Uh, dexel. They would resume teaching on defeat and humiliation of Babylon part 2 and we had started from the 47th chapter of Isaiah and I was telling y'all about the symbolism involved in the picture of the woman and I'm not gonna read the whole thing again last week I read the whole of 47th chapter come down and sit in the dust so virgin daughter of Babylon sit on the ground there's no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstone and grind mill, uncover thine locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers, thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, they shall, shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance and I will not meet thee as a man. The Babylon, I tell you, they use a lot of symbolism and we see Babylon as symbolizing a woman, metaphorically as a woman, as being a woman, but there's a lot more involved. But there's a lot of alluring qualities to Babylon. In other words, there's a seductive factor about Babylon and with her Entertainments and the things she offer the revelations speaking of Babylon The last day the latter-day Babylon, which is part of this dual prophecy Because I told you in predictive prophecies sometime you have a dual fulfillment in an earlier time a time during the Old Testament but you have a latter-day fulfillment and this one occurs in the book of Revelations and Revelation 2 17 chapter 1 through the 6th verse says Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me saying Come here. I will show you the judgment and doom of the great prostitute Who is seated on many waters? influencing nations She with whom the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality and inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated with the wine of her immorality." That's seated on many waters depicts over a many people, waters there being a group of large number of people. And it's over the peoples of the earth, as she said to Strauss, the peoples of the earth. And it says, and the angels carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was entirely covered with blasphemous names, having seven heads and 10 horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, she was holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and of the filth of her sexual immoralities. This is the wine of the cup of the doctrines of the nations of the teachings of the harlot of Babylon in which Jeremiah talked about drinking of the cup, drinking of the wine of her wrath. It says that on her forehead a name written Mystery, a mystery. Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots or prostitutes, that is, false religions or heresies or false teachings or misguided doctrines and tales. It says, and of the abominations of the earth, I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, in other words, with God's people. She had destroyed a lot of God's people, had brought many of and as I said at the funeral yesterday, a lot of God's people have been put to death at the hand of evil men. There's a lot of men and women been destroyed by God. There's a Babylonian people part of the Babylonian system. Spouses, children, parents, relatives, and the like has all suffered at the hands of of this Babylonian woman, this seductive spirit, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus who were marred. When I saw her, I wondered in amazement. Now, as his head of gold, Babylon's alluring qualities are manifest in the world. and we must avoid these to keep from being ensnared. My wife was talking about the way that she, I don't know if it was voice activated or how it was doing it, but each time I would quote a scripture yesterday that it would pop up on the screen or whatever, the scripture verse would pop up on the screen. All of these allurements are dice or whatever, but it's all part of the world. We must, use the world, but not abuse the world, but not let these attractions carry us away and this entertainment carry us away and be enthralled by it. These traits are clearly delineated in Revelation 17 and 18. And they are a broad area of possible temptations and trials for the people of God, for the people, because he says, he believe in them in the world, but keep them from the evil that's in the world. And through the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, is where we get entangled. in Babylon again, and that's what I was talking about, going into such a place as that we were in yesterday, and I was asking about the pastor. The father had died, and she said her mother was the pastor, and she's the acting pastor while her mother's gone or whatever. And I had to, as I referenced the pastor's position, I had to respect that position or whatever. But it was all, and like I give you words like dichotomy or paradoxical, or when you're speaking, I tell people I had to go into the lines then yesterday. Because anybody that would be given over to, we see in the book of revelation where it says Jezebel, the prophetess, the prophetess Jezebel, the doctrines of Balaam and Balak. And there are a lot of people that go there for instructions or whatever. But denominations and different people, and I'm telling you about Vody Bokom, who had to turn down the event in which T.D. Jakes was going to be at or whatever because The younger people are the people of the world, are the people that are not too strong religiously or whatever. given to the world and intermingling with the world and love of Babylon. You remember I told you those Jews that didn't leave Babylon when Cyrus told them to return to that place don't realize the doctrines of devils and the seducing spirits. And I told the people, I said, well, I bet you nobody in here or the younger people couldn't move such the Harris into listening