Transcript BABYLON” What is it? - Church of God in Macon, Ga

“BABYLON”
What is it?
BABYLON
 We have heard much about: “Babylon” in the
Church of God. Many have come to know this
as a common term for False Religion.
However, very few know the actual, biblical,
and typical meanings of the word: “Babylon”.
In this Guided Learning Course we would like
to help you to have a better understanding of:
What Babylon is, the danger of False Religion,
and the Necessity to come out of it. We hope
that this lesson will better equip you to be a:
“Defender of the FAITH” against all of the
confusion of the Enemy and False Religion.
BABYLON
What is it?
 Babylon was a Great City built where the
Tower of Babel once stood. This is the actual
Babylon often times referred to in the Old
Testament.
 Babylon also represents an alternate way to
heaven. Which is Biblically wrong.
 Lastly, typically, and most importantly
Babylon today represents a FALSE
RELIGIOUS system.
BABYLON
 The Actual (Historical)
 According to the account in Genesis chapter 11 we read of a
unified people after the Great Flood who had a desire to build
a tower to Heaven.
 They commenced building this Great Tower and it reached into
the Heavens. However, God did not like man’s attempt to
reach Heaven by his own means anymore than He could
condone Adam becoming a god by eating of the tree of good
and evil.
 What did God do? He confounded their language.
Confusion, one man could not understand the man standing
next to him. With a break down in communication the building
of the Great Tower ceased. (Remember this point for later)
BABYLON
 Actual
 Where the Great Tower once stood a Great City
would eventually be built. The Tower came to be
known as: The Tower of Babel; meaning confusion
because God confounded their language.
 The Great City would come to be known as:
Babylon.
 The City of Babylon was a Great City long before
the days of Rome. It eventually came to it’s demise
in the year:
BABYLON
 Biblical
 We just reviewed the account of the building of the Tower of
Babel. The people purposed in their hearts that they would
build their own way to Heaven.
 If we read St. John 10:1-10 we will see that Jesus says: “He
that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but
climbeth up some other way the same is a thief and a
robber.”
 The people were trying to take an alternate route to Heaven.
Jesus tells us in St. John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by
me.”
BABYLON
 Biblically
 Basically, he was saying that it is Biblically, Spiritually,
Morally, and Completely wrong to try to gain entrance
into Heaven by any other way than through Him, the
Cross, and Salvation.
 Many today have felt that a life of Good Works,
Religion, Praying to Allah, or Muhammad, or Buddha
will guarantee them Eternal Bliss. Some stiffly hold to
their opinions, traditions, and doctrines of men in hopes
that they will be reserved a place in Heaven.
 But, make no mistake, if we try to build our Tower to
Heaven by using the bricks of any of the above
mentioned we are no better than a: Thief and a Robber
and There will be no heaven for us.
BABYLON
 Typical (anti-type = Symbol of something to come.)
 Babylon is mentioned numerous times in the book of
Revelation. From Revelation 1:1 we realize that the
book of Revelation is spiritually discerned book of
symbols that details the present and future happenings
of God’s Church. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave unto him, to shew his servants
things which must shortly come to pass; and he
sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant
John.”
 Let’s take a look at what the term Babylon means in
Type to the New Testament Church.
BABYLON

Typical (anti-type)

To understand the anti-type we must first understand
the shadow, or the premises of the anti-type.
The City of Babylon—Old Testament.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Built on the site where God confused the language of the
people at the Tower of Babel.
Old Babylon persecuted the people of God and destroyed
the Temple in Jerusalem.
It carried the people of God into captivity.
It was a mighty, restless, universal empire.
If this be true of Literal Babylon as the Shadow,
then necessarily Spiritual Babylon must also have
similar attributes.
BABYLON
 Typical (anti-type)
 When we think of the realm of Spirituality we often
consider the Church.
 Today do we find Confusion in Churches? Maybe they Preach
one thing on Sunday and live another on Monday.
 Do we ever find “Religious” people bashing (persecuting) the
beliefs of True Christians who choose to live Holy as the Bible
teaches?
