Introduction

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If you were to try and sum up Western Civilisation using just 1 word … what might it be?  OK … you have 1 word to describe Australia … or the West.  So on the positive side … some might say (i) powerful, (ii) safe, or (iii) opportunities.  The more cynical might say (i) inequitable, (ii) selfish, or (iii) immoral.  But I think a good case can be made for words like (i) rich, or (ii) consumeristic.  I reckon if Western civilisation is known for ANYTHING … it is for its opulent levels of wealth.

So for example … the most valuable company in Australia is … no points for guessing … BHP.  It is worth B$251.  That’s 251 with 9 zeroes after it.  It makes your head spin … all those zeroes.  But BHP doesn’t even crack the Top 20 richest companies in the world.  It comes in at number 33.  Coming in at number 4 is Amazon … worth T$1.  That’s a 1 with 12 zeroes after it.  Google is number 3 … at T$1.1.  Microsoft is number 2 … at T$1.7 … with Apple taking top honours … worth a whopping T$2.1.  What all this wealth tells me is … we are living smack bang in the middle of Babylon.

So last week we kicked off our Term 4 series … looking at the closing chapters of Revelation.  Last year we looked at Revelation 6-16 … which is all about the judgements God is currently pouring out on our world.  And I thought ‘look … we should come back and finish OFF the book this year’.  And Rev 17-22 is all about what happens AFTER those judgments.  And what happens is … THIS world comes to an END … and eternity begins.  Hence my series title ‘to infinity and beyond’ … copyright pending.

And LAST week we were introduced to quote … ‘the mother of all prostitutes’.  It was a woman (i) dressed in royal colours, (ii) covered in gold and jewels, and (iii) holding a cup filled with the filth of her adulteries.  This prostitute offers it all; sex, money and power.  Yet like most things in the book of Revelation … this prostitute symbolises something.  And what Jordan showed us last week is she symbolises the non-Christian world.  Her name is ‘Babylon the Great’.  And like the famous Babylon from OT times … THIS Babylon symbolises any kingdom … any nation state … that sets itself up against God.  And the thing that stands out about this woman Babylon … is her abundant riches … her indulgent luxuries … her sickening opulence.

And friends … at no other time in human history has a civilisation been so rich, luxurious, materialistic and opulent as the West is today.  And what this means is … you and I have been raised … by the mother of all prostitutes.  And this is what makes our passage today SO important to Western Christians.  Because Rev 18 is about how God wants his people to LIVE … when their surrounding culture IS Babylon.

And I’ve got 3 points today … as your sermon outline shows … to help us see how God wants Aussie Christians … to interact with … to respond to our surrounding culture.  So point 1 is looking at how God WILL one day judge Babylon for her sins … which I’ve titled (i) Babylon WILL fall.  Our second point looks at (ii) Responding to Babylon’s fall.  And the way in which you and I respond to it tells us whether we simply LIVE in Babylon … or we ARE Babylon.  We’ll then conclude with our application … which is (iii) Escaping Babylon’s fall.  And herein lies the importance of our passage today.  Because if we ALIGN ourselves with Babylon … then we’re going down with the ship.  So please come with me as we look at this eerie description of 21st century Australia … and find out how we are to respond to the punishment of Babylon.

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Babylon will fall (v. 1-9 & 21-24)

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So our passage today picks up straight after Revelation 17 … where the woman ‘Babylon’ is attacked by the very beast she was riding on.  Now this 7-headed beast is The Antichrist from Rev 13 … who has been telling the non-Christian world ‘come with me … and I’ll give you a luxurious ride.’  Yet in the end … Satan and his dark trinity HATE this world … and they will devour her flesh and burn her.  We pick up the narrative straight AFTER the fall of Babylon:

Revelation 18:1-2 (NIV) After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted: “ ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ 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.

So this new angel is DECLARING what the fall of Babylon will be like.  So if you visit the site of ANCIENT Babylon today … it is nothing more than ruins … sitting in the middle of a desert.  No one lives there.  And God says the same thing is going to happen to every kingdom or nation state that ignores God.  So as beautiful as Sydney is … with its harbour and The Opera House and its beaches and Centrepoint Tower, it will one day be fit for nothing more than demons, vultures and scorpions.

Now we MIGHT think to ourselves … ‘well what has Sydney ever done to deserve such an end?’  God … gives us the litany of her sins in this passage … beginning with:

1. Idolatry.  The adultery mentioned in v. 3 is spiritual adultery; it is cheating on God by worshipping other things.  So the non-Christian world has broken Commandments 1 & 2.

2. Second is Commandments 10: Greed.  The merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries … v. 3.  I heard a quote recently … from a book titled ‘Affluenza’ … which says ‘when money rules the day, ethical decisions become economic decision’.  What does that mean?  It means Babylon doesn’t care WHO picks her coffee or sugar or cotton … so long as she gets her caffeine fix … sugary delights … and designer clothes for cheap.

