Babylon Falling

Marriage doesn't work when you have other lovers. That may seem like a startling way to begin a message on Revelation seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, but it fits. And you'll remember it. See, really that's kind of the narrative in the big picture scheme - that's kind of the narrative of scripture itself. That in the beginning God created human beings as people in His image, and He created them so that He would be able to have union with them. That He would be their God and they would be His people. This was the idea. But our human forbearers chose other lovers. They chose to put their hearts' affection and their love in a different place other than in the priority that is in a relationship to God.

But even in the midst of that God developed a rescue plan when there was a breach in relationship, and He gave birth to, through human agency, He gave birth to a people of His own called Israel. A people with which He would enter into a covenant like a marriage and would say you're mine and I'm yours. Then what would happen? Israel would choose other lovers. Thank God in God's own faithfulness, through the process, He had promised that through Israel He was going to rescue the world, and there was one that came from Israel named Jesus. Jesus came and demonstrated to the world who God is. That He is God with skin on and He showed us who God is and what humanity is supposed to look like all at the same time because Jesus was fully God and fully man. He went to a cross. He died to take upon Himself the sinfulness of humanity so that the relationship with God who was holy and just and who must judge sin, so that that relationship could be a restored by His own death, taking upon Himself our sin and through His subsequent resurrection from the dead, overcoming sin and hell and the grave and separation.

Yet, even though we know this to be true and that ultimately Jesus is preparing for Himself a bride, we choose other lovers. This is important for us as we introduce where we are in this series in Revelation chapters seventeen, eighteen and nineteen. And you'll see that begin to play out as we start to unpack these chapters, and then kind of land in some ways of practical application.

So look with me beginning in chapter seventeen, verse number one: "One of the seven angels who had he seven bowls came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.' Then the angel carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand filled with abominal things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery: BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people, the blood of those who bore the testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished."

Now, where we pick here is, we're picking up at the conclusion of the seventh bowl judgment. You see as we talked about, there were three sets of sevens in terms of judgments. We covered that a number of weeks ago, right? There were the seven seals, and there were the seven trumpets, and there were seven bowls, and these were progressive in the nature of how the judgments unfurled. With the trumpets, only a fourth of humanity was affected with the - I'm sorry - with the seals only a fourth of humanity was affected. With the trumpets, a third of humanity was affected, but ultimately with the bowls this would be a finality in the nature of judgment. And what we have here is after that picture of the seventh bowl judgment, we have an expansion of what that bowl judgment incurred. And it's talking about this imagery of a woman who is riding on a beast.

Now we've already met this beast, right? That had seven heads and ten horns. We met this beast back in chapter number thirteen, and we understood the beast to be empire in kind of the big picture sense. Now in their specific sense, it would have been referencing the Roman empire in their specific audience sense. But it also stands for that which comes even after that, and that is kind of the nature of empire, with its military force and its ability to oppress and to get anything that it wants.

This was the idea behind this, but you also have now on this beast a woman who is clothed in glittering gold and jewels and precious stones and she is riding on the beast. Now without getting graphic in this place, in the ancient world there was sexual imagery that was associated with this particular picture. But let's leave it at this - this woman who is riding the beast is ultimately gaining her platform and her power by nature of the power of the beast. That's how she actually has her own power.

And it says that she is holding a golden cup in her hand, and that her name is called "Babylon the Great". Now this is not something that's just made in the book of Revelation. This is actually borrowing terminology that's from the Old Testament, and John's original audience would have understood this to be the case.

In fact, you can read it in Jeremiah chapter fifty-one. It says this in verse number seven: "Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord's hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad." Now, this was talking about an actual Babylon at this particular point, but when we see the name that is written on this woman, the name that is written is mysterious because it says it's Babylon the Great the mother of prostitutes.

Now, I need you to pause here for just a minute because if we're going to understand ultimately who we're talking about here, we have to understand what's being said. It is mysterious in terms of the way that this woman is named. She's named Babylon the Great, the mother of all prostitutes. Now, that should give you an indication when she is called the mother of all prostitutes, that should give you an indication that it's bigger than just what we're talking in this context.

