COME OUT OF BABYLON Cecil J. ducille Revelation 18:4 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. The Logos speaks and though almost two thousand years have gone the word must have its final fulfillment at some point in time and it must become the Rhema to some people sometimes. First of all, we must look at the context and examine the word itself and hear what the message is, then we must decide to whom this word speaks, and when is the time of the Rhema of this word. If we can come to all this understanding, then we become guilty of this word and must act according to the urging of the Spirit. We will all agree that the context is saying that there is a time when the people of God must come out of Babylon. Let us therefore see if we can identify Babylon. Is this a word which is already fulfilled to historical Babylon? HISTORICAL BABYLON: The reason it could not be speaking of historical Babylon as a city and a kingdom: is that Babylon had already fallen. The next question is, why did God speak of Babylon after it had fallen, and why does the word seem to carry such stigma in God s vocabulary? In order to answer this let us go into a little of the history of Babylon. During Noah s time and immediately after men maintained a great fear of God and a healthy respect for his word and judgments. In time this respect began to erode and the people chose themselves a champion named Nimrod, the grandson of Ham who received the curse from Noah when he laughed at his father s nakedness. This man not only defied God but taught the people that he was God s son who was promised. He was called Baal which means Lord and master and both he and his mother was worshipped as the Madonna and her child who was the son of God according to this worship. He therefore, was the first anti-christ. He did not deny God nor Christ, but diverted the worship of God to himself and http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 1 of 10
similitudes of beasts and birds. His mother s true name was Semiramis, but in the various places of worship and due to the multitude of her sins she was called by many other names, one of which was Ishtar a gate in her honor still stands today in Iraq in the city of Bagdad which is just about five miles from the supposed site of the ancient city of Babylon. Nimrod built five cities, the main one being Babylon. He also built the tower of Babel in rebellion against God, with the intent to get to such a height that no flood would reach. The greatest and most painful transgression of Babylon is that they mixed the worship of God with that of the devil. Nimrod posed as the son of God while in truth and in fact he was the embodiment of Satan. He was the first of many sons of perdition which were to come in the earth, Judas being the most famous. At the end of time, however, one is to come which will make Judas look small. He is called in Scripture the Anti-Christ. The Bible is the most complete book in the world; every thought that is commenced in Genesis or in any other book is completed or brought to its fullness in Revelation. It is not surprising therefore, that in the Revelation we find the final end of Babylon, the first mention of which was given in Genesis. In the study of Babylon one will find that the main theme of the word is REBELLION. The word is derived from the name of Nimrod: B A A L. This word has been translated into many languages, and in most of these, it has something to do with war and rebellion. In Latin the word is Bellum, meaning War; In the Hebrew it is Bel; In English, bellicouse warlike, rebellion, rebel etc. and all words are derived from the Chaldic word Baal. This word means lord and master in its basic form; but because of the nature of Nimrod as the first man to invent War and create an army, the word also took on the meaning of, Warrior, warlike, fighter against men and rebel against God. THE SPIRIT OF BABYLON: The Spirit of Babylon is to rule over others. To usurp authority; To be lauded by others as being the greatest; To be selfish and to be rebellious, and without respect for authority. The work of the spirit of Babylon commenced in the church from early in the first century. Actually it reared its ugly head among the disciples of Jesus Christ while He was with them; but of course, they were not yet converted. Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion (authority) over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister (servant); http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 2 of 10
27 And whosoever will be chief (first) among you, let him be your servant (slave): Satan plays upon this basic human weakness the desire to reign over ones fellowman, and on the other hand the desire to have a human king reigning over us. In this light acceptance becomes rejection. It is not possible to accept any one thing without rejecting something or someone else; Thus God enjoins us to give Him first place in all of our lives and activities. The law of the first fruits is the type of this basic reality in Christ, which is somewhat ignored by the majority of the Church. In the above verse the Law is clearly and firmly laid down by Our Lord Jesus Christ It shall not be so among you. It is possible to rationalize away all truth, and so the churches have done to this passage, but the day is long past when we will allow the church or any institution to interpret the word of God for us THE HOLY GHOST IS THE INTERPRETER, and the only one. When the word comes through the brethren, the Spirit of God makes us know it is the Lord. Let us take another verse of Scripture which is even more direct to the subject: 3 John 1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. The Apostle John (John the Beloved) who wrote the above passage, gave an advice to the brethren in verse 11 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God, but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. This spirit which was manifested in Diotrephes, was unusual as that time, but now it is the norm. Many of our brethren look down upon those who are not head-man over some congregation. It can be clearly seen from both quotations above, that both Jesus Christ and the Apostle John strongly disapprove of the position of Diotrephes, and we can join them also by recognizing it as the spirit of Babylon in the church. The usurpation of the authority which God places in the Church is now the order of the day. We have so far departed from the knowledge of Christ, that we do not look for Christ any more, but seem to look for titles and positions. http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 3 of 10
