Central UMC Lenoir City
8:45am Modern and Online Worship
11:00am Traditional and Online Worship
Revelation 18:1-3 NIV
We live in unsettled times. The Book of Revelation was written in unsettled times. The purpose of this study is to get a 30,000 foot view of the main lessons from this book that will help us to find and follow Jesus.
Today's message centers around the fall of Babylon. We will see that Babylon is the anti-God community and system. Babylon is not just about the past; it is about today and how we live.
To understand Babylon, we need to go to Genesis 11, the story of the Tower of Babel. We see instead of doing what God commanded to fill the earth, they build a tower to be like God. It was all about them. God looked down and scattered them.
The word Babylon became a symbol of the anti-God community. Babylon was code for Rome. Rome was the anti-God community at the time of this letter.
As we read in Rev 17 and 18, we see that the great prostitute (Babylon) will be judged and defeated. It seemed impentratrable but in a day, in an hour, the whole political and economic system collapsed. The society that found significance and fulfillment in their material goods, commercial interests, and power collapsed in one hour!
This was encouragement to the first century Christians who were suffering from persecution. This corrupt, ungodly, unjust system would experience judgement. They just had to patiently endure it (Rev 13:10).
Many Babylon's have come and gone. We live in a fallen Babylon world. How should we live?
1. Integrity Matters - When we as Christians do the right thing, we will stand out. Be people of integrity.
2. Be Different - Listen. to people. Don't use people. Put God and people first instead of yourself. Don't buy into the marketing system that says consumption = happiness.
3. Lead With Love - Reaching out to others, especially the less fortunate, makes us stand out in a world of hate. As Andy Stanley asks, "What does love require of me?"
