Missions Paul

White supremacists advocating a jihad in the name of Christ didn’t end in the 13^th century. Using passages like the one we will read right now and preparing for a literal Armageddon which is not going to take place the modern day crusader is still at large.

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but He himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron sceptre.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

King of kings and lord of lords.

(Revelation 19 v 11-16)

The Christian crusades of killing Muslim and Jewish people including women and children were as evil as the fanatical militants are today.

The crusade is the cross and the cross of Christ was enough.

What we have read is as symbolic as the image of the dragon with his 7 heads and the beast coming out of the sea. It is not a proof text to take up the sword against anyone. The symbolism draws from Isaiah 11 and 63 and Psalm 2.

What we know now from Revelation is that Jesus does have weapons and they are his own sacrificial blood and the Word of God.

What we know now from Revelation is that heaven’s door keeps opening and throughout the vision Jesus keeps being revealed. In fact this is the Revelation of Jesus and from Jesus.

It is all about Jesus. Christmas is about Jesus. The New Year is about Jesus. Every day and every moment is about Jesus.

Here He comes. On a horse which is a sign of war and He comes to wage war but not as we know it. It is not the final battle for that has already happened on the cross. This is not a crusade. This is to deal with the dragon and the 2 beasts. This is a ride of declaration and of victory.

Let us unpack this briefly.

• He is Faithful and True. John has already written (1:5) that Jesus is the ‘Faithful Witness’. He represents God the Father to the world and as the witness he knows what it is to suffer. He is the perfect model for martyrdom. No matter how dark or difficult your road you are walking in His steps who has gone before you.
• He has eyes of blazing fire. Not only are they pure but they see into the soul of anything and judges them with purifying fire. “Purify my heart, let me be as gold and precious silver.”
• He has many crowns. The dragon only has 7 and the beast of the sea has only 10 crowns on 7 heads. That may look complete. But Jesus has many crowns. It is hard to count there are so many! What the enemy purposes for evil Jesus turns it for good because He always has more authority over the situation of your life than the dragon.
• He has a name that no one knows. There isn’t anyone in creation that truly knows or can control Him by knowing Him. No matter if you have served Jesus for all of your life there is still more to know. Today you can pursue Him with a first love because you don’t know Him fully.
• His robe is stained with His own blood. The blood is the sign of victory. He has been treading the winepress of God’s wrath. Where? On the cross. There is no battle for He has already battled and won. Your sin has been dealt with. Your judgment has been taken away. The wrath of God has been peacefully met.
• The armies with him are dressed in linen. Again another proof there is no battle for they are not dressed for it. The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world.
• He is the Word of God. Surely John is remembering what he wrote in his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” (John 1: 1-2) Jesus is not only the reason for the season, He is the reason for life. Jesus is not only the true meaning behind Christmas, He is the true meaning to everything of your life.
• He is above every other name. The Caesars would be called king of kings and lord of lords but He is the real King and the real Lord. Bow before Him now and make Him so.

Are their idols in the church?

Is it possible that the pews can get so enamoured by the pulpit that worship begins to be slightly distracted from the right person?

If it could happen to John it can happen to us.

“Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” (Revelation 19 v 9-10)

John fell down to worship the angel because the powerful communicator of the gospel and the declarer of the truth given by God can be so mesmerising that we lose sight that this being is only a created one.

The angel reveals what all communicators for God should note: true prophecy keeps Jesus in the right place which is the highest place for that is the true test of the Spirit of prophecy.

Write this John. That was the instruction even though John has already been told to do so right at the beginning of this vision. The point is made. Get this down John. This is important. They need to know this truth.

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. ⁸ Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) ⁹ Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19 v 7-9)

Why should John be told to write this?

It is because the only thing that matters in all of history and the entirety of your life is this: to know Jesus loves you.

