"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, &c." Rev. xiv, 8.
The subject of the Babylon of the Revelation, its fall, &c., being the link that connects the past with the present, the first angel of Rev. xiv with the third, it is of the greatest importance that the correct view of Babylon should be given. For if the testimony of the third angel be presented to those who investigate subjects, and who must see good reasons before they can believe, they will most certainly wish to first understand the testimony of the angels that precede it. Those who might embrace the third message without inquiring for the first and second, would not be likely to stand a very fierce storm of opposition against the truth. Hence, those who teach the third message should be able to clearly define the first and the second. Certainly, if the period has arrived for the followers of Christ to have their attention called to the third message, the former ones may be understood.
It is not our design at this time to take up the two former messages, but only to notice briefly some points of importance relative to Babylon, which is the subject of the second, angel.
"Babylon comes from Babel, and signifies 'confusion or mixture.'" See Gen. x, 10; xi, 9. In this respect, at least, it well applies to the many religious sects, so widely differing in their creeds, and each professing to be the true church of Christ.—We are aware that this application of Babylon will appear harsh and uncharitable to many. But let such compare the one, united church of Christ, as set forth in the New Testament, separated from the world, with the many sects of the present day with all their confusion of doctrines, and united with the world, and we think they will no longer object to this application.
"God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." 1 Cor. xiv, 33. It was the plan of God, and his will, that his people should be one. For this, the Son of God prayed: "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." "Neither pray I for these alone; but for THEM ALSO WHICH SHALL BELIEVE ON ME THROUGH THEIR WORD; that they ALL MAY BE ONE, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be ONE IN US, THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE THAT THOU HAST SENT ME." John xvii, 17, 20, 21.
Here is the great reason why the church should be one; that the world might believe that God had sent his Son to save lost men. But as the reverse has been the case, the confusion of this great Babylon has filled the world with infidelity.—There is another point of great interest in this prayer of the Saviour, as follows: "I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Verse 14. Here the true church of Christ is seen "not of the world," separated from it, consequently, hated by the world. This shows the worldly, popular churches of this day, which are united with the world, and loved by the world, not to be the real church of Christ.—We, therefore, conclude that the various sects, united to, and loved by, the world, in their divided and subdivided condition, with their confusion of creeds, have ever been worthy of the name of Babylon.
As the husband is the head of the wife, so Christ is the only lawful head of the church. As the wife should look alone to her husband to be protected and cherished, so the church should lean on no other arm than that of her lawful Head. But the churches of this day have formed an unlawful connection with the world, have gone after other lovers, and they are worthy to be represented by the family of harlots, [Rev. xvii, 5,] the daughters of the old mother, the Roman Catholic church. And how these daughters resemble their mother! Some indeed are older than others, but as they grow in strength of years the resemblance is more striking.
Heaven has provided ample means to secure the purity and unity of the church; but that means has been trampled underfoot by the wisdom of men. Said the Son of God, "If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. * Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth." John xvi, 7—13.
God's revealed truth is a unit. It has not so many heads and horns as the symbolic beasts of Daniel and John, but is one. While error has a thousand crooked streams, truth flows onward in one strait, even channel. And the Holy Comforter is sent down to guide the followers of Jesus into all truth.—This was God's plan. And if Christ's professed followers had ever stood separate from the world as the Word requires, and had been humble, meek and lowly, like their Pattern, so that the Spirit of truth would abide with them, they would have been guided into the one channel of truth, consequently, been one. Then the prayer of Jesus would have been answered in his professed disciples, they would not have composed this great Babylon, and the world would not have been filled with infidelity by reason of their confusion of doctrines.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to secure the purity and unity of the church; but many of these being rejected, as belonging to the apostles alone, the church has been left to form human creeds, and finite wisdom has led benighted souls in almost every direction excepting the channel of truth.—Hear the great Apostle:
"And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists, and pastors, and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the UNITY OF THE FAITH." Eph. iv, 11—13. Is it said that the apostolic church came to this unity of the faith, and that these gifts have not since existed? To this we reply, that those who tear down the unpopular gifts, on this ground, tear down the ministry also, for Paul places them on the same ground, and shows them to be of equal duration. Hear Paul again:
"And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, government, diversities of tongues," 1 Cor. xii, 28. If God has set these gifts in the church, who has taken them away? If they have all been taken away, then those who profess to be called of God as "teachers" in the church, are engaged in a calling that ceased about 1800 years since. But, if it be said that a portion of the gifts were to cease at the death of the apostles, we ask, who is prepared to decide this matter, and tell which gifts were to cease? God, the one that set them in the church, has not told us, neither has Christ, or his apostles. Ah! This cutting and carving for the Almighty, has deranged the gracious gospel plan, grieved the Spirit of truth almost entirely away from the church, and she has been left to the guidance of finite wisdom, to wander a thousand directions from the fold of Christ, and unlawfully unite with the world, and form this great Babylon.
