THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON
“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…” (Rev. 18:1-2).
We
know that in the symbolism of the book of Revelation this “angel” coming down
from heaven is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ because of the marks that
are given. I do not mean by this that
Jesus is literally an “angel,” only that the angel in his symbolism stands for our Lord. The Lord Jesus is always pictured in the New
Testament as “coming down from heaven,” and certainly He is the One who has
“great power” or “great authority,” and who “lightens the earth with His
glory.” Of Him it is written, “Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power,
and riches, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” Rev. 5:12).
And again, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of
man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mat. 24:30).
Without
doubt this is the same “another angel” we met in Revelation 10:1-2. “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed in a cloud: and
a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet
as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his
right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.” Some would make this the many-membered
corporate Christ, but by the identifying characteristics it is clear that this
is the glorious Head of the body, the indwelling
spirit of Christ, the One who indeed
fills the whole Christ body, yet remains uniquely the Head of all. He is clothed with a cloud and the rainbow is
upon His head, just where it was when we saw Him before in this book. The only two places where we see it is here
and in chapter four. Furthermore, He is clothed with a singular
cloud, denoting the firstborn Son of God; for when Christ is seen coming in all His saints it is stated that “He
cometh with clouds — plural — the
many clouds of glory! Now, in the tenth
chapter His face is like the sun, just
as it was in the holy mount of Hermon, in His transfiguration. His feet are as pillars of fire, just as John saw them in chapter one in the midst
of the seven churches. He has a scroll
in His hand, opened. Who opened it? Why, He did, the Lamb did, over there in
chapter five! And now in our text we find that this
“another angel” likewise comes down from
heaven with great authority and the earth is lightened with His glory — the glory of that same One whose
face is as the sun! Who can deny
that this is indeed THE LAMB, even Jesus.
I
would point out that in Greek grammar, when the word “another” is used with a noun before it, it is very significant. It
signifies literally, “another who is the same,” and throughout the book of
Revelation we find this word descriptive of our Lord. Remember, Jesus told His disciples that when
He went away He would send them “another Comforter.” There we have the same grammatical structure
in the Greek, indicating
“another who is the same.” The Lord made
it clear that this “another Comforter”
was truly Himself in another
form! “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He
dwelleth with you (as Jesus Christ
in the flesh), and shall be in you (as
Christ in the Spirit).” And then He
adds with unmistakable clarity, “I will not leave you comfortless: I WILL
COME UNTO YOU” (Jn. 14:16-18).
Can we not see by this that the Comforter, or the Spirit of truth, was
not another or different person, but another manifestation or form of the very
same Christ who said “I am the Truth,” standing there before His disciples! He was “another
Comforter,” oh yes, ANOTHER WHO IS THE SAME!
This
was not just another literal angel that came down from heaven, for here he is
referred to as a “mighty” or “strong” messenger. An angel is a messenger, and the messenger
stands for the message. The angels in
the book of Revelation are wonderful symbols
representing the living word of God communicated
by the spirit of revelation! The spirit
of Jesus Christ is the living word of God!
In the beginning of the book an “angel” came and began to show these
things unto John — that is, a powerful word of the Lord came to John out of the
heavenly realm of the Spirit, speaking mysteries to his heart and passing
before his spiritual eyes visions of wonders to come. The proof of this is found in John’s own
statement as to how the revelation was received. “He
(Jesus) sent and signified it unto His servant John: who bare record of the
word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of
all that he saw” (Rev. 1:1-2). Thus,
this mighty angel or messenger who cries with a strong voice is a great and
powerful WORD OF THE LORD whose glory lightens the earth! Truly, IT IS THE LORD! HE is the mighty messenger!
The
“spirit
of might” is one of the seven spirits of God resting upon the sons of
God. Isaiah revealed this deep mystery
when he penned these blessed words: “And
there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow
out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of
wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Isa.
11:1-2). The seven spirits of God rested
upon the Head of this many-membered body of Christ, and it is from Him that all the sons of God
receive this anointing (I John 2:27).
