Revelation 18:1-24 (One-World Government, Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church

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July 26, 2020

One-World Government Revelation 18:1-24 July 27, 2020

15:52: If you need to get a hold of us at any time, you can always email us at CornerstoneSJ .org
16:01: or you can call the church office. All the information is on our website. Let's get started this morning.
16:08: We stand together and sing. We'll trust
16:27: God's word alone, where his perfect will is known.
16:36: Our traditions shift like sand, while his truth forever stands.
16:45: Through faith alone, lives
16:58: Jesus Christ, in his heavenly sacrifice.
17:07: Glory be, glory be to God alone.
17:17: Through the church, he redeemed and made his own.
17:27: He has faith, he will keep us, till we're safely home.
17:36: Glory be, glory be to God alone.
17:47: We are saved by grace alone, undeserved yet freely shown.
17:56: Through accomplishment alone, we can achieve the same goal.
18:07: We stand on Christ alone, the unyielding cornerstone.
18:16: Nations rage and terrors rule, but we'll reign forevermore.
18:29: Glory be, glory be to God alone.
18:39: Through the church, he redeemed and made his own.
18:46: He has faith, he will keep us, till we're safely home.
18:59: Glory be, glory be to God alone.
19:33: If you're not part of our mailing list, we would love if you could communicate that information to us. One of the things that we try to accomplish each week in the weekly email, or the
19:46: Pastorgram, as Pastor John has called it, that we send out, is to give different options for what's happening each
19:53: Sunday morning. And then we also give some updates and announcements within that email. So we have our two options of inside the sanctuary, like we are right now.
20:03: We're also providing the live stream at home. So this week, tomorrow, we're actually going to be having a congregation meeting.
20:13: And for that, if you're able to attend tomorrow, we'll be covering some church business. That will be here live in the sanctuary, but we're also going to provide a
20:21: Google Meet link if you're not able to attend. So please make every effort to be there tomorrow for that.
20:28: Also, as part of our evangelistic push this summer, we're trying to encourage everybody to wear the Tetelestai shirts that most of the guys up here have, and I see most of you are wearing out there.
20:39: It's a great way to just have a quick conversation with someone. Someone asks, what does that mean on that shirt?
20:45: And God's giving you a great gateway to open up a conversation with them. They're for sale out in the foyer for $10 if you haven't purchased one yet.
20:52: And buy as many as you want. Give them to your friends, give them to your family. So those are available as well out there.
21:00: Our starting point class, which we offer frequently throughout the year, is going to be offered again on Sunday evenings in September.
21:08: That is a class where you can learn more about the EFCA, learn more about our church here at Cornerstone.
21:14: And it's also the first part of becoming a new member here at the church, so you have to go through that class.
21:19: So if you have any questions about that, you can speak to Pastor Jeff or to Pastor John. We're also going to be creating a lunch hour on midweek
21:32: Wednesday, a Bible study through the book of Isaiah. So Jeff had spoken with me earlier this week.
21:39: So Pastor John and Jeff are going to be teaching on the book of Isaiah beginning in September, midweek here.
21:44: And that will also be made available via YouTube. So if you aren't able to attend on a particular weekday, you can catch up and watch that through YouTube as well.
21:56: And let's see, finally, next week will be Communion, the Lord's Supper. So if you would like to bring your own juice and bread, please do so.
22:05: Otherwise, we'll have our prepackaged ones available for you. That's all we've got for announcements. So let's pray, and then we'll sing some more.
22:14: Dear Gracious and Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. We're thankful that we could worship here indoors.
22:20: We thank you once again for all of the weeks of beautiful weather that you've given us, so that we can also worship outdoors as well.
22:29: Lord, we just ask that you be with Jeff as he brings the message from Revelation today, that you would strengthen his soul, that you would make his voice clear, that it would penetrate our hearts, that it would change our hearts, that it would be glorifying to you.
22:44: Lord, also as we take our offering that we've provided today and during the week, we ask that you would use that to further your kingdom here at Mount Laurel, and we just ask that you would bless the remainder of this time together.
22:56: We ask this in your Son's name. Amen. We'll sing a little more together.