3. Her sins are piled up to heaven … v. 5.  Pornography, one-night stands, Pride Month, corruption, witchcraft, racial hatred, sexism, jealousy, road rage, envy, political factions, selfish ambition, drunkenness, and the like.  Sound familiar?

4. Next is pride:

Revelation 18:7 (NIV) In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’

Being a widow in ancient times meant almost certain poverty.  But this woman shows off … about being a queen.

5. Then finally is murder:

Revelation 18:24 (NIV) In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.

Perhaps you’ve noticed Western civilisation is done tolerating Christians.  It now openly attacks us … and ANYONE who doesn’t align themselves with their ideals.

And for these sins … a ‘voice from heaven’ says:

Revelation 18:6 (NIV) Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done.

Now the word ‘double’ there doesn’t mean twice as much; it means to clone.  She is to receive a twin portion … a doubling … of what she did to others.  That is … the punishment is to fit the crime.  And that punishment … as v. 21-23 outline … is just as she took EVERYTHING from the poor … to make herself rich … so too will she lose everything.

1. There will be no more music or parties to bring people joy … v. 22.

2. There will be no more workers.  The economy will crash.

3. There will be no more millstones to make bread.  Famine.

4. There will be no more lamps to light the way at night … v. 23.

5. And there will be no more weddings.  No more families.

In fact … the whole thing will burn to the ground … as v. 9-20 tell us.  Everything we see around us today … everything we hold as dear in this world … our phones, our photos, our cars, our clothes, our social circles and our social media … will ALL burn to the ground … as punishment for the sins of this world.

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Responding to Babylon’s fall (v. 9-20)

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The main question this passage asks us is … how does this catastrophic destruction make us feel?  You see sandwiched between the 2 descriptions of Babylon’s fall is a section that looks at 2 very different responses to this fall.  And these 2 responses inform us as to whether we’re CHILDREN of Babylon … on just tenants.

And the CHILDREN of Babylon lament the fall of this woman.  In v. 9-19 we get 3 laments over the fall of Babylon … from 3 different groups of people.  We get:

• The kings of the earth … in v. 9-10.

• The merchants … in v. 11-17

• And we get the sea captains … in v. 17-19

Now these are 3 very different groups … but they have 3 things in common:

1. Firstly … they all got rich from the non-Christian world.

• So the ‘kings’ represent the rulers of our world.  These are the CEOs … the owners of large corporations and the politicians … who get all the super-profits or kickbacks.

• The merchants are those who buy and sell the goods for a profit.

• And the sea-captains are those who transport the goods all over the world.

Now notice who ISN’T included in this supply chain.  The labourers.  Those who pick the tea leaves … or mine the cobalt … or put together our sneakers or smart phones … on less than a dollar a day.  They don’t get rich.  They get exploited.

2. The second thing they have in common is they all lament their loss of income:

Revelation 18:10 (NIV) … ‘Woe! Woe to you, great city 

They’re devastated … because their ability to live in the lap of luxury … has literally gone up in flames.  No more mansions or servants or designer handbags or European holidays.  The things they worshipped are now gone.

3. The third thing they have in common … is they all stand at a distance … terrified at Babylon’s torment.  Now why do they do this?  Because they KNOW they too have exploited the poor … so they can live in the lap of luxury.  All 3 groups stand ‘far off’ … because they know they’re next.  The kings, merchants and sea captains all know they have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries.

It’s now common knowledge … that companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Nike and Addidas have all used sweat shops in Asia to make their products.  Now some of those companies are trying to shut down those sweat shops.  But Apple and Samsung still get their Cobalt from the Congo … where you’ll find THE most exploitative mines on the planet.  So are these trillion dollar companies doing everything in their power to STOP the exploitation of 3rd world workers … or are they lamenting that their profit margins have shrunk … because people are now speaking out?

In stark contrast to these 3 laments comes a prayer of praise in v. 20.  Read it with me:

Revelation 18:20 (NIV) “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.”

Now please understand … this is not a rejoicing over people being crushed.  That would make us no better than those who got rich over crushing others.  This is a rejoicing over sin being brought to justice.

And this is the question this passage asks of us.  How deep is our attachment to this world?  Do we long for this world to continue on as it does today … to continue on as it did in John’s day?  Or do we long for Jesus’ return … when he will bring all sin and exploitation and greed and injustice to an end?  When we read that this world will one day burn … do we say ‘not just yet Lord … I’ve got a bit more luxury to enjoy’.  Or do we say ‘come Lord Jesus Come’?

