[Chapter 17-2] Concentrate Our Attention On His Will (Revelation 17:1-18)
(Revelation 17:1-18)
Revelation
17:1-5 states, “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.’ So he carried
me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a
scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads
and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden
cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on
her forehead a name was written:
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
The
harlot in the above passage refers to the religious of this world, and
it tells us that they have indulged in extravagant luxuries with the
things of the world and the material abundance given by the Lord. They
adorned themselves with all kinds of luxuries, with necklaces of gold
and earrings of diamonds, and put on all kinds of fragrant oil. The
passage tells us that in her hand was a golden cup, and that it was full
of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. This is what God
showed John.
What
this passage tells us is that Satan contrives in people’s souls and
seeks to make them surrender to him by having them be drunk with the
things of the world. All the kings of the world, too, have been made
drunk with the things of the world by Satan. As such, everyone on this
earth is made drunk with the wine of the world’s fornication.
Satan
achieves his goals when people become drunk with the tide of this
world, its pleasures, and its material greed. The truth is that his goal
is to prevent people from looking toward God. To do so, Satan makes
their souls drunk with the material things of the world. We must realize
this truth.
There
is no one in this world who would not fall into the materialist trap.
Everyone falls into materialism. The fashionable trends of this world
are all manipulated and led by Satan. Everyone thinks that he/she has
his/her unique style. But behind it lies a manipulator, and this
manipulator is none other than Satan. This is why we must not live
soaked in materialism, but instead live imbibing from His Word and doing
the works of God.
The
Word of Revelation that God reveals to us through the Apostle John is
the truth. What, then, is God trying to tell us with this Word? Our Lord
is telling us that we should not saturate ourselves with this world,
but instead stand against it. He is telling us, the saints, in other
words, to think of and believe in God with our hearts.
1
John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” When our
hearts love the material things of the world, God cannot dwell in our
hearts. But when our hearts throw away the things of the world, God
would then dwell in our hearts. We must not live our lives saturated in
the material things of the world. Only when we contemplate on the Word
of our Lord and His purposes alone can we be led by His guidance.
We
can change our minds at any time. When the things of the world try to
enter into our hearts, we should always reject them. We can then drive
away all the filthy things of the world from our hearts, and our hearts
soon dissolve into the Lord’s own heart. What does our Lord want from
us? And what does He tell us to do? To make sure that such godly
thoughts would spring up in our hearts, we must erase the worldly things
from our hearts.
God
has given us so many blessings, and we realize now that we should
preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the people of the
entire world for the rest of our remaining days. We therefore do not let
down our guards, and come to concentrate our attention on His will. By
thinking of spiritual works, we can drive out the things of the world
found in our hearts.
We
the saints must drive out the things of the world. Until the Lord comes
again, we must live our Christian lives with faith. For the remainder
of our lives, we must do what the Lord has entrusted us with until we
stand before Him. And we must love the Lord, and live by faith, doing
whatever works He permits us to do.
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