“For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
– Revelation 18:10
You really, in order to feel the weight of Revelation 18:10, need to read that whole chapter. And even going back to the previous chapter, as you read this picture of Babylon and this representation of all the power and all the wealth, all the world has to offer built up over years, decades, centuries, everything the world has and all that it offers to you and me, and then you read a verse like Revelation 18:10, and it says, “In a single hour, your judgment has come.”
Meaning just like that, it’s all gone. And the only thing that matters is whether or not you have trusted in God, followed Jesus, in the language of Mark 8, saved your soul. What does it gain? What do you have if you gain the whole world in an hour, in a moment it’s all going to be gone, And what will you have in that moment?
Revelation 18:10 Tells Us Judgment is Coming
That’s what Revelation 18:10 is shouting to you and me. Judgment is going to come in a moment. In our lives not one of us is guaranteed to live another moment. This could be the moment right now, where it’s all over for you for me. And one day that’s coming for the whole world. So what’s going to matter in that moment, when the judgment of God ultimately comes? Think about that moment, that it could happen today. It could happen tomorrow. And at some point it’s going to happen in each one of our lives, and at some point it’s going to happen in the whole world.
So God, we prayed that you would help us to live for. What’s going to matter on that day. God, we pray that you would help me and us to live for what’s going to matter in that moment, help us to follow you faithfully today, to fear you, to obey you, to be blameless before you and others. God, we pray, help us to endure faithfully over any moments, any days you give us here, knowing that judgment is coming in a single hour. And even with confidence there that in a single hour, all will be made right. God, we know that left to ourselves.
This Verse Reminds Us We are Hopeless Apart from Christ
In that moment of judgment, we are hopeless. Jesus, we cling to you as our savior and as our Lord, as we think about coming judgment, we pray that you’d help us to live lives worthy of your name and view of that day. We want to hear you say on that day, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Help us to live like that in every moment, day to be ready even as we read in Revelation 17 and 16, be ready. It’s coming. That moment is coming.
God help us, we pray to share the gospel today to prepare others for that moment. God, we pray that you’d help us not to be silent with the gospel. We pray that you’d help us to proclaim the gospel today so that others will be ready for that moment. Knowing this moment could happen for anyone around us today. God, we pray. You’d help us to live with urgency.
Spread the gospel around us today, around the world, among all the nations, which we pray for different people groups, three plus billion people who have little to no knowledge of the gospel. God, we pray you’d help our lives and our families and our churches to change that, so that those people might be ready for that moment. God, we pray all of this in light of the suddenness of coming judgment. When as your word says over and over again, we might least expect it. We pray all this in light of a sure picture in Revelation 18:10, in a single hour your judgment has come. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
