And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Rev. 14:8. ¶ And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, My people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Rev. 18:4, 5. Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, California
Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, California With Our Inquirers
By Editor
"If ye will inquire, inquire ye." [All questions to this department will be answered which to the editors will seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. The same question can not be answered repeatedly in the same volume. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. It is well always to enclose a stamp for reply.] 2192.—Members of What Body?
Do Matt. 5:29, 30 and Mark 9:43, 45, 47 mean members of the natural body of flesh, or do they refer to members of the "old man," "affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24; Col. 3:5), or members of the body of Christ (Rom. 12:5)? If it means "putting off" the old man with his deeds, would not the memory of the works of the flesh such as are referred to in Gal. 5:19-21, prey upon the soul or mind or spirit, and in that way be symbolized by the "worm" (not worms) preying upon the natural body? The lesson will well apply both to the individual and to the church. Whatever there may be in our life, however necessary it may seem to our success, from a worldly point of view, if it causes us to stumble or offend, if it hinders us in God's work, cut it off. Better to pass thru this life in a seemingly crippled condition rather than to be eternally destroyed and retain what the natural man may most prize. There are many able, bright men who are nominally connected with the work of God, but who are so worldly, whose influence is so detrimental to God's work, that they prove positive stumbling-blocks to sinners. They may be able to teach, to exhort, they may be shrewd business advisers and give liberally for the support of church interests, yet are loads which sink the church. Because of natural ability they may seem as necessary as the right hand and right eye, and without them the church would seem crippled, but with a constantly deteriorating moral influence, the church is better if they are cut off or plucked out. The Christian church, the church of Christ, can bear any other load better than sin. The "worm" of Mark 9 has direct reference to the Valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna. It is used in the singular in a generic sense, including all such refuse-devouring vermin. The man who continually goes on in sin finds a continually hardening conscience, which disturbs him less and less as the time passes. 2195.—Sunday and First Day of the Week.
Did God call Sunday the first day of the week, or did the governments say it was the first day of the week? W. H. P. The Bible does not use the word Sunday, or any of the heathen names of the days of the week. God named all the days of the week with reference to the Sabbath: “the First Day,” “the Second Day,” “the Third Day,” “the Fourth Day,” “the Fifth Day,” “the Sixth Day,” “the Sabbath.” Therefore the Hebrews and other Eastern nations called the days of the week, “the first day to the Sabbath,” “the second day to the Sabbath,” and so on. The sixth day was called “Sabbath Eve.” The whole week came to be called the Sabbath, because that was the crowning day of the week. The name “Sunday” was given to the first day of the week by sun-worshipers. That day was found to be the same in time, practically, but the world in general has used the heathen name. 2197.—The Second Commandment.
Is it not a violation of the second commandment to retain any kind of pictures or images? It seems a great stress is placed on it.
O. C. There is one injunction by the preacher, “Be not righteous overmuch.” It would seem to apply well to those who are endeavoring to manufacture idolators out of their interpretation of the second commandment. The second great precept of the Ten forbids the making of graven images in order to worship. The commandment is not against the making, but against the making in order to worship. For, most certainly, God did not command the violation of this precept, and yet He did command the making of images of things both in heaven and in earth. The sanctuary and all its furniture were made from patterns of things in the heavens, and part of the ornamentations were images of things on the earth, as were the bells and the pomegranates. About everything that men make in this world is an image of something else. Does this make idolators of those who made God’s tabernacle and its furnishings? It is well to make houses to dwell in, but many a man adores his house. It is well to compose beautiful music, but many a musician worships at his own shrine of genius and art. It is well to be faithful to God’s word, but many a soul worships his own Pharisaic theories and daily bows in adoration at his own self-righteousness while he condemns his humble brother, who may be much better than he. It is not wise or right or good to lavish money on pictures of our poor selves or to worship the pictures of our friends, but we can not see wrong in simple remembrances of our friends, nor in using pictures and illustrations—one of the oldest forms of writing—to make truth plainer. Worship God, and interpret His word by His word, rather than by the imaginations of humanity. 2193.—Then Shall the End Come
By J. E. W.