 Today are there honest people who have become captive by
false doctrine?
 Today is not Church and Religion one of the largest
organizations and empires on earth?
So what does Spiritual Babylon represent?
False Religion
BABYLON

FALSE RELIGION

Babylon itself as a False Religious System is
made up of 3 components that we will take a look
at.
1. Papalism (Catholicism) the Mother of the Harlots of
Babylon.
2. Protestantism (Sectism) which made an image to the
Beast.
3. All Man-Made Churches, Religions, Beliefs, not built
upon a the True Foundation of Jesus Christ and His
Word.
BABYLON
 Papalism
 Papalism is another word to represent the Catholic
Church. The word Papal coming from the church of
Rome lead by the Pope.
 In Revelation 13:1 we see the Catholic Church
symbolized: “And I stood upon the sand of the sea,
and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having
seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten
crowns, and upon his heads the names of
blasphemy.”
 How does this verse tie to the Catholic Church?
History will teach us that in the early days of the
church, the church of God, defeated the great red
dragon otherwise known as Paganism. See Acts 17 &
19, and Revelation 12.
BABYLON
 Catholicism cont..
 The rise of the Catholic Church.
 It came up out of the Sea. This is the same Sea that the
Great Mountain burning with fire (Mt. Zion, the church of
God) was cast into. (Rev. 8:8) This Sea represents the
minds or opinions of unregenerate or unsaved men (Is.
57:20-21) who have not the spirit of Christ.--- In the Gospel
Day of the church this is the first religion formed by man
and ruled by man (the Pope) but it would definitely not be
the last.
 It derived it’s erroneous doctrines from the minds of these
unregenerate men who looked to re-establish the customs
and teachings of Paganism from whence it received it’s
power.--- “And they worshipped the dragon which gave
power unto the beast, saying, Who is like unto the
Beast?” (Rev. 13:4)
BABYLON
 Catholicism
(History)
 The Catholic Church derives it’s name: “Catholic” from the
meaning: Universal Church of God. However, they do not
represent the True Church of God. We see that the Catholic
Church began to come on the seen after 270 A.D. after the First
Apostacy (Falling Away from the Truth) of the Church.
 In the year 320 A.D. the Roman Emperor Constantine had a vision
of a Cross in the Sky as he went forth with his mighty army to
battle. This was enough to convince him to convert to Christianity,
making Rome a Christian Nation and giving official birth to the
Catholic Church.
 The Catholic Church would rule and reign as the supreme
ecclesiastical power on earth for 1260 years.
BABYLON
 Protestantism
 The second component of Babylon is Protestantism. This comes
from the root word: “to protest”. For over 1260 years the Catholic
Church kept the people of God under the bondage of their
authority, lies, and deception. Many did not have access to the
true word of God and if they did they couldn’t read it.
 God is faithful and because of His love for His people and His
Church he sent Reformers or those who would protest against the
False Religious System of Catholicism.
 These Reformers such as Wycliffe, Huss, Martin Luther, and
others genuinely wanted to see God’s Church Reformed under the
truth of His Word. Many did not want to leave the Catholic
Church; but help her.
 However, no one can help someone that God Himself is not
helping, so they had to come out of her.
BABYLON
 Protestantism cont..
 In the early years of the Protestant Reformation God
used what we call BABYLON to bring forth certain
Truths that had been lost in the Apostacy. Vital
Doctrines such as: Justification and Sanctification. It
was during this time that Babylon was a Golden Cup in
the hand of God. (Jer. 51:7)
 But sadly, though the Beast of Catholicism lost some of
it’s pre-eminence in the earth; she did not lose her
power. The spirit of Catholicism would soon be revived
in Protestantism.
BABYLON
 Protestantism
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


(the fall of it)
Let’s read in Revelation 13: 11-14. “And I beheld another beast
coming up out of the earth; (from man) and he had two horns
like a lamb and he spake as a dragon……And he doeth great
wonders....... And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by
the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the
sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that
they should make an image to the beast (Catholicism) which
was wounded by the sword (the Reformers standing on
God’s Word — Eph. 6:17) , and did live.”
