We turn to the book of the Revelation in chapter eighteen, and we come to the conclusion of the destruction of Babylon as it is so named. Your lesson page is number twenty-eight. We trust we shall complete it, and then perhaps be able to introduce chapter nineteen on page twenty-nine of your lesson sheet. We shall not read the entire chapter. It's very lengthy, but we do wish to follow the outline that you have on your lesson sheet. Chapter eighteen of the book of Revelation concerning the fall of Babylon, we would now read verses one through three only, before we comment on the lesson. And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory, and he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, has fallen, and has become the habitation of demons. There's one devil, but there's many demons, which is the proper translation. And the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. And the merchants of the earth are wax rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Now, in introducing our study today, may I bring some correlating thoughts regarding the theme that is before us, both in chapter seventeen and in chapter eighteen. You may wonder, and let me suggest you should rightly wonder, that the Spirit of God has taken two lengthy chapters to deal with the revelation of God's coming judgment upon what is called Babylon. May I go back with you in memory through the Word of God? I would like to bring before you the teaching of God's Word relative to Babylon from the beginning of it to the end in a very brief way. There is a principle of interpretation that is called the law of first mention. By that is meant, wherever you find a doctrine or a teaching mentioned, in the beginning of the Bible, you find the principle of interpretation for that particular truth or doctrine or teaching for the rest of the book. Now in the book of Genesis, which you may well know it means the book of the beginning. It has often been called the seed plot of the Bible. Now think with me quickly of the first mention of Babylon. And you have it in chapter ten of the book of Genesis. I'm not going to turn to the chapter. Presenting it to you, if you may remember, there was a man by the name of Nimrod. And you have the first mention of Babylon by the name of Babel. And he is a mighty man. It says that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Now the meaning of the expression is he was a mighty rebel. He was an individual who opposed God and manifested his opposition personally. Though he was mighty in power in relation to the earth. and the governing of it and the what he followed in its craftiness while within it. Now in chapter ten, or chapter ten, you find that mention of Nimrod. But in chapter eleven, you may remember there was the building of the Tower of Babel. No question of doubt stimulated through Nimrod. And there was there not an individual particularly implied... as much as the gathering together and the combined efforts of man to build for himself a tower upon the earth apart from God. Now there you find, laid in the book of Genesis, the divine revelation of the principle of what Babylon is. It can be represented by a man, by an individual, so powerful under sin and Satan, as well as the combined efforts our men combining their efforts against the God of heaven. You may remember well that God came down and stopped the work of the building of the Tower of Bemo by the confusion of languages. Let me go a little further. You may also remember when the children of Israel in their history came into the land of Canaan. Unfortunately they turned to the idol worship of the people of that land. The sin of idolatry was their main rebellious spirit and action against the Jehovah who had brought them out of Egypt through the wilderness and placed them within that land. In other words, they listened to the gods of Babel. There was Baal. There was Baal and there was others who followed the worship of the idols that originated under Nimrod. And I would suggest, if ever you can, there is a book written on the two Babylon by a man by the name of Hitler, lengthy book. And he traces back, even from the present generation of Christendom, he traces back the origin of some of the practices in Christendom that really emanated from the days of Nimrod. And even Nimrod had the worship of the mother and the child. In that day, that was the heathen origin of that principle. But when Israel sinned against God, what did he do? He judged them. Do you remember the instrument of judgment? There was one individual and there was the power of his kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, leader of all the idolatrous world in that day, and the mighty emperor of it as God permitted him and ordained that he should be the first great emperor of the Gentile nation. And God used Nebuchadnezzar in judgment upon his earthly people, and also the power of his Babylonian kingdom. Now you can recognize, even in Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom, there's the same principle. An individual with power And then the empire over which he is the head. And even as we saw in Daniel three, the head of gold. Daniel chapter two, rather the head of gold. Now when you come to the New Testament, may I also first of all remind you the destruction of the literal Babylon of old in Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom was absolute. Read Jeremiah fifty-one. And you may find you've got a, and we'll have