In the Word

Pastor Mike Warren: Turn to Revelation. We're finally coming to the final judgment of the false religious system and that which has corrupted this world materialistically. We're coming to that, and then as we go into chapter 19—and we will be going into chapter 19, I don't care if I have to keep you here a little longer because I don't want to leave you in that scene where this world is being judged—I want you to see the response.

There is a response that we should have, we who don't love this world but are looking for that which is to come. But if you're a note-taker, listen, as we go through chapter 18, there's a warning, there's an exhortation, and it is a strong exhortation this morning. We want to take a look at it because I believe with all my heart it's an exhortation for the time that we're living in. I believe with all my heart, as been a Christian for 50 years, been a student of prophecy, serious student of prophecy for 40 years, that I am convinced from the scripture that we're living in the final moments.

And what we're reading about this morning, what we're going to be studying, could take place seven years from now. We could leave today, and at the end of the seven-year tribulation, we could return with Christ to set up His reign, which will be no end. How many are ready for that? How many are just tired of the governments of this world and the confusion and the frustration and just all of this stuff?

I don't know about you, but I'm not looking forward to $6-$7 gallon gas in California. The refineries are leaving. But you what? The Lord will make a way. But here's my exhortation: You keep your heart humble, walk in the spirit, obey the truth. We're speeding to the finish line.

Father, thank You this morning for Your word. Thank You that from Your word, we understand that there is going to be a day. We hear a lot of talk about draining the swamp. But there's going to be a day where You're going to judge the rebellion and the stubbornness and the wickedness of man. And You're going to usher in Your kingdom, wherein righteousness will be the order of the day, where there will be finally peace and rest.

And men will learn war no more because it won't be in their hearts. They'll beat their weapons into plowshares. And so, Father, we long for that day. The word says that we, with all creation, we groan. And we are groaning. There is a deep sense in us that we groan, waiting, waiting, earnestly waiting and anticipating just for that moment when the final act of salvation for this planet will take place. You've been at it for 6,000 years now, from the fall of man in the garden until today, when You will come and set up Your kingdom.

And so, Father, may we hear this exhortation this morning. It's a very serious one. And may we absorb it in its entirety, and may Your Spirit help us to be obedient to it. And we pray these things this morning in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, those of you that are note-takers, we are in that parenthetical pause where, back in chapter 14, if you remember verse 8, I believe it was, that Babylon, this false religious system that has corrupted the whole world. In fact, there, John was told by Jesus that it's caused the whole world to drink of the fornication of this seductive, false religious system, false material system, just false concept of what this life is all about.

It was judged in chapter 14. Again, He repeats it in chapter 16, I think it's verse 17. But now, as we come into chapters 17 and 18, we have that parenthetical pause where we're actually seeing as the Lord is explaining to John to write to us what this is going to look like. And if you remember last week in chapter 17, the spiritual side of it was judged. God calls this false religious system that has corrupted the world and led people away from salvation in Christ and Christ only into this kind of a religious system, 4,200 religions in the world.

4,200 religions that deny the blood of Jesus Christ and repentance and His substitutionary death on Calvary's cross. 4,200 religious systems that are the spirit of antichrist instead of Christ, leading people to believe in a system that cannot bring salvation. That's why Jesus there in Jerusalem cried out with a great voice, "I am." And by the way, that's the statement that He is God. "I am the only way." It's in the emphatic in the Greek. "I am the only way. I am the only truth, and I am the only life. No man can go to the Father. There's only one way to heaven, and it's through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ."

But we have this system today that has corrupted it, even in what we would call evangelicalism. There is this system that is corrupted where people are resting upon their works. They're adding, like you have to be baptized in water to be saved. Listen, if the blood of Jesus Christ is not sufficient and you think you can add something to that, that's a lie from the pit of hell. Because we could do nothing about our condition. That's the truth of it.

And that God promised back after the fall of man that He would send His Son. He would crush the head of the serpent and bruise His heel in the process, but He would redeem us from the seed of the woman. And so this morning, we in this church, we believe that man is sinful. We believe that man, as King David said, is conceived in sin, born into transgression. We believe that we come into this world with a fallen nature. We believe we come into this world corrupt.

We believe that we come into this world—and I know it's kind of depressing—we're going to study Romans when we finish Jeremiah on Wednesday nights, and the first four chapters of Romans, Paul paints the condition of the human race as it comes into this world until it's born again of the Spirit. But we come into this world messed up. Would you agree? Can I get an amen?