It is written in the Bible that when the third angel's message is preached to all nations for a witness, then shall the end come. Has it yet been preached? This is not just what the Bible says. Read Matt. 24:14. "This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come." Of course, it is clearly evident that "the Gospel of the kingdom" is the same as "the everlasting Gospel" of the great Threefold Message of Rev. 14: 6-14. That message in its fulness has probably not gone, so far as man knows, yet it is rapidly going, and will soon be finished. 2194.—Keeping the Sabbath.
Can a man keep the Sabbath sacred and be a railroad agent or operator? J. E. W. That depends on what the operator has to do. If his work calls him to labor or do business on the Sabbath, he can not keep the Sabbath and do this work at the same time. If he has a position where he need do no work on the Sabbath, of course he can keep it. The first duty of the child of God is to obey Him. All other things should be subject to that. 2196.—The First-Fruits from the Dead.
If Moses was raised from the dead before Christ came to earth to die, how is it that Christ was the first-fruit unto God of those that slept? The term first-fruits and first-born do not always denote priority, but preeminence, not first in point of time, but first in honor and position. Ishmael was Abraham's oldest son in point of time, but Isaac was made the first-born, or given the birth-right. Esau was Isaac's oldest son, but Jacob is called the first-born. Reuben was Jacob's oldest son, but God took Levi in the place of the first-born. Manasseh was Joseph's first-born, but God called Ephraim the first-born. So He declares that He will make Christ His first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. Ps. 89:27. Even so it is with first-fruits. God translated Enoch and Elijah, and broke the power of death in them, and raised the widow's son at Zarephath, and the son of the widow of Shunem, and still others before Christ was raised from the dead; but it was because of the virtue of Christ's sacrifice that all others were caused to live both before and after His resurrection. He is God's First-born and First-fruits prospectively from before the foundation of the world, and preeminently, because that in Him all the fulness dwelt. Is Christ a complete Saviour from sins that are past? and after conversion, is He able, if man meets all the conditions by abiding in Christ, to keep him from sinning? Is that what the Scriptures teach, or are we still sinners and need to pray "Forgive us our sins"? In what sense are we sinners after conversion? If we sin after being born again, are we not sinners? And if we are sinners, can we be Christians? N. L. M. 1. Jesus Christ is a complete Saviour from the sins that are past. "Whom God set forth to be a propitiation, thru faith in His blood, to show His righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God." Rom. 3:25, A.R.V. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. So much for the past. See also Isa. 1:18, et al. 2. "Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1:21. "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:14. "He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God thru Him." Heb. 7:25. He "is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy." Jude 24. The above is the teaching of the Scriptures. "Are those still sinners who accept of this Saviour?"—In Him, no; of themselves, yes. Christ is perfect; in Him we are complete, made full. Col. 2:9, 10. And He calls such "saints," holy ones. Col. 1:2; Phil. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:9-11. But in ourselves and of ourselves we are not perfect; we still sin or "miss the mark," come short of His glory. Therefore we call ourselves sinners, saved by His grace. 1 Tim. 1:15. Not that "I was chief," but "I am chief." The Christian life is one of constant development. God's glory is constantly revealing new imperfections in our wisdom, in our knowledge, in our performance. And the humble soul will still pray that God will forgive these sins and imperfections and put them away; and at the same time God counts them His, and they have perfect confidence in Him. Thus they live perfect in the Lord's sight, because their heart and will are perfect, but in the light of His glory they see their imperfections still. "Not that I have already obtained or am already made perfect; but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus." Phil. 3:12, A.R.V. And so Paul tells us that he buffeted his body, died daily, constantly gloried in the cross, never boasting of his perfection, never counting himself a saint, but rejoicing in the blessed epithet, "Paul a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ." In the Book of Life
By N. L. M.