a scripture in our lesson. Where you find even in Jeremiah's day, Jeremiah commanded one of the young prophets to go to Babylon, to take a great millstone and pronounce the judgment of God upon the whole empire, and take the millstone, cast it into the waters. Thus will Babylon sink, never more to rise. Now there are some, and I mentioned it very slightly, Even amongst professing evangelicals who teach there'll be a rebuilding of the literal Babylon. I don't believe so. God said through Jeremiah, never will it be built again. But when you come to the New Testament, here we are in the Revelation. And we have Babylon brought before us in a great and large vision in chapters seventeen and eighteen. Now we notice last week the origin of Babylon out of what? Christendom. Not out of Israel, out of Christendom. When there came the rise, as we saw last week, of the false church, seeking to manifest political power and dominion over the nations of man. Now in chapter seventeen, we have noted that in that coming day, the coming day of the satanic Trinity, the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, There will be a great power rising religiously. And in chapter seventeen you see religious Babylon sitting upon the power of the revived Roman Empire as we saw it in chapter seventeen last week. Now please let me state very frankly, this is spiritual Babylon coming out of, listen carefully, Christendom. Now please let me corroborate what I've said. If you recall carefully what we have studied in the book of the Revelation even, chapter two and three, the letters of the seven churches, did we not see a Jezebel in the church of Thyreira, being permitted to teach, leading people into idolatry? and producing many children whom the judgment of the Lord Jesus said they would be killed if they followed up on issues teaching. And thus we can recognize as you come to the Laodicea, the last letter in the seven letters. What about Laodicea? I'm rich. I'm increased with goods. I am in need of nothing. And we shall see how light Laodicea, the false church after the rapture, will manifest herself in our chapter before us. Now what we saw in chapter seventeen, we saw what God permitted to happen to that great false church in its destruction at the hand of the beast and of the kings who were under the reign of the First beast in Revelation thirteen. The revived personage of the Roman Empire. They turn on earth. As we saw last week. They destroy us. And in chapter seventeen, mainly it's the woman and the beast. There is a main subject. And now God permits the kings who are under the beast. to destroy the woman, for they hate her, and they utterly destroy her. Now that God's human way of telling how he will destroy that false system that will be the conglomeration, and may I say it reverently but carefully, the conglomeration of an ecumenical movement that is even strong today, and may I say frankly, you all know it, I'm sure you should, that the Roman Catholic Church will never turn themselves over to the Protestants or any other. The Protestants are so divine to themselves, they are not even united. And Rome says, you've got to come back to us. And I believe, as we saw last week in that chapter, the professing body of Christendom unscathed after the rapture. will be under the head of that false system. And then we saw how God used the political power to destroy it. Now we come to chapter eighteen and we look at it from God's side. For in what we have read in the first three verses, a mighty angel proclaims the fall of Babylon. What we have is God's side. Tell me what it means. And the utter destruction. Thy God. In chapter seventeen he uses human instruments. But in chapter eighteen he declares his own divine purpose by so doing it. And so you've got the mighty angel as we have read it. Now will you go with me to verses four and five? And I want you to know what the angel goes on to say. As he states on your lesson sheet you've got the angelic instrument of destruction mentioned, wholesaling its judgment, And the unclean character of... Please note, we'll see it later. The unclean character of Babylon. Note at the end of verse two. It has become the habitation of what? Demons! May I say frankly, if you read First Timothy chapter four and verse one, you'll find that the beloved apostle Paul said in the latter times, men shall give heed to seducing spirits and the teaching of demons. May I give you the thought? Be careful what you follow and take in when you listen to the teaching of the Bible. False teachers are in abundance. And here you find the fact that in that culmination, when the false church is judged, it has become the habitation of what? Demons and the hold of every foul spirit. and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Now please only correlate that expression about the bird. You may remember in chapter thirteen of Matthew's Gospel, you've got the kingdom in mystery form during the absence of the Lord. And do you remember the first parable the Lord Jesus told that the kingdom of heaven was like a great tree that covered the earth? And the birds nested and roosted in the branches thereof. May I say frankly, those birds are symbolic of evil, roosting in the branches of Christendom. I cannot emphasize too greatly, we're living in days of danger spiritually because of spiritual evil. And Satan and his host, they're manifesting their power. And then when you begin to read, please note the universal