Speaker: Vasko Belovski
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This morning we’re going to be talking about leaving Babylon behind. But before we do so, I would like to invite you all to kneel where possible so we can petition the Lord to be here with us. Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, we come before Your throne of grace. And we want to thank You for the opportunity that we have to still freely study Your word. I pray and ask that Your Spirit will be here with us. I pray and ask that You will guide our minds and our thoughts, so that we can understand that which You have revealed for us in these last days. May the words that I speak, be not my own, but may they be inspired by You and the revelations that You have left for us in your holy word. I pray for the hearts of every individual that’s present here this morning and I ask that You continue to guide us and lead us closer and closer to thee. We surrender ourselves into Your hands and pray and ask all of this in the name of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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There’s a lot in the Bible with respect to Babylon as well as in history. All throughout the Old Testament, in the New Testament, we constantly see Babylon being repeated over and over again. But I want us to begin with a passage that is found as a historical record on the history.com website that gives us a little summary of what Babylon is. And it says there in the article: Babylonia was a state in ancient Mesopotamia. The city of Babylon, whose ruins are located in present day Iraq, was founded more than 4000 years ago as a small port town on the Euphrates River. And this is how the story of Babylon begins. A small town that was just placed on the Euphrates River. Nothing magnificent yet. It grew into one of the largest cities of the ancient world under the rule of Hammurabi. Several centuries later, a new line of Kings establish the new Babylonian empire that spanned from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. During this period, Babylon became a city of beautiful and lavish buildings. Biblical and archaeological evidence point toward the forced exile of thousands of Jews, to Babylon around this time.
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I want us to take this historical account, and actually bring it into the Bible and see what it is that the Bible has to say with respect to Babylon. We find the record of this historical account in Daniel chapter two. All of us are very familiar with what we’ve seen in Daniel chapter two. King Nebuchadnezzar had just dreamt a dream that he was not able to not only remember but to understand. He had asked all the astrologers and all the so called wise men of that empire to come and help him understand what this dream was all about, but they couldn’t. And here comes Daniel. And Daniel now gives an answer to King Nebuchadnezzar as to what the dream really and truly means. And in Daniel chapter two verses 37, and 38, we read: “You, O king. are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength and glory. And wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand and had made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold.”
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And here we see exactly what we had just read earlier from the historical account that was given on the history website. It says that this kingdom, that is Babylonian kingdom, has transitioned from a small town on the Euphrates River to an empire. An empire or kingdom that possessed power, strength, and glory. But I want to what I want us to do this morning, brothers and sisters is not so much focus on the historical account of what this kingdom truly looked like. But rather try to understand what Babylon stands for, and it symbolizes. And what leads me to examine this portion of Scripture rather than the might and power and splendor and grandeur of Babylon is the fact that Christ Himself, in John chapter eighteen, mentioned something very important to Pilate as He was having a conversation with him. In verse 36, Jesus answers to Pilate, gives a response to the question of whether He was the king of the Jews. Are you the king? Are you claiming to be the one who’s going to rule the Israelites? And notice what Christ says there instead? My kingdom is not of this world. And that is a principle that I want us to apply within the study of this subject this morning. I don’t want us to look at Babylon and study Babylon as a kingdom, or a power that are ruled upon this earth. But I want us to rather examine what Babylon stands for. We’re not so much concerned with the splendor and grandeur of the Babylonian kingdom as history has expressed it, but we are rather interested in what spiritual lessons are involved with this name.