2199.—In the Book of Life. When are the names of the elect enrolled in the book of life—from times eternal, or at the conversion? And do the elect know their names are so enrolled? The Saviour says, "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." N. L. M. The names written from times eternal in the book of life are names of elect characters, characters marked out of God to inhabit this earth, and worthy of everlasting existence. Men in this world are called to those characters. When they accept that call by faith—when they are converted—their names are enrolled in the Lamb's book of life, as candidates of some of those characters, of those names, of the crowns. If faithful to the end, those eternal names become the new names, and the crowns are given. Rev. 2:17; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4. If they prove false, their own names are blotted out. Rev. 3:5. Surely, when one has given himself to God, he should know that the Lord is his, and that his name is written in the book of life; but to be among the eternal characters, he must be faithful to the end. Matt. 24:12; Heb. 3:12-14. Babylon—Its Meaning
By Milton C. Wilcox
THE terms "Babel," "Babylon"—two different forms of the same word—mean "confusion." It is God's designation of man's attempt to save himself, of man's perversion of God's way. The originator of it all is Lucifer, once a day-star of God, but who, in his exaltation, became instead of light-bringer, as his name indicated, the bringer of confusion into the kingdom of God. Therefore is he called "king of Babylon." Isa. 14:4, 12-14. It goes without saying that wherever sin is there is confusion; and confusion has existed in this world ever since man sinned. But the origin of Babylon in this world in organized form dates from Nimrod. Then, as with Lucifer, was the organized attempt to exalt the creature above the Creator. It came about on this wise: In the beginning man was told to multiply and fill the earth. Gen. 1: 28-31. They evidently did this, but went on in their selfish sinning till finally God destroyed that world, or cosmos, and swept from the earth every human organization. To those saved in the ark, God again gave the command to multiply, spread abroad, and fill the earth. Men conferred together and said: "Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad." Read the account in the eleventh chapter of Genesis. It not only left God out of the question, but it was a defiance of His purpose concerning them. In other words, it was man's way of salvation set against God's way. It was glory to man instead of glory to God. To show their estimate of their plan of salvation, they called that tower and city Bab-il, meaning "the gate of God." And they impressed the name on their thoroly burned bricks. They would save themselves from a future flood, that God promised would not come. In the language of men, God "came down," "looked" upon the impious attempt, and called it what it actually and inevitably was, Babel, meaning "confusion." They called it what they hoped it would be. And that is God's name for every such attempt of man to save himself or thwart the divine plan, or to pervert God's plan, from that time forth forevermore; and the confounding of tongues which followed that first attempt was the index of its inward working. That attempt and the great city and empire of Babylon which followed became the typical generic head, the spiritual ethnological mother of all later attempts to "amend" (pervert) God's plan, frustrate God's purpose, set up a different standard from that of God's. It may be safely affirmed that every false system of religion the world has known found its origin in that Babylonian apostasy, and may be traced in germ back to it. Every dead, cold, human creed is a different effort to divert or retard and so divide the religious world, and multiply confusion, worse confounded. All such creeds are diametrically opposed to the prayer of Christ, who prayed that His disciples might be one, even as He and His Father are one; and that this might be, they were to be sanctified, set apart, not by the theories or the creeds of men, but by the truth of the word of God. John 17: 17-19. In Babylon, the political, the social, the educational, the religious world, stands to-day, divided as to principle, as to sentiment, as to standards, honoring men, fearing men, worshiping men, but ignoring God and His standards. Take the religious world. There is absolutely no union as regards the inspiration, the integrity, the authority of God's word. There is no agreement regarding the binding character of His law, its immutability, its perpetuity. Some professedly hold to its integrity and admit change without one word of divine authority. Others believe in the abolition of the moral law of the universe and in a God requiring changeable character. As regards the second coming of Christ, the immortality or non-immortality of man, the resurrection, the millennium, the atonement, and various other vital doctrines, there is great diversity of view. Confusion reigns supreme. Babylon is the fitting term—used by divine inspiration, used frequently by men at the present day. To heal these divisions, to bring order out of chaos, unity out of diversity, and an orderly army out of warring factions, is the object of God's message in Rev. 14: 6-12, the positive part of which is found in verses 6 and 7 as follows: "And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto4every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he saith with a great voice, Fear God, and give Him glory; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters." Rev. 14: 6, 7. Note the important features of that message: 1. It is the message of the everlasting Gospel—good tidings. It is the one Gospel not after men. 2. It is sent to all the world—to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. 