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0:50God does not take delight in the destruction of anyone, but desires that all would come to repentance, all would come into a right relationship with Him. But if people do not come to Him, they are left to themselves. Verse 8, Revelation 14:8, and another angel, a second one, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality. Then another angel. Angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast in his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger. And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast in his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.

2:26Well, there are six angels in this chapter. The message of the first angel we saw last time, and this first angel that comes out in verses six and seven issues God's final invitation. And I saw another flying angel, verse six, in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. So before that final judgment comes, and the The bowls start pouring, and the irreversible judgment of God begins pouring out upon the inhabitants of the earth. He gives one more proclamation of his gospel, and it goes far and wide.

3:17Every nation, tribe, tongue, and they will hear the eternal good news. An angel with good news, even at this stage of human history. And then in verse 7, he gives us a clear articulation of how God expects people to respond to the gospel. There's a great theology in this chapter, and one of them is right here in verse 6. Verse 7. What is that proclamation? What is that response to the good news? What does it mean to obey the gospel? This is what it means. And he said with a loud voice, Fear God, give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him. There is the response to the good news.

4:19Fear God above everyone else. Put Him as first, as the one who deserves respect and honor. Fear him above all others. Give him glory. Render to him glory to his name. And worship him, the creator, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of water. Worship him. It is right to worship the Creator. And the good news that this angel proclaimed to this generation, to this future generation, that is deeply embedded with the satanic system. This is the rise of the Antichrist. This kingdom is at its power. His empire is at its peak. And it's even in this context, those who have participated in the mutilation of the saints, even these, at this time, good news is proclaimed. Fear God. Give him glory. Worship him. Now, that's applicable to us. That's applicable to us at any time.

5:31This is the response that God is looking to you. As a response to his gospel and the good news that has been proclaimed to you, what is your proper response? Fear God, give him glory, and worship him. It is right to do so. That's the message of the first angel. And as we look at our text this morning, we come to the message of the second and third angel. And this involves God. Final warning, verses 8 through 13, God's final warning. God's final invitation comes in verses 6 and 7, and his final warning comes in verses 8 through 13. And it really comes by way of three announcements. Three announcements. I want to look at those today, or begin to anyway.

6:26And I want us to take in God's final warning to this generation there, but with application to our own lives, so that we in our time would revere him more deeply and glorify him more diligently. Look, we only have a little while on this earth. As even now, my dad suffered a heart attack last night and may very well be in the final days and weeks of his life. And I believe that he may be zooming in right now and joining us. So a shout out to those who are there with him. But I recognize that our time is brief. Your life is going to pay tribute to someone or something.

7:24And it will forever be a tribute. The days that you have on this earth and how you use it. Use them testifies to who you are and really who you think God is. And your life renders tribute and will render tribute one way or the other. And so there is a warning that we encounter in this verse, in these verses. And the first is the announcement of a certain doom. The first announcement, that second angel comes and he announces the certain doom of the world empire and really all those in it. Look at verse 8.

8:14And another angel, a second one, followed, followed the first one, the first one who proclaimed that eternal good news. Another angel, a second one, followed saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality. Fallen. Angel coming with this news. Fallen. And the idea there is collapsed, like a balloon popping, going from the pinnacle of its global influence, just imploding. Just put into a state of disrepair, irreparable disrepair.

9:00It's literally a verb. It fell. The language, if you just translate it literally, it fell, it fell, Babylon the Great. Be a literal interpretation. But the point is clear. The world's system is going to be judged and going to be put into a state of irreversible despair. At the time that in chapter 13, you see this beast coming out of the sea and rising to a supreme place of world prominence with his false prophet, the second beast, with him, and deception and power is given to them on a great level.

9:48And yet, at the there, as comes in that power, we also get this image, verse chapter 14, that his people are going to make it through, and this empire is going to come down. What is this empire? Babylon. The great one. Literally, Babylon, the great one, has collapsed. It fell. Now you can imagine a lot of people wonder: what is Babylon? Well, one view is that it is Jerusalem. But this runs contrary to really every picture even in the Bible that depicts Jerusalem. Babylon is the antithesis of Jerusalem. And it is certainly a stretch, a far stretch, even in the context. The main empire at this time that is threatening and harassing the churches of Asia Minor is that of Rome, certainly not Jerusalem.