The Spirit of Might which belongs to the sons of God is the Spirit of
Jesus, for He upon whom the seven-fold
Spirit first rested is called THE MIGHTY
GOD (Isa. 9:6). It is only “in Him”
that one can become mighty! There is a
glorious company of people, who along with Jesus the Mighty God, is termed “the
Mighty.” Asaph, the song and praise
leader of Israel,
prophesied of this company, saying, “God
standeth in the CONGREGATION OF THE
MIGHTY; He judgeth among the gods (mighty ones). I have said, YE ARE GODS; and all of you are THE CHILDREN (SONS) OF THE MOST HIGH” (Ps. 82:1,6). This company of “the Mighty” in whose midst
God stands is none else but those who are “in Christ” who is “the Mighty God”
and are thus “strong in the Lord” and
“in the power of HIS MIGHT.” And the word of the Lord through Asaph
declared plainly that “the Mighty” are, every one of them, the sons of the most
High, truly, the manifest sons of God.
Aren’t you glad!
It
signifies a strong influx of the Lord out of the heavens of divine
illumination, by which His elect are bathed in heavenly light and
understanding. Today we are finding our
place in this corporate body, this company of the mighty. The day of individual ministry — my ministry, your ministry,
his ministry, her ministry — is over! No
more building of kingdoms around individual
men, spiritual super-stars, who gather
a following and make a name for themselves as though they single-handedly could
save the world or bring in the kingdom. There’s
a story about a woodpecker who was persistently drilling through the bark of a
tree one day, when, without warning, lightning struck and shattered the old
tree into a thousand little pieces. The
woodpecker flew to another tree, and said, still shivering and shaking,
“Wow! To think I did that all by
myself!” It’s easy to start thinking
that we’ve done it all by ourselves. God
gives us gifts and abilities, and we take the credit for our performances. But in this significant hour it is the mighty
voice and the great authority of THE SON WITHIN
THE SONS that is speaking and performing!
BABYLON IS
FALLEN!
“And
after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great authority;
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” (Rev. 18:1-2).
We
have devoted a number of months to the
discussion of Babylon
the Great, the Mystery, the Mother of Harlots and abominations of the
earth. We have noted that Babylon is both a woman-harlot
and a city. As a woman she is a symbol of the church on earth as an instrument for
the building up of the saints as the
bride of Christ. As a harlot, however, she is the apostate
church, who has perverted her true character, forsaken her rightful husband,
Christ, and prostituted herself to be employed as an instrument of the powers
of inward carnality and the outward bestial system of the world. Then as a city
her essential
character is revealed. For even as the
true church of Christ
shall ultimately reveal itself as the glorious heavenly city, New Jerusalem, the
capital of God’s kingdom on earth, so
the counterfeit church reveals itself as the counterfeit Jerusalem, that is, Babylon, who rules over
the lives of men and calls itself the
kingdom of God. It is not difficult to
discern the character of this great city Babylon
as its suburbs spring up, proliferate, and spread their power and dominion
across the spiritual terrain.
George Wylie once
expressed it so very succinctly when he wrote: “While I was talking with a
sister the other day about some of these things, she said something that impressed
me. She said, ‘People don’t seem to be
content to allow someone to be free. There is always someone who wants you to join them and whatever they belong to. It
seems to disturb them to see someone free from the entanglements of a system.
When one has separated oneself from all the things that are not of
God there will always be those who will try to get one to join them. Come and join our group! Why don’t you join our church! Come and be part of our great movement! Come and flow with our fellowship! They just can’t seem to let a free man be
free!’ This is how denominations and
sects begin. Here is an excerpt from one of Bill Britton’s
writings: ‘We’ve had men come by here, and we’ve had some write us, and say,
Brother Britton, now it would be a great advantage to you if you would join up
with us and be in our fellowship. THIS, BELOVED, IS THE FIRST STAGE OF A DENOMINATION! The way men start out in sectarianism is,
they indoctrinate. The second step is, they isolate.
The third step is, they denominate. And the fourth step is, they dominate.
The first thing men want to do is to get their particular and
peculiar doctrine in you until you have
to believe exactly what they believe that is different from anybody else. After
they get you hooked, they isolate you.
You are not supposed to hear any other preachers or teachers. You’re not supposed to fellowship with any
other people or groups. You’re a
peculiar people, you’re separate from anyone else, so therefore you isolate
yourself from the rest of the body of Christ.
Then the next thing they do is put a name on that thing and they
denominate it. After they denominate it
(and it may be a lot of churches, a fellowship, movement, or whatever) you will
find that they begin to DOMINATE YOU!’”
— end quote. And may I add — at
that point you are fully enslaved within
the system of Babylon!
