Mystery Babylon
Introduction: Babylon is, biblically speaking, synonymous with false
religion, idolatry and rebellion against God. This Woman who is carried
by the Beast has upon her forehead the name MYSTERY BABYLON the
GREAT, the MOTHER of HARLOTS and of the ABOMINATIONS of
the EARTH.
MYSTERY BABYLON is the last day’s epicenter of all false religion
and idolatry. The word Mystery seems to refer to the fact that the
geographical location has changed but the essence of Babylon is there.
In looking at the Biblical picture of this final manifestation of spiritual deception it
seems that in its initial stage specific religions will be swallowed up into one great
spirituality that will manifest itself in the worship of nature and man collectively with
only vague and general references to god. It will culminate in the blatant and
unabashed worship of Satan himself.
I. Examples of this developing system.
The UN Earth Charter is a sample of what this new spirituality might
look like. Stephen Rockefeller, Chairman, along with Mikhail Gorbachev
and Maurice Strong, of the Earth Charter International Drafting
Committee, said, the way to go about “building peace on earth” is
through the “inclusive, integrated and spiritual approach” of the Earth
Charter. He described the Charter as an effort to incorporate the “wisdom
of the world’s religions.” Gorbachev said, “My hope is that this charter
will be a kind of Ten Commandments, a “Sermon on the Mount,” that
provides a guide for human behavior toward the environment in the next
century and beyond.”
1. Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value
regardless of its worth to human beings.
2. Affirm faith in the inherent dignity of all human beings and in the intellectual,
artistic, ethical and spiritual potential of humanity.
3. Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and
responsible reproduction.
4. Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex,
sexual orientation, religion, language, and national, ethnic or social origin.
5. Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.
The UN Earth Charter is kept in the Ark of Hope which is a replica of the Ark of the Covenant!
Liberal Roman Catholics, Liberal Protestants, Liberal Jews, Moderate and Liberal
Muslims, Liberal Evangelicals (Emergents) New Age Practitioners, Humanist,
Hindus, Buddhist etc. Will all eventually merge into this new spirituality.
Barack Obama, Al Gore, Mikhail Gorbachev, Tony Blair, The Dalai Lama, Rowan
Williams, Desmond Tutu, Tony Campolo, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Oprah Winfrey,
Tom Cruise, Deepak Chopra – and many others are advocates of this new spirituality
and are paving the way for this movement on a world wide scale.
Tony Blair- Mr. Blair who now travels the world on behalf of the Tony Blair Faith
Foundation, which aims to promote understanding of the main religions, left the
Church of England for Roman Catholicism soon after leaving office in 2007.
Speaking to the gay magazine Attitude, the former Prime Minister said that he wanted
to urge religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as
metaphorical, not literal, and suggested that in time this would make all religious
groups accept gay people as equals.
Brian McLaren- Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of fasting for spiritual renewal
and purification. It commemorates the month during which Muslims believe
Mohammed received the Quran through divine revelation…
This year, I, along with a few Christian friends (and perhaps others currently
unknown to us will want to join in) will be joining Muslim friends in the Ramadan
fast which begins August 21. We are not doing so in order to become Muslims: we
are deeply committed Christians. But as Christians, we want to come close to our
Muslim neighbors and to share this important part of life with them. Just as Jesus, a
devout Jew, overcame religious prejudice and learned from a Syrophonecian woman
and was inspired by her faith two thousand years ago, we seek to learn from our
Muslim sisters and brothers today.
Rowan Williams- On the Two Hundredth anniversary of Darwin’s birth, Rowan
Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, led the church of England in a public apology to
Charles Darwin for misunderstanding him.
In regard to the debate within the Anglican Church over homosexuality, Williams
wrote: “I conclude that an active sexual relationship between two people of the same
sex might therefore reflect the love of God in a way comparable to marriage, if and
only if it had about it the same character of absolute covenanted faithfulness.”
In a recent conciliatory letter to Islamic leaders, Rowan Williams apologized for the
offensive nature of the doctrine of the Trinity and for Christianities use of violence
throughout its history.
Rob Bell- appeared at the interfaith event in Seattle, entitled, Seeds of Compassion,
joining the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu as well as an array of lesserknown spiritual leaders from a variety of faith communities. In the panel discussion
he referred to the Dalai Lama as his holiness, and his answers to the questions he was
asked were in perfect harmony with the all faiths are equally valid, all roads lead to
god atmosphere of the conference. To my knowledge he didn’t mention Jesus or
quote from the Scriptures.
The Pope-Pope John Paul II was convinced that prayer could bring believers
together, an idea that inspired the 1986 World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, Italy.
That unprecedented gathering at the pope's invitation drew leaders of Jews,
Buddhists, Shintoists, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Unitarians, traditional African
and Native American religions and many others. Together, under the roof of the
Basilica of St. Francis, they all prayed, side by side, with Catholic, Orthodox and
Protestant leaders for world peace.
If you have a problem with any of the things I just read, then according to the UN,
most of the leading politicians in the world, and most of the world’s religious leaders,
you are the problem!
II. The implications- Those who take the Bible literally, those who reject
the idea that all faiths are equally valid and all roads lead to God, those
who believe that Jesus Christ died to take away our sins and that personal
faith in Him is the only way of obtaining eternal life, and those who
believe that there is a heavenly mandate to preach the gospel to all the
peoples of the earth, will be more and more marginalized and ultimately
more and more demonized.
III. Our response- Guard what was committed to your trust… Hold fast
the pattern of sounds words… that good thing that was committed to you
keep by the Holy Spirit…Hold fast what you have that no one take your
crown… Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.
Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Be watchful
in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist!
a. Know what you believe- Study your Bible!
b. Know why you believe- Study basic apologetics!
c. The Case for Christ; The Case for the Real Jesus; Ten Reasons You Can Trust the
Bible; Nothing But the Truth. Strobel, Stewart, Edwards.
IV. Our hope- The Rapture! Before this marriage between the apostate
church and the anti-Christ can take place the true church will be taken out
of the world. This doesn’t mean that things won’t get worse before they
get better.
Close- The Woman is that Great City. Which city is it? Rome seems to
me to the best candidate. If Christianity has a central headquarters
anywhere on the earth Rome is certainly that place! But the Christianity
there is and always has been not only unbiblical, but quite often, antibiblical and in reality a corrupted form of Christianity.