NAMES OF BLASPHEMY: POPE: Let us examine the titles which cause the Christians to sit up, and see how scriptural they are: Pope, Cardinal, Monsignor, Father, Bishop, Pastor, Deacon, Evangelist, Elder. These are more or less the names used in the church to depict office or stature. The name Pope is the biggest spiritual office in the world. It has the greatest claim of all the offices. The claim that goes with this name, or office is, Vicarius filii dei Vicar of the Son of God. A Vicar is one next in command, and bears the same meaning as Vice in Vice-President. One who is the president if the president dies. It goes without saying that the claim of this office then, is that the Pope is Christ in the absence of Christ. In matters of this kind we need the word of God to tell us if this is so or not: Matthew 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. The word of God has spoken and the comment is not necessary. The meaning of the word Pope from the Latin is Father. It comes from the Latin word Pater. The equivalent in English is papa and endearing term for father. Matthew 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 23:10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. The scripture is very clear. It is written for spiritual people, therefore we must understand that it is not saying that you cannot call your natural father, father etc. but it is saying you must not call anyone Father in a spiritual sense. It is also saying by implication that if we even call them by another name and yet have them in the same function, that it is also contrary to scripture. Let me give you and example: Those who are involved in the discipleship teaching, call the neophytes, disciples, but they call the leaders or http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 4 of 10
persons to whom they are discipled, shepherds, not masters, it does not make a bit of difference. FATHER: Priests of some of the churches, both Catholic and Protestant are called Fathers. This is also unscriptural. The word Priest is a coined word from the Greek presbuterou- which means Elder or older person. ELDERS: ELDERS ARE APPOINTED BY THE CHURCH according to their scriptural qualification, but MINISTRIES ARE GIVEN OF GOD AND SENT BY THE HOLY GHOST to the church. The Elders of any particular church cannot be more spiritual than the church which sent them. God only sends ministries which are matured and ready to go. GOD NEVER MAKES A MISTAKE, and men cannot do righteousness unless in the Spirit of God. BISHOP: The word Bishop in the New Testament is coined from the word episcopes in the Greek, which means overseer, but the Scriptures show that those who take oversight of the flock are the elders or older Christian brethren who are to be an example to the flock. The truth therefore, does not lie in the terminology, for though Babylon uses the same terminology as the true church, she would still remain Babylon. It is the spirit behind the terminology. PASTOR: Let us take for instance the word Pastor. This word is once mentioned in the New Testament in Ephesians 4:11 as one of the Five Fold Ministry appointed of God. It never was and should never be a church-appointed office. It is an ENDOWMENT OF GOD HIMSELF and is not the prerogative of the church to appoint. The word is from the Greek poimenas - which means shepherd. The Latin equivalent is - pastor - which means herdsman. There is a difference between the Jewish shepherd and the Gentile herdsman, and I do not think God would call his ministry by the name - Gentile herdsman. Nevertheless, there is a much greater error in the whole idea than this. Etymological change, partially because of the passage of time and partially because of the influence of Babylon upon the church, the word pastor lost its pristine meaning of - co-shepherd - with Jesus Christ, the good Shepherd, to mean - Headman of the congregation, and boss of the church, which is an unscriptural position. It should be very clear to my readers that APOSTLES, PROPHETS, EVANGELISTS, and PASTORS (SHEPHERDS) cannot be appointed http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 5 of 10
by the church - These are not offices, but Spiritual Endowments of God., given to men of God s choosing, who are called to be servants of the church. These cannot be hired to work with a church organization, but can only work with God and are the ministry of the Body of Christ. DEACON: This is one of the most ridiculous titles of church office in the Bible. It is another of the coined words which were made up by a fallen church which sought to have an hierarchy like the kings of the world, and therefore had to create a position at the bottom of the pile. The word deacon comes from the Greek word - Diakonon which means Servant. It is used in some places to denote the position of servants in a household, and servants of all kinds. In other parts of the word it is used of the servants of Christ as in Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ. In other places it is translated minister - as in Matthew 20:26, and in Romans 16:1 when speaking of Phebe our sister, she is called a servant of the Church. If we should go through all these scriptures, the one fact that would stand out is that whoever translated this word, used it to create a hierarchy in the church outside of the intent of the Holy Ghost. The question is, are we going to carry on with these Babylonish practices at this late hour in time, or shall we by the knowledge of the Spirit and the Power of the Blood of Jesus Christ, cast these shackles off? ONE OF THE CHIEF AIMS OF BABYLON IS TO MIX THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST WITH THE PRACTICES OF ANCIENT BABYLON. The ancient spirits which reigned over the nations from the inception of Babylon under Nimrod have extended their influence through the ages from generation to generation of men who reject God even to this present time. REJECTION IS THE FAILURE TO ACCEPT WHAT IS OFFERED. This being so it means that churches and people who accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour but fail to have HIM REIGN OVER THEM are a worse kind of God-rejectors than those who reject Him outright. REVEREND: Webster s dictionary Latin Reverendus, to be revered, worthy of reverence, a title of respect given to the clergy - Words like Holiness and Reverend are not applicable to humans. These are not human qualities, but qualities of the Divine God himself. When men go through a University and complete a course of study, then take unto http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 6 of 10