Furthermore,
we discussed the judgment of the
great whore, the harlot woman, the bride-imposter. We found that her harlotry consisted in an
illicit relationship with the world. She
is called to be the manifestation of the body of Christ in the world, but she
gives herself to union with the beastly systems of man. She is called to build up the saints in
intimacy of fellowship and vital union with her Lord, instead she makes the
inhabitants of the earth-realm, the carnal religious kingdom of the flesh,
drunk with the passion of her worldly lewdness.
She is called to raise up the spiritual life, nature, and power of
Christ in His called and separated people, but she abandons the spiritual
reality and seeks refuge in outward means, forms, rituals, sacraments,
programs, organization, creeds, and external instruments to establish the
promised kingdom. She is the harlot, the
apostate woman. And we found also that
her judgment as a harlot is certain: “Therefore
shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she
shall be utterly burned with fire: for
strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And
the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously
with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing
afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city
Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come” (Rev.
18:8-10).
Babylon will ultimately
disappear as an institution, because she has been weighed in the balances and
found wanting! Before this church age is
over the whole corrupt, religious, denominationalistic, Babylonish church system of man will come to
a crushing defeat. When Mystery Babylon
is judged, it will not be reformation nor will it be reconstruction: her ruin
will be complete; from henceforth nothing of a like character will have any
existence! It will either be swallowed
up by the truth of the Lord Jesus
Christ or it will perish from the face of the earth forever. There will also be the glorious manifestation of the sons of God in the
power of HIS RESURRECTION! Those who persist in clinging to the false
systems of man shall drink of the corrective passion (wrath) of God. It is poured out without mixture into the cup
of His indignation. Therefore the command, “Come out of her, my people, that
ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye
receive not of her plagues.”
As we approach the dramatic scenes of the 18th
chapter of the Revelation there are opened up before us in highly descriptive
and symbolical language the intimate details of Babylon’s judgment, desolation, and
destruction. The woman as harlot shall
exist no more! The institutional church
shall come to the end of her existence!
Great is the mystery!
In
this regard a dear sister in Christ has written these words of inspiration and
admonition: “It’s a new ball game now,
with new rules. God hasn’t changed the
rules. His rules are eternal and
sure. It’s only that men have been
trying to play by their own rules, hoping God will play along with them. It even appears that up until now God has
winked at our ignorance and shown us grace and extended mercy, much as loving
parents might do to their children at play.
Men have been historically deceived into thinking that their rules are
somehow winning the game for them. ‘We
can do it, gang! If we only pull
together, put forth our best effort, get a good preacher, plan the right
programs, get in there and work, work, work, we’ll see our church grow, grow,
grow!’ That’s been the game plan until
now.
“There
are two basic errors in these rules. The
first is in thinking that we can achieve anything for God in our own
strength. The second is in supposing
that ‘church growth’ is the goal. So we
must ask, what are God’s rules? What is
His game plan? What is He doing? After all, ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it’ (Ps.
127:1). The divine rule that is in
operation today is just this: ‘Not by
might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith
the Lord of hosts’ (Zech. 4:6). Hear
the word of the Lord! Whatever is done
for God that builds up His kingdom from now on is either going to be done by
His Spirit, or it won’t be done. There
will be many starts, but absolutely no finishes!
“It
may come as a shock to many, but ‘church growth’ is not God’s goal! The flesh
tends to focus on the external things.
Its interest is in numbers, membership, size, buildings, indoctrinations,
programs, and visible things like that.
These are all a part of the old order, the old game plan — which is
quickly passing away. Churches
that try to win by these rules will find themselves headed for the locker room
in total defeat. God wants kingdom seekers, not church members. God desires a spiritual house for His
habitation, not massive buildings made of brick and mortar. He seeks a bride called by His name, not a
harlot called by every other name in the book: Catholic, Baptist, Methodist,
Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Charismatic, etc.,
etc. He wants a people who are being conformed
into His image, not denominational clones.
He wants a people walking in humility and holiness, not in spiritual
pride and hypocrisy. He wants a people
who are led by His Spirit and living the laid-down life, one body all under one
head who is Jesus Christ as Lord and God and King.
