This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

We're looking at Revelation chapter 17 together this week. This is day three of
this look. We're looking at Babylon, this woman, also at the end we're going to
see this city who is a picture of the world, a way of thinking without God, a
life organized without God, a philosophy that's built around selfishness.

And we began through the pictures that were shown to John in the book of
Revelation. We began to see what this thing is like, this Babylon yesterday.
Satan is its father, materialism is its focus.

Today we see a third picture through a golden cup that's held in her hand. It's
in the last part of verse four. Let me read that for you.

She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth
of her adulteries. Now this golden cup held in her hand, those who had read the
Old Testament in that day, they were familiar with the Old Testament, they would
have immediately understood what this vision was all about. It was all about
Jeremiah 51 verse seven.

Jeremiah 51 is a prophecy of the physical downfall of the first Babylon. So
we're talking about Babylon, the readers in that day who understood the Old
Testament. We've said it again and again, you need to understand the Old
Testament to understand the book of Revelation.

They would have understood, okay, we're talking about Babylon, Babylon's right
there in the book of Jeremiah, and that Babylon was eventually going to fall as
God released His people to go back to the promised land. There was a prophecy in
the book of Jeremiah about the fact that the physical Babylon will someday fall
and never rise again. It's not too difficult as you and I read through these
chapters to see the parallels as John talks about a spiritual Babylon that's
going to fall, never to rise again.

Jeremiah 51, seven says Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord's hand, and she made
the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, therefore they have now gone
mad. Now that was the physical country of Babylon, but it also represented all
of these qualities that we're looking at.

John says that this cup, that the spiritual Babylon he's talking about here, the
way the world's thinking, the selfish way of thinking, this gold cup is filled
with abominable things. This reminds us that the character of Babylon is
immorality. There's something about immorality, why do people follow after
immorality when it ruins their lives?

I mean, you've seen it so many times, somebody gets involved in an affair and
all of a sudden their marriage is ruined. Their relationship with their children
is ruined. Someone gets involved in drinking as much as they want and taking
whatever drugs they want and their health is ruined, their life is ruined.

Why do we do this? Because we want to do what we want to do. We want to feel
like we're in control of our lives.

If I'm honest, if we're honest, we're like little children who so much want to
do what we want to do, we don't care what it does to us. And so our character is
immorality. If I follow God, I'm going to live out a character of holiness.

And why wouldn't I do that? It brings joy to my life, it brings satisfaction to
my relationships, it brings eternity into my every day. Why wouldn't I do that?

The only reason not to is because I want to live life my own way. And so you
follow after immorality, you follow after your own character. Now I admit there
is pleasure in sin for a season, but it's such a short season.

And you immediately begin to recognize this is not what I wanted. This is not
where I wanted to go. What keeps us from falling after God in that moment?

It's because we want to do what we want to do. So it's character, the character
of Babylon, this world system, this civilization set apart from God is
immorality. As a fourth description of Babylon in verse five, it's in the title
that's written on her forehead.

Let me read for you verse five. It's quite a title. This title was written on
her forehead, mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes and of the
abominations of the earth.

That's a reminder that not only is its character immorality, but here's how I
would say it. The business of Babylon is prostitution. Her name is prostitute,
the title is written on her forehead.

In Rome, prostitutes had a name written above their eyebrow on their forehead.
That was a sign of being a prostitute. So there's no doubt here what's being
pictured.

This picture of a prostitute city, it would have been no surprise to anyone
familiar with the Old Testament. You could read throughout the Old Testament and
hear again and again of those who had prostituted themselves spiritually to go
after false gods, to go after idols, to go after selfish gods instead of after
the true God. You can read about it in a place called Tyre.

Isaiah 23 talks about how they prostituted themselves to follow after false
gods. You can read about it in a place called Nineveh. Nahum chapter 3 verse 4
talks about how they prostituted themselves to follow after false gods.

You can even hear Jerusalem, the city of God, the people of God called a harlot,
a prostitute in Ezekiel chapter 16 verse 23. In Ezekiel 16, 15, previous to
that, "But you trusted in your beauty and you used your fame to become a
prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty
became his.