23:02: If you feel comfortable standing, you may. Don't feel obligated to. Every song we could ever sing
23:31: Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
23:42: We live for you Jesus, the name above every other name
23:58: Jesus, the only one who could ever say Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
24:10: We live for you Live for you
24:25: Beside you And show me with your heart
24:42: Those around me Jesus, the name above every other name
25:07: Jesus, the only one who could ever say Worthy of every praise we could ever bring
25:39: There is none beside you
27:01: And show me who you are
27:10: I come before you this morning
27:25: Not worthy But redeemed Lord, we want to sing praises to you and to your name
27:34: Not just this morning, but every day in our lives As you called us to be worshippers And Lord, I pray that each and every day
27:44: We will realize that we are lost, we are sinners But we have been redeemed
27:51: And the joy that's in our heart Should penetrate
27:59: Be demonstrated By loving others Lord, we are so thankful that you bring us life
28:10: And freedom You called me from the grave by name
28:23: You called me out of all my shame
28:30: I see the old has passed away Resurrection power
28:47: Living on the inside Jesus, you have given us freedom
28:55: No law by sin and darkness Living in the light of God You have given us freedom
29:10: I'm dressed in your royalty God, your
29:17: Holy Spirit lives in me I see my past has been redeemed
29:27: The new resurrection power
29:40: Living on the inside Jesus, you have given us freedom
29:50: By sin and darkness
29:56: You have given us freedom Freedom You have given us freedom
30:05: You have given us freedom My chains are gone
30:13: Freedom You have given us freedom You have given us freedom
30:22: Hallelujah Freedom My chains are gone
30:39: Freedom You have given us freedom You have given us freedom
30:54: Resurrection power Living on the inside Jesus, you have given us freedom
31:04: No law by sin and darkness
31:10: Living in the light of your goodness You have given us freedom
31:16: Freedom No longer bound by sin and darkness
31:23: Living in the light of your goodness You have given us freedom
31:32: You may be seated Good morning, how are you all?
31:59: You guys do know you're my favorite service, right? The 9 o 'clock, it did not go well this morning for me personally
32:08: Because I was up there preaching And early on I could feel the sweat just beating on my forehead
32:13: And then after about 20 minutes I started feeling lightheaded And I preached the second half of the sermon like this
32:21: I felt like I was about to pass out But by God's grace, he helped me endure it
32:28: So you're not the favorite because I like you better than them But because of the air conditioning Sorry Let's open in prayer
32:39: Lord, thank you so much for all the gifts of your common grace to us And even gifts like air conditioning
32:47: We thank you for the coolness in this room And the opportunity that we have to gather
32:53: And freely open your word And hear your voice through scripture I pray for myself,
32:59: Lord, this morning That you would strengthen me by your gospel I pray for all of us as listeners That we would be strengthened in our spiritual life
33:08: As we walk with you Through the words of your scripture In Jesus' name we pray, amen
33:15: Imagine being Matthew the tax collector He was probably one of the richest of all
33:23: Jews in Jerusalem Matthew had accumulated wealth Through basically selling out to Caesar He was on Rome's side
33:32: But there came a day when Jesus came along And he said just two words to Matthew Follow me
33:40: And in that moment The Bible tells us that He left everything and followed
33:46: Jesus The movie The Chosen Which is like an online YouTube video you can watch
33:52: Has a great scene of that In one of the episodes Where the Roman centurion
33:57: Who's next to Matthew Says you don't want to do this What are you doing? Do you really want to throw it all away?
34:04: And Matthew turns to him and simply says Yes Because he counted
34:11: Jesus more valuable Than all the riches and all that the Roman Empire Could offer him
34:17: He left it all to follow Christ In the same way this morning As disciples we are called
34:23: To leave everything to follow Christ This world wars for the things of this world
34:31: But we as Christians Live in the world Without being of the world
34:36: We are in a sense at war with the world Our seemingly endless war with the world
34:43: Will appear to be a losing venture at some point Does it ever feel like that? Does it ever feel like we're kind of losing?
34:51: Christianity which established this nation Is not gaining ground But it seems like the world is dominating
34:59: And things go from bad to worse It will appear to be a losing venture
35:04: As the political system of the world And the economics of the world All begin to unite
35:10: In a one world system A one world government It will seem like we're losing
35:17: And in fact we will be Our part will be to just hold on And to fight as hard as we can
35:22: And it's good to keep fighting For truth But we're not going to win that war
35:29: Until Revelation 17 and 18 The one world system Is not defeated by us
35:35: But by God in his judgment In the battle of Armageddon So we saw in Revelation 16
35:45: The bowls of wrath And it seems that the world Is almost completely undone in Revelation 16
35:51: If we were to continue chronologically Through that study We would jump right
35:59: To Revelation 19 Where Christ comes at the battle of Armageddon And he destroys his enemies
36:04: He comes riding on a white horse So what are Revelation 17 and 18?