And then we come in with a sin nature, and we prove it by the choices we make. We come in and we're stubborn, we're prideful, we're rebellious, as we're going to see this morning. And what we do is we live after the carnal part of our being and not the spirit part, because the spirit is dead. And we live for the world and not for the kingdom that is to come.

And so God the Father sent the eternal Word, His Son, to take on human form, conceived of the Spirit, born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life. He died a substitutionary death on Calvary's cross. He rose again the third day. He ascended to the Father. He offered His blood in the tabernacle that was in heaven. And those who put their faith in that are born of the Spirit, regenerated of the Spirit, washed in the blood, forgiven, and their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

So that when God judges this world, He's going to open that book, and if your name is there, listen, you're in. You're saved. You're forgiven, past, present, and future. You have access into the kingdom. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so He calls this false religious system "the great whore." Isn't it amazing how God views it? The great whore that rides upon the beast.

And we know the beast is Satan. The antichrist is a man possessed of Satan. And we know that there is the false prophet. We saw them judged, as it were, in chapter 17. And so the false religious systems of this world one day are going to be judged. They're going to be judged.

But now as he moves into chapter 18, he's going to talk about how that false religious system literally has corrupted the whole world. The physical, material, carnal world is corrupted by this corrupt spiritual system. That's why we read in the Bible that all creation groans because it affected everything. The fall affected everything. All creation groans waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God when Jesus returns to take His bride home and sets things right.

There's a day coming when things are going to be set right. Can I get an amen? So as we come into chapter 18, there is a warning in the middle of this. And I want you to take the most earnest heed to it because you cannot be a part of this world and part of the kingdom. You have to choose. You can't serve two masters. You can't serve the Lord Jesus Christ and Mammon, which is the materialism of this world—money, possessions, things.

Paul would say to us that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. And those who pursue that, they pursue the things of this world instead of the things of the Lord, they pierce themselves through with many hurts and they shipwreck their faith. Jesus warned the nation of Israel. He said, "Listen, I'm delivering you from Egypt," which is a type of the world, no doubt. Pharaoh was a type of Satan. I'm delivering you from the world. Moses was a type of Christ. He took them out through signs and wonders miraculously.

The going through the Red Sea was a type of water baptism. Feeding them the manna was a type of the Word that comes down from heaven. And then when He takes them to the very edge of the promised land, He warns them. And this is our warning this morning. He warned them, "When you now crossover into the promised land, into that full walk of the Spirit, you need to beware. When you have eaten from vineyards and orchards you didn't plant, when you drink from wells you did not dig, when you live in houses you did not build, beware lest you forget the Lord your God who gave you those things."

There's something about our carnal nature that is so easily seduced, so easily deceived by the things of this world. As though the things of this world are what is real. And then somehow we're deceived by the wicked one to think that the things of the Spirit are ethereal. There's something kind of like a concept that's out there, smoke and mirrors. No, listen, the real is the spirit realm. The real is our spirit life.

The real is the kingdom that is to come. The real is heaven. The real is our Father's house. This is smoke and mirrors. And you have to choose who you're going to live for. Joshua said it to the nation of Israel: "Choose you this day whom you're going to serve." Moses chose. We read it there in Hebrews chapter 11. He said when he became of age, when he matured, when he was able to make a decision, he chose the suffering of reproach with God's people over the pleasures of sin for a season. He made a choice.

I made a choice 50 years ago. I made a choice whom I'm going to serve. I made a choice what my ambition in this life would be. I made a choice what direction I was going to go. I made a choice of what voice I was going to hear. I made a choice of who I was going to be obedient to. I made a choice of what was going to be the standard for my life. I made a choice. And I'm not saying that those choices are hard to keep, but they have eternal benefits.

And this is what Jesus is going to say through John as we come to chapter 18. Listen to what He says as we begin these verses. "And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven having great power, and the earth was lighted with his glory." Man, I've been thinking about this all week. What is it going to be like that moment when the final moment comes and the systems of this world come under the authority of Christ, of our King, of our God, of our Lord?

And as He sends these angelic hosts, as we've been studying through Revelation, these angels are busy people. You see them doing all this stuff. They're warning, they're talking, they're doing. And so this angel comes out and he's making a declaration. This is it. This is the inauguration. Trump bragged about how many people showed up at his inauguration. This is the angel coming down from heaven and saying, "This is it. The King of Glory is about to show up in chapter 19, and those that have chosen to be with Him are going to arrive with Him. That's us. And we're going to set things right."

