Revelation
Seduced by Babylon

In the 20th century, two books were written to predict our future: “A Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley in 1931 and “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell in 1949. Both books had different ideas about how our future could be grim. Neil Postman compared these books in his work “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” where he said Orwell feared the truth would be hidden and people would be controlled by pain, while Huxley feared the truth would be lost in irrelevance and people would be controlled by pleasure.

In the book of Revelation, some people read it like “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” seeing evil events happening through force and obvious tactics. Others read it like “A Brave New World,” where evil systems and powers subtly deceive and seduce us away from Jesus. Revelation 17 talks about a Prostitute, representing a seductive force in the world.

Babylon in the Bible is like a city without God, and it symbolizes any place that goes against God. The Prostitute in Revelation seduces people by making sin seem normal and by rewarding strategies that go against what Jesus taught. But we can choose not to be a part of Babylon’s ways by turning towards Jesus and living a different way. We can be citizens of heaven, not of Babylon.

You can take interactive notes here. At the end of the message, you can email the notes to yourself.

 in the 20th century, two dystopian novels were written to predict how the future would unfold. In 1931, Aldous Huxley wrote A Brave New World. And then 18 years later, in 1949, George Orwell wrote 1984. Anybody read even any of those? Nerds in the house.

Amen. Alright, so, uh, both had really grim outlooks on the future. I think it’s worth your time reading. But it’s interesting because they both saw a totally different path on how we’re gonna get there. Um, Neil Postman, in a wonderful book called Amusing Ourselves to Death, I think I’ve quoted this book. to death lately.

I, I just love it so much, but he actually is intro. He juxtaposes those two books and shows us how a brave new world, how they thought the end of the world would come. And then also 1984, the quote should be on the screen. It says Orwell, which is 1984 feared that the truth will be concealed from us. Some of us read revelation that way Huxley, which is the brave new world book, feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.

Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture. In 1984, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. What an interesting juxtaposition, right? Which world are we in today? Now, many of us read Revelation as either 1984, inflicting pain.

Or we read Revelation possibly as a brave new world. So if you really take Revelation literal, you’ll likely read it like 1984. There’s a lot of evil events unfolding. We’re reading a passage today that one commentator literally called awful. This is an awful passage we’re in today, Revelation 17 through 19.

And the enemy comes through brute force, obvious tactics, and just kills the church. If you take it literarily, however, you’ll read Revelation. Maybe you’ll see some 1984 in it, but you’ll also start to see a lot of a brave new world. What do I mean? There’s a lot of evil systems and powers that don’t just straightforward attack us.

What they do instead is they subtly deceive us. They lull us into triviality. They seduce us. And so that’s why I find this portion of Revelation 17 through 19 really helpful. Cause I think the church, uh, John is warning the church. It’s really easy. To miss that what the enemy wants to do is to seduce you.

In fact, write this down. I think we have to admit this as we begin. The American church has been so concerned about being seized, that it rarely, if ever, considered being seduced. These couple of chapters are about a prostitute, which I told Jordan right before coming up. I guess that’s why we had a cop read the passage, right?

We’re looking at a prostitute today. And so you better believe, John, why is he using prostitute? It’s actually a lot about commercialization, taking something beautiful and intimate as sex, instead making it into a market thing. We’ll look at that a little bit. But also, we have to remember, this is a prostitute because it is seductive.

And so John’s objective, at least in Revelation 17 through 19, as we’re gonna read, his primary tactic, the enemy, is not to just destroy you blatantly, it’s to inflict, not pain, but pleasure. It’s to subtly deceive you and lull you into his way. So if you haven’t already, open your Bibles to Revelation 17, it’ll be on the screens.

If you didn’t bring a Bible today, that’s totally cool. But as we are about to read, let us first pray, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank you for this passage. Uh, God, I’ve been wrestling with it all week. God, thank you. Just the way that it struck a chord in my own heart. And so God, as we submit ourselves to this passage today, I pray that you would give us.

Our attention, God, may we be focused on what you have to teach us. Give us a soft heart. God, may you just reveal the truths we need to hear today. And God, may we walk away here with joy because that tomb is empty and Jesus, you love us so much and we do have hope at the end of this. In Jesus name I pray.

