The Party After The Funeral

Take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to Revelation chapter 18. You follow as I read this chapter. Our text this morning is verses 20 through 24. Let's read the whole chapter so we have an understanding of the context. after this I saw another angel coming down from heaven having great authority and the earth was made bright with his glory and he called out with a mighty voice fallen fallen is Babylon the great she's become a dwelling place for demons a haunt for every unclean spirit a haunt for every unclean bird a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast for all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.

And the kings of earth have committed immorality with her. And the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living. Then heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues. For her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds. Mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning. Since in her heart she says, I sit as a queen. I am no widow and mourning I shall never see. For this reason, her plagues will come in a single day.

Death and mourning and famine and she will be burned up with fire. For mighty is the Lord God who has judged her. The kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail over her. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will stand far off in fear of her torment and say, Alas, alas, you great city, you mighty city Babylon, for in a single hour your judgment has come.

The merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her since no one buys their cargo anymore. or cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh frankincense wine oil fine flour wheat cattle and sheep horses and chariots and slaves that is human souls The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again. Merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off in fear for torment, weeping and mourning aloud, alas, alas for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels and with pearls. For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.

And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, what city was like the great city? They threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, alas, alas for the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth. for in a single hour she has been laid waste. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her.

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 and flute players and trumpeters will be heard in you no more, and craftsmen 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 all who have been slain on earth. Let's pray. Father, would you open this text to us? We are people who need to hear this.

Help us to understand this so that we will be transformed by the Spirit showing us the glory of our Redeemer, Jesus, so that we will come out of her and not partake in her sins or her plagues. Instead, Father, give us grounds to rejoice today as we look into the future. Thank you for your word. Thank you that it reveals to us the triumph of the Lamb. Give us hope in that we pray this day in Jesus name Amen On the day of my dad burial I did not stand in front of the mirror and tie my necktie saying I am really looking forward today This is going to be a great time party If my wife had heard those words, she would have been shocked at my cavalier attitude.

My children would have been aggravated because of the way I spoke about their grandpa. And my brother certainly would have been furious at my lack of respect. And all that would have been right and proper because funerals are not festive events. Funerals are not occasions for partying. and yet in our text this morning God exhorts his people to party at a funeral that funeral is a funeral of our enemy the powerfully deceptive Babylon last week from the front row seats in that funeral we saw the lovers of Babylon cry and wail and weep over her demise and God now says to us as we witness that funeral hey, start celebrating, rejoice, party.

Now, of course, the funeral hasn't happened yet. We still live as exiles in the city of Babylon, still tempted by the temptress. But God gives us a view of her funeral and the party that follows in order to give us hope to persevere as exiles in the city and to warn us to get out of the city so as not to participate in her judgment. so let's take a look into the future to see the party at the funeral and why we can rejoice our text this morning is verses 20 through 24 let's look at it again rejoice over her oh heavens and you saints and apostles and prophets for god has given judgment for you against her 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 craftsmen 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 the 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 the nations were deceived by or sorcery and in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on earth Here what God tells us rejoice because of your enemy's judgment and rejoice because your enemy's judgment is just.

Those are the two things he tells us, rejoice because of your enemy's judgment and rejoice because your enemy's judgment is just. Rejoice because of your enemy's judgment. Verse 20. Rejoice over her, O heavens, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her. A voice now shouts from heaven telling God's people to rejoice.

Rejoice over the smoking ruins of the city. Rejoice over the destruction of all earthly wealth, luxury, and security. All those who are in heaven rejoice. You know what he's talking about. You remember the saints from chapter six? The saints from chapter six under the altar crying out to God, God, when will you avenge our blood?

And now God responds to them, rejoice in heaven. You are in heaven. Rejoice. All the saints who are under the altar, the heavenly creatures, the angelic hosts, They're called to rejoice. God tells the saints on earth to rejoice. Those Christians who live for Christ, laboring for him because of his love, who were poor because they refused to go or go along with ungodly Babylon, who were hated by its citizens.

He tells them, now, now is the time to rejoice. God tells the apostles, rejoice. And here the apostles, I think he's using the term apostles, small a apostles. That means the sent out ones, not the capital A apostles, but the itinerant preachers and the missionaries that have been sent out. They ought to rejoice. Those who were cursed because they proclaimed allegiance to Christ rather than allegiance to Babylon.

Rejoice! God tells the prophets to rejoice, those messengers of God in the congregation, encouraging them to faithfulness to the Lord Jesus. You rejoice! Now does it seem strange to you that God will tell you to rejoice at the destruction of a satanic system and all the people who are part of it? Does that seem strange to you? It's like, you know, at the funeral, and we had one yesterday, all right?

At the funeral, when I'm done preaching and that part of the service is done, Ed will come to the front and he will say, this ends the service here at the funeral home. Now we will be dismissing from the back. And if you want, as we dismiss from the back, you have an opportunity to come up and pay your last respects or greet the family. And so they start, people start being dismissed from the back, right?

And they come up to the family and they say this, I am so glad for your sorrow. It is so good to see you weeping today. That's not what you expect, is it? That's what God tells us to do. That's what he tells us to do right now. He's saying, as you see Babylon smoldering away, we can go up and say, I am so glad to see your sorrow.

And Babylon's lovers, we can look at them and say, It is so good to see you weeping today. Now some of you are looking at me like, oh, that's just terrible. You must have gotten that wrong. Really? You think so? No, not at all.

Why? Notice what it says. Why should we rejoice? For God has given judgment for you against her. He's brought judgment for you against her. You can rejoice because God has rendered judgment against our enemy.

He has condemned and destroyed the system which hated you and your message. The system which promoted wealth over worship. The system which would entice you away from the glories of Christ to idolatry. God will destroy a wicked system that masquerades as good. it does provide goods for mankind to enjoy doesn't it but it promoted the idea that such goods were the goal of life that such goods would bring you security that such goods would bring you satisfaction that things would bring you joy rather than god judgment has unleveled again against her but you can rejoice because your father has rendered judgment for you for you he has vindicated and exalted his people Sometimes I think we have a little bit of problem with this as if we say well how can we rejoice over people being condemned by God How can we do that?

I think we have a problem with that because I don't think in this country we've ever been subjected to the hate and persecution that others have. I don't think we felt really the whole brunt of that. Certainly we felt some of it. But this is a system which hates you and says all kinds of false things about you and has accused you of things. And it says here that we can rejoice because God will render judgment for us.

He will say you were wrong and they were right. My people were right. The things you said against them were wrong. And the things they say against God's people are not such things as, oh, you're just too zealous. Oh, that's a terrible thing to say. That's not what they're saying.

They say things like this. With your message of eternal treasures, you must really hate poor people. You don't care for people who are poor. You just talk about your pie-in-the-sky theology. You don't care anything about them. You're evil.

Those are the things they say. They don't just say you're zealous. They say you're evil. Now, come on, folks. Even in our country, we suffer a minimum of persecution, a minimum of dislike. Do you not sense?

I'll give you an example of this. OK, I'll give you an example of this. This sense in which we are called evil for what we believe. In California, I just read this the other day. In California, a bill is made through both houses of the California legislature that would outlaw reparative therapy. You say, what's reparative therapy?

That's a fancy word for saying if a homosexual person comes to you and says, I want to change. and you say, okay, I'll help you because homosexuality is a sin in God's eyes and you need to know Christ and I'm going to walk with you and help you with that. A bill is passed through both houses of the legislature, not signed yet, that says that would be illegal. That would be illegal to enter into any kind of reparative therapy, whether it Christian or not It doesn make the distinction Because you evil You are evil And unscientific if you would say something like that See?

Why would there be a law against that? Because to say that to someone is evil. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm going to rejoice when we're vindicated. when God renders judgment for us and he vindicates his people and says, guess what? My people were right all along. You were the ones who were wrong. Now let me just say this.

You should not feel uncomfortable at this exhortation to rejoice at our enemy's condemnation and our vindication. These are enemies, not victims. Part of the reason why we feel uncomfortable about this is, for example, we look at the Japanese who are our enemies in World War II, right? and there's a certain sense in which, and it's still debated today, whether it was necessary to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki.

Because when we look at that, we see the horrors and the things that happened to people. And we look at the people and the deaths and the horrible stories that come out of those two cities because of what we did to our enemies. and we feel very uncomfortable by saying we ought to rejoice at the defeat of our enemies. And the reason why that is is because we know that our justice is not perfect.

Was it right or wrong to have dropped those bombs? We can debate that all day and good people can take either side on that question. Because we know that our justice is imperfect and besides that, we feel that those people who suffered that punishment were victims, not so much enemies, because they were led astray. and they're paying the price for what their leaders did, right?

