Join us on Tuesday mornings in May for a Bible study on some the key Apocalyptic/End Times texts in the Old and New Testament.

• May 5th – Revelation 1:9-20 & Revelation 8:6-12
• May 12th – Daniel 7:1-14 Daniel 9:20-27
• May 19th – Revelation 12:1-6 & Revelation 19:11-21
• May 26th – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 & Zechariah 9:1-13

The texts we will study are ones that I must study as a part of the annual preaching workshop held at College Church in Wheaton, IL from May 13 to 15. The promotional material for the 2009 workshop says it well… “Whether in the movies, television or popular music, the idea of Apocalyptic Literature is everywhere. It’s filled with spectacular drama, striking imagery and end-times relevance.” God willing we will learn a great deal about what it means trust in Christ and serve other’s in his name in these last days.

You can read more about the preaching worship by clicking HERE.

As a part of this workshop I must prepare two sermon outlines that I will share with a small group of extremely conservative Presbyterian (PCA), Free Church, and Reformed Baptists (Calvinists) who will gladly offer up a critique. Its challenging ..and really fun. I was particularly excited to attend this year because two of the speakers, Dr. D.A. Carson and Dr. Greg Beale,  are noted New Testament scholars whose works have inspired me a great deal over the years.

Last night Gail asked for my opinion about the proposed bailout plan being considered by the folks in Washington. D.C. I had to admit that I am really confused about the best way to solve this problem. However, I am pretty sure that there are many greedy and reckless people who are responsible for stealing from innocent investors and tax payers.

The more I read about this economic problem I find that I am less concerned about how those greedy corporate executives will be treated by our criminal justice system, and more concerned about how they will be treated by God on the day of judgement. Just the night before I was reading through the book of Revelation and I came across chapter 18 and I was struck by the vivid description of God’s wrath against idolatrous greed and the love of luxury. Please read this chapter and consider the commentary written by Mathew Henry, one of the great dissenting/nonconformist preachers of the 18th century. As you read this material please take time to pray that we will be turned from our desire to worship things instead of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and that those responsible for the current mess will repent and seek the lord while he may be found (Isaiah 55:1-7).

Revelation 18 The Fall of Babylon

18 After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor. 2 He gave a mighty shout:
“Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!
She has become a home for demons.
She is a hideout for every foul spirit,
a hideout for every foul vulture and every foul and dreadful animal.

3  For all the nations have fallen
because of the wine of her passionate immorality.
The kings of the world
have committed adultery with her.
Because of her desires for extravagant luxury,
the merchants of the world have grown rich.”

4 Then I heard another voice calling from heaven,
“Come away from her, my people.
Do not take part in her sins,
or you will be punished with her.

5  For her sins are piled as high as heaven,
and God remembers her evil deeds.

6  Do to her as she has done to others.
Double her penalty for all her evil deeds.
She brewed a cup of terror for others,
so brew twice as much for her.

7  She glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so match it now with torment and sorrow.
She boasted in her heart,
‘I am queen on my throne.
I am no helpless widow,
and I have no reason to mourn.’

8  Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day
—death and mourning and famine.
She will be completely consumed by fire,
for the Lord God who judges her is mighty.”

9 And the kings of the world who committed adultery with her and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. 10 They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out,
“How terrible, how terrible for you,
O Babylon, you great city!
In a single moment
God’s judgment came on you.”

¹¹ The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. ¹² She bought great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; things made of fragrant thyine wood, ivory goods, and objects made of expensive wood; and bronze, iron, and marble. ¹³ She also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and bodies—that is, human slaves.

14  “The fancy things you loved so much
are gone,” they cry.
“All your luxuries and splendor
are gone forever,
never to be yours again.”

15 The merchants who became wealthy by selling her these things will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will weep and cry out,
16  “How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
She was clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens,
decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17  In a single moment
all the wealth of the city is gone!”

And all the captains of the merchant ships and their passengers and sailors and crews will stand at a distance. 18 They will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, “Where is there another city as great as this?” 19 And they will weep and throw dust on their heads to show their grief. And they will cry out,
“How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
The ship owners became wealthy
by transporting her great wealth on the seas.
In a single moment it is all gone.”

20  Rejoice over her fate, O heaven
and people of God and apostles and prophets!
For at last God has judged her
for your sakes.

21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted,
“Just like this, the great city Babylon
will be thrown down with violence
and will never be found again.

22  The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpets
will never be heard in you again.
No craftsmen and no trades
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of the mill
will never be heard in you again.

23  The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The happy voices of brides and grooms
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the greatest in the world,
and you deceived the nations with your sorceries.

24  In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets
and of God’s holy people and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.”

Matthew Henry (1662–1714) Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Verses 1–8: The downfall and destruction of the mystical Babylon are determined in the counsels of God. Another angel comes from heaven. This seems to be Christ himself, coming to destroy his enemies, and to shed abroad the light of his gospel through all nations. The wickedness of this Babylon was very great; she had forsaken the true God, and set up idols, and had drawn all sorts of men into spiritual adultery, and by her wealth and luxury kept them in her interest. The spiritual merchandise, by which multitudes have wickedly lived in wealth, by the sins and follies of mankind, seems principally intended. Fair warning is given to all that expect mercy from God, that they should not only come out of this Babylon, but assist in her destruction. God may have a people even in Babylon. But God’s people shall be called out of Babylon, and called effectually, while those that partake with wicked men in their sins, must receive of their plagues.

Verses 9–19: The mourners had shared Babylon’s sensual pleasures, and gained by her wealth and trade. The kings of the earth, whom she flattered into idolatry, allowing them to be tyrannical over their subjects, while obedient to her; and the merchants, those who trafficked for her indulgences, pardons, and honors; these mourn. Babylon’s friends partook her sinful pleasures and profits, but are not willing to share her plagues. The spirit of antichrist is a worldly spirit, and that sorrow is a mere worldly sorrow; they do not lament for the anger of God, but for the loss of outward comforts. The magnificence and riches of the ungodly will avail them nothing, but will render the vengeance harder to be borne. The spiritual merchandise is here alluded to, when not only slaves, but the souls of men, are mentioned as articles of commerce, to the destroying the souls of millions. Nor has this been peculiar to the Roman antichrist, and only her guilt. But let prosperous traders learn, with all their gains, to get the unsearchable riches of Christ; otherwise; even in this life, they may have to mourn that riches make to themselves wings and fly away, and that all the fruits their souls lusted after, are departed from them. Death, at any rate, will soon end their commerce, and all the riches of the ungodly will be exchanged, not only for the coffin and the worm, but for the fire that cannot be quenched. (See Isaiah 66:22-24 & Mark 9:47-50)

Verses 20–24: That which is matter of rejoicing to the servants of God on earth, is matter of rejoicing to the angels in heaven. The apostles, who are honored and daily worshipped at Rome in an idolatrous manner, will rejoice in her fall. The fall of Babylon was an act of God’s justice. And because it was a final ruin, this enemy should never molest them any more; of this they were assured by a sign. Let us take warning from the things which brought others to destruction, and let us set our affections on things above, when we consider the changeable nature of earthly things.

Matthew Henry (1662–1714) Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary