"Babylon-The Harlot of Worldly Mammon" | Pastor Steve Gaines

take your bibles and turn with me please to revelation chapter 18 and in just a moment we'll look in verse 1 and following if my math is right this is my 28th sermon in revelation we started on january the 5th and nobody could even spell pandemic but we have made it now to a very significant passage because in chapter 19 jesus comes back amen so he's already come in the rapture we've walked through the great tribulation and the great tribulation will end with the destruction of babylon babylon the evil world system led by satan and antichrist has two dimensions we talked about the false religion dimension last week the harlot that is the false religion of the end of time but then also there is another dimension to babylon the anti-jesus anti-god anti-truth system of this world and that is the commercial or the business or the financial component and in a word in one short sentence what we're talking about is we're not supposed to love money or mammon when we make money an idol that's what's bad now money in and of itself as we'll see momentarily is not bad if god has blessed you with money and you have either inherited it or you have received it from working hard and all of that there's nothing wrong with having money it's the love of money that you have to watch out for and i'll talk to you about the differences in that babylon is going to provide its own religion in the great tribulation that's what we discussed last week in chapter 17. and babylonian religion in the great tribulation will be the ultimate false doctrine false religion it will celebrate satan himself and it will honor satan's messiah the antichrist also known as the beast in the book of revelation and its biggest cheerleader the biggest cheerleader of babylonian false religion will be the false prophet who magnifies both the antichrist and satan causing everyone to worship him but this week we're going to look at the financial component of babylon the antichrist is going to take over the finances of the world by taking down the finances of the evil world system of babylon we'll talk about that that toward the end of the sermon antichrist is going to trick him deceive the babylonian worldly financial system and then he's going to turn on it and he's going to cause a one world economy and he's going to destroy babylonian selfishness and their financial system that is evil those who refuse to take the mark of the beast as we've already talked about will suffer by being killed the government officials will hunt them down and kill them but in order for that to happen in order for them to establish the mark of the beast there's got to be this babylonian place of worshipping but also a place of economy so that the devil through the antichrist can come in now listen he wants to run everything politically he wants to run everything religiously and he wants to run everything economically he wants a one world government and the last three and a half years of the tribulation it will all be under the antichrist that will be the darkest time of this earth it will be the worst time of the great tribulation and at the end of that god's going to wipe it all out look at chapter revelation chapter 18 beginning at verse 1. notice first of all god's disdain for worldly mammon and before i go into that i just want to say again money is not the problem it's the love of money don't ever say money is the root of all evil it is not the bible does not say that the bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil you can do good things with money you can go out of here today and help somebody that needs their rent to be paid they've lost their job that is a good thing you can do with money money is not either immoral or moral it is amoral or ammo moral it is just neutral it's what you do with it but if you ever love it if you ever let it calcify your heart and grip your heart and you become idolatrous toward money and things and possessions i want to say this to you things are okay and money is okay it is a good servant but is a terrible master don't let money master you and i want to say this you don't have to be wealthy for that to happen you can be relatively poor and still love money you can seek money instead of seeking first the kingdom of god so it's not just a wealthy person's problem it is all of our problem if we're not careful even christians can get pulled into loving this world the things of this world and loving money the bible says in first timothy 6 10 for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil and some people craving money have wandered away from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows likewise hebrews 13 5 says make sure that your character by the way your character is who you really are on the inside is free from the love of money being content everybody say the word content that's how you fight the love of money being content with what you already have for god himself has said i will never desert you nor will i ever forsake you verse 1 after these things i saw another angel coming down from heaven having great authority in the earth was illumined with his glory that is a strong statement with some powerful words in the original john the apostle continues to have these revelations these visions he's a prisoner on the roman island of patmos out in the mediterranean he saw another angel another of the same kind the greek word is alas heteros would be an angel of another kind this angel was like the one he'd already seen in chapter 17 verse 1 that told him about the religious babylon a false religion and then the bible says the angel came down from heaven having great authority exousia megas mega authority mega power it's all