The deceived will be destroyed in their deceptions.

Revelation 18 - VERSE 15. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,  16.  And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed

p 723 -- in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!   17.    For in one hour so great riches is come to naught. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,  18.   And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!  19.   And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

(Excerpt taken from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)

Emotions of the Wicked. - The reader can readily imagine the cause of this universal voice of mourning, lamentation, and woe. Imagine the plague of sores preying upon men, the rivers turned to blood, the sea like the blood of a dead man, the sun scorching men with fire, their traffic gone, and their silver and gold unable to deliver them, and we need not wonder at their exclamations of distress, nor that shipmasters and sailors join in the general wail. Very different is the emotion the saints are called upon to exercise, as the following testimony shows.

VERSE 20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.  21.  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.   22.   And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;  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.  24.   And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Emotions of the Righteous. - The apostles and prophets are here called upon to rejoice over great Babylon in her destruction, as it is in close connection with this destruction that they will all be delivered from the power of death and the grave by the first resurrection.

Like a great millstone, Babylon sinks to rise no more. The various arts and crafts that have been employed in her midst, and have ministered to her desires, shall be practiced no more. The pompous music that has been employed in her

p 724 -- imposing but formal and lifeless service, dies away forever. The scenes of festivity and gladness, when the bridegroom and the bride have been led before her altars, shall be witnessed no more.

Her sorceries constitute her leading crime; and sorcery is a practice which is involved in the Spiritualism of to-day. "And in her was found the blood " of "all that were slain upon the earth." From this it is evident that ever since the introduction of a false religion into the world, Babylon has existed. In her has been found, all along, opposition to the work of God, and persecution of his people. In reference to the guilt of the last generation, see on chapter 16:6. 

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Do you know anyone who believes that when you die you go on to heaven in a spirit form, and in this spirit form you are able to watch all your loved ones in flesh form?  I do. I know A LOT of people who believe this. In fact, I think it would be safe to say that the majority of professed Christians believe this to be true.  What harm is there in believing that we become spirit beings after we die, and in that spirit form we go live in heaven with Jesus?  I'll tell you what the problem is, or rather what a few of the many problems are. First, why didn't Jesus become spirit form upon His death? Second, why does Jesus need to return if we are given instant life after death? Why will Jesus return and raise people from their graves, if they are not in their intelligent form in their grave? If they already possess spirit bodies, why would they want to encumber that once more with a changed flesh body?  Why wouldn't that changed flesh body be their instantaneously upon death?  Why were SOME people raised from their graves when Jesus died?  Do you see where I'm coming from? There is NO LOGIC at all, no real comprehension in why some dead would be raised- and if you believe in immediate life after death then their intelligent spirit form was then reunited with their bodies- and others not raised? Why? If all the dead in Christ were already in spirit form living happily in heaven would it matter if a few were given their changed flesh bodies? Seriously, we have to ask ourselves these very important questions because the whole world almost appears to be caught up in spiritualism which is a LIE of Satan's! It's the lie Satan used in the Garden of Eden. 

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die

And he's used this lie to his great advantage- to delude people into believing his counterfeit religion. 

Aren't you curious as to how many people are going to TRULY believe they are known by Christ through their great walk with Him, only to be told Christ doesn't know them at all? 

People are going to be caught up in the counterfeit- so close to the truth it's barely discernible to be error.

People will say it doesn't matter, that you believe your way and they'll believe their way but it does matter, TRUTH MATTERS!

What is coming, what horrors are on the way we can believe their reality will be worse than we truly can imagine. The peace bubble will pop and many will be exposed to the truth that their life is made up of a bunch of self-deluding lies. 

Please, Lord, we throw ourselves at Your feet begging for forgiveness, for mercy, seeking true repentance, seeking to find that repentance through YOU We recognize how terribly we've led selfish lives. We comprehend our inability to change ourselves! We need You to live in us, to work in us, to change us, to be our all in all. We need You to keep us in YOU in all things!  Lord, we know that what awaits those who embrace delusion is going to be horrific and we don't want any part of that, not a single part of any delusion. Give us ALL we need to be Yours! Please, Lord, please!

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, now and forever!

AMEN.