11:08But Jerusalem, that would be unusual. In fact, it would be unheard of to liken Jerusalem to Babylon. That would be unprecedented in Scripture. It's the antithesis of Jerusalem. Now, it's clear that in chapter 11 and verse 8, Jerusalem at this time has become as perverse as Sodom and tyrannical as Egypt. But it's certainly, this image is a far stretch to take it to Jerusalem. Another thought is that this is Rome. Well, and certainly that would fit very well with context here. Rome is the big concern of the day, but also, and certainly. During the time of the Reformation, many those living through the Reformation felt that the power of Rome had grown, and specifically the Roman Church. So you've got Rome proper, and then you've got Roman as the apostate Christianity.

12:15And sure, I think this empire involves apostate Christianity, but that may be too narrow here. Is this literal Babylon on the Euphrates? It's caused many to see this as literal Babylon rising back to power and preeminence, literal Babylon on the Euphrates or its influence. You remember the Babylon, the Great One. Remember, Nimrod in Genesis 10 is the one who founds this city, and not too long you have the Tower of Babel and that wicked and stand against God Almighty. And so certainly that element plays into it. Or can it be a Babylon-like Middle Eastern city that will rise to power?

13:14It may very well be. I'm not going to say I think it's either Babylon on the Euphrates or a Babylon-like Eastern city that's going to rise to power. Be the what I think. But one thing is clear. Is that it refers to the capital or hub city of this rebellious empire that is allied against God and his Christ. It is that seat of authority, politically, religiously, and economically. It's that seat of organization of this final empire. It's the Washington, D.C. of the final empire or the Kremlin of the final empire. It is that seat of government, that seat from which all that satanic, political influence, religious influence, and sexual perverse influence come.

14:13It is certainly that. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great. She who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality. She is the one who seduces or causes. The language is strong here. She is the one who has made all the nations drink. And we come to the first cup. This is really a passage about two cups. The cup of this woman, Babylon the Great, pours out, and we'll come to the second cup in a little bit. Here we're looking at the wine of her immorality. It's a very vivid language. It's the wine of her wrath or her passion or her rage or her anger. It's all this. It's the same word as going to be used to describe the wine of God's wrath, the same word. But it's the idea of her wrath, her passion, her crazed pursuit of she's the one who seduces the nations. It's very vivid language. Wine.

15:40Made the nations drink. It's an intoxicating drink with the intent to seduce into fornication. That's the idea. It's intoxicating someone with the intent to sexually abuse them. Made the nations drink. They wouldn't have done what they did without this evil influence that she made them to drink. It's like that of a date rape drugging. That's the vividness of this. And this is necessary for her to get the nations to do what they otherwise would not have done.

16:27And so she makes them consume the word. Wine of her immoral rage, her immoral passion, yes, and rage over those who don't jump in with her passion. You can see it in Sodom and Gomorrah. It's like the people of that cities wanted people to join their sexual perversion and raged at those who would not. And so you have this, she herself is inflamed and impassioned, but also enraged. And it's under her influence that the nations and those in it believe and do the unthinkable. This is Babylon the Great.

17:42And she is beyond remedy. In Jeremiah 51, we read about a historic situation, an event in the past that parallels this or prefigures or gives you some historical basis to understand what's going on here. Listen to what Jeremiah says in 51, verse 6. Flee from the midst of Babylon, and each of you save his life. This is basically what the angel is saying. Do not be destroyed in her punishment, for this is the Lord's time of vengeance. He is going to render recompense to her.

18:22Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are going mad. Suddenly, Babylon has fallen and been broken. Wail over her. Bring balm for her, pain. Perhaps she may be healed. So Jeremiah is saying, Bring something to, maybe we can heal her. And then he says this in verse 9: We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed. Forsake her, and let us each go to his own country, for her judgment has reached to heaven and towers up to the very skies.

19:05That was Babylon's Jeremiah's oracle against Babylon in his day. The point is, the fallen world is irreparable. It is to be abandoned. It is not going to be rehabilitated. It's going to be overthrown. And those who are part of it are to come out of it. Or be destroyed along with it. One principle is very clear here. God will deal with those who tempt and cause others to sin. You're going to see this finally, but we see this already. Jesus said in Luke 17:1, It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come.

20:00Don't be a cause of stumbling, don't be a cause of causing, or an influence that causes other people to sin. Woe. But to counter this powerful influence of the beast and the false prophet, a third angel appears. And this third angel is going to further articulate God's final warning to these inhabitants of the earth. Look back, verse 9. Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or hand, he will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Get this second announcement. It's an announcement of eternal torment. The announcement of eternal punishment. And this is a doctrine that is probably most despised in our world today. Doctrine of hell, doctrine of eternal punishment. As you walk through this passage here, it's very clear.