3. It calls from the fear of man which "bringeth a snare," to the reverence of God, a thing wofully wanting in all circles. 4. It demands that glory should be given to God, not to man; to the Mighty One, not to the creatures which perish. Men are lauded and honored and glorified while God and His infinity are forgotten. 5. It is the closing proclamation of that Gospel; for it bears the burden of an impending judgment—"the hour of His judgment IS COME." Paul preached the Gospel and a judgment "to come" (Acts 24: 25), of a day in which God "will judge the world" (Acts 17: 31). But the last proclamation brings us to the judgment itself, God's judgment. Men can not evade His judgment, pack the jury, postpone the sentence, or corrupt the Judge. The rule of His judgment is His law, spoken with His own voice from heaven. Eccl. 12: 13, 14; James 2: 8-12. Men may set it aside now; but the heaven shall declare His righteousness then, and all faces shall pale at His presence. He would write that law in our hearts now, that we may have boldness in the judgment. 6. It calls men back to God's worship, the highest, truest form of which is service. Said Jesus, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." "If ye love Me, keep My commandments," declares He who was one with the Father. Turn from the worship, the self-serving, the human slavery, to the worship; the service, of the living God who made heaven and earth, the Creator and Redeemer. The rejection of that message means that the disease which afflicts Babylon will persist to her downfall and destruction. Sadly the Lord declares, "We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed." And then follows moral fall and fornication with political power, out of which comes logically the beast and his image and the enforcement of the mark of his authority. The fornication of Babylon is sadly recorded by the message, but the warning against the beast and his image and the reception of his mark is heralded world-wide, and is awful in its import. That message warns and saves against all which is contrary to the class it envelopes: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." That is unity, the unity of the apostolic church, unity in the eternal truth of God's word, the unity for which Christ prayed, the unity which will be ready to meet Him when He comes. Reader, in that soon-coming day, where will you stand—with Babylon devoted to destruction, or with the saints of God who reign, immortal, forever? What Is Spiritual Babylon?
By R. C. Porter
THE Bible is the one Book which stands apart from all others as a revelation of spiritual truth. It is the only book that reveals the mystery of godliness. Its presentation is original and its lessons are fundamental. Its Author is the source of all spiritual truth. His words are, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." His purpose in revealing Himself, thru His word, is the development of spiritual worshipers, who shall "worship Him in spirit and in truth." The Result of the Apostasy.
The book of Genesis opens with man standing in this relationship with God. The same book presents an apostasy, and a Babylon as the result of that apostasy. In the closing chapters of the book of Revelation, that Babylon of apostasy is still in operation. A warning is borne against it which is heeded by some. They are seen when the book closes, perfectly restored from sin to man's original spiritual relationship with God. The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus are presented as the only basis of perfect harmony in the universe. Rev. 14:12 and 22:14. Spiritual worship, then, consists in keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Paul says, "I know that the law is spiritual." Since keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus is the only spiritual worship, and this is the platform of all true Christian unity, it follows that an apostasy from this platform will develop confusion in the form and spirit of worship. It is shown in the article on page three that the terms confusion and Babylon are used synonymously in the Scriptures. Spiritual Babylon must, therefore, of necessity be composed of a class of worshipers who have fallen into confusion by an apostasy from the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Spiritual Babylon could not refer to the infidel world, who say in their heart "There is no God;" for the whole of chapters fourteen and seventeen of the book of Revelation, where spiritual Babylon is specifically mentioned, contrasts true worshipers with those composing Babylon. Paul says of those composing this Babylonian system that they are "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away." It is therefore very plain that the Bible recognizes two great systems of worship. In one class are true worshipers, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; and the other class, having apostatized from this platform, have drifted into formalism, and are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Sadly it is said of them that they have a form of godliness without the power. The Head of Babylon in All the Ages.