“This
day I call to repentance all you who are still playing church. You are
kidding yourselves if you, who are spiritual, imagine that you can change the
‘church’ where you go. That old church
system is harlotry, it’s Babylon,
and God has never said anything but to
‘come out of her, my people!’ There are
many well-meaning, born again, and even Spirit-baptized believers in the
denominational churches, yet they are unable to see the abomination of that
system. All man-made religious systems
are false
religion. Many church groups
blaspheme the Holy Spirit by denying the baptism in the Holy Spirit and
teaching against the manifestations of the Spirit. Others operate under the law and thereby have
fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4). The
Pentecostals, for the most part, are under law, bound by their own traditions
and commandments of men, and harbor religious spirits. They have a false sense of holiness.
“While
I am bound by the Spirit to expose the harlot, I am sympathetic to the
difficulty we all have in adapting to these new rules and this new game
plan. Most of us were born into and
raised up by the old rules. It’s all
we’ve ever known! I grew up with
football, so I know the game and can keep up with it. But I have never been exposed to cricket. It’s totally confusing and disinteresting to
me. We may have the same tendency to shy
away from the new thing God is doing today!
Nevertheless,
we had better guard our hearts very carefully.
The flesh loves it in Babylon. We soulishly love our old traditions and
doctrines and churches — so much so they are idolatrous. The hour has come and now is when we must
turn to the Lord with a whole heart and abandon everything else in our
hearts. What we do is going to be by the
Spirit of God, or it will be cut down and cast into the fire. It’s a new ball game, folks! You’d better wake up quickly and repent. Renounce
your idolatries, your spiritual harlotries, your sins, your ungodly
associations. Come to Jesus the author
and perfecter of your faith. Where do
you go when you come out of Babylon? To Jesus.
It’s Jesus, Jesus, Jesus all the way!”
— Betty Newbold.
The
fact that Babylon
“is fallen” is pictured twice in the Revelation — in the first place it is
announced by “another angel” in
chapter fourteen, verse eight. “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the passion of her
fornication.” The second place is in
our text. Here, the “another
angel” descends out of the heavens
of the spirit of the Lord, having great authority, that is, bearing an
authoritative word with power. The earth
is lighted with His glory. The time has
come for the earth-realm, the carnal religious realm of man, to indeed be lighted, and with a glory that is not of
the earth realm, not the glory of man’s religiosity, but the brighter and more
transcendent glory out of the heavens of God’s Spirit! Oh, yes!
This angel’s only weapon was what he said — he cried mightily with a strong voice — and what he cried is a
piece of news — Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen! Now I would draw your reverent
attention to the fact that Babylon
is denounced as fallen — not destroyed!
This is plain by what follows, for she is seen as given up to a
condition which is a spiritual desolation, worse than the physical one of the Babylon of old under which
she has long lain, and from which the imagery seems derived. She is not destroyed, but is spiritually
desolate, and has become the dwelling place of demons, false religious spirits,
a hold of every unclean spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
It
is significant to note that in both instances the fact of Babylon’s fall is indicated
in the perfect tense. It is not, “Babylon
shall fall,” nor “Babylon
will fall,” nor “Babylon
is about to fall,” nor “Babylon
is going to fall,” but rather, “Babylon IS FALLEN!”
The angel speaks of the city as fallen already. The truth regarding the “fall” of Babylon is one of the most
important and significant truths of this present hour in which we live. Throughout the entire history of the church,
from time to time a remnant of the Lord’s people have received the revelation
of the Holy Spirit that “Babylon
is fallen” just as the angel declares in our
text. She is “fallen” not only because
the word of scripture says so, but because the HOLY SPIRIT HAS REVEALED THAT
FACT. Now, as already mentioned, for
something to be “fallen” does not mean that it no longer exists, or that it has
disappeared from the earth. A thing can
be “fallen” and yet continue to exist in that fallen state. Actually, “fallen” describes the state or
condition of something that does exist! People used to speak of a “fallen” woman as a
woman who had left the purity of her life and become a prostitute. We all know that Adam and all mankind in him is in a “fallen”
state according to the scriptures and the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Adam
and mankind certainly still exist even though in their “fallen” condition!
So
now we read about the “judgment,” the “desolation,” and the “destruction” of
the fallen woman, the harlot, Babylon,
and that she will be “utterly burned with fire” and symbolically “cast into the
sea” to be found no more at all. Ah,
this is different! These scenes speak of
the destruction of Babylon, but not her “fall.” Babylon remains
to be judged and destroyed, but Babylon
“fell” long centuries ago when the church apostatized from the spirit and the
truth and became the fallen woman, the great harlot and the mother of
harlots. Can you not see the difference? The harlot system of religious Babylon is in a fallen
state as much as anything in the universe is fallen. She doesn’t appear to men to be fallen, for
she claims to be “the church” and her outward
appearance is that of the representative of our Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, make no mistake about it, BABYLON IS FALLEN, and the whole church system of man is
religious Babylon! She is an unclean, perverted woman! Until we see clearly this difference between
“fallen” Babylon and “destroyed” Babylon we will miss the message of the angel come down from
heaven!