Listen to what he says: "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.'" It fell spiritually, and it has fallen carnally or physically or materially. Look around in this world system, the corruption. Do you know why this world is so corrupt? Have you ever thought about it? What did Jesus call the church to be? Were we to become like the world so that the world would be able to come into the church and feel comfortable? I'm asking a question. I want you to put your thinking cap on this morning.

When we study not eschatology but ecclesiology, what the church's purpose is, what is the purpose of the church? Why when we got saved did Jesus leave us here and not just take us home? I've asked that question. And He answers it. He says, "Because you are the light of the world. You expose darkness. You are the salt of the earth. You stop the putrefying effect of this world." But then He gave us a warning. He said, "But if your salt has lost its savor, its saltiness."

Do you know how salt loses its savor? It becomes diluted, watered down. And when it becomes watered down, it becomes of no effect because all of the saltiness is centered around an alkali molecule. And so when the saltiness is gone, alkali is only good to kill grass. It kills instead of preserves. And you cast it out under the feet of man and they trample it. The reason why the world is in the condition that it is is because the church is in the condition it is.

Because the church today, the modern church thinks if you conform to the world, then you become palatable to the world and they can come in and somehow—and I've heard this said before—you church the unchurched. We are never called to church the unchurched. We're called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're called to preach repentance unto salvation. We're called to tell people you need to surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. We're here to convert souls to the kingdom of heaven.

We're not here to appease you. We're here to warn you. We're here to be salt and light. We're here to tell this world, "Listen, the King is coming. His kingdom will arrive." You need to choose what master you're going to serve. You're either going to serve the god of this world or you're going to serve the true and living God. You need to make a choice. And that choice will cost you. And you've got to be willing to pay the cost that comes along with that choice.

But I will tell you this, I promise you, seek me out in heaven. I promise you, you will never come and tell me when we get on the other side, "You know Mike, you told us to surrender our lives to Christ and to walk in obedience and how hard it would be," and you will not come to me and say, "it's not worth it. It was just too hard. I'm getting here. I'm disappointed." Really? Are you kidding me? When you get there, you're going to fall on your face, you're going to kiss the streets of heaven because for all time and eternity you get to walk them.

You get to be in your Father's house. This is not real, guys. And this is why He's judging it, because the devil through his deception, religious deception, has made it about this. We're just passing through. We're just passing through. We're just passing through. We're just passing through. And you know what? Can let you in a little secret? Our journey is almost over. I can see the Emerald City. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! There's a lot of that going on, isn't there?

But we're almost home. And so he says, this angel came down and he said, "Babylon spiritually, Babylon materialistically, has fallen." And I'll make my point reason why he has to do with the materialistic part of this. You know that Paul said we should touch this world just as lightly as possible, seeing that the present scheme of things is rapidly passing away. We're only guaranteed to be here 70 years. How many are in overtime? More than two minutes overtime. I'm getting close. This November I'll be 69.

And so he says, listen, it's become a habitation of devils and a hold of every—would you agree with this foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird? For all nations. I have people say, "Well, I'm going to leave California. I'm going to move somewhere." Listen, this problem is not a California problem. I will say it's probably worse here than most places because our governor just open about it. But the world is corrupt.

Where are you going to go? For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her, this false religious system's fornication. And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her—your old King James says delicacies, it's really luxuries. It's living an opulent life. Living for the moment. Living for the world. Living for the things you can acquire. Living and expecting the things of this world to satisfy you.

Can I offer you a statement this morning? If you are seeking the things of this world to satisfy you, it is a form of idolatry. It is a form of idolatry. Now, do we thank the Lord for His many blessings that He bestows upon us daily? Absolutely. I thank God for the house that He provided me and the wife that He gave me. And He gave me her. She had no choice in the matter. She probably wished she did, but she didn't. God gave her to me.

The position in life that He gave me. I'm a blessed man. I'll be 69 and I'm healthy. I think I can still do this till the Lord comes. Every aspect of my life is blessed. But my gratitude is to the One who gave me those things. Blessed be His name. And if He took them all away, I would still do it. Because my peace, my comfort, my satisfaction, my sense of security doesn't come from what I have or my position in this life. It comes from my relationship with the One who loves me, who saved me, who said, "One day I'm coming back for you and I'm going to take you home."

And by the way, when we get home we'll travel the speed of light or thought, and so there won't be any more gas prices. There won't be any more insurance because nothing goes from a better state to a worse state. She won't need fire insurance. You're not going to have a mortgage and you're going to live in a mansion. You're not going to have to buy healthcare because you're never going to grow old, you're never going to die. I think when we get to heaven we're going to be around 30 years old.