36:12: Well it's a parenthetical To that chronological story So Revelation 16 could very well
36:20: Just continue right into 19 But 17 and 18 are a parenthetical To teach us about Babylon Now Babylon appears in the
36:30: Bible More than any other city Except Jerusalem There are more than 260
36:39: References to Babylon in our Bible The major passages are
36:44: Isaiah 13 and 14 Two chapters there And then Jeremiah 50 and 51
36:50: Two chapters there And then Revelation 17 and 18 Two chapters there Referring to Babylon Revelation 17 if you'll recall
36:59: Was about the one world religious system What's called the prostitute
37:05: That rides on the beast This is all religions coming together And serving the one world system
37:13: That's run by the Antichrist Notice when the one world religion
37:19: Falls at the end of Revelation 17 Is anybody crying? Nope She's basically been used up And now she's kicked to the side
37:28: And nobody cares So all that religious pandering To the one world system Didn't buy that religion anything
37:35: In the end she's kicked to the side But in Revelation 18 You're going to see A lot of weeping and wailing
37:43: Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth Why? Because what really matters
37:49: To the one world system Is money And that whole system
37:57: Is going to fall It's the fall of Babylon So let's pick up there With me if you will
38:03: In Revelation chapter 18 After this
38:11: I saw another angel Coming down from heaven Having great authority
38:17: And the earth was made bright With his glory Notice that the brightest things
38:24: Are invisible to the world Which is darkened by sin What does this world clamor
38:30: To own? Silver and gold and pearls And precious
38:36: Physical things Or to go to a vacation spot And enjoy an island
38:42: This world clamors For the things of this world But there is an entire
38:48: Invisible reality That the world does not see This one angel
38:54: Who comes down in Revelation 18 Has so much authority Is so bright with the glory of God That he enlightens the earth
39:04: The earth was made bright With his glory There are unseen angels
39:11: Around us all the time How many of you have ever been driving And almost got side swiped By another car
39:17: And it just barely missed you? Haven't we all experienced that? How do you know that an angel
39:25: Is so bright? Hebrews tells us that Are not all angels Ministering spirits Sent to serve those
39:31: Who are inheriting eternal life? There are angels around us all the time We just can't see them There are unseen realities
39:40: That are more valuable Than the things of this world As Christians we live for those things
39:45: But the world lives only for what it can see My grandfather lived a life
39:50: Not for the things of this world In World War II Bullets flew
39:57: And he claimed Psalm 91 That it wouldn't strike him As he ran He learned to walk with God In World War II And coming down from that experience
40:09: Back to the United States He became a pastor And served in Indiana And then he became a missionary
40:16: To Guatemala He lived his life Not for the things that were seen But he was raised
40:25: At Huehuetenango In Guatemala For several years
40:32: The Lord honored my grandfather Before his death Just a week before he died
40:41: Someone came and visited him The man was dressed Beautifully In a perfect suit
40:47: And this person came into the hospital And sat by my grandfather's side
40:52: For four hours He reminisced with my grandfather
40:58: About World War II And about Indiana And about the mission field in Guatemala And after this time of encouraging him
41:11: He left My mom came in Just after this person left
41:16: And found my grandfather in tears Weeping And she could not console him
41:22: Until finally He was able to speak And he said no I'm not crying from sadness
41:30: I am happier than I've ever been I've never felt this much peace I feel the peace of God He was ready to die
41:37: He was ready to go home And he died within a week of that My mom was curious to find out
41:43: What had happened Who was this man So she went and talked to the nurses He hadn't signed in They had no idea who he was
41:54: He was a handsome man Come and sit At my grandfather's bedside For four hours
42:02: My mom believes To this day That that man was no ordinary human
42:09: But was in fact an angel The Bible tells us To be careful how we treat strangers
42:15: We may be entertaining angels Unawares Isn't that amazing?
42:22: Invisible most of the time But they can make appearances Why couldn't it have been an angel?
