Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
As we get into the last verses of chapter eighteen we see light at the end of the tunnel of destruction. The phrase “no more / Greek, ou me” is used six times pronouncing God’s final word regarding his sovereign decree to stop the world’s insanity. It is also interesting that six is the number of fallen man, and since mankind is a self-destructing wrecking crew God has to intervene.
The brutality and callous acts of religious Babylon are brought to an end. The debauchery and excesses of commercial Babylon have come crashing down. The maddening search for power and possessions by ungodly kings and rulers, including Satan and his evil band of brothers is about to end in defeat. The Lord Jesus Christ is sitting on his horse and this horse is chopping at the bit. He is saddled up and The Rider is ready for the final show down.
18:20
Whereas there has been pay back on the earth of those wicked people, now there is rejoicing [present middle imperative] in heaven as God’s vengeance is viewed by the saints. God’s spokesmen; his apostles and prophets who spoke of His judgments in both the Old Testament and in the New Testament are coming to pass. The two witnesses who will be martyred in the middle of the tribulation period will be vindicated as well when that wicked generation comes to its fall. All of those saints killed down through time by the hand of apostate worship systems and apostate Christianity in the tribulation period will rejoice. Those saints killed by the power / worship hungry Antichrist will rejoice.
We have the lame idea promulgated today that God wants us to get along with all the religions of the world. This is the farthest thing from the truth found in the Bible, Deut.17:2-7; Jer.8:1-3; 16:10-13; I Cor.6:9. This is Satan’s lie and it is the aspiration of self-righteous men and women who are impressed with their invented systems of spirituality. God is only impressed with his truth, Bible doctrine. There are many religions impressed with their systems of spirituality and they will kill those who do not comply. They are impressed with their leaders and inventors of worship. God is not impressed.
I read an article in the Baptist Bulletin the other day that said Protestants and Protestant leaders are converting to Roman Catholicism because the noise of the loud bands and dysfunctional worship services with its theologically shallow sermons are so empty. They say they at least sense a reverence for God in the Catholic Church as they practice their liturgy and rituals. These churches and saints are scrapping Bible doctrine for a mystical system invented by apostate Christianity. Baptist Bulletin p.22-25 Aug/Sept 2007.
Those who want to return to this mystical ritualistic man made religion do so at the risk of being in God’s line of fire when he comes to judge this apostate system.
v.21 John goes on to see a mighty angel casting a millstone into the sea. This large millstone represents Babylon’s final obliteration. Religion’s attempts at impressing God will be no more. Man’s attempts to subjugate others for their own purposes will be no more. God made man to be subject to him, not to men alone. God made creation to be subject to himself, not man to subject himself to creation and materialism.
Order will be restored, but it will take the tribulation period judgments for this to come to pass.
v.22
All the worldly music will be no more. I read the other day where when musical artist loose an ear for rhythm and melody due to the deafening tones of loud speakers that the only sounds which still resonate in their brains is that disconnected dissonant beat.
The loose gaiety of drunkenness and cheating songs and killing songs will cease. The songs of human good and beatnik hippie philosophies will cease. These are a part of Babylon, man’s system of drugging the mind so as to ignore the presence and power of God.
Also the craftsmen in this man made; man glorifying system of materialism will be no more. Men build and create and stand back and brag never once thanking God who created them and the materials they have used to make their inventions. God is due the glory for good things, and it is reprehensible for man to use God’s materials to invent unholy things. God made the element of gold, Au atomic number 79 but the Israelites used this element to make a golden calf to worship. God made wood and men carve images out of it to worship. Men use wood products to make paper and then other men and women use this material to put filthy images on, or to write philosophies and notions contrary to God’s word. All of this will stop when God destroys Babylon, the man made system of antagonism against God and his saints.
v.23
Those who have bought into Babylon’s Epicurean system of pleasure as the chief aim of life will be no more.
The drug of materialism and religious self exaltation will cease. This word sorceries, pharmakia, is from the Greek word for which we get our word, pharmacy. It is used to refer to more than bona fide medicine. It is used mostly to refer to witchcraft, and incantations and appeals to occult powers. It is referred to not only as a physical substance used to control the mind so as to introduce demonic possession and control, but it also refers to doctrines of demons and seducing spirits as the individual gives their mind over during the repeating of incantations, attention grabbing rituals and so on. The individual is charmed by a tone or activity presented as the sorcerer works his mystifying magic such as the Roman Catholic Church offering its liturgy and entire service in the old Latin, a practice once abandoned for the most part, but now demanded by the present Pope, Benedictine XVI, in his Summorum Pontificium, a letter binding to all Catholics. He says this mystical presentation of worship to God shows God reverence, however, it leaves the worshippers with nothing more than a feeling without ever confirming their faith.
v.24
In this wicked Babylonian system is found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. Rev.16:6 tells of the third bowl judgment which is poured out on the fresh water supplies and turns them to literal blood; a just payment for the blood this system has spilt in her wake of violence. Rev.17:6 John saw the harlot church, this apostate Christian church, drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
No wonder God’s people are warned in Rev.18:4 to come out from this antagonistic cosmic system and to not partake of her sins. When God’s judgment falls it falls on all those who stand in opposition to his revealed word. Today in Christianity we would rather ignore or even oppose God’s word than offend someone, not concerning ourselves with the fact that it is God we are offending. As Joshua proclaimed to the children of Israel, “choose you this day whom ye will serve,” Josh.24:15.