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What we’re going to be doing in this presentation is to examine what Babylon symbolizes, and what some of her features are. So we can better understand what God expects of His people when it comes to dealing with Babylon. And in order to do so we’re going to go into the book of Revelation, and begin this examination by reading the first five verses of Revelation 17. And understand what are those features that Babylon has? What does Babylon stand for? Who is she? And why is this given to us in these last days. We read: “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and 10 horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations, and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH”. So let us now go through these verses and try to understand the meaning of the different characteristics that John here presents. I think many of us are familiar with the fact that in the Christian world, or in the Protestant world, in particular, the majority of Protestants had come to understand that the Antichrist power that the Bible speaks of, and the New Testament is in reference to Rome. And then all these Christians, for the most part, I’m not sure how things are today, but throughout the years, it being able to connect Babylon with that Antichrist power and understand that Babylon and the Antichrist power, one and the same entity. And we see that very well illustrated as we study the book of Daniel, as we studied Daniel, chapter two, Daniel chapter seven, and eight. And then as we come here into the book of Revelation, and examine Revelation 12, Revelation 13, 14, and now 17, and later, we’ll go into revelation 18. You could come to the conclusion and see that the Antichrist power, Rome, is actually being presented here. We see the same beast in chapter 12, then in chapter 13, and now again into chapter 17; with having the seven heads and the 10 horns, we could easily see that we’re talking about one and the same entity. It is just that this entity is going through different stages throughout history. And we’re not so much going to focus upon this today, but rather, on the features that Babylon carries with her. And one of the main, or the first features that we see here is the fact that this woman, and we know that woman in Bible prophecy represents a church, is referenced to be a harlot. She is a harlot, which sitteth upon many waters. And also later on in verse five, it says that she’s the Mother of Harlots, and abominations of the earth. So she’s not just the harlot. She’s a harlot, who is a mother and who has daughters as well. So the harlotry sort of, so to speak, does not end with her, it continues with other women. So what is, how, or what do we understand a harlot to be biblically speaking? Now when we look at the context here, in particular, in the book of Revelation 17th chapter,
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one of the main focus is the fact that this harlot has become a harlot; because there’s a fornication going on between her and the kings of the earth. And that is seen as we go through the verses. Verses one through five clearly depicts that; there’s a fornication going on with the harlot and the kings of the earth. But I want us to go back into the Old Testament now and try to learn more about harlotry. What is harlotry, a symbol of? What is it that it represents? When we use the word harlot, or whoredom, as the Bible depicted here; and in order to do so, I would like us to go into the book of Hosea and begin with chapter four in there, read verses 11 through 12, and 17 to 18. Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. My People ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff, and their staff informs them, for the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray. And they have played the harlot against their God. So what do we see here in this particular verse, what is harlotry linked with? We see that harlotry is what? Having formed wooden idols, or in other words, idolatry. When the people of God collectively had gone into idolatry, the Lord had called them or had said that they had become a harlot. And notice in verse 17, to 18, the exact same idea is presented again. It says there: “Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.” Their drink is rebellion. They commit harlotry continually. So, when you’re joined to idols; when you’re joined to false worship; when you’re breaking the first and the second commandment according to the Bible, you are committing harlotry. And there’s even a better representation of this found in the book of Jeremiah as well. There, in chapter three, and verses one through three, we see the exact same thing being repeated here. Israel had again become a harlot. Why? Because she had separated herself from God, and gone after foreign gods. And notice what it says in these first three verses here. In the book of Jeremiah, chapter three, it says: “They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not the land be greatly polluted? but thou has played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou has not been lien with. In the ways has thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness, and thou has polluted the land with thy whoredoms and thy wickedness;” In other words, with thy harlotry. And notice here, the key verse, that instantly would bring our mind to what we just had read in Revelation, chapter 17. Notice what it says here: “Therefore, the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.” Do you see this pattern here, brothers and sisters? It’s so clear that when one has the whore, excuse me, the forehead of a harlot, it is because that entity, that woman, is no longer in a relationship with God. Just as Israel here in that particular time in their history, we’re no longer in a relationship with God. The Bible clearly presents to us that when an institution, when a religious body becomes a harlot, it comes from, it is the result of that religious institution no longer having the true God of the Bible as their God. They have gone into idolatry. They have forgotten the God that had taken them out of Egypt. This is what had taken place with the Israelites. And this is the symbol here represented by