21:29Look, we wouldn't be talking about eternal torment unless the Bible talked about it. Jesus speaks about it more than anyone else. But here you have just such a vivid last warning to the whole world that involves the consequences of eternal punishment. Let's just walk through this. Notice this angel has a loud voice. Everyone's going to hear. If anyone worships the beast, if anyone, notice how the fate of the individual is going to be the same as the fate of the whole.

22:23Who's going to be part of this end-time governmental system allied against God? Well, there they're. They're going to be the ones, very plainly, they are the ones who are worshiping the beast and advocating others to worship him. Advocating, worshiping the beast and his image. Perhaps this image is going to be set up in various places, but certainly in the temple in Jerusalem, a newly constructed temple. And if you don't believe that that is coming, read the Jerusalem Times.

23:07It's coming. But notice that the people who worship the beast and his image, they're going to be very clearly identified because they are receiving the mark of the beast. And they're advocating others to receive the mark of the beast, whether it's on the forehead or on the hand. So these people are not going to be guiltless or ignorant or innocent. They're walking right in with the whole world. Despite you've got 144,000 witnesses. You have the witnesses of the many martyrs who are standing up for their faith. And you have the witnesses, the two witnesses in Jerusalem. You have these angels that are making it very clear. Do you see the heart of God that is saying, don't go there.

24:06There's still time to come to me. Even at this late stage in human history, you cannot but marvel at God's love for people, including his enemies. But they're clearly marked. As I mentioned to you earlier, we had a great week down in San Salvador, ministry, missions, I mean, at the counseling conference and marriage conference, it was really a great time. And one of the things that has happened in the past eight years, when we first started going down there, it was considered to be very dangerous in many ways.

24:55But since this new president has taken power, there has been this incredible crackdown on gang activity. And we can sense it with even businesses that were used to paying extortion money are now having, and would have big corporations who would have a budget for paying off gangs. Now they're having a surplus. Their earnings are up. It's been a very effective crackdown. In many ways, and there's a sense of a lot more security. But one of the things, I just saw an article, it seems to be in the news quite a bit, but the gang members of MS-13 are clearly identifiable. If you've seen any pictures, I saw one, one had MS-13 tattooed all over him. And you look at these that they've rounded up, yes, they are clearly identifiable. And so, if you are a gang member and there is a governmental crackdown that comes upon the gang, guess what? You're going to be included.

26:20In fact, I just read an article just recently, the day before it's current, right now, that the President has just cleared the way, or the legislative body has just cleared the way for these gangs to be judged and sentenced as a group instead of individuals. Now, of course, this is alarming for a lot of people. What about individual freedoms? And inevitably, are you getting some innocent people lumped in with the whole? And so, it's one of the issues right now. So, there's some mixed feelings about the right. Rounding up.

27:02But here's the point: God is judging individuals. And if you serve the devil, you will reap the devil's punishment. And this reality isn't hard to understand. And at this generation, it's going to be very clear to see who is identified with whom. And so that's the message. And listen, if you serve the devil, if you align with him, you are going to suffer the same fate as him. And his fate is eternal torment. So God's final warning involves certain doom for the world's system, along with those who are part of it. This is the message of the angel. Babylon's fall is going to be more specifically described in chapters 13, I mean, chapters 17 and 18. We'll come to that in the weeks and months ahead.

28:20But the doom of those individuals who are part of the system, they are going to be described in the next two verses. Look back at verse 10. He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. You see, he is describing the doom of those who drink from the cup of immorality, those who participate in the madness of her immorality.

29:10This individual, he, she, he himself, she herself will also drink of the wine of God's wrath. Come to the second cup. The second cup. There's the wine of immorality, there is the wine of wrath. If you drink the first, you will drink the second. Those who reject the good news of this first angel, and for all generations, those who reject the good news, regardless of through whom that good news comes, they end up marrying themselves to the satanic system.

29:59They Who drink in the wine of immorality and rage against those who don't will drink the wrath, will drink the wine of God's wrath. You can see two future verbs here. Verse 10. First of all, they will drink, he will drink. Those who drink in her passion will drink in his passion, his wrath. And look at how it's described. Verse 10, mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger. He got somewhat of an oxymoron. Mixed, full strength. Which is it? Mixed or full strength? But that's how he describes it. Mixed in full strength. And in the day, the common practice was to weaken concentrated wine by diluting it with water.