That is not the case here. These are enemies of God who have persistently refused His offers of grace through His people. People who have offered them joy and satisfaction in the only one who can bring joy and satisfaction. They have persistently refused to believe it And they have persistently persecuted God's people for saying it. And they are not victims.

And remember always remember this God justice is perfect God will not punish any victims There will not be one victim punished by the judgment of God. We have to understand that the judgment of God is absolutely, unerringly, complete and perfect. you see right now what pops into my head is Isaiah chapter 11 where it talks about this one who's coming talking about Jesus this judge is going to come who will render judgment not by what his eyes see not by what he can kind of pick up but he will render unerring judgment unerring judgment I was reminded of this one day when I saw these, what we call party plates, you know what I'm talking about, on a vehicle, right? You know what I'm talking about?

And I remember, and I saw those, and I thought, well, I know that person. That's kind of a shame that those plates are on that vehicle. Because I know that person, and it's just something that has to be done. But you see, the justice system can't see, you know, this isn't going to apply to this person. This isn't going to apply to this person. It can apply to that one and that one and that one.

This one, because the law can't see. Judges cannot see into hearts. Judges, human judges, can't see into motives. But our God can see everything. And his justice is unerringly, unfailingly just. So don't feel bad about rejoicing at God's justice when he makes a judgment against our enemies and for us.

When God tells us to rejoice, we ought to be able to rejoice in the fact that God's judgment is perfect. And on that basis alone, we can rejoice. So God says rejoice because your enemy will be judged. That leads us to the next reason to rejoice. Verses 21 through 24. Rejoice because your enemy's judgment is just.

Your enemy's judgment is just. Look at verse 21. 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 in the sound of harpists, musicians, and a musician, and a flute player, 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 the bridegroom and the bride will be heard in you no more. it is just God's judgment is just because your enemy's judgment or because the punishment fits the crime the punishment fits the crime God illustrates this for John with a vision of a strong angel angel see this muscle-bound angel walking up with a millstone remember millstones were these great big huge stones that would turn this way and there'd be one on the bottom the The grain would be underneath it.

And this huge, incredibly stone, huge, maybe a ton, would grind the wheat into flour. So this angel takes this huge millstone and goes, and then it's all falling. What's that all about? This draws on a picture from Jeremiah chapter 51. We didn't get, Levi didn't get to read as far as this is found in verses 61 through 64. This draws on that picture.

Listen to it. And Jeremiah said to Sariah, when you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words and say, O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off so that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be desolate forever. When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates and say, Thus shall Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her and they shall become exhausted.

When I was a kid, I would go down to the mill pond. Now in the town where I grew up in Merton, Wisconsin, we had an old mill. and in the old days, of course, like most mills, it had a big wheel and the water would run down there and it would turn that wheel. And the Bark River ran through our town and I don't know how many hundreds of years ago in our town they built a dam on the Bark River to make a mill pond That is so there always this backlog of water to run the mill And that where we always go down and play You know like throw rocks in the mill pond You know, when you're a kid, you'd skip rocks and throw rocks.

You know, sometimes I would take the big rocks and walk to where the dam was and just go, boom, right? What happens? The rock goes down and it goes boosh. And then it just covers it. Right? The water covers it.

You never saw those stones again. Right? You don't see those stones anymore. Why? Because they're at the bottom. The water's covering them.

Boosh. Never see them again. That's the picture here of Babylon. That's the picture of Babylon. That worldly system of goods, wealth, and luxury will suddenly and violently disappear, never to be found again. Now let's review here.

Remember, Babylon represents all the economic systems of the world throughout history. Not just the one we're living in, but throughout history, all of which promised, no matter what economic system there is, Babylon comes along and always says this, glory, satisfaction, joy, and security can be found as you pursue and serve wealth and goods. Alright?

That's where Babylon comes in. And of course, what is that? That is idolatry. Because the only glory there is to worth worshiping is the glory of God. The only satisfaction that can be found is in God. The only joy that you should pursue is the joy that's found in God, and the only security that you have is in God, and to attribute that to anything else is idolatry.

And those systems have come and gone, and they always exist, enticing you away from the glory, satisfaction, joy, and security found in God alone. But one day it will all end, violently and suddenly, and we will enter a world with no temptress. we will enter a world without anything in the new creation that would seek to draw us away from God. I will even go so far as to say this.

I think there will probably be some kind of economy on the new earth throughout all eternity All right And you conservatives among us I don know if it going to be free market system All right But I do know this whatever it is it will never make the promises that Babylon did. Why? Because Babylon is going to be destroyed suddenly and violently. And all that is characteristic of her will not be with us any longer.