themselves, names like: Holy Father, Reverend, etc., then they actually blaspheme against God. Some of the most unholy people that I have ever known, go by the title of Reverend. Here is a quotation from Halley s Bible Handbook, Page 247: Psalm 111 verse 9 is the only place in the Bible where the word Reverend occurs, and it is applied to God, NOT to Ministers. We do have holiness and righteousness through the Holy Ghost, but the work of making us holy is still in progress and shall not be completed until the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23,), when we will be completely delivered from the power of the human realm. ALL THESE FACTS PROVE THAT THE WORSHIP OF ANCIENT BABYLON IS STILL WITH US IN OUR MODERN WORSHIP, and that the people of God who have been called out to come out from the world, not having made a clean cut from the world, are ensnared in an unholy mixture called BABYLON. USURPING AUTHORITY: Jesus appointed twelve Apostles and to them he delivered the Gospel. He gave them Power over the power of the enemy, and power to become sons of God, but never gave them the power to appoint Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers. These ministry gifts remained the prerogative of God Himself, a fact we will prove from scripture. Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: These ministries are given to the Church of the Lord, and the church cannot appoint these ministries Of course, in our time we see churches appointing these ministries, which is USURPING AUTHORITY: the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord. I Corinthians 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. The local church has the authority to appoint elders or workers, but it is God who gives the ministry to his people. Church office being given to a person does not mean that God has his approval upon that person. Therefore, anyone who has an office in a church should seek the Lord to hear form Him if His anointing is upon such an office. http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 7 of 10
The church is not a place for voting There should be no voting in the church. Any form of voting in the church is in fact a REJECTION OF JESUS CHRIST AS HEAD. The church should go by the voice of God, not by ballots. Voting in the church opens the way for the Devil to send in his men and for Satanists to take hold in the church. REJECTION OF THE HOLY GHOST: I will never forget my lessons with Jesus Christ. One of the lessons he taught me was how my mind and my mouth could be saying I want you Jesus, and my actions be rejecting him, which means rejection. If I accept the advice of a demon, though my heart really wants Jesus, then I have rejected Him who is my life. If God sends a message to me by a human messenger, and I reject it, then I reject God. THE FIVE FOLD MINISTRY: We have already read in Ephesians 4:11-12 that God has set five categories of ministry in the world in order to bring the church to perfection. This being so, it means that any other appointments of ministries and any other type of function in the church, outside of the function of ministries under the Holy Ghost, is not only not of God, but a rejection of the ministries which God has sent and in fact a rejection of God. This opens the church to the ministry of every other mixture and off-shoot of truth which we see prevalent today. The churches of groups or Christian gatherings of today all appoint their own Apostles. Most of these are trained at various Seminaries across the land, and more and more, the church is rejecting God ordained Apostles and prophets etc. and to fill the vacuum they are receiving every pseudo-truth that hell can devise; Shepherding, One world church doctrine, (world church head), Discipling, Doctrine that the church will escape the judgment of God, (Pre- Tribulation, Mid-Tribulation, Post-Tribulation Rapture), Universalism all forms of it (the modernist doctrine that all will be saved), and many more too numerous to mention. ALL THE PERSONS WHO SIT UNDER AND FEED FROM THESE MINISTRIES, will receive of their plagues, which means that they will come under the same judgment that God is pouring out on the disobedient. THE END OF BABYLON: http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 8 of 10
REVELATION 17: 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. Many people say they cannot understand Revelation, but If we remember that it is a vision which needs interpretation then we would be able to find the keys which open this vision. KEYS: 1. It must be interpreted as something pertaining to the spiritual and not to the carnal. 2. Woman in Scripture is to be interpreted Church 3. Beast a World Kingdom probably the One World Government. 4. Heads Leaders (Kings). 5. Horns Power, force, authority. 6. Many Waters Many nations. 7. Fornication Unholy mixture of the holy things of God with the filthy things of the world. 8. The Golden Cup The cup of the Lord s blessing. 9. Forehead Mind or soul. http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 9 of 10
IDENTIFYING THE TIME: NEVER BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD HAS THE TRUE CHURCH OF OUR Lord Jesus been so mixed with evil doctrines and practices as it is now, and the church has never been so rich and well-to-do as it is today. There is no doubt that things are coming to a head, and that the fullness of all things is very near. We are told in Daniel 8:23 that transgression against God must come to its full measure, then a world leader of great magnitude will come forth, and that there will be great destruction and also persecution of the church. This therefore is where we are in time, and if after reading this message you can discern by the spirit of God that you are yet in Babylon, or that Babylon is yet in you, then, come out of her my people. http://sonlightdevotional.org/ 10 of 10