Everybody says. Amen. Amen. You ready? Alright, Revelation 17. It’s awful. Okay, let’s look at verse 1. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bulls, this is about judgment, remember we talked about judgment a few Sundays ago, and spoke with me. Come, I will show you the judgment of the notorious prostitute.

Who is seated on many waters many waters here you’re about to see a reference later I think it’s in verse 8 is showing that this Babylon is not just in one particular area It covers the universe and so cats out of the bag when we’re talking about Babylon I’m gonna talk about that pretty soon, but we think this evil force the city is not just one specific city You’ll see it all throughout generations in different places.

It also, many waters can be a reference to actual Babylon. Babylon was known as a place with a lot of water. Verse 2, The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and those who live on the earth became drunk on the wine of her sexual immorality. Then he carried me away in the spirit to a wilderness.

I saw a woman, this is who we’re going to learn about today, sitting on a scarlet beast. Remember two Sundays ago we talked about the two different beasts? This is the first one, the political beast, okay, sitting on that beast and it was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.

Heads and horns just means strength and authority, and so this woman is not to be messed with. Unless you’re on Team Jesus, this woman has power, and lots of it. Verse 4, the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet. Those are the most extravagant things you could think of, especially back then. Adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls.

She had a golden cup in her hand, filled with everything detestable. So she consumes even the bad things, right? This is the worst of the worst, and with the impurities of her prostitution. When you read verse 1 through 4, you’re thinking, Who in the world is this woman, right? And that’s the question John wants us to keep asking.

Who is this woman? Is she in the first century? Is she coming soon? Has she been in every century? And if, I mean, I keep referencing. Sometime in our series, we mention there’s a lot of different ways to read Revelation. One is to read it as this all just happening in the first century. I think that falls short, but you can certainly take a lot of these things and see them in the first century as we’re about to look at how Rome was Babylon for this first century.

But we take the belief, not that there’s just some future Babylon, but every generation has a Babylon or multiple Babylons. And that’s who this woman is. Verse five on her forehead was written a name, a mystery, Babylon, the great. The mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth. Aren’t you glad you came to church today?

We’re doing all sorts of stuff. Alright, here, Babylon. Babylon is a phrase that if you know the Bible, the Old Testament, the Jewish context here. You would know what this means, but most of us don’t so let’s explain it real quick Babylon is the woman okay, and so there’s this woman it’s on this beast Who is this and all of a sudden now verse 5 says this woman is Babylon the great now Babylon is a theme throughout all of the Bible you first see Babel Babylon, Babel in Genesis chapter 11.

Anybody remember they built a tower, the Tower of Babel? What was the whole purpose of that tower? We’re going to make a name for ourselves. We’re going to create a city that doesn’t glorify God. Instead, it glorifies us. And what does God do? In His mercy, He scatters them, right? They speak different languages and they’re scattered around the earth.

This was a judgment because God created us not to make a name for ourselves. But to worship the only name Jesus, right? Above all things. So Babel, in the Hebrew mind, is always, okay, a city of man. A city that is all about themselves. We mentioned a few weeks ago, Daryl Johnson has that wonderful quote. He says, a city that seeks to be divine only becomes demonic.

Right? If there’s a city where you’re not under God, but you say we have all the power, eventually that will turn in on itself and become very, very demonic. So Babylon is a metaphor. It’s a trope for any city throughout any generation that focuses on man. Just as how you and I, which I think this is overused, we label somebody a Hitler.

What does that mean? Probably not a nice guy, right? If he’s a Hitler, you have all these connotations that come with it. Same way with the city of Babylon. If you mention a city, oh, that’s Babylon, you’re thinking through all sorts of things. They oppress the people of God. They do not worship the Lord. They, they use people and abuse people.

And they worship things and use people, right? These are things that the mind would hear. But in verse 9, you’ll actually see, it says this calls for a mind of wisdom because the seven heads are seven mountains. This is referencing Babylon, um, is, can be referenced as Rome. And so Babylon in the 1st century, because we see that phrase in verse 9, Babylon can be all sorts of cities, but for John in this moment, it’s Rome.

