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The Beast and Babylon (Part Two)
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughBabylon, as a spiritual entity, is not merely a secular nation but represents a worldwide, anti-God system. Biblically, it symbolizes the worldly system opposed to God, often referred to as the world. It exists in all nations, embodying a pervasive spiritual influence without a specific physical headquarters designated in Scripture. Perceived spiritually, Babylon is the entire world, a system that began in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley and spread globally through migrations, carrying its antagonistic attitude toward God. In prophecy, especially in the New Testament, Babylon overwhelmingly signifies a nation or system against the Lord, and its influence is seen in the continuation of the same general Babylonish system through history, affecting various empires and cultures. As a spiritual entity, it reaches the height of its influence in a geographic focus, yet remains a universal presence opposing God's ways.
The Beast and Babylon (Part Eight): God, Israel, and the Bible
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughBabylon, as a spiritual entity, embodies the profound unfaithfulness of end-time Israel, as depicted in Revelation 17 and 18. This spiritual identity emerges from Israel's historical covenant with God, a unique bond not shared with any Gentile nation or church, marking her as the Great Harlot. Despite God's enduring faithfulness, Israel has rebelled, embracing worldly ways to such an extent that she surpasses the Gentiles in her manner of life, earning the title Babylon the Great. This spiritual entity is characterized by immense influence and wealth, illustrated by elegant clothing, jewelry, and precious metals, signifying her power among nations. Israel, primarily represented by the Joseph tribes of America and Britain, stands as a dominant force, guiding and coercing many nations, even controlling the formidable Beast. Her spiritual harlotry is evident in her gross idolatry and rejection of God as her Ruler, choosing instead to follow the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life. Babylon, as this spiritual entity, is depicted as one unified people, contrasting with the diverse, unrelated multitudes of the Beast. Her intimate association with the Beast reflects a relationship of support and strong influence, particularly through the leading tribes of Joseph. Despite her material greatness, she is spiritually corrupt, marked by immorality, confusion, and deviance from responsibility, wielding a polluted influence that only she can exert over the Beast until God's appointed time. This spiritual portrayal of Babylon underscores Israel's hypocritical stance, presenting herself as a Christian nation while conducting life as immorally as any pagan people. The blood of martyrs stains her history, with more to be added in the future, highlighting her anti-God record. Thus, Babylon as a spiritual entity encapsulates the tragic fall of Israel from her covenant relationship with God, revealing the depth of her spiritual unfaithfulness in the end times.
What to Do in Babylon
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Charles Whitaker (1944-2021)Babylon, as a spiritual entity, embodies a pervasive system that transcends physical boundaries and societal distinctions. It is an economic framework constructed by human nature, designed to sustain and gratify it, extending its influence into educational, military, governmental, and judicial systems. This system, characterized by the get way of life, stands in opposition to God's way of giving, manifesting itself universally across racial, political, national, gender, and ideological lines. Babylon is ubiquitous, an ever-present force orchestrated by satan, infiltrating every corner of the world with its corrupting essence. As a spiritual entity, Babylon represents a realm where God's people reside as foreigners, pilgrims in a strange land, with their true citizenship in heaven. Despite being immersed in this system, they are not part and parcel with its values, living amidst a present evil world yet called to maintain a distinct identity. God's instruction, as conveyed through Jeremiah, is for His people to engage with this environment without succumbing to its corrupt ways. They are to build houses, symbolizing economic participation and stability, to marry and increase through family, and to pray for the peace of the city, ensuring their own peace within Babylon's turmoil. Babylon, in its spiritual ugliness, is a ghastly and hideous place, marked by empire, mercantilism, slavery, economic exploitation, military conscription, deceit at the highest levels, and murder. God's people are admonished never to long for a return to its ways, to reject the allure of its get way of life, and to remain steadfast as sojourners seeking a heavenly homeland. While dwelling in Babylon, they must work diligently, build families, and pray fervently for peace, adhering to God's practical guidance for living as pilgrims in this fallen system.