That is all. Do you know you are perfectly loved by Jesus? What good is it if you achieve everything in this world and have so many friends but you do not fully know His love for you? Before you do anything today. As you wake from your sleep. Jesus loves you. How would you go into your today if you truly knew this? If you knew for certain that in a few days you would be with the person who loved you, how would these next few days be lived? How much more in waiting for Jesus? Dressing to impress in order to be loved is not the same as dressing for the one you know is in love with you.

Jesus loves you as a bridegroom does a bride. Can you imagine that day when you will see Jesus face to face?

Jesus’ love for you cost Him his blood (it is the wedding of the Lamb). Our ‘clothes’ are clean only because His clothes are bloodied. Can there be any greater love than dying for another?

Jesus’ love for you carries an eager expectation that this engagement will soon turn into a marriage. Can you imagine permanently living in the presence of Jesus with no distractions and disappointments, no trials nor temptations?

How? How is it possible to do enough righteous acts that we are then worthy of an invitation? In Islam your good deeds have to outweigh your bad ones and the problem is a Muslim never knows how the weighing scales are balanced. But ‘the true words of God’ (v9) are founded on the love of Jesus.

It is the righteous act of Jesus that clothed us with grace and opened up the opportunity of us becoming like Him. Our righteous acts stem from one righteous act. How did He do this?

Love!

It is with a sigh of relief that the Great Whore of Babylon is dead! I woke this morning happy knowing I will be meditating on happier things, Hallelujah!

Okay so the dragon (Satan) and the sea beast (Anti-Christ, blasphemous regimes) and the earth beast (prophetic religious deception) are still alive and will appear again soon. But the Great Whore of Babylon (the spirit of the corrupt world) is dead! Hallelujah!

So back to the title: how amazing that this word only appears in the passage we are going to read in the whole of the New Testament!

“After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.” The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!” Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!” Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. (Revelation 19 v 1-6)

That’s it. Hallelujah!

Not everyone mourns the loss of the world’s corrupt system and complete meltdown of its economy and structures as we know it! Heaven rejoices! We will shout Hallelujah! Babylon will be smoking for ever and ever meaning she is finished, never to return, final, this is not a temporary defeat; it is permanent. Everyone, the whole of the martyred family (that is God’s family for we are all one) from every class and distinction (both great and small) will be shouting this word!

‘Praise to YHWH’ is more than an expressive praise word. It is a declaration.

The Hallel Psalms (Psalms 113-118: ‘You Praise’ Psalms) were sung by Jesus and his disciples at the Passover meal as they celebrated God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt. Since the Exodus they also became prophetic that one day God would deliver them again but this time from Babylon.

This is why we have to wait till the end-time vision of John to read the word, Hallelujah!

The Great Whore of Babylon is gone, Hallelujah!

We no longer eat the Passover meal.

There is a new meal about to be served … Hallelujah!

The great city of Babylon … never to be found again.

Music … will never be heard in you again.

The sound of work … will never be found in you again.

Light … will never shine in you again.

Joy of relationships … will never be heard in you again.

 “Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. ²² The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
²³ The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. ²⁴ In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.” (Revelation 18 v 21-24)

Silence and darkness.

No one will be around to listen to the absolute silence. No one will be trying to see through the darkness. It will be over.

It will be complete desolation.

It will be nothing.

A void.

Like the moment before creation when out of the chaos God began to create.

Perhaps that is the point … !

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Maybe this weekend you will be attending carol services where pretty angels will dance and wave their arms in the air and you will be happy that your little one played such an amazing part. Beautiful that is not all the angels are involved in beautiful activity!

We have come across several angels in the Revelation. Here we have a mighty angel who carries out another play but this time of Biblical judgment. Remember what Jesus said of our abuse of children? “It would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18 v 6) Also in Jeremiah 51:63-64 he prophesies of Babylon falling: “When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’” Here comes the final act towards the life which is outside of God:-

“Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. ²² The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
²³ The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. ²⁴ In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.” (Revelation 18 v 21-24)

What does this look like? Catastrophe of a proportion so big it destroys everthing!