at that doctrine of that teaching that she would be circumspective of it and that she wouldn't be tossed through and for by every wind of doctrine because right off the bat, it's not a biblical church. It's not a New Testament church because I have a woman as a pastor. If you're going there to teachings and listening at preachers and everything, well, you know, maybe you're on the wrong track. I don't know what would get a preacher to come there to preach or whatever. But I tried to get out of it several times or whatever, but Sister Harris' daughter said she really wanted me to do the eulogy, and that's why I offered the definition of a eulogy. before I started to say anyone can do the eulogy. A eulogy is just speaking well of the individual. But as a pastor, I was more than happy to do that, even though it was at a church that I didn't believe, that I don't believe in their teachings and their way of what they're doing thing. I think it's a part of the Babylonian system. There's idolatry, prostitution, or holatry. In other words, The fornication or adultery or holotry we're talking about is spiritual. In other words, it's strange doctrines, doctrines that are not biblically sound. I heard you saying that one of your son-in-laws or whatever went to a few classes or things there or whatever. right off there we see a contradiction in the word of God there when they says Paul says he do not allow a woman to teach or usurp authority over a man where is a problem within itself one of the reasons we the some of the Attributes are the things of Babylon, the reason he's destroying Babylon and we see this condemnation of the dethrone and the humiliation of Babylon. It's Babylon's self-sufficiency, Babylon's self-glorification, the pride of Babylon, the complacency, the reliance on luxury, the luxuries of life and the things of life. Wealth, the avoidance of suffering, not wanting to suffer, not liking going through suffering, in which we all have to go in with a suffer to enter in, just as Christ suffered to enter into His glory. Also, their violence against life. Their violence against life, an anti-God stance on life, a Pharisee ethical standing in what they stand for. That's why I was saying that church is one of the most exclusive clubs. And a lot of times what you learn at church, it's not necessarily the things you go back home and talk about. You may not talk to your spouse or your children about it because it says, cast not thy pearls before swine. So if they wanted to hear those things, if they believed in finding or seeking out God, they would come to Bible study or come to church themselves. Once we go back and tell our spouses or relatives or people outside of the church some of the intricacies of things that the church have taught us saying, we're casting our pearls before swine or we're allowing our hand to be weakened because Satan is tipped off in our beliefs and sometimes he gets the upper hand. on some of the weaker of us members who don't see the strength of this harlot of Babylon, of this Babylonian system that we're up against. Especially emphasized in these chapters is the pride that is Babylon glorified herself. And second is the saiety of Babylon, that is to seek the fullness of everything. You want the most luxurious of vehicles, of clothing, of cars, of eating, of places of abode, places of worship. You know, places like that, they're full, but They are empty because their Laodiceans, Laodiceanism existed. They think they have everything, but they're wretched, poor, and naked. That's why I told you, I said, well, I'll just go in my old car or whatever. And I went on and left in my car or whatever because You know, a lot of people get carried away with cars. They get carried away with things. Me and my wife was watching television the other night, and it was advertising this truck. I think it was the F-150, Ford's basic style F-150, the newer F-150. And I think they say that base model was at $56,000. 56, now that's without any financing, that's sticker price, in other words, that's the price of it without being financed, and they probably financed it, that probably would be a cash price without the tax on it. But if it's financed, they go finance it seven, eight years, I don't know how many years with financing, but I told her, I think with seven or eight years of financing, I think that would run about $1,500 to $1,600 a month. just for the note on it. That's without insurance. So we're living in an age and time in which people just chalk it up as being the cost of living or the time of living because they have a Babylonian attitude, disposition, or mindset. It is especially regarding to use and regarding of seeking food or becoming full. And I was telling y'all about people tailgating and some of the things coming up on Christmas. Before Christmas or Thanksgiving or whatever get here, we bought a freezer full of food and we have so much food on those days that a lot of it is thrown away. A lot of it is not used or passed over or whatever, and it hurts me. That's why I don't be around a lot of holiday gatherings or whatever, because the way I was raised and what the environment I was in, I'm kind of like Jesus. I would say, wrap up the pieces, take up the fragments so none is wasted. But the young people now don't. They throw away so much. They waste so much food. They miss over so much food. I don't go to buffets or whatever because there's so much waste that goes about. We are a wasteful nation. We are a wasteful world. They throw away coins, you know, they don't, quarters, nickels, or even dollars, that's no money to them. You could go put gas in your vehicle or something and see all types of change or money around the pumps or places or whatever, because it's