But in the next generation, it’s another city. You with me? In the 20th century, maybe it was Germany, it was Russia, or whatever. Okay, and so the 1st century readers would have interpreted Babylon in this moment, Yeah, you’re talking about Rome. Rome is opulent, Rome is all about man, Rome doesn’t worship God.

But it can mean for something else as well. So what we need to do in chapter 17 is beginning to ask the question, in our generation, who is Babylon and what are her characteristics? So it can be China, it can be Russia, and spoiler alert, it can be the United States of America. Right? And typically, the people who are in that city, they usually don’t admit it and see it for themselves.

I, of course, am grateful. To be an American, I think it’s a wonderful country, but we have to be realistic. We have to be realistic where things are headed. Now, there’s so much here. Please stay with me, guys. In chapter 17, I think the biggest mistakes happen when we read this like a newspaper rather than a drama.

If you read 17 as a newspaper, you’ll get your chronological map out, right? And start to figure out who is the city, who is the Babylon. And when you do that, you’re projecting to the future, trying to figure out this one big bad wolf. And the reality is, the interpretive framework we are using, is there is a Babylon in every generation.

Instead of trying to figure out who’s the big one, there will be a final one. But we as disciples of Christ need to realize there is one that we’re living amongst here today. You with me? Okay, verse 6, it says, Then I saw the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints. And with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

So this woman, Babylon, the city, not only kills the saints, but enjoys it. It always leads to that destruction, which is a bit 1984 ish, right? A bit just total obliteration. But look at this next line. When I, this is John, saw her, I was greatly astonished. I this word, thaumazo. It means to be blown away. To marvel at, to wonder, to be drawn, to admire.

And so this is such a crazy, I think it’s so humble of John to mention this. He sees Babylon, who kills the saints, right? And at his initial impression of the gold and the purple and the scarlet and all these things, He’s like, she looks good! She’s seductive! I’m astonished! And here’s the thing, we cannot apply revelation appropriately until you and I are willing to admit there is a city of Babylon, the city of man.

There are things in our world that are seductive. And if we don’t admit that, then we’ll be drawn to it. We need to name it, notice it, and then build a life where we don’t fall into it. Right? And so he is saying, I’m kind of blown away by this woman, and verse 7, an angel rebukes him. He says, The angel said to me, Why are you astonished?

Why are you googly eyed right now? Hold on with me. I will show you the reality. He says, I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and the ten horns that carries her. So in his grace, God sent an angel to say, I know this looks good, but I’m going to show you through the revelation of Christ, this is the opposite of good.

This is the worst of the worst of the worst, and we need to be drawn away from it. And this whole letter is written to the church to tell us, just like John. You and I can be seduced. But just like John, we have revelation, and if we cling to the scriptures formed by the scriptures, we can see the seducer for who she really is and not fall into her trap.

Remember, the American church, we have been on alert about being seized, but we rarely, if ever, consider that we’ve been seduced. In this chapter, we have to be honest and go, where have I been seduced by the ways of man? And not worshiping Jesus as Lord. I want to mention in Proverbs, you don’t have to go there, it’ll be on your screen, but Proverbs, again the Hebrew person listening to this message, when it talks about a prostitute, chapter 7 in Proverbs is like the go to to talk about what a prostitute can do to your life.

Let’s look at just verse 21 through 27. Uh, this prostitute seduces him with her persistent pleading. She lures with her flattering talk. He follows her impulsively like an ox going to the slaughter like a deer, bounding toward a trap until an arrow pierces its liver like a bird darting into a snare.

Here’s the key line. He doesn’t know it will cost him his life. Revelation 17, the city of Babylon is a prostitute, and if you are not aware, It will cost you your life. Verse 24. Now, sons, listen to me and pay attention to the words from my mouth. Don’t let your heart turn aside to her ways. Don’t stray onto her paths, for she has brought many down to death.

Her victims are countless. Her house is the road to Sheol, which is hell, descending to the chambers of death. So remember, the Hebrew person who knows the Old Testament, John, who is bathed in the Hebrew literature, says there is a prostitute. You know that prostitute we talk about in Proverbs 7? This is the ultimate prostitute.