I actually like to back it up a little bit. I'd like to be around 20. I remember when I was 20, I could go bear hunting with a switch when I was 20. Now it's lucky if I get out of bed without a snap, crackle, pop. Rice Krispies meets me every morning at snap, crackle, and pop. And I literally got to roll my legs out and wait until the balance comes and the dizziness goes away. Some of you can relate before you get up and get moving.

Listen, it's going to get better. So he tells us here, listen, it's not about this world. And then he says this in verse 4. Watch what he says. This is the point of chapter 18. This is the main—in fact, this is the only point of chapter 18. Because He's telling us that this false religious system, again, we're warned in the scripture, it says there are those today that have a form of godliness but deny the power of the blood of Jesus Christ to change their life. We're told from such withdraw ourselves.

We're not to be a part of the false religious system. You see, we are those who believe that there's nothing we could have done about our condition. That we are born of the Spirit. That Jesus did it all. To God be the glory, great things He has done. Would you agree with me this morning? You're here saved, your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, not because of anything you did. In fact, the Bible says when you were dead—can dead men do anything about their condition?

Listen to me, when you were dead, when you were dead, you couldn't keep the law. When you were dead, you couldn't get water baptized. When you were dead, what could you do when you were dead? You were dead! When you were dead in your trespass and sins, God sent His Son, the savior of the world, to die in your stead, to wash you in His blood, to regenerate you by His Spirit, to bring you back into relationship with the Father. It always amazes me what people think they have done. Really? You were dead!

Jesus didn't come to make bad people good; He came to make dead people—and I was dead. I was really dead. I wasn't somewhat dead; I wasn't mostly dead; I was completely dead. And I wasn't seeking Him when He found me. But He made a dead man live. He gave me the gift not only of life but eternal life in Christ Jesus. Amen? So all this other stuff that they say... Now watch what He says, and here's the exhortation.

Are you paying attention? Got your notepad out, got your pen ready? "And I heard another voice from heaven." Now, this is not an angel. This is not an angel here. Note, because when they're angels, we're told they're angels. When they're mighty angels, we're told they're mighty angels. When it's Michael the Archangel, we're told when it's him. When it's Gabriel, we're told when it's Gabriel. "I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, that you be not partaker of her sins and that you not receive of her plagues.'"

For her, this false religious system that is pointing people toward a materialistic, carnal nature and a carnal world, He said, "For her sins have reached." That word "reach" is interesting in the Greek. If you don't mind making a footnote, it means it's stacked up to the point where finally the stack of it has reached Me. We're going to see in a few moments God doesn't measure time by, again, seconds and minutes and hours and days and weeks and months and years. He measures it morally. When man's stench reaches the nostril of God, it demands that a holy God does something about it. Do you think we're living in that time today?

Because that's what He's saying here. When it stacks up, when it reaches My nostrils, He says, then the God of heaven will remember those iniquities. No more grace, no more mercy. This is the final moment. And He will reward them. So let's just back up for a moment to this exhortation. Can I read you a few verses this morning? Because you know what? Because you can't have one foot in the world and one foot in the church. Because if you can't serve two masters, can I make that as clear as I can this morning? You can't. It's an impossibility.

Jesus said it. Because if you're serving one master, then you'll hate the other. Because these two masters that are vying for our attention, the god of this world and the God of heaven, they are diametrically opposed. And if you're going to follow Jesus, if you're going to choose that Master, then what that Master says is you have to take up your cross. "I died for your sins, but now you have to take up your cross. You have to deny yourself. Deny yourself. You have to follow Me. My sheep hear My voice and they follow no other."

But the god of this world says to you, "Come follow me. You can be religious, but you can fornicate, you can commit adultery, you can live for yourself, you can lie, steal, cheat. You can do all of these things. It's fine. You're saved by grace." That's the lie of the false religious system. Because we who are born of the Spirit, we don't want to do those things anymore. How many are agonizing over your flesh this morning? "I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to do those things. I don't want to act that way."

And we're constantly... I'm at a stage in my life where I believe that I sin less and repent more. How many feel like that? It's just getting down to the nitty-gritty where that attitude isn't right. Why did I say that? Why did I think... what is wrong with you? How many times this week did you say to yourself, "Self, what is wrong with you?" You know, you're the only people who can do that as Christians. World can't do that because they're not born of the Spirit. Paul said there are two people occupying this body now.