really no money to them. It's their outlook on life that's part of the Babylonian system. Everything depends on being overfull, and you eat until you can't eat anymore. You want to be entertained all the time. That's why people get the internet and cable and all of these things. You could get up to a few hundred dollars a month just with television services, with those premium services and everything. And you want to watch thousands of movies. That means you're constantly being entertained. It's always something new. And we don't like the old anymore, cast that out or whatever. We'll see that was a problem why God called Israel Sodom and Gomorrah. Israel and Judy call them Sodom and Gomorrah because it was their seite, their fullness of bread, if you would read in Ezekiel. It wasn't because of homosexuality wasn't the main reason. It was seite, in other words, fullness of bread. It was that the reason of that destruction. Sad to have can apply to other things other than just food. As I told you, it could be entertainment. It could be into any sort of things that we never get enough of. It's a lot of people can't get enough of sex. It's a lot of people that can't get enough of They start gambling. They can't get enough of money off. You could be a workaholic. Anything that's not done in moderation is addictive, becomes addictive, and it's given to wastefulness or given to be sinned against. Some people lose themselves in entertainment. A little bit of entertainment is not enough. Their whole lives must consist of entertainment, going to bed with the television on, doing something this weekend. The weekend is hardly over without them planning the next weekend, planning what they could do the next month, planning what they could do the next night. We will get together. even the churches. It's something going on at the churches day in and day out. Given the multitasking and continually being entertained going through these things, Revelation 18 and 7 says that the great harlot live luxuriously. In other words, an abundance of wealth of prosperity. Then there's avoidance of suffering. and where she said, I shall see no sorrow, that she wouldn't be given to childbirth, that she wouldn't be held down by children. I know a lot of word of faith churches and things cast the devil out and they don't look at sickness. If you're sick, something is wrong. If you have illness or whatever, nothing but prosperity or whatever and not wanting to suffer. And not under the frame of mind is that if we receive good at the hand, shouldn't we be able to receive bad also? They don't want to suffer. And I was telling them about our dear sister that departed yesterday. I put that eulogy online. The first part of it, it starts off with singing, where the lady was singing. But after the singing got, I don't know, it kind of went off the rails. I cut it off and just started with the eulogy on it. But the eulogy starts with the singing. But I put the eulogy online. But anyhow, no suffering, a lack of suffering. that were there, you know, a lot of people and a lot of preaching that I've been hearing addresses the issues. There were two or three women there that were apostles. They called themselves apostles. They were listed as apostles on programs, and most people catch that off right away. There are no apostles to date. There's no people that occupy the office of apostle. You could maybe want to say that it's a position, but That's a little bit misleading or whatever, but whenever you see those things, that's something to be weary of when people used to call themselves apostles. It may be a little bit misleading. And then there are these three interrelated when combined with the other attitudinal factors. They become the perfect matrix for producing Laodiceanism. in the careless Christians, and we could be careless, I was telling them yesterday about careless Christians, or carnal Christians, or those that are baby Christians, that the world is, they already largely caught up in these things, but they all are a temptation to us to a factor that we'll end up overcome, ensnared by these things again. It's a lot of men or women, and one of the books of the Bible says, tell not her that layeth in your bosom everything. Some men tell their wives everything, and some spouses tell their husbands everything. Sometime that could be a problem also. Some things you may have to keep to yourselves. It's not that you're keeping secrets or anything or whatever, but you're keeping something away that could become a harm, become a vice to us sometime. I used that word matrix just now. Matrix is described in the dictionary as an environment in which something is developed in. In some cases, it is synonymous with another better known, more frequently used word in the Bible, the womb. The womb of a woman. The womb is where things are formed. That's where we were formed. The Bible says, I knew you and I formed you in the womb. David said, I was conceived in iniquity and shaping in iniquity. A lot of us, this world, this is a matrix. In other words, we're shaping in this world and by the things of this world. That's why in Christ Jesus, when we are born again, and he calls us out of Babylon, and when we are born again, We're a new creation in Christ Jesus. We have a new mind and it says, let that same mind be in you that's in Christ Jesus. We have to have a new shape of the mind and this world is no longer our home. So the mother of the world that brought us forth, we look at a mother is bringing something home or bring it to life. Eve was the mother of the living, of life. That's why he called his wife named Eve. He called the woman Eve. She had brought forth those. But see, the world which brought us forth is no longer our mother, our