This is the prostitute of prostitutes, and you will be shocked how easy it is to walk down her street, see her house, and want to go in. And when you do that, you’re done. Right? You with me? This is the theme. We have to catch on to this, and so the question we have to ask ourselves, as John is introducing the prostitute in Revelation 17, which some commentators say, Revelation doesn’t really make sense until 17 through 19, because then you go, oh, this is how this enemy, the beast, all of this evil is happening, it’s through these cities, it’s through this culture, right?

So we have to ask ourselves, how does the prostitute seduce the church? How has the prostitute seduced you? And if you think you haven’t been seduced. You’re probably already in her house. You know what I’m saying? We have to be aware and fight against it. So first, write this down. How does the prostitute do it?

The prostitute seduces the church by normalizing the sins of Babylon. Normalization of sin is how you and I are lulled into her house. Have you guys ever heard the concept of Overton Window? You ever heard this? Right, I’m gonna give like a really fun… Translation of what this is because this passage is heavy enough and so here’s what it is Overton window is this idea where as a culture there’s some things we all accept and there’s some things that some of those weirdos in The room right they accept and then there’s still some things that nobody accepts.

This is wrong Everybody agrees that it’s not true again a fun example what is accepted for all of us, hopefully Bears are real you agree with me, right? Pastor Caleb has a lap His laptop has the sticker that says birds aren’t real Ask him about it later. It’s kind of hilarious, but I should have said birds.

Let’s know, birds are real, Pastor Caleb, right? So can we all agree, even though some don’t, birds are real. It’s like this whole thing that they’re like, for the government and they have cameras. He doesn’t believe this, but he thinks it’s funny. But you know, it’s like, birds are just spying on us. They’re not actual birds.

It’s all about the prostitutes. Sent the birds. Anyways, so, let’s all agree. Birds are real. Now, what’s crazy talk? And some of you would be like, no, this isn’t crazy talk. This point’s out. This proves the point. Bigfoot is real. Some of you are like, that’s crazy. Others of you are like, no, I saw it last week.

I went camping. Totally. And you’re like, no, that was my grandpa. He hasn’t shaved in like 30 years. Said he has like, he walks like this. That ain’t, that ain’t Bigfoot, right? So some of us, there’s half of the room might be like, yeah, Bigfoot’s real. Now, if I say unicorns are real, my four year old Trinity is convinced.

She dreams every night of unicorns. It’s her favorite. She wakes, she’s so cute. She’s like, yeah, I do. I rode around on a unicorn again last night. I’m convinced she’s never dreamt, but she makes the story up and it’s cute. Anyways, so, birds are real. Bigfoot’s real. Unicorns are real. You know how you get people convinced that Bigfoot is real?

You, you keep telling people that unicorns are real. The Overton Window is this idea, if you say the really outlandish thing all the time, they’ll get exhausted and eventually accept the kind of outlandish thing. At least it’s not the unicorn. Right? This is the Overton window. It’s the normalization of what is reality and what is not.

The city, the culture, Babylon, uses the Overton window every day. They say super crazy things for you to start to believe the kind of crazy things, and now everything’s shifted. The next generation, you keep doing it, and eventually unicorns are real. This is how it happens. We have to remember our thoughts, our lifestyles unintentionally are formed by the city of Babylon.

They’re formed by our culture today. You and I, even as Christians, are formed by things like social media. They influence us more than we’d like to admit. Tim Keller has a really helpful illustration here. Because I’m in a generation of a millennial. Shout out to the millennials in the room. We’re the best.

Uh, no we’re not. Uh, anyways. So, millennials, I actually just read, we’re the most confident generation of all time. Any non millennials agree? Anyways, so, millennials. Where was I even going with this? Oh, yeah. We like to think we are very original. So, like, we think we are the most creative, all of our decisions are on our own.

And the reality is, no. Babylon has influenced our identity in ways that we wouldn’t, it’s unbelievable how much it’s influenced. Tim Keller gives this example. He said, take a man who lived in the medieval age and had two desires warring within him. One, he was attracted to males. Two, he wanted to kill people.

In the medieval ages, what would that person have done? He would have become a knight on crusades, killing people, because at least the violent part of himself will be rewarded. And so Babylon took that part of him and said, it’s okay to want to kill people. And they found an avenue to pursue those desires.