With
keen spiritual perception Carl Schwing penned these words of exhortation: “Yesterday,
we lived in the darkening shadows of Babylon’s
lifeless teachings. We were bound hand
and foot by her ‘faithful servants’ …because of her ‘blind messengers’ we lived
in fear and ignorance; even the gift of grace hinged upon her abominable
teaching of legalism. Not attending ‘church’ became the unpardonable sin. The truth we did have was only stifled by our
loyalty to her cause. How freely her
servants wasted the Lord’s tithes and offerings, and how shameful was the abuse
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That
which divided the children of the Lord we called ‘outpourings,’ and the ones
who preached her distorted gospel we called ‘men of God.’ There were precious moments when the
sorrowing sinners came forth and cried out to Jesus for salvation…but even
those she took and robbed and bound. If
you doubt what I am saying, look at the mess they call Christianity today. True, there are more steeplehouses,
organizations, Bible schools, and outreaches than ever…but they are only
factories of Babylon
where she mass produces her religious robots.
I know there are people within her system that are hungry…but to be fed
they must come out unto the Father…we
cannot go in to them” — end quote.
One
of the most startling facts about the “fall” of Babylon is that it is the result of her fall that she becomes the abode of demons, a confine
of every unclean religious spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hated bird,
or manifestations of unrighteousness and spiritual impurity. It must be made clear to our hearts that this
description of Babylon — this uncleanness, these spirits, these hated birds lodging within her bespeak the doctrines of devils, the
perversion of truth, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, adopting
the ways and methods of the world, intermingling pagan idolatry with the gospel
of Jesus, impugning the nature and character of God and His Christ, and
bringing the whole into confusion until every foul spirit hides under the skirt
of religion. Because of this fallen
condition the Lord’s people are admonished to “come out of her” in order that
they might not “be partakers of her sins” and thus be candidates to “receive of
her plagues.” If her fallen state
signified her collapse or destruction, God’s people would no longer be in her
because she would no longer exist as an institution nor would they be leaving
her to escape her plagues, for the plagues would already have been poured
out. But “fallen” Babylon has not yet been rewarded for her iniquities, nor has she been utterly burned with fire, nor has she received double for all her sins, nor has she been cast into the depths of the sea never
to be found again! Armed with this knowledge
we can now understand the great truth the Holy Spirit would make real to our
hearts, that this cry, “Babylon
is fallen, is fallen,” refers not to the judgment and destruction of the
system, but rather to the spiritual
condition of that system in the present.
When
the angel delivers
his message, there is a mighty move of the Spirit of God and the scales begin
to fall from the eyes of masses of the Lord’s people who hunger and thirst
after reality. Now the revelation breaks powerfully within
their consciousness and for the first time they are empowered to see the
system for what it really is — a
corrupt, fallen whore! Now they see clearly just how carnal,
corrupt, abominable, and devilish that whole religious system is! What a revelation that is! Most of those who read these lines have
already heard and obeyed that cry of the angel, and beloved, it takes a revelation from God to see Babylon for what it
is! That is the mystery. As soon as all who have ears to hear have
departed from the precincts of Babylon, the
destruction of the Babylon
system finally takes place — because it is
fallen!
The
truth is just this — Babylon
cannot and will not be restored. It can only be destroyed. The following
words by Ray Prinzing bear eloquent testimony to this truth: “‘We
would have healed Babylon,
but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own
country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the
skies’ (Jer. 51:9). We would have
healed her — oh, how we tried to bolster her up and heal her! We poured our strength into her, ignoring the
instruction to ‘Give not thy strength
unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings’ (Prov. 31:3). We fasted and prayed for God to revive
her. Though she reeked with
abominations, traditions of men, false doctrines, and platitudes for itching
ears, still we tried to heal her. But in
time the Holy Spirit speaks so loudly within, ‘Flee out of the midst of her,’ that we have to obey. All her works, her kingdom building endeavors
for self, are not sufficient — but are as filthy rags ready for burning” — end quote.
