a monastery. This is not a call to physically separate from non-Christians. We do need to participate in neutral and goodly worldly ways as humans to contribute to and promote human flourishing for the good of the earth, for evangelization. Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth, and isolating ourselves is not a good strategy to be the salt. But there is an urgent call to follow Christ at all costs, starting right now. Follow Christ more closely today than you did yesterday while you still live in the world. Those of us in Christ are saved, but not yet glorified. We eagerly await our final adoption, our final glorification, but until then we go through sanctification, being made to be more like Christ. Sin less, do more good, right, and true things for the cause of the gospel and for the glorification of God. And to do that, we must urgently separate from the ways of the world, which is sin. Be a rebel, be a non-conformist. We do not bend the knee to any global power. We bow to Christ and Christ alone. And in any way that the world's demands go against what Christ has demanded of us, you can forget it. You can debank us, you can take our money, you can throw us in jail, you can shed our blood and kill us, but we will follow Christ. Those are the Christians that change the world. The ones that go into the world with that kind of mentality and attitude that I will sacrifice all for Christ. This call is urgent and must be acted upon. Believer, separate yourself constantly from worldly ways. And then in verses five through eight, we do see a proportional amount of judgment. We see these sins are heaped as high as heaven. That's ironic. That's imagery of the tower of Babel. The irony here is that humanity could not build a tower to heaven, were physically incapable of it. They tried in Genesis 11. The Lord punished them for it. But here we have this symbolic imagery that the world's sins are accomplishing the impossible, a value that is almost immeasurable. And God has a ledger, and every sin is recorded and known by him. And at the pinnacle of the sins of the world is her pride in verse 7. We saw this in Pharaoh and the plagues in Exodus. We saw this in Nebuchadnezzar before his fall in Daniel chapter 4. There is no pride that will not be humbled. Now, we are in a time of grace where the proud can still repent. And that's the call this morning. Quit relying on yourself, quit depending on your own strengths, quit sinning against God, repent of your wicked ways and come to Christ. Confess Him as Lord and Savior and be saved. And God, who is rich in mercy and grace, will blot out your sins from the ledger with the blood of Christ, and he will remember them no more. All we see in Revelation 18 is this change. When the period of grace ends, the closing time on earth has come. Closing time is here. And God begins the final process of writing every single wrong. Oh, the Noah parallel here is God's patience is long. He's a very patient God. But his judgment is certain. When the door of the ark closed, the window of grace closed with it. Here in verse 8, we see that the plagues on Babylon will come in a single day. Thirdly, verses 9 through 19, we see the lament of the world. Follow along with me here. 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 long 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 and 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 those who trade as on the sea stood far off, and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning. What city was like this great city? And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, Alas, 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. We've seen three groups so far in the text, these kings, merchants, and the sailors, and we see all of them are weeping. The powers that saw no end to their power are now seeing an end to their power. Outlandish amounts of valuable cargo that we see listed here that ends with slaves, that John says that he clarifies with dignity that these are not commodities, these are human souls. And slavery does not have to be a systematic legality in order to still occur. We still have slavery in our very own country. The sex slave industry in our country and across the world is thriving, and it takes advantage not only of women, but also children. This is the combination of work, of demonic forces, and violent and corrupt humanity. And it's not just the sex slave industry. Anywhere you see a worldly System, you will see people thrive at the expense of others because the heart of man is wicked. And the merchants weep because now they've lost their profits. The circle of economics is completed with the international transport and the weeping of the sailors. Global commerce, dependent upon worldly ways for progress, has now ended. And all of these groups mourn from a distance for the loss of Babylon and their utter helplessness at not being able to help her. They've lost access to their God, which is to fill their bellies with worldly pleasures. Now the Noah connection here is just as the pre-flood world mourned nothing because they never saw it coming, they mourned when the rain fell. These three groups mourn only what they've lost. They don't mourn who they've become. Noah's neighbors didn't weep for their souls, they wept for their circumstances. The merchants, the kings, the sailors, they're no different. They stand far off, unwilling to, unable to help, unwilling to repent, and they're watching their God crumble. And the time for boarding has passed. Fourthly, in verses 20 through 24, we see the rejoicing of heaven. Read with me. 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, will be found no more. 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 the earth. So in verse 20, we see we see all this destruction. Then verse 20 we have a shift, we have this call of osmic celebration. Who is to rejoice? Saints, apostles, prophets. The apostles and the prophets are gone, only the saints are left. So this is a totality of God's people. This is all of the church. Saints, apostles, and prophets rejoice. The martyr's cry from Revelation 6 is being answered. God is dealing judgment against those who shed their blood. And this is also a celebration that the victory of the Lamb cannot and will not be stopped. Jesus Christ is already victorious. We're just seeing it being laid out in front of us. You want to talk about fixing the bets? You know, that's that's a big thing going on today, now with the spread of gambling in our country, is now we're seeing it in sports. We're even seeing players like fixing bets and things like that. You want to fix a bet? Go bet on Jesus. His victory, sure and certain it will occur. Babylon will fall. All other gods will fall. Jesus Christ is victorious 100%. Take it to the bank, it's happening. And the church is going to see it roll out in front of our eyes, and the cry will be rejoice. Apostles, prophets, saints, rejoice at the victory of the Lamb. In verse 21, we see this millstone. Now, this is a call back to what John would have heard Jesus talk about. We see Jesus talk about it in Matthew 18. Jesus used some very harsh language about a millstone to aggressively show that any who cause little ones to stumble will be better off having a millstone tied around their neck and thrown into the sea to drown. Now, this is a form of judgment. Jesus is declaring a form of judgment. And what we see in Babylon, all the sounds of civilization are taken away from her. No music, no craftsmen, no meal, no lamps, no brides. It's as if it just all vanished and disappeared