There's a spirit man and a flesh man, and you can argue with each other. If you see me driving down the road, nobody's in the car with me and I'm in an argument, you see my hands waving, hey, I'm biblical. I'm truly beside myself. I'm telling this flesh, "You ain't doing that, you ain't thinking that, you ain't saying that." And if you did, shame on you, flesh. We've got to go now and repent before our Father. We've got to get it right. So here's the point, guys.

And here's how we know. Here is how we know that we are saved and born of the Spirit and regenerated by the Spirit. Listen to what 2 Corinthians says in chapter 6. We're going to read verses 14 through 18. They'll put them on the screen as well. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." I tell people the people you associate with will have an effect on you. And here we're commanded, "Be careful what company you keep. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?"

Now, I love this point. Because they're opposite. They can't coexist. You can't have darkness in a lit room. Have you ever walked from a lit room that has the lights on, opened the door into a dark room, and darkness came out of the dark room and overtook the light? Has that ever happened to you? If it has, come see me. We need to be doing an exorcism in your home. But light dispels darkness. They are mutually exclusive.

And then he says, "And what concord hath Christ with Belial, the false gods of this world? And what part hath a believer with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" If you're God's people, you seek your strength, your peace, your satisfaction, your joy, everything, every blessing you seek from Him. He is the Father of lights in whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning. And every good and perfect gift comes down from Him. Can I get an amen?

We sang that song this morning: "You're everything that we have need of." When I'm stressed, I don't find my peace in a pill. I don't find it in a bottle. I don't find it in a possession. I don't find it in other people's approval. I find my peace in the presence of the Prince of Peace. He is my peace. And the peace He gives me, the Bible says, is beyond explanation. You can't explain it.

When I'm weak, I find my strength in Him. When I don't know and I lack wisdom, I go to Him and I ask, and He gives it to me liberally. He is and is to be, to everyone that professes His name, He is to be your everything. That's why He says here, "What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God." As God had said, "I will dwell in them." Do you know that when you leave here, this is just an old fire station. There's nothing special about this building. This is not the church. This is the place where the church meets. You're the church.

You are the temple of the living God. Do you understand God lives in you? And when He came in you, He said, "I won't leave." "Well, but my house is a mess." "That's okay. I ain't going nowhere. Where's the vacuum? I'll start cleaning it up." I found out about a vacuum a week ago. And God has said, "I will dwell in them and walk with them, and I will be their God and they shall be My people." Wherefore, here it is again, wherefore, in light of this, "Come out from among them. Be ye separate," saith the Lord.

"Touch not the unclean thing. I will receive you and I will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons and My daughters, says Almighty God." That word "Almighty" or that term is only used 10 times in the Bible. Once here and other times in the book of Revelation. It's where He puts His hand on your life. How many want that? Okay, you know how you get that? Can I tell you how to get that? It's the next verse. 1 John chapter 2.

Let this be a warning to us this morning. Because some of you think that the things of this life are more important than being here on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday night or a Monday night. Some of you think that the pleasures of this life are more important than the preparation of your soul. That's the modern church. Do you understand Barna's research says that the modern church, if somebody attends a service once every six weeks, they consider themselves to be part of the church. Well, you think my wife would consider me to be married to her if I only showed up at my house once every six weeks?

I might be met with some resistance. I don't know what happened to you when you got saved, but when I got saved, I never wanted to miss. I never did miss. In fact, I would go when I was sick. And I would tell the ushers, "Hey, I'm sick and I just want to sit in the back." And so I would slip in. And I'm going to tell you many times I left healed because I had made a commitment because I knew that my brain needed to be washed in the water of the Word, that I needed to be with God's people because something happens when God's people gather and God inhabits their praises and He's there where two or three are gathered.

I knew that the Lord would meet me there. And so 50 years ago I made... People say, "Well, yeah, because you're the pastor." No, listen, I'm a pastor because I was faithful long before I was a pastor. And I'll be faithful long after I can't do this anymore if the Lord tarries. You misunderstand. My identity doesn't come from what I do; it comes from who I am in Christ. And so listen to what He says. And this is in the emphatic. In fact, in the Greek, 1 John should start out by saying, "Stop. Stop loving the world."

Because see, that's what Satan wants you to do. It's a false religious system, and then he wants to connect you with your carnal nature where the carnal nature and pride says, "I've earned a salvation." The carnal nature says it's good. You hear it all day, this "blab it and grab it," this "name it and claim it," this whole movement that's been around for 30 or 40 years where God wants you to be blessed. You should be riding around in private planes. You should be living in mansions that are opulence, opulence.

