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I was doing some biblical research on the Great Prostitute, the Harlot Babylon, talked about in the book of Revelation. And, so I was taking notes on how she is described in scripture, only I will share them present tense.
She makes all the nations drink the wine of passion of her sexual immorality. She is the mother of prostitutes and of the earth’s abominations. She is a dwelling place for demons, and a haunt for every unclean spirit. The kings of the earth commit acts of immorality with her. And, she is corrupting the earth with her immorality. Notice how often immorality is mentioned.
And, then I gleaned this from several commentators: She is proud, disrespectful, oppressive and a persecutor of the true church, the saints of God. She is corrupt in respect to religion and devoted to idolatry. She is identical with the apostate church. And, she entices ignorant (naïve) people to engage in immorality and idolatry (Source: biblehub.com).
And, I gleaned this from several dictionaries: She is irreverent, ungodly, corrupt, dishonorable, vile, immoral, and dishonest.
And, then the Lord put this scripture in mind:
Burn Her Up with Fire
And, so I believe the Lord would have me talk about how this is happening in our world and in the church today. So, I was reading in Revelation 17:16:
Now, I believe that Babylon the Great is an actual physical place, as well as it is symbolic of a particular belief system or overall attitude, frame of mind, behavior, and influence, etc. So, although I believe this actual physical place will one day be physically burned with literal fire, as a judgment of God on her, I also believe that this is talking about setting her on fire with burning passions of the flesh and of sexual immorality, and of her influence on the rest of the world toward following the same way of thinking and behaving.
I don’t want us to get hung up, though, on trying to identify the actual physical location and then to miss the intent of this message. So, I want to focus more on the philosophy, behaviors, and influences of this harlot.
Now, the beast is of Satan, and I believe it is a conglomerate of the wealthy and powerful of the world who are presently conquering one nation at a time for the New World Order (one world government) and the one world religion. And, so its goal is not just to physically conquer people and nations, but it is to philosophically, mentally and spiritually conquer all people, and especially it wants to conquer the church, which it hates. It wants to bring us down any and every which way that it can (See Revelation 12-14).
But right now, even though the beast hates the harlot, it is using the harlot, too, to do its dirty work. So, this is kind of like an “inside job,” so to speak. The harlot rides the beast, i.e. she is subservient to this beast and is attached or connected in some way to this beast. There is a working relationship between the two, in other words. But, then one day the beast will turn on the harlot, and he will destroy her. This is my understanding.
Unequally Yoked
So, how does all this fit with our lives and our world today?
I am certain that this has been going on a long while, and aspects of it have been going on ever since Jesus came, died, rose again, and ascended back to the Father, then sent His Holy Spirit to indwell his followers. Satan has been fighting against our Lord and his gospel message and his saints and servants all this time, but it is much worse now. For, now he has infiltrated the church, and has turned it into a place for demons and evil spirits.
In 1954, I believe it was, then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson encouraged the church in America to incorporate under the headship of the government of these United States of America, via the 501c3, thus turning God’s house into a market place (a business of men) and placing the government in the position that only Jesus Christ should hold over the church.
Thus the church which did incorporate, whether knowingly or not, essentially turned its back on Jesus as their only head, and they opened the door wide for all manner of evil to now permeate the gatherings of the church. For, the church was now unequally yoked together with the ungodly, and they had turned God’s house into a marketplace, and they put another head over the church, all of which God forbids his people to do.
And, it only got much worse from there. Now the church was answerable to the government, not just to God, and government worship was introduced into the church via patriotic songs and the pledge (vow) of allegiance (fidelity) to the flag (form of government) of the USA. And, the church was now operating as a business of men, instead of as the body of Christ, and it was marketing the church just like any other business.
And, so it began to change the nature (character) of the church and to alter its gatherings to appeal to the world and to the flesh of man. And, church worship services began being more like stage productions and comedy routines to entertain the masses, and pastors now had to be comedians and entertainers who were charming and witty. And, it wasn’t the Word of God and the Holy Spirit leading these churches, but it was marketing books written by mere men.
Cheapening God’s Grace
And, then, in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world, they altered the gospel of our salvation, too, to make it so we could be “saved” and have eternal life with God, but that it didn’t really have to change how we lived day to day, since we were now “under grace” and not “under the law.”
And, so people got the idea they could just live however they wanted, continuing in their sinful addictions, but that when they died, they would still go to heaven. And eventually it came to where they were telling people they don’t have to repent of sin or obey God’s commandments to be saved.