If you go all the way back and you start tracking the idea of Babylon, you get to Genesis chapter eleven, and you see there are people on the plain of Shinar. The plain of Shinar was Babylonia. It was Babylon. And these people decided that because they all spoke the same language and they felt like maybe that they could be self sufficient and they could do things on their own, and create their own wealth and create their own comfort, and create their own security and create their own godness, so to speak, that they would build a tower that would raise to the heavens and they could be ultimately like God. But God confused their languages so they they were unable to actually accomplish what they were endeavoring to do, and as a result they were called Babel, which means confusion. And it is the people of Babylon.

When you get further into the context of scripture you meet this same spirit of Babylon that is now showing itself as an empire. And this empire we see through the context of the Old Testament that is known for its great possessions, for its wealth, for its power, for its ability to provide security, for its violence, for its oppression, for its immorality, and this empire actually takes over Israel and pulls Israel into exile, and you read that through the course of the Old Testament. And now, when we get to the New Testament imagery of the revelation, this woman is called Babylon the Great, the mother of all prostitutes. In other words, now what we're seeing, is we're seeing the template and the sum total of all that has come before. This is the idea behind this particular text.

This woman as well is drunk. But she's not drunk like you and I might think. She's actually drunk on the blood of Jesus' people. It's a startling image, and when John sees it the Scripture says, that he is astonished.

But then look as we follow forward in our text in verse number seven, it says this: "Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come. This calls for a mind with wisdom." You don't say. "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."

Now let me just go ahead and be really, really up front with you. This part gets really thorny. You're saying to yourself, the whole book's been thorny for me, Jerry. Yeah, this part gets really, really thorny.

The beast as we know, we're talking about empire at that point, and we also see the beast parodying - parodying - the name of God. Because we have come to know God as the one who was and who is and who is to come, right? And so the beast who is parodying all that is God, is actually being referred to as the one who was and who is and who is to come. There is this imitation game that's going on here.

So what does this actually tell us? Well, it actually is referencing - I think historically - a rumor that was pervasive around the people that were reading his particular revelation. You see, in the ancient world at this time, it had already occurred that Nero had killed himself. And he had killed himself in around sixty-eight or so AD. This text was written, I believe, well after that. But there was a rumor that persisted among the people of Rome that either Nero wasn't really dead, or that Nero was going to come back to life, and even worse, what Nero was going to do, is he was going to join forces with the Parthians who, the Romans weren't really scared of virtually anybody, but the Parthians kind of made them kind of go "Wooo", because they were some kind of mean, mean dudes. That Nero was going to join with the Parthians and was going to gather some other kind of ancillary leaders in the empire, and gather them together and come and take everything back over. This was a pervasive rumor in history in the ancient world that you could read about historically in these times, that they all had an understanding of. And so the idea was this, is that the empire that was, that is, and that is to come, was this idea that maybe someone, something like Nero was going to return.

In fact, it says that this particular person was one of the kings, an eighth king, but was of the seven. In other words, one that had come in the course of leading empire, was not anymore and now may be again. He was an eighth king but was one of the seven. And then it says that the eighth actually became identified specifically with the beast itself, which is a unique thing, suggesting that this is kind of a cataclysmic type of empire that is pervasive.

Now obviously, when we're understanding this text, we're not trying to suggest that Nero is actually going to rise from the dead and show back up. That's not the intent of the text. But we can understand that a personification of one like Nero is going to be someone who is going to be kind of running point in an empire at some point.

You see, the personification thing is something that is used through the course of the Scripture itself. In fact, Jesus even used it. Talking about certain real people as if they are other people. Just as I believe this text is talking about Nero in a personified way. Do you remember when they talked about the Messiah coming, and Jesus says "Elijah has to come first"? And they were like yeah, but what... and Jesus says, John the Baptist was that Elijah. A personification of someone who is also a real person. I think that's the idea that's being alluded to in this particular text. But the interesting thing is, this beast who is claiming godlike opportunity and tendency that has kind of been personified in this person like Nero who was oppressive and violent and wicked and destroyed believers and all those things, this beast is being personified in that way now, not just as a beast, but also as a king who has become a beast.

And remember that the name of the number of the beast was 666, right? But the Scripture here does something very, very unique that you don't catch if you're not paying attention, but we're paying attention, aren't we? It says that ultimately, even though this is going to happen they're going to wage war against the Lamb, but that they're going to be triumphed over because He is, in the original text, Lord of lords, King of kings. It's interesting that the beast whose number is 666 which would give you the idea as we discussed a few weeks ago, of Nero Caesar, that in Gemetria would be able to be recorded as 666, that he is no match for, listen to this, King of kings, Lord of lords, that when done in Aramaic Gemetria is 777. The 666 is no match for the 777. The perfect, the complete, the King of kings, the Lord of lords.