42:29: I expect that it probably was Angels unseen Brothers and sisters
42:35: We live for an unseen world A new
42:40: Jerusalem Not a part of this creation But look The world
42:45: The world system And all that's within this world Will unite
42:53: Economically Politically Our kingdom
42:59: The unseen kingdom And so we see in verses 2 and 3 This angel
43:06: Calls out with a mighty voice Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great
43:12: She has become a dwelling place for demons A haunt For every unclean spirit
43:17: A haunt for every unclean bird A haunt for every unclean and detestable beast
43:23: So you can picture it being like a mansion That now it's been abandoned And trees have fallen through the roof
43:29: And there's roots growing And there's moss on the walls And there's nothing but wild beasts
43:34: Inhabiting this house And there's demons And it's like a haunted house This is the city
43:41: After it's fallen But it once had glory and splendor For all nations have drunk the wine
43:47: Of the passion of her sexual immorality We saw last week That there was a sexual element
43:56: That is part of Babylon And the kings of the earth Have committed immorality with her
44:02: And the merchants of the earth Have grown rich from the power Of her luxurious living So what is this
44:08: Babylon the great? Well, we know it's Babylon So it's a political city
44:13: It's called the great So it's renowned Look at verse 3 All nations have drunk
44:20: From that we learn It's an economic system
44:26: All nations are involved with this This is 195 nations Now all together
44:32: As one Participating in Babylon Notice also the merchants of the earth
44:39: Have grown rich from the power Of her luxurious living So this is an economic system
44:45: And today we see The rise of globalism
44:51: And the uniting of nations For common political and economic ends
44:59: And we've learned earlier in Revelation That ultimately there will be 10 kings That will ally themselves
45:05: And then hand all their power over To the one called the antichrist So there is a one world system of government
45:13: That's being established But for all of its power And its coming up And all of its strength
45:20: The message here in verses 2 and 3 Is about its fall Fallen, fallen
45:27: This is the message of Revelation 18 That this one world system Run by the antichrist
45:33: Its economic power Its religious power For all of that it will fall
45:38: It uses the words of Isaiah 21 And Jeremiah 51 Fallen, fallen is
45:44: Babylon the great Fallen So this one world power system
45:51: It will rise And it will fall Next look at verses 4 and 5 And this is a very important message to us
45:57: Because now its another voice that speaks I'll say its the voice of Jesus And he tells us what we need to hear right now
46:05: Come out Then I heard another voice from heaven saying Come out of her my people
46:12: Lest you take part in her sins Lest you share in her plagues For her sins are heaped high as heaven
46:19: And God has remembered her iniquities So we learn its not the voice of the angel here
46:28: Its another voice And what does the voice say Come out my people
46:33: You belong to me So I think this is the voice of God Probably the voice of the second member of the trinity
46:40: Probably Jesus speaking here Saying come out And throughout the New Testament This is a recurring theme
46:47: We, John 17 verses 14 and following We are in the world
46:52: But we're not of it We do not belong to this world system
46:59: We're in it Because we're sent here on a mission Remember Mark 16 verse 15
47:05: Go you into all the world And preach the gospel to all creation I like the way
47:11: David Mathis summarized How we're in the world but not of it He says
47:16: Jesus' true followers Have not only been crucified to the world But also raised to new life
47:24: And sent back in To free others We've been rescued from the darkness
47:30: And given light Not merely to flee the darkness But to guide our steps
47:35: As we go back in To rescue others We are not sent to flee the world
47:41: But to go into it To rescue others So while we're going after others on a rescue mission
47:48: We must not get entangled with the world And that's why the language of come out Is spoken here
47:54: I watched a documentary About some Mennonites Who moved to Belize To escape worldliness
48:04: But just recently The worldliness has found them in Belize And some of their own people are getting cell phones
48:11: In fact it was a guy who runs a clinic Is getting cell phones So he was Googling how to help people
48:17: And give remedies And the town leaders were so Offended by this That you know what they've done?
48:25: They're leaving Belize And the documentary followed them Flying interestingly enough
48:30: On an airplane To escape the world Into the Amazon Deep into the heart of the
48:36: Amazon In Argentina They think they can flee the world
48:43: But that's not the point In Mark 16 15 You don't just run from the world
48:48: Here's what you have to do You have to go out spiritually And in the ties of your heart
48:54: You have to cut ties with the world While you're in it So we're called to go into Mount Laurel And into Marlton And all the surrounding regions
49:03: Without loving what they love And doing what they do To rescue others
49:09: From this coming destruction That we're reading about Make sense? In the world not of it
49:15: Next verse 6 and following We're called to recompense the world
49:24: Pay her back As she herself has paid back others And repay her double for her deeds
49:31: Mix a double portion for her In the cup she mixed So we don't win this war
49:37: With the world We're being paid out Wrath by the world Persecution upon the church