In September 2008 the Wall Street Investment Banker, Lehman Brothers, collapsed. It led to the global financial crisis we had not seen before. The US debts totalled $619 billion. That is a hard figure to compute! I read yesterday that there are severe warnings of a global collapse which would make the 2008 debt sit at just 1% of what will happen with a staggering $80 trillion at stake!

There seems to be a cry from many quarters saying this world cannot carry on at the pace it is doing. This year, 2022, the 3 major crises endangering the Earth according to scientists is climate disruption, biodiversity decline and human overconsumption and overpopulation. (https://www.livescience.com/ghastly-future-global-crises.html)

So we see all these warning signs and yet the oldest one is here in these verses. Babylon will be destroyed.

Consider taking all the music and the entertainment from the world.

Consider taking all the employment from the world.

Consider taking food from the world.

Consider taking all light from the world.

Consider taking all joy such as weddings and parties from the world.

Why would God do this?

It is because of the violence towards people, v24. The migrant workers deaths in places such as Qatar, the hangings of protestors such as in Iran, the death camps in places like North Korea, the drownings of the asylum seekers trying to get to the UK, the killings of school children in the US, do we need to go on? Plus all the suffering and martyrdom for Jesus Christ!

Millstones are signs of judgment and God will judge the world for judging one another.

In a final act towards all that we know of this world, here comes an Angel, a mighty one and ends it all.

No matter how much idolatry, extravagance, evil rises in this world … God wins!

No matter how bad, dark, evil, terrible it gets … God wins!

No matter how much pain, suffering, deaths … God wins!

“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.” (Revelation 18 v 20)

We are nearly through the tough stuff of evil. We are nearly there! The Great Whore will be gone forever and into a new chapter we will go and we will see that heaven will just not stop celebrating!

The call is for those who have been sent into the world (the apostles) and those who have spoken God’s Word to a godless society (the prophets). They should rejoice because though they were judged and suffered right up and until Babylon fell they are now seeing their God win!

And because God wins … we win!

Whatever you are going through today and whatever you face remember that as a follower of Jesus it comes to an end. When it does, you win!

It is hard when in the middle of suffering to picture celebration. You may not have had a great life, this world may have been harsh to you and your suffering may be great. ‘People of God and the apostles and the prophets’ these 3 categories, the faithful, the sent, the spokespersons, there will come a day when you will rejoice because it will be a day when you see with your own eyes that God wins! I can only imagine that this rejoicing will overwhelm everything that this world has imposed on you and the judgment you received.

What decisions do you need to make today so that you are not being weighed down by the spirit of this world which tempts you with ‘fruit longed for’, ‘luxury and splendour’, ‘fine linen’, ‘glittering’, ‘great wealth’? Not that these things are wrong in themselves but at the start of John’s vision we saw how some Christians were following not only Jesus but also pursuing emperor worship and banqueting in local temples centred on the imperial cult. Christians who were once sold out for Jesus were now followers of Him plus other things. They did so for gain and for acceptance. Here towards the end of this vision we see what happens to this desire for a freedom that I paint for myself. Commodities whether physical or spiritual can have untold damage on you.

 “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendour have vanished, never to be recovered.’ ¹⁵ The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn ¹⁶ and cry out: “‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! ¹⁷ In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’ “Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. ¹⁸ When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ ¹⁹ They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: “‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!” (Revelation 18 v 14-19)

In this vision of amazing imagery, Babylon is not a city or a prostitute but an ideology that has gripped the world, its governments, commerce and down to the citizen on the street. This may not be a one world-bank or government but it is definitely a system that traps and controls all who are in it.

Can you see this ‘spirit’ during the Christmas period? The advertisements will tempt people to spend on average £430 per person in the UK this year on buying gifts for others.

In a world where people are scrimping on meagre rations others are living a luxurious lifestyle. There are always people with money who want more in order to feel better, look great and be important. But when everything collapses, they are just ordinary human beings.

When Babylon falls along with the kings of the world they will also ‘stand far off’ (v14, 15).

They do nothing to help.

They never really loved the Great Whore.

She used them and they used her. There was never a relationship.

