The Bible indicates that only two churches remain at the end of history: the Bride of Christ and the Great Prostitute. The Book of Revelation contrasts these two churches and details how they are different. Revelation 14 contains the final gospel message that will separate the true sheep from the wolves in sheep’s clothing. When the separation is complete, Jesus will come.
Rev. 14 contains messages from three angels; each is a warning. Together, these messages constitute the last gospel to be preached to all nations. It is the everlasting gospel for the final generation.
In Rev. 18, an angel repeats the second angel’s message of Rev. 14:8—that Babylon is fallen. Then another voice adds a loving invitation, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive of her plagues” (verse 4, NIV).
Since this last voice says, “my people,” the voice must be that of God Himself. This last gospel is profoundly compassionate and pleading. Why? Because most of God’s people remain in Babylon, a system doomed to destruction. Yet God has not forgotten or rejected them. God addresses them directly and personally, urging them to leave Babylon before she is destroyed.
The Book of Revelation details the terrible condition of end-time Babylon, which is a confusing combination of false religious systems—apostate Catholicism, apostate Protestantism, and every form of pagan spirituality. Babylon is lawless, demonic, angry, blasphemous, intoxicating, adulterous, sinful, wealthy, full of abominations, proud, violent, deceptive, autocratic, and unrepentant.
Babylon has attacked the faithful remnant of God’s people for millennia. But during the end time the attacks will be especially desperate and vicious. The dragon, or the devil, is the force behind Babylon (see Rev. 12). Rev. 12:17 reads, “And the dragon was angry with the woman and went to make war on the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (KJV, Easy Read Bible). Babylon hates the law of God and ignores the words of His prophets.
The world has rejected the law of God, the standard of righteousness and the foundation of the kingdom of heaven. The world has been in rebellion for thousands of years, and the rebellion is nearing its end. God has sent warnings for as long as mankind has been in rebellion, but the last warning is about to be sounded.
The Apostle Paul indicates that Jesus is the way out of a doomed planet. Obeying God’s law on our own is impossible because of our sinful nature, but “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13, NIV). God cures the sin problem, not by discarding His law, but by writing His law on our hearts through faith (see Rom. 2:15). The sinner is reborn as a child of God simply by saying yes to the Good News. The law cannot save anyone, but it tells us accurately that we are sinners in need of a Savior (see Gal. 3:21).
The prophet Daniel lived in literal Babylon and recorded visions that he and King Nebuchadnezzar received. The vision of Daniel 2 shows that Rome would be the last universal kingdom on earth. This interpretation comes from Jesus Himself! (See Matt. 24:15).
This means that the Second Coming of Jesus occurs when Rome still exists. The pagan Roman Empire ceased to exist in 476 A.D., but papal Rome continues to flourish to this day. It is the founding member of spiritual Babylon. Papal Rome is known in 2 Thess. 2 as the “lawless one.” The lawless one would appear after Paul’s time and would be destroyed at the Second Coming. That’s a long time, but signs are abundant that the Second Coming is near, even at the doors.
The demonic elements of spiritual Babylon are not easy to discern, especially for God’s people who are in Babylon. The confused mass of false doctrines defines Babylon. Catholicism mixes paganism with Christian principles, apostate Protestantism accepts some of that mixture, and paganism finds areas of agreement with both apostate Catholicism and apostate Protestantism.
Without knowledge of the truth of God in His Word, no person can avoid drinking the intoxicating wine offered by the hand of the Great Prostitute. Every individual not grounded in the Bible will become drunk on this wine and will be rendered mentally unable to separate truth from error.
Neither Protestants nor Catholics would knowingly accept, for example, the teachings of Theosophy. This spiritual movement arose in the late 19C in the State of New York and advocated a combination of mysticism, Neoplatonism, and the occult. Modern Spiritualism also began in the State of New York, in 1848. Spiritualists seek communication with the dead and believe in the immortality of the soul and its ability to exist outside the body.
This false teaching did not come from the Bible, but from Greek philosophy during the formation of the papacy. The acceptance of the immortality of the soul developed into the horrific doctrine of an eternally burning hell.
If Catholicism and Protestantism accept the immortality of the soul and believe that grandma is both dead and alive at the same time, they might find themselves in at least partial agreement with elements of Theosophy or Spiritualism. For each group, grandma is dead in the grave, but she’s also alive in the spirit realm. The Bible knows nothing of this dangerous piece of paganism. Such a doctrine makes possible the grandest deceptions imaginable.
Only knowledge of the truth protects humanity from demonic sophistry. John 11 tells the story of the raising of Lazarus. At first, after he learned that Lazarus was sick, Jesus said that Lazarus was “sleeping,” but when questioned further, He said, “Lazarus is dead.” When Jesus wanted to see where Lazarus lay, He was led to his tomb.
The question is, where was the dead Lazarus? By his actions, Jesus made the condition and location of Lazarus dramatically clear. Everyone knew that Lazarus had been sick at home, where he died, and that his body had been prepared for burial in the traditional way and placed in a traditional tomb, with a large stone covering the entrance. Everyone knew that Lazarus had been dead for four days and that decomposition had set in.
When Jesus went to the tomb, the crowd followed. Jesus stood before the tomb and asked that the stone be removed. The crowd could see at least partially into the tomb. Jesus cried out, “Lazarus, come forth!” Every eye was on the tomb!
Jesus did not call Lazarus down from heaven. Lazarus had not been in eternal bliss for four days only to be called back to grow old and die again. No, he was resting in his grave, from which Jesus had called him to life again—not eternal life, but to the mortal life he once had. Lazarus would die again and perhaps be buried in the same tomb, awaiting the voice of Jesus to call him, this time, to eternal life!
The Apostle Paul notes in I Cor. 15:51-52. “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (ESV).
Our lives can be overwhelmed by the urgency of work. We can be distracted by entertainment and the pleasures of life. We can mean well, we can be good people! But without a living connection to Jesus through His Word and through ongoing prayer, we can be easily deceived by friends, ministers, and priests who urge conformity to tradition and useless myths.
We must be strong and independent enough to seek truth in the Word of God for ourselves! There is treasure to be found. The upward path is clearly marked.
May God protect us all from the deceptions of the evil one so that we may stand triumphant at the last day. Come out of her, my people!
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