What's So Bad About Babylon? (2013) (Part Three)
Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)Babylon, as a spiritual entity, emerges as a profound symbol of evil and seduction in opposition to God's purpose. In Revelation 17 and 18, Babylon is named Babylon the Great, represented as a harlot woman with a cup of wine, symbolizing a pervasive and corrupting system. This system, though no longer existing as a physical city or nation, continues to exert influence through its enduring spirit, infecting every person who encounters it. Only Jesus Christ has never submitted to its deadly persuasions, standing as the sole exception to its irresistible carnal allure. This spiritual Babylon embodies a world apart from God, driven by false loves, values, systems, and knowledge. Its attractiveness lies in its appeal to the senses and ambition, drawing humanity through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. God portrays this entity as a prostitute, committing spiritual fornication with cultural sectors like government and business leadership, leading to widespread corruption and faithlessness within communities. The symbolism of wine, associated with the harlot, illustrates its intoxicating and enslaving nature, eroding spiritual powers and leading to immoral judgments. The spirit of Babylon, sustained by satan, who remains the constant deceiver from the Garden of Eden through the founding of the city of Babylon and beyond, reflects his mind and way of life. Though God destroyed the physical city, satan's continued existence ensures that Babylon's evil way persists, perpetuating a culture of self-centeredness and over-indulgence. This culture fosters a rejection of God, with wealth and personal comfort becoming false gods, as seen in the harlot's boastful claim to sit as a queen, untouched by sorrow. Babylon's spiritual influence guides the actions of nations, particularly in the Western world where Israelitish peoples reside, unknowingly controlled by its way of life, which God despises for its destructive impact. This enduring spirit, passed through historical empires, forms the backdrop for end-time conspiracies against God's purpose, culminating in the rise of the Beast, an alliance of nations driven by deception and the Babylonish way, ultimately leading to mankind's enslavement until Christ's return.
What's So Bad About Babylon? (2013) (Part One)
Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)Babylon as a Spiritual Entity In the prophetic warnings of Revelation, Babylon is depicted not merely as a historical city or nation, but as a profound spiritual entity representing a pervasive, anti-God system. Though Babylon as a nation ceased to exist around 539 BC, its cultural and spiritual characteristics endure, influencing successive empires and nations down to our present time. God uses the name Babylon symbolically to signify a way of life marked by pride, idolatry, and immorality that dominates the Western world, where many of His people reside. This spiritual Babylon is portrayed as a great prostitute in Revelation 17:5, named "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH," embodying the epitome of God-defying power and persecution against the godly. It is a system, not a physical nation, characterized by the same corrupting influences seen in ancient Babylon, passed through history by satan's deceptive sway over nations. This system manifests in the capitalistic structures of the Western world, where political leaders and corporate interests collude, perpetuating self-interest and moral decay. God urgently commands His people to "come out of her," as seen in Revelation 18:4, indicating a spiritual separation from Babylon's sinful ways rather than a physical relocation, since the church is scattered worldwide and no specific safe haven is designated. This call parallels the spiritual preparation needed to flee from the influence of this system, which impacts all nations within the prophecy's focus, particularly those tied to Israelitish peoples. Babylon's enduring characteristics are evident in the cultural practices of religion, business, education, and government, which continue to challenge the faithful. As a spiritual wilderness, Babylon the Great represents the environment in which the end-time church must navigate, enduring trials to bring glory to God. Revelation 17:6 describes this entity as "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus," highlighting its antagonistic nature. The imagery of a woman riding a beast with seven heads and ten horns in Revelation 17:7-9 further illustrates this system directing nations and kings, revealing its pervasive control over global powers at the time of the end. God's purpose, as stated in Revelation 17:17, is to use these dynamics to fulfill His will, ultimately leading to the system's downfall and replacement by another deceptive order before Christ's return.