This is the idea behind the text - that there is no actual battle here. There is no comparison here. There's no competition. It's a fixed game. And I'm glad. Because you don't want to wonder about the outcome.

A lot of people run around in their Christian faith acting like the outcome is yet to be determined. I don't know man, it's getting toward the end of time. I don't know if I'm going to have kids. I don't know if I'm going to get married. You need some fiber, bro. The outcome's already determined.

Moving along in the text in verse fifteen it says, "Then the angel said to me, 'The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God's words are fulfilled.'"

Now isn't this interesting that the beast turns on the woman. Evil always does that, by the way. Evil always implodes on itself. When you choose pathways of evil, evil is always going to implode upon itself. This is what happens. The beast ultimately turns on the woman.
But you know the language that's used here is language from the Old Testament. I have to point this out to you because I'm actually leaving out numbers of things that are talked about in the Old Testament that give us our understanding of the reading of Revelation, simply for time's sake. But I don't want you to miss this particular thing because ultimately what we're seeing in what's being paralleled in verses fifteen through seventeen, is similar to what we see in Ezekiel's testimony.

Because with Ezekiel, there are two women that are presented by God to Ezekiel in the form of symbols - Oholah and Oholibah. And I'm sure you're going, yeah, those are very familiar to me, Jerry. I realize that they may not be. But they were actually personifying, as it says in the text, of Ezekiel chapter twenty-three, it says they were personifying Samaria and Jerusalem. And you notice what happened to this particular prostitute - they're going to bring her to ruin, leave her naked, eat her flesh, burn her with fire - you go, boy, that's crazy imagery, man. That is frightening. Well, it's borrowed from Ezekiel.

Listen to what is said about the second sister, Oholibah, who is referencing Jerusalem. Listen to what it says in Ezekiel twenty-three. "Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side - the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses. They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards. I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire. They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry. So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore."

This is exactly where the language comes from that we're reading in Revelation, and to the original hearers, they would have been processing that and understanding it as such. And then it says in verse number eighteen of chapter seventeen, "The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

Now, here's the difficulty. Even though this is maybe the most clear verse that we have in trying to tell us who the woman is, who the prostitute, the harlot, the whore of Babylon is, this is the clearest way that Scripture states it to us. And it references the woman you saw as the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. Now, if we're talking about politically and militarily, then there's no question that that's Rome. No question at all, when we're reading the book of the Revelation. That is the history. That is the back drop. There's no question as to who we're talking about. We're talking about Rome. In fact, Rome is called the great city over and over again.

And by the way, there is code in the New Testament. When you use the term Babylon you are talking about Rome. Peter did it in 1 Peter, chapter five. You can go back and look if you want to. Peter actually used the term Babylon. He was talking about Rome. It's code for Rome. This is where I think that the scripture is pointing us.

But the truth is, is that if we're talking not just about the great city as the military or the political empire - if we were talking about the great city as the covenantal empire, we're talking about Jerusalem. And in fact, that's who Ezekiel's talking about.

So you say, Jerry, is it Rome or is it Jerusalem? I don't know. Historically, when we're talking about who the whore of Babylon, the historical referent, it is either Rome or Jerusalem or both. That John is actually in an apocalyptic way fusing together for us, because remember for us it is not just about who the historical referent is, it's about a pervasive spirit that exists even today. And that can exist here among us, not just in Rome or in Jerusalem, but among us as well.

Then look what it begins to unpack for us about the woman in chapter eighteen. It says, "After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: 'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!'" (He's quoting Isaiah there). "She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."

It's interesting here, because now, in this spiritual kind of place called Babylon, that was supposed to make it's own way, not needing God in the process, just like it was in Genesis, just like it was in the Old Testament, and just like it is later on, you've got this group of people - this spirit, this empire so to speak, or the spirit of seduction of this empire that is trying to seduce people into the lie that you can build and flourish and be wealthy and comfortable and live in luxury. And you can be seduced by all that, and you don't need God at all. You need a new god. And what happens? It says that all the wild animals inhabit the place, and that it becomes inhabited by the wild animals and the jackals. It's almost, ladies and gentlemen, like you've got a backwards reworking of creation. Where now, the uninhabited takes over the inhabited, instead of vice-versa, the way that God designed it.