coming from god not only was he a strong authoritative voice from god he was also glorious to behold it says the earth was illumined illumined fotedzo it's where you get the word photo it means to light up to enlighten literally to reveal he was revealing the what the glory of god dox say where you get the word doxology the magnificent the splendor the radiance of almighty god and if you're not careful you can see read about these angels so much in the book of revelation that you just pass by oh they're glorious okay oh they're wonderful okay oh they're enlightening okay no stop there and realize these angels are reflecting the glory of god hey let me stop right there don't you ever pray to an angel that's blasphemous don't you ever worship an angel don't ever do that they don't give forth the light they reflect the light of god they're like the moon reflecting the sun but jesus is the light and they're just standing in his place you know i've been around christians that have been with the lord so much i'm telling you i could see them reflecting the glory of god i didn't see just a bright light coming out but it was a brightness in their spirit a brightness don't you want other people you shouldn't have to listen if you spend a lot of time with god other people will be able to tell it amen i mean they're going to be able because you're going to radiate you're going to reflect the glory of god that's what this angel is doing don't ever miss that and then in verse 2 and he cried out with a mighty voice he didn't just reflect the glory of god he spoke the message of god saying fallen fallen is babylon the great he says it twice it is emphatic that is it gives emphasis and that is going that babylon is going down and as far as he's concerned it's a done deal fallen fallen is babylon the great megos babylon it is going down and notice the diabolical literally diabolical that is satanic influence within babylon she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit how many of you believe in unclean spirits or demons do you believe in those you better they're all over the bible we believe in angels and we believe in demons and these demons and it says a prison of every unclean and hateful bird these citizens that had adhered to the financial demands and ways of babylon were demonized they're full of demons and unclean spirits and they're acting like animals that is they're animalistic they are likened to a prison of every unclean and hateful bird that's what look at me that is what sin does to you it makes you act like an animal now some of you say well i am an animal that's what i learned in 10th grade biology that is a lie you are not an animal god did not create you as an animal you are not the highest form of animal you're in a completely separate category beside animal god created you when he created adam and eve and he created him out of dust he didn't create them out of evolution and billions of years of random mutation i don't have enough faith to believe in that gobbledygook i believe god created us in his image i believe god created us we are not animals and we've been telling people our children so long that they are animals they're acting like it people are grown people grew up hearing all that atheistic evolution that they're animals and now they're acting like it and we wonder why because we indoctrinated them with it in our schools god help us as a rabbit i needed to chase all right verse 3 for all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality there's not talking about there about sexual immorality it's talking about idolatry the love of money and they used her like a harlot that's why babylon is constantly called a harlot she is a religious harlot and she is a financial harlot they use her they don't love her they use her to gain more money i heard another voice this is god's voice now from heaven saying come out of her my people come out of babylon don't you love this world don't you love this evil world system god says that hates my son hates my church hates my people hates my word hates my ways don't you love this world don't you love and worship money and things don't you do that you worship me you seek first the kingdom of god and i'll add to you whatever you need come out of her be you separate saith the lord verse 5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven i'm taking note god keeps the books god knows what everybody is doing the keeping the books of babylon he said i piled up her sins as high as heaven that's as high as you can get and god has remembered her iniquities you know when you get saved god forgets your iniquities but when you live for the world god remembers her iniquities the day of judgment for babylon has come and the bible says in verse six the angel prays pay her back o lord even as she has faith now watch and give back to her double according to her deeds in the cup which she has mixed mix it twice as much for her why does she have to suffer twice as much why is god giving her double the punishment for her sins it comes out of the old testament law as soon as god gave moses on mount sinai the ten commandments in exodus 20 two chapters to the right in exodus 22 he said this in exodus 22 verse 4 if someone steals an ox or a donkey or a sheep and it's found in the thief's possession then the thief must go to counseling and have his hands slapped right wrong the thief must pay double the value of the stolen animal hey look at me if you go into a store and knock the window out and take groceries out of the store you should have to pay back double what you stole why why they owe it to us nobody owes you anything that you should steal from them nobody owes you that just thought i'd throw that in too they had to pay back double