Communication and Coming Out of Babylon (Part 1)
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughIn the unfolding of God's purpose, Babylon emerges as a profound spiritual entity, embodying the essence of evil that pervades this present world. As depicted in Revelation 18:2, Babylon the great is fallen and has become the habitation of demons, a hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird, symbolizing a dangerous realm inhabited by predatory forces. This spiritual Babylon is not merely a physical location but the very generator and distributor of all evil on earth, spreading its influence worldwide. Its heart and core may be perceived as a city, yet its reach extends globally, affecting all nations through the wine of the wrath of her fornication, as kings and merchants grow rich from her delicacies. The spiritual influence of Babylon is perpetuated through powerful communication, often subtle and inaudible, driven by the invisible leader, the prince of the power of the air, and his demonic hordes. This influence permeates the air, the medium through which thoughts and attitudes are transmitted, making resistance a daunting task that requires awareness and vigilance. God admonishes His people to come out of her, yet there is no physical escape from this pervasive force, as Satan's communication through Babylon's channels is everywhere. The battle to resist is almost entirely internal, fought where one lives and conducts life, necessitating a spiritual and psychological departure from Babylon's influence rather than a mere geographical relocation. Babylon's spiritual dominion is further illustrated by its connection to the air, the realm where Satan, described as the chief of the jurisdiction of the air, exercises authority over the earth and its inhabitants. This ties into the imagery of unclean birds in Revelation 18:2, symbolizing demonic powers operating under Satan's command within this same atmospheric domain. The warfare against these forces is hand-to-hand combat, close and personal, under the canopy of air surrounding the earth, testing the faith and loyalty of God's people as they confront these invisible enemies who communicate their deceptive thoughts through the very air that sustains life.
What's So Bad About Babylon? (2013) (Part Two)
Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)Babylon, as a spiritual entity, transcends its historical existence as a nation, embodying a pervasive and enduring cultural and moral influence. Though destroyed in 539 BC by the Medes and Persians, Babylon's spirit survives, as evidenced in Revelation 17 and 18, where God reiterates warnings similar to those in Jeremiah 51, urging His people to flee from her corrupting presence. This spiritual Babylon is not a physical nation but a way of life, a deceptive and vile cultural system that has impressed its sinful, God-defying nature upon the Western world. In Revelation 17:1-7, Babylon is depicted as a great harlot, sitting on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, intoxicating the inhabitants with the wine of her immorality. She is adorned in purple and scarlet, holding a golden cup full of abominations, and her forehead bears the name "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." This imagery parallels Jeremiah 51, where Babylon is a golden cup in the Lord's hand, making the earth drunk and deranged. Revelation 18:1-8 further describes her fall, portraying her as a dwelling place of demons and a cage for unclean spirits, with nations and merchants enriched by her luxury, yet God calls His people to come out of her to avoid sharing in her sins and plagues. Babylon's spiritual influence permeates personal character, entertainment, banking, and every facet of life, carried within the minds and behaviors of people, especially the Israelitish nations, wherever they have emigrated. This cultural system, symbolized by the woman riding the beast, exercises control over the Western world, dominating nations like Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Israel through shared systems of government, religion, economics, and education, all syncretized with Babylonian ways. Her allure is powerful and manipulative, ensnaring citizens into bondage through gentle persuasion, while the beast represents coercive power to enforce submission. Originating from its foundations in Genesis 11, Babylon was established in rebellion against God by Nimrod and Semiramis, moving eastward away from His blessings, building a city and tower to make a name for themselves rather than scattering as God commanded. This foundational depravity set a course for greatness in immorality, a trajectory that never improved, continuously impacting nations and individuals with its evil influence down to the present day. God intervened early to slow its development by confusing languages at Babel, yet its spirit persisted, now reaching a peak of influence through modern communication technologies, spreading its corrupting power globally.
What's So Bad About Babylon? (2003) (Part 1)
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughBabylon is the code name for the world. At the time of the end its dominant powers are the Harlot Woman and the forming Beast. Babylon is a worldwide anti-God system called in Greek the cosmos. Babylon is first and foremost a spiritual entity founded in rebellion against God. It is driven by Satan the Devil and accomplished through human intellect and reason. Babylon symbolizes a dream of human civilization intended to be a permanent achievement of independence and pride without God. It is a vivid lesson of humanity's attempt for oneness gone awry. Babylon is a picture of misguided human hopes and dreams of vain attempts for power achievement culture technology security preeminence and fame against and therefore without God. It is a picture of God's judgment against the immoral illusion of idolatry pride self-reliance and infinite achievement of men. Babylon left God out of hopes and dreams and so everything done was against Him. Babylon is everywhere and its influence is visible and invisible always impacting overtly or subtly conforming mankind to its will. If not resisted Babylon will conform any human being to its image. The coming out of Babylon is accomplished spiritually by not permitting lives to be conformed to its anti-God image. Babylon was initially stopped by God but then in the end-time permitted to re-group and seek to carry out its original design. Babylon is very appealing to human nature seducing through inviting appeals to physical gratification and spiritual enlightenment. It is the perfect environment for producing distraction and complacency and therein lies its danger through the spiritual disease called Laodiceanism.
