COME OUT FROM AMONG THE EVIL DOERS

PROCLAMATION

“Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.’ ”  Revelation 18:4 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of prophecy which were revealed to, and written by, the Apostle John, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this eighteenth chapter of Revelation, while he was still in the spirit, John was carried away into a wilderness by one of the seven angels who had one of the seven bowl full of the wrath of God.  There he saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast.  The woman, the great prostitute, represented the city of Rome, the spiritual Babylon, the seat of idolatry, immorality, deception, and persecution. (Revelation 17:1-3)  After this John saw another angel coming down from heaven, who illuminated the earth with his splendor, shouting: “Babylon the great is fallen …”  Babylon had become a dwelling place for demons and a habitat for impure spirits. (Revelation 18:1-2)  Then John heard a voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, My people …”  Do not partake of her sins and you will not share in her punishment. (Revelation 18:4-5)  Babylon will be destroyed in one day. And the kings, merchants, and sailors who profited greatly from her will mourn her demise as well as their loss of future revenue. (Revelation 18:9-20) 

 

APPLICATION

The text here is directed at Babylon, or Rome, but it can be applied to a number of sin-sick cities of yesterday and today. (Ezekiel 22:1-13)  The take home lesson here is that those who gain by deceit will lose in the end.  We were taught not to be envious of evil doers who prosper and enjoy dishonest gain because The Lord God is against them and they will be cut down in the end. (Psalm 37:1-2 and Psalm 37:16)  We were also taught not to associate with evil doers because only birds of the same feather will flock together. (Amos 3:3)  If we share with them in their sins, then we will share in their punishment. (Revelation 18:4)  The Lord God has called us, His people, out of sinful darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 18:4)  If we come out of our sinful existence and desire to go back to it, then we are not fit for the kingdom of heaven. (Luke 9:62)  Remember what happened to Lot’s wife as they left Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19:26)  We are in this world but not of it.