character of what takes place in verse three. All nations, all nations are drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the very kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. The merchants of the earth, whites rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Now may I insist upon another truth coming out. We not only see, along with the destruction of religious Babylon, But as we go further, we shall see the destruction of civilization. Commercial Babylon. In the prophecy of Zechariah, there's a prophecy there where Zechariah, by the Holy Spirit, declares at the end time, God will judge the illicit, the unscrupulous practices. of business and civilization. They're thieving, they're lying, they're cheating, they're greed, and all that is associated with that which is economical power. Now please let me go then quickly to verse four and five. And here you have an invitation or a challenge and a call for separation. I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that she not be not partakers of her sin, and that she received not of her plague for her sin. I've reached unto heaven, and God have remembered her iniquities. Oh, beloved, we cannot say too greatly. I would suggest, we did not mention it last week, but if you really want to know a little bit, read a little bit, regarding the atrocities under the name of Christ as being a great church that sought politically to rule the earth, read what is called Fox's Book of Martyrs. And the man by the name of Fox in the past century wrote regarding the Christian martyrs of this age, and beloved, most of them martyred in the name of religion. Now, and here you have the call for separation for those who would be found in it. But may I say this, take this as a principle. I've got a reference. You can turn to the reference that you're convenient. Second Corinthians, chapter six, fourteen through eighteen. God calls for his people to be separate from the world of iniquity and from the unscrupulous practices of that which would be unsound in the way of religion. Now let's go very quickly next as we go to verse five. I beg your pardon me as we go to verse six. And note these words. And we go through verse eight. Here is the retributive judgment of God upon Babylon. Reward her even as she rewarded you. double unto her double according to her word. In the cup which she hath filled to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her. For she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore, and note what it's there for. Shall her plagues come in one day death and mourning and famine? And she shall be utterly burned with fire. For strong is the Lord who judges her. Now again let me emphasize what we introduced the chapter with. Comparing it with the one before it. We saw the human instruments and their work of destruction concerning Babylon. Now it's God's destruction. What he declares, strong is the Lord the judge of her, as he thus mentions, how she has lived. Will you please note the pride of Babylon? Let me read the paragraph under your lesson sheet on number three. God's vengeance is upon her moral character and her self-exaltation. She is a perfect antithesis. to the humble life of our blessed Savior. Self-gratification is our only objective. Now may I be reminded with you again, we mentioned it a few moments ago, think again of the lay of the sea and leather. I'm rich. I'm in creeks with goods. I have needed nothing. Beloved, there was not only a declaration meaning that it was spiritual, but also material if you please and may I say lovingly honestly who can measure the wealth that will be the false church and is even now in the power of Rome and the possessions that they have not too many months ago a year or two ago there's a great to do because of great investments that were in jeopardy that they had placed even in our country. When you think of the Lord, now please, let me, let me, please, I do not say this in a disparaging and in a purposeful way, a manner. But may I point out to you, when a man claims himself to be the vicar of Christ, and he has it upon his crown that he wears, And that title can only be meaningful to the person of the Holy Spirit. And thus in self-exaltation and sitting like a queen, living deliciously, compare that one to the Lord Jesus, who said the hostess of their holes, the birds of the air with their nests, but the Son of Man is not where to lay his head. Can I say this lovingly but earnestly? Whenever you see an amassing of wealth in any church, beware. Beware. Last night, my son, who usually stops him every evening on the way home from his office, we were speaking with one another, and noting how many people are so anxious to get rich by all that's offered through the television and many other sources. I said, you know, Bob, if anybody gave me a million dollars, I'd be the scaredest person. But everybody's trying to get it. And here is the amassing of fortune and property and wealth and riches of all kinds. Please let me say it. I say it bluntly. You look at the early church. You look at the modern church. And note the difference. And you've got the story. Very vividly. We're grateful for the privileges. Grateful for the material provisions we have to meet in. But I think of a dear old man in St. Louis who told me one time, said, Brother Graham Hall, he said, where do you think? The first time I kept the Lord's supper, I said, Brother, I wouldn't know. He said, I was in a blacksmith