Turn please to Revelation 18 and 19. We're looking at the end of chapter 18 here and then getting into the beginning of chapter 19. Here we have a little over two chapters on the downfall of Babylon. The righteous rejoice in God's judgments. God's judgments are true. God's judgments are right. And we've been waiting a long time for God's justice, for God's judgments. When something finally comes about after many long years of waiting for it, it's all the sweeter. And when something really, really bad finally comes to its end, there is great rejoicing. Some historical examples from some of our lifetimes. VE Day, the end of World War II, the joy and the celebration when that horrible war came to an end and the evil empire surrendered. Then moving ahead in history to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many of you were alive and remember the joy that was in the world when that separation between the two sides of Germany came to an end and Europe was reunited after years of being apart, the joyous celebration when that evil came to an end. It's the fall of Saddam Hussein when the American troops went in and toppled his evil kingdom, pictured in that symbolic moment of the statue of Saddam coming down there in Iraq. When something really bad finally comes to an end, after we've put up with it for a long time, there's almost an inexpressible joy that comes from relief and from victory. These things are just small examples, small pictures of the ultimate joy that God's people are going to experience when we have the relief from the millennia of Babylon's evil rule. As we turn our attention to Revelation 18, we concluded last week with verse 20, which gives the command, rejoice over her, that is, rejoice over Babylon, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her. And that word judgment continues to be important throughout our passage today, and that's what we're going to be doing. We'll be fulfilling the command of Revelation 18.20. And we as a congregation together are going to rejoice in the judgment of God that is coming. We're going to rejoice with an anticipatory joy of the judgment that is on its way, that is destined, that it is coming. And we have the joy of looking forward to God's just judgment. The other key word in our passage here today is the word hallelujah. Judgment occurs five times, hallelujah occurs four times. And interestingly, this is the only passage in the New Testament that contains the word hallelujah. We have it four times here and it is the ultimate hallelujah as we look at the Hallelujah Chorus here in Revelation 18.21-19.6. As we read the passage, you'll take note that Babylon's sins are again highlighted at the end of chapter 18 and even at the beginning of chapter 19, which then has a detailed pronouncement by an angel of her final judgment at the end of chapter 18, followed by the joy of the saints. The great hallelujah chorus that is sung about in Handel's Messiah, the context for that in scripture is joy in the judgment of God upon Babylon, rejoicing in God's long-awaited final judgment of the city of this world. Before we read the text, let's have a word of prayer. Bow your heads with me. Father, we are gathered together here in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be instructed out of your word. The time in our fellowship this morning that we come to now. Not to hear from a man, but to hear from you. And we ask, Lord God, that your voice would speak clearly. That you would give me a gift of teaching that unfolds the meaning of your words. And that takes those words that are from you, God, and drives them into each one of our hearts. and that those words will go down deep into the soil of our hearts that you have prepared so that it can grow and flourish and that the fruit of faith would be pleasing in your sight with lives that are filled with joy in anticipation of your coming judgment. We pray this for our good and for your glory, amen. Follow along in your Bibles as I read Revelation 18, 21 to chapter 19, verse six. Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more. And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more. And a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more. And the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more. And the light of a lamp will shine in you no more. And the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on earth. After this, I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven crying out, hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just, for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality and has avenged on her the blood of his servants. Once more they cried out, hallelujah, the smoke from her goes up forever and ever. And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne saying, amen, hallelujah. And from the throne came a voice saying, praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great. Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out, hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. How could we ever do justice to this passage this morning? This type of joy, this type of exaltation, this type of praise, it is beyond what we've seen, beyond what we've experienced, beyond what any heart has entered into that is yet mortal. This is a scene in heaven for those who are renewed, for those who are perfected, for those who understand and dwell in the very presence of the Holy God, to be able to rejoice in His just judgments. We are so unworthy of this passage this morning. And yet we'll do our best to enter into that future joy, to be able to understand and to be able to anticipate, to be able to grab hold of a little bit of that joy this morning, even as we are so weak, even as we have such little vision, even as we have such little understanding. God has given us this passage and it is a blessing. Let's take a look first at Babylon's sins in