Morning Light – Revelation 18: Christianity or Christ?

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Today: [Revelation 18:] Christianity or Christ? In Rev. 18 we witness the destruction of Mystery Babylon? Is this a city? Is it a system? Is it a nation or perhaps Christianity outside of Christ? We examine all these possibilities with a view to obeying the command found in these verses to “come out of her My people.”
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[Rev 18:1-24 KJV] 1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 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. 3 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. 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. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8 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. 9 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, 10 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. 11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. 14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. 15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What [city is] like unto this great city! 19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. 20 Rejoice over her, [thou] heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. 21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. 22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft [he be], shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Our chapter begins with John seeing an angel descending from heaven declaring that Babylon is fallen and become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit. This verse tells us much about what Babylon is and what it is not. In scripture, we find that demons exclusively inhabit or indwell people. They may transfer from person to person and be briefly without a physical host, but we never see a demon inhabiting an object or inanimate thing. This also separates for us the difference between a demon and what the Bible calls principalities, powers and spiritual wickedness in high places and Satan himself who may or may not have been in a human body of some luckless soul when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness.
The point being that if demons inhabit Babylon, then this narrows the idea of what Babylon could be very likely to a group of people or a corporate human entity such as the apostate church or that part of the church or Christian culture that exists outside of Christ and independent of Christ. This why in our corporate settings we need to make the presence of God our priority above all else lest we run ahead of Christ and go astray from His living presence without realizing the jeopardy of becoming a part of the Babylon religious system that is the corrupt, politicized religious monstrosity that identifies itself as belonging to Christ without actually operating under His direction or Lordship.
In verse 4 we see a second clue. There is a voice that says regarding Babylon “Come out of her my people!” If Babylon refers to the ruins of ancient Babylon in central Iraq – they are uninhabited; thus this cannot be the Babylon of Revelation. If Babylon is the city of Rome, then Preterists would suggest that the exile of all Christians from Rome during the first century fulfilled this scripture. If Babylon is the United States, then this indicates a mass migration of believers from her borders at a future time when living for Christ in America will be a very different proposition than it is now fraught with persecution and danger. If however Babylon (being capable of hosting demons) is a religious system peopled by individual humans who could be human hosts for demons then this could point to a time when God will call believers out of Christianity just as He called believers in the first century out of Judaism as heralded in the message of the Book of Hebrews.
The question would be are you willing to relinquish Christianity for Christ? Billy Graham traveled to Red China when Richard Nixon and his policies helped open China to the outside world. Graham attended a state dinner and was asked by a member of the Chinese polit bureau “do you believe in the Christ of Christianity?” His answer was telling “No. I believe in the Christ of the Bible.” What a damning statement concerning the condition of Christian culture in modern times that its singular most prominent spokesman would make such a statement.
Many believe that Babylon is denominationalism and that we must become non-denominational. The problem with that is that non-denominational churches demonstrate all the weaknesses and corruption of denominational groups only more so.
Regardless the declaration on the angel in v. 5 is that a day will come that the sins of Christian culture will ascend to heaven in such a way that God says “enough is enough” precisely as Judaism itself was rejected as the natural olive branch and something new (to become Christianity as we know it) grafted in its place.
The warning of the angel is that failure to come out results in partaking of Babylon’s punishments. Think about Christian Jews who didn’t come out of the Judaism that crucified Jesus. They then participated in all the penalties and devastation that came upon Jewish culture at the hands of the Romans from AD 70 on. If God is calling us to relinquish our Christianity for Christ, let us be found willing and obedient to do so.
The chapter goes on to describe all of those kings and merchants that profited by Babylon’s commerce mourning and wailing over her destruction. This again could point to Babylon being a wealthy nation driving the economic strength of the economies of the world. What would happen if the US were destroyed economically? The entire world would follow in financial collapse. If this is how to interpret Babylon then what city would the great city of v. 16 be? Possibly New York.
We see the world lamenting the destruction of Babylon, but in v. 20 the Apostles and Prophets are told to rejoice over this eventuality. What does that tell you? Whatever Babylon is it exists alongside the presence of modern day apostles and prophets. The preponderance of Christianity and its organizations insist that Apostles and Prophets do not exist today. This includes the Word of Faith movement that decries to name the apostles in her midst as apostles but instead calls them “missionary evangelists.” Likewise the Assemblies of God denomination that maintains that it is the nurturing womb of anything of substance God is doing in the earth yet they have an official position paper in their archives stating plainly that they do not believe in prophets and apostles are for today (although when asked they insist otherwise so as not to offend). The fact is that there are prophets today and there are apostles today. Who are they and what are they? Those who will lead us out of the Babylon system just as the first-century apostles and prophets led the early century believers out of the prevailing religious system of Judaism into what would eventually become the Christian church of the first and second centuries. The question is, are you willing to follow them?
When Babylon is fallen a mighty angel (v. 21) casts a millstone into the sea as a demonstration of the destruction that has fallen upon it. This is a telling example because Jesus declared having a millstone hung around one’s neck and being cast into the sea as the fate of those who offend HIs little ones. When you look at Christianity as we know it, we find it can be a great offense to new converts and potential converts because they are turned off by the corruption and ungodliness in the very culture of faith that calls upon the name of Jesus.
What is the result of this fall? In v. 23 we see that the light of a candle will no more shine in Babylon. Prov. 20:27 says that the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. In Matt. 5; Luke 11 and Mark 4 Jesus spoke of the true church as being a candle whose light could not be hidden. What this tells us is that God will withdraw his light and his grace from what Babylon represents be it a city, or a system or a nation to the point that not one born again person will be identified with her. Why does this happen?
Because of the blood the prophets and the saints whose sufferings are attributed to her leaders. This speaks first of the rejection of the prophets. Today 100s of 1000s call themselves pastors when there is not one person in the scriptural record called a pastor. At the same time, these leaders boldly and presumptuously insist to their church members that they are hesitant of or reject altogether the idea of apostles and prophets that are mentioned and named 100s if not 1000s of times in the Bible. Pastors, on the other hand, are only mentioned 9 times in the whole bible and only once in the New Testament.
Pastors it is time for a moment of humility regarding you primacy in leadership in the Body of Christ. I would take nothing from you, but I would declare to you if you reject the idea of prophets in your midst or apostles or if you impede and shut your doors against such ministries you have set yourself in alliance with Mystery Babylon and that according to our chapter does not end well. Toward that end, I pray for you as my own brother and sister having served my entire life up to 12 years ago as a pastor with a pastors heart that you might have an opening of your understanding and new courage to participate in the fullness of the five-fold ministry God has given into the earth.