Sermon Notes - Revelation 18 - God is Mighty - Littleby Baptist Church - December 5, 2021

1.     Highlights

a.      The woman looked at in chapter 17 is the:

                                                    i.     Prostitute, she is the one who will lead people away from God.

                                                  ii.     The one who is in bed with the antichrist and the kings of the world.

                                                iii.     One of, if not the, source of idolatry and evil who turns people to worship things other than God.

                                                iv.     Her reach expands across peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.

b.     Then we see that the antichrist and the kings carry out God’s will and turn against the woman, Babylon.

2.     Revelation 18:1-2

a.      An angel calls out.

b.     Babylon becomes a place of desolation, a home for demons and a haunt for evil spirits.

                                                    i.     It becomes a place that is no longer habitable by humans.

3.     Revelation 18:3

a.      Nations have drunk the wine; people have bought into what Babylon is offering.

                                                    i.     People will be interested in the life that Babylon promotes.

1.     Could be like this athlete or that one promotes a brand of shoes or clothes and people rush to the store to buy them. But it goes well beyond that.

2.     A lifestyle of anything goes.

3.     A sense of belonging to the ‘in’ religion, the evil one that it is coming.

4.     Wealth, prestige, and any number of ‘idols’ that exist today or new ones that will be dreamt up.

                                                  ii.     Babylon seduces the people of the world.

b.     Those that will drink the wine, those that have followed the corrupt woman, will experience the wrath of God.

c.      People will love life for a time following the way of Babylon but will ultimately be crushed for their choices.

4.     Revelation 18:4-5

a.      A second angel cries out from heaven.

b.     ‘Come out of her, my people…’

                                                    i.     Distance yourselves from this way of life.

                                                  ii.     Do not associate with those who have taken the mark of the beast.

                                                iii.     Fellowship cannot exist between those of Christ and those of Babylon.

c.      Distance yourselves so that you do not share in her sins.

d.     As the end of days draw closer and closer, the need to distance ourselves from those who actively participate in the ways of the world will only become more and more necessary.

e.      It is a reminder that we need to be careful today.

                                                    i.     It is easy to get distracted from what God has called us to.

                                                  ii.     Priorities can change at the snap of a finger for us.

                                                iii.     God could be replaced by something that seems practical or innocent.

                                                iv.     We need to be careful to keep our eyes on the Author and Perfector of our Faith.

                                                  v.     It is too easy to be lead astray.

                                                vi.     Our focus must stay on our Savior Jesus.

5.     Revelation 18:6-8

a.      Vengeance is the Lord’s… it will be swift, and it will be complete.

b.     Babylon will have earned what it receives.

                                                    i.     It will receive double according to her works, meaning she will be repaid in full for the wickedness she spread to the world.

c.      I sit as a queen – She believes she is in control of others.

d.     I am not a widow – She is not alone, with so many people following her.

e.      I will never see grief – proclaims that she has absolute control.

f.      Pride leads to a fall.

                                                    i.     Whether Babylon is a city, a religious group, and/or a movement… it will believe that it is in control.

                                                  ii.     Sounds like Babylon has bought into the lies of the Devil.

g.     Judgement will come swiftly; Will it be in a single day?

                                                    i.     With the Bowl judgements falling in the Seventh Trumpet, it is believed when they hit, they will hit quickly. Many believe from the first to the last will only be a handful of days.

                                                  ii.     The wrath of God will hit in a short period of time.

h.     The Lord God who judges her is mighty – a reminder that all of this may seem impossible.

                                                    i.     It might be hard to believe that these prophesies could even possible come true.

                                                  ii.     It will be hard for those who are living through this to believe that it will come to an end.

1.     Dance in the streets all they want.

2.     Or will their be an end to the persecution.

                                                iii.     But our God is Mighty, nothing is impossible for Him.

                                                iv.     When the time is right, He has more than enough power to carry out all that Scripture tells us.

6.     Revelation 18:9-10

a.      God’s judgment is swift and complete.

b.     Those who had drank the wine of Babylon will be dismayed that she is gone.

c.      They will rightfully worry that judgement will fall their way as they enjoyed her sensual and excessive ways.

7.     Revelation 18:11-14

a.      All these things… will be gone.

b.     The largest consumer of all of these earthly things, will be wiped away.

c.      All the wealth of Babylon will never be seen again.

8.     Revelation 18:15-19

a.      The merchants, shipmasters, seafarer, and sailors all lament the loss of their business.

b.     Their focus is on the material gains and the loss of income.

c.      They are astonished that Babylon could be destroyed in a ‘single hour’.

                                                    i.     Complete destruction of something so magnificent in such short period of a time.

d.     It will be hard to believe that Babylon will become a home for unclean spirits.

9.     Revelation 18:20

a.      The angel changes focus from those who lament her destruction to those who should be rejoicing.

b.     Rejoice that Babylon has been destroyed.

c.      Rejoice that Babylon has received the punishment she deserved.

10.  Revelation 18:21 – The third angel of chapter 18.

a.      The angel picks up a boulder weighing a couple of hundred pounds and tosses it into the sea.

                                                    i.     The stone would splash and disappear in seconds.

b.     Babylon will be destroyed in a short time and will never be seen again.

c.      The wrath of God will be complete.

11.  Revelation 18:22-24

a.      Music, work from any trade, weddings… essentially life will never again exist in Babylon again.

b.     This judgement falls on Babylon because it had the opportunity to influence the world for good.

c.      Instead, it seduced the people of the world to practice what is evil in the sight of the Lord.  

d.     Babylon will lead the world into all kinds of idolatry and wickedness and will be judged accordingly.

e.      The martyrs who were told to wait a little longer (Ch 6), the waiting is complete.

12.  Divine Justice has been served.

13.  Many of the commentaries associate Babylon with Rome.

a.      Some of that is because the Roman Empire was the ruling force in Johns’ Day.

b.     Rome represented the political and spiritual leadership of that time.

c.      Others point to Rome as it is the center of spiritual leadership for many in this word today, and it does have political influence.

d.     Others think Babylon is a religion, an evil spiritual way of life.

e.      You can make strong arguments for any of these cases, and it one of the reasons we have to remember that Revelation is a not a play-by-play script of what the future holds.

                                                    i.     Yet it does teach us what to expect, what to watch for, but does not answer all of our questions.

14.  One thing we can be sure of, is that when the Bowls are poured out Babylon is destroyed, and our Lord will return shortly their after.

a.      While we walk this earth, our focus needs to be on Jesus.

b.     We need to learn and apply God’s Word to our lives.

c.      As we draw near to God, He will help us to see the sin in our lives.

d.     As we trust in our Jesus, He will point out the things of the world that are trying to lead us astray.

15.  James 4:7-8

a.      Our prayers should be that we:

                                                    i.     Submit to God and Resist the Devil.

                                                  ii.     Draw near to our God.

                                                iii.     Cleanse our hands.

                                                iv.     Purify our hearts.