What's So Bad About Babylon? (2003) (Part 2)
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughBabylon functions as a spiritual entity originating in the revolt of Genesis 11, where leaders driven by overweening pride under Satan's influence rejected God's word and erected a city and tower to assert God-like prerogatives and forge human unity apart from Him. This anti-God system persists worldwide through Satan's ongoing manipulation, now embodied in the Great Whore representing faithless Israel and the emerging Beast. Its essence manifests as an intoxicating wine of fornication and wrath that appeals to human nature through delicacies and pleasures, producing a drugging, addictive effect akin to alcohol's capacity to mock, deceive, and enslave regardless of one's station. This influence fosters confusion, as the name Babel implies, impairing spiritual perception so that participants stagger like the drunken, lose wisdom, and repeat cycles of futility without solutions. Babylon constitutes a corrupt tree bad from its genesis, incapable of producing good fruit despite material advancements, because its driving spirit derives from Satan and unregenerate human nature that remains incurably deceitful and antagonistic to God. Consequently it breeds immorality, faithlessness to covenant vows, absence of truth and mercy, and rejection of the knowledge of God, yielding only mixtures of good and evil that compound prior generations' problems while promising fulfillment it cannot deliver. The system therefore passes away, leaving those conformed to it without eternal life, whereas escape requires deliberate resistance through submission to God's revelation and will alone.
The Spirit of Babylon (Part Three)
CGG Weekly by David C. GrabbeThe spirit of Babylon originates with Satan the Devil as the source of all immoral and anti-God beliefs across human history. This influence first appeared in Eden and reappears in the end-time prophecies of Revelation, where Babylon is portrayed as a brazen, defiant woman who claims divine prerogatives. The same spirit manifested in ancient Mesopotamia through the goddess Inanna, whose characteristics match the harlot of Revelation 17 and 18: she is the patroness of prostitutes and mother of harlots, wears a necklace of pearls, becomes drunk on the blood of saints, and rules over multitudes of peoples, nations, and languages. This demonic influence penetrated Israel soon after the conquest of Canaan, leading the people to worship Ashtoreth, the Babylonian goddess under another name, and to honor her titles such as the queen of heaven and her consort Tammuz. Even after the death of Joshua, the Israelites repeatedly adopted these practices, which received royal sanction under Solomon and persisted through later generations. As a result, both Israel and Judah were taken captive into Mesopotamia, where the gods they had already embraced in their hearts held sway. In the prophecies, end-time Babylon declares in her heart that she sits as queen, is no widow, and will not see sorrow, echoing Inanna's self-glorification and the boasts recorded in Isaiah 47. This spirit promotes self-determination and independence, rebelling against every institution of God, including the basic distinction of gender given by the Creator. It fosters deliberate androgyny, gender-questioning, and the desire to resemble fallen angels who do not marry. The same influence continues to strengthen throughout the present age, permeating human society wherever people live. A heavenly voice therefore warns God's people to come out of her lest they share in her sins and plagues, underscoring the need to examine how far this spirit of rebellion still affects their lives.
What's So Bad About Babylon? (1997)
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughBabylon as a spiritual entity originates in the events of Genesis 11, where humanity, unified in language and purpose, constructs a city and tower in the land of Shinar to make a name for itself and avoid scattering, in direct defiance of the divine command to fill the earth. This project embodies rebellion, concentration of power under despotic leadership, and reliance on human ambition rather than trust in God, prompting divine intervention to confuse languages and scatter the builders while only slowing the system's development. The tower symbolizes both military fortification and a false place of safety, representing what people trust for well-being apart from God. This pattern persists through history in successive empires that erect their own towers of self-sufficiency, whether through military might, knowledge, architecture, or material resources, each reflecting the same root of pride and self-aggrandizement. In its end-time form described in Revelation 18, Babylon appears as a great spiritual system that has become a dwelling place of demons, intoxicating nations with the wine of its fornication, luxury, and pride. It fosters self-glorification, avoidance of suffering, and compromise, producing a threefold web of sin that impairs judgment and leads adherents to place confidence in wealth and power rather than divine revelation. Babylon functions as a corrupt tree from its foundation in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, yielding only material benefits while generating spiritual, social, and moral decay that cannot be straightened. It acknowledges God yet rejects true knowledge of Him, resulting in unfaithfulness, lack of mercy, and violence that culminates in the blood of prophets and saints. The system attracts through sensory appeal and ambition but cannot produce abundant or eternal life, as it operates on human experience and humanism rather than obedience to revelation. God therefore commands His people to come out of her spiritually by adopting different attitudes, perspectives, and conduct, lest they share in her judgment and destruction, for the entire entity stands opposed to His sovereign purpose and will be thrown down with violence, never to rise again.