Each of these systems has a head which directs the movements of its body. Speaking of the Christian church, Paul says, "The head of every man is Christ," and "The head of Christ is God." Isaiah, in chapter fourteen, verses four to fourteen, represents Satan as the king, or head, of the Babylonian religious system. This is very fitting. Satan was once a follower of Christ in heaven. He became the first great apostate. It is perfectly natural that he should be the leader of the apostasy which he has created. Isaiah now says of him, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning." "Thou hast said in thine heart, . . . I will be like the Most High." It was not possible for him to take from Christ the leadership as head of the church, or he would have done that. Since he could not do that, he would take his place at the head of the great apostate religious system of Babylon, and thru it seek to direct civil governments to suppress Christianity. "How art thou cut down to the ground that didst weaken the nations!" The dragon of Revelation twelve represents this satanic power as manifest thru empires and covering the history of all nations. In verses twelve and thirteen of this chapter, his purpose in seeking control of the nations thru this religious apostasy is declared to be to seek revenge against God for having defeated him in his purposes, and cast him out of heaven. The last verse of the chapter states the fact that all of his bitter hate now is against Christians who are sufficiently loyal to keep all of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. It reads: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." This is what we might expect from one who had been disappointed in his plan to obtain the leadership of the worship of the universe. It is the spirit of apostasy always. Under the Symbol of a City.
In Rev. 14:8, this Babylonian system is represented by the symbol, "that great city." And it is said that "she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." That is, she compelled all nations to accept her false doctrines. In chapter seventeen, verses five and six, "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" is seen "drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." And verse eighteen says: "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." This war is no pretense. It is its purpose to exterminate the saints of Christ. It is not local. It operates to persecute all Christians in all nations during all time. 2 Tim. 3:2. The last verse of Revelation eighteen says of Babylon, "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."5This Babylonian religious system can therefore be easily traced thru all history by her bloody trail of religious persecution. She always seeks to reign over earthly kings and control earthly governments. Another point of identity is the city of ancient Babylon, used by the prophet to represent this great religious system. Its religion was pagan. History and Scripture agree that the religion of Babylon was forced upon the world by legislative enactments. Satan was back of the whole scheme with all his cunning and deception. This was Babylon in her early history. The Scriptures sum up the history of this Babylonian apostasy briefly in Rev. 16:19, 20. It reads: "And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." The scene closes with the coming of Christ. His fierce wrath is then visited upon this Babylonish system. Before that time it must have presented itself to the world in three divisions, three great religious movements which are apostate. Paganism is easily recognized as the first division of this great apostate system. It operated thru empires compelling false worship and persecuting true worshipers. The prophet Elijah was among those who met this pagan division, as recorded in 1 Kings 18:17-21. Because he was loyal to God and His law, he was accused of being a troubler in Israel. He denied the charge, and severely arraigned the pagan worshipers for following Baal in sun-worship, in place of adhering to the law and worship of God. Ezekiel was brought in the visions of God to see this division of Babylon leading prominent men of Israel into the worship of Tammuz in the very temple of God. With their backs to the temple of the Lord, they worshiped the sun toward the east. Ezekiel 8. Chapters 18 and 22 declare that the priests of Israel had been so far carried away by this pagan apostasy as to violate God's law and profane His Sabbath day. It is easy to account for this. Sun-worship brought with it Sunday as its worship-day in place of the Sabbath of Jehovah. Webster voices the testimony of history in thus defining Sunday: "So called because anciently dedicated to the sun and its worship." This system was a complete rival of the Christian system. It had its priests, its temples, its forms of worship, and its worship day. To be wholly identified as a division of Babylon, it must persecute. Did Paganism persecute?