chapter 18, verses 23 to 24, but starting in chapter 19, verse two. Why are we rejoicing in the fall of Babylon? Well, that is only known if we focus once again, as unpleasant as it is, upon the judgment worthiness of this evil city. and all that goes along with that city. Look at chapter 19, verse 2. Notice the statement once again. He has judged the great prostitute. Why? What are her sins? Number one, she corrupted the earth with her immorality. Take a look at Babylon's sins here, focusing on her judgment worthiness, and first of all, her spiritual immorality. Once again, this is her idolatry, characterized as spiritual prostitution, not only in Revelation, but also in the Old Testament prophets, as these passages are still very rich with that Old Testament imagery. Even here, drawing then from the Psalms with that key phrase, hallelujah, But all throughout the book of Revelation it is just infused with scripture, especially here in chapters 18 and 19. The scriptures make clear that idolatry is spiritual unfaithfulness, spiritual immorality to the Lord. And so that once again is highlighted in chapter 19 verse 2. But not only do we have the spiritual immorality highlighted, but also notice in chapter 19, verse 2, the blood of his servants. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants. The blood guiltiness for the martyrs is the persecution that comes from the capital city of the evil empire. In the time that the book was written, it was Rome. But in ancient times, it had been Babylon, it had been Nineveh. The kingdom of the world has hated the kingdom of God. It has hated the people of God and has persecuted them and shed their blood throughout history. And God has been putting up with this for thousands of years. And there's coming a time when God says, no more. You will hurt my people no more. You will attack my bride no more. It's over. That's what this chapter is about. That's what the hallelujahs are about. Babylon is judgment worthy because she has hated God in spiritual prostitution and she has hated God's people to the point of murder. Understand the judgment worthiness of the world and its city. 18 verse 24 had mentioned that in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on earth. So not only God's people, but even beyond that, not only do they persecute the saints, but there is blood on Babylon's hands from all who have been slain on earth. This is reflecting, again, the Old Testament prophets. Jeremiah 51 is about the judgment of God on Babylon. And there you see heaven and earth. Notice how much this passage ties together with our passage. There's so many passages I could pull out, but this one, just really strong connections. Heaven and earth and everything that is in them will shout for joy. That's what we just read, the fourfold hallelujah chorus. Heaven and earth and everything in them shouting for joy over Babylon's downfall. Because the destroyers will come to her from the north, declares the Lord. Babylon must fall for two reasons. For the slain of Israel, just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth. So God's people, Israel, but not only that, the slaying of all of the earth. And that's reflected here in Revelation 18, verse 24. The blood of the saints and all who have been slain on earth. The bloodthirst of Babylon is insatiable, but God is going to bring it to an end. She is judgment-worthy. Hallelujah. Rejoice over the fall of Babylon. The Old Testament language throughout Revelation 17 and 18 tying the fall of Babylon, like Isaiah 13 and 14 and other chapters in Isaiah, with Jeremiah 50 and 51, two very long chapters in Jeremiah about the fall of Babylon, together with God's judgment on the ancient city of Tyre, which was the trade capital of the ancient world on the Mediterranean, and that's in Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 26 and 27, So, just wanted to remind you that the Old Testament and the New Testament are together, there's no difference in God's perspective, there's no difference in the world, there's no difference in God's judgment, and that everything that was written, everything that was anticipated in the Old Testament prophets will be fulfilled, and Revelation puts the final end cap on all of these prophecies. Anything that is left to be fulfilled in any of these prophecies will be fulfilled and that's what the book of Revelation does not only for God's judgment but also for God's salvation and all the wonderful promises to God's people in the Old Testament. So we've looked at the idolatry as judgment worthy, we've looked at the persecution, the bloodshed as being judgment worthy for Babylon. The third thing that is again reiterated and highlighted for us in our text today is in the second part of verse 23. Look at verse 23 in chapter 18 where it says, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth. Focusing again on this pride from their godless materialistic trade. their merchants had become so rich and the city was so wealthy, the whole city is filled with this pride, this presumptuous invulnerability. They think that they are secure because of their great wealth. They think that no one can take them down. They think that they've got everything covered because of their pride from their godless materialistic trade. This is the third judgment-worthy aspect of Babylon. We looked at it last week, and it's also again repeated in our text this week. I don't repeat things just because I feel like repeating them. I repeat them because God's word repeats them, and we want to pay attention to what God highlights as significant through repetition. But this morning, we're going to add a fourth sin that was not mentioned yet in our study of Babylon, and that is her sorceries. I'll get to the sorceries in a moment, but I forgot to mention. This passage from Isaiah 23, verse eight, which talks about the same thing that we see