Spirit of Babylon
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· 6 viewsThis sermon evaluates the condition of our world as it is influenced by spiritual forces of wickedness and not flesh and blood. It evaluates how we, as Christians, should respond when the world is screaming at us for not bowing down to their self-made images that they require us to worship.
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If you know anything about me, you know I am a “but why” type of guy.
If you tell me that communism is bad, I am going to look into communism and determine what I think about it for myself. That's why if you go look into my personal library, you will find the “communist manifesto” written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
If you tell me that the Critical Race theory is wrong, I will look into that as well. That is why you will find the Critical Race theory written by Richard Delgado in my library.
As I have studied these writings, I have become increasingly convinced that something spiritual is at play here. What is even more alarming is that our society says it is at war with the evil that Karl Marx's communism calls for, but at the same time, the things that Karl Marx called for are beginning to play out in schools and our own homes.
The Bible clearly instructs parents to teach their children and for children to be brought up in the way they should go by their parents; this doesn’t fit into the Communist Manifesto criteria. Whether you are in Deuteronomy 6:7, where Moses said, “Impress these commandments on your children," or Proverbs 23:13, which says, “do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.” One of my favourite quotes is from Chuck Swindoll, who said, “Sometimes the hand of education must be applied to the seat of learning.”
I very much believe in the need to occasionally educate your children with the hand of learning to the seat of education, especially when all other corrections are failing. Oh, but there is trouble you can get into today by simply correcting your own child!
The Bible says He who spares the rod hates his children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.
The key word there is careful. Parents, I know it can be hard sometimes when your child is disobedient, so I am going to say this bluntly: Do not become stupid with anger when educating your child. Rather, be careful. Bring up your child in righteousness so they might live LONG on this earth (Ephesians 6:1-4).
The communist manifesto describes the involvement of parents in the upbringing of their children as exploitation. It further goes on to say that the wife who remains at home to care for her children is nothing more than private prostitution.
Richard Weikart from the California State University summarized the communist Manifestos' attempt to abolish the family as this:
“They held forth the hope that, instead of submitting to nature, communist society would be consciously shaped by humans freely creating. People would no longer be subject to what is natural. Even if people had a natural bond to their children, no provision would be made for this in communist society. Whatever Engels may have conjectured about the natural affinity of humans toward stable amorous relationships in communist society, he envisioned a society in which no compulsion would interfere with relationships. Thus, theoretically, any sexual relationship between mutually consenting persons would be possible. What would not be possible would be the security of a life-long marriage. This sexual relationship could not be chosen.”
The communist manifesto argues for the elimination of the “natural” functions of the family and sexual relations and, ultimately, the elimination of the effect that natural law has on the overall person in our society. I would argue that the manifesto clarifies: that the way God intended things, should not be lived out but rather the way that God intended things should be abolished.
Richard Delgado, and his Critical Race Theory, is just a puppet to the elimination of what is natural because where we fought to end segregation and racial hatred, which we all know hatred towards our fellow man goes against what Jesus has demonstrated to us, the Critical Race theory looks to reimplement those things, just from another direction.
So why am I talking about all this?
As I look around at what is happening, I see these dangerous ideas that eliminate the parent's rights to raise their children being scratched out from our basic foundational rights.
On February 8th, a BC NDP MP named Randall Garrison said this:
“... I’d like to say first of all, there’s no such things as parental rights in Canada. There are only parental responsibilities. And in Canadian family law the primary responsibility of parents is to support and affirm their kids…”
When I heard this, I found it incredibly alarming that these words came from one of our political leaders' mouths. “There is no such thing as parental rights in Canada…” As I was thinking about this, I couldn’t help but think there is nothing new under the sun. So I began to read from the Bible searching for something that would help enlighten these issues and this is when Revelations 17 caught my attention.
Let's read through Revelation 17 together:
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 of the great harlot who sits on many waters,
with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.”
And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.
The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality,
and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.
And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.
“Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits,
and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.
“The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.
“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.
“These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.
“These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”
And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
“And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.
“For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.
“The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
One of the things I firmly believe in is that what God designed to be good and perfect, the devil has introduced counterfeits. I believe that the spirit of Babylon has existed since the tower of Babel, which geographically was located in what was known as Babylon but now Iraq. What caught my attention about this passage begins in Revelation 17: 2, where the chapter says, “with her.” The "with her" refers to Babylon, “the kings of the earth,” those who are in charge “committed adultery.” Adultery against whom, may you ask? Well, God and what he intended his creation to be. But this adultery doesn’t end with the rulers of the world. Revelation 17: 2 , further goes on to say, “and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”
As we read through Revelation 17, the Spirit of Babylon looks good, tastes good, and intoxicates all those who fall into her trap. However, the spirit of Babylon and all those who are in her company will not only disregard the testimony of Jesus but also be drunk on the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
Often, people look for the physical happenings of what the Bible says, but they forget to look to the Spiritual happenings.
Ephesians 6:10-18 says:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
Did you catch that in verse 12?
Ephesians 6:12 (NASB95)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Our struggle isn’t against flesh and blood, but it is against the rulers, the authorities, and the powers of this dark world and the SPIRITUAL forces of evil.
So, what is the goal of the Spirit of Babylon? Well, there are generally three things that are noticeable throughout the Bible.
The spirit of Babylon desires to replace God
By shutting down the church
By redirecting the natural authority God has toward itself
The spirit of Babylon seeks to compromise Biblical truths
Through softening the teaching of the Bible
Introducing woke interpretations as acceptable
The spirit of Babylon seeks to seduce the next generation
To cut off the parents from their children.
To confuse the children with worldly ambitions
The spirit of Babylon sought to replace God by influencing man at the tower of Babel to become inward facing, only concerning themselves with making a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4). God intervened and scattered these men by confusing their language. This is the first time we see the spirit of Babylon attempt to replace God after the flood. But as we move along and get further into the Bible, we see time and time again that the spirit of Babylon has reared its ugly head. In Daniel 3, we get the trifecta of what the Spirit of Babylon is actually about.
Let's turn there together:
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language,
that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.
“But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”
Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews.
They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “O king, live forever!
“You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image.
“But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.
“There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king.
Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?
“Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter.
“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
“But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.
Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.
For this reason, because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.
But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, “Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.”
He said, “Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire.
The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.
Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God.
“Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”
Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
Did you catch what happened? The King built an image for everyone EVERYWHERE, and no matter who you were, you were required to bow down. The consequences if you did not bow to this idol were indeed dire; they weren’t just life-altering but life-ending. If you had a conscience and