The Spirit of Babylon
Sermonette by David C. GrabbeThe Spirit of Babylon is couched in brazen outlook of the goddess Inanna/Ishtar, the femme fatale who asserted her free will to overcome the influence of Eden.
Communication and Coming Out of Babylon (Part 2)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughBabylon functions as a worldwide spiritual entity whose influence cannot be escaped through physical separation. Its power operates through the invisible communication of beliefs, values, and practices absorbed from the cultures into which people are born. This absorption occurs without resistance, beginning in childhood, and becomes embedded in attitudes and character because the source of those elements is Satan, who deceives the whole world as the god of this age. The communication reaches humanity both through the five senses and, more dangerously, through direct spirit influence that bypasses sensory perception entirely. Spirit beings transfer thoughts into human minds without sound, sight, or any detectable signal, motivating belief, speech, or action while remaining undetected. The Bible identifies this influence as the course of the world, an aggregate of carnal dispositions, mindsets, and inclinations that Satan drives through the prince of the power of the air. Although cultures differ in expression, the course remains uniformly evil because it originates from the same deceptive spirit. This spiritual entity holds people in bondage to damaging traits long after conversion begins, requiring deliberate rejection of its influence to fulfill the command to come out of Babylon and avoid its plagues. The process reveals that human nature itself reflects the heart of the spirit being who first communicated evil to mankind, making replacement of that nature through God's gift the only means of genuine separation.
The Spirit of Babylon (Part Two)
CGG Weekly by David C. GrabbeBabylon as a spiritual entity manifests as an enduring anti-God spirit that originated long before Abraham with the priestess Enheduanna, who taught that individuals could overcome Eden's constraints and assume prerogatives belonging to God Himself. This same spirit is reflected in Enheduanna's ascriptions to the goddess Inanna of the power to transform men into women and women into men, as well as Inanna's disregard for the divine order of marriage through her taking of lovers despite her union with Dumuzi. The entity reappears in later iterations such as Ashtoreth, whose worship incorporated Asherah poles that served as phallic symbols mocking the order God established in Eden, and Venus, the goddess associated with unrestricted sexual activity. The spirit continues to animate visceral opposition to patriarchy, the husband and father as head of the family, which God instituted in Eden. Its cultural expressions reached Canaanite society and influenced even the Israelites, as evidenced by Achan's recognition and desire for a Babylonian garment after forty years in the wilderness, leading him to defy God's instructions. This pervasive Babylonian influence is prophesied to maintain its hold over human minds until the return of Jesus Christ.
Our High Priest
Sermon by James BeaubelleBabylon appears in the present age as a spiritual entity marked by profound moral decline and corruption that constantly challenges God's covenant people. It presents an alluring image of wealth and reasonableness while lacking any genuine spiritual health or strength to submit to God even in basic lawkeeping and selfless conduct. Its core remains rotten, concealing the sickness and stench of death beneath music, pleasure, and claims that solutions lie just ahead, yet it supplies only a quantity of life without quality or lasting purpose. This entity holds men's carnal nature in its grip, sustaining the pressure of selfish want so that people drift from one day to the next, devoting little effort to measuring their days or seeking God. Two primary factors sustain this condition: widespread sin, both known and unknown, and minimal focus on matters that secure future good. The result is a culture of death in which drifting becomes normal, exposing the unwary to cross-contamination from pervasive misinformation, perversion, and ungodly behavior that gradually appears acceptable. Such drifting leaves individuals without protection, vulnerable to exhaustion and the false notion that God has withdrawn. God nevertheless remains fully aware of these daily struggles and has already declared that Babylon will be destroyed, avenging His people while they wait to receive the promises. The call to come out of her is therefore directed specifically to those in covenant relationship with Him, urging them to separate from this spiritually sick system so they may hold fast their confession, give earnest heed to the words of the Son, and labor to enter the rest that remains for the people of God.
