Those who are keen Bible
students realize that the final hours of the last warning
message of Revelation is about to sound. God is right now giving
His last call. You will find it recorded in
Revelation 18:4,5, “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.
Verse 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities.”
God is calling His
people. They are still in Babylon. Babylon is not only Rome but
all those who are guilty of confusing the truth, especially the
truth about Jesus Christ; those who teach that Jesus is not
divine, that He is (a son of God) the same as Adam, and not the
Son of God as presented in the Bible. I assure you that God will
judge them accordingly.
John
5:23 says, “That all men should honour the Son, even as
they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth
not the Father which hath sent him.”
It says that all men
should honour the Son for He was sent by God. He was Heaven's
representative to proclaim the truth.
What is Truth?
However I want to tell you
that it is becoming more and more difficult to know what the truth
is. There are so many voices claiming that they have the truth.
And if you listen to those voices you will find that it is not
long before some error is detected; then it is no longer truth.
The Holy Scriptures assure
us that the last true church will be keeping the truth.
Isaiah 26:2 says, “Open ye the gates, that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.”
The devil is doing all
that he can to confuse people, to lead them astray, to discourage
them. As the Apostle Paul says, Satan is blinding the minds of men
and women so that they cannot understand the plain gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Deceived by Modernist Preachers
The modernist preachers
have undermined confidence in the Holy Scriptures. They have torn
away this part of the Word of God and that part until all that is
left is the covers.
As William Henry Spence
says in his book ‘A Modernist’s Criticism of Modernism’,
“Modernism has permeated Protestantism until even the great
fundamentals of the Christian religion have been undermined and
denied from the sacred desk."
This is a tragedy for
thousands have been deceived. But God says, "This is not going on
much longer, I will make an end of it all”. So the warning goes
out in these closing hours of time, "Come out of this confusion,
for I am about to destroy Babylon”.
The Loud Cry
Revelation
chapter 18 pictures the last phase of the everlasting
gospel and it calls God’s people out before God’s anger descends
upon Babylon in the seven Last Plagues. This chapter shows that
the old mother Babylon and her harlot daughters are doomed.
Revelation 18:1 says, “And after these things I saw
another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the
earth was lightened with his glory.”
This angel has great
power; in other words, a powerful message.
Verse 2 says, “And he cried mightily with a strong
voice, saying…”
This last message to the
world is called “the loud cry”. In the closing hours of time God
will pour out His Spirit upon His people in order to give them
power to boldly witness and to reap a harvest of souls. Large
numbers will accept the Three Angels’ Messages in the last hours
of time. And many among that number will be those who have never
heard the truth before.
There will be those who
have held back because of fear of their relations, or their
husband, or wife, or even friends. No longer will men and women
hold back for they will realize that this is the final opportunity
to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Before God destroys
Babylon He must first of all call His people out.
Last Opportunity
Before Destruction
The Lord waits until they
are all separated from Babylon, then destruction will fall swift
and sure.
The flood did not come in
the time of Noah until the people of God were safe in the ark. The
Lord held back the fires of Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot and his
family were safe on the mountain side. Before the destruction of
Jerusalem by the armies of Titus the same warning was given. Again
the reformers gave the same divine call, and once again this is
being repeated in the Three Angels’ Messages. God says of Babylon,
“For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered
her iniquities."
Again in
verse 2 it says, “… and is become the habitation of
devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every
unclean and hateful bird.”
Spirits of Devils
The spirits of devils
working miracles have been secretly but rapidly working their way
into the many churches and denominations and sects that make up
Babylon.
St Paul gave this solemn
warning in
1 Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that
in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed
to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;”
Though they may not be
aware of it, many professed churches of Christendom are believing
and teaching the doctrines of devils.
Immortality of the
Soul
Immortality of the soul is
a doctrine not only of devils but of the devil himself. It is the
first recorded lie in the Scriptures. God said of the tree of good
and evil in
Genesis 2:17, “…for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die.” However the devil said in
Genesis 3:4, “…Ye shall not surely die:”
And men and women have
accepted the lie of the devil and you will find it in nearly every
church today. It is this belief more than any other that has
introduced spiritualism and is laying the ground for the greatest
deception of the ages.
The Aetherius
Society
Some time back I read an
article in a newspaper which stated that the Aetherius Society had
established a branch here in Australia.
I guess to the majority of
people who read that announcement it meant nothing, they would be
quite unconcerned. However to the informed person it meant a great
deal. It is another warning of how close we are to the end of all
things
This is what they believe:
(1)
That our world is headed for atomic destruction.