31:01But this cup, instead of being weakened or diluted, it's being strengthened. It's being further concentrated. It's full. It's being strengthened. It's being, it's describing full, undiluted anger. Meaning, no mercy, no grace, no mixture. Of mercy or grace. Up until now, throughout the Bible, we've seen over and over this God's judgment, even God's judgments with the seals and the third of the earth being impacted, third of the skies, third of the waters, all that is a mercy in that it's not total.

31:54But here, this cup, those who take the mark of the beast, those who are going to be identified with Satan forever, are going to drink in the full strength of God's wrath. Do you hear the urgency to come out of your marriage to this world? Even though we're talking about something future, the principle is applicable to us, so applicable to us. It cries out to quickly come out of your marriage union in every form and way and shape to this world.

32:51So those who oppose the Creator, those who oppose his Christ, will face his passionate fury. And settled indignation forever. We looked at the rage of the dragon. His is one of this emotional, crazed wrath of somebody who is defeated and throwing things around. Not so with God's wrath. It's controlled. It's a rage, but it's in controlled. It's a settled indignation. It's passionate, yet it is controlled, and it is going to accomplish His purpose. You see this in Romans 1 and Romans 2. Wrath of God, verse 18 of Romans 1 is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

33:49Romans 2:8 says, Those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, all that's left for them is wrath and indignation. So the message of this third angel is in accord with the first angel. Fear God, not the beast. Fear God. Be more afraid of God than being afraid of this whole worldly system and anything it can throw at you. And you know what? That's peace. That brings peace. The beast's wrath is only temporary, but those who ally themselves with the false satanic world system will inherit eternal wrath. That's the first future verb. He will be tormented.

34:50But notice, I'm sorry, he will drink. The second, he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the Lamb. This idea of being tormented. The idea, like if it's speaking about the body, a body that's being tormented, it speaks of like the great pain of a woman in labor. Tormented. Like, wow, it's coming. If you've been in that labor and delivery room, you know what I'm talking about. Torment. It's anguish. But when it's speaking about an object, this word speaks of like a boat on the water being tossed back and forth. Remember in Matthew 14, 24, it says this, but the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves. That's the idea. For the wind was contrary, being battered by the waves. The ESV translates it, beaten by the waves.

36:00The King James tossed with the waves. You get this idea of torment. It's a very anguishing, disturbing, unsettling, frightening distress. And so when we're talking about a soul being tormented, it talks about that distress, that severe distress and affliction, tormenting distress, that's caused by an internal and external hostility of mind, company, those around, but internally, it involves that self-loathing, that self-hatred, that loss, that regret, that internal self-hatred. Think of that like you made a really horrifying investment.

37:05Rats. Why was I so stupid? Or like that of Esau, who sold out his eternal blessing for a little bowl of stew. That's the loss. It's that shame. It's that torment of soul, internal lash, external those. It is a shame, it's the loss of being on the wrong side, the regret of being wrong, that regret and realization that you have wronged others profoundly, that you have aligned yourself with all that which is evil, and there you are tormented. They will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. It's like seeing through the fog and seeing the lamb, seeing the angels and seeing all this.

38:12They're on the wrong side. They will be exposed. They will see the horror of their own ways and they will be tormented. Word for fire and brimstone. This is speaking about burning sulfur. Brimstone is the or sulfur, burning sulfur, is the chief component of brimstone. And you know what's interesting about it? In ancient times, it was often used as a disinfectant for infectious disease. If your house is contagious, I mean, times have changed. Could you imagine today? You know, if you ever smelled burning sulfur, well, you don't forget it. It's powerful. No wonder. I mean, it drives everything out of the room, all the infectious diseases. Diseases and everyone else. You can imagine if you came home and instead of Lysa, I got some burning sulfur. I heard this really works well to get rid of every, purifies the room. But, well, that's the idea. It was used as a divine disinfectant to purify and to prevent contagion.

39:26You remember, it was God used fire and brimstone to entomb the evil influences of Sodom and Gomorrah and as a way to permanently warn others not to follow their way. But the reality is, those who ally themselves with Babylon the Great will find themselves on the losing side. And they are going to be brought down in the presence, look back, of the holy angels and the Lamb. Their power and their influence is going to be destroyed forever. And this verse speaks of that defeat at the moment of Christ's return.

40:19But the next, verse 11, speaks of the perpetuity of their torment. So they're going to, when Christ returns, they're going to be tormented in the presence holy angels. And the Lamb, and what an awful thing to be seeing there and seeing the Lamb who you opposed, who you despised, the one who loved you, the one who created you, the one who purchased your salvation so that you could come into a right relationship and all day long has held out his arms so that you would have a right relationship with him, and to see yourself forever on the opposite side of that kind of love and antagonistic to that forever. What a horrifying moment.