Influence of Leavening
Sermonette by James BeaubelleBoth the Old and New Testaments illustrate that sin is subtle, persuasive, and deeply rooted, prompting Almighty God to call His saints to come out of Babylon.
Where the Eagles Are Gathered
Sermonette by David C. GrabbeThe Olivet Prophecy foretells a gathering of eagles or vultures in anticipation of God's judgment. Will they mistake us for the nearly-dead?
Laodiceanism and Being There Next Year
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughBabylon functions as a spiritual entity embodying a deceptive way of life that exerts an ever-present pull on those called by God. Its influence is portrayed through the imagery of wine that initially offers a pleasant and energizing effect yet produces a secondary depression of the spirit, resulting in spiritual drunkenness. Those who imbibe become intoxicated with its attitudes and conduct, so that their perception of reality grows fuzzy and distorted, their minds lose focus, and their bodies fail to respond normally to righteous direction. This condition fosters false confidence and bravado while removing inhibitions, destroying modesty, restraint, and loyalty within covenant relationships. Figurative fornication depicts the faithlessness that arises when people turn from exclusive devotion to God and blend His truth with pagan practices, producing a syncretistic system in which lip service is given to the Creator while daily conduct conforms to the surrounding culture. The entity therefore competes directly with the relationship established through Christ's sacrifice, diverting attention from diligent seeking of God through study, prayer, meditation, fasting, and obedience. Prosperity supplied by the land intensifies the danger, as material increase encourages self-indulgence, divided hearts, and the conclusion that numerical or financial growth proves divine approval. Those affected settle into spiritual ease, evaluate themselves as needing nothing further from God, and drift into practical indifference regarding His governance and judgment. The process of sanctification is thereby interrupted, leaving the individual conformed to the world rather than to God and facing the second death unless the relationship is actively strengthened.
Prophets and Prophecy (Part Three)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughBabylon emerged in the sixth century BC as the fountainhead of a new civilization that reshaped the world through simultaneous destruction and creation of nations and cultures. The prophet Daniel identified Babylon as the head of gold in the prophetic image, establishing it as the standard by which subsequent empires measured themselves. This influence persisted through the ages, so that the New Testament identifies the present world system as Mystery, Babylon the Great rather than any later power such as Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, or Israel. Babylon supplied the foundational categories of thought, social order, political structures, economic practices, philosophy, and theology that continue to govern human affairs. Its character blended with Israelitish dominance in recent centuries, producing a syncretism of Christian and Babylonian concepts that still dominates global life. The same Babylonian image that began at that axial turning point will remain until the next great reversal, when the Kingdom of God replaces it at the return of Christ. Thus Babylon functions as the enduring spiritual entity whose principles define the times of the Gentiles and against which the final prophetic work of warning and preparation is directed.
Laodiceanism
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughBabylon functions as a spiritual entity embodied in the world's prevailing attitudes and values, which Christians must exit through conversion. Its alluring qualities appear as the head of gold and are detailed in Revelation 17 and 18 as idolatry, prostitution, self-sufficiency, self-glorification, pride, complacency, reliance on luxury and wealth, avoidance of suffering, and violence against life. Pride, satiety, and avoidance of suffering combine to create an environment that fosters Laodiceanism in the careless Christian. The world itself largely reflects Satan's creation, transmitting these influences into the church when members bring their former ways with them. Worldliness consists of the love of beauty without a corresponding love of righteousness, as illustrated in Genesis 3:6 where Eve saw the fruit as good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise yet lacked commitment to what is right. Babylon produces many appealing things, yet employing them apart from righteousness results in abuse of the body, the earth, and human relationships. This same matrix of self-centeredness generates Laodicean indifference, in which believers become lukewarm toward their relationship with Christ while remaining active in material pursuits. The remedy lies in choosing the Holy Spirit over the spirit of the world, the tree of life over the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the beauty of holiness over mere gratification. God supplies the means to overcome these temptations while holding each person accountable, so that the faithful strive to build rather than abuse the relationship that constitutes salvation.
Globalism and the Wisdom of Men
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe disintegration of the Catholic Church and the greater church of God have eerie parallels. We must seek the wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of men.