No more. Do you see that phrase over and over again. Do you see that phrase? It's making a point. And these were what? No more.

They're found no more. The punishment will fit the crime for the things that Babylon denied to God's people will be found no more. Just as Babylon removed Christian workers from the marketplace and persecuted them, so God will remove Babylon's workers. A craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more. Well, what do you mean by that? Turn back to chapter 2 verse 9.

Do you remember? What these churches were facing. Chapter 2, verse 9. I know your tribulation. This is the church in Smyrna. I know your tribulation and your poverty.

Parentheses. But you are rich. And the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Remember what was going on? Remember all the trade guilds had their own patron god or goddess. Their patron deity.

And in order to be part of that guild, you had to serve that deity. and for Christians to say, no, Jesus is Lord, that deity is not, was to what? It meant losing your livelihood, right? You couldn't be part of that guild. Without being part of a guild, you had no way of working, no craft at all. So just as Babylon removed Christian workers from the marketplace and persecuted them, God's going to remove them.

The sound of the mill will be heard in you no more. Just as the means of making a living were removed from the believing community, so it will be taken from Babylon. Remember the mark of the beast, chapter 13, verses 16 and 17. Think of believers in the former Soviet Union. Think of believers in Azerbaijan today. To identify yourself as a Christian is to cut off, is to cut off any way of making a living.

All right? The light of a lamp will shine in you no more. Just as economic persecution robbed believers of even the simple necessity of oil for their lamps so Babylon will have no lamps The sound of the harpists and musicians of flute players and trumpeters will be heard in you no more and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more.

Just as the daily pleasures of economic prosperity were denied God's people through economic persecution, so Babylon will be deprived of such pleasures. God's judgment of your enemy is just because the punishment fits the crime. It fits the crime. Then he goes on in verse 23 through the end. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth. Why is that a reason for judgment?

Why is that a reason for judgment? Well, standing behind this is an allusion to Isaiah 23. So if we're going to understand this, we have to go to Isaiah 23. So turn back to Isaiah 23. Let's start reading in verse, we'll pick it up in verse 6. Crossover to Tarshish, wail, O inhabitants of the coast.

Is this your exultant city, whose origin is from days of old, whose feet carried her to settle far away, who has purposed this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth. The Lord of hosts has purposed it to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth. What's going on here?

What does he mean? He's talking about when you come to Revelation 18 when he says, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth. They give glory to themselves and not to God. There it's Babylon promotes its own greatness in opposition to God's greatness. All right. The great ones, the princes, the rich people are concerned solely with their own greatness, throwing around their own weight instead of acting morally responsible under the sovereignty of God.

Let me try to illustrate it this way so that you understand what I'm saying. Have you ever been flying somewhere? I can remember. I forget where I think we were leaving Azerbaijan. and some American came on the plane and someone was sitting in this seat and he said, that's my seat, and he got really loud, really arrogant. I mean, it was like, oh man, I hope no one else knows I'm an American on this plane, because this guy was... just, just, this is my seat.

I paid for that seat. Just the whole, it was really sad. And so imagine this. Imagine Donald Trump flying on your flight. All right. Rich guy, right?

One of the princes, right? You see what Isaiah is saying? You're merchants, you're the princes. Who's our aristocracy in our country? Who's the aristocracy in our country? The rich and the celebrities, right?

So imagine Donald Trump's on your flight and he says, well, hey, I get to fly first class. I'm sorry, Mr. Trump, but there are no first class seats open. And he says, hey, do you know who I am? Do you know who I am? You can't treat me this way.

Do you understand? You see the picture, right? In essence, he's saying my wealth makes me very important, more important than these other peons. I am Donald Trump. You can't treat me like that. That's a godlike attitude.

My wealth has earned me a glory and a place that gives me prerogatives that other people don't have and gives me a certain amount of reverence that you don't give anybody else. I am sovereign. I'm not morally responsible under a sovereign. I am the ruler here. You get the picture? That's what he's driving at.

We've been created to glorify God and enjoy him, not to glorify ourselves and enjoy our own achievements. we've not not been created for that we've been created to glorify god and no matter how big we are how much of a prince we are with all our wealth we don't deserve any more reverence than anybody else if any we don't deserve special treatment why because we're all under this I am not sovereign. So they're judged because they promoted their own greatness in opposition to God's greatness. Here's another reason.