and god says that's what i'm going to do i'm going to exact a commensurate punishment to fit the crime verse 7 to the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously that's idolatrously to the same degree give her torment and mourning and she is going to cry out like a little spoiled brat look at verse seven it goes on to say for she says in her heart i sit as a queen i'm not a widow i'll never see mourning oh babylon so arrogant so proud of her diamonds and her glory and her beauty and she says god's not going to do anything to me i'll never lose those who follow me i'll never lose my patrons i'll never lose my clients i'll never see mourning i am a queen and god says you're going down you're going down verse 8. for this reason in one day god i want to tell you something sometimes it looks like god's taking little baby steps to pay somebody back just live and sometimes it looks like he's going the other way but i want to tell you something when it's the right time god shows up and if he the reason god is slow to judge is he wants them to repent he gives them time to repent but he finally shows up and if they have not repented and he's given them time judgment comes listen to this i walked all the way we've got to come all the way back to my bible all right for this reason in one day her plagues will come pestilence hello hello pestilence plagues something worse than even covet all right morning and famine shall be burned up with fire for the lord god who judges her is strong a lot of people don't like that part of the bible they like oh god let me live however i want to and i'll just be forgiven i'll just walk in your grace look i'm all for grace but i want to tell you something if you live in sin and you don't repent god is going to give you time to repent but after a while he's going to lower the boom and give you judgment the god who is merciful is also the god who is judge and you can't take that out of the bible it's right there in not only revelation but all over the scriptures jesus said in matthew 6 24 no one that includes you no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he'll be devoted to one and despise other and then he lays it down so plain anybody can figure out you can't serve god and money or mammon is the greek word mammanos can't do it you can't love god and love and worship money you can't do it it's an appropriate servant but an appalling master and whoever loves money is going to die a thousand deaths if you love money if that's what you really love if that's what you live for if that's what you think about all the time it is a spiritual cancer it is a malignancy in the heart and mind and you will lust and selfishly crave for worldly things and look at me you'll never be satisfied you'll never have enough if you finally get what you thought you wanted it won't be good enough how many times over the last 40 years have i talked with somebody pastor i just need more money i need more cash well how much do you have well and they tell me i think man that's a lot of cash but you need more i need more land well you own all these acres well i need more i need more furniture well that show on tv about hoarders came by and kind of looked at your house and i don't know that you need anymore well man i'll get rid of that i need some new furniture well i need a new house well i mean the one you got is kind of nice well i need a new one i need a new car i've got 18 000 miles on my car you never know when it's going to break down i need a new car i need a new spouse when our god's not doing right he doesn't look like he did when we got married i don't know of anybody that does do you by the way next time you think that about your spouse go take a look in the mirror and then go look at your wedding pictures and you will not believe what has happened to you you don't need a new spouse you don't need a new car you don't need a new house you don't need another job you don't need more you need to be thankful for what you've already got that's what you need and most of all you need to be thankful that you've got jesus that's what you ought to really be thankful for right there now that's where you need to applause right there jesus said in luke 12 15 beware beware of what lord be on your guard against every form of what say it out loud greed for not even when one has an abundance does your life consist of your possessions i've seen four babies born and i can assure you they were all mine and none of them came in with anything except themselves and i've seen a lot of people die and you know how they die the same way they came in they take nothing out just like they brought nothing in you'd better not love the stuff it's all about loving god and loving people that's what you need to love don't love anything else if it's not connected to the lord and it's not connected to people the love of money is the root of all evil god disdains the love of money he disdains loving worldly man mammon secondly look at mankind's desire for worldly mammon oh we want it even though the bible says don't participate in the idolatry of worshiping and loving mammon all people become so enamored with it things and they'll they don't have time to read the bible but they'll take two hours to polish and wash their car what's up with that you need a clean soul more than you need a clean car just a thought you say how did you see me doing that i didn't told on yourself all right proverbs 23 4 and 5 don't wear yourself to gain wealth cease from your consideration of it when you set your eyes on it as you set your eyes on mammon or wealth it is gone for wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens i love what the message says in the same text don't wear yourself out trying to get