—Ask Elijah as he flees before it three and a half years for his life. Ask Jeremiah and hear his lamentable answer in the fiftieth and fifty-first chapters of his prophecy. Ask Isaiah and read the forty-seventh and forty-eighth chapters for reply. Ask Mordecai and his people, Daniel and the three Hebrew worthies, and, last of all, ask the Master and His disciples. Kingly decrees, the fiery furnace, the lions' den, the gallows, the prison, the judgment hall, and the cross of Calvary are their answers. Paganism clearly bears all of the marks of the first division of Babylon. Our inquiry after the second division needs only to be brief. The Papacy is the next great apostate religious movement this side of Paganism. It adopted almost bodily all of her forms and ceremonies of worship. It accepted and enforced the pagan Sunday as its day of worship and repudiated the Sabbath of Jehovah. Fifty millions of martyrs in mute silence witness that she was the most terrible persecuting movement the world has ever known. Revelation seventeen almost calls her by name while giving her photograph for her identification. The likeness is complete. Her name is "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." No one will question but that the Papacy is the second division of Babylon. Her identity is unmistakable. Apostatized Protestantism the Third.
What, then, is the third division? The Papacy is called "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots." Who are her daughters?—They are the harlot daughters and must form the third division of Babylon. Lorenzo Dow answers: "It must be the corrupt national churches that came out of her." His answer is logical. Paganism, the first division, was a union of Church and State. The Papacy was emphatically the same. The third division must bear this union of Church-and-State stamp of its identity. The Protestant Reformation was the world's third great religious movement. It came out of the Papacy. Dr. Guthrie, Baptist, says, "Three hundred years ago our church, with an open Bible on her banner, and this motto, 'Search the Scriptures,' on her scroll, marched out from the gates of Rome." He then asks, "Did they come clean out of Babylon?—No, they did not. Sprinkling for baptism was retained. Sunday as the rival worship-day of Paganism and the Papacy was brought over in place of accepting the Bible Sabbath, and in some Protestant nations a union of Church and State was retained. These distinctly Babylonian features identify the daughters as a part of the Babylonian system tho they be found in Protestantism. These Babylonian seeds are germinating in retrograding Protestant countries. Who are leaders in a demand for the enforcement of a Sunday sabbath?—Nominal Protestants. Who are demanding enforced teaching of the Christian religion in the public schools?—Nominal Protestants. Who are seeking to unite with Rome in Christian unity?—Misguided clergymen. Who are seeking to control legislation in the interests of religion, and thus unite Church and State?—The Protestant clergy and their membership. Revelation thirteen declares plainly that Protestants will apostatize and make an image to the beast, the Papacy, and the nineteenth chapter says she will unite with the Papacy in her closing opposition to the work of Christ. Protestantism, apostate, forming a union of Church and State, will form the third division. These three form spiritual Babylon, and unite to oppose the closing work of God. Loyalty will be tested now as ever by our relation to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. How shall we stand? God's Effort to Heal Babylon
By R. S. Owen
BABYLON, where it is applied in the Bible to the last days, refers to confusion in religious matters. In the beginning of the world's history, men came together to build a high tower, to get to themselves a great name, and power in the earth, and there was a confusion of tongues. So in the religious world to-day, men are seeking to build a high tower (a union creed), and get to themselves a great name and wield a great power (the civil power by a union of Church and State) in the earth. But here is confusion. Men do not agree as to what shall be put into this tower (union creed); each one desires to build it with his own material so that his may be the great name, and his the great power. The spirit of self-exaltation in this latter effort, as in the former, is contrary to God's plan, for it seeks to gather to itself power to be used in coercing men in religious matters, thus invading man's free moral agency, which God intended shall not be violated, and which inviolate is necessary for man's highest good. But God is not pleased with this condition of confusion. He desires that His people shall be one; and, in harmony with His will, Jesus prayed that we all might be one even as He and the Father are one. And the apostle Paul says, "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 may be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." Yes, God would heal Babylon. O, if His divided children would but listen to His