Take that same exact person with the same exact warring desires and plop them in Manhattan, New York in 2023. Will that man become a knight? There is a possibility, sure, right? More than likely, he will be an openly gay man. Why? Because that is celebrated. That, the culture says, that’s what you should do.

You see that what Babylon does is it creates a culture this opinion in the air this crowd Consensus and every generation it changes Babylon picks new things to persuade us, but it says that evil desire. No, no No, don’t shun it away Glorify in it indulge in it. You’ll see throughout Revelation 17 through 18 have excess of it because then you are truly The person that you want to become you see that this is what Babylon does and this is why every generation Kind of seems like the things we struggle with and deal with are different because the cultural air the the opinions continue to change Jump over to chapter 18 verse 3 It says for all the nations have drunk the wine of her sexual morality Which brings wrath the kings of the earth have committed sexual morality with her This is the key line here for this moment and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy From her sensuality and excess.

In other words, if you follow her game, you will have more than enough. This is what Babylon does, not just to the world. This letter was written to the church, to the saints in Christ Jesus. John is admitting being a Christian is hard. And we’re in a cultural moment where it’s getting harder. And I think the way we react to it is not great.

I think too many of us whine. I think too many of us make our neighbor the enemy. They’re not the enemy. We should love them. Right? But we do need to be weary. How are we normalizing sin? And been seduced by that. Let me give you a few examples, and I hope you receive this in grace, because I absolutely know there’s, there has to be people that fall into all these categories.

It’s in fact why I’m mentioning these sins, because I’m not preaching for the people out there. I’m preaching for the people in here. This is all grace, all love, but we have to admit these are some things that we are tempted to believe. The lie, let’s say the normalization of divorce, divorce is easier than ever.

Now, I believe if you’re being used, like if you’re being abused, strangled, emotionally manipulated, we will call the police for you, we will help you, there’s all sorts of things there, right? Too often the church has just said, just deal with it, and they’ve gotten hurt, so we’re not for that. But hear me, is it not easier than ever?

Because the culture says, you deserve better. The culture says, you only have one life, do what you want. Babylon says you deserve to be happy. And so what used to be a struggle, even just 70 years ago, is now, you’re right. I’m not even going to try to work this marriage out. Babylon is telling me it’s okay, I’m going to do it.

This is another one about, what about hoarding? Hoarding, or not giving, being stingy is easier than ever before. Babylon loves to tell you all church wants is your money. Right, and so, that’s such an easy, oh yeah, all they want is my money, I’ll come, but I’m not going to give you my money. That’s a lie. Now, what about, it’s even harder here, pornography.

Easier access than ever before. It’s just one click away. Nobody will know. You deserve a stressful relief after a really hard day. Babylon has made it accessible and acceptable. And these lies are really seductive. But, read Proverbs 7 again, they’re also very destructive. And so, I love Agent Rogers, he says, Sin thrills and then it kills, it fascinates and then it assassinates, and this is what Babylon does.

This is what this prostitute is the best at doing, luring you in and cutting you off. There’s actually another way the prostitute seduces you and seduces me. Write this down. The prostitute seduces the church by normalizing the sins of Babylon and incentivizing the strategies of Babylon. How does every empire get rich and huge?

Not by practicing the Sermon on the Mount, right? Did we get here because we churned the other cheek? Probably not. We were watching Mission Impossible the other day. Me and my, I actually seen it twice. Anybody seen Mission Impossible yet? I know Tom Cruise is weird, but he’s also the best. And so, uh, Mission Impossible, we were sitting there.

I was with my dad. He’s a big Tom Cruise fan. It’s like why he flies. He loves Top Gun. It’s a whole thing. Now we were watching, and here’s the thing about my dad. He has incredible facts. Now here’s what you have to discern. Sometimes they’re not real, and other times they’re very real and nobody else knows it.

So anytime he tells me something, I’m like, Cool! And then I Google, right? And so we are in Mission Impossible, and it shows the scene, this doesn’t give anything away, the Roman Coliseum is behind them as they’re talking. And my dad leans over, elbows me, and says, Hey Trey, did you know the Roman Coliseum was built from the gold and silver they ransacked from the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD?