And yet Jesus said, "Foxes have holes, birds have nests; I don't even have a place to lay My head." So you've got to understand that we're not about this world. And so He says, "Stop loving the world, neither the things that are in this world." And He tells us why: because if any man love the world, if you buy into this world system, if you allow this religious false system to taint you, to buy into the carnal system where you're seeking peace in the possessions instead of in the presence of God, then he has you. He has you.

Because if the love—if any man love the world, the love of the Father—notice carefully me—is not in him. They can't coexist. Because one will take dominance. You know how I start my day every day? My prayer is very simple before even asking for a fresh baptism of the Spirit, before I even ask for more strength and more wisdom. Before I even ask anything from the Father, when I roll my legs out and when I just stop being dizzy for a moment where I think I can get up, this is what I say. I make a statement.

"Father, I choose You. I choose You. Jesus, I choose You to be my Lord and my Savior. Holy Spirit, I choose You to be my strength, my wisdom, and my guide. I choose—this day I choose You." Then I start praying about the Holy Spirit and wisdom and those things, but I make a choice. When I'm out camping sometimes I just feel this come over me where I scream at the top of my lungs, "God, I choose You to be my Father! Jesus, I choose You to be my Lord and my Savior! Holy Spirit, I choose You to be my guide and my strength! I choose You!"

I'm making a statement. I'm making a choice. I choose You! And I choose You in opposite, in an opposition to this world. I don't want anything to do with this world. This world is a plague to me. I feel like sometimes like Lot sitting at the gates of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, just vexed. I say, "How long do I got to be in this pit?"

So he said because they are opposite. Then he goes on to say, "For all that is in this world, the lust of the flesh." Trying to fulfill the desires of the flesh, listen, to try to satisfy the sensation and sensuality of your flesh is a lost cause. Because your flesh can never be satisfied. Lust by its very definition means having everything that you need and still wanting something else. That's idolatry. That's idolatry.

And the lust of the flesh doesn't just necessarily mean sexual lust; it can be lusting after things thinking... there are people who lust after food for some sensation. They lust after drugs, they lust after alcohol. They're trying to feed... the idea is here you're trying to feed the carnal man. And I want to tell you right now, you can pour all you can pour into that carnal man and he will never be satisfied. Because that carnal man is your enemy.

The Spirit wars against the flesh and the flesh against the Spirit. They are contrary. But if you walk in the... if you're born of the Spirit, if you will walk in the Spirit, then you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. Why? Because Jesus will be enough. Jeremiah, speaking for God, said, "You turned your back on Me." This is what God is saying. "When you should have turned your face toward Me." Listen, I'm going to let you in a little secret. How many want to have victory in your Christian living?

How many want to have victory over the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life? It's a simple secret. It's a simple secret. You will never have victory trying to destroy those things in your life, trying to turn away from those things. No, the victory is found when you turn to Jesus. And your relationship with Him is vibrant, it's satisfying, it's real, it's intimate. I find when I'm in those moments, nothing of this world can even tempt me.

"Is that the best you got, Satan? Do you know who I'm with right now? Do you know what I'm experiencing right now? And that's what you come to offer me? Are you kidding me? Seriously?" He says, "For all that is in this world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye—materialism—and the pride of life." See, that's the problem with the religious systems of this world. They stroke your ego. You think about it, because they say you're in control. Your faith will make God do what you want him to do.

I just heard the other day, I watched Smiley on the TV again—I don't know why I torture myself like that—but he said, "Be careful what you say because your words will make you what you are." Your words don't do anything. The Word of God does everything. As though you had creativity in your confession. The only creativity you have in your confession is that I'm a rank sinner and I need a savior. "Jesus, come and help me." That'll get you somewhere. But watch what he says.

All of these things are of the world. And the world—we're reading it—the world is passing away and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of my Father shall abide forever. How many want to abide forever? How many want to go home? How many are willing to walk away from this life and follow Jesus? How many are willing to take up your cross? See, that's what has to happen here. This is why, this is the warning. He's coming to the final moments here.

He said, "It's over! I'm about to destroy the false religious system of this world and the false material systems of this world." And we're going to read quickly through it because I've got to get to at least a couple verses of chapter 19. So but He says, "Listen to My people, you come out from it. You have nothing to do with it." Because they're about to be rewarded. And then the voice says, "Reward them," this probably back to the angel again, "her even as she hath rewarded. Reward her double, double according to her works. Is the cup which she shall be filled? Fill it double. How much she hath glorified herself."

