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Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Introduction

These are words we are to “read, hear, and keep” (Rev 1:3). They are not addressed to physical Babylon in Iraq. Neither are they addressed to spiritual Babylon in physical Rome or Jerusalem. These words are addressed to “He that hath an ear” (Rev 2:7). If we are granted “ears to hear and eyes that see”, then we will want only to know ‘How will I “keep the things written therein”?’ As we are about to see, ‘Mystery Babylon The Great The Mother of Harlots, is within us as God’s own backslidden wife. As King Solomon demonstrated for us last week, in 1Ki 10, it took time for us to become the slave of all that Babylon has to offer. King Solomon, a type of us having lost our first love, had 700 wives, and 300 concubines, who were all daughters of the nations surrounding Israel. That is one thousand women, ten (the flesh) to the third power(the process of judgment), who were riding the beast, the king of Israel, a type of you and me, and their traditions were a snare to King Solomon.

1Ki 11:1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Ki 11:2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
1Ki 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Christ had twice appeared to King Solomon and had made him both rich and wise. Nevertheless our Lord had somewhat against King Solomon because he had “left his first love”, his own God, and “His wives [ had] turned away his heart after other gods”. Solomon’s wives are this “great whore… sitting upon a scarlet colored best”. She is “Mother of Harlots, and abominations of the world”, and she who “sits upon [ the] many waters” of the many false doctrines and ungodly traditions which are typified by the 1000 wives and concubines of King Solomon. The apostasy of King Solomon is the Old Testament type of the overwhelming majority of Christians who had apostatized while the apostles were still alive. The apostasy of King Solomon, by the traditions of his many pagan wives, demonstrates how this world rules over us when we ought to be ruling over the land of Israel. Instead of being rulers over the land of Israel, we have placed the gods of outsiders above our God, and we are being ruled by these 1000 wives, “Babylon the Great The Mother of Harlots, and Abominations of the Earth.”
Now let’s see how our Lord judges this harlot within us. Let us notice how this harlot has the same mind as the church of Laodicea of which we all read, hear and keep at our own time. Let us also notice that these vials of God’s wrath, are called the “great and marvelous” work of God. Remember, this is all a part of the seventh vial of God’s wrath, which is being poured out upon us to destroy the beast we are, and the influence of this harlot over that beast within us.

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

This last vial is poured out into “the air”, a type of the realm of the spirit, in which the four winds blow. So let us take on the spiritual mind of Christ, and view all seven vials as the “great and marvelous… wonderful works of God to the children of men”, which they are. That is how God sees His work of our judgment within us. Here is how Christ is judging the business of this harlot who is “sitting on many waters” within us:

Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The Hebrew word translated ‘great’ in verse 23, is the word ‘rab’. It is most often translated as ‘many’, as in this verse in which it first appears.

Gen 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many [ Hebrew, rab] days.

So Psa 107:23 can also be translated “They that… do business in [ the] many waters… on which the whore sits”.

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

So this harlot within us is being judged and is being destroyed. But what is the outcome of it all?

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

It is through “receiving double for all of our sins”, that “our warfare is accomplished and our iniquity is pardoned”. Here is Isa 40:2 in this book of revelation.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

Truly these seven last plagues of God’s wrath are “great and marvelous… wonderful works to the children of men” by our God within our lives, even while “we have this treasure in earthen vessels”.

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure [ Christ] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Let us now observe how our Lord performs the great and marvelous work of judging the influence of this great harlot upon our lives.

Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

This is a wonderful work in our lives. This is what we were told at the introduction of the pouring out of the seventh vial into the air of our heavens.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

This, our judgment, is the greatest work God will ever do in “the earth” which is our lives. It is a work “such as was not since men were upon the earth”, and here is why that is so.

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

The power of this verse comes from the book of Isaiah which gives us the glorious outcome of having the cup which we have filled, filled to us double.

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

Let us acknowledge that it is through “receiving double for all of our sins” that “our warfare is accomplished and our iniquity is pardoned. Here is Isa 40:2 in this book of revelation.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

When “it is done”, we have fulfilled the seven plagues of the seven angels, have gotten the victory over the beast, and we are now worthy to stand with the overcomers upon the sea of glass mingled with fire.

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Let us never deny the justice of our God. He will indeed “double to us all double what injustices we have fulfilled. As we have “glorified ourselves at the expense of our Lord and our brothers, so much torment and sorrow we will receive.

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

It is a false and an insidious doctrine which teaches that “mercy rejoices against judgment” contradicts “whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap”.

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, thatshall he also reap.
Jas 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

In time we will come to see “Thou art the man”.