rich restrain yourself riches disappear in the blink of an eye i love this wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder amen isn't that good look at verse 9 we'll see man's selfish attraction to the idolatrous allurement of mammon look at verse 9 the kings of the earth who committed acts of immorality and lived essentially sensuously with her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment saying whoa whoa the great city babylon the strong city for in one hour your judgment has come do you remember 9 11 2001 a group of radical muslim terrorists and that's exactly what they were who viewed in their own minds the twin towers in new york city as the epitome of idolatrous worldly materialism struck the world trade center buildings in a suicide mission and that day they those radical muslims attacked america on three levels financial level twin towers military level pentagon and they tried to attack us on the political level the white house and the capitol buildings but those planes crashed earlier i remember seeing the picture of the burning twin towers and somebody posted revelation 18 9 and 10 they put that caption under it the person who posted that picture was saying could it be that god even in this tragedy even in this horrible loss of life of 3 000 people even more people killed this day on 9 11 than there were on december the 7th 1941 in pearl harbor could it be that god is saying america even though these are radical muslims doing this could it be that god was saying i'm saying to you america you better wake up you love mammon more than you love me you love things more than you love me whether that's the case or not during the great tribulation babylon this evil world system of finances is going down it's going down verse 11 and the merchants of the earth weep they mourn over her why because they love her no because no one buys their cargos anymore they use her like a harlot they don't care about her they just care what they can get from her they're mad they're upset not because she's burning but because they've lost their potential for prop prosperity no one buys their cargos anymore cargos of what gold silver precious stones pearls fine linen purple silk scarlet every kind of citron wood every article of ivory every article made with very costly wood bronze iron marble cinnamon spice incense perfume frankincense wine olive oil fine flour wheat cattle sheep cargos of horses chariots uh-oh slaves and human lives i want to say this to you look at me look when money and mammon grab your heart you will treat people terribly when you love money you use people when you love people you use money is not to be loved money is to be used in the right way but when you love money you start using people and they become your slaves you view them as just somebody that can do something for you and when they can't do anything for you anymore even if you made your wedding vows to them you're out of here what a terrible way to live what an ungodly way to live and by the way you want to read all this stuff in the old testament the reason prophecy in the new testament is connected to books like ezekiel and daniel and isaiah is because for instance everything you just read there all those different things that were for sale every one of them and more is mentioned i read it this week in ezekiel 27. that's how he was getting that information through god through the scriptures verse 14 the fruit you long for has gone from you all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you men no longer find them the merchants of these things who became rich from her will stand at a distance why i want to say this to you when you love somebody you don't care if they're in a burning bill let me tell you something if my child was in a burning building i'd go in the building after my child whether i die or not i'm not trying to sound magnanimous you do the same thing when you love somebody you don't stay away from them when they're suffering you come to them when i was at the er the other night and jason has died you know where candace was she was right by his side stroking his hair when you love somebody even if it's hard you stay with them but they're staying away from they don't love her they don't love babylon they're using her she's just a harlot to them god help us the merchants of these things who became rich from her will stand at a distance verse 15 because of the fear of her torment weeping and mourning saying whoa whoa the great city she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls for in one hour such great wealth has been laid the ways they were worried about the wealth leaving they weren't concerned about her and notice how animated they became in verse 17 in the middle of the verse every shipmaster every passenger every sailor as many as make their living by the sea stood at a distance they're not going to get nearer they don't love her they just want to use her but oh they're terrified though they were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning saying what city is like the great city they threw dust on their heads they were crying out weeping and mourning saying whoa whoa the great city in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth for in one hour she's been laid to waste and i'll say this to you just because you're a christian doesn't mean the devil can't suck you in and get you to where you love mammon and i will say this again if i hadn't already said it this is my third time to preach this sermon you know by the time i get to this service i don't know what i've said what i hadn't all right so if i repeat myself just take it as god giving you emphasis all right you don't have to be wealthy for this to apply to you you can yearn for money