here. Your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and that language is drawn from Isaiah 23, concerning God's judgment on Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth. So God has purposed judgment against Tyre, and historical Tyre was destroyed. Future Babylon is going to have that same spirit, and it's going to be destroyed in the same way. because of this pride that comes from this power, that money is power, and the merchants are even bestowing crowns because they're so wealthy. All right, so remember Francis Schaeffer. Here's another quote on personal peace and affluence that I didn't share with you last week. When personal peace and affluence become the goals of a society, people will trade anything, freedom, morality, truth, for the promise of security. Security, a false security. That's what people are looking for. Security, they'll trade their freedom, they'll trade morality, they'll trade truth, anything so that they can feel secure. And Babylon promises that security. Their merchants are the great ones of the earth, and their wealth is their fortress. And they think, we are going to provide security for the world, personal peace and affluence. Then in that trade, they lose the very things that make them human. Great insight there from Francis Schaeffer in The Previous Generation. But we're gonna add to Babylon's list of judgment worthiness here with sorcery. Notice that at the end of verse 23. All nations were deceived by your sorcery. Occult activity is linked to idolatry. Occult activity is something that has been associated with the city of Babylon, the city of the kingdom of this world, since ancient times. Isaiah primarily is the one who focuses on the sorcery of Babylon. Let me share just one example out of many from Isaiah's book. Isaiah wrote of Babylon, This occult sorcery, the use of enchantments and spells, this was a source of power in the ancient world. that was well-renowned for, was expert in having this as a part of their official religion, part of what was their strength and their boast and why they would say that they had conquered all the other nations. And now God says, oh, you think your sorcery has made you powerful? Try it now. See how well it works for you when I bring your judgment upon you. And that's the same thing here that God is speaking about final Babylon. This is not just an ancient problem, this is a present problem. Have you noticed the increase in the occult in the United States? Have you noticed the interest in sorcery rising among the rich and the powerful in our society? You have people who are openly promoting witchcraft, spells, and enchantment and they're not even hiding it anymore. It used to be behind closed doors in Washington, D.C. and in Hollywood. Now the witches are out in public and they're not even hiding it. Galatians mentions sorcery as a deed of the flesh, right next to idolatry. Following speaks of all the strife and the jealousy and the rivalries and the dissensions and the divisions, and that's what we see in society. There's this sexual immorality, that goes along with sorcery in all the rich and powerful places. And those who are in positions of honor, they think that Satan is real, and they think that Satan is more powerful than God. And they think by trading with Satan in these sorceries and in this occult activity, that they are securing their position and securing their power. And God says, we'll see. We'll see how that's going to work out for you. It's coming. Judgment is coming. The judge is standing right at the door, as James says. Revelation speaks much about sorcery as a sin that the world commits. Revelation 9.21 speaks of how the world did not repent in the midst of God's judgments that are coming. They will not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. Revelation 21 speaks of the lake of fire. Who is going to be in the lake of fire? The cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will be in the lake of fire. Their portion will be there, the second death. And it's repeated in Revelation 22. Who's gonna be outside the city? Who's going to be cast out from God's holy kingdom? the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. Have you heard of spirit cooking? Spirit cooking is an occult practice that has been promoted among the rich and the powerful in the United States. Have you heard of ayahuasca? an Amazonian shamanistic cult that uses drugs in order to enter into trances so that you can get in touch with the spirits in the spiritual realm. These things are being promoted. You can find the YouTube videos of the actors and actresses who've gone down to Brazil and to participate in these shamanistic rituals and to have these spiritual experiences and use the drugs, the sorcery, to get into a trance, to be able to speak with the spirits. This is not Ancient, this is not long forgotten. It is in our midst and it is in the highest places in our country. God is going to judge Babylon for her many sorceries. Do not participate with her. So we see Babylon's sins once again highlighted in our text as we come to the Hallelujah Chorus. And then let's look at chapter 18 verses 21 to 23 on the picture of her final judgment. When something has been established for a long time, as Babylonianism has, and then it finally comes to its end, it's good to be able to have some picture to be able to associate with that. Whether it's the crowds of people celebrating in New York for VE Day, whether it's a statue that is tumbling down, whether it's a sledgehammer going into a wall, it's nice to have some picture to associate with that downfall. And that's what God gives us here in Revelation 18, verses 21 to 23. Here's the mental picture that we are to form, to hold on to, to rejoice in, just like all those other pictures, but this one far greater. This one, the ultimate picture of God's judgment and justice coming. That's what the angel gives to us in Romans 18, 21 to 23. Read it again. Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone. Let's picture it as we go through this, okay? A mighty millstone would have been about three to five feet across. It was a basalt stone and it would be six to 12 inches thick. And that stone that's three to five feet across and six to 12 inches thick would weigh about 2,000 pounds. So I don't have the strength to lift 2,000 pounds and throw it, but this mighty angel does. And he picks up this mighty stone. It's not necessarily a millstone. It just says it's like a millstone to give us kind of the idea of its size and its weight. And these millstones were used in the ancient world in mills where they would grind their flour and their wheat. Those millstones that were the big ones couldn't be turned by hand, they were too heavy. So they'd be turned by a donkey or a mule that would be hooked up to the millstone and turn it so that it ground everything that you put underneath it. So that's the size and the weight of this stone. Guys like throwing rocks into lakes. Have you ever been one of those guys who likes to pick up a big rock and throw it into a lake and see the splash that it makes? Well, apparently God knows we like that, and so he gives us this picture of this mighty angel, you know, he's stronger than Thor, and he goes and he picks up this mighty millstone and he throws it into the ocean. Splash! And it's gone. That's the way God is going to throw down Babylon with violence and she'll be found no more. If you want to get rid of something and never find it again, throw it into the ocean. That's what God is going to do. Take Babylon, throw her into the ocean, metaphorically speaking. Literally she burns, but the picture here is very quick disappearance and final disappearance. Very quick and final, that's the judgment of Babylon. And then the angel goes on and taunts Babylon with the loss of every good thing that God has allowed her in his extreme patience to enjoy for so long. What kinds of things are gonna be gone forever from Babylon? Well, the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard in you no more. Nor any craftsman will be found in the city. The sound of the mill, because millstones are kind of on our mind, they're not gonna hear the sound of the mill anymore. The light of a lamp will shine in you no more. The voice of the bridegroom and the bride will be heard in you no more. Music is God's gift. Babylon has used it for immorality. The skill of the craftsman is God's gift. She has used it to make idols. The food production that we enjoy, it's God's gift, but she has not thanked him, she has thanked her idols. The light that God gives is his gift, but she uses it to plot evil. The joy of the wedding reflects God's love, but she has twisted love to serve abominable idolatries. All that God has given to mankind in his love, she has used against him, but no more. No more and never again. That's the joy of Revelation chapter 19. Jeremiah 51. At the end of the two chapters in the Old Testament on Babylon being thrown and cast into the sea, We have the same thing. The judgment of God on Babylon in Jeremiah ends the same way that the judgment of God on Babylon ends in Revelation. Because there it says, Well, a greater picture, a greater fulfillment of that same metaphor here in Revelation 18. That then brings us to Revelation 19 and the joy of the saints, the fourfold hallelujah that we have in Revelation 19, 1 through 6. As we get back into Revelation 19, 1 through 6, I want to remind you of the proverb that we looked at last week, Proverbs 21, 15. When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but terror to evildoers. Justice is coming. It will be a joy to the righteous. That's our focus here in Revelation 19, one through six. Let's take a closer look at the fourfold hallelujah. The first one. Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Let's take a moment to think about the salvation, the glory, and the power of our God. The salvation of our God is what the psalmist and all the saints have been longing for from the very first murder of God's child when Cain slew Abel up until the very last martyr in the Great Tribulation They will be looking forward to the salvation of God. God save us from the hand of our enemies. Save us from those who hate us. Save us from those who want to destroy us. Save us from those who hate you. The salvation of God is not just forgiveness of sins, as essential as that is, as foundational as that is, but our salvation also involves being saved from the evil one who hates us and who persecutes us through his instruments. through the beast and through Babylon. Salvation. That's what we are celebrating. Salvation from the hand of those who hate us and hate our God. Those who are opposed to God's family. And the glory. The glory is the honor, the fame, the renown, the acclaim that goes to God that belongs to him in his victory over his enemies. God's salvation over his enemies, God's glory in that victory, and the power that he demonstrates in that. His dynamic ruling authority, that is the power of our God. The power of Babylon, the power of Satan, the power of evil, the power of deception is nothing compared to the power of God, which is the power of goodness, the power of truth, the power of righteousness. Those who are in the world are deceived and they think that Satan is more powerful than God because they see we're here, we're on top of the world and you Christians, you're just always getting trampled upon. Your God is weak, our God is strong. Salvation, glory, power, it belongs to God. You will see and you will rejoice when it happens. For he has judged the great prostitute and he has avenged the blood of his servants. Turn back to Revelation 6 verse 10. Revelation chapter 6 verse 10. The blood of the martyrs has been a constant theme throughout our study of Revelation. Revelation 