2Sa 12:4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2Sa 12:5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [ that had been] too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

We are so quick to say “He shall have judgment without mercy, that showed no mercy” while we are thinking of some other man who “had no pity”. Like King David, we are so quick to forget that it is we who are “chief of sinners” and who must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and we forget that it is our own house from which “the sword [ of God’s Word] will never depart” if we are blessed to that degree in this life.
So “mercy rejoices against judgment” is true, but it in no way denies the justice or the judgment of God in our lives. Our Lord, who is the Truth, puts it all in these words:

Luk 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

“All things come alike to all men” does not mean that the details of our experiences are all the same. What it does mean is that Christ has but one way of doing the work of His Father upon this carnal earth, and that way is “the way of the Tree of Life”. The way of Christ is the way of His Father. That being so, it is a fiery way, because our God is a consuming fire. You and I are “the earth” on which Christ has come to send the fire of His Word to purify us and to make us worthy to stand with Him on that sea of glass mingled with fire, and to make us worthy to enter into the temple in heaven.
This verse of Rev 18 is speaking to us about ourselves.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

It is we who have said these words in our hearts while we took comfort in the lies of this great harlot to whom we are all slaves in our own time. This harlot is the same as the church of Laodicea, because “she has said [ these same words] in her heart.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

“Be zealous therefore, and repent”. What is it that leads us to repentance?

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Far too many Christians do not realize that “the goodness of God” is His chastening grace, as it is described for us in Psa 107.

Psa 107:8 Oh that [ men] would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Psa 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
Psa 107:11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
Psa 107:12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Psa 107:13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Psa 107:15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

That is what we are being told concerning the wonderful works of God when this great harlot within us “contemns the counsel of the most High” within us. Only then is this harlot within us judged, our hearts are “brought down with labor and there is none to help”. So we continue in the description of the judgment which is needed to extricate us from the clutches of this great harlot who dominates the beast we all are.

Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

“Her plagues” are the seven last plagues of chapter 16. “In one day” is a scriptural term for the short work which the Lord is working in us all as we are being judged and perfected in these vessels of clay. The “death, mourning and famine” are all accomplished through the Words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God. Babylon has been suffering a famine of the word all along; she simply has not been aware of that fact. Speaking of “the faithful city which has become a harlot”, Isaiah makes this statement.

Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Isa 3:1 is the recipe for this kind of famine.

Amo 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

We will all endure this famine before we are granted to have this great harlot and her doctrines within us judged and “burned with [ the] fire” of the Word of God within us.
Here is what “the Lord God who judges her ” is doing in that judgment.

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

The only way to avoid being “condemned with the world” is to have this harlot within us judged and destroyed by “losing our lives” in order to find life.

Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Losing this life and its pleasures in the flesh is very hard on the kings within us who rule over our flesh.

Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

“The kings of the earth” are all the principalities against whom this “war in the heavens” is being waged within us. Ours is not a physical battle. Rather it is a spiritual battle which must be waged every day.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Eph 6:12 For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world- rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens. (BBE)

Our warfare is “not against flesh and blood”, but it is “in the heavens”, against the principalities and powers of that realm. Only those who have fought this fight are granted to “turn to see the voice behind them” and to realize just how great is this battle, and to know just how great is the loss of this battle to “the kings of the earth” who have for so long ruled our earth, and been nourished within us by the doctrines of this great harlot. “The smoke of her burning” is a terrible loss to the kings of our flesh, who are said to “lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning”.
As our Lord has told us:

Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

What Babylon has is our life which we must lose if we hope to find it. Babylon is our way of life, in opposition to the ways and mind of our Lord. What Babylon is, is just as much a “mystery” as is the mystery of Christ being in us. Look at the contrast of these two mysteries.
Here is Babylon:

Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead [ was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Here is the end of her work and her ways within us.

Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Rev 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Rev 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

That Babylon is God’s own fallen people is beyond question when we place these verses beside the words of our Lord concerning the church of His time.

Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
Luk 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen [ doth gather] her brood under [ her] wings, and ye would not!

It is, and always has been, those who believe on Christ who want to kill him.

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [ then] are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you

“The sorceries” of Babylon deceive the whole world and kill Christ within us. The mystery of Christ destroys Babylon within us and brings to us “the hope of glory”, which glory cannot be experienced while living in the pleasures of Babylon. The inward nature of this struggle is revealed in these words.

Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [ be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

“The gospel… which was preached to every creature under heaven” is the heavens and the creatures within us which Babylon has deceived and ruled over for so long. There are 24 verses in this 18th chapter, and they are all dedicated to demonstrating to us just how deeply Babylon has permeated our lives. It is in Babylon, that we live until she is destroyed in the day of our judgment. That day for a few is now, and the fire of that judgment is “already kindled”. It is unquenchable fire which will burn until the fuel for that fire is spent and is destroyed.

Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

We are to “keep the things written in this book” (Rev 1:3). The fact that the fiery trials of life are working in us is not some strange thing. It is rather a great and marvelous work, that the fire our Lord came to bring us is already kindled within our lives while we are yet in these clay vessels. This is “His goodness and his wonderful works to the children of men”. Oh, that we can learn to praise the Lord for this work within us.

Psa 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Psa 107:3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
Psa 107:4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
Psa 107:5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Psa 107:6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Psa 107:8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Next week we will see even more of the depths from which His goodness and His wonderful works have delivered us out of the wilderness that is our journey in Babylon, and we will see just how much our old man has lost. What we will see is that Babylon is filled with every tradition and way that is valuable to the natural man, as well as the very building materials with which we are told to build upon the foundation of Christ. But Babylon, even with the proper building materials, is not built upon the foundation of Christ, because His words have no place in Babylon, and in the end, it is Christ’s words which cause us to want Him dead.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.