Oh man, psychology has crept into the church—self-esteem. You know, just glorifying pride. It's about me. It's all about me. In fact, it's so much about me, I think I'm going to write a book all about everything by me. Can I break your bubble this morning? It ain't about you. It ain't about you. It's about Him. It's not about what you have done; it's about what He is doing and will do. Because she has said this, "I have glorified myself." And set of coming humbly and broken and contrite before the God of heaven.

"I have lived luxuriously. So much torment and so much sorrow give her, for she saith in her heart, 'I sit as a queen. I'm the captain of my own ship. I'm the master of my own destiny. And I'm no widow. I will never not be in relationship with myself. So and I will never see sorrow.'" See, that's what the world thinks. But watch what it says: "Therefore," in light of her statement, therefore, "shall her plagues come in one day: death and mourning and famine, and shall be utterly burned with fire."

That's how you purge a disease: you burn it with fire. "For strong is the Lord God who judges her." And the kings of the earth have committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her. She shall bewail her, shall lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her torment of her burning. Standing afar off for fear of the torment, saying, "Alas, alas!" See, that's... if God stripped you of everything and you mourn for it, then you're saying this, that that thing meant something to you.

I love... do you know Job is the oldest book of the Bible in chronology? And I love what Job says. "The Lord gives." That's a good thing. "Lord takes away." Sometimes that's a better thing. "But blessed be His name. Blessed be His name." "Alas, alas, this great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour her judgment is come. And the merchants of the earth shall wail, they shall weep, they shall mourn over her, for no man buyeth the merchandise anymore: the merchants of gold and of silver, precious stone, pearl, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, fine wood, all manner of vessels of ivory, all manners of vessels of precious wood, and brass and iron and marble, of cinnamon and odors, perfume, and ointments and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and beasts and sheep and horses and chariots."

Interesting, this word for "chariot" means a four-wheel chariot. So maybe Newsom will get his way and there won't be any more four-wheel chariots. "And slaves and the souls of men." This is what this world system trafficked in. And God is saying, "I'm going to put an end to it." And watch what he says in verse 14. "And their fruits that their soul lusted after are departed from them." With smoke, it was mirrors. That's why the Bible says on that day when God judges, what would a man give in hindsight for his soul?

If he gained the cosmos—and again, that word is if he gained the whole universe and lost his soul, what would he give? The most important... listen to me this morning, please take note. Because I'm broken over the condition of the church because everything it seems in the modern church is more important than the soul of men, their eternal destination. Your soul, the souls of people around you.

I got into a wonderful conversation with two young men out in the lumber yard, B&C lumber yard, and it literally turned into a 10-minute Bible study. Not just Jesus loves you and He died for you. They said, "Well, why would you say that?" It turned... and man, I'm going to tell you, they were... until finally the supervisor came out and said, "What are you guys doing?" I said, "I'm just telling them about Jesus. You're welcome to come." They said, "Well, they need to get back to work."

And I said, "I'll be back. I've got to get something else. I've got to buy some paint or something." Because I've got to fix this stupid shack I'm living in. I won't have to do that when I get home. But all of these things, they departed from them. Listen, if you're seeking the things of this world to make you happy, they're going to leave, they're going to burn, they're going to be gone in a moment. In a moment. "Departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all."

The merchants of these things which made themselves rich by her shall stand afar off, and they shall fear for torment of her weeping and wailing, and they're going to say, "Alas, alas, that great city, this system, clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet and bedecked with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour so great riches have come to..." What is the next word? "Naught." "And every shipmaster and companies of ships and sailors and many as trade by the sea stood afar off, and they cried as they saw the smoke of this physical carnal wealthy system burning. What city was like unto this great city?"

Well, I can tell you one. I can tell you of another one. And it will never decay and it will never burn. There is a city. See, the problem is your eyes are on the wrong city. Your eyes are on the wrong city. "What city was like unto this one? For in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore: the merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet and good wood and vessels of ivory and vessels of precious wood and brass and iron and marble and cinnamon and odors and ointments and frankincense and wine—watch this—oil, flour, wheat, the beasts, the sheeps, the horses, the chariots, and the slaves and souls of men."

That's what this world system is trafficking in. It's coming out. Why do you think they opened a border? Why you think we can't find a million children that came across the border? This world is corrupt and the iniquity of this world is about to stack up to the nostril of God and He's about to judge it. He's about to judge it. He's about to judge it. Where did I leave off? Where was I at? Verse what, 18? I lost my... took my finger off the spot. 18. There's my... I heard my wife's voice that time.