home. We're not of this world any longer. We've been born again. Of necessity, we have to be born again. We are in this society, living right in the midst of the perfect environment for developing this Laodiceanism, which is why it is so important that we understand the origin, the nature, and the fruit of what the Israelitish culture that has become the epitome of the Babylonian system, what the Israelites experienced or went through, and what we're talking about here, Isaiah 57 chapter that he was destroying Babylon because of what they did Israel is the same way with the church which see that was a type and shatter that which the church has become Indeed and he's calling the church out of Babylon the culture of the world has shaped in the church and he's saying come out of her I told you yesterday that was a four or five churches there that he says, repent unless I come and remove your lamp stand, remove your light, that candlestick. He removes the nucleus, what keeps us lit because the church is in need of repentance. It's been shaped by the world. They have let the church, have allowed the world into the church. Babylon, the church has become Babylon and it's become inhabited by every foul bird, every foul and evil spirit. That's what's been happening to the church. All of this wickedness is in the church. Now he has to purge the church. That's why he's calling us out of Babylon. And that's why I said it can't be geographical. And I said, Babylon is not the church. It's not a church. It's a system and it has three different aspects of it, which one is religion, a spiritual entity. but we talked about it being the beast of governmental aspect of it. Babylon's pride, and that's one thing about pride, and I was telling you about the building and the people were proud of the Jerusalem Temple, and it says, not a stone upon a stone shall be left. All of it was gonna be torn down. We're proud of the buildings, we're proud of these different things that Babylon had pride. Jeremiah, the fifth, the first chapter, the six through the seven verses, flee out of the midst of Babylon and deliver every man and soul. Be not cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance. he will render unto her a recompense. Babylon had been a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunk, and the nations have drunk of the wine of her fornication. That is, a golden cup is babbled in the hand of, in other words, this intoxicating brew that he had told Jeremiah that he was gonna send unto all nations to drink of. So this spiritual aspect is the wine of his wrath that they had been made to drink of. Jeremiah sees the material splendor of Babylon, but the wine that she makes the nations of the earth drink will result in God's wrath coming down upon the whole world because Satan, the devil, deceived the whole world. Babylon is the world system. It's the whole world, the whole cosmo, the cosmological order. As God's hammer, Babylon was strong and as a cup of gold, she was rich and beautiful, but neither saves her from a ruin. God tells his people, love not the world nor the things of the world. for all of his passing away. It was put there for a use for the shaper and create his help, create his people that could be made in his image and his likeness, but he calls them out of the world. Their loyalty is to God and not to the world. And by faith, that is what they don't see. Walking by faith, not by sight. that come out of the world. Jeremiah therefore admonishes everyone to flee this perverse world-ruling system, and that's what the prophets, the preachers, and teachers today tells the people to flee, come out of Babylon, as in Revelations 18 and 4. The global scourge of slavery is the essence of the Babylonian slavery system that the prophet Jeremiah warned about. Now, in its zenith, In the last days, Babylon's perversions, the audacity I had entitled, last weeks before I put Babylon's destruction in humility, I had the word audacity. Babylon's pride and represents the height of direct defiance against God Almighty. It was like Babel. You remember the tower of Babel in which God scattered the people? Well, Babylon, the end day, the last day Babylon represents the global man. his rejection and his resistance against God, and it has the number 66, the number of man. That's the Babylon, that's the world, that's that system that's against God. This humanly devised governmental, religious, educational, and economic system controlling the world today originates from Satan's initial rebellion against God And where was that led by? It was the woman that was in that transgression. And that's why we look at the symbolism of a woman here. And that's why I say when those churches, and that's why Paul says he suffered a woman not to teach or usurp authority. Whenever you see that where the woman is the head, we can see maybe a backwardness in the home and the church or whatever it may be. Satan the adversary has done a tremendous job of enslaving the whole world under the system of slavery So if you have that vehicle, I was just telling you about that brand new truck. You have to go to work each day. You're tied to getting up, and you have to go. You have that new home. You have those notes. That's why the Bible kind of say, no old no man anything. I'm not saying don't have anything, and I'm not saying you can't drive nice things, but be careful how do you get those things. You have to have God, and know He gives you power to get well. of those things that bring you into bondage. And that's why the kings of the earth were in such tears and crying because Babylon was being destroyed. In other words, all that they had, all that they had invested in was being destroyed when Babylon was falling and falling and