Bible Readings for the Home
Chapter 51
The Second Angel's Message
What
announcement is made by the second angel of Revelation 14?
"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of
the wrath of her fornication." Revelation 14:8.
To whom is
the term Babylon elsewhere applied?
"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand
full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her
forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF
HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." Revelation 17:4,5.
NOTES. - A woman, in
prophecy, denotes a church. Eze. 23:2-4; Jer. 3:1, 14, 20; Rom. 7:4; Rev.
14:4, 5.
What does
the apostle call the church that has become corrupted by worldly
alliances?
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of
the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God." James 4:4.
NOTE. - Babylon is
also said to commit fornication.
And what
is that called which was to reveal the "man of sin," or the papacy?
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition." 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
NOTE. - If a "falling
away" in this case means apostasy, the "fall" of Babylon must be a moral
fall, caused by a departure from the simplicity of the gospel.
What work
was this "mother of harlots" seen to engage in?
"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and
with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration." Revelation 17:6.
What was
in the hand of this woman?
"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand
full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication." Revelation 17:4.
What
effect had this wine (false doctrine) upon those to whom it was given?
"With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the
inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her
fornication." Revelation 17:2.
This woman
is said to be the "mother" of harlots. Are there any churches which have
sprung from the mother church of Rome, directly or indirectly, and which
resemble her in doctrine or otherwise?
"If the church of Rome were ever guilty of idolatry in relation to the
saints, her daughter, the Church of England, stands guilty of the same,
which has ten churches dedicated to Mary for one dedicated to Christ."
Catholic Christian Instructed, page 18.
Mr. Hopkins, in a treatise on the millennium, says: "There is no reason to
consider the anti-Christian spirit and practices confined to that which is
now called the church of Rome. The Protestant churches have much of
Antichrist in them, and are far from being wholly reformed from corruption
and wickedness."
"There is a powerful element of Romanism in all the larger Protestant
bodies. The clergymen do not teach to the people the Bible itself in its
purity and simplicity, but they require them to receive instead a system
of clerical interpretations of the Bible." Literal Christian.
What
confessions have been made by leading men, which show that they consider
the churches to be in a fallen condition?
"A confession can be had from the lips of the pastors of most of our
churches, that in our midst there are wicked, unholy, corrupt men who
maintain their position, and are saved from a righteous discipline, either
by their wealth or social position. It is true of this church, and it is
true of many of the churches around us. If a ship should go to sea with as
many rotten timbers as we have spiritually rotten members, it would go to
the bottom in twenty-four hours... One thoughtful, intelligent layman, a
member of the church which is a leader in its denomination, said the other
day, 'Our church has degenerated into a great, strong, social, fashionable
organization.' " G. F .Pentecost, in Christian Statesman of Jan.
8, 1876.
Robert Atkins, also, in a sermon preached in London, said: "The
truly righteous are diminished from the earth, and no man layeth it to
heart. The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are
lovers of the world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature comfort,
and aspirers after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ,
but they shrink from even reproach. Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy,
is engraved on the very front of every church; and did they know it, and
did they feel it, there might be hope; but alas! they cry, 'We are
rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing.' "
What does
Paul say of the condition of the church in the last days?
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For
men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural
affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers
of those that are good. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof: from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
How does
the prophet elsewhere describe the condition of Babylon?
"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." Revelation 18:2.
Where will
many of God's people be found when this cry is at its height?
"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." Revelation 18:4.
In this
call to "come out" of Babylon, what message does the Lord send to guide
His people into the truth for these days?
"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any
man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead,
or in his hand. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and
he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment
ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who
worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his
name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:9-12.
NOTE. - It is worthy of notice that the first of these angels has simply
an announcement to make of the judgment at hand; the second tells the
condition of the religious world, and exposes its unfitness to meet its
record in the judgment previously announced; while the third provides a
remedy whereby the people may be made ready to meet the judgment and the
coming King. Thus subject is treated in the next chapter (52).
Previous