shop with a few Christians. How many folks could you get doing that? But the Lord was so precious to him that with a few he gathered, to remember the Lord in his death. Bill Oliver, very frankly, materially that modern church has come a long way, spiritually, it hasn't. It's going down. Now look, don't say I said it, we've studied the book. Paul said it would be that way. Peter said it would be that way. Jude said it would be that way. James spoke about it. You've got it in the writings of the Lord. Jesus too. And when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? I say, my beloved Christian, listen, face the facts. We're in the last days, and what we're studying is the judgment that's coming upon the false church after the rapture of the church. And yet she sits a queen. But strong is the law that judges it. Now will you please note verse nine. And as you look at verse nine to the going down in the chapter, we find the kings of the earth lamenting over Babylon. And I want you to think very carefully now. Let me make a distinction between the kings that are under the beast. The king. As we saw in chapters eight, seventeen, there would be a kingdom of ten kings who give their authority to the beast. And they're his children. But now we come to the mention, not of those ten kings, but of all the kings. The rulers of the earth. Not merely literal kings, but the rules of every nation. The rulers of the earth. And now we find concerning the rules of the earth, there are men. over the destruction of Babylon. And note the word. The kings of the earth who have committed fornication, live and live deliciously with her, shall bewail her. Lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come. And now note. You've not only changed, but as you have in your outline, you've got other mourners mentioned here. The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man findeth their merchandise anymore. Now may I give you this thought? We noted it that Babylon and the destruction of this great false system will take place under the power and the authority of the revived Roman Empire. And where will that be in the old world of the Roman Empire revived? And may I remind you, even at the present time, there are strong indications of economic power coming amongst the nations of Europe. And you've got your economic headquarters in Belgium. Commercially, very frankly, commercially, the concentration of world wealth It's going to be fronted in that dominion of the revived Roman Empire. And we saw truly the truth of that from chapter thirteen when the beast rules with authority. No man can war against him, such as his great military might, whatever the threat may be, not even Russia. And we know that all under the kingdom will have to obey his voice and worship the image of the beast or else be put to death. And the concentration of civilization's power, civilization's wealth, will be centered in that economic, revived kingdom of the Roman Empire. And God's going to hit it hard. Beloved, please let me say again, civilization boasts. But did you ever find civilization leading anybody close to God? Never. Man with all of his invention, with all of his knowledge, with all of his wealth, with all of his pride, does not get near to God. And may I say very bluntly, according to the word of God, I fully believe there's going to be the destruction of much wealth. And in the destruction of Babylon, Appiliated with it. It will cause the kings of all the earth to mourn. It will cause the merchants of the earth to mourn. You know, when God hits everybody in their pocketbook, they'll how? Please, may I say it again? God's going to bring the whole world down with a crash. Let me prove it. For an Old Testament, you know the teaching of it well. Nebuchadnezzar's dream, head of gold, the Babylonian empire, and the shoulders and the breast of silver, and the breast of silver, the belly and thigh of copper or shining brass, the legs of iron and gear. What happens at the end? A stone. without a hand being seen. It's capped on the very feet of the image. And the whole thing crashes. Beloved, go. I'm not a peasant. Praise God. Praise the Lord. I won't be here. Hallelujah. The rapture will have taken place. But the whole Gentile world is going to crash. Listen. What nation is going to be head of all the nations in the millennial kingdom? Israel. No Gentile. God's going to destroy the Gentile powers. The law is going to have to serve Israel. I don't know how many of you, perhaps none of you may remember a brother named Jim Graham. He was a missionary to China in the days of Chiang Kai-shek. He had the privilege of leading some of those worthy leaders of the Chinese army in that day to the Lord. I remember in telling them one occasion, some of the women of the officials of the government of Shanghai Shet had been born again, found the Lord. It led them to the Savior. Some of them were anxious for their husbands to be saved. And they made a banquet one day and invited him to it. They wanted him to come. And they'd have their husbands there. They wanted him to speak to their husband and seek to point them to Christ. He said he was sitting right next to the man who was the minister of finance. And he said, suddenly the man turned to him and said, Mr. Graham, is there anything in the Bible about the future of China? Oh, yes, Brother Graham said there is. Oh, the man was quite interested. What's going to happen? Oh, he said. And he told them