49:46: And God says pay her back Doesn't it seem That the unrighteous prosper
49:52: The persecutors Seem to gain more and more power Those who hate Christ Seem to gain and gain and gain
50:01: But that delay of his vengeance Should not be mistaken
50:07: For his acquiescence to it There is coming a day When he recompenses evil
50:14: He will step in And he says pay her back The time of his patience Will run out
50:19: Verse 7 as she glorified herself And lived in luxury So give her a like measure
50:25: Of torment and mourning Since in her heart she says I sit as a queen I am no widow
50:31: And mourning I shall never see For this reason her plagues
50:36: Will come in a single day And death and mourning and famine And she will be burned up with fire
50:42: For mighty is the Lord God Who avenged her There is coming a judgment on the world
50:50: It's a recompense for the world But it's not like the church Is going to win this war is it The church is not going to usher in The kingdom of God Like the postmillennialists say
51:03: Rather what we see in the text Is we are persecuted Like sheep
51:10: I believe it's Psalm 44 verse 22 That says for your sake
51:16: We face death all day long We are considered as sheep To be slaughtered
51:22: Quoted again in Romans 8 36 We live as sheep in the world Persecuted and scattered
51:28: We don't usher in the kingdom But he will And this is a prelude here
51:34: To the second coming of Christ The millennial kingdom Which we're going to start learning about next week
51:41: Verses 9 and 10 And this gets a little bit pitiful You see the kings of the world
51:47: Remember those 10 kings Who gave their power to the antichrist What were they expecting back To be honored and revered
51:55: And to have all that they could desire Including the sexual immorality Spoken of here But instead
52:01: It's all stripped away in an hour And the kings weep For the world system
52:08: Verse 9 and 10 The kings of the earth Who committed sexual immorality
52:14: And lived in luxury with her And wail over her When they see the smoke of her burning
52:20: They will stand far off In fear of her torment And say, alas, alas
52:26: You great city, you mighty city Babylon For in a single hour Your judgment has come
52:33: You have these weeping kings And in a minute here We're going to see the weeping merchants And then the weeping sailors
52:40: A lot of weeping going on A lot of crying over the fall of Babylon Verse 10
52:47: It's actually a city that falls Probably during the earthquake Of the seal judgments
52:54: I'm sorry, of the bowl judgments In Revelation 16 There's a particular city
53:00: That's like the capital of the world empire Bible scholars are divided
53:05: On the question of which city this is Some think it's literal Babylon Rebuilt in Iraq And to be sure
53:13: Saddam Hussein tried to rebuild it And there could be another ruler That comes along And rebuilds
53:18: Babylon itself Other commentators And this is my camp Think that it refers to Rome Rome is that physical city
53:27: The reason I get that from the text Is Revelation 17 When it talks about the seven hills
53:36: In verse 9 The seven heads are the seven mountains On which the woman is seated
53:42: I think there's an allegorical Interpretation here That the seven hills of Rome Is understood
53:47: And all the early commentators Recognize that as Rome Remember the seven hills of Rome So Babylon is a figure of Rome Where the antichrist has his
53:59: Revived empire As that's kind of the capital That would be my guess But what I do want to point out
54:04: From verse 10 Is it's a literal city Because the kings are not willing to go close
54:10: They don't want to get crushed In a single hour
54:17: Probably just completely wiped out By the earthquake Well the kings put their hope in money
54:24: And I have a question for you Is money good or bad?
54:31: Is money good or bad? I like the way Joe Foch Answers that question He says money is a great servant
54:39: And a cruel master Money is a great servant And a cruel master
54:45: You can use money For the glory of God To feed your family That is a good use of money
54:51: To put a roof over your head Good use of money To give to missions
54:56: And to furthering the gospel All of these are good uses of money But money becomes a master
55:04: And it's a cruel master To those who love it And this is one of the big lessons
55:10: Of Revelation 18 I don't want to see any of you Weeping and wailing As the earth begin to crumble
55:17: That's what the kings do And it's pitiful, right? When we lose things
55:22: Physical things We ought not weep and wail Because our citizenship
55:28: And our treasure Is in the unseen kingdom Not the things of this earth Now you thought that was pitiful
55:34: The kings crying Look at the merchants They're even worse 11 through 17 And now we'll see a list
55:48: Of 27 things Which represents all kinds of goods
55:53: And grains And cloth And every valuable thing The point is to build up to The last thing mentioned
56:02: So watch this Cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls
56:08: Fine linen, purple cloth Silk, scarlet cloth All kinds of scented wood
56:14: All kinds of articles of ivory All kinds of articles of costly wood Bronze, iron and marble
56:20: Cinnamon, spice, incense Myrrh, frankincense, wine Oil, fine flour, wheat
56:26: Cattle and sheep Horses and chariots And slaves
56:33: That is Human souls You see what John has done there?
56:39: By this list of 27 Physical things That we're to use in the world
56:44: And enjoy That come from God Or can become a master It culminates
56:51: With something that actually is Eternally valuable That's completely disregarded
56:57: By the world Slaves That is Human souls
57:05: There still exists slavery In the world today Did you know that?