they was watching the smoke of a burning. Let me see, can I get to that point? I don't know if I can get there. I'm way behind here. I'm 12 pages behind. Babylon has glorified itself. Jeremiah 51 and 45. It's called Shishak in some places Babylon is. Babylon has been captured and the praise of the whole earth has been seized. How Babylon has become an astonishing desolation and an object of horror. Now he is speaking about Babylon falling in those days, which was virtually everybody would have thought of impossible. It would be just like saying the United States going broke today or not being a military power. Those people and preachers that are preaching saying about the nation's go fall. And it wasn't so extraordinary when they was talking about an almost fall of democracy that occurred back in January of 2020, January 6th, when they stormed the Capitol. This man, who wasn't very smart, almost brought democracy down here. think of a Ron DeSantis or somebody within that Republican Party that's much more smarter than this guy would be. That the makings is still there for the fall of the nation from democracy. At this time he calls for the praise of the nation This means essentially that it's the greatest of nation, and everybody's praising, and that's what they were doing for this nation, and this is the great United States of America, the number one superpower in the world, and they look to this nation. So just like they're looking to this nation, during that time, they were looking as Babylon the Great. They called it Babylon the Great. But I tell you, Babylon is a spiritual entity, also Second Timothy. 4, 3, 2, 5 says, for there's going to come a time when people won't listen to the truth, but will go around looking for teachers who would tell them just what they want to hear. They won't listen to what the Bible says, but will blightly follow their own misguided ideas. Stand steady and don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Bring others to Christ. Leave nothing undone that you ought to do. The Amplified reads, for the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instructions that challenges them with God's truth. But wanting to have their eels tickle with something pleasing, they will accumulate for themselves many teachers, one after another, to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold and will turn away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fables. But as for you, be clear-headed in every situation, stay calm and cool and steady, endure every hardship. Without flinching, do the work of evangelist, fulfill the ministry, the duty of your ministry. So we see here, We are in those perilous times. The seducing spirits are here. Doctrines of devils, that word seducing, temptress, a lot of times it may seem like feminine language, the word seducing, with long flowing hair and doctrine that takes down your God, but The teaching throughout the world, and you was talking about going to hear different teaching, be careful what's being taught. I told them the other day, be careful what you hear here. Those different doctrines and teachings, it's a fad or it's what everybody hearing. I don't know what, it's an interdenominational thing where ecumenism and this evangelistic move and all of these people getting together and we all want That's very dangerous. We in dangerous time and perilous times. It gradually wears people down. It wears one down. Being alert too long sometimes has a tendency to wear you down. Always being alert, not getting sleep or rest. But we should be able to rest in the Lord and let him carry the load. So Christians are being persecuted, Christians are being overcome and overwhelmed because they're not walking circumspectively. Babylon is deceiving the whole world in this gradual this seducing spirit, these doctrines, this fornication, they're drinking the wine of the wrath of Babylon because Satan ministers are being transformed into angels of light. So coming into the inner church teaching and preaching in a global world, we're hearing things that sounds good. It sounds pleasing to the ear. It sounds Christian. and it relaxes your guard, it takes the sharp edge off of the word of God. It takes the steadfastness away from there. It causes you to wanna keep your family together, but sometime you may have to lose your family. Sometime it says, I've not come to bring us peace, but I've come to bring us forward. I've come to set you at variance with one another. These Christians were gradually weakening rather than growing strong and beginning to feel that the best thing to do was to give in or give up, inch by inch, to what was happening. They were caving in, just like Samson eventually caved in to his wife and she said, you don't love me, you don't tell me your secret. If you don't tell me everything, you don't love me. She was in control. The woman seeks to control everything. Beginning in the garden when he says that your husband shall bow rule over you But you will your desire would be to control him your desire shall be into your husband That's what he told chain. He says sins desire shall be over truck be unto you Sins could try to control you Babylon seeks to control you Babylon seeks to be over you Now they were beginning to request of the ministry teachings that were deviating from the truth that the apostles had given them. moving away from, that's holding and that's old-fashioned. It used to be that the men would do this and the women wouldn't do that, but it's all right to have a woman pastor. It's all right for the women to do this. Old-fashioned. You don't have to marry. You can just live together. They're allowing same-sex marriage and they're allowing all these things. They're letting the guard down. Typically