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harlotry. And as I mentioned earlier, we see this over and over and over again, in the Old Testament. Israel continually fell into apostasy, and worshiped other gods, and committed the sin of idolatry. We saw it even with the golden calf and other instances throughout the Bible. We saw it during the time of Elijah, and what had taken place at that time with the prophets of Baal. That’s what harlotry is a symbol of: idolatry, false worship, and this mother here of harlots, that is represented in Revelation chapter 17, is in the exact same position. She does not honor the God of the Bible. And she rightfully has been called a harlot. But the features of that woman do not end with this. There’s a another aspect that I would like us to examine now and that is the wine that is being represented in, with her there. You see, Babylon held in her hand, a golden cup. We saw that in the verse that we just read earlier; a cup that should have been only filled with pure or unfermented wine. You see, there are two kinds of wine; that which is pure or unfermented, which preserves the mind. It nourishes the mind. But we also have that which is impure, or fermented, which makes the mind drunk. Perfect. And we talked about, we had the Lord’s Supper last week. And we specifically talked about the fact that the bread that we were about to partaker of, together with the wine, with the grape juice that was representative of the body and blood of Christ; were both to be void of what? There were, there was the, be no leaven in the bread. But also there was to be no yeast, in the wine in the grape juice, why, because it would otherwise have been fermented. And the yeast and the leaven are a representation of sin. You see, the body of Christ had to be a pure body. The Bible says that there was no sin found in Him. And this is the reason why we have no leaven in the bread that we partook of. And no yeast in the wine that we partake of, because they are to remind us of Jesus Christ in whom there was no sin. And we see this very beautifully presented in Isaiah chapter 28, verse seven, and it says there with respect to the wine that we’re discussing this morning: “but they also have erred, through wine”, see, you see, wine leads to error, and “through strong drink are out of the way.” What kind of wine? It was not just regular wine. It was strong wine, fermented wine. “The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they’re out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.” You see, brothers and sisters, when the wine that we are partaking of is not a representation of Christ; but rather it is a strong drink, it would lead us to error. We know that wine in the case of Revelation, chapter 17, represents the doctrines that this woman was making the inhabitants of the world drunk with. So this woman is not only a harlot, she’s not only broken the relationship with God; but she’s also teaching or nourishing the world with fault, faulty ideas, false ideas about the teachings of the Bible. Her doctrines are not in line with Scripture. And this is another very important feature that we need to examine here with respect to this woman. But as I mentioned earlier, we saw that she was a mother. And because she is a mother, we automatically can know that she has posterity–
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children. And this is what the Bible continues to elaborate on. Because when we use the term Babylon, we’re not singling out the Roman Catholic institution only because the Roman Catholic institution is the mother. But we think that Babylonian family, there are other members as well. And those are her daughters. And we learn more about this Babylonian family as we move forward into the next chapter, chapter 18. And specifically, verses one through three. And notice what it says there in Revelation chapter 18: “And after these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, in a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” Now, let us stop for a second and compare this with what we read, in the beginning with respect to what Babylon was. I mean, that kingdom, even, even historical accounts tell us that it was a magnificent kingdom with splendor and grandour and with beautiful buildings. But here in this 18th chapter of Revelation, we see, we see something completely opposite the grandour and splendor Babylon here has become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit. And in verse three, it says: “For all nations,” it gives you the reason now why it has become that; “for all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” Do you notice how important doctrine is? It is doctrine, or a proper understanding of our faith that will lead us either to be one with Babylon; or separate from Babylon. Because it was the wine of the wrath of her fornication, that made Babylon the place or the cage for every unclean and hateful bird. Because she was making all the people of the earth drunk with that wine, with that false doctrine, with these false ideas that do not line up with Scripture. In the Great Controversy we’re given, after commenting specifically upon this verse, with a definition as to who Babylon here applies to. Is it only the Roman Catholic Church? Or is it as I mentioned earlier, a family that includes more than the mother harlot and daughters. So what we’re trying to understand here is: Who makes up that family of Babylon? Who are those daughters? How do you become a daughter of the mother harlot? What qualifies you to be part of that family tree, if you will, for lack of a better word. The quote is found in Great Controversy, page 382, paragraph three and it says there: “Babylon is said to be the mother of harlots. By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines, and traditions.” So how do you become part of that family? You become part of the family, part of the Babylonian family, if you cling, hold on to, her doctrines, and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth, and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of revelation 14 announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure, and have become corrupt. And I think it’s very important for us to understand this principle here. The fact that you are once pure, does not necessarily mean that you will never become corrupt. You know, we don’t believe in once saved, always saved, right? The Christian walk is a daily thing. Paul said, I die daily. What would happen if we don’t die daily? Well, sooner or later, we might go on a different path. And ultimately find ourselves where all these inhabitants of the earth who have drank from the wine of the wrath of her fornication have
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found themselves in part of the Babylonian family. See, this quote is in reference, in reference to Revelation 14, as I mentioned. But the second angels message is yet again repeated at the end of time when the third angels message swells into a loud cry; because this is what this is exactly what we just read in Revelation, chapter 18. We’re here witnessing the swelling of the third angels, the third angels message into a loud cry. In other words, the second angel is being repeated
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yet again.