It is vain to talk of union, permanent and scriptural, where there is confusion of views, and separate interests. How often have different denominations united in protracted efforts for the conversion of sinners; and all would go on well till the time came to bend the converts to the different man-made creeds; then what confusion has followed, and what wounds have been inflicted upon the cause of Christ. No wonder that men have doubted the reality of the Christian religion.
Look at the so-called Union Conference of Advent believers, held at New York City a little more than one year since.—That union not being in sentiment, but for objects understood by those acquainted with the state of the Advent people, was short lived. Some of the most prominent leaders in that Conference have since manifested extremely unkind feelings toward each other through the columns of the Harbinger and Watchman. We here give a few texts from the epistles of Paul which show the true, and only safe position for the church to occupy:21
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.—1 Cor. i, 10.
"Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God.—Rom. xv, 5, 6.
"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Phil. ii, 1, 2.
"Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with an holy kiss." 2 Cor. xiii, 11, 12. See also, 1 Pet. iii, 8; Phil. iii, 16.
The Fall of Babylon
Is evidently a moral fall, and not her final destruction.—This may be seen from the order of events given, that she first falls, second, "becomes the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird," third, God's people are called out of her, and fourth, then her plagues are poured upon her, and she is thrown down with violence, "like a great mill-stone cast into the sea," and found no more.
"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, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 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. 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." Rev.—xviii, 1—4.
After Babylon falls, and then becomes the hold of every foul spirit, &c. God calls his people out of her, to escape her plagues, yet future. Now, if Babylon's fall is her utter destruction, we ask how can she become a hold of foul spirits after she is destroyed? How will God's people be called out of Babylon after she is thrown down, like a great mill-stone cast into the sea? And how are her plagues to be poured upon her after she is destroyed, and is "found no more at all?"—Will those who confound the fall of Babylon with her final destruction, please answer these questions?
If the term Babylon be applied to the Roman Catholic church alone, then we inquire, When did she morally fall? The fact that she has always been corrupt, and about as low as she possibly could be, forbids the application of this moral change, or fall, to that corrupt church. Again, Babylon, signifying 'confusion, or mixture,' cannot be applied to the Roman church, she being a unit.
If it be said that the city of Rome is this Babylon, and that her fall is the burning of that literal city, then we would ask, How can the city of Rome "become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird" after it is burned? And how is it possible for God's people to be in Rome, (in order to be called out,) after that city is burned, and is thrown down with violence, like a great mill-stone cast into the sea by a mighty angel, and "found no more at all?" Will God's people be in Rome after that city is no more? Again, the people of God are called out of Babylon to escape her plagues. Rev. xviii, 4. But will they flee out of Rome after it is burned, to escape plagues, of which her being burned is her last plague? "Her plagues shall come in one day, death, and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire." Rev. xviii, 8.
The true application of Babylon is free from all these inconsistencies. The prophecy when rightly applied, will fit like the glove to the hand, being made purposely for it.
In our next we design to show, that the message of the second angel, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, &c." [Rev. xiv, 8,] is in the past, and has been fulfilled in connection with the Advent movement, also the nature of her fall, and that the message of Rev. xviii, 1—4, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, AND HAS BECOME [after her fall] the habitation of devils, and the hold of EVERY FOUL SPIRIT, &c." is yet to be given, to call out the 144,000 from the great Babylon of apostate Christianity, preparatory to the coming of Christ.
We are happy to publish the article from Bro. Cottrell, on another page, and hope our friends will do what they can to circulate the REVIEW AND HERALD among Sabbath-keepers not particularly interested in the advent doctrine.
The Seventh-day Baptists, seeing the proclaimors of the advent bowing to an institution of Papacy, were not well prepared to receive the message. And is it not the purpose of God that those who have come to the knowledge of the Sabbath, should spread the light of the advent before this people, as the way may open before them?