Who Do You DRINK With?

SCRIPTURE



Revelation 17:1-18 (NRSV)

Earth's kings conquered

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk." So he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth's abominations." And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly amazed. But the angel said to me, "Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.

"This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings, of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the whore is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore; they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."


DEVOTION

Like many of you, I am a wee bit intimidated by the Book of Revelation. I find it to be a very mysterious book, written in a code that I find difficult to understand with my modern perspective.

Despite having gone to seminary, reading books, and listening to sermons, I still approach Revelation with a little trepidation and a lot of humility.

As I read, I am constantly praying for the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom, understanding, and insight so that I can “rightly divide” the Word of Truth.

Today, I am struck by the words, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk."


In John’s day, that great whore was probably Rome. Rome was the great power of the day with great wealth, dominance, and supremacy.

But, I think that these words can serve as a warning to all of us who may be tempted to be seduced by the great powers of any age—fame, fortune, popularity, and/or power. Revelation says that “the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk” on these things…

My goodness! I don’t want to be “drunk” on anything besides the Holy Spirit!

On the day of Pentecost, the followers of Jesus were gathered together in one room and when they were filled with the Holy Spirit they spilled out into the street speaking languages that were unknown to them and praising God with a loud voice. When the folks in Jerusalem saw and heard them they said, “These folks must be drunk!”

Wouldn’t it be great for folks to think we were “drunk” on the Wine of the Holy Spirit? Wouldn’t it be fabulous if we were so happy, giddy, and bold in our witness that folks wondered what was wrong with us? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we overflowed with so much love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that the non-believers around us were amazed?!

This type of joyful and generous life stands in stark opposition to the life of lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, anger, envy, and pride that the “great whore” offers to those who are willing to drink her wine.

My friends, we have a choice to make. We must choose our “drinking” partner. We can choose to drink with the great whore or we can choose to drink with JESUS who offers us the Living Water which will eternally quench our thirst.

I am happy-glad that God loves the world so much that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life. I am thrilled that Jesus did not stay dead, but was resurrected just as He promised that he would!

JESUS overcame sin, death, and the grave and that even includes “the great whore.”

Would you like to change your “drinking partner” today by putting all of your faith in JESUS? If so, please pray with me:

Dear God, I have chased the fame, fortune, power, and wealth offered to me by the world and it just hasn’t satisfied me. I’ve been drinking, and drinking, and drinking from her trough and I am still always thirsty and unsatisfied. Today, I am putting all of my hope in Jesus. Please fill me up with the Holy Spirit and with Living Water. I believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day for me. Please forgive me of my sin, fill me with Spirit, and allow me to share the good news that Jesus saves, and He saves to the utmost! I love you and I want to share your love with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.


SPECIAL NOTE

If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! Let me encourage you to tell a Christian friend that you just put all of your hope in Jesus. Ask him or her to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand and to find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your Christian journey!

I would be honored if you would click “YES” in the upper right hand corner of the good news blog in answer to the question, “Did God save you today?”.

Congratulations and Happy Re-birthday! Your salvation is our GOOD NEWS, please go and share the GOOD NEWS with others!