Fallen, fallen is
Babylon the great! She has become a
dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every
unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast…Come out of her,
my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share In her plagues (Rev.
18:2, 4).
It
seems like every time I hear reference to that Scripture someone is very quick
to say, “We need to quit preaching the ‘Come out of Babylon’ messages in the
Church of God.” To preach on this
passage is often looked on as divisive and “behind the times.” We are told that sermons on this text have
caused too much dissension over the years, so therefore, it should simply be
ignored. And we have largely done that
for the past few decades. I am 29 years
old and can count on one hand (and would only need two fingers) the number of
sermons I have heard on that passage of Scripture that was at one time so
prominent. My purpose is not to discuss
the messages that we preach specifically on this text, but to point out the
dangerous position in which we have placed ourselves when we decide that there
are verses in Scripture that we should simply quit preaching and teaching.
Every
time I hear someone claim that we should quit preaching messages on this topic
I ask myself, “Should we really be in the business of eliminating verses from
the Bible?” Especially when we read in
Revelation 1:3, Blessed is the one who
reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who
keep what is written in it, for the time is near. The introduction to the book of Revelation
would lead us to the conclusion that the truth contained in this final book of
the Bible is important. I realize that
all Scripture is important, but that is my point. If it is all important to our Christian lives
and spiritual maturity why would we leave some of it out? And who do we think we are to do so?
The
word “Babylon” is used throughout Scripture to represent confusion, and it
would seem that some of our methods and desire for scholarship have led us
precisely to that end. Education is not
something that is inherently bad, but look at what we are doing: We show those who will be leading local
congregations every possible view of Scripture, and then, rather than endorsing
the truth of which we have been convicted, we tell them to decide what they
like best. We have turned the objective
truth of God into something that is very subjective, and the result is that we
live like the people of Israel during the time of the judges - everyone did what was right in his own eyes
(Judges 17:6).
The
church of our day mirrors our pluralistic society where whatever truth seems to
“fit” us best is that which we will follow, and the only conviction we ever
voice is that nobody should ever voice a firm conviction. The last things anyone (even pastors in many
cases) wants to discuss are theology and doctrine because they are really not a
priority to us anymore. We are more
interested in “vision” and “mission” than we are in simply knowing the God of
Heaven, and understanding more of the fullness of a relationship with Him. The importance of our mission to win the lost
cannot be disputed and SHOULD NOT be given a place of diminished
importance. But the greatest command
still remains, You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart (Matt. 22:37)…
In the third chapter of Mark we read about the reason Jesus called the
apostles: And he appointed twelve (whom
he also named apostles) SO THAT THEY MIGHT BE WITH HIM and he might send them
out to preach (Mark 3:14). Before
they were ever sent out to preach, the priority of Jesus was that they would be
with Him. He wanted to know them, and
for them to know Him personally. God’s
desire for us to know Him has not diminished in our modern day. He still wants to reveal Himself to us
through His Word. THAT IS DOCTRINE AND
THEOLOGY! It is God revealing Himself to
mankind through the Word that He inspired for us. We are sanctified, not simply through a few
good ideas, or some sound advice, but through the very Word and Truth of
God. Sanctify
them in the truth; your word is truth (John 17:17). There is a reason that John taught in his
second epistle, If anyone comes to you
and does not bring this teaching [the teaching of Christ], do not receive him
into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in
his wicked works (v. 10, 11).
By
becoming more “accepting” of every idea and doctrine that people want to
believe and promote we have become exactly that from which we were called out:
Babylon! It is possible to go from
congregation to congregation without EVER hearing consistent teaching on the
doctrines of the Word of God. As if it
is not enough to have eliminated Scriptures from Revelation we live in a day
when we can go years on end without ever hearing a sermon on the command to
live a sinless life (John 5:14, 8:11), or the call of God to be sanctified (1
Thess. 5:23; John 17:17). We may go
lifetimes without being reminded of the authority of God’s Word, or that sometimes Satan does indeed attempt to
counterfeit God’s work (2 Cor. 11:14). When
faced with so much divergence on issues that were once considered sound
doctrine and held as conviction given by the Holy Spirit, what are people
supposed to believe? Where should they
be expected to stand?