However at the time standing far off will do no good. At the time saying you were never of the world will be useless even if you say it with tears.

Till the very end these people still love only themselves. They are weeping and mourning not for Babylon but for their lives they once had which is no more. Everything is ruined including their lives.

They wail not only for what they have lost but out of fear for their own future. Will they be judged too? Will they be no more also?

They know Babylon will bring them down with her. Even those who are connected to her third-hand will be in fear for their own safety (v17). It is not only those directly connected to Babylon but those who sold their goods to the merchants who benefited from Babylon. There are many caught up with the system.  

That is why John heard the cry to ‘get out’. The question for us is how do we live in this world but not of it?

In 1929 the worst stock market crash happened worldwide and it led to what is known as the Great Depression. Black Monday occurred on the 19^th October 1987 and it marked the biggest single-day decline in the history of stock markets. The most recent stock market crash happened in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Will there be further crashes? Yes and they will be fast and furious. In his vision John sees a final never to be seen before world-wide collapse of stocks, shares and the economies of the world. Everyone will be affected. As long as the core elements of heat, oxygen and fuel are sustained it only takes 30 seconds for a fire to exponentially spread and less than 5 minutes for a house to be consumed. In John’s vision he sees that within just 1 hour Babylon, this false-religious, idol-worshipping, pleasure-seeking city collapses forever. Those nations and governments who invested into her deceptive ways will not be able to do a thing. She will be gone. But there is something hidden within John’s vision that is a stand-out thought of what has actually gone. See if you can see it.

“When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. ¹⁰ Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’ ¹¹ “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore— ¹² cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; ¹³ cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.” (Revelation 18 v 9-13)

In what seems to be every commodity from every nation of the earth impacted by the fall of Babylon we see a most important end also in v13, ‘human beings sold as slaves’.

Will it ever end for the estimated 40.3 million people who live in some form of modern slavery today?

Will it end for the 10 million child-slaves world-wide today?

Will it end for the 4.8 million sexually exploited people?

Will it end for the teenage girl forced to marry because her family cannot survive financially?

Will it end for the homeless man who is kidnapped from the streets of London to be held as a working slave in some dark hidden place?

Will slavery end? John’s vision says it does!

When Babylon falls then not everyone is mourning. There are many mourning today longing for justice and it is coming.

Which city/town or village do you wake up in this morning? This is your place. This is home, right? No!

This is the message of chapter 18.

We may live in this city of Babylon (this false religious, idol-worshipping, pleasure-seeking city) but it isn’t our home. We are here but it isn’t our city. This is not the great ‘eternal city’ (Rome) that John’s readers would know. It fades and it will fade. It dies and it will die. It is being judged and it will be judged.

For there is another city. Therefore:-

Come out!

That’s the call from heaven. The declaration over the false religious and political world system has been made, it is fallen and it is coming to an end. In what seems to be linked to the prophet Jeremiah in 51:7 “‘Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves.” John hears an announcement from heaven:

“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; ⁵ for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. ⁶ Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. ⁷ Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’⁸ Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” (Revelation 18 v 4-8)

The sins of the generations within this city are piled high and God has not forgotten them because there has been no repentance, v5.

Within the cup of this city are not only her own sins but the blood cries of those who have been sinned against and so she will receive a double portion of judgment, v6.

All that she boasted of has come to nothing, the great temptress and her seductions have failed and she will be burned, v7.

Who is behind this judgement? No one but God.

But wait, even in what might appear the last hour, God calls out in mercy again. God who calls ‘my people’ who are ‘not my people’ (Hosea 2:23) does not want anyone to fall within this city. He wants people to be in another better city than Babylon. “Come out my people!”

Is this for us? Is it because of our own compromise? Perhaps.

Maybe it is for those who are still gripped and trapped in Babylon. I would like to think so. As I see churches growing through salvations and baptisms and hear stories of wonderful works of God I understand that though contained in this city, Babylon is emptying, more are leaving for another city. Let us pray and seek to depopulate Babylon whilst we can. Let us keep calling many whilst we have the time.