You see, this is ultimately what happens when people go their way without God. That's why basically her reward is desolation. Look in verse six through eight. It says this: "Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, 'I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.' Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her."

You know, actually what's going on in that particular passage, it's quoting from Isaiah chapter forty-seven verses five through nine, if you want to write it down, you can do that. I don't have time to go back and read it, but that's where it's quoting. Where it was stated, I'm not a widow. I'll never be a widow. In other words I'm going to be able to continue on perpetually and God says, no, you're going to come down just as quickly as you could imagine.

And then, when you move further into Revelation chapter eighteen - I won't read these for you because just for sake of time - but verses nine through nineteen basically give us kind of a real, it's just common in the Old Testament - it's lament song language. That's what it gives us. It's the lament songs.

In fact, if you were looking in Ezekiel chapter number twenty-six through twenty-eight, if you just want to make a note of that, if you go back and look at Ezekiel chapter twenty-six through twenty-eight, you see the template for what is the lament song in Revelation eighteen. The lament song has a similar schema. And a schema has to do with the people of the earth, basically the merchants, and the kings, and the sailors who are lamenting what has happened. In other words, they're not able to make their money like they were making it, because they were in league, so to speak, with Babylon the Great. And now that Babylon has fallen, they're not so much concerned about Babylon. They were motivated by their own selfish interests, because they had an opportunity to make money, and they were getting wealthy, and they were getting rich off of all of the luxuries that Babylon was presenting, so to speak. It's an economic system of injustices, and ultimately of exorbitance that collapses. And when that happens the people of God ultimately rejoice.

Look in verse number twenty of chapter eighteen. "Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you."

This isn't vengeance as much as it is simply justice. Injustice has been occurring. God moves in justice and the people of God say, yes, Babylon has fallen. All of the seduction, all of the luring in with all the promises of wealth and luxury and comfort and security in power and glory - it's all collapsing around us, and we'll know that only God is God. And He will vindicate his own name in our presence. And they rejoice over that.

And then you see toward the end of chapter eighteen, kind of in verse twenty-one and following, you see the idea that Babylon is tied to a millstone and thrown into the sea. Do you know that language actually comes straight out of Jeremiah chapter fifty-one that I quoted earlier? It's the exact same picture, the exact same imagery.

Sometimes - don't you, occasionally if you're like me - do you get blown away with how much in Revelation is founded in the Old Testament text itself? That they're actually getting their language and their pictures oftentimes from the Old Testament? Somebody said to me one time, they said, Jerry, man, I'm starting to understand that boy, if you want to read Revelation, you better understand Daniel. And I said to them, if you want to read Revelation, you better understand the whole Old Testament. Because, I mean, Genesis, as we're already referencing; Exodus and the Passover timeframe, that's mentioned all through Revelation. The ideas of what the prophets said, whether it was Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zachariah - you've got it all. You have to have an understanding of what's going on in the Old Testament if you want to understand what Revelation is trying to communicate to us.

And so, this picture from Jeremiah fifty-one of Babylon being thrown ultimately into the sea with a millstone tied around it. And then in verse twenty-four of chapter eighteen it says, "In her was found the blood of prophets and of God's holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth." In other words, the level of wickedness from this spirit of Babylon, this mother of prostitutes, not only encompasses the people of God and their blood, but really it talks about the blood of the whole world everywhere. That the destruction and demise of everything going on everywhere is because everybody's bought a lie! That there can be another god except for God.

And then in chapter nineteen it says this (more rejoicing, by the way in heaven). It says: "After this," (when Bablyon's finally destroyed). "After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.' And again they shouted: 'Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.' The twenty-four elders." (Remember them? We haven't seen them in a while.) "The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: 'Amen, Hallelujah!' Then a voice came from the throne, saying: 'Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!'" There was rejoicing.

So, what's happening here? When we look at the big picture of what's going on, here's the idea: empire, this military and political overwhelming oppressive presence, is providing a platform for a spirit of seduction through the promises that are lies of wealth and power and comfort and glory and security. And it tries to seduce us all with those promises, because it leads us to a place that says, there's really a god who is not really God, it's this. You can have it all. By the way, it's the same lie from the very beginning. The enemy is creative, but he's not that creative. Lies come in various forms, but this is the same one - that you can be your own god, or there is a god that is not God.

