Books have been written and movies made with two main characters—the good one and the evil one.  They both have their people around them who serve them and are loyal to them.  We read or watch wondering who will win, hoping who will win, and then celebrating the victor.  We are drawn to the ageless storyline time and time again.

The plot rises and falls on the activities of the good one and the evil one.  The story rises to climax when it looks as if the evil one will indeed win.  I have heard booing in the theater or at home!  However, the good one changes everything in the last chapter or last scene.  The good one lives after all, enduring all the hits, disgrace, slaps in the face and being bound up—or so the evil one thought!  The good one was never really bound and fulfills the plot plan of the Author of the Book as the Victor.  The good one celebrates with all who were loyal to him.  He is the Victor!

Admit it, there is seldom a time in our books and movies that evil wins over good.  Where did this plot line begin?  With Adam and Eve, created to live in a perfectly good place, enjoying a wonderful relationship with God, until evil opened the door to all that is not good.  They fell for evil—hard.  But the story did not end there.

We have been writing books and producing movies ever since with this plot sequence.  It is no wonder God gives John this vision for the troubled, persecuted church in this way.  We get it.  All that is evil with perverse, manipulative, torturous, nasty behavior will be dealt with in power over evil with all that is God.  God will not allow evil to win.  In His time, in His ways, evil will be defeated and sent to hell forever.  Evil tries to be king by working through kings on earth, but he will fail.  There is only One King!

Be on the winning side.  Come to Jesus.  Pray, asking for wisdom to think and behave like Jesus. Here is what being like the One who saved us looks like:

“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
    he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:1-11

We all know who wins in the end—If you read the Book! 

Revelation is coming to a climax with the evil one, the whore, who represents all that is evil.

REVELATION—JESUS IS COMING BACK!

Revelation 17, The Message

Great Babylon, Mother of Whores

^1-2 One of the Seven Angels who carried the seven bowls came and invited me, “Come, I’ll show you the judgment of the great Whore who sits enthroned over many waters, the Whore with whom the kings of the earth have gone whoring, show you the judgment on earth dwellers drunk on her whorish lust.”

^3-6 In the Spirit he carried me out in the desert. I saw a woman mounted on a Scarlet Beast. Stuffed with blasphemies, the Beast had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, festooned with gold and gems and pearls. She held a gold chalice in her hand, brimming with defiling obscenities, her foul fornications. A riddle-name was branded on her forehead: great babylon, mother of whores and abominations of the earth. I could see that the woman was drunk, drunk on the blood of God’s holy people, drunk on the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

^6-8 Astonished, I rubbed my eyes. I shook my head in wonder. The Angel said, “Does this surprise you? Let me tell you the riddle of the woman and the Beast she rides, the Beast with seven heads and ten horns. The Beast you saw once was, is no longer, and is about to ascend from the Abyss and head straight for Hell. Earth dwellers whose names weren’t written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be dazzled when they see the Beast that once was, is no longer, and is to come.

^9-11 “But don’t drop your guard. Use your head. The seven heads are seven hills; they are where the woman sits. They are also seven kings: five dead, one living, the other not yet here—and when he does come his time will be brief. The Beast that once was and is no longer is both an eighth and one of the seven—and headed for Hell.

^12-14 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings, but they’re not yet in power. They will come to power with the Scarlet Beast, but won’t last long—a very brief reign. These kings will agree to turn over their power and authority to the Beast. They will go to war against the Lamb but the Lamb will defeat them, proof that he is Lord over all lords, King over all kings, and those with him will be the called, chosen, and faithful.”

^15-18 The Angel continued, “The waters you saw on which the Whore was enthroned are peoples and crowds, nations and languages. And the ten horns you saw, together with the Beast, will turn on the Whore—they’ll hate her, violate her, strip her naked, rip her apart with their teeth, then set fire to her. It was God who put the idea in their heads to turn over their rule to the Beast until the words of God are completed. The woman you saw is the great city, tyrannizing the kings of the earth.”

VICTORY IS NEAR—

Beginning in Revelation 17, John describes the Lamb’s step-by-step victory over “the beast” and his kingdom. In Revelation 17, the religious system is judged; in Revelation 18, the political and economic system fall victim. Finally, the Lord Himself returns to earth; judges Satan, “the beast,” and the false prophet (Rev. 19:19–20); and then establishes His kingdom. 

Keep reading!  We’re almost there!

Lord,

You teach us daily of all that we wonder about real Life.  You give us wisdom for living life well—when we ask.  You gave us your Son to pay the debt for our sin. Thank you, dear Jesus!  We know You will come back again to claim your own.  I am yours, Lord, heart, mind and soul.  Thank you for forgiving me, transforming me daily and making me ready to meet you.  Thank you for renewing my Spirit, refreshing my soul and cleansing my heart while restoring the joy of my salvation.  Someday, we’ll be together.  It will be worth all the trials here to be there with You.  You are the Victor now and then. 

In Jesus Name, Amen