things that used to be forbidden to do, they're doing it all now and they're allowing it in the churches. The churches have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. Biblically, Babylon can be a city or a nation. Though it's sometimes figuratively portrayed as a woman, it is not a church. Remember I told you, it's not a church. It's a system. In prophecy, especially in the New Testament, it symbolizes the worldly system opposed to God. So anything that's opposed to God is Babylon. It's a portion of Babylon. However, whatever guides it's in, however it's dressed up, it's Babylon if it's opposed to God. One must discern from the context in which Babylon appears, which interpretation is intended. But experience shows that Babylon is overwhelmingly signifies a nation, and that's why I keep telling you about the United States, but it's also a group of nations. But Babylon also is the cosmo, it's the whole world order, it's all of the nations. Even when it suggests being a city, we have to remember that God often uses a city to represent the entire nation, just like Jerusalem represented the people of God. The woman of Revelation 17th chapter, and of Isaiah 47th chapter, is a woman. Let's read the fifth through the seventh verses, the 17th chapter of Revelations, since we've already read Isaiah, the 47th chapter. It says, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, the mother of prostitutes, in other words, as I said, false religions, the abominations of the earth. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, who were marred. When I saw her, I wondered in amazement, but this angel said to me, why do you wonder? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and seven horns." Now, it is interesting that God labeled this woman as a mystery. A lot of people say women have always been mysterious. It's hard to figure a woman out. they're always labeled mysterious. He goes on to say through the angel, I will show you the mystery of the woman and of the beast. Revelation 17 and 18 contain many clues as to her identification. Now that word mystery in Strong's is number 3466. And I'll give you a word, the word mystery and I've told you many times is defined is that which denotes not the mysterious, not like an English word, not like a mystery movie or something where you could figure out the ending of it or whatever. It's not like that. That's not what the word mystery means. But that which being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, in other words, outside of God's something, supernatural. That's why he gives us the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us into all truth and to reveal the mystery of godliness to us through the preaching of God's Word. Paul says he's made known the mystery of godliness. This mystery can be made known only by divine revelation. And what do we have? We have the revelation of Jesus Christ, who shows us his people, his disciples, all things, if we continue in his word, if we are his disciples. So I said we can't understand God's word outside of him showing it and explaining it to us, that we have a perspective that he gives us, being born again with the mind of God. and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God and to those only who are illuminated by God's spirit. In other words, a mystery in the biblical sense, in the Greek sense, is something that is unattainable by common human research, but is revealed by God so that his children, that is his people, can understand it. Now, this revelation is not something that is just contained in words. And I was telling the people the other day, to study, to show yourself approved, a worker that need not be ashamed, a writer divided, but we also must pray. Remember, to get the understanding of mysteries and what was going on, Daniel prayed. God's people have to pray to God. We have to pray. Desire anything anything you ask the father in my name what we request through prayer in the name of Jesus But it is something that God gives to the heart and mind of his children that they are Desirous to believe in it and that's why I say it's by faith. He gives us a heart to believe We have to have that heart to believe through circumcision All of this I summarized yesterday, that circumcision under his imputed righteousness. And they do. It does not take a lot of brain power, but it takes instead a gift from God to believe, which his children has. He gives freely this to his children. That's why Daniel couldn't understand this in the book of Daniel. Remember he says, seal up the book. And it would be revealed in the last days. This word then parallels Daniel 10 and 12, 12 and 10, I mean, which says that at the end, the wise shall understand that we'll grow in knowledge, will increase, and we'll grow in wisdom and knowledge and understanding because he's revealing these things unto the church, to his people, and it's made known to his church. Revelation 17 and five, as we go along that line about the beast and the woman, about that on her forehead, the abomination of harlots. And what about this statement, the mother of harlots? Now in past, a lot of us, I didn't talk about it yesterday, but I talked about it last week in Bible study. We've referred to the harlot children as being the Protestant churches that revolted against the Catholic church. But I think what we have to understand what that word harlot means, or woman means, or children, because the word woman, and I told you he uses the symbolism of woman, but woman in this context, you remember I told you you have to see what context it's in to understand what Babylon is, or who, or what is Babylon? Sometime a woman, and I tell you, could be a city or a nation, It's man and woman, just like when