Protestantism made an Image to the Beast. They accepted the
thing that they stood against. Man Made --- Man Ruled Religion.
Instead of Popes they set up titles for their leaders such as
Reverends, Bishops, Evangelists, and Overseers and established
their doctrines upon the same “bottomless pit” (No Bible
Foundation) as did Catholicism.
They made, created, and started churches in the name of men
they revered like Lutheran for Martin Luther and Wesleyan for
John Wesley.
This would prove to be detrimental to the Church as this gave birth
to what we now call Denominationalism and Sectism.
BABYLON
 Denominationalism (Sectism)
 Denominations come from the root word “Denom”
which means to divide. So Denominationalism is
essentially the Division of God’s people.
 We see this clearly in the Religious World today.
There are over 500+ denominations of Christianity
alone. All of them professing to Love and Follow Jesus
Christ and use the same Bible as one another; yet they
all teach, preach, and live differently.
 Some of the more popular denominations today are:
Baptists, Methodists, Lutheran, Pentecostals,
Apostolics, and many more.
BABYLON
 Denominationalism (Biblically Wrong)
 Denominationalism is Biblically wrong because it separates and
divides God’s church. Jesus prayed earnestly in St. John chapter
17:20-21 “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also
which shall believe on me through their word; That they all
may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me.”
 In Ephesians 4:4 “There is one body (the church), and one
Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. One
Lord, one faith, one God and Father of all.”
 Paul tells us to; “Mark them which cause division…and avoid
them.” –Romans 16:17
BABYLON
 Denominationalism cont…
 God never designed for His church to be segmented or
splintered and split into so many groups. Division is
the Enemies way to Conquer the church and render it
powerless in a world of Sin. Divide and Conquer.
Even Jesus said that a house divided will not stand.
 The Religious World may accept Denominationalism
here on earth; but there will be no such thing in
Heaven. There will be no corner of Heaven for the
Baptists and another for the Pentecostals. Heaven is a
Holy Place and is reserved for only True Saints of God
walking in all of the Light of God’s Word who have
come out of the World, Sin, and False Religion as God
hath showed them.
BABYLON
 Man Made Churches
 For sake of content we will take a brief look at some of
the more popular Denominations and their Origin.
 Baptists: The Baptists say they trace their origin back to the
days of John the Baptist. (God’s church however did not
commence until the day of Pentecost—Acts 2) The Baptists
were part of the early reformation in the 16th century and were
divided into groups who believed in infant baptism and those
who did not. The Anabaptists led by Menno Simmons rejected
infant baptism. Soon a man named John Smyth took a stand
with the Mennonites and began the push of the Baptist faith of
what we know it as today. They accepted the teachings of
John Calvin and began their first two churches in England
around 1638.
 Today the Baptists are one of the major Protestant forces in
the U.S. with over 30 denominations and over 30 million
people.
BABYLON
 Man Made Churches cont…
 Pentecostal: The Pentecostal churches are most known from
their charismatic spirit and speaking in tongues. There are
numerous Pentecostal Denominations not all bearing the name
Pentecostal but believing and advocating the Pentecostal
Experience. Two of the most popular are the Assemblies of God,
and The Church of God in Christ.
 Assemblies of God: One of the largest Pentecostal Body with over
2 million members originated not on the day of Pentecost; but in Hot
Springs, Arkansas in 1914, formed by a Ministerial Body. (not Jesus
Christ)
 Church of God in Christ: The largest Pentecostal Body of Believers
in the World, boasting a membership of over 4 million members.
C.O.G.I.C. as it is known began when Ministers C.H. Mason and C.P.
Jones were rejected by their Baptist Brethren for their overemphasis
on holiness and speaking in tongues; started the Church of God in
Christ in Memphis, TN in 1897. (Notice the date is not A.D. 33 and
the founder is not Jesus Christ.)
BABYLON
 Man Made Churches cont…
 Apostolic: There are numerous Denominations and Divisions
of Apostolics as well as the other Sects mentioned above.