"And they cast dust upon their heads, and they cried, weeping, wailing, alas, alas, the great city wherein was made rich with all the ships and sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour she is made desolate." Now here's our response to that. And listen, if you don't love this world but you love that which is to come, if you're following Jesus and not the god of this world, then this will be your response. Listen carefully.

"Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and you holy apostles and you prophets, for God hath avenged her, avenge you on her." And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence shall the great city Babylon be thrown down and she shall be found no more. And the voice of the harpers and of the musicians and the pipers and the trumpeters shall be heard no more in thee, and the craftsman and whatever is made by craft shall be found no more in thee, and the sound of the millstone shall be found no more in thee, and the light of the candle shall shine no more in thee, and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more in thee, for thy merchants were of the great men of the earth, for by thy sorceries..."

What do you think Paul meant when he says in the last days seducing spirits and doctrines of devils? They were seduced into this world system. "For by her sorceries were all nations deceived." I'm not being deceived. I know who I am, I know what I am, I know what my purpose for being here is. I know where I'm going, I know where I came from, and I will not be deterred. I'm going to preach to you the gospel of Jesus Christ because in it is freedom. I'm going to teach you the Word of God because in it is sanctification.

And watch what it says: "And in her were found the blood of the prophets and of the saints and of all them that were slain upon the earth." Now I just can I read just a few more verses? We'll come back and look at this. I like this. "And after these things, after this false religious system that has corrupted the whole world is judged by God," because we're going to see in chapter 19 we return with Him to do it. "I heard a great voice of much people in heaven." That's us. And this is the first time this word is used in the Bible. "Hallelujah! Praise to God, salvation."

Now, you know, some of you guys can get real political and you were rooting and roaring for Trump when he was elected, he's going to drain the swamp. How's that working out? That swamp is pretty deep, isn't it? And it's you're finding out that the R and the D are both part of the swamp and even the I, the independents. Because they are trafficking in the souls of men. But when Jesus comes, He's not draining it. He's removing it. "Because salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are His judgments, for He hath judged the great whore..."

"...which did corrupt the earth with her fornication. He has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand." And again we hear this word, "Hallelujah," as the smoke of her torment was ascending forever and ever. "And the 24 elders." That's us, that's the church. "And the four living beasts fell upon their face. They worshipped Him who sat upon the throne, and again the third time saying, 'Hallelujah.' And the voice came out of the throne, saying, 'Praise our God, all ye servants, and ye that fear Him both small and great.'"

"And I heard as it were the voice of a great..." You talk about a worship service. I will be... you will hear my voice. I'll be... unless He heals it, you'll be able to find me. "And I heard as it were a voice of great multitude and as the voice of many waters." Have you ever been around a waterfall like Niagara Falls? It's deafening. I finally understood what this verse meant when we went to Niagara Falls, Kyle and I, and it was deafening.

The voice of many waters and the voice of a mighty thundering, and saying... here it is the fourth time: "Hallelujah, for the Lord God all-powerful reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him honor and glory, for the marriage of the Lamb is come and His wife—us, His bride—has made herself ready." Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Is anything in this world more important than this to you? You know, thank You, Jesus, for Your blessings.

You know, I got a couple old Toyota trucks. I got one that's just my camping truck, and I anoint it with 10-40 oil and it runs. And it gets me where I need to go to pray, and it gets me where I need to come home. And I get in an old truck and I thank the Lord every day. And I have another one. I got a new... I got a new truck. That was a '97, my new one's a '98. 430,000-and-I-don't-know-how-many miles on it. You anoint it with oil, it runs.

You see, because I'm not caught up in the things of this life. Because these chariots are going to go away. But Jesus is coming. Are you ready? Don't get caught up in this world system. Don't get caught up in this false religious system. Love not the world nor the things that are in the world. Because if you have a divided heart, you'll be unstable. Make a choice. Follow the instructions that we just read this morning. Come out from among her and be separate. Touch not the unclean thing. Because her sin has reached the nostrils of God and He's about to judge it. But He's coming for His bride. He's coming for you and me. We're going home soon. Amen?

So when you turn on the news and you see all this stuff, just look up. Lord, how many more schools and young kids have to be shot up by transgender people that are mentally ill? What more has to happen before it's enough? And I would offer for your suggestion this morning: not much. Not much. Amen? Not much. Let's stand if you can, let's have the...