Good morning all!

Father, may we receive Your word this morning with clarity and truth and trust You to guide us always. May we feel the presence of Your love, the power of Your faith and the glory of Your righteousness. Pull us closer to heaven, to the light of Your understanding and let the clouds of darkness flee, Amen.

Revelation 18

1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
What angel did John witness with power which was a light to the world? Jesus…I am the light of the world.

2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Jesus had a mighty voice full of grace and truth which destroyed all confusion and doubt and every evil work.

3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
This evil was a result of ALL the nations…US drinking the wine of wrath and caused us to be unfaithful and in this state, we waxed rich…stubborn and we had an ABUNDANCE to chew on.

4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Jesus speaks from HEAVEN…come out of this city which is FALLEN and do NOT partake of that wine anymore or you will receive the plague…DEATH.

Bottom line

What is God showing us this morning with this passage? Well, when light shows up what usually FALLS? Darkness…ignorance, confusion, misunderstanding. All of these things will darken the mind of our true identity and purpose.

[Eph 4:18 NLT] Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against God. Baylon means confusion, why are we confused?

[Jas 3:16 NKJV] For where envy and self-seeking [exist], confusion and every evil work [are] there. Being resentful and self-seeking will blind how we view life and the people in our life, it leads to the wrong thoughts which will lead to the wrong lifestyle. What was Jesus prayer on the cross? Father forgive them for they know NOT, they are confused, their minds are in darkness and they have WANDERED from the life YOU have created them to live. And what leads to our confusion? ALL the nations…yea that means you and I too…drank the wine of wrath. What did we drink that has got us so worked up and aggravated? Self-righteousness!!!

[Isa 64:6 NKJV] But we are all like an unclean [thing], And all our righteousnesses [are] like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. When we think our righteousness is based on performance we are drinking the wine of wrath, we ALL are unclean…thinking…we’re like a dried up leaf with NO life and we get blown away with the first wind storm and it takes us AWAY from a life of faith, a life of forgiveness and a life of God. What did you think made your clothing filthy?

[Col 3:12-13 NLT] You must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. When we are SELF righteous, we set the rules for forgiveness NOT God, we believe like righteousness, forgiveness is performance based and NOT really accomplished through the finished work of the cross. Can we earn forgiveness?

[Rom 3:24 NLT] Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he forgave us our sins. It’s UNDESERVED…NOT earned. What makes us righteous? WE FORGIVE!!! The reason we don’t we drink the wine of wrath and we become intoxicated, and it blurs our vision of life and others. Scripture says we waxed rich…we’re stubborn…our hearts have become hard with the ABUNDANCE of our delicacies…our opinions of situations and people. Do you have a different opinion than God when it comes to forgiveness? Of course, we all do, we have an opinion about everyone and everything. We are called to come OUT of her and don’t partake of that sin, and when we don’t we receive the plague…death. Remember there is NO darkness in God so they only way to walk with Him in fellowship is to be in the light, this is what brings God glory. The opposite of glory is shame…

[Isa 65:5 NASB20] Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils. Why would we tell someone NOT to come near me? We don’t like them? We’re mad at them? We haven’t forgiven them? Hmm…have we left room for God? Have we left room for faith? For love? Or did we just send God a smoke screen to disguise our feelings? Church…faith over feelings…we are MORE than smoke!

Point to Ponder

Are you righteous? [Isa 61:10 NIV] I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Your Groom said you are so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise…including YOU!!!

Let everything fall and His righteousness cover us all, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends