Revelation 18

Revelation 18

The draw of the world is great. The promises of riches, personal comfort, and pleasure tempt every disciple. When contrasted to the life of sacrifice of bearing the cross, of persecution, the invitation of the world can be a very strong allurement. But like every temptation, when we see it in the long term, when examined from the end, we see that it is purely wretched. Jesus said, “What is the profit for a man if he should gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul?” That is precisely the temptation Jesus faced in the desert. Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. Babylon the Great promises to disciples all the world has to offer.

As disciples, we can't answer the call of the world's systems and live lives of selfish pursuit. The world offers wealth and sensuality, an earthly life of luxurious and splendid things. The world offers an economic, social, and cultural system built entirely around our wants, wishes, and desires. All we must do is to want and to love and to pursue selfishness. We have in many cases attempted to blend together wealth and selfishness with a distorted version of Christianity. Have you noticed we almost never hear a sermon or teaching about the dangers of wealth, about selling all in order to care for the poor and following Christ, about the idolatry of greed, or about the eternal war between mammon and God? The sin of mammon is the unmentionable sin. We may hear sermons about all sorts of lurid things, but Heaven help the one who preaches against the accumulation of wealth. Such a sermon is unacceptable unless one manages to put in an escape clause, to put a spin on it that we are not wealthy or the Bible doesn’t really mean all it says about being selfish. In the American church we have become very comfortable with living in the sin of selfish mammon; in fact, we have made it a virtue.

We see in this chapter the ruin of the one we give ourselves to when we live in greed. The world’s system of greed and selfishness is completely self-destructive. It is hostile to God and to his people. The chapter ends with the link between the world of riches and the blood of the saints. Let's look at an example. Suppose a nation or corporation has the choice of fabulous profit in dealing with the regime that oppresses Christianity or ending that relationship and missing out on that income. What do you suppose that nation or corporation would do? In our heart of hearts, we know the answer. We know because as a nation, in corporations, and in our own lives, we have often sold our soul for just a little bit more.

“Lord, help me to take up the cross of being poor for Your sake. AMEN”