Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #25 of Revelation, chapter 18, and we are going to read Revelation 18:11-16:

And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 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, 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. 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. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!

In these verses we have the account of the merchants of the earth that weep and mourn because “no man buyeth their merchandise any more,” and all these things God names here are departed from them and they will find them no more at all.  They are gone.

We saw in our last study that God connects the merchants of the earth to being rich.  In verse 3 God said that the merchants of the earth were waxed rich and in verse 15 God says the merchants of the earth were made rich by her.  We went to a couple of places, like Luke 6: 24-25, where it said, “But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.”  We also went to the parable of the rich man.  Let us turn there again and look at the parable of the rich man whose ground brought forth plentifully so he tore down his barns to build bigger ones.  Then God said to him, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.”  In the Bible fools are often contrasted with the wise and we know the wise typify the elect and fools typify those that are unsaved.  Likewise, the rich are contrasted with the poor and God uses the rich to typify the unsaved and He uses the poor to typify the elect. 

We would be making a mistake if every time we read of a rich man in the Bible we thought that the millionaires of the world were in view, thereby removing it from application to ourselves.  But that is not true.  When God is speaking of the rich, spiritually, it can even apply to people that are physically poor and do not have much wealth in the world, but if they have “stored up treasures for themselves,” then they are “rich.”  Rather than turning from sin and repenting (which only God can grant) and becoming “poor” in spirit, they remain rich in their sinful pursuit of pleasures and in going after the lusts of their hearts.  God can identify all the unsaved people of the world in the category of being “rich” and He can liken all the elect to being “poor” spiritually.  In either case, it has nothing to do with the money or possessions that people have, but it has to do with the condition of the heart.  That is why it says in Luke 12:21:

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

It is really a spiritual matter when we read these kinds of verses about the rich or the poor in the Bible and that helps us to understand when we come to a passage like Luke 16, where the Lord spoke another parable and it says in Luke 16:19-26:

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

We have looked at this passage at various times over the last few years and we have seen how it relates to Judgment Day because God has brought the world into the condition of “hell,” which is the grave.  For all intents and purposes, God has “killed” the unsaved inhabitants of the earth, typified by the rich man who had his fill of the things of this world; he sumptuously fared every day and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, but poor Lazarus, the beggar, had a very difficult and grievous time in this world.  But Lazarus typifies the elect and the rich man typifies the unsaved person and in the Day of Judgment their situations are reversed, just as God portrayed it in Luke, chapter 6, where He presents the situation of the “rich” prior to Judgment Day, but the situation is reversed, as it says in Luke 6:24:

But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

In other words, the rich have received their consolation in their lifetime.  Abraham is a picture of God the Father and He is saying this to the rich man in Luke 16.  Then it goes on to say in Luke 6:25:

Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

God is contrasting the situation of the unsaved people of the world in all generations leading up the Day of Judgment and then it is all reversed and those that laughed, now mourn and weep and those that were once comforted are now tormented, and those that were full are now hungry.  They are in the former position of the “poor” (represented by Lazarus) and now have been taken into Abraham’s bosom and they are comforted.  Now they are the ones that “laugh,” in a sense, and they are the ones that are full.  That is how God pictures Judgment Day.  The true believers are no longer sowing the Gospel with tears and mourning and weeping, but now they are being comforted.  They have been lifted up, in the sense that Christ now rules over all the earth and He is judging all the unsaved.  In this way (and other ways) God typifies what happens in Judgment Day in Revelation 18, where the merchants of the earth are “seeing” their riches depart from them; they are losing their wealth. 