Before
firing squads are formed for my execution or the accusations of divisiveness
begin to fly let me clarify this. I am
in no way advocating that we form our own sect where people who do not believe
exactly like me have no access. I do not
claim knowledge of all truth, or an exclusive access to the mind of God. I do, however, find in Scripture that the
Holy Spirit does indeed guide us into truth. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for
he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak
(John 16:13)… While it is impossible
for us to learn the full extent of the mind of the Living God – even in a
lifetime – the Holy Spirit does know His will and His ways, and this same
Spirit will speak to us the truth of God.
If Jesus told us that the Spirit would deliver the truth to us, then why
is it so easy for us to compromise on doctrine that is inspired by our
all-powerful, immutable, omniscient God?
There are things taught in Scripture that we know for certain because
they are taught so clearly in the Holy Word of God. To compromise on those truths is to lead
people from the New Jerusalem – God’s holy church – to Babylon, a land filled
with confusion and strife.
In
Revelation 17 this confusion called Babylon is not only seen as a city, but as
a living, breathing being. Then one of the seven angels who had the
seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the
great prostitute who is seated on many waters…And I saw a woman sitting on a
scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names…And on her forehead was
written a name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of
earth’s abominations (Rev. 17:1, 3, 5).’”
This provides for us an alarming commentary on the results of our
compromise on almost every revealed truth.
Those compromises and shifts made to conform to popular opinion
REPRODUCE. As if it were not enough that
the message to John show imagery of the confusion of God’s people by a false
religious source, we must deal with the fact that SHE HAD CHILDREN. The heresies created to gain favor with those
who do not consider biblical doctrine important never stops at compromise in one
area, or on one teaching. As the convictions
that we hold begin to work together to lead us to an understanding of God,
these (seemingly small) compromises begin to permeate and infiltrate the whole
of our theology. At the end of the day
all of these things turn our attention away from a God who is continually
trying to reveal Himself to us.
A.W.
Tozer tells us in his book, The Knowledge
of the Holy, “I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure
in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and
ignoble thoughts about God.” Do we
realize what this means? If our
compromise in convictions turns our attention from God, then our attention
turned away from God leads us to further misconceptions of the character and
work of God. Each step leads us farther
away from the one whom we claim to love and serve. The confusion that we not only allow, but
create, serves to realign our spiritual direction – not toward our heavenly
home, but toward the worldly confusion of Babylon.
Every
time we consciously decide not to stand firm on a conviction given to us by the
Holy Spirit of God we, like the “great prostitute” are climbing onto the back
of a beast. Like the counterfeit church
in the book of Revelation we place ourselves in a position where we no longer
have a choice in the path that we take, but are led by a power that we no
longer control. In our drunkenness (see
Rev. 17:6) we sit on our beast and allow it to take us wherever it will go. It may lead us to the furthest depths of hell
(yes, some of us still believe in that too) but at least we get along with
everyone during this life.
I
am not promoting that we remove ourselves from fellowship with everyone. But the time has come where theology must
once again be something of great importance, something held sacred by the
people of the church. For far too long
we have used our study of the Holy God to promote our own ideas, our own
agendas, and even worldly forms of scholarship.
We have used Him to advance our own self-interests and have forgotten
that above all His revelation is to guide us into a closer relationship with
Him, not into a position of prominence in this world. If we are to “come out of Babylon” theology
can no longer be our means of promoting the most modern speculation or
philosophy, it must be an earnest search for a deeper understanding of
God. It must be the vehicle that helps
lead us into a life in the “Holiest Place” at the foot of the mercy seat of our
Lord.
Pastors
and teachers continue to bemoan the messages of the past, but as we eliminate
the Scriptures that teach us the importance of strong convictions led by the
Holy Spirit we continue on a journey right back into the confusion from which
God has called us. With each compromise
and each attempt to appease man rather than please God we have taken part in a
modern movement that is leading the church away from her groom and back into
Babylon – a place of confusion, disorientation, and spiritual starvation. A place that is “fallen” (not falling, but
fallen from its beginning) and has become a haunt for every unclean spirit, unclean bird, and detestable
beast. God is calling us to
something more than that place. He is
calling us to something far better, and something far more pure. We can eliminate the message from our local
congregations and the words from our vocabulary, but Scripture still proclaims
to us that God calls His people out of that demonic place. Ceasing to preach and teach this truth makes
it no less true in our day than it was in days gone by. In a day of diverse and divergent doctrine,
spiritual plurality and weak conviction, God continues to call His children OUT
OF BABYLON.
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