And, then this church philosophy, which largely came through the Rick Warren movement, initially, began to spread throughout the whole world, and was carried to many different countries. Thus, they were enticing the people and the kings of the world to commit adultery with them against God, and they were telling them that they were free to continue in immorality without guilt because Jesus paid it all and nothing is required of them.
And, so we now have the church at large in America, and in many places throughout the world wherever this influence has spread, who are believing that they can be saved from their sins, have heaven guaranteed them, but that they can live in all kinds of wickedness and immorality without punishment and without guilt. And, this, my friends, is BABYLON!
So, the Harlot church has the image that it is following Jesus Christ, but it isn’t. For to follow Jesus is to obey God’s commandments (New Testament). And, to follow him is to leave our sinful lifestyles and our idols and our immoralities behind us in order to live to Christ and to his righteousness.
The Harlot and Persecution
Now, I am not saying that every church which has incorporated under the 501c3 is literally living in adultery against her Lord. I believe there are church congregations which naively accept this incorporation with the government, but that they are still following the Lord and the scriptures and they have not bought into the cheap grace gospel. But, they are in the minority.
But, I still believe God is calling them to come out of this Babylon (the 501c3 union with the government), to disconnect from this unholy union, and that they are to return to Jesus Christ as their only head.
But, this Harlot Babylon, via the 501c3, is not content with just leading people into sexual immorality and into all kinds of wickedness while promising them heaven when they die. But, it is going headstrong ahead in its persecution of the church that has not bowed to the “golden statue”, and it is accusing them falsely of teaching works-based salvation and of being intolerant, judgmental, hateful, harsh, bitter, and unforgiving, etc.
So, God is appealing to all his church that is being influenced by this harlot, and he is commanding them to come out from underneath her influence so that they do not share in her sins or in her punishment. And, he is calling his true church to come out of this “unequally yoked together” relationship with the government, with the world, and with businesses of men, and to return to him as their only Lord (Rev. 18:1-5; 2 Co. 6:14-18).
The Ninety and Nine
Lyrics by Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1868
Music by Ira D. Sankey, 1874
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold;
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare;
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me.
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry;
’Twas sick and helpless and ready to die.
“Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way,
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They’re pierced tonight by many a thorn.”
And all through the mountains, thunder-riv’n,
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of heav’n,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”
Copyright status is public domain
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She makes all the nations drink the wine of passion of her sexual immorality. She is the mother of prostitutes and of the earth’s abominations. She is a dwelling place for demons, and a haunt for every unclean spirit. The kings of the earth commit acts of immorality with her. And, she is corrupting the earth with her immorality. Notice how often immorality is mentioned.
And, then I gleaned this from several commentators: She is proud, disrespectful, oppressive and a persecutor of the true church, the saints of God. She is corrupt in respect to religion and devoted to idolatry. She is identical with the apostate church. And, she entices ignorant (naïve) people to engage in immorality and idolatry (Source: biblehub.com).
And, I gleaned this from several dictionaries: She is irreverent, ungodly, corrupt, dishonorable, vile, immoral, and dishonest.
And, then the Lord put this scripture in mind:
“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.” Phil. 3:18-19
Burn Her Up with Fire
And, so I believe the Lord would have me talk about how this is happening in our world and in the church today. So, I was reading in Revelation 17:16:
“And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.”
Now, I believe that Babylon the Great is an actual physical place, as well as it is symbolic of a particular belief system or overall attitude, frame of mind, behavior, and influence, etc. So, although I believe this actual physical place will one day be physically burned with literal fire, as a judgment of God on her, I also believe that this is talking about setting her on fire with burning passions of the flesh and of sexual immorality, and of her influence on the rest of the world toward following the same way of thinking and behaving.
I don’t want us to get hung up, though, on trying to identify the actual physical location and then to miss the intent of this message. So, I want to focus more on the philosophy, behaviors, and influences of this harlot.
Now, the beast is of Satan, and I believe it is a conglomerate of the wealthy and powerful of the world who are presently conquering one nation at a time for the New World Order (one world government) and the one world religion. And, so its goal is not just to physically conquer people and nations, but it is to philosophically, mentally and spiritually conquer all people, and especially it wants to conquer the church, which it hates. It wants to bring us down any and every which way that it can (See Revelation 12-14).
But right now, even though the beast hates the harlot, it is using the harlot, too, to do its dirty work. So, this is kind of like an “inside job,” so to speak. The harlot rides the beast, i.e. she is subservient to this beast and is attached or connected in some way to this beast. There is a working relationship between the two, in other words. But, then one day the beast will turn on the harlot, and he will destroy her. This is my understanding.