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So the principle behind the second angels messages is yet brought the view here, in other words, whatever institution during the time period between the second angels message and we remember when that was given; it was given after 1844. Why, because people had to leave their foreign associations, they had to come out of those churches that had been fallen, who were once pure, and had continued to drink from the wine of the wrath of her fornication and now had become corrupt. But from that period, back then, up until today, or up until the time when the loud cry was to be given again, there’s a time period. So if, if the second angels messages is to be repeated,
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it would automatically include all those institutions that fall within that window, and who have decided to do what? To cling to her doctrines and traditions. The principle is applied again, the same principle that we saw with us second angels message will be applied to the repetition of that second angels message; as we see it presented in the loud cry of Revelation 18. So it doesn’t matter if an institution used to be pure. What matters is where does that institution stand at the time when revelation 18, when the loud cry is being given to the world? Is that institution holding on to the doctrines and traditions of Rome at that time? Or is it pure? These are the only two options that there will be when the loud cry is given to this world. You see, when a church becomes unfaithful, like regardless of who she is, or what her calling was; God can no longer work with her. And that applies to me as an individual as well. And we see that clearly presented in the testimonies, and I would like to share with you now a paragraph that is very powerful. And we need to keep that in mind, the principle that is being reiterated here with respect to what I just mentioned; because it is essential for us to continue to be in a living connection with God. It says here, this was penned in the year 1903. ” The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him.” Does the Bible clearly present that? O Yes, it does. Specifically, in the book of Revelation. “When the Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of life, He took from them the kingdom of God, and gave it unto the Gentiles. “That was about 2000 years ago. So let’s, let’s see what takes place. 2000 years ago, the Jews had come to their complete rejection of Christ. Why was there another complete rejection of Christ? Because in the book of Daniel, there was another prophecy, the 70 weeks prophecy; within which God had given them a particular amount of time, to do what? To accept Him. But instead of accepting Him, they rejected Him, and broke off from God. So He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it unto the Gentiles. And notice what the next sentence says. And that’s really what I want us to focus on. And remember from, from this paragraph: “God will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work.” If a branch of His work today decides to do what? To reject Christ again and to separate from God, can God continue to work with that branch? No, because that’s not the principle. There has to come a separation. She continues: “When a church proves unfaithful to the word of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important responsibilities.” Do you see how powerful this principle is? And that’s exactly what the Bible teaches. It’s not enough to call yourself a Jew. There has to be something else. Being an Israelite has to be reflected on the inside of your heart. And the institution that is to represent God in these last days, cannot in any way, shape or form, be contradicting His work. Because ultimately, she would have, if, if that is the case, she must have drank from that which others have drank and become polluted with the wine of the wrath of her fornication. This is what the Bible presents as far as symbols and features that are very important for us in these last days. And we need to understand why. What does God call those who are found within Babylon to do in Revelation 18? Let us finish that section by reading verses four and five. And it says there: “And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have