Apostolicism has it’s beginning in the U.S. by a Swiss Reformer
named S.H. Froelich in the year 1850. Their doctrine is basic: live
the bible way, get saved and sanctified and obtain a Pentecost
experience (normally speaking in tongues).
 Seventh Day Adventists: Known to all by their doctrine of
the Sabbath Day, worshipping on Saturday and resting from all
labors. Their origin goes back to the mid 1800’s when a group of
people called the Millerite’s came out of the Great Disappointment
(Miller’s prediction that Christ would return on October 22, 1845)
When this did not happen they formed the Adventists. Their most
fore-known leader is E.H. White whose writings they hold in
highest esteem and consider them: “counsels from the Lord”
Their membership is well over 4 million strong.
BABYLON
 Man Made Churches Concluded
 We only mentioned some of the more popular ones for sake of
content; however there are over 500+ Denominations (Divisions)
of Christianity. Which are two many to mention here. All of their
doctrines and beliefs vary from one to the other; yet one thing they
all have in common: They were created by a man or group of men
and they’re rules and guidelines are of men and not of GOD.
 The Glorious Church of God however is far different. She is the
only one of her mother, she is the pillar and ground of Truth,
bought with the blood of Jesus Christ Himself. She was bought
and still is owned by Jesus, who is her head and the Holy Spirit is
her leader. Her membership extends into heaven as she is the
Family of God. Her members became so by the blood of Jesus
and forsaking all sin. Truly her motto is: Where Salvation Makes
You a Member and Christ is the Standard. (Acts 20:28, St. John
3:1-8, Eph. 3:14)
BABYLON
 Signs of Babylon
 In Revelation chapter 18 we can grasp a full understanding of the
signs or ways one can tell what exactly Babylon is and if they are
a part of it. Verse #2 & 3 “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….For all
nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with
her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through
the abundance of her delicacies.”
BABYLON
 Signs of Babylon cont..
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Babylon is Fallen: God is no longer working in or with Babylon. There is
a lot of Emotionalism and Entertainment but no real Inspiration of the
Presence of God.
She is the Habitation of Devils and Foul Spirits: There are many
“Church Members” however there are few Christians. Many of the
people in Babylon continue to partake of their regular sinful
lifestyle…homosexuals in the pulpit…harlots in the choir….alcoholics on
the deacon board…need we say more?
Drunk with her wine: The false teachings and preaching in Babylon
have made honest souls drunk with deception.
Kings of the earth have committed fornication with her: Babylon holds
no standard, many will fellowship all so called Christian believers,
swapping pulpits, regardless of their doctrinal differences, creating a
type of union, but definitely not unity.
Merchants of the earth made rich: Televangelist's and big name
preachers have made great gain off of honest souls, many times lifting
numerous offerings to pad their pocket and ungodly lifestyle.
BABYLON
 Come Out of Her!
 If any of the above signs of Babylon pertain to you or
your church then God has a message for you:
 God’s message to all of those in Babylon or False Religion today
is Come Out! God has something better for His people than the
Confusion and Division and Hypocrisy of Babylon. Today all
honest souls want the best that God has for them and they can
find it in the True Church of God!
 Whether you are Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Religion, Islamic,
Buddhist, Brahman, Bahia, or an Atheist God is calling you to the
heights of Fair Zion in the True Church of God.
 Today if you are truly saved living to all you know you are already
a member of God’s church; don’t stay in the adopted family of
Babylon and let your Spirit and Soul become corrupt by it’s False
Teaching and Preaching. Come home to God and His Church
and Be Blessed!
BABYLON
 We hope you enjoyed this lesson on Babylon
today. We tried to keep it as brief and concise
and yet as informative as possible. Much of
our reference material came from the Bible
(KJV) What the Bible Teaches (F.G. Smith)
and Handbook of Denominations (Frank
Meade)
 If you would like to learn more about God’s
True Church—the Church of God visit our
website at:
www.churchofgodjacksonmichigan.com