Verse 23 again, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. This punishment is just because Babylon seduced the nations into idolatry. And if we look at that word sorcery it always connected with idolatry All right Now in chapter 17 the angel says that Babylon led the kings of the earth astray by making them drunk with immorality. Right? It's got the picture of the cup.

And all the wealth is like a drink that makes them drunk so that they pursue the idolatry that Babylon offers. Here the metaphor changes. Here, instead of making it sound like all this promise of glory, satisfaction, joy, and security is like making them drunk, here he says that her promise of glory, satisfaction, joy, and security through goods and services are like a magic spell that misleads people.

Look around you today, folks. Do you not see people mindlessly chasing good times and stuff? they live for it they live for it I mean look at yourself when you have time to kill do you say I'm just going to go to Walmart do you ever do that I've got to meet somebody I've got 45 minutes I'll just go to Walmart this is what struck me because sometimes I do that I've got 45 minutes I'll go to Walmart and I go why why? it's like mindlessly walking to this place that's got everything for cheap prices maybe if I spend 45 minutes I'll be able to go home with something it's almost like we're mindless the spell has been cast and the only thing we do with our free time is entertain ourselves or go shopping some of you may not be Walmart I don't know what it would be you know Elder Beerman, who knows? Joanne Fabrics, I don't know.

But do you ever notice that our culture is filled with mindless people who do nothing but pursue entertainment and good times and good food and good stuff? It's like a spell, isn't it? That's exactly what he says here. You're going to be judged because of the spell you cast on nations. it's just because babylon persecuted the people of god verse 24 and in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on earth Do you still have trouble with rejoicing at the justice of God against Babylon Let me give you the worst horrific thought.

Just think about this with me. I debated whether to use this and I'm going to do it. Suppose you lost your child. Suppose she disappeared. Now as a father growing up and having lost two of my children on two separate occasions, I know the horror of that feeling. That's a horrendous, inexpressible, horrific thought, isn't it?

To lose one of your children. Suppose two years later, I have not found her. suppose they found her blood in a neighbor's house down the street and identified it as hers now tell me now that you would not rejoice that justice was being done do you see the point would you not rejoice that the perpetrator had finally been found and would be brought to justice would you not in one sense rejoice that's what God says here in Babylon was found the blood of his people and he does not take that lightly and so we ought to rejoice at the justice of God rejoice because the judgment of God is just now all of this is future the question is now How do you survive until the day of judgment comes? Well, this snapshot of the rejoicing, of the party of rejoicing at Babylon's funeral is intended to give you hope.

It's intended to say to you, there is coming a day when we will all rejoice at the demise of our enemy. who has sought to entice us, who has killed God's people, who has done these horrible things. God will bring justice There a day of rejoicing coming You can make it Keep thinking Keep remembering If you can remember the future which is what the book of Revelation tells us to do in many places right Remember the future. There'll be a day of rejoicing.

There's great sorrow now, but there will be rejoicing then. And you must also remember, how are you going to survive? remember that on your own you could never escape the sorcery of this temptress and so god in his mercy reaches down to deluded deceived drunken sinners and this is what god says the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants, for Jesus' sake.

For God who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. the powerful deception of Babylon is no match for the glory of Christ in the gospel in the gospel Paul says that the God who said let light shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ if you don't want to be deluded then you need to look in the gospel you need to be looking at the glory of Christ because the glory of God, which is a glory that far surpasses the glitz and the glitter of Babylon, the glory of God is seen in the face of Christ. Your hope can be found only in going to the gospel day after day after day after day and seeing the glory of God in the face of Christ, only then will you be only then will you be able to say no to Babylon and yes to God. Some of you here are sitting here.

You're sitting here and you're saying, I'm in it. I'm one of Babylon's citizens. What hope is there for me? the hope that we heard from 1 Thessalonians today, for God has not appointed us who believe to wrath, but to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no wrath coming. There is no wrath coming to those who have entrusted themselves to Jesus. so live in anticipation of the fun at babylon's funeral and live today with faith in the gospel father thank you for your word lord this temptress is so subtle and Lord we find ourselves drawn toward the great idolatry that material wealth provides help us to look to see the glory of God in the face of Christ so that we do not get drawn away by the temporary glitz of what Babylon offers Give us hearts that love the glory of God.

Give us a desire to find our satisfaction and our security in the one who controls all wealth. Help us to look to Christ every day, that we will see your glory and not be swayed by Babylon. Help us to remember the future, to remember the rejoicing that will be ours when judgment comes. until then help us by your grace Amen