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reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” What is God calling these people to do that were, that had found themselves within Babylon? He’s calling them to leave. Leave everything behind. Judgments are coming to fall upon Babylon. You need to leave her behind. You see, there’s no time to reform Babylon. God never calls us to reform Babylon or to think in our minds that Babylon at one point or another will be reformed. No, ultimately Babylon will partake of the judgments that are going to fall upon this earth and will be destroyed. So we ought not to fool ourselves that we can in any way, shape or form, be going after Babylon and trying to reform it. Because God will never bless these efforts, because He has clearly told us that this will never take place. Why is it, what we discussed thus far, so important for us to understand today? In order to get a better understanding of this question, or a better answer for this question, I would like us to go back into the Old Testament and study a similar story. The story of Lot, and what took place with him, because Lot, just as those that were referenced in Revelation 18, had found himself in a similar situation. The city of Sodom and Gomorrah, or the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, had also become polluted. And he could say that they had become the cage of every foul and unclean spirit. What took place with Lot and his family? In the time of the early stages of this earth, all the way back into the book of Genesis, we remember the story Sodom and Gomorrah; as I mentioned earlier, had become the place of every unclean spirit, there was so much sin going on, and being practiced in that city, that God in His mercy came to warn Lot and his family that a judgment is coming to fall upon this city. And in order for you to escape this judgment you need to leave. You need to leave everything behind and run to the mountains, so that you not be destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins. But what happened with Lot? Did he immediately leave, or was there a little bit of a delay and hesitation? There was hesitation, with his decision to leave everything behind. And what I want us to do here is go to a, an article in the Signs of the Times that was printed in 1893, under the name or the title, The Doom of Sodom, a warning for the last days. And we’re only going to examine two paragraphs from that article. But it’s a very good article for us to read through because it was written specifically as a warning. In other words, what we see in the story of Lot, and what took place there. And the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is a valuable lesson for all of us today who are living in the last days. And notice what it says there in that article, commenting upon what took place. I’m actually going to begin with the very first paragraph of the article. That’s how the article starts: “How hard it was for Lot to leave Sodom! Part of his family had to be left behind.” So that’s what he had to do. He had to leave some of his family behind. “And all the wealth he had accumulated had to be sacrificed.” I mean, he had labored there for years. He had a family, he was settled in, life was already established. And all of a sudden, now God is calling him to leave this place. “He must go out from Sodom, a poor man. The labor of years had to be counted in vain.” O Lord, why? Everything that I did in the past years, You want me to just let go of it? You want it to be in vain? “He does not feel the terrible necessity for God’s judgment to fall upon the wicked city, and he still lingers”, Lot lingers. “The angels urged him immediate departure; but Lot, stupefied with sorrow for the loss of his children, and property, still hesitates. The angels lay hold of his hands and the hands of his wife and children and with merciful violence hasten them out of the city.