41:04Regret. That's at that moment. But then in verse 11, describes the perpetuity of their torment. Look back at verse 11. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. You see, there are eternal consequences for rejecting the gospel. The gospel is good news to you and to me that we can fear God above all others. That is, we are not to be worried or concerned about what anybody else thinks, but to revere him supremely.

41:56That's good news. To give him glory, to Worship him. But if you reject the gospel, you're not going to be any different than these that we are reading about today. There is no other plan of salvation. But here, we see the eternal consequences. They're described. One present verb. One present verb describes their perpetual state. Look back. And the torment of their smoke is ascending, is going up forever. Their torment is forever. And here, this is another one of those texts that takes you into theology, deep theology, about eternal punishment. But it's very clear.

42:54Eternal punishment. One of those most hated doctrines of the Bible. What kind of God would do this? A holy God. A God that wants a relationship with his people. A God that's going to make creation right and is going to perfect creation, who is not going to be known for a lousy job. That kind of God. It's not good for us to go after our own ways. It's good for us to go. Go after his ways because they are good.

43:36But look, when you look back, there's smoke. Smoke is evidence that something is what? Burning. Where there's smoke, there's what? And so, in this context, yes, thank you. So, in this context, smoke is a sign of God's punishment. It is the everlasting reminder of the outcome of misplaced worship. The smoke goes up forever. Why? Because the burning is forever. Why? Because their torment is forever. There is no rest day and night. Look back. There's no ceasing, no stopping.

44:25So there's a warning here. If you want to pretend to be God, if you want to go after your own gods, if you want to worship yourself, pursue your, you will receive the full strength of God's anger hereafter. What happens to those who do not obey the gospel? The wrath of God is poured out on them. And since God is eternal, his wrath is eternal, therefore the objects of his wrath are also eternal. They're not annihilated as some. You just go out of existence. No, they are not consumed. The torment goes up, the smoke goes up forever and ever into the ages of the ages.

45:14They become a tribute forever to what God hates. A living testimony, a testimony, an eternal reminder of what God hates. An eternal reminder of where eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil took humanity. An eternal reminder. So we've looked at the announcement of certain doom, the announcement of eternal torment. And I have notes in my note here. If it's past 11:40, you need to stop. And it's after 11:40. So we'll look at the third announcement next time, but I do want to conclude in thinking about this, just about the eternal torment as we look at this final warning: certain doom and eternal torment for those who do not obey the gospel. What we can learn from this.

46:26In light of this outcome, how should we live? Well, we should. Revere him more deeply. We should glorify him more diligently. We know what's going to happen. The smoke of their torment will be a forever reminder of what God hates and what moves him to anger. What moves him to anger? Our persistent rebellion, our persistent love of self. That's what describes these people. You know, it's interesting about the language of this smoke that goes up forever and ever. It's the same language as an offering going up, tribute to God forever.

47:21What is your eternal tribute going to be? We will all offer our eternal tribute to God. There are going to be those, the saints, who will offer up an eternal song. There will be the rebels who offer up eternal smoke of their torment. What about you? Will your tribute be your eternal song or the eternal smoke of your triumph? Torment. The invitation is for you to come. Let your tribute go up even now. Be more diligent in rendering to Him the things that He deserves. To fear Him, to give Him glory, and to worship Him above anything and everything else.

48:26That is what true living is about. What is your eternal tribute going to be? Well, the answer is found in this question: Who do you pay tribute to now? Do you fear God now? Do you give Him glory now? Do you worship Him now? Then be sure you're going to do this for all eternity and you're going to get better at it. So don't beat yourself up. You're going to get He's got a hold of you and He's going to perfect you.

48:57But those who do not worship God now are worshiping that which is false and are on a trajectory to eternal torment to be judged along with the devil and His system forever. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the truth, these sobering realities that we read right off the page. Of what we call the good book, your holy word. And it is holy, and it is good because it tells us the truth about things to come. It tells us the truth about your loving heart and just how wrong it is for us to be at odds with our Creator. And it is only because we have been deluded, duped, that we live any moment for ourselves. Lord, I pray that you would illumine our hearts. Let us see the truths herein. Let us see your heart and all of this, that you tell us these things because you want a closer and deeper relationship with us. You came and you gave us works to walk in. Let us with joy walk in them. And may you do this by your Spirit. We invite His work in our lives right now. In Jesus' name, amen.