I said, I didn’t know that. Because this is the second time I’ve seen it. So I could, you know, wow, you’re right. Like I told him, yeah, it’s true. Isn’t that crazy? Now, how now we have a Roman Coliseum where people from our church, we’ve, they’ve been there, right? What a beautiful thing. And then you realize how did they get it by destroying the temple of God by killing Christians, right?

And so often the strategy of violence, manipulation, tribalism. At least in the short term, it pays off. It pays off pretty good. Right? The non violent cities, the people who, who, who didn’t ransack Jerusalem, we don’t even remember their name in history. They were just a city that rose and fell and didn’t really make a dent.

But now we all know about Rome still. See, Babylon’s strategies are so seductive because it looks like the path to victory. It looks like the patient ones are losing. Anybody feel that? Feels like the humble ones never get the raise. It feels like the greedy ones are happier. The ones who just live their whole life just to make money, never take a day off.

It looks like they’re happier than us. Do I do that thing? These are the strategies of Babylon, and we have to be honest, sometimes it pays off. But Revelation 18 reminds us, one day it won’t. And it will all collapse on you. See, we’ve been so concerned about being seized that we never considered being seduced.

What are the strategies of Babylon that you and I employ in our day to day life? Commentators on this, again, these three chapters mentioned some of the strategies that Babylon uses. So you, you take those characteristics and go, okay, if this city or if this country, if this empire uses these tactics, this is saying this is also a Babylon.

So I kind of put together seven that everyone agrees with. Manipulation. If you manipulate people, if governments manipulate, hide secrets, all that, this is a trait of Babylon. Indulgence. Over excessive in everything. Um, you’ll see here that they get so much gold, so much silver, and they need more, and so they actually hire slaves to get more.

This is overindulgence. This is wrong. Violence, right? Uh, throughout history, might is right. If you’re the strongest, you get to write history. Opulence. Tribalism. Us versus them. You hate that country, this is ours. And you begin, you’ll find yourself, if you get caught up in Babylon, you even want Christians to die because they weren’t born within the US.

Something went wrong there. What about economic exploitation? Again, I mentioned the slaves. We have to recognize Babylon’s strategies seem to work. And the church in America for too long, and I don’t want to be that guy that always points everywhere. I want us to be the people that look at our own souls, but friends, we are dealing with the fallout of people not going to church, not being a part of community because maybe just maybe too many of us have used the strategies of Babylon to grow and expand, build a name for ourselves, make a brand and their story after story, eventually that thing collapses.

Because lives are being burnt and they are hurt and people don’t want to be near the church. We want to be a church. Man, I’ll tell you, we want to succeed. We want to grow. We want to make a dent in this community, but we will not do it in a way that makes a name for ourselves, in a way that worries about our own image.

We can’t. That’s not the way of Jesus. So the ways of Babylon are seductive. But the way of Jesus never fails. Jesus says the kingdom is like a mustard seed. You give it enough time, all of a sudden it grows into a beautiful tree, but it takes little acts of obedience. I actually took a prayer walk this morning, kind of asking, okay, I’m telling our people we’re normalizing sin, but also we’ve been incentivized for their strategies.

So I was just like, God, I’m going to be honest. Where have I been incentivized for your strategies? Where, where have you seduced, where, where are you? No, where has the enemy seduced me? And I just kind of walked through this morning, and guys, I’m perfect. And I didn’t think of anything, I’m just kidding. No, this one, I, I like to admit my failures, but this one I didn’t, and it shows this is real.

Like, I worry way too much about image. Every pastor you know probably has that temptation, right? On low attendance days? You know, sometimes you think, oh, this felt weird. For me, it’s like, I’m a terrible person. I’m an idiot. I don’t know how to preach anymore. I just want to go home and cry, right? Like, it’s this weird thing.

That’s all image, right? Or only defining success by numbers and not names. This is why we want to share stories of life change. Like, we want to be about you, the people. And my temptation, the seduction, is to be a dictating jerk sometimes, right? Or if you call me out of something, I need to be called out on.

