Come and See
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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A clear vision
A clear vision
Last week we saw the last of the 7 bowls of judgment poured out on the earth
This week an up and close look at the conditions of the earth
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,
with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
John is given an insider view of the reasons behind the actions of God and the deception of man
The word Judgement is from the root word “To sift” or “to divide out” it speaks of the result of evaluation of the situation and then an appropriate response
in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
We have seen all the way through the book of Revelation that the judgements of God are a result of man’s actions and not God’s anger!
John is told that it is the “great harlot” that sits on may waters where the problem lies
The application of the penalty is the result of the sifting!
In the book of Daniel we see this process in action as applied to King Belshazzar as he defames the sacred things of God
The writing on the wall speaks clearly of God’s action
The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
“But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.
And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.
Tekel: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
Just as his father built an image to himself and forced all the world to worship it, Now Satan will suffer the same as Physical Babylon
The vision speaks of a “great harlot”
Great here indicates position of power not fame. It speaks of persons or objects that have force or power
Notice that authority is not part of this word! Satan may have power or ability to force people but he will never have authority over us! That is part of his deception over people
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
The center of all this judgment is named - the harlot who sits on many waters
The Greek here is the root word to sell, especially of slaves - harlots were generally bought slaves - one who lets themselves be abused for gain
People at this time will have sold their souls for what they perceived as gain but it will be only pain!
Refers to one who after marriage commits adultery
Today we hardly use the word adultery - we say affair, fling, or relationship; Man has downplayed the meaning but God takes it seriously
Throughout the Scripture God likens man’s relationship to a marriage - continually Israel is referred to as a harlot for forsaking their commitment to God - thinking to gain something in exchange for their relationship with God
So here we have a governmental system that has caused man to be “spiritually prostituted” away from God
The term “sits on many waters” refers to the vast sea humanity
We are told that the “kings of the earth”, leaders committed “fornication” with her thus the whole of humanity "drinks the wine” of her fornication
Sin is enticing! It has an intoxicating effect that causes one to lose focus of the fact that sin is lurking at the door and one can easily be taken!
My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.
If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell.
Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.
The word “were made drunk” means they were “caused to be” in that condition
He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.
don’t desire all the delicacies, for he might be trying to trick you.
God spoke the truth to Jeremiah that is applicable to today
They pile lie upon lie and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,” says the Lord.
The result of this are told us in Romans
Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.
And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.
They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
Peter warned
These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed.
Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals.
They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.
That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
There was a time when things were done in darkness but now we simply accept that which would never have been deemed appropriate
And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God.
But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
There is coming a day when a false prophet will claim to be Jesus and deny that He died for the sins of the world. He wil deny that he is the Son of God and that Christians were wrong
Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.
Now the truth is being revealed as to the who, what, and why of the judgements of God!
What about you?
Are you sharpening your sword against the spirit of deception?