"Our text reveals two significant truths. First, the battle of Armageddon is fought for the destruction of Babylon. Second, in this battle the Lord comes upon Babylon as a thief. He comes in a spiritual visitation of judgment to strip and purge from His people in Babylon the death of the carnal mind; those outer, earthly things they cherish above the spirit and truth and glory of Christ. That is what a thief does -- he plunders the house, carrying off those things treasured by the householder! He appears as a thief in the night, and there have often been times in the lives of all of God's called and chosen elect when He has stolen out of the dark hour of our ignorance some carnal concept, some religious tradition, some perverted doctrine, some Babylonish garment of exquisite design that we have hidden in our tent of experience. Ah, we must stay awake to joyfully receive Him in His coming to us, His appearing in us; if we fail to do so He will come like a thief, He will come into our world uninvited and unannounced, He will overtake us unexpectedly and break up our life style and smash our religious games, exposing our pretense. Those who are awake to reality do not have their houses plundered. These willingly yield up the things they once prized, which now are counted but dung that they might win Christ."
Much more in the text:
"And now the faithful dealings of God to bring this very thing to pass have come: the purgings, the strippings, the processings, the refining fires, together with the raising up of the faith, nature, character, revelation, wisdom, and power of Christ within us. Ah, it is truly a picture of darkness and gloominess on the one hand, but on the other hand it is "the morning spread upon the mountains!" It is indeed -- Armageddon! It is the battle which shall finally usher the Lord's people into the FULLNESS OF REDEMPTION, spirit, soul, and body, free from the curse, delivered out of Babylon, having passed through their Armageddon, to lay hold upon the fullness of Christ's victory and triumph! Yes, friends, we are still talking about Armageddon! The last battle! Armageddon is the end-game. That is what final judgment is all about! For you it will not be 2,000 years from now. Your Armageddon may be today, ten years from now, or in the next twenty-four hours. I dare say, it is going on right now! It is within you, it is within God's elect, it is coming within the whole church, and it is coming wherever the beastly carnal nature and the bestial world system seeks to place its mark of ownership on men. Whenever it comes, it will bring an end to your rebellion, to your struggles, to your captivity. It will bring glorious and eternal deliverance! And in this battle the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death! And sin is the enemy destroyed just before death! How much greater, grander, more glorious are the fruits of this victory than any that could be obtained by some carnal war over in the Middle East!"