The
called and separated elect of the Lord, who are the sons of God, are those who
now have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying; and hearing, they have obeyed
the Lord, forsaking Babylon. These are the firstfruits unto God and the
Lamb! And as the elect of God forsakes Babylon, we then come to Zion, according to the word of the Lord. ‘In
those days, and in that time saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall
come…and weeping they shall go, and seek the Lord their God, THEY SHALL ASK THE WAY TO ZION with their faces thitherward (or toward
the presence of the Lord), saying, Come, and let us join ourselves TO THE LORD
in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. My people hath been LOST SHEEP: their shepherds have caused them to go
astray, and they have turned away on the mountains (the kingdoms of men):
they have gone from mountain to hill, THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR RESTING
PLACE. All that found them have devoured
them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned
against the Lord…the hope of their fathers.
REMOVE OUT OF THE MIDST OF BABYLON…” (Jer.
50:5-8).
Why
have the Lord’s people gone astray as lost sheep, running from mountain to
hill, from church to church, from revival to revival, from move to move? Because their shepherds have caused them to
go astray, and they all have forgotten their resting place in God and in
His habitation of Zion! Why have the enemies of the Lord’s
people “devoured them” and troubled them among the religious kingdoms of
men? Because God’s people have “sinned
against the Lord” in finding a counterfeit habitation by the rivers of Babylon. And what is God’s answer to this sad condition? “FLEE
YE OUT OF THE MIDST OF BABYLON!” And inasmuch as the Lord has been calling
His firstfruits company out of
religious Babylon,
we know from this that He is restoring His elect in a right and proper
relationship with Him in preparation for the manifestation of the sons of
God. And we know also by this that there
is always a great HARVEST that follows the gathering of the firstfruits! This reveals to us the great truth that in
coming days, not so far distant, GOD
WILL DELIVER ALL HIS PEOPLE OUT OF BABYLON!
As the system collapses around them, out from the smoke and the ruins of
the great city Babylon He will now lead them with tears of repentance and great brokenness and weeping back to Zion! Aren’t you glad!
Where
do we go, when we come out of Babylon? The sister I quoted earlier said we go to
Jesus, and that is true. Yet — where is
HIS dwelling place? His dwelling place
is in Zion, and in the Revelation the Lamb is
seen standing upon the mount
Zion! And standing with Him are the 144,000 elect
sons of God! Ah, yes, we go to Zion, the holy and blessed
hill of the Lord’s habitation! Every
generation has its seers. They have eyes
that see, ears that hear, minds that perceive, and hearts that understand. They know their own times thoroughly well. They do not confuse the wisdom
of this world with the wisdom
of God, nor do they confuse the doctrines of men and traditions of the elders
with the truth and purpose of God. By
the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God
they grasp the plan of the Omnipotent Father
for their day, and discern the drifts, the tendencies, the currents and counter
currents of the time. By the wisdom
which comes from above and the understanding of the mind of Christ they
understand the true nature of all things, they foresee the unfolding of God’s
purpose in all things, and prepare themselves through repentance, purging,
obedience, and transformation to be the instrument in His mighty hand to bring
God’s kingdom to pass in the earth.
There are such seers at this present time! They are seers because they know, discern and
see by the spirit. The angel’s
cry has fallen upon their anointed ears and they have seen Babylon
for just what it is, and they likewise have, by the “seeing eye,” beheld the
glory of the Lamb upon mount
Zion. These are they who have stalked out of the
confusion and bondage of Babylon, before its
destruction has begun, and are now marching determinedly and triumphantly unto
the heights of the holy mount
Zion! Oh, the wonder of it!
It is my conviction that all who treasure the
beautiful hope of sonship will agree that the manifestation of the sons of God,
the next great move of God in the earth, must be one hundred percent the work of God.
But it cannot be one hundred percent God’s work when there is still
ninety percent of us, or eighty, forty, ten, or even one percent of us. If the expression of God that is coming will
be “Jesus and me,” then you will also give the glory to “Jesus and me.” But if it is Christ alone, I may be the
vessel, you may be the vessel, but the manifestation and the excellency of the
power shall be of God and not of us. So
much manifestation has been “God and us.”
Our drive, our holiness, our spirituality, our faith, our commitment,
our dedication, our prayer, our fasting, our ability, our wisdom, our strength,
has been mingled with SELF. But today
the Spirit is saying, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the
excellency of the power, the glory, the authority, and the majesty may
be of GOD” — Christ in us become the totality of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, power, and glory — and not of us.