I just brush it off. No, I need to stay humble. This is hard. These strategies, they feel easier. It’s easier to say, no, I’m gonna use Babylon. I’m gonna use force. I’m gonna gossip about you. I’m, I’m gonna be mean to you. I’m gonna belittle you. But that’s not the way of the kingdom. It’s the way of the kingdom.

To be a leader is to be misunderstood. To follow Jesus is to count success totally differently. But again, it’s almost like those things pay off and we have to be honest about that. But look what eventually happens. I know I’m flipping around everywhere. Chapter 17 verse 16. Now it says the 10 horns you saw in the beast will hate the prostitute.

So in the beginning, the prostitute is riding on the beast. This is gaining victory and strength because of the beast. But then all of a sudden they hate each other. They will make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. Here’s the chilling warning. Babylon always self destructs.

You’ll see throughout history, the very things that built the empire also become the very things that destroy it. Man, I sound like I’m, anyways, I’m just going to do it. Think about America. I want you to look at our trajectory. What are one of the most amazing things about our country? Individualism, right?

Individualism has been a beautiful gift. It used to be, like, if I was born, like, this is terrible. My dad’s a concrete. Worker, like he owns a concrete business. That means I would have to work concrete in Arizona. It’s the worst job in the world, right? But without individualism, I’d have to say it’s what my dad does.

It’s what I have to do. Ironically, he’s a pastor too, and I’m a pastor, but don’t look at that part of the illustration. Right, but thank the Lord we can be individuals. I have gifts and I can pursue those gifts civil rights Move it incredible and it’s all about the individual has rights. We need to honor every single person Individualism has been a wonderful gift upon gift upon gift to our country But have you seen how individualism has turned sour and it’s becoming the very thing that’s unraveling our lives Individualism does things like less stable relationships because we’re not willing to deal with any conflict We’re if you make me mad, I’m out because I’m just about me Individualism doesn’t have any authority over their life.

They just assume, I know everything, and it turns out we don’t. It leads to disconnection, it leads to isolation. There are, there’s data to show that every generation lately in America is more and more individualistic, and we are more and more depressed. There is a correlation between our individualism and our depression.

The hardest thing is there’s no longer a common good for us to sacrifice for. Right. We used to be a nation, but it’s like, how can we don’t buy? How come we’re not together anymore? It’s because we took this individualism thing way too far. Now I don’t care about my neighbor. I don’t care about it. I just care about me.

That can lead to a downfall, right? That’s just one example. I could have looked at Rome could look at wherever, right? It eventually turns on itself. And that’s what evil does because evil is basing itself off a false reality. And eventually that reality will expose. It says the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality and shared her sensual and excessive ways, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning.

They will stand far off in fear of her torment, saying, Whoa, whoa, the great city Babylon, the mighty city, for in a single hour your judgment has come. You’ll see that three other times referencing, in a single hour, In this case, Babylon, whichever it is, will fall. For the first century reader, in 90 A. D.,

they read, uh, Rome was Babylon, and when they read this, they thought, Ha! The church might fall, but Rome will never fall! Rome is powerful! Look at Rome! It’s conquered the world! What happened in 410 A. D.? In one week, they went from being the all power to completely losing it. This one hour is not an exact measurement.

It is a symbol to say these empires, they look so powerful, but it takes very little for everything to unravel. So, what’s the point? Don’t base your life on Babylon, base your life on the kingdom, because the kingdom will never fail. It will never falter. Verse 11, the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargo any longer.

Cargo of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet, all kinds of fragrant wood products. Is that candles? I don’t know, sounds good to me. Objects of ivory, objects of expensive wood, brass, iron, and marble. Cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense. Wine, olive oil, fine flour, and grain.

Cattle and sheep, horses and carriages, and slaves. Human lives, those things that they owned. The fruit you craved has left you. All your splendid and glamorous things are gone. They will never find them again. The merchants of these things who became rich from her will stand far off in the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning.

When this city collapses. Saying, whoa, whoa, the great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls, for in a single hour, there it is again, such fabulous wealth was destroyed. And every ship master, seafarer, the sailors, and all who do business by sea stood far off as they watched the smoke from her burning and kept crying out who was like the great city.