Unequally Yoked
So, how does all this fit with our lives and our world today?
I am certain that this has been going on a long while, and aspects of it have been going on ever since Jesus came, died, rose again, and ascended back to the Father, then sent His Holy Spirit to indwell his followers. Satan has been fighting against our Lord and his gospel message and his saints and servants all this time, but it is much worse now. For, now he has infiltrated the church, and has turned it into a place for demons and evil spirits.
In 1954, I believe it was, then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson encouraged the church in America to incorporate under the headship of the government of these United States of America, via the 501c3, thus turning God’s house into a market place (a business of men) and placing the government in the position that only Jesus Christ should hold over the church.
Thus the church which did incorporate, whether knowingly or not, essentially turned its back on Jesus as their only head, and they opened the door wide for all manner of evil to now permeate the gatherings of the church. For, the church was now unequally yoked together with the ungodly, and they had turned God’s house into a marketplace, and they put another head over the church, all of which God forbids his people to do.
And, it only got much worse from there. Now the church was answerable to the government, not just to God, and government worship was introduced into the church via patriotic songs and the pledge (vow) of allegiance (fidelity) to the flag (form of government) of the USA. And, the church was now operating as a business of men, instead of as the body of Christ, and it was marketing the church just like any other business.
And, so it began to change the nature (character) of the church and to alter its gatherings to appeal to the world and to the flesh of man. And, church worship services began being more like stage productions and comedy routines to entertain the masses, and pastors now had to be comedians and entertainers who were charming and witty. And, it wasn’t the Word of God and the Holy Spirit leading these churches, but it was marketing books written by mere men.
Cheapening God’s Grace
And, then, in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world, they altered the gospel of our salvation, too, to make it so we could be “saved” and have eternal life with God, but that it didn’t really have to change how we lived day to day, since we were now “under grace” and not “under the law.”
And, so people got the idea they could just live however they wanted, continuing in their sinful addictions, but that when they died, they would still go to heaven. And eventually it came to where they were telling people they don’t have to repent of sin or obey God’s commandments to be saved.
And, then this church philosophy, which largely came through the Rick Warren movement, initially, began to spread throughout the whole world, and was carried to many different countries. Thus, they were enticing the people and the kings of the world to commit adultery with them against God, and they were telling them that they were free to continue in immorality without guilt because Jesus paid it all and nothing is required of them.
And, so we now have the church at large in America, and in many places throughout the world wherever this influence has spread, who are believing that they can be saved from their sins, have heaven guaranteed them, but that they can live in all kinds of wickedness and immorality without punishment and without guilt. And, this, my friends, is BABYLON!
So, the Harlot church has the image that it is following Jesus Christ, but it isn’t. For to follow Jesus is to obey God’s commandments (New Testament). And, to follow him is to leave our sinful lifestyles and our idols and our immoralities behind us in order to live to Christ and to his righteousness.
The Harlot and Persecution
Now, I am not saying that every church which has incorporated under the 501c3 is literally living in adultery against her Lord. I believe there are church congregations which naively accept this incorporation with the government, but that they are still following the Lord and the scriptures and they have not bought into the cheap grace gospel. But, they are in the minority.
But, I still believe God is calling them to come out of this Babylon (the 501c3 union with the government), to disconnect from this unholy union, and that they are to return to Jesus Christ as their only head.
But, this Harlot Babylon, via the 501c3, is not content with just leading people into sexual immorality and into all kinds of wickedness while promising them heaven when they die. But, it is going headstrong ahead in its persecution of the church that has not bowed to the “golden statue”, and it is accusing them falsely of teaching works-based salvation and of being intolerant, judgmental, hateful, harsh, bitter, and unforgiving, etc.
So, God is appealing to all his church that is being influenced by this harlot, and he is commanding them to come out from underneath her influence so that they do not share in her sins or in her punishment. And, he is calling his true church to come out of this “unequally yoked together” relationship with the government, with the world, and with businesses of men, and to return to him as their only Lord (Rev. 18:1-5; 2 Co. 6:14-18).
The Ninety and Nine
Lyrics by Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1868
Music by Ira D. Sankey, 1874
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold;
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare;
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me.
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry;
’Twas sick and helpless and ready to die.
“Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way,
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They’re pierced tonight by many a thorn.”
And all through the mountains, thunder-riv’n,
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of heav’n,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”
Copyright status is public domain