How can it be of us, when we have become nothing? That is the mystery of Babylon — mixture
and confusion. It is always human wisdom and the strength of the flesh trying
to work for God! But God shall now be glorified in us and
through us, by Jesus Christ. Truly
coming out of Babylon
means asking the Holy Spirit to enable us to make the ultimate commitment to
become totally nothing, that HIS FULLNESS be found in us!
The
Spirit has been poured out in the denominational churches for a number of
decades now, but that move of God has drawn to a close and will not produce
more fruit. God did not move in the
churches to bless or bolster or empower Babylon. Oh, no!
He moved only to “call out a
people for His name.” The purpose has
not been to either condone or confirm Babylon,
but to weaken it in preparation for
judgment. Everything is coming to a climax, a culminating. The ending of the age is upon us. What more does God need to tell us? Not that there will not be a fresh opening up
of the Word, not that the spirit of wisdom
and revelation will not increase, but is it not time that that expression and
manifestation of the fullness of God’s glory that we have so long looked
forward to, should come? I feel it in my
spirit and we are seeking God and praying, crying out mightily unto Him and
waiting on God until that full manifestation of all that God has purposed will
come. All over the world, in every
nation under the heavens, there are people who are seeking God like this. Many have been drawn away and separated from
all their former involvements and religious exercises, the church system, and
the old ways of thinking and doing things, to wait for His NEW ORDERS. God is making choices among us and among all
of His people, among the nations of the world, among the churches of the world,
reaching down in this hour and sovereignly choosing those whom He has brought
to weakness, predestined for this hour.
Ah,
He does not have to use us. We have
heard His call and now present ourselves before Him for His choosing. But let us leave the choosing to God! And if God is pleased to choose us, we will
give Him all the glory. And if He is
pleased to bypass us and choose others, there will be no recrimination in our spirit. We will say, “Lord, Thou art altogether
righteous in all things.” In previous
moves of the Spirit God picked me up and used me and He said, “I am not using
you because of anything in yourself, but out of my sovereign choice.”
And I knew that it was altogether His ordination! I saw other people that were more ready to be
used than I was, not used, and my spirit wondered why, and He answered, “Out of
my sovereign purposes I am not using them.”
That is why I do not criticize anybody who was not in the previous
visitations, or in the word God is giving us today. God knows what He is doing! We cannot second-guess God! I know it was God who kept many people out,
who shut them up and hedged them in to a lesser thing in God, and God brought
other people in. God’s thoughts are
higher than our thoughts! God’s ways are
higher than our ways! But He is going to
use people. People just like you and me! This is not daydreaming or wishful
thinking, neither are we deluded. God is ready to manifest Himself in all the
glory and power of HIS RESURRECTION throughout all the earth until every knee
bows and every tongue confesses His Lordship. So let us say, “Lord, let us be
among those. We are available.” That heartfelt cry is the evidence of our
call. Yet we must understand that many are called, but few are chosen!
Do
we truly understand the new order
that is about to be established in the earth and the new ministry that God shall raise up unto the nations? The present order is the church. The new order is the
kingdom.
Concerning the church age ministry we find that the ascended Christ “…gave some, apostles; and some, prophets;
and some evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ: till…”
(Eph. 4:11-13). For two thousand
years the order has been the church and
the only God-ordained ministries have been those of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors,
and teachers. The carnal church systems of Babylon have added to
these various other “ministries” that the Christ never
gave! But notice, my beloved, none of
the above listed ministries are to last forever. None are permanent. All are to pass away. All are to be replaced by a new and greater
ministry! Plainly the apostle tells us
that the five-fold ministry has been given for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ… until! Until what?
Until when? “…till we all come…unto a PERFECT
MAN (sonship), unto the measure of the stature of the FULLNESS OF CHRIST” (Eph.
4:13). O blessed mystery! The five-fold ministry is given to build up
and perfect the saints. Perfected and
matured saints become sons of God, a perfect man, in the full
stature of Jesus Christ the firstborn Son of God! Nothing can be plainer than that.
