Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

The fact is that God never judges without cause.

God is not arbitrary, meaning that He does not act without cause.

When God brings judgment, it is because there is a reason for the judgment.

There are two aspects of God’s knowledge.

There is His Natural Knowledge, that is, His self-conscience knowledge of Himself.

Free Knowledge, that is, the knowledge of those things that He sovereignly decrees, and how He is manifested by all things outside of Himself.

In other words, All of God’s actions are said to not be arbitrary because of God’s decisions are based first of all in who He is, in His knowledge of Himself.

As a result of that natural knowledge, He makes decrees.

So if someone ever accuses God of being arbitrary, then they are in essence saying that God’s nature is arbitrary since every decree He makes is as a result of who He is, by His natural knowledge of Himself.

I. Judgment Pronounced (vs.

1-2)

Let me see if I can illustrate this.

Is death a proper judgment for sin?

When God told the nation of Israel to completely destroy the Canaanites or the Amalakites, was that a proper judgment for their crimes?

When God sends the rejecting sinner to Hell, is that a proper judgment for the crimes committed?

Or is God just pronouncing and executing judgment because He is God and He can?

That would be the definition of Arbitrary; God is just doing this for no other reason but that He has the power to do it.

But since every decision that God makes is first based upon the knowledge of Himself then no decision that He makes, whether to be gracious or not to be gracious, can be said to be arbitrary because He first decrees based on the perfection of who He is.

Death is not an arbitrary punishment that God deems suitable for making a point, but the legal sanction that God incorporated into the covenant of creation.

God clearly announced this penalty from the beginning, and His nature demands that it be executed.

Objective injustice entails objective guilt and requires objective satisfaction.

In other words, when someone outside of God (therefore the word Objective) breaks the covenant, then that person outside of God brings objective (outside of God) guilt; therefore that person outside of God must satisfy the injustice.

The reason that this understanding is important is because of all the horrific judgment that we have seen in the book of Revelation, we must understand that these judgments are not arbitrary, but are proper responses to objective guilt.

God, through the natural knowledge that He has of Himself, judges the objective guilt because His natural knowledge of Himself demands of His subjective (inside of Him) holiness be satisfied.

So when God pours out these destructive judgments on Babylon, He does so because He is acting in proper judgment for crimes and not arbitrarily.

In the verse that we will discuss this evening, the angel describes the why to the judgment and it is laid out in the ruin developed.

I. Judgment Pronounced (vs.

1-2)

II.

Judgment Avoided (vs.

3.5)

III.

Judgment Defined (vs.

6-8)

The Request Directed (vs.

6a)

The Recompense Detail (vs.

6b)

The Ruin Developed (vs.

7)

Three sins call for Babylon’s judgment

Her Pride

The angel begins with the word “how much” or “as”

God is not arbitrary, meaning that He does not act without cause.

Now, that may seem like a small word but it reveals to us what exactly the angel is asking God to do.

When God bring judgment, it is because there is a reason for the judgment.

There are two aspects of God’s knowledge.

It is the word “ὅσος” and literally means “to the same degree”.

The angel is calling on God that He would match the punishment to fit the crime.

There is His Natural Knowledge, that is, His self-conscience knowledge of Himself.

Free Knowledge, that is, the knowledge of those things that He sovereignly decrees, and how He is manifested by all things outside of Himself.

To the same degree that something is done, match the punishment to that crime; that is the idea.

And the first thing that the angel speaks about is the fact that Babylon will judged because she was proud.

In other words, All of God’s actions are said to not be arbitrary because all of God’s decisions are based first of all in who He is, in His knowledge of Himself.

God had this to say about His glory and pride.

As a result of that natural knowledge, He makes decrees.

So if someone ever accuses God of being arbitrary, then they are in essence saying that God’s nature is arbitrary since every decree He makes is as a result of who He is, by His natural knowledge of Himself.

God hates Pride

Let me see if I can illustrate this.

Proverbs 6:16-17

Is death a proper judgment for sin?

When God told the nation of Israel to completely destroy the Canaanites or the Amalakites, was that a proper judgment for their crimes?

When God sends the rejecting sinner to Hell, is that a proper judgment for the crimes committed?

Or is God just pronouncing and executing judgment because He is God and He can?

Thomas Carlyle quote on Pride

Proverbs 16:18-19

Basketball coach Pat Riley in his book The Winner Within tells about the 1980 World Championship Los Angeles Lakers.

They won the NBA Championship that year, and they were recognized as the best basketball team in the world.

They began their 1980–1981 season considered likely to win back-to-back championships.

But within weeks of the season opener, Magic Johnson tore a cartilage in his knee, and he needed a three-month recuperation period.

The team and the fans rallied, and the remaining players played their hearts out.

They determined to make it through that period without losing their rankings.

They were winning seventy percent of their games when the time began to draw near for Magic Johnson to return to action.

As his return grew closer, the publicity surrounding him increased.

During time-outs at the games, the public address announcer would always say, “And don’t forget to mark your calendars for February 27th.

Magic Johnson returns to the lineup of your World Champion Los Angeles Lakers!”

During that announcement, the other players would look up and curse.

They’d say, “We’re winning now.

What’s so great about February 27th?”

As the day approached, fewer and fewer things were written or said about the players who were putting out so much effort.

All the media attention was focused on the one player who hadn’t been doing a thing.

Finally the 27th came, and as they clicked through the turnstiles every one of the 17,500 ticket holders was handed a button that said, “The Magic Is Back!”

At least fifty press photographers crowded onto the floor while the players were introduced.

Normally only the starters were introduced, and Magic Johnson was going to be on the bench when the game began.

But he was nevertheless included in the introductions.

At the mention of his name, the arena rocked with a standing ovation.

Flashbulbs went off like popcorn.

Magic Johnson was like a returning god to the crowd that night.

Meanwhile the other players who had carried the team for three months and who were totally ignored, were seething with jealousy, resentment, anger, and envy.

They were so resentful that they barely won the game that night against a bottom-of-the-bucket team, and eventually the morale of the entire team collapsed.

The players turned on each other.

The coach was fired.

And they eventually lost their opening game of the play-offs, having one of the most disastrous records ever.

Riley said, “Because of greed, pettiness, and resentment, we executed one of the fastest falls from grace in NBA history.

It was the Disease of Me.”

Basically, pride refuses to depend on God and be subject to Him.

It attributes to self the honor that is due to Him.

From the very beginning in heaven, Lucifer was attempting to steal the glory that belonged to the Lord and take it to himself.

Then he convinced our first parents that they could be like God.

And as a result, man’s entire nature was infected by pride.

ii.

Her Passion (vs.

7b)

The word “deliciously” is “στρηνιάω” and means to live in luxury or sensuality.