In the book of Revelation the Lord calls for His people to come out of Babylon, which is the apostate church, so that they may return to the orthodoxy of the church, the normal condition of the church according to God’s original intention.
Yes, God will judge and put the devil away, and the book of Revelation gives us details concerning this, but in this book we also see that God hates the principle of Babylon and He hates Babylon, for it is the consummation of all that the enemy has been doing throughout the ages.
We need to see what the principle of Babylon is, and we need to let the Lord’s light shine and judge in us what Babylon represents, so that we may come out of Babylon and return to the orthodoxy of the church.
The principle of Babylon is the principle of a harlot, which is a female having contact with males without the governing principle of one wife for one husband.
The Lord wants His church to be a pure and faithful entity that loves Him absolutely and has eyes only for Him, but unfortunately throughout the ages the church became degraded, and now the so-called church is mixed with the world, it has many idols, it takes different names, it is divided, and there is much confusion and separation.
Babylon the great is getting bigger and bigger, and today fallen Christianity is this great city.
In fallen Christianity we see many denominations, many groups taking a name other than the Lord’s name and denominating themselves by another name.
In fallen Christianity today we see much confusion, for there are many persons speaking, many mouths speaking, and many so-called ministries that do not have one unique teaching, the teaching of the apostles, as their base.
In fallen Christianity we see so much scattering and division; instead of God’s people being gathered together in oneness, they are scattered and divided based on opinions, doctrines, preferences, language, ethical background, and many other criteria.
Furthermore, in fallen Christianity we see a mixture of the things of God and the things of the idols, and there are many in Christianity who are not even genuine believers but evil people bringing in many worldly and evil things.
There are so many genuine and dear believers in Christianity, but Christianity as a whole, as a system, is something evil in the sight of God, and in Revelation we clearly see how He will judge this great harlot.
Today the Lord still sounds the call for all His people to come out of Babylon, come out of the apostate church, and return to the orthodoxy of the church, the church according to God’s original intention.
May we those who hear God’s call and cooperate with Him to judge anything in us that is according to the principle of Babylon, so that we may return to the orthodoxy of the church and be the corporate expression He desires to have.
Anything that is Halfway and not Absolute is Called Babylon; We need to be Absolute for the Lord!
The great Babylon at the end of Revelation has as its features all the things that Christ condemned in His epistle to the seven churches in Asia as recorded in Rev. 2-3.
One of the items in the church in Laodicea which the Lord condemns is being lukewarm, that is, being halfway. Laodicea is a type of the degraded recovered church, which is still present today. Anything and anyone that is halfway and not absolute for the Lord is Babylon and lives in the principle of Babylon.
Oh, how we need God to enlighten us so that in His light we may judge everything in us that is not absolute toward Him (Rev. 3:16-19)!
We need to come to the Lord in His word and meet with the saints so that the Lord’s light may shine on us and expose anything that is not absolute for Him, and we need to stand with God’s light and allow it to judge and purge in us anything that is halfway, anything that is in the principle of Babylon in our being.
May the Lord save us from being a group of people who have a lot of Bible knowledge but who are not absolute for the Lord but are lukewarm, not loving the Lord fervently.
May we take the Lord’s counsel and come to Him to buy gold (the Father in His divine nature to be our experience), white garments (Christ the Son as our garment of righteousness), and eyesalve (the anointing Spirit) so that we may enjoy and experience the Triune God and be saved from being lukewarm.
By His grace, may the Lord not allow us to seek any glory and honor outside of Christ; may we be those who seek the glory of God and let Christ be magnified in us for His corporate expression (see John 7:18; 12:26; Phil. 1:19-21a; cf. Exo. 28:2).
May we be saved from the failure of not living Christ and the defeat of not magnifying Christ. The Lord requires that we delight and seek to be one who is absolute, not one who is living in the principle of Babylon.