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Escaping Babylon’s fall (v. 4)

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Now IF we’re going to align ourselves with the Lord … as opposed to Babylon … the final question we need to ask is; how are we to LIVE … while we’re living IN Babylon?  Well v. 4 holds the key:

Revelation 18:4 (NIV) 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;

So this voice from heaven is likely God.  And God says ‘come out of her’.  So what does this mean?  Does it mean we should move out of Sydney … and go and start an Amish community in outback NSW?  Well that’s NOT what Jesus prays for.  In John 17:15 Jesus says ‘My prayer is NOT that you take them out of the world’.  Jesus WANTS us living in Babylon … while we await his return.  But in v. 14 AND 16 … either side of that verse … he says ‘they are not OF the world’.  OK … Jesus wants us to be IN the world … but not OF the world.

So what does this mean?  Well it means doing everything we talk about every week here at Earlwood Anglican.  It means not chasing what our world chases.  We are to STAND out from our culture … by following God’s word.  But in the context of THIS chapter … it means we not to pursue excessive luxury.  We are not to worship comfort and opulence as our ultimate treasure.  Now … having said that … this DOESN’T mean it’s a sin to be rich.  If that were so … most of us here are stuffed.  Even Welfare payments in Australia are 7 times higher than the average global wage.  Unless you’re living on the streets … most Aussies are uber-rich by world standards.  But THAT’S not a sin.  According to Revelation 17-18 … HOARDING wealth to spend it all on yourself is the sin.

Revelation 18:3 (NIV) The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”

And this is where it gets tricky.  Because most of us here DON’T spend our money on BMWs … or Luis Vuitton handbags … or a yearly trip to Europe.  ‘We’re not HOARDING our wealth Brendan.  We buy the cheaper brands … thank you very much’.  But that doesn’t mean we’re off the hook.  Let me ask you this; when we buy a $10 top … or a $30 pair of jeans … or a $50 pair of shoes … where do you think those savings come from?  I submit to you that you cannot produce a T-Shirt for just $10 without someone getting exploited somewhere along the supply chain.  So HERE’s the question we need to ask ourselves.  WHY do we buy the $10 T-Shirt from K-Mart … or the $30 pair of jeans from Lowes?  Is it to save money … that we can spend elsewhere … on other luxuries?

Statistics show there are more slaves alive today than there were when slavery was legal.  The raw materials used in our mobile phones come from slave miners.  The cotton used in our clothes is processed in sweat shops.  It is estimated that about 80% of solar panels are made in the province in China where Uigar Muslims are being held in internment camps.  We’re all but certain that the world’s solar panels are being made by Uigar slaves.  So please do not think we’re pleasing God by putting cheap solar panels on our rooves.  We’re more likely being complicit in one of the most evil supply chains on the planet today.

Now the problem is … how can we possibly KNOW which products are ethically sourced and which are not?  Well … some products will TELL us.  Fair-trade coffee and chocolate have been around for years now.  To be able to use the ‘Fair-trade’ emblem … you have to meet some pretty stringent standards.  So next time we go for that $4 coffee … or half price block of chocolate … ask yourself; ‘am I hoarding wealth … at the expense of the poor … for this little luxury?’

For other products … Baptist World Aid has put together a rating system on how different brands and stores now source their products.  It goes from sourcing … to processing the raw materials … right up to manufacturing the end products.  I looked it up this week:

• Addidas and Nike are doing quite well.  The top scorers hit around the 60% Mark.  There’s still a lot of work to be done in this area.  But Addidas and Nike are in the 50s.

• Jeanswest is 5% … as is Billabong.  Do not buy from them.

• Birkenstock is 7%.  Terrible.

• Bonds and Bras & Things are high 50s.  So you may be paying a little more … but you’re more likely not exploiting 3rd world workers.

• Cotton on and David Jones are in the 40s.  Reasonable.

So before you buy something … pull out your phone and type in Baptist World Aid Australia … and see if you are about to ‘hoard wealth’ … at the expense of the poor … so that you can spend those savings on your luxuries … like dinner out.

Now here’s the thing.  It will cost you more money to live like this.  It will mean you won’t be able to spend those saving elsewhere.  Your level of luxury WILL fall … if you’re shopping ethically.  But it’s no different to what your saviour gave up for you.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Jesus owned EVERY luxury you could imagine … in heaven.  Yet he gave it all up.  Why?  Because luxury is not Jesus’ ultimate treasure.  You are.  And so he experienced the exact opposite of luxury … he experienced the full wrath of God on the cross … so that you and I can avoid the wrath of God for our sins … and enjoy the luxuries of heaven forever.  And when that sinks in … it should make us WANT to give up our luxuries … to live God’s way.

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Conclusion

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So brothers and sisters … how do you respond to hearing that this world … with all it’s alluring luxuries … will one day burn?  As sinful Christians … we’re probably conflicted over that.  No human is on the exact same page as God in regards to sin and judgment.  But friends … as we continue to remind ourselves of the luxuries Jesus gave up for us … my prayer is we will continue to tilt towards pursuing righteousness … as opposed to luxuries.  May we Christians STAND OUT from our culture … because like Jesus … we are EAGER to make ourselves a little poorer … so that the poor can be a little richer.