" Now why this shocking picture, this picture of a prostitute, a harlot? With
prostitution, the relationship is all commercial. And that's what this world is
like.

The relationships are all commercial. It's all about what can I get out of it.
You may not be a physical, sensual, or sexual prostitute, but you can prostitute
yourself, your integrity in order to get a deal.

You can prostitute yourself, your relationship with somebody else in order to
force someone to do what you want. It's all about how can I get what I want.
It's all about how can I be strengthened in the position that I want, in my job,
in my finances.

It's all commercial. That's why this picture is so powerful. With prostitution,
the relationship is all commercial.

There's a second thing here. Prostitution profanes God's good gift. God gave sex
as a good gift for marriage.

And prostitution says, "I'm going to take this good gift and I'm going to use it
for myself, whether the man or the woman. " It's, "I'm going to use it selfishly
for myself. " God is saying, "I have given you these good gifts.

I've given you this opportunity. " In the Old Testament, he's saying, "I've
given you the promise of this nation. I've given you this influence.

And instead of using it to influence the world, you prostituted it. " It's an
entirely different set of values. It's an entirely different understanding of
how God looks at us.

God looks at you with incredible value. And the world, this worldly way of
thinking, looks at you as a prostitute, something to be used. I know that's a
shocking way to think, but it is the truth of the Scripture.

God says to us, "You were bought with a price, the precious blood of Christ. I
have purchased you. I have redeemed you.

" The world says, "I can get it for your wholesale. I can get it for your cheap.
" And it cheapens you in doing that.

This is the truth about this world that I do not see often enough, and probably
likely you don't either. We just see, "I want that thing. " We just see, "I want
that position.

" We just see, "I want to chase after that. " And sometimes in the back of our
mind, we have a good reason for chasing after that thing or that position. We
even think it's a godly thing.

But when you search your motives, you realize, "No, it's not. It's really a
selfish thing. And really, I'm prostituting the good gift that God has given me
just to chase after what I think is going to meet my needs.

" You don't need that. Our Father will meet your needs. And this is an
expression to us of the truth that we can depend on Him.

We don't have to chase after something else. Its business is prostitution. Its
character is immorality.

And then there is a fifth picture here. It's in verse 6. Verse 6 pictures that
she is drunk with the blood of the saints, of God's people.

Let me read that verse. "I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the
saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. And when I saw her, I
was greatly astonished.

" This is a reminder that its religion is anti-God. So if we go through the
pictures, Satan is its father, materialism is its focus, its character is
immorality, its business is prostitution, and its religion is anti-God. Not just
no God, not just ignoring God, but anti, against the real God.

Not just ignoring the people of God, but martyring the people of God. Why?
Because you cannot stand to be in the presence of the truth when all you want to
live is a lie.

When you've decided, "That's all I'm going to live," the presence of the truth,
you can't stand it. You cannot stand light when you've decided all you want is
darkness. It's painful to your eyes, so you have to remove it.

And so she becomes drunk with the blood of the saints. This place called Babylon
eventually sets itself up against the people of God, because the people of God
are speaking truth into this place. Now, as you and I have looked at these
descriptions, they're about us, but they're also about the world we live in.

So let's pray about both. Father, again, first we pray for ourselves, and then
we pray for the world around us, for ourselves. Forgive us.

Forgive us for those times when we've allowed immorality, when we've allowed the
spirit of prostitution, profaning our good gifts into our hearts. Thank you for
the forgiveness that you've given us in Jesus Christ. Thank you for the new life
you've given us in Jesus Christ.

Thank you for the new path that you've set for us. Help us to live out that
path. We don't want to be like the world, the selfish world around us.

We want to be like you, Jesus. So forgive us. Restore us.

And Lord, where I need to repent, I repent. Where I need renewal, I ask for it.
Where I need help, I pray I bring people around me so I can live out your life
in this world.

I want to be like you. And I pray for this world. I pray for friends and pray
for family, that you'd help them to understand the goodness that you have, that
this world is not all there is.

This selfish way of thinking, there is so much more. Help them to see the
picture of light and hope and truth. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen.

Tomorrow, as we continue through this chapter, we're going to see some of the
most exact descriptions in all of Revelation of where all this fits into world
history.