and be poor i want to say this to you anybody in this room including me can be guilty of loving manna or loving money and i'm telling you god tells us to fight it tooth and tongue we cannot love god jesus said you can't have two masters you can't love me and love mammon you can't do it you can't i trust jesus on that there's a story of a syrian warrior in the old testament named naaman he was boy he was a fighting machine and his armies from syria often defeated the armies of israel one day he was talking to the king there was a problem that naaman had he had leprosy and he was just talking about it and this little girl who was a slave and she had come from israel she said i wish you my master could just go down to israel there's a prophet down there his name is elisha and he could take care of your leprosy and so the king of syria petitioned the king of israel and said i understand you've got somebody that can heal my main man naaman here my warrior and when he went naaman took all these riches loaded up he was going to pay the preacher you know got down there and king of israel said i can't he said this guy's crazy i can't do anything about this i i can't make sure that this man this warrior is going to be healed well elisha heard about it he said tell the king not to worry just send send naaman over to my house and naaman came to his house and i love what happened elisha didn't even go to the door he sent one of his underlings one of his preacher boys if you will and he opened the door and he said uh the prophet says to you naaman all you need to do is go down to the jordan river and immerse yourself seven times and you'll come up with no leprosy shut the door and that was it this guy had come all the way from syria he had all this stuff out there elisha never looked at it elijah didn't even talk to him this little guy just opened the door and shuts the door and naaman throws a fit how many of you know what i'm talking about when i say throw a fit all right don't act so holy all right i would ask you how many of you have thrown a fit within the last 24 hours but anyway we won't get into that so he throws a fit and he says i wanted this man to come out and pray over me and wave his arms over me and speak over me and i wanted to be healed i wanted to be a big deal and finally his servant said look why don't you just chill that's the greek word there chill if he had asked you to do something hard you would have done it he just asked you to go down to the jordan river i've been in that river 15 times it is muddy it's a little creek and a lot of places it's not from far from here to the front row there don't think about the mighty mississippi think about a creek that runs through your backyard maybe a little bit bigger and it's dirty and it's muddy and he says the rivers where i come from you know in syria are better than the rivers down here and they said just go be quiet and go down there and do what he said so he goes down and and this part is not graphically uh described in the bible but i like to read the bible with a holy imagination i hope it's holy anyway and so i can just see him baptizing himself once nothing twice three four five six still got it seven and he comes up that muddy water rolling off his face and the leprosy is gone it's gone you think you think like we sat there and all god's people said amen i'm just telling you it's gone why did god do it that way i don't know doesn't matter he goes back here's the point of the story he goes back he goes to elijah's house this time elisha comes out he falls at his feet elijah picks him up don't ever let anybody worship you picks him up he said i want to give you this gift of all these gifts i brought it for you said here's here's my point elijah looked he said i don't want it thank you that's okay thank you i don't want that elisha knew that even he was susceptible to the idol of mammon and he was not going to let anything the reason he had such power with god is his heart was not on the things of this world his heart was in the kingdom of god but he had a servant named hazy and when he found out what his master done and when he found out that naaman was always already going back to syria he ran after him told the line he said oh now my master wants it he said just give it to me and i'll take it to him and so naomi gave him everything he was going to give elisha and naom and what's the guys gehazi i got so many names going on in my mind i can't think gahazi comes back with all that stuff hides it over in a little secret place i mean it's massive riches and everything and all of a sudden he's rich he thinks that he walks in to the presence of elisha and elisha said uh gahazi where you been ah nowhere every parent in here who's got a teenager has heard that amen i am anywhere i'm not knocking on teenagers i was one that's why i know all right he said did my heart not go with you when you chased after the man and when he gave you all of that and he said i want to tell you something you got all his riches but now you're going to get his leprosy his leprosy will never depart from you or from your family for the rest of your lives and immediately the leprosy came on him do you know why because gehazi chose manna over the kingdom of god it's not wrong to have money it's not wrong to work hard and get a paycheck but it is wrong to worship it and to chase after it if you want to chase after anything chase after the kingdom of god oh i could say more but i don't have time jesus said seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you oh mankind's desire and lust for mammon well we've seen god's disdain for worldly mammon mankind's desire for worldly mammon and one last thing and i'll just read it to you very quickly the last