6 10 is early on in the book with the opening of the fifth seal in verse nine. And when the fifth seal is opened, John saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long? The cry of the psalmist, the cry of the saint, how long, O Lord, will you allow the wicked to continue to have victory, to trample on the righteous? How long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? And then we come to Revelation 19. And he has avenged on her the blood of his saints. And what is the cry, what is the response? Hallelujah. Hallelujah is a transliteration of the Hebrew. Comes straight from the Hebrew into the Greek, and now we've transliterated it into the English. And it means praise to God. Hallel is praise. Yah is an abbreviation of the name of God in the Old Testament. Praise to God. Hallelujah. Why? Because he has avenged on her the blood of his servants. Fulfilling that longing for justice, that longing for righteousness that has been in the heart of God's people ever since sin entered into the world and murder along with it. All throughout the book of Revelation, we have the anticipation of this moment. Turn back to chapter 12 verse 10. Revelation 12.10. Revelation is a book of praises for the judgment of God. And we see here in Revelation 12.10, the first, well not the first, but the first one that I'm drawing your attention to here, of that joy in heaven. I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God have come, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God, and it goes on. that joy in the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, that anticipation of it coming and being established. Look at chapter 15, verse three. In this heavenly vision, there's the sea of glass mingled with fire in verse two. And then in verse three, the song of Moses is sung, and the song of the Lamb saying, Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you for your righteous acts have been revealed. Are you tired of the nations not honoring God? Are you tired of the nations blaspheming his name? Are you tired of the nations lying about him constantly? I am. Are you gonna rejoice when it's over and you never have to hear another lie about God ever in the world again? Yes, I'm gonna rejoice in that. Be still. and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. Don't worry. God's got it under control. He's not worried. You shouldn't be worried. You are on the right side of history, as the enemy likes to boast about themselves. They will not be on the right side of history. History is determined by Jesus Christ. His coming, as Dan said earlier, split history. And His coming again is what history is all about. That's the goal of history. You want to be on the right side of His second coming. That's the side of history you want to be on. Great and amazing are his deeds, just and true. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? When his righteous judgments are revealed, there will not be one person left who does not know the power and the glory and the salvation of God. There will not be one person left who denies that the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. There will be no unbelief left. Just because there'll be no unbelief left doesn't mean everyone will be saved. Just be clear on that point. People in hell will know who put them there. Chapter 16, verse seven. Do you catch that? Over and over again. Just and true. True and just are your judgments. That's what we are to rejoice in. Come back to Revelation 19. The call goes out from the throne in verse five of chapter 19. And the answer to that call is in verse six. And it's all leading up to verse six. But. Notice what it says in verse 5 about us. We are God's servants. We are those who fear him. Whether we are small in this world or whether we are great in this world, there's an equality that we all have. That we're all a part of God's household. were all a part of God's service. That word servant is the ancient word doulos, which references someone who would be a slave in someone else's household. Now, when we think of slavery, we often think of American slavery, where you've got slaves out in the field working, and they've got no relationship to their master, and their master doesn't care anything about them, and it's horrible. But I want to give you a little different picture of slavery, because when this was written, It wasn't written in 18th century America. It was written in 1st century Rome. And sure, there was bad slavery back then too, but there were also slaves who were loved by their masters and who loved their master in return. There were slaves who were a part of a large estate, a large household. You'd have some large estates, whether it's a senator or a Caesar or somebody of great wealth, they would have thousands of slaves living there with them. They live in the house of the master. They eat at the table of the master, some of them. They know them, they're trusted, they're honored, they educate their children. That's the kind of slave that we are in God's household. He owns us, we belong to him, we are not our own. His blood has purchased us. But he loves us as a child. He's adopted us into his family. As the Old Testament says, a slave who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamelessly. And we are those slaves who act wisely. We are those slaves who have been adopted. But don't forget that we are in his household. It's not our household. So many times Christians get the idea that we have our own little kingdom, we have our own little household, and we ask God to come and bless it. And God comes and he blesses our little household, our little kingdom. No, no, no, that's not the picture scripture gives. We are a part of God's household, and we are there to do his will. We are there for his honor, for his glory, to serve him, to honor him, because he has loved us, he has saved our lives, and he's