But here's what the picture is teaching us, ladies and gentlemen. It's teaching us that we as the people of God were made for marriage to the Lamb, not for adultery with a prostitute. Might want to think about that. But if you don't, I'm going to help you.

Remember what I said at the very beginning? This is the big idea. Don't miss it. Marriage doesn't work when you have other lovers. This is the big picture of what we were just reading in chapter seventeen, chapter eighteen, chapter nineteen, when we eventually get to the marriage supper of the Lamb in chapter number nineteen. You see, if you reject the prostitute of the world, the spirit of seduction that wants to lure you in through whatever means necessary, through the glittering of all things that are golden, and maybe through money and power, and through success and fame and glory and all of those things. Or maybe just to kind of curate your particular sexual appetite - whatever it is that can get us focused off of God and on other things. Ultimately, that's when the battle is won by the enemy, though the war will not be won. But when you turn against the enemy, when you turn against the spirit of seduction, this harlot, guess what happens? She'll turn on you. You turn on her, and she's going to turn on you.

In fact it happens - we've seen it in motion picture, right? Anybody who's forty and over, if I just say the words Fatal Attraction, you know what I'm talking about, right? Like pretty soon you've got images of this kind of rejected woman who was the, who was the lover in the particular scenario, even though the main character was married. And then before you know it, you're walking into your house and there are bunnies that are boiling.

For those of you that are younger, maybe you saw the trailers for a movie that is out right now called the Perfect Guy. And you saw a woman who decided she wasn't committed to maybe to the man and she wanted to kind of see some other people and blah, blah, blah and this guy seems like the perfect guy but he ends up kind of stalking her and going crazy and going nuts and then you see the picture in the trailer where she's in her bed, and he's under it! Yeah, great. Uplifting, encouraging...by Disney. Not.

So right? Some of you get the picture. Well that's what happens when we're talking about rejecting the prostitute. In fact, notice what it says in verse number six of chapter seventeen. "I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus." In other words, those who stood for Jesus, she knew what to do with them. She wanted them gone. She wanted them dead. The problem is, ladies and gentlemen, the day and age that we live in, some of the people that we are around - maybe even some of the people under the sound of my voice are too drunk with the seduction of the world to even know that you're in trouble.

Listen to what chapter seventeen, verse two says. "With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries." In other words, you're too drunk on the seduction that has happened, that you don't even know you're in significant trouble.

I was reading a story. It was from a number of years ago. It was from 2012 in USA Today and Janeane Garofalo, the actress, was actually talking in the story and she - it was public, it was in USA Today, she said that back in 1992, she got really drunk, and she got married in a drive thru chapel, with this guy. Well they didn't realize it until about twenty years later, when this guy wanted to get married for real. And his lawyer came to find out that he was already married and had been for twenty years. You see, he got so drunk, he didn't even know how much trouble he'd gotten himself into.

Now, if you want to start digging around for bad Vegas marriage stories, you can find everything you ever wanted to find. In fact, this week I read about a guy who got so drunk he married a hooker in Vegas. And when he came to, he realized that he'd married a hooker, and she didn't feel the need to change her vocation. So he came away not only diseased, but trying to figure out how do I get out of this mess, and I would imagine, because she probably wasn't loaded when it happened, that he's also going to be a lot lighter in the wallet as a result of it.

You see, this is kind of paradigmatically, this is kind of where some of us are. We have gotten so drunk and so seduced, that we are unclear as to what to do and how to get out of it. But, ultimately what this text is saying is the question is clear. Even though you have to appropriate this in a gender specific way because the images are all over the place and you have to figure all that out - it's apocalyptic language - but here's what the text is ultimately trying to say once we appropriate it properly. Do you want a whore or do you want a husband? That's what it's saying. Some of you are going... This is what we're being confronted with in this text. This is what the people of God are being confronted with in this text as we listen to it right now.

So, here's the thing. Some of you realize maybe that you are at a place in your heart and in your life where your heart's affections have been other than Jesus. Other things have priority. You've got other lovers. So what do you do? Fair question. And I think we can answer the question. The first thing we do is we repent.

In fact, when we look at Revelation chapter eighteen, and it talks about Babylon falling, we're given some exhortation and some instruction, and listen to what it says in verses four and five. It says, "Then I heard another voice from heaven say: 'Come out of her, my people,' so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes."

Do you know what the exhortation for us ladies and gentlemen, here, right now, in this place? Come out of her. The one who is trying to seduce us into believing the lie that there are other lovers that will satisfy our soul instead of understanding that we are corporately a bride being prepared for a bridegroom - we have to come out of that kind of thinking, and we do that by ultimately repenting.

That language "come out of her" is right from Jeremiah fifty-one, just like I've told you earlier. It's quoting directly from it. But this isn't talking about as it was in Jeremiah fifty-one - it wasn't talking about leaving physically. This isn't talking about, man, I got to move from America. I got to move. Where are you going to go? Where do you run from a pervasive spirit? This isn't talking about moving. This isn't talking about leaving physically. It is talking about moving spiritually.

You see, the seduction of chapter number eighteen - the primary inference in our text, was a seduction related to money and economy. That was the primary seduction of chapter eighteen. The merchants and the kings and the sailors - they were all getting kind of drunk on all the stuff that they had. And of course, you've got the woman and she's all covered in all of her glittering gold and jewels and precious stones that she has acquired in her own greed. And the Scripture reminds us that we are to come out of being seduced by that.

So the question is, ladies and gentlemen, we've got to start asking of ourselves questions not only about how we make our money, but how we spend it. Because ultimately what God has designed is not a system that is exploitative like the spirit of Babylon is, but one that is actually an investment in people, for the good and flourishing of humanity.

So, it's fair to ask questions like, is what you do to make money just? Is it ethical? Does it exploit the earth? Does it exploit people? Maybe through kind of the out of sight, out of mind sweat shops where six year olds are being paid nothing in other countries to give you your wares on the cheap.

Or maybe, that in an indirect way we are helping in some way, maybe it's through your recreation and leisure, or maybe even through business that you are helping affirm the idea that sex is what sells. And maybe you're fueling the economic engine of the pornography industry. And you think you're not doing anything except for just, I just got needs, Jerry. I've got to - no, I'm not hurting anybody. Hmm... No. Not hurting anybody? You're committing adultery. That's what the Scripture says. You're committing adultery.

Maybe we should ask ourselves even on the financial end, do we believe more in our own comfort and our own security than we do about engaging the eternal kingdom of God with our resources? And you can check your bank account to see what you think. Or maybe, we could ask the question, am I a consumer above all things or am I an investor in the things that matter for eternity?

Now, this is about our heart's affections, ladies and gentlemen. And there is a time and place for us to be a people who understand and learn how to repent when we have been seduced, when we have bought some of the lies. We have to learn how to change our mind that will lead to a change of behavior and a change of our heart's affections.

I say this lovingly because you guys know that I'm the farthest thing from like a legalist. I'm not a fan of legalism. And I'm the farthest guy from that. But I say this to you in love. This is about your heart's affections. If your choice, in your free choice, is I would rather stay home and watch a sporting event at 9:30AM than to be with the people of God worshiping the Lamb of glory, I'm just saying is it fair to ask about our heart's affections? I'm not casting judgment. I like football. I like it a lot. But this is about our heart's affections, ladies and gentlemen.

You see, anything that you place above Jesus is an idol. It's an idol. Most of us think, I don't have any problems with idols, Jerry. You don't see me bowing down to some statue. I'm not talking about statues. You're not fool enough to something like that. The seduction is not about statues. The seduction is about anything in your life that comes before the priority love for Jesus Christ above all things. That's idolatry. Let me see if I can say it..because you kind of go, I don't quite understand idolatry really well. Well let me frame it for you differently. Here you go. Idolatry is adultery. Idolatry is adultery. In other words, you're cheating on Jesus. Is that clear?

In fact, this is what James says, and by the way numerous places in the Scriptures say it this way. In fact, as I was reading some of the Old Testament prophets they were saying the same thing. But James says it very clearly in chapter four verse four. "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." In other words, when you buy in to the whole system that the world is trying to feed us, it is adulterous, because you were made for different. This is why the Scripture is teaching us that we have to repent.

But let me give you a second thing and I got to finish up. I've always got too much in this series to be able to get it all in. You not only need to repent but you need to rely on grace, and I want to show this to you.

When you're looking at the marriage supper of the Lamb in chapter nineteen, look at verse six and seven. "Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: 'Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.'"