they'd dream a Nebuchadnezzar of the whole Gentile empires from beginning to the end. And he said, at the end, not soon. Right? Beloved, look, you think this country will go? I'm afraid. I know so. There won't be any omitted. None omitted. Please know. God's judgment not only falls upon Babylon particularly, but upon all who followed it. And beloved, when you stop to realize, stop and realize there's going to be under the beast and the false prophet and Satan in that coming day a complete denial of everything pertaining to God. They have no use for God. And then God permits them to destroy the one who professes to know God. And what follows is this, as you may read, let me read as we go further in our chapter. And I want you to follow with me in verse eleven. We find in verse twelve some of the merchandise, that which she was dealing in. Merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, all pine and wood, all manner of vessels of ivory, all manner of vessels of most precious wood, brass, iron, marbles, cinnamon, name them all, odors and ointments, and all the way down, and beasts and sheep, and horses and chariots and slaves. Now look at the last expression. The souls of men. The souls of men. Beloved, what a solemn condemnation. Oh, I say you don't think it's sad to realize. Even though I confess wherever you might go amongst many branches of so-called Christendom, it's not impossible to find even among them Christians that are really saved. You may wonder why they stay there, but it's possible, and I've met some of them, in different places. But when you think of this great professing body, which through the ages past, and especially in the dark Middle Ages, manifested their power, its power over the souls of men. I think of a dear young boy. He lived in Canada. He was a Roman Catholic young fellow, but he got very much concerned about some of the practices. Now you can find something pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church that you've got to go along with. They believe in the Trinity, that's true, and so on. They also, they don't neglect to declare the death of Christ. But anyway, this young fellow was disturbed about one thing special, purgatory. And he wanted to prove to himself what's genuinely a true teaching. And he went to the local priest and he said, Father, can you pray my own earthly father out of purgatory? Oh, yes, my lab, the priest said. We'll have to say so many matters. And they'll cost so much. And the boy said, all right, I'll pay you for that much. And you promised to pray him out of purgatory. Right, son. So when the period was ended, he went back to the priest. Is my father out of purgatory yet? My son, I'm sorry, not yet. We'll need a few more. Nothing. The young man looked at him and said, Father, as he called him. He said, when I came to you and asked if you could pray my father out of purgatory, you assured me that you could. But you never once asked me when my father died and he's not dead. Now I know what purgatory is. It's the priest's pocketbook. Beloved, but solemnly, the souls of men, the souls of men, oh beloved, what a judgment. Did not the Lord Jesus say, Fear not them which can kill the body, but rather fear him who can kill both body and soul, and cast into hellfire. Now please, I cannot help but almost weep, when you think of false teaching, when you think of all that is false and contrary to the gospel of God's grace and of his way of salvation, and men professing to lead souls, where? when they teach them falsely. And we must say that great system is one of the greatest, biggest systems of a religious system of works you can ever find. Works, works, works, works. Money, money, money has to be paid. Oh, beloved, let me say, salvation is free. Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Please let me say, of all the other things that are mentioned materially, in contrast, how can you value the soul? Said the psalmist in Psalm forty-nine, they that trust in their wealth, they that boast in their riches, they can by no means give a redemption, a ransom for their brother, for the redemption of their soul is precious, costly. And you know it took the precious blood of Jesus to save the soul. May I put it in another expression. The men who will have the greatest judgment from God in eternity will be those who will profess to represent Christ and lead souls to hell. They'll suffer more than the profligate, the whoremonger. The drunken. Great. We'll be there disaster. But let's read on quickly. And now we go on. And we see from verse fourteen, if I may. As we read on. We have the saying. The fruits of thy. As he goes on to say. The fruits of thy soul. Lost and after are departed from thee. All things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee. Thou shalt find them no more. And note these words. No more. As we go reading on quickly, no more at all. The merchants of these things which were made rich by her shall stand afar off, for the fear of her torment weeping and wailing and saying, Alas, alas, that great city that was closed, fine linen, purple, scarlet, decked with gold, precious stones, pearls, for in one hour so great riches has come to naught. Now here you've got every part in the commercial world. feeling the effect. Every shipmaster, all the company and ships and sailors and as many as trade, by sea stood afar off. They cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city? They cast dust on their heads. They