drawn us to him with cords of unbreakable affection. And what a privilege to be a servant in God's house, whatever position he gives you, whatever role you have in that household. I would rather be a doorman in God's house than to be king of Iraq. We are his servants and we praise him and we fear him. We respect him, we honor him, we do his will, we recognize his authority. He is not here at our beck and call, we are here at his beck and call. And even when we do everything that God has required of us, we don't get proud and boastful, we say, I'm only an unworthy servant, I'm just doing the things that are right for me to have done. Okay, so let's keep that proper perspective on God and our position, our relationship to God. We are his servants, we fear him, and we praise him. That brings us to the great hallelujah in verse six. Can you hear it? Can you anticipate it? I know you can't. I know I can't. who could possibly imagine what this is going to be like when all of God's servants, the angels, the redeemed, those from the Old Testament, those from the New Testament, those who've gone through the Great Tribulation, the apostles from the first century, the one who is unknown in church history but is great in God's sight that has never been written about but God wrote down all of his deeds in his book, and you get all those people together as a great multitude and they see the judgment of God coming down upon Babylon never to rise again. and it's going to be replaced by the kingdom of our God and of his Christ forever and ever, the joy of that moment. You'll be there, and you will sing out, hallelujah, for the Lord, our God, the Almighty reigns. We need more songs about this. The Hallelujah Chorus is written about Babylon's judgment. Where are the songs in here about Babylon's judgment? I bet they've been written. We might have to go back and find them and put them back in. Somehow, Christians have gotten this idea that we're too loving to rejoice in the downfall of Babylon. We're too humble, we're too gracious to take joy in the destruction of the kingdom of this world. I don't know how that idea ever became popular. Read the book of Psalms, read the book of Revelation. Are you too loving to rejoice in God's judgment? Then your problem isn't that you're too loving, the problem is you don't love God like you should. and you don't love righteousness like you should, and you probably have too much love of the world in you, and you think you're too loving to rejoice in the downfall of the kingdom of this world, but what it's really true is you're just too much a part of this world to rejoice in its downfall. Proverbs 8, verse 13. The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. Don't try to be more loving than God. That's an impossibility. Guard your heart from the love of the world. Now taking joy in the sorrow of others is not what this is about. We're not taking joy in the sorrow of others. We're not filling up our leftist tears mug. Now we're taking joy in the downfall of evil. That's what we're taking joy in. The end of its corrupting influence. That is the virtue of Revelation 19. So let's do that. Let's praise him. Let's praise him for his coming victory over Babylon. Whether you're small or whether you're great, you are a servant in God's household. Anticipate the victory of God's household over the enemy. This day, Let us praise God in anticipation. The end of Babylon and all of her abominations. The end of exorbitant salaries for Planned Parenthood CEOs. The end of child mutilation by the transgender cult. The end of war profiteering. The end of rigged elections and subtle theft from the public purse. The end of lying studies that make pharmaceutical companies rich. The end of gilded altars in spiritually dead churches. The end of the kingdom of the cults, Mormonism, Islam, and the like. The end of every pornography website. The end of human trafficking and drug trafficking. The complete end of every lying media outlet. The end of everything that God hates and that Babylon stands for and promotes in her spiritual harlotry. That's what we rejoice in. No longer will folly sit in many exalted places while truth goes begging through the streets. All that is hateful in this world will come to an end. This is our Father's world. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Father, you are the one who has taken us out of the kingdom of this world and transferred us by the blood of Jesus Christ into the kingdom of your Son. You're the one who has broken our slavery to sin and all of its shame and have drawn us, called us your friends as we serve you as unworthy slaves in your household. You're the one who has redeemed mankind and is redeeming mankind in this day of grace. You're the one who waits patiently as Babylon continues to rage against you and your children and all the Babylonianism that is spread throughout every country in this world. You're the one that she hates. You're the one that she blasphemes. You're the one that she lies against. And you're the one who will destroy her at the right time in the perfect way, vindicating your justice, redeeming your people, taking away all of her power to hurt and to corrupt forever and ever. And as we look around at the Babylonianism that surrounds us and our souls are so tired and weary of it, we rejoice in anticipation as our heart is filled with faith by your Holy Spirit that we know, we know how it's going to end. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for drawing us out of this world. Thank you for giving us opportunity to be your ambassadors to a world that is still lost in sin. and that today, men, women, and children can hear the good news of Jesus Christ and be saved from this wicked and perverse generation. Thank you for making us a part of your evangelistic army, making us a light that is shining in a dark place. Shine, Jesus. Shine through us. Amen.