Do you want to see a picture of grace here? This phrase, let us rejoice and be glad, only occurs in the same way in that language one other time in the Scripture. And do you know where it is? It's actually in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter five, listen to what it says: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Rejoice and be glad. So listen to this picture. This is the only other time in the scripture where it says something about rejoicing and being glad. The other time is a reference to where Jesus is teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and he said, hey, when people persecute you, and revile you, and get after you and do all that stuff, rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.

Do you know what the reward is? You're reading it in Revelation nineteen. You get a seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb. You get a seat. And you know it comes by an act of grace. That the reward promised to those of us who are empowered by the grace of God and will stand against the prostitute of the world, who is trying to seduce us, that we get the gracious invitation of the Lamb to be at the supper. It's a beautiful picture.

But let me go on to show you another picture of grace. Look at verse eight of chapter nineteen. "Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God's holy people.)" Did you catch that? Fine linen was given her to wear. This is an act of grace.

In other words, where the prostitute has adorned herself in gold and glitter and all of this kind of you know, regalia that she's wearing, the people of God are given garments bright and clean of fine linen, signifying the righteous acts of the saints. In other words, that is an act of grace. Or, I could say it this way - the prostitute tries to do by total greed what the Lamb shows us can only be attained by total grace. We are given righteousness because of His righteousness where the spirit of seduction says you can do it yourself.

But there's also another picture of grace and I'll finish here. Look at verse number nine of chapter nineteen. "Then the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' And he added, 'These are the true words of God.'" Do you know the picture changes? The picture changes from bride to guest. Isn't that interesting? We are both bride and guest. Why? Because it's an act of grace. We've been invited. We couldn't shoehorn it, there's no wedding crashing. You can't shoehorn your way in there.

So, here's the reminder. Marriage doesn't work when you have other lovers. Do you want adultery or faithfulness? Do you want a whore or a husband? Do you want greed or grace? This is what this text presents us. So what do I say to us? Come out of her. Come out of her. Repent. Rely on grace. Because you were made for marriage to the Lamb, not adultery with a prostitute.

Let's bow our heads together. We're gone in just a moment and I appreciate your kind patience. These are sharp words to us today. And I want to represent them with a heart of love, but they are sharp, and I don't want to dull their edge.

At the end of the day, some of us have some real work to do in our hearts to determine where our chief heart's affections lie. Do they lie elsewhere? Have we been seduced? Have we been seduced by whatever? Have we been seduced by hedonism, or recreation, or entertainment, or security, or greed, or fame, or personal glory? Have we been seduced by sexual lusts? Any of those things. Have we been seduced in such a way that we are trying to make other things, and we've allowed our hearts to make other things more important than God? Your choice is clear. Faithfulness as the people of God, the bride, to the bridegroom Jesus or adultery? Marriage won't work when there are other lovers.

I want to encourage you. If you have to leave, and you need to go do work with Jesus and just get in his presence and confess and repent, and then rely on the grace that He will dispense, then I hope you will. I hope you go home. The seduction of the world wants you to put it out of sight, out of mind when you walk out the doors. It doesn't want you alone with Him, wants you to listen to some of the other siren songs that she's going to put in your ear. But you're going to have to make a choice.

And for those of you that are here that have never entrusted your life to Jesus, I want you to know how much He loves you, that He died for you, that He rose from the dead, so that you could be reconciled to God. And if you need to understand what that looks like so that you don't fall prey to the real spiritual battle that is going on for your soul, and that as we will see next week that there is a finality and judgment for us all. If you need to understand what it means to be born from above, to have your sins forgiven and your life changed by Jesus, I hope that you'll come by the Fireside Room, speak to one of our pastors, one of our prayer partners. It's just right out in the Atrium.

So Father, we thank you for what you've said to us today. It's strong words. But God, we've got to receive it, and be able to embrace what you're saying to us. And I pray, Father, for whatever I've said that's of eternal significance, consistent with Your word, you would brand it on our hearts. And God if I missed in any way, I pray you'd help to wipe the slate clean and help people to forget it. But God, I pray for every one of us - we would examine and critique our own motives, our own heartbeats, and where our chief affections lie because you want a heart undivided. You want us to seek first the kingdom and your righteousness and then all of these other things will be added to us as well. Help us to be that people - a faithful bride of Christ. We love you and we choose you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Bless you guys.