They threw dust on their heads and kept crying out, weeping and mourning, Whoa, whoa, the great city where all those who have ships on the sea became rich from her wealth for in a single hour, there it is again, she was destroyed. Babylon looks amazing until it’s not. The ways of Babylon seem like they’re right until they’re not.

Eugene Peterson, quickly, he says this in commenting on those few verses we just read about the merchants. He said, It’s not their businesses that have collapsed, but their religion. A religion of self indulgence, of getting. Now it is gone. Salvation by checkbook is gone. God on demand is gone. Meaning by money is gone.

They’re left with nothing but themselves, of whom, after a lifetime in the whorehouse, They know nothing. That’s the warning. Are you basing your life on anything other than the kingdom of God? It will fall, and it will fall hard. But there’s good news. Babylon doesn’t have to be your city. Chapter 19, verse 1.

After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, because His judgments are true and righteous, and because He has judged the notorious prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual morality, and He has avenged the blood of His servants that was on her hands.

John goes from being astonished, to being horrified, to being… Wow, God, you are going to win. It looks like Rome would never fall. It feels like the church was never gonna stop getting killed, but we have won in the end. Next week is all about chapter 18, verse 5. It’s really the call. It’s saying, okay, Babylon’s crazy, but here’s how you resist.

We’re going to look at that. But before we get to that next week, it’s how we’re going to end our series. I want us to use this moment. Before we rush to repentance, I want us to dwell on, sorry, before we rush to resistance, I want us to dwell on repentance. What John is trying to do for us is for us to see our culture, the cities, the people who seem like they have it all, without God, is empty and rotten at the core.

And I think when we read this passage, we need to be comforted. We’ll win. You know, it looks like I’m going to keep doing the right thing. I’m going to keep loving. I’m going to keep pursuing the way of Jesus, even though it looks like everybody else around me is succeeding. But we have to use this moment.

Two things. One, if you are a person this morning who has never surrendered to Jesus, I’m here to tell you, You are in Babylon, and if you don’t get out, you’ll be like the merchant who was weeping, left with nothing. But the good news, all you have to do is receive the invitation of Jesus to be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus, when he lived on this earth, he was born of a Virgin Mary, which meant he was fully God and fully man. So, he was the perfect representation for both parties, God and man. He lived a perfect life that you and I could never live, right? He, he never sinned. He always did the right thing. He never had, he never caused judgment on himself.

He was perfect. And then he approached the cross, and he knew at the cross what he was doing is, he was taking all these people who’d been lulled by the prostitute, and he was dying for the sins of those people. And saying, look, I know that you’ve been low, you’ve been, you’ve been sinning, you, you’ve been, uh, assuming that the prostitute is right, but she’s wrong.

She’s destructive and there’s no way out unless I die. And so Jesus dies on the cross, takes our punishment and rose again on the third day in victory to say he has completely defeated sin. He has defeated Satan. He has defeated death itself. The prostitute has no, no power over our king and he offers himself.

You believe your name’s gonna be written in the book of life. When Babylon falls, if you surrender to me, you won’t be weeping, you’ll be rejoicing. You won’t have nothing, you’ll have everything because the king is generous with his kingdom. And that’s the invitation. If you’ve never taken that, that’s invitation number one.

But I want to use this as a time for repentance for those in the room who have said, Yes, I’m in the kingdom. Yes, I’m a citizen of Jesus. Yes, I did wrong, but Christ has forgiven me, has set me free from shame and sin and death. And so, what do we do with this text? We get honest with God and tell him, here’s the sin I’ve normalized in my life.

I used to ask for forgiveness, now I just justify it. Here’s the strategies I use, I use and abuse people, I try to get ahead. I try to be like Babylon, I, I, I’ve fallen for the lies. Friends, you can take a thousand steps away from God, but it always only takes one to turn back to him. He’s always pursuing us.

So I wanna use this moment just even if we have just a moment of silence, I want you to wrestle with that. Have I received Jesus wrestle with that? If you already have, where have I normalized sin in my life,

and how can I lay that at his feet? Let, let, let’s spend some time with God right now asking those questions.

Jesus says, it’s the truth that sets you free. Just be honest with him.

Holy Spirit, speak to us.

Oh, Lord, Babylon is not better.

Lord, thank you for your invitation to the kingdom.