(2)
The time is nearing when those who once lived upon this
earth will launch a final campaign to save this world from
annihilation.
(3)
Inhabitants of other worlds will aid them in this great
humanitarian project ( flying saucers, U.F.O.’s etc)
(4)
The Aetherius Society is dedicated to the general elevation
of spiritualism in order to prepare the way for yet another Great
Master soon slated to journey to this earth and by his exalted
teachings he will convert the world saving it from self
destruction.
Now isn’t that amazing? It
is paving the way for the coming of Satan when he impersonates
Jesus Christ.
There are many who are
preparing the ground for this great deception such as those who
teach that Jesus will be here on this earth during the Millennium,
and will convert the heathen, making them into Christians. The
Bible teaches no such thing. It is a doctrine of Devils, another
of Babylon’s deceptions.
It is no wonder that God says of her "And is
become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul
spirit."
But
soon now she is to go down into perdition, never to rise again.
The Two Suppers
St John
writing in
Revelation 19:9 says,
"…Blessed are they which
are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
You
see, there are going to be two great suppers. To one there is an
invitation and a wonderful blessing in attending. But to the other
regretfully we have to say there is no invitation, there is no
blessing in attending. For those who decide on this supper it will
mean death. That is the choice that people will make as the
last great call goes out. Yes, “blessed are they which are called
unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
This invitation has been
given to the human race from the time of Adam right down to the
last generation. Jesus at the wedding feast in Cana looked to the
time of His own Marriage Supper. He looked forward to the time
when sin would be blotted out forever. And now the cry goes out,
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is come.
The great system of evil
and deception is overthrown. Boastful Babylon is now a desolation.
She thought that she was a queen, that her power and might would
last forever. But God steps in and destroys her. God’s people are
delivered. The mighty chorus of triumph goes up. The apostle John
says that it is like the sound of "…many waters…” and like the
“voice of mighty thundering.”
Revelation 19:6,7 says, “And I heard as it were the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and
as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth.
Verse 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself
ready.”
City is the Bride
There almost seems to be a
contradiction in speaking of the bride, for in
Revelation 21:2 it says, “And I John saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband.”
There is no contradiction
for the city is the bride. But a city without inhabitants is only
a group of buildings and streets. It is the people who occupy
those buildings that make the city what it is. And the New
Jerusalem with its jasper walls, its golden streets and colourful
foundation stones, and radiant with the glory of God is to be
filled with God's people of all ages.
Actually the Holy City is
not spoken of as the bride until the people of God are already
occupying it.
Marriage Supper of
the Lamb
Revelation 19:9 says, “…Blessed are they which are
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
A wonderful blessing to
those who respond. Jesus looked forward to this time for in
Matthew 26:29 He said, “But I say unto you, I will not
drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I
drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”
Again in
Luke
22:30 it says, “That ye may eat and drink at my table in
my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.”
That will be a wonderful
day when Jesus joins His people in partaking of the bread and wine
in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The communion service had two
great objectives to ever keep in mind Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary
and to encourage His people with the assurance that He is coming
back in glory.
The Marriage Supper takes
us beyond that event when God’s people are safe and secure in tile
heavenly kingdom, and how wonderful that will be.
Rejecting
the Invitation
But right now the message
of
Revelation 18 'come out of her my people' is gathering
the guests for this supper, and Probation will close the moment
the last guest has accepted the invitation.
Isn’t it tragic that not
all are accepting the invitation? They are making excuses, they
are putting it off not realizing that this is the final call; that
one day soon they will be food for vultures and ravenous birds.
Revelation 19:17,18 says, “And I saw an angel standing
in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the
fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
Verse 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses,
and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free
and bond, both small and great.”
This is the tragic result
of rejecting the solemn warning of 'come out of her my people'. They
had their chance but they failed to take it.
The parable of the ten
virgins is a warning that even church members can become so
careless that they too could be excluded from the Great Marriage
Supper of the Lamb.
Downfall of Babylon
In describing the downfall
of Great Babylon in
chapter 18, John the Revelator pictures how that men
will weep and howl because of their lost fortunes, for the great
banking businesses will come to a sudden end.
Great palaces, majestic
mansions, skyscrapers, and so called fire proof buildings will
burn like pitch. Utter despair will grip the hearts of all who
have put their trust in Babylon.
The only thing that will
stand in that day will be a godly character, and that will assure
us of a place in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.