cried weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness. For in one hour Is she made desolate? Peloponnes, I say. Look at it in its perspective. The revived Roman Empire with the Satanic Trinity, the dragon and the beast and the false prophet. They destroy her. But the whole earth feels the effect. They hate it so. And it's not only that. God says I'm going to make them destroy her. It's my purpose. And the effect of it is the whole world. If I may say, if you're worried about national inflation, may I say it's going to be worse still for the whole world someday? There's going to be an economic collapse. Economic collapse. Economic collapse. The insurance of your bank account won't be standing in that day. To be a complete economic. May I say, what you've got, frankly, is that the world under Satan is building its civilization without God. And God is going to someday come down drastically and destroy it all. I think of the dear old brother William R. Newell on one occasion when he was in Charlotte ministering to us, he made this statement. That in the millennium, it will be back to the log cabin and the Bible. Don't be a busy world trying to get rich. The knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth. And beloved, I tell you frankly, we need that change. But before that change will ever come, God's got to destroy what's been going on under the name of Christendom. And he will. Let me read further as you go to verse twenty. And you have heaven called rejoicing. There's all classes of lamentation. But now there's rejoicing. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, ye holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. Let me give you this thought. The vengeance of God is really taking in not only what happens during Christendom, but what's happened in the past ages of human history. You'll find, if you follow the teaching of God's word, that continuously... The judgment of God is being built up by the continuing sin of nations and of people. And when the final judgment of God falls in that coming day, it's gone at... Well, let me quote the words of Jesus. He said very frankly, from the blood of Amor, going down to the shedding of the blood of Zechariah, the prophet. God will judge. I tell you, probably what a world it will be to be so judged. Not only their presence in, but the past sins of the nation and of the world. It's the judgment of the whole world, if you please. And God remembers what's happened in the past. Read on. As you read in verse twenty-one, a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone. and cast them into the sea, saying thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, shall be found no more at all. The voice of harpers and musicians and of pipers and trumpeters shall be heard. No more at all indeed. No craftsman of whatsoever crafty. Will you please note that? There goes your computer age. Sure. Let me tell you something. The Lord Jesus doesn't need a computer. In his divine omniscience, he doesn't need a computer. And when he's in the world ruling, he won't need a computer. When he was here upon the earth, let me give you one example. Philip of Bethsaid abroad his friend Nathaniel to the Lord. And the Lord Jesus spoke to Nathaniel as Nathaniel as he told Nathaniel he said I saw thee when thou wast under the fig tree and between where Jesus was and where Nathaniel was sitting under the fig tree before he came to Jesus was a mountain the Lord Jesus could speak to it and Nathaniel was amazed And acknowledge them. Rabbi, thou art the king of Israel. Thou art the son of God. And became a follower. Please let me say, please. I'm beginning to wonder if you even have an automobile in the millennium. It's like, you won't have to hurry anywhere when you're living a thousand years on the earth. And say, well, in that day. Craftsmen. And may I say, please, you name anything that has been invented by men and the devils, God old of it. Yes, sir. Even the DUIs. Right? I remember seeing my first automobile as a boy in England. Boy, what a novelty. Back in nineteen-o-something. But, oh, today... The biggest problem in the automobile world is the many that are being killed under the influence of drunken drivers. Frankly, please, let me portray it again. I don't care what man's invented. Everything he's invented has gone over great, but the devil uses it. He's the God of this world. He's the God of this age. He's the Prince of this world. when the judgment comes. Notice in verse, as you read in this twenty-second verse, no craftsman of whatsoever craft he be, name anything. God said, I'm through with it. I'm through with it. For when you stop to think of it, even the people of Israel that are be the redeemed of that day in the millennial kingdom, you know, You know what happened to the Jews when they got to Babylon? They all became merchants of Venice. Sure. That's where they got their way to make money without working. That wasn't what God made them at the beginning. They were supposed to till the land. They were a pastor of people. They were to culture the land. And when the millennial comes, you'll be back to the land. Back to the shepherding. No craftsman. What a change. Be a delightful one. Shall be found any more in thee. And the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. Well, you ever heard anybody? I've had some of my companions when I was at work. And perhaps we went out to have lunch and said, Well, let's get back to the grind. Well, No sound of the millstone grinding in business. No more at all in thee. And the light of a candle shall shine. No more at all in thee. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard. No more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth. And for thy sorceries were all nations. For by thy sorceries were all nations. What? In deceit. Please let me say, please let me say it faithfully. The majority of the people of the world are under a great deception. And you've got proving it in the last days as you go to Second Thessalonians. Will you go please there quickly with me? Let me go to Chapter Two of Second Thessalonians. And in Chapter Two of Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians. Note the words. We've read them before. We'd like to re-emphasize them. For I want you to see the nations will be deceived without any question of doubt. Let me go with you if I may. Let me go down to verse nine. As he speaks of that wicked Antichrist whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and miracles and lying wonders and with all deceivableness. of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie and so on. Beloved, please let me say, it's a sad thing. And I say very lovingly, ecumenical movement of today is not according to the truth. They shout loudly in love. But when you want love, that the denial of God's truth, that's not true love. Strange to say how the best fellows of ecumenical movements today are strange people. They come not only from the Roman Catholic, they come from all branches, even satanic churches. Churches are Satan. Then can you not recognize, as that movement continues, and after the rapture of the true church, it will spread to be a world church. Every foul thing will be under the head of the power of the Roman church. Now it won't be just the Roman church alone, it'll be under judgment, but all the rest of them too. But no, verse twenty-four. Said her with sound note, the blood of prophets, the saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. I cannot, I cannot exaggerate great enough the terrible character rebelled from way back in the days of Nimrod. And the principle of it, a man, a rebel against God, or a conglomeration and a uniting of men together against God. But how sad To think that out of the testimony of Christianity in our age, when the rapture of the church has taken place, the manifestation of the false church, it will receive the judgment of God that will take in vengeance upon the prophets that were slain and the saints that were slain and of all that were slain upon the earth. No wonder Paul wrote in Romans thirteen, vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord. May I just say lovingly? You see, why all this? Well, let me quickly go to chapter nineteen. I want you to know right away, after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and honor and power under the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great horse, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and have avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Hallelujah! And the smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Hallelujah. Amen. Hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye servants, and ye that fear in both small and great. Oh, beloved, I wonder, I wonder how much do we take into the heart and into the conscience of the damage false teaching and false religion has done to the world and even in the Christian age. My, it's the mercy of God that you and I can say, thank God we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus. But while the day is coming of divine retribution, there will not only visit its judgment upon the religious world of that day, They're taking all the economic judgments that are bound to come. Oh, boy. Do you want to live in this world much longer? I'd like to go home to glory right now and say with the dear Apostle John, even so. The last words in the Bible. Even so come, Lord Jesus. Oh, God, grant that He will come soon. Shall we pray? Beloved and blessed Father, we thank thee for the revelation of thy word. Now, Lord, help it to soak in. Let it not have mere information, but let it be a salutary effect upon our own hearts and lives to live for the glory of the one who loved us and died to save us. And yet we pray for the unsaved of the world. We meditate upon the fact we may have unsaved loved ones who daily we pray for their salvation save them. Now, Lord, help us to realize these are two long chapters that you've given about the destruction of Babylon. It's been mentioned very briefly before. And now you've taken two long chapters, and we can understand why. You're not going to have your son marry the church until he gets rid of the false church. And we say, Hallelujah. There will be no one competing. Though she may claim to be the bride of Christ, she is a whore. Oh, blessed Lord. We bless thee for thine word that says Christ loved the church. He gave himself for it. that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot a wrinkle or any such thing. And Lord, we just thank thee before the wedding comes, before that marriage of the Lamb, thou wilt indeed destroy the false claimant. And we're so grateful that you borders with your blood, Lord, and we'll see you face to face at that marriage of the Lamb. Bless us as we separate. Keep us close to thyself. Remember our prayers for one another in our Savior's name giving thanks. Amen.