voice, saying, "Return, ye backsliding children," for "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely." "Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him." In Rev. 14:8, we find God's announcement of the fall of Babylon, but a loving father would never proclaim the fall of his children until after he had put forth an effort to heal them. In the preceding verses, we find a message which, if heeded, would have brought in harmony and healed Babylon. Reader, do you deplore the great confusion and the divisions which exist among God's people? If so, we earnestly entreat you to study carefully this message: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Rev. 14:6, 7. Here is a Gospel message which is to go everywhere, for confusion is everywhere. The Gospel is ever God's means of restoring His straying children, and this Gospel is the everlasting Gospel, and, indeed, there is but one, and those who preach it must proclaim the truths set forth in this message, the central thought of which is to Not that slavish dread, but that wholesome fear which is mingled with sincere love, and which leads to cheerful obedience. O, how many to-day are not obedient to God because they have another fear which keeps them from His service. Some have a fear of losing their position; others fear the scoffing of their neighbors; some fear the loss of their influence; others fear their relatives; some fear they could not make a living if they should keep God's commandments. All of these forget this promise: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Ps. 37:3. But this message calls upon us to give God His rightful place; to exalt Him above all things else; to let Him be our fear; to be willing to face even death itself rather than to disobey or displease Him. Not only are we to recognize the power and love of God, but we are to proclaim it, saying, "Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever." "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." "Let us exalt His name together." "For the Hour of His Judgment Is Come."
The apostle Paul said to the Athenians, God commandeth "all men everywhere to repent: because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in6righteousness; and, when standing before Felix, he reasoned of a judgment to come. But this message announces that the day appointed, the set time of the judgment, is come; that we are actually living in the time when the court of heaven is in session, and the eternal destiny of souls is being decided for weal or for wo. The scene described by the prophet Daniel in chapter seven, verses 9 and 10, in which he saw the Ancient of Days sit, while thousands ministered unto Him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, and the judgment was set, and the books were opened, is actually passing in heaven to-day; and God, in His mercy, has sent the message, "The hour of His judgment is come." "Worship Him That Made Heaven and Earth, and the Sea, and the Fountains of Waters."
In this sentence, we have the descriptive title of Jehovah—that which is used in the Bible to distinguish the true from false gods. Notice, when Jeremiah wished to turn the minds of men to the true God, he said, "He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion." Paul exhorts the Lystrians to turn from vanities to serve the living God who made the heavens, and earth, and the sea, and all things which are therein. And this same descriptive title God has placed in the bosom of His law; for in the fourth commandment we read, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." This, then, is the autograph of the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Author of the moral law, which He spoke from the flaming top of Sinai, and transcribed with His own finger on two tables of stone. In all true worship, there must be the recognition of the superiority of the one worshiped, and the inferiority and weakness of the worshiper; there must be such a submission of the will of the worshiper as will find expression in a prompt and willing obedience, for "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Prov. 28:9. If we substitute the will of any of His creatures for that of the Creator, our worship is spoiled. For "in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matt. 15:9. This message calls for a complete submission on the part of all to God's will, and, if all were thus submissive, how soon would Babylon be healed! How soon would all confusion cease! Will you, then, dear reader, remember that we are living in the hour of His judgment, and while God has announced its beginning, He has not revealed the time of its close. Then, let us hasten to "fear God, and give glory to Him;" and worship the Creator in a way that will be pleasing and acceptable to Him by obeying fully and freely that law to which He has affixed His descriptive title, and thus we may be found in the company described in the 12th verse of this same chapter, who are said to keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.