The Bible has a lot to say about “rich” men.  It says in James 5:1:

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

This is exactly what we are reading about in our passage in Revelation 18.  It goes on to say in James 5:2-5:

Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

I will stop reading there.  God is speaking to the rich men and He says their riches are corrupted and their gold and silver is cankered.  Notice God says, “Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.”  Let us look at a couple of verses where God mentions the heaping together of treasure.  It says in Luke 6:45:

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Notice that it mentions an evil man that brings “evil treasure” out of his heart and that is because of what God said in Matthew 6:19-21:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So the good man, the child of God, who was made good by God’s grace and mercy, has treasures stored in heaven.  He has the Spirit of God, so it is all good, but the unsaved person has stored up treasures for himself and where your treasure is indicates where your heart is.  Just look at how people live in this world and look at what they seek after; listen to people when you talk to them.  What do they want?  We all know, as we are all very familiar with the desires of the world because we have had those desires – it is a lust for things.  It is a lust for money because money can buy things.  It is all self-serving as man tries to satisfy his own desires and seeks his own pleasure, and so forth.  All these things are storing up evil treasure for the unsaved.  Here is what God says about this, in Romans 2:5:

But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

We have looked at this verse several times before, but never in this way, where God speaks of the sinner with an impenitent heart treasuring up to himself wrath against the day of wrath.  Why?  It is because it is in the evil heart that a man treasures up things to himself and not to God.  All he did in his life was for himself and it is all self-centered and prideful arrogance.  He is seeking his own, not the things of God and it has all been an effort to obtain riches or to obtain treasures. 

Actually, it is a vain effort and a useless effort, because God says in Proverbs 11:4:

Riches profit not in the day of wrath…

The riches are not helpful because those same riches are what brought the wrath of God upon the sinner because he has treasured up these things and he has gone after things God said he was not to go after.  Rather, God would have us to be humble and in submission to Him and His Word and living in poverty, spiritually, and not going after our own things, but going after the things of God.  So God pictures sinners as “rich men,” but this could literally be a homeless person that has no physical possessions, but in his impenitent heart he has attempted to treasure up things unto himself, but it only brings the wrath of God.

Remember the account, in Matthew, chapter 19, of a rich man that came to Jesus.  It says in Matthew 19:16-21:

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Notice what Christ said, “Give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.”  Just think of all the other verses we have been reading and we know that this means to live one’s life broken and contrite, in submission to the will of God in your heart.  Then it goes on to say in Matthew 19:22-24:

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Now I hope that as we read this now we are not thinking of the man with a big bank account who lives in a mansion and owns a yacht, and so forth.  Instead, I hope we are thinking of ourselves and every human being because Christ is actually talking about every sinner as being rich because every on of us in our natural fallen condition will treasure up things to ourselves.  That is why Christ is in effect saying, “It is easier for a camel to through the eye of an needle, than for any one of us to enter into the kingdom of God.”  The disciples confirmed that they understood the point He was making because in the next verse, they said, “Who then can be saved?”  You see, it is not just the rich, but everyone and that is the point of this historical parable.  This is the wonderful truth of God’s salvation plan when we answer that question.  Each “rich” person (every human being) has failed to treasure up things unto God, but we have all fallen short of His glorious mark as we treasure up things to ourselves.  But the wonderful answer from Christ is in Matthew 19:26:

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Who can be saved?  With men, it is impossible, but not with God.  You know, I have had discussions with some people and when you tell them, “Your faith cannot save you.  You cannot accept Christ or be physically baptized to be saved.  Walking down the aisle or saying the Sinner’s Prayer cannot save you.”  Or, when we talk to other religions, like the Muslims, and you tell them that there is no work they can do to become saved, you can see the frustration as they respond and they are basically saying, “Who then can be saved?  That is exactly the question God wanted us to ask.  He wanted us to understand the impossibility of salvation by our own works during the day of salvation when He was saving people, because it was only possible then if it was of God.  Of course, now we have come to the time when there is no more salvation for those still in their sins; the salvation of God has come to a close. 

But, in Revelation, chapter 18, we are seeing a tragic illustration as God draws a picture of the unsaved people of the earth that have trusted in their “riches.”  They have gone after the lie.  They have gone after deceitful riches that they have stored up and hoped it was the answer for them and that these riches would bring them happiness and comfort.  Yet, we see the ruin of mankind, as they have gone in that direction.  They have nothing left.  All of their riches are departed from them and all the fruits that their souls lusted after are gone and they have nothing.  They will be destroyed at the end and they will go to “nothing” and be “nothing.”  They will be completely annihilated.  What an awful end for such noble creatures created in the image of God.