and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, even down into the Mariana Trench, where it's completely out of sight, out of mind, out of hearing, and forgotten. Never to be seen again. And then in verses 23 and 24, we see the root of Babylon's sin. And we see the sorcery, the bewitching of the world, of all peoples of the world through false promises, false security, and the complete drunkenness on wealth and power. And finally, in her was found the blood of the prophets and the saints. And this should remind us that the type of prosperity that the world thinks is good oftentimes finds itself at odds with true Christianity. You are the world's enemy. It will come after you in different ways, in different forms, in different times. But know that the way of Christ will be at odds with the way of the world. And she will kill us for it. Now, what's the Noah parallel here? Well, when the flood came, it was a total flood, total devastation. Every living thing on the face of the earth was blotted out, Genesis 7.23. But Noah and those who were with him, and the animals who were with him were safe because they were inside the ark and they celebrate. The same God who judges Babylon preserves his people through that judgment. So to conclude this morning, I want to call your attention to three things from this text. Number one, there's a call to come out, come out of Babylon. And I want you to examine your life where has Babylon's spirit captured your affections? Money, status, comfort, entertainment. Now, these aren't necessarily evil in themselves. They can be, but doesn't mean that they always are. But when you become the city that you live for, you become Babylon's citizen. Are you like the kings that chase after power and status? Or are you like the merchants who want to attain more and more earthly valuables that you place your hope in? Are you like the sailors? I would actually imagine most of us in this room would identify with the sailors. And here's why. Especially in America, we hold on to the comfort and security that the global system provides. The flow of goods and services, again, not bad in and of itself. But if that left us today, would you still have faith in Christ? Do you still have, in the absence of global economics, if it were to all fall apart, do you still have a sure foundation and hope in the midst of a global economic collapse? Secondly, look up. The fall of Babylon means that the victory of the Lamb is certain. History is not chaos. It can seem chaotic at times. It is not chaos. Every empire that has exalted itself against God has fallen. And the pattern will continue and culminate in final judgment. Take heart. God is not surprised by any of it. Revolutions have changed the world. Over the past 500 years, we've had the scientific revolution, we've had the industrial revolution, we've had the digital revolution. And even now, probably maybe the most world-changing of them all, we are at the beginning of the artificial intelligence revolution. You know, even saying those words brings some anxiety to some of you in this room. Understandably so. Because we don't know what this is, we don't know where it's going. We don't know what's going to happen through it. And here's what I'll tell you this morning about the AI revolution. Look to Christ. Even artificial intelligence 100% operates under the sovereign hand of God. He is not surprised. The victory of the Lamb is now just one revolution closer. And thirdly, call others out. This is what we're to do as the church. Go and make disciples. The Great Commission in Revelation 18 is in action here. Go and call them out of Babylon. Come out of her, my people. There's still sheep in Babylon that need to hear the shepherd's voice. And he's so gracious and kind to allow us as a church to play part in that. Call people out of Babylon. Come to faith in Christ. Evangelism is the life buoy thrown from the ark for rescue. Every person you tell the gospel to is someone you're inviting into the ark before the door closes. Now the people in Noah's day, they were warned, but none came. Revelation 18 is a warning that we must all heed. Get in the ark before it's too late. Come to Christ today. Now, when the water subsided and Noah and his family got off the ark, God established a covenant with Noah, one of the covenants of the Old Testament, that he would not destroy the earth by flood again. This is a covenant that God made with all creation, and it's unconditional. We don't have to do anything for that covenant. God just said it to be so. And through that covenant that God made with Noah, all of humanity is blessed and has stability. We have the seasons, we have the life cycles of agriculture, we see human flourishing as a product of God's covenant with Noah. Humanity is stabilized, and the road to redemption is paved. The path for Christ to come and redeem his people would not be interrupted by anything. Noah looked out onto a brand new world that eventually Christ would come and bring salvation to. But in Revelation 18, we are building up to the deliverance of all of God's people. And we definitely need a bigger boat. We need a better Noah. And that answer is found in Jesus Christ, the Lamb that attained victory by being slain. There is nothing that is beyond his reach for the security of his people. There is no worldly power or evil or revolution or system that will thwart his plans to save and deliver us in finality. Unbeliever, get in the boat now, for the destruction comes soon for all those outside of Christ. Repent of your sins and trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior. And believers, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for we know who holds tomorrow. He's got it in his hand. Trust in the great salvation that you have in Christ, that he has bought us, and he will forever secure us. We don't have to depend on what the king's merchants and sailors depend on. We don't need the global policies of Babylon. We don't need the economics of this world to be secure. All we need is Christ. Corey Tin Boom's father once told her when she asked as a child how she would have the courage to die for her faith. He said to her, When I take you to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket? You know, her ticket for the train? And she said, Just before we get on the train. And he replied, Exactly. And our Father in heaven knows when we will need the courage, and he will give it to you just in time. When we collide these two stories together, the flood and the gospel, we are given two symbols that are signs of God's covenants with his people. The rainbow and the cross. Remember the rainbow and the cross. The rainbow reminds us that God is patient. The cross assures us that he is just and merciful. The same God who shut the door to the Ark will one day shut the book. Are you inside the Ark? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit would turn hearts of stone to hearts of flesh, that you would cause the lost to be saved and the saved to be edified. Through the reading of your word and the preaching of your word. I pray that we would follow you more closely, that we would sin less, that your grace may abound in us, that we all would be sanctified until our final glorification. But that the prayer that pri that Christ prayed for us in John 17, the high priestly prayer, Father, we just echo that. And we know that as Christ prayed it, it shall come to pass. We know that we are secure in you. Give us the strength and the wisdom and the courage to act like it. It's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.