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When they reach the city limits, a word of command is given with starling vehemence: Escape for thy life. Look, not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest ye be consumed.” So it was not enough for him to just leave the city behind. Here the Lord is giving him even a second command: do not look back. Run to the mountains, do not look back, lest ye die. “A few moments delay now, a few moments of hesitancy, a few moments disregard of the warning, will cause the fugitives their lives. They are not even to turn their eyes back to see if their beautiful home has survived the general ruin, or the storm will burst upon them. God has delayed his retributive judgment only that they may escape. What care, what tenderness, to these four who flee from the doomed city!” You see, brothers and sisters, the judgment of fallen Babylon has not fallen, yet, only because of God’s mercy. It has not fallen yet, because as we read in chapter 18, God still has His people there. And it is His mercy, that is delaying the falling of the judgments so that these individuals can be warned, and leave Babylon behind. For if they don’t, they will also be destroyed because of her sins. So you see how important for us is to follow through and pay attention to every single detail that the Lord presents to us and calls us to do. It is not just enough to believe. Our beliefs, our faith, has to be reflected in following that which the Lord has commanded us to do. I cannot just say, well, the Lord knows my heart. He knows that I love Him, He knows that I care for Him. And I’m just going to stay here in Sodom and Gomorrah. No, that would not have been enough for Lot. And it isn’t going to be enough for us today. You see, we say that actions speak louder than words. It is not enough to profess the Lord. But we need, through the things that we do, demonstrate to the world and to God of the universe, that we truly love Him and we’re ready to follow Him and the commandments that He has given us. So ultimately, Lot, his wife, and their two daughters managed to physically leave Sodom. We saw that. Why? Because God was merciful enough, He sent angels to get them out of the city that was about the perish. But unfortunately, Lot’s hesitancy attributed to his wife’s heart condition. And we’re going to see, we’re going to go back now to the exact same article that I began with, and they’re in paragraph four. Notice what it mentions here: “One of the four fugitives”, and we know who that is, because we all are familiar with the story of Lot. That was his wife. “ventures, to cast a lingering look behind,” You see this, Lot’s wife was physically out of Babylon. or excuse me, she was physically out of Sodom. But Sodom and Gomorrah were still in her heart. And that’s very important for us to understand. She lingering, she casts a look behind “to see the coming storm, and the number is less by one; for she stands as a memento of God’s wrath, turned into a pillar of salt.” And notice what it says in the next sentence. Because this is a lesson as, as mentioned earlier, that is so important for us today. “Had Lot earnestly and firmly fled to the mountains, when the warning obviously had first come to him, as the angels had directed, without pleading for a new plan, his wife would not have transgressed the commandment of the angels, and would have been at his side.” What are we to say today? What if there’s hesitancy in my life? How can that hesitancy perhaps impact the lives of those around me?
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As I mentioned earlier, what we see here are two very important principles. And those two principles, and the story of Lot and his wife, demonstrate to us that we need to leave Sodom and Gomorrah or Babylon as it is in our case, not only physically, but spiritually as well. Yes, it is important to act upon that which the Lord has commanded us to do. It is important for us to leave Babylon behind physically, to leave all these fallen institutions; all these institutions that have drank from the wine of the wrath of her fornication of the mother harlot. But, brothers and sisters, if we still carry something found in Babylon within our hearts, we too, might have to see the same end as Lot’s wife. The Lord is calling us, just as he did Lot, to leave physically, all corrupt institutions; be it churches, or even groups who have drank from the wine of Babylon. It doesn’t matter that they were once pure. And it also doesn’t matter, that we might have family or loved ones who would like us to stay behind. We must leave them physically. Even our names cannot be left upon their books. If your names are left upon the books of a fallen institution, you are still connected. You have not fully physically left. You have not broken the relationship with that fallen institution. And these things matter to God. Because He’s not looking for 99%, brothers and sisters. He is looking for 100%. 100% physical separation, and 100% spiritual separation. 99% is just not good enough anymore in the last days. The Lord is looking for a people who will stand true to Him, and who will be soberly minded; not being made drunk with the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Not having drank even one sip of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Let us not delay and let us not attempt to reform Babylon. Because as I mentioned earlier, Babylon is not to be reformed, but to be left behind. But that’s not all. Aside from this physical separation, there has to come even a more important separation, and that is a spiritual separation; because we saw what happened to Lot’s wife. You see, we might have physically left Babylon just as his wife had done, or had physically left Sodom; but if Babylon is still in our heart, if we still hold on to anything that is akin to her ideas, and traditions, we still won’t be able to escape her fall. Because Babylon being formed in the heart will turn us into a pillar of salt at one point or another. She will just draw us back and back to her. The judgments of God will fall on those who have physically remained in Babylon. But as we saw from our story, also, adults who although might have left physically, never actually separated spiritually. You see, Babylon signifies sin. Sodom and Gomorrah signifies sin. It is sin that we need to leave behind. And that’s why the wine is so vitally important because our understanding of the Bible, our understanding of our faith, of the teachings of Jesus, in one way or another helps us to be victorious in the battle against sin. Do you remember the colors that were listed upon her? Scarlet and purple, but there was one color missing there? One very important color. The blue color, brothers and sisters was missing from the attire