57:12: There still exists slavery And human trafficking
57:17: In fact, I read one statistic That in America It's 66 ,000 times more likely
57:24: For a child to be trafficked Than to die of COVID That's how prevalent trafficking is
57:31: In America Slaves, human souls There are certain countries on earth
57:37: Like Mauritania And Uzbekistan And India and China And especially
57:42: North Korea Where probably 4 % of the population Are slaves
57:50: Slavery is still Occurring today And in this one world
57:55: Religious system Human souls are not valued There is
58:01: A global sex trade And even to this day Pornography is a major trade
58:08: Which by the way This is a sidebar That just comes to mind Anybody who looks at pornography
58:14: You are participating That exploits
58:20: Women And by that I mean Many of the people who are appearing In those kind of films
58:26: Are themselves sex slaves And so to participate in that Supports that system itself
58:34: Do you see what's happening here? Slavery That is human souls
58:39: Made in the image of God See the Bible declares Genesis 1, 26 -28 God made man
58:48: In his image In his image That means
58:55: That every human soul Is valuable Because it bears the mark of God By the way in Revelation 14
59:03: One of the reasons Why taking the mark of the beast Is unforgivable
59:08: Because we see in Revelation 14 Let's just turn back there real quick We see with the second angel
59:17: Verse 9 -11 Taking the mark of the beast
59:25: Of one's life Into the hands of the antichrist Look what it says
59:30: And again this is a parallel With fallen as Babylon the great In verse 8 She who made all nations drink the wine
59:37: Of the passion of her sexual immorality Another angel Revelation 14, 9
59:42: A third followed them Saying with a loud voice If anyone worships the beast And its image and receives a mark
59:49: On his forehead or on his hand Poured full strength
59:56: Into the cup of his anger And he will be tormented With fire and sulfur In the presence of the holy angels
01:00:02: And in the presence of the lamb And the smoke of their torment Goes up forever and ever And they have no rest day or night
01:00:09: These worshipers of the beast And its image And whoever receives the mark of its name
01:00:15: Pretty clear right? What's the issue there? If someone takes the mark of the beast
01:00:25: And they have no rest They're probably not getting rest
01:00:33: And the rest of their time Is not fully used
01:00:45: To make a prayer To make a sacrifice And they're not getting any rest If anyone worships the beast
01:00:52: And its image And its mark Goes up forever and ever And it goes up forever Made in the image of God, we're owned by him.
01:00:58: We're free because we bear his image. And yet now we live in a world where sadly, those freedoms are being stripped away.
01:01:09: Before the year 2020, I never thought it would come to America this quickly. But in two events, first of all,
01:01:16: COVID, maybe seven or 8 ,000 people have died of COVID in the state of California.
01:01:23: If the numbers are right, that's max numbers. You realize there are 40 million people who live in the state of California?
01:01:33: Put that into your calculator on your phone, 8 ,000 into 40 million. The chances of dying of COVID in California are something like 0 .0006,
01:01:46: just a ridiculously small chance of dying. And yet under that reasoning,
01:01:55: Governor Newsom of California has forbidden singing to the
01:02:00: Lord Jesus Christ in worship. He has forbidden churches to meet regardless of the number at this point.
01:02:08: And I think John MacArthur, Grace Community Church, which is in California, wrote a very important article a couple days ago.
01:02:15: I'd encourage you to read it. He makes the point that the natural rights that God has given to his free people do not come from the constitution.
01:02:26: And the sphere of the church is not under the sphere of government. Now there can be some overlap and different things that come into play, but read that article by John MacArthur because they've decided that they're going to go ahead and meet, which is a bold decision.
01:02:44: And I praise God that we're able to meet here without violating the law. But the question is the one world system that seems to be rising, the first event,
01:02:54: COVID, and then the second event, the Black Lives Matter movement, where in the very writings of the mission statement of that group,
01:03:06: Black Lives Matter, it calls for the destruction of the nuclear family.
01:03:13: It supports Marxism within the very mission statement on the website of BLM. And yet you see an entire team of Dodgers and San Francisco baseball players kneeling to the banner of Black Lives Matter.
01:03:33: Now we can say that individual human lives matter, and that includes all lives.
01:03:38: Of course we say that, but that organization, BLM, is for the destruction of the nuclear family and the imposition of Marxism in America.
01:03:47: It's on their website. Nobody has to make that kind of thing up. And so you see all of these men who should understand the freedom that comes from God kneeling to that banner, except for one.
01:03:59: His name was Sam Kunrod. And there he stood and said,
01:04:07: I kneel to God alone. There he stood and said,
01:04:13: I am not for the destruction of the nuclear family. It's the nuclear family that we need. And he said, there are elements of Marxism in the
01:04:22: BLM movement. It took courage, didn't it? And in this cancel culture in which we live, there will be a backlash that he'll have to face.