five verses god's decree against worldly mammon what's god going to do to mammon what's god going to do with worldly things he says in verse 20 rejoice over her o heaven you saints and apostles and prophets because god has pronounced judgment for you against her do you remember back earlier in revelation when the saints were praying god the slaughtered saints the ones who had been killed and martyred in the uh great tribulation how long lord are you not going to punish them it looks like sometimes god is taking forever to punish the wicked but god says now is the time rejoice over her i have pronounced judgment over her bible says in romans 12 19 never christian never take your own revenge beloved but leave room for the wrath of god it is written vengeance is mine i will repay says the lord if somebody has wronged you look at me you know what you really ought to do you really ought to feel sorry for him you really ought to feel sorry if somebody is wronged you you really if you're a christian you really ought to feel sorry for them and say lord i know what's going to happen to them you're going to take care of them god is going to fight for you while you keep silent then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone threw it into the sea saying so will babylon the great city be thrown down with violence and will not be found any longer and the sound of the harpist verse 22 and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will not be heard anymore and any longer no more music across the great tribulation during the war in the world during the great tribulation no craftsman no of any craft will find will be found in you any longer the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer all the factories are going to be shut down no more mill work no more anything and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer there won't be enough oil to light up one lamp when god does this and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride will not be heard in you any longer no more marriages no more wedding ceremonies none of that stuff for your merchants were the great men of the earth because of all the nations were deceived by your sorcery and in her was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints and all of those who have been slain on the earth here's what's going to happen look at me and i'll explain it to you real quick babylonian financial kingdom is going to rise after the rapture and we're all gone and you've got to have the mark of the beast now to be involved in buying anything but after a while the antichrist himself who has used babylon to pull in worldly buyers is going to turn on babylon and take her down religiously with her false religion and also with her false economy and he's going to demand everybody give him the money through the mark of the beast he's going to control finances he's going to control religion he's going to have take over the temple that's been been rebuilt by the jews in jerusalem and he's going to commit the abomination of desolation that daniel and jesus talked about and he's going to make sure that everybody worships him or they die and they can only operate in his financial system the mark of the beast or they will die and he will be a one world government nobody will help him he's going to be worshipped in religion he's going to rule as the political leader and he's going to be the primary financier of the whole world he's going to be the king on earth under the devil for three and a half years but praise god the next time i preach in revelation i'm going to tell you that jesus is going to come back and jesus is going to take him down amen let's give god praise for that amen i was doing a little math this week on the gross national debt of america do you know how much we owe 23.7 trillion dollars at the end of march 2020. say no big deal oh big deal very big deal a trillion is a 1 followed by 12 zeros it's a million million it's a hundred it's a thousand times one billion if we stop borrowing money as americans which we we're not going to do it where do you think all this stimulus money do you think we have that money we're borrowing that against ourselves where do you think all the stuff we buy all this stuff all the time government's spending money all the time republicans and democrats if we stop borrowing which i doubt we will and we paid a billion dollars every day on the principle of that debt and they stopped charging interest on the rest of it there's no way that's going to happen do you know how long it would take us to pay back what we owe 65 years if we paid off a billion on the principle every day with no further interest 65 years i'm talking about 2085. don't you see how vulnerable we are as a nation don't you see that the stock market is not as secure hey social security is not social and it's not secure our economy could go down at any moment and we could come into the babylonian system that's going to be taken over by antichrist the more you read the bible the more it's like reading today's newspaper and i just want to say this to you i'm not trying to scare you and i'm not trying to be all in the know i just want to say this to you the only way people are going to survive this is if they know jesus christ do you love jesus i asked you that earlier do you love jesus

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

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Keywords: babylon, the harlot of worldly mammon, root of all evil, love of money, book of revelation, Pastor Steve Gaines, Bellevue Baptist Church, Bellevue Memphis, Bellevue Church, Steve Gains, Steve Gaines sermons

Id: iqswKrIP7YU

Length: 47min 7sec (2827 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 24 2020