they talk about man, they're talking about man and woman. There's no male or female in Jesus Christ. Sometimes it's talking about them collectively. God had and Hosea physically act out what had happened in God's relationship. And God sometime pleads, it says, plead with your mother for she is not my wife. Well, it makes it clear that he's talking not about Israel and not about God's people, but that God was married to Jerusalem, but Jerusalem was acting not like his wife. Remember, I say he called them Sodom and Gomorrah. He married all of Israel, not just Jerusalem. So when he talks about coming out of her by people, he had another flock to bring with him, another fold to bring with it. He's talking about all these people, Jew or Gentile, he's talking about the church. So that this woman could be either male or female, It could be boy or girl Babylon as a woman of the revelations the 16th chap 17th and 19th verse Then the seven angel poured out his bowl into the air And the loud voice came out of the temple from the throne of God saying it is done. It is all over It is accomplished. It has come and there were flashes of lightning and loud rumbling and peals of thunder. I The great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nation failed and God kept in mind Babylon the great to give her the cup of the wine of his fierceness and his furious wrath. Why was he doing this? Because of the way they had treated his people. It tells you in the book of Isaiah where we were the 47th chapter, it says that the sixth verse, I was wroth with my people, I have polluted my inheritance and giving them into thy hand, thou didst show them no mercy upon the ancient thou hast very heavily laid thine yoke, and thou saidest, I shall be a lady forever. They oppress God's people, and I tell you about oppressing God's people, the orphan, touching his anointed, and babbling, those in the world, and that's why I was telling you about whether it was your spouse, your children, your parents, whoever it be, working against God's people, God's gonna punish you for transgression and working harm against God's people. Sometimes you pray for a husband and you misuse that husband that God blesses you with. You pray for a wife, you misuse that wife God blesses you with. You want children or whatever, you abuse, kill or destroy that. The material, whatever God has given you, you remember I told you, it's anything that's opposed to God. And I told you, it's seated, all of these things. So whatever we've asked for, those things we have in word or deed, even spiritually, coming into the church and saying you're born again and professing Christ. Well, there's some obligations and there's some other things of necessity that's tied up with naming the name of Christ or being what he does. He condemns sin in the flesh. So professing to be a child of God, it says, let him that name of Christ depart from iniquity. So if he's imputing his righteousness, I told him we must do something ourselves. We must put him on. That means we have to pull off the old man. So if we steal with those deeds and everything, he has to punish us in our sins of grave. That's Babylon the Great. So we have to face the wrath of his indignation because we've drunken of that cup. These verses are actually the introduction to chapter 17 and 18, which featured the description of Babylon the Great. They also, introduced the term great. Great has many applications, but in relation to Babylon it implies power, wealth, authority, Influence and evil and that's what's happening in the world. We have all of these things are being multiplied Covenants are being broken and it says in the book of Romans when they knew God they glorified him Not as God they glorified themselves they refused to glorify God. So God had given all of these to you to glorify you, now the wrath of God has to fall on the children of disobedience and it proves whether you're a child of God or not. Every fruit, every tree that doesn't bring forth good fruit shall be hewn down at the root. That's why he says, come out of her, my people, so you won't partake of her plagues. Because if you're influenced by whoever, you remember Ahab was influenced by his wife. Whoever influences of you, you still have to give account for the deeds done in your body. That's why I say, we have to know his word. We have to pray. We have to let that word do a sanctifying effect that is wash us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Or else we were refusing, we're blaspheming God. We're refusing to let the spirit of truth work in our lives and be washed. It says the bride had made herself ready. She was granted the white linen, the linen of the righteousness of the saints to wear white. They've been washed in the blood of the lamb. But if you reject his doctrine, you reject his teaching, you grab hold to some of Babylon's teaching, some of Babylon's doctrine, then you are carried away by that spirit of Babylon. You part of the Babylonian system. You resist God, and your sin becomes great. It's very great because now it's willful sin. You will be whipped with many more strikes than those outside of the church who never knew God. To know God, and they go say, Revelation 18 10 says they stand a fall and says Allah's Allah's Babylon that mighty city has fallen and they were looking and they were at are and they was crying and it was upset because of These people were land to sins. They were vested in the world. They were losing their churches. They were losing their homes. They were losing their families. They was losing all. Why? Because they was naked and wretched. It was Babylon. All of this was Babylonish garments that they had on. It says she has lived in luxury and pleasure. Match it now with torments