01:04:33: But I thank God that there's at least one on a field of two teams willing to stand.
01:04:40: And I see here in verse 13 that the world system does not value human souls. It does not value freedom.
01:04:49: It's a one world totalitarian state. Now we move on to verse 17b.
01:04:55: You thought it was pitiful already. You got the kings crying. You got the merchants crying. They're weeping and wailing.
01:05:01: It's only worse with the sailors. Sailors are the tough guys, right? Whenever you think of a sailor, aren't those like the manly men?
01:05:09: Let's take a look at the sailors when they lose everything. And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning.
01:05:26: What city was like the great city? Now check this out. Verse 19, this is funny.
01:05:32: And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned. I remember a friend of mine when we were teenagers, we used to play basketball at Palm Harbor Middle School.
01:05:46: And if he missed a layup, he'd get frustrated. And you could see his head just turning, he'd turn red.
01:05:52: He'd get more and more mad. Well, one day he missed a second layup in a row. He was so frustrated.
01:05:57: He went to the sand pit right behind the basketball court there and started taking handfuls of sand, throwing them in the air, throwing dust on his head.
01:06:06: And we just stopped the game and just thought, that's just pathetic. What are you doing?
01:06:11: You're a teenager. You should know better than that. Well, these are grown men throwing dust on their head.
01:06:17: What has disturbed them so much? They love the world and everything in it.
01:06:24: And they just lost everything that matters to them. Alas, alas for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth.
01:06:35: For in a single hour, she has been laid waste. Now, follow me on this. The emotionalism of our culture.
01:06:44: When people weep and wail and throw dust in the air and burn things and break things, what does our culture say that you should do?
01:06:56: What is it? Well, you capitulate to that. You have to bow a knee to that and you have to assuage that.
01:07:08: Emotions dominate our culture. People assume that something is true based on how emotional or angry or upset people are.
01:07:18: We live in a very emotional culture, not a rational culture. You can bring statistics to people all day long and say, look at what the statistics say.
01:07:27: They reflect reality. Right? They don't care about statistics. They care about emotions.
01:07:33: How does something make me feel? So we live in a very emotional culture.
01:07:40: Does God regard the emotions of man the way we do? I mean, you have kings and merchants and sailors crying their eyes out, throwing dust.
01:07:50: Look at verse 20, Rejoice over her,
01:07:58: O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her.
01:08:06: God is not crying with them. He says rejoice.
01:08:13: That's an emotion, but it's not a capitulating emotion. Rejoice over her.
01:08:19: So emotions should not be allowed to control you. We need to form our opinions and our worldview from scripture, from reality itself.
01:08:32: Now lastly, we see that this world system, which has been denounced here by God, will fall when he says no more.
01:08:43: All this long built prosperity of the world that they rest in and they trust and they hope in, there's coming a day where God says what?
01:08:52: No more. See this refrain repeat again from 21 to 23, a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea saying, so will
01:09:02: Babylon, the great city be thrown down with violence and will be found no more.
01:09:10: And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, so all their music and dancing and all the famous musicians, no more.
01:09:22: God has reached a limit. The patience has run. It's no more. And the craftsmen of any craft will be found in you.
01:09:30: No more. And the sound of the mill will be heard in you.
01:09:37: No more. And the light of a lamp will shine in you. No more. And the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you.
01:09:46: No more. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth and all nations were deceived by her sorcery.
01:09:56: The spell that the world system cast upon people to make them love the things of this earth.
01:10:03: That word in the Greek there is pharmakia, where we get our word pharmacy. And wouldn't you know that it's true that in the world system and the economy of this world, drugs are a major part of the world system, the underground economy, and even the pharmaceutical industry prospering greatly.
01:10:26: We must be very careful not to fall under the spell of the world. The things that the world values, deceiving the great ones of the earth.
01:10:36: There comes a point where God says what? No more. In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on earth.
01:10:50: There were last year nine black men or women who were shot unarmed by police.
01:11:01: Out of millions of police contacts with the population, that's a very small number, but every one of those lives matter.
01:11:10: And the 20 or so white people that were shot unarmed by police, their lives matter. Every life matters.
01:11:17: And the 600 ,000 babies that were aborted last year, every one of their lives matters.
01:11:26: And just this last week, five Nigerians were taken out, put on film, and shot in the back of the head.
01:11:35: Because three of them were preaching Christ and two of the Muslims were abetting those preachers.
01:11:42: The blood of innocence flows. God cares.
01:11:48: The world system obviously doesn't care because there hasn't been the littlest bit of outcry about the dozens of people that were killed in rioting, like David Dorn, the police officer who was shot dead and little girls and boys killed.
