Are You a Friend of the World?
Scripture: Revelation 17:1-2Devotional Series: Conflict with the Whore
Teaching: Conflict With The Whore pt. 2 (WED 2021-02-03) by Pastor Star R Scott
Comparing the apostate religious system, that great whore of the book of Revelation, and the true church seems simple and the comparisons are surely stark, aren’t they? Then why is it that those that are within the true church are going to fall away in this last day, believing these false prophets, these doctrines of devils, and these lying signs and wonders?
We, as a people, need to prepare ourselves and finish this race. But let me remind you that we, as the church, are very susceptible. Jesus, Himself, said on numerous occasions that He had great concern in these last days that false teachers, false apostles, lying signs would come and bring great deception that even the very elect might not be able to withstand. If this time were not shortened, the Scripture says, the very elect would be in jeopardy. I would encourage us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. I will guarantee you one thing: you will not through volition, self-discipline, and character defeat the power of Satan. He will only be defeated by your obedience to the Word of God and the power of the Holy Ghost in you. If there’s anything else you’re drawing on, you will fall.
And as we look at this, we see the great apostle in the midst of this revelation. Can you imagine this book being unfolded to him? What his mind must have been doing? In Revelation 17:1 it says, “There was one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and talked with me, and said, ‘Come hither; and I will shew unto you the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.’ These many nations that are being represented. The masses of the people who are coming together in one mind, in one accord, and you see that in the interpretation as you read toward the end of the chapter, when he explains what the many waters are. He said (verse 2) this individual, this entity is the one “with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” So, we see this adulterous affair between the professed church and the world’s system, and we realize that, to be a friend of the world is to be the enemy of God; amen? And to be a friend of the world puts you at enmity with, or in opposition to, the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Can we say it another way? Makes you part of that entity called the spirit of antichrist.
We, as a people, need to prepare ourselves and finish this race. But let me remind you that we, as the church, are very susceptible. Jesus, Himself, said on numerous occasions that He had great concern in these last days that false teachers, false apostles, lying signs would come and bring great deception that even the very elect might not be able to withstand. If this time were not shortened, the Scripture says, the very elect would be in jeopardy. I would encourage us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. I will guarantee you one thing: you will not through volition, self-discipline, and character defeat the power of Satan. He will only be defeated by your obedience to the Word of God and the power of the Holy Ghost in you. If there’s anything else you’re drawing on, you will fall.
And as we look at this, we see the great apostle in the midst of this revelation. Can you imagine this book being unfolded to him? What his mind must have been doing? In Revelation 17:1 it says, “There was one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and talked with me, and said, ‘Come hither; and I will shew unto you the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.’ These many nations that are being represented. The masses of the people who are coming together in one mind, in one accord, and you see that in the interpretation as you read toward the end of the chapter, when he explains what the many waters are. He said (verse 2) this individual, this entity is the one “with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” So, we see this adulterous affair between the professed church and the world’s system, and we realize that, to be a friend of the world is to be the enemy of God; amen? And to be a friend of the world puts you at enmity with, or in opposition to, the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Can we say it another way? Makes you part of that entity called the spirit of antichrist.