When
we move from the old order of the church into the new order of the kingdom, we
move from the five-fold ministry of the church into the new and greater
ministry of the kingdom
of God. This ministry is revealed in the Revelation
when the beloved John beheld in the midst of the throne a people who sang a new
song, saying, “Thou hast redeemed us unto
God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and
hast made us unto our God KINGS AND
PRIESTS: and we shall REIGN ON THE EARTH” (Rev. 5:9-10). While I have referred to “kings and priests”
as a ministry, that is not entirely
correct. Apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors,
and teachers minister — kings and
priests, however, reign. The manifest sons of God are neither
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors,
or teachers. They are kings and priests! They are not in the church. They are in the midst
of the throne! The ministry of the
body of Christ is the five-fold ministry.
The ministry of manifest sonship is that of kings and priests. The five-fold ministry is given to build up
and perfect the SAINTS. Kings and
priests are given to REIGN OVER THE EARTH!
That is the mystery.
Under
the typical arrangement of the Old Testament the first divine essential for either kingship or priesthood
was divine appointment. The honor of being king or priest was not
open to man’s ambition. No man could
take it for himself. No man could
volunteer for the office, or assume it out of his own fancy or self-will. The king and priest minister in such high and
holy matters that only God can appoint him.
Thus it was that Aaron was called of God to be the high priest of Israel. He did not take it to himself; nor did Moses
or the elders of Israel
make him high priest. God called him to
this work, and no one else could have done so.
And so we read, “And no man taketh
this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ
glorified not Himself to be made an high priest; but He that said unto Him,
THOU ART MY SON, TODAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE…THOU ART A PRIEST FOREVER AFTER THE
ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK” (Heb.
5:4-6).
And
what was true of Aaron was also true of his
sons, they also were “taken” or called and appointed by God unto the
priesthood. And what is true of Christ
as our great high priest, is also true of His priestly house — they must first
be sons and then they are appointed priests — in both cases they are called
of God. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who
are CALLED
ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. For whom He
did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He
also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also
glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30). “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider
the apostle and high priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus” (Heb. 3:1).
“THOU…HAS MADE US UNTO OUR GOD KINGS AND PRIESTS…”
(Rev. 5:9-10).
There
are no counterfeits in this realm, when God manifests reality. When God’s kings and priests arise to bless
the nations either you will “have it” or you won’t “have it.” As long as we remain in the preparatory
stage, experiencing the deep inward
processings of the Lord, while this condition remains, I say, there is
opportunity for men to proclaim themselves, to jump on the bandwagon, to mouth
all the right words, to use the same terminology the Spirit has inspired among
the apprehended ones, and appear as
those chosen to kingship and priesthood.
These “clouds without water” (Jude 12) “profess themselves to be wise” (Rom.
1:22), and some even lay claim to already being manifested as sons of God. Carried about by every wind of doctrine,
presumptuously claiming that which they do not possess, they make their boasts,
and many are deceived by their “great swelling words of vanity” (II Pet. 2:18).
But
the day of manifestation approaches!
There is a kingly people, a priestly people, a remnant in whom the
Spirit of God is working a transformation.
In due time God shall manifest this kingship and this priesthood and
their NEW STATE OF BEING shall utterly silence all the false claims of carnal
men. Conformed to HIS IMAGE, filled with
His Spirit, the embodiment and personification of His wisdom, nature, grace, and power — no man
will be able to counterfeit the reality of this new state of being in the power
of His resurrection, and these shall redound to the glory of God. Obviously,
“no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God.” It is an inworked transformation that is God wrought, for God starts it, God
works it out, and God brings it to its consummation, it is ALL
OF HIM and that is why the flesh and all
the craftsmen of Babylon cannot duplicate such glorious,
divine handiwork!
I
do not hesitate to add that only those who receive
the call, who come to realize that they
are, beyond any shadow of doubt, apprehended to the Melchizedekian Order,
will be FULLY PROCESSED AND POSITIONED AND BIRTHED INTO THE NEW ORDER FOR THE
NEW AGE. Many come to this realization
through a personal and supernatural encounter with the Lord. Each son must receive the call and each must
come to fully know Him for themselves. In order to be a king-priest after the
order of Melchizedek our existence must
spring from our heavenly origin and not from our earthly one. The New Creation Life we have in Him becomes
a super-charged power that lifts us above the law of sin and death into the power of HIS
ENDLESS LIFE! This is the glory of mount Zion,
and only such as flee out of the midst of great Babylon are enabled to turn their faces
thither and commence the journey to these lofty heights!
To
be continued… J. PRESTON EBY