01:12:04: You see, the world system is totalitarian. It's taking over. It's interested in power.
01:12:11: It's not truly interested in what we value through the word of God, like God, which is the actual human souls, people.
01:12:22: Their blood cries out, but the blood of Jesus speaks a better message.
01:12:29: It cries out not for our vengeance, but for mercy upon us. And in conclusion,
01:12:36: I just want to remind you, brothers and sisters, that this world system, it will gain power and it will coalesce into a world government and gain more and more power.
01:12:46: It will feel like we're losing, but God will cast that down. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.
01:12:52: It's all going to fall and crumble. There's no doubt about that. But come out from her, my people means that while we live in this world, we must not be of it.
01:13:05: We need to hold on to our possessions more loosely. Every good gift that God gives is from the father of lights.
01:13:14: And we take those gifts gladly and we enjoy the good things that he's given as long as we're allowed to enjoy them.
01:13:22: But we hold them loosely. Don't be like the world that loves the gift rather than the giver.
01:13:32: Love Christ and the unseen world, the kingdom come. Think about what we have coming.
01:13:39: Even if we lose all the silver and gold and pearls and jewels that this world is clamoring for, we have a city that will descend from heaven, the new
01:13:51: Jerusalem. And its gates will be made of single pearls and its foundations will be set in jewels.
01:13:59: And there will be a river of life flowing through it and that the trees around it will have leaves for the healings of the nations, streets of gold to walk on, mansions to live in that Christ has prepared for us.
01:14:17: We have all of that coming to us. And that's not even the good part. When we get there, we have
01:14:23: Jesus. We have him. We will see his face. We will be with him forever.
01:14:29: And so let go of everything that this world desires. Use it for his kingdom, but don't love it.
01:14:40: If anybody loves the world and the things in the world, the love of the father is not in him. Let's love
01:14:46: Christ and his kingdom and so let's close in prayer. God, we read
01:14:54: Revelation 18 and we're told to rejoice over the fall of Babylon.
01:15:02: And it's because this system is an enemy to you and to your kingdom and to your people.
01:15:11: We know that this system will fall. So as we see it rising now in our day, gaining power, gaining authority,
01:15:19: I pray Lord that you would teach us not to fear, not to cling too tightly to the things of this world.
01:15:25: Yes, to fight Lord, help us to fight, to push back the forces of evil for the sake of our kids and our grandkids to fight, but recognizing that the war will be won by you.
01:15:40: The day of Armageddon, Jesus, when you return. So Lord, we're looking for your return.
01:15:47: We're not a part of this world. We're sent into it, but we're not of it.
01:15:54: Strengthen us this morning. Strengthen us we pray to live for you and not for this world.
01:16:01: In Jesus name. Amen. Let's stand and sing one more song. What is our hope in life and death?
01:16:33: Christ alone, Christ alone. What is our hope in life and death?
01:16:40: He confideth that our souls to Him belong
01:16:47: Who holds our days within His hands
01:16:52: What comes apart from His commands And what will keep us to the end
01:17:02: The love of Christ in which we stand
01:17:08: Oh sing hallelujah
01:17:14: Our hope springs eternal Oh sing hallelujah
01:17:24: Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death
01:17:32: The truth can calm the troubled soul
01:17:43: God is good, God is good There is
01:17:49: His grace and goodness known In our great
01:17:56: Redeemer's blood Who holds our faith when fears arise
01:18:03: Who stands above the stormy trial Who sends the waves that bring us nigh
01:18:13: Unto the shore, the rock of Christ Oh sing hallelujah
01:18:24: Our hope springs eternal Oh sing hallelujah
01:18:33: Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death
01:18:42: To the grave what shall we sing?
01:18:55: Christ He lives, Christ He lives And what reward will prayer bring?
01:19:05: Everlasting sin and death will be destroyed
01:19:19: And we will feast in endless joy
01:19:24: Christ is ours forevermore
01:19:29: Oh sing hallelujah Our hope springs eternal
01:19:39: Oh sing hallelujah Now and ever we confess
01:19:48: Christ our hope in life and death Oh sing hallelujah
01:19:58: Our hope springs eternal Oh sing hallelujah
01:20:07: Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death
01:20:15: Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death
01:20:53: This morning I almost passed out when I was preaching outdoors. I was crumpling down onto the pulpit here but I closed by reading this scripture and I wanted to speak to all of us because it spoke to me and it did strengthen me.
01:21:06: Romans 16 verse 25 through 26 and 27.
01:21:12: Now to Him who was able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ.
01:21:20: According to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations.
01:21:32: According to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise
01:21:38: God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. Amen. Go in peace.