and with sorrow. She boasts, I'm a queen set up on many thrones. I am no widow. I will not experience sorrow. But what happens is all of that wealth you're losing because it was built the wrong way. The book of Corinthians says, be careful how you build, because you will be tested with fire. That's the fiery judgment of God. Now, if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But we're not using the measure of the standards of God the false teachers and preachers, and the teachers, they have weakened us to believe that this was acceptable, that we wasn't working in a repentant state, we wasn't sorrowful. It says, dark will be her night, not even a lamp in a window will be seen again, no more joyous wedding bells, happy voices of the bridegrooms, her businessmen were known around the world, and she deceived all the nations. All of this working against God's men who were pleading with you, don't do it, don't do it. He may lose what he has and he will be like the wasteful son that his brother or someone else would rule on him because those things that he tried to save his marriage with, he lost his marriage. because it wasn't for God. God wasn't the motivating factor. He loved Babylon. He was laying up riches in Babylon, and all that perished, it burned up. The fire destroyed that. Only what's done for Christ in your heart and in your mind. Only that living that shows God that's not a part of Babylon. See, so great will be your lost if you call yourself deceiving man and you pleasing man. You're deceiving yourself, not man, not God. You're not deceiving the preacher because God's a good judge, Babylon. And if you part of Babylon, I love the things of Babylon that you would take part of her plagues because I don't know, like I was at Sister Harris' funeral yesterday and I was giving account of her life because that's what I saw. That's what I can tell God. But then God would come along and says, what about this? That's unseen. See, he says that he's gonna make her naked. Nakedness and a shame, these are signs of being bare before God. And you remember the land of sin that thought he was rich, thought he had need of nothing, was poor, wretched, naked, and miserable. And look at this woman. He says, oh daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground. There's no throne for you. You don't live in luxury. You're not what you thought you were. that take the millstone and grind mill, uncover thine locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, thy nakedness shall be uncovered. You thought that you were covered up. You thought nobody saw you, that you were supposed to be living this way and helping your spouse and doing all this, but you worked against your spouse. That's working against the kingdom of God because God lays out how a woman should treat a husband. It lays out how a husband should treat a his wife. It lays out how parents should treat their children and their children and their parents. That's why it says, he's going to turn the hearts of the fathers and the sons. He's going to know truly whether the spirit is turning you. That's why Jeremiah says, turn me and I shall turn. So no portion of you that has part of this Babylonian system is going to last because it's going to burn up. The fire that's going to burn you is the spirit of God. That's the act. He says the fire, he's going to come with fire and he wished that it was already lit. In other words, God's word is going to burn hard. The judgment of God's going to come in your life. Anything that's not like him, you're going to lose. It's going to be burned in the fire. So you know whether your wife truly loves you. whether your husband truly love you, whether your children, your relatives or these people truly love you, because what's not right, what's not true, what's not of God, what's a part of the Babylonian system, it says, this world is passing away. The elements gonna melt with fervor and heat. It's gonna be true darkness because God won't be there. He's gonna take away the light. You remember I said, he was gonna take away that light, that lamp stand from the church. A lot of churches gonna be in darkness that wasn't teaching the true doctrines of God. It's gonna be lights out for those that were teaching, going to these schools and seminars just because it costs money. And they say, I graduated from here, I went there. They wasn't following God, they were following man and the things of man. They were in Babylon. It was seducing spirits, doctrines of devils. It was palliative to man. In other words, it was something that was pleasure, It was self-seeking, it was self-glorifying, it was self-edifying. But it wasn't of God, it opposed God. You didn't lay aside every weight and sin that was besetting you. All of these things is going to cause you to burn. Those same things that you heaped up, they're going to be killing for the fire. That's why he says, pull off the old man. He showed us how to pull off that tabernacle. And like I tell people, Sister Harris wasn't suffering. She was laughing and smiling and talking and she faced the end of life. She had made peace and joy with God. She was ready to meet her maker. Now she's fought a good fight. Are we fighting a good fight? Are we coming out of Babylon? She used to love to hear me talk about come out of Babylon. And see, sometimes it's gonna cause conflict with those that are closer to you. It's gonna cause conflict with those that's trying to be seen. It's gonna cause an uproar to Those are, and they go cry because Babylon, Babylon is fallen. It's being destroyed. Heavenly father, as we come before you this day, Lord God, I ask you to strengthen me in your word. Strengthen me in your way, Lord God. Strengthen me. What is happening here?