Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Revelation 1 - Introduction

Revelation 1:1-3 - Prologue & Benediction

Revelation 1:4-8 - Epistolary Introduction

Revelation 1:9-20 - A Vision of the Son of Man

Revelation 2-3 - The Seven Churches

Revelation 2:1-7 - The Letter to Ephesus

Revelation 2:8-11 - The Letter to Smyrna

Revelation 2:12-17 - The Letter to Pergamum

Revelation 2:18-29 - The Letter to Thyatira

Revelation 3:1-6 - The Letter to Sardis

Revelation 3:7-13 - The Letter to Philadelphia

Revelation 3:14-22 - The Letter to Laodicea

Revelation 4-5 - The Throne Room

Revelation 4:1-11 - A Vision of the Throne Room

Revelation 5:1-14 - The Lamb is Worthy

Revelation 6-8:5 - The Seven Seals

Revelation 6:1-8 - The First Four Seals

Revelation 6:9-17 - The Fifth and Sixth Seals

Revelation 7:1-17 - Who can Stand on the Day of the Lord?

Revelation 8:1-5 - Anticipation of Further Judgment

Revelation 8:6-11:19 - The Seven Trumpets

Revelation 8:6-13 - The First Four Trumpets

Revelation 9:1-21 - The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

Revelation 10:1-11 - The End is Near

Revelation 11:1-14 - The Two Witnesses

Revelation 11:15-19 - The Seventh Trumpet

Revelation 12:1-15:4 - The Seven Visions

Revelation 12:1-17 - The Woman, Child, and Heavenly Hosts Versus the Great Dragon

Revelation 13:1-10 - The Beast out of the Sea

Revelation 13:11-18 - The Beast from the Earth

Revelation 14:1-5 - The 144,000

Revelation 14:6-13 - The Proclamations of the Three Angels

Revelation 14:14-20 - The Harvest and Judgment

Revelation 15:1-4 - The Glory of God fills the Heavenly Sanctuary

Revelation 15:1-4 - The Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb

Revelation 15:5-16:21 - The Seven Bowls

Revelation 15:5-8 - The Glory of God fills the Heavenly Sanctuary

Revelation 15:5-8 - The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

Revelation 16:1-21 - Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

Revelation 17-19 - Judgment

Revelation 17:1-18 - The Great Prostitute is Judged

Revelation 18:1-24 - Babylon Falls

Revelation 18:1-8 - Babylon the Great

Revelation 18:9-20 - Babylon’s Wealth Destroyed

Revelation 18:21-24 - Babylon is no More

Purpose of Book

The purpose of Revelation is to challenge/encourage believers, who are expectantly awaiting the reign of Christ, to live faithfully for Him despite worldly circumstances, persecution, and the cosmic battle between God and Satan.

Main Point

Babylon the great has fallen by the decree of the Lord.

The heavens and God’s own people rejoice at her destruction.

Revelation 18:1-8 - Babylon the Great

1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.

1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority

We are now seeing the fall of Babylon from a different perspective

And the earth was made bright with his glory.

The characteristics of the angel reveal he is coming to bring a heavy and weighty announcement

2 And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

2 And he called out with a mighty voice

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

Babylon in the OT is the great enemy of God’s people and here in Revelation Babylon as the great city of man is the enemy of God’s covenant people

Babylon has been conquered by God through the beast and the 10 kings

Rome will fall, but so will all cities of man who oppose God and one day it will become an eschatological reality

She has 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.

She has become a dwelling place for demons

Notice the difference between Babylon and New Jerusalem

Babylon’s end is to become a wilderness thought it was once a thriving and exciting city

New Jerusalem is to become the place where God dwells with His own

A haunt for every unclean spirit

A haunt for every unclean bird

A haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

Humans will not inhabit Babylon and as a result everything unclean will

3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality

All nations - there is no innocent nation and all are condemned

Spiritual idolatry and adultery against God’s Kingship and Lordship

And the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her

And the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

The wealth of Babylon

The issue is not wealth in and of itself, but wealth gained from adultery and wickedness

4 Then I 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; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

4 Then I 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;

The other voice is mostly likely another angel speaking on behalf of God

God’s people are commanded to come out of the economic/power system of the world

Both Thyatira and Laodicea are guilty here and have fallen into Babylon’s system

We are called out/commanded so that we do not take part in her sins and share in her plagues - those who live as the world reveal they are not of Christ and will therefore face the same final judgment as Babylon

Israel is literally commanded to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem and here the command is for Christ-followers to forsake the worldly system of Babylon

5 For her sins are heaped high as heaven

Her sins are high as heaven

Babel reference from Genesis 11

And God has remembered her iniquities.

6 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.

6 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.

The great prostitute has a punishment that fits the crime - she tried to destroy God’s covenant people by putting to death followers of Christ

7 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.’

7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury

Rome and the Babylonian typology do not glorify God - THEY GLORIFY THEMSELVES

The heart, apart from the transformational work of Christ, is deceitful and desperately sick