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that the harlot of revelation 17 had upon her. The blue color was to appear on the garments of the Israelites is a remembrance of the commandments. Those who accomplished the spiritual separation from fallen Babylon will be the ones who will be able to stand in the mark of the beast conflict; for Christ would have been formed within their heart, leaving no place for anything else to be there. And thus will never look back. Christ would have captivated the entire heart. Our love for Him and His Spirit abiding in us is what is going to prevent us from looking back, as did Lot’s wife? I have a question for all of us this morning. And that is: Are we willing to let go of Babylon? Are we willing to separate from any institution, and also from every idea that originates from Rome. I pray that we’ll not tarry, for we never know how this delay may impact the life of those around us. I pray that we’ll allow Christ to continue His work upon our hearts. For I don’t want to see any of us turned into a pillar of salt. The time has come for us to not only separate from that which has fallen, but also to warn others, that a destruction is coming upon this earth. And whether they have left physically, or perhaps they might have only left, so to speak, spiritually. Well, technically speaking, in all fairness, you cannot really truly leave spiritually, if you’re still there physically. Both are important. It is ultimately our spiritual condition that will dictate what we do. But we still have a choice brothers and sisters. We have a choice to heed the warning that the Lord has given us today, for we don’t know what tomorrow shall bring. Lot had the exact same choice that we have today. Are we ready to stand today? Are we ready to leave Babylon today? Or do we still want to hesitate? Do we still want to hold on to something? Maybe it’s not our family, maybe it’s not the things we have accumulated in this world. Perhaps it’s an idea, or whatever else it might be. But the Lord is calling us today, as we saw in Revelation chapter 18; to leave, to separate anything that is akin to Babylonianism; any fallen institution that still holds on to her traditions, and to her doctrines; any foreign institution that is playing a harlot. You see, there’s no more middle ground; the Israelites played a harlot for thousands of years that sin came back over and over again. But today, at the end of time, you only have two groups of people. You have those who are giving the three angels messages. And you have those who are to receive the three angels messages. So if you’re playing a harlot today, in the period of the three angels messages; well, then brothers and sisters, unfortunately, you have become part of Babylon. If idolatry is found among, amidst your religion, then you have become part of Babylon, regardless of what your initial calling was. Regardless of whether you were pure in the past or not. You’re either giving the three angels messages in their fullness, or you are to receive them. There is no middle ground at the end of time, and very soon, time will run out. So I call all of us to petition the Lord earnestly in prayer, and to help us what it is that is left for all of us as individuals to do in order to ensure that we have physically separated ourselves from Babylon. But even more importantly, that we have spiritually separated from Babylon, and have been joined together with Christ and have Him take full control of our hearts. And at this time, I would like to invite you to kneel where possible so we can position this in prayer and ask the Lord to give us strength, because without His strength, we’re not going to be able to achieve this.
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Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the lessons that you have left for us in thy Holy Word. Father, please help us to heed to these instructions. Please give us wisdom, courage, whatever we might lack, understanding, whatever it could be, in order to help us to separate ourselves from Babylon, both physically and spiritually. So that we can in turn help others to do the same. How can we invite others to leave Babylon behind, if there is something left in us to be left behind? Lord, we need the grace, we need grace, we need the Spirit of your Son to grow in our hearts every day, in every hour of every day. We need to be fully transformed so that our characters can reflect His. Father, if there is anything in our hearts, we petition You, we pray that You show us what it is that we need to do in order to leave everything that is of this world. Everything that is akin to sin behind. Father, we know that only then, will this loud cry truly and fully lightenen the entire world with Your glory. And we cannot wait for this day to come so we can see Jesus descending in the clouds of glory, to claim us as His own. We thank You for all of this Father and we pray and ask this in the name of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to whom be glory now and forevermore.
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Amen.