In ourselves we are not absolute, but He is the absolute One; we need to come to Him, enjoy Him, and eat Him as the reality of the burnt offering, for He Himself is the only absolute One, and He can make us absolute.
On one hand we need to judge anything in us that, under the Lord’s light, is not absolute; we need to let the Lord shine and judge and purge anything that is halfway.
On the other hand, we need to come to the Lord and eat Him in His word, laying our hands on Him as the absolute One, so that He in us may be absolute for God and His purpose.
Lord Jesus, save us from being halfway or lukewarm. Shine in us, Lord, and enlighten us so that in Your light we may judge everything in us that is not absolute toward You. We come to You to enjoy You, experience You, and receive You as the processed Triune God so that we may be saved from lukewarmness. We stand with Your light – whatever Your light judges in us, we agree, and we yearn to be absolute for You! Amen, Lord, we delight and seek to be one who is absolute for You and who is not living in the principle of Babylon!
God Calls His People to Come out of Babylon and Return to the Orthodoxy of the Church
In God’s eyes, Babylon is fallen (Rev. 18:2), and He is sounding a call that all His people would come out of Babylon and return to the orthodoxy of the church.
The whole of Christianity today is the great Babylon in the principle of a harlot, and many need to hear the Lord’s call to come out of Babylon! We need to come out from their midst and be separated, and do not touch what is unclean – and He will welcome us; He will be a Father to us, and we will be sons and daughters to Him (2 Cor. 6:17-18).
God doesn’t want us to be involved in any matter containing the character of Babylon; He wants us to get out from any situation where man’s power is mixed with God’s power, man’s ability is mixed with God’s work, and man’s opinion is mixed with God’s word.
God wants us to be purified from any mixture, confusion, separation, and division; He wants His people to come out of Babylon and return to the orthodoxy of the church.
We cannot and should not partake of anything that has the character of Babylon; we have to come out of Babylon, and we need to pray for many brothers and sisters who are still there that they would hear God’s call.
We need to pray for many to learn from the depths of their spirit to separate themselves from Babylon and to judge all her actions, and return to the church according to God’s original intention.
God hates the principle of Babylon more than anything else (see Rev. 17:5-6; 18:4-5; 19:2).
Babylon the great has two aspects: one material and the other spiritual; the spiritual Babylon is the Roman Catholic Church – the apostate church, together with her daughters (all the denominations and free groups in Christianity), and the material Babylon typifies the city of Rome (the great city, which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth).
However, the principle of Babylon is operating and is present everywhere, including among us; therefore, we need to come out of Babylon both outwardly and inwardly, and be saved from the principle of Babylon; we need to return to the orthodoxy of the church that we may be part of the holy city and not the great Babylon.
Day by day Babylon is becoming larger and larger, but God will judge her in the end, and there will be much rejoicing in heaven!
In Rev. 19:1-4 we see that great multitudes praise God with Hallelujah! when He judges the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication and has avenged the blood of His slaves at her hand.
When God judges Babylon and shatters her work, there is great rejoicing in heaven, and many voices will say, Hallelujah! There are not many Hallelujahs in the New Testament, and most of them are in Revelation, for there’s much joy and rejoicing when God judges Babylon.
Even though the actual judgement will be in the future, the spiritual judgement must take place today. Today we need to come out of Babylon and return to the orthodoxy of the church, and today we need to judge anything of Babylon in our being.
We need to judge anything of confusion, mixture, uncleanness, and division in our being. We need to judge anything that is halfway and lukewarm in us. May we be those who cooperate with the Lord to judge anything in the principle of Babylon in our being today, so that we may fully return to the orthodoxy of the church!
Lord Jesus, may we and many of Your people hear Your call to come out of Babylon and return to the orthodoxy of the church! We want to come out of anything that is of uncleanness, confusion, division, scattering, and lukewarmness, and come back to the church in God’s original intention. May we see how much God hates the principle of Babylon, and may we come out of her and judge anything of the principle of Babylon in our being! Amen, Lord, may Your light shine on many of the genuine saints in Christianity that they may hear Your call and come out of Babylon to return to the orthodoxy of the church!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Church (2017 fall ITERO), week 3, The Degradation of the Church – the Principle of Babylon and the Way to Overcome it.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Lukewarmness we must ever spurn / And in the spirit always burn, / The inward life experience gain, / And pay the price with Him to reign. (Hymns #1274)
# God has saved me from the world; / I’ll never go back anymore…. / I’ve come out from Babylon; / I’ll never go back anymore…. / Since I found the local church, / I’ll never go back anymore. (Hymns #1127)
# Oh, but brothers, sisters, listen to another mighty voice, / “Babylon is fallen, fallen”—what a reason to rejoice! / O how blest that coming out from her was our eternal choice— / The victory is won! (Hymns #1101)
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The passage in Revelation 18:2-8 tells us the reason for Babylon’s fall and judgment. The sinful deeds of Babylon are announced, and the consequences of her judgment are set forth. All who are of the same mind with God must say, Hallelujah, for God has judged Babylon. Though the actual judgment is in the future, the spiritual judgment must take place today….If God’s children bring many unspiritual things into the church, how do we feel about it? Does the fact that we are all God’s children and the fact that we should love one another mean that we should not say, Hallelujah, to God’s judgment? We must realize that this is not a matter of love, but a matter of God’s glory. The principle of Babylon is confusion and uncleanness; therefore, her name is the harlot.
God hates the principle of Babylon more than anything else. We must note in His presence how much of our being is still not absolute for Him. Anything which is halfway and not absolute is called Babylon. We need God to enlighten us so that in His light we may judge everything in us which is not absolute toward Him. Only when we judge ourselves in this way can we confess that we too hate the principle of Babylon. By His grace, may the Lord not allow us to seek any glory and honor outside of Christ. The Lord requires that we delight and seek to be one who is absolute, not one who is living in the principle of Babylon. (Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” pp. 104-106)
Man’s power hinders God’s works. Amen
Amen, Lord thank You for showing us two women at the end of the bible, one You love, Your bride which we are being prepared to be and one You hate, the harlot. O Lord You hate the principle of Babylon more than anything else. May we have a clear vision to be saved from the principle of Babylon, may we judge anything Babylonian in our being, O Lord our fallen natural being gravitates toward this principle, Lord prepare us as Your bride. Thank you we are in the local church as the stepping stones to the New Jerusalem and we can shout Hallelujah!! Babylon the great has fallen. Praise the Lord!!
O Lord in these days give us more of You, give a little more taste of eternity in us through the mingled spirit so that anything of the principle of Babylon will be judge in our being hallelujah, thank you for the new man, thank you for giving us a sharpen conscience, O Lord Lord you are King.
Amen Lord! May we have nothing to do with Babylon or it’s principle. We take You as our burnt offering, the only One who is absolute for God’s satisfaction!
Praise the Lord! Babylon is fallen!
Praise the Lord! Wake up! Amen
Yes, yes. There is no peace in Babylon, no joy, only confusion and a longing to be Revived.
Our longing to be revived is God’s intercession, a silent prayer which reverberates throughout our being for Deliverance.
God will answer this prayer according to His Good pleasure for His economy.
Amen! We need to see what the principle of Babylon is, and we need to let the Lord’s light shine and judge in us what Babylon represents, so that we may come out of Babylon and return to the orthodoxy of the church.
Lord, thank You for being absolute for our Father’s heart’s desire for me. But I must decrease.
Amen!! 🙂
Lord, Save me from being merely gilded with gold, precious stones, and pearls. I want the reality of all these things embedded in my very being, not simple superficiality. Save me from the principle of being a harlot, of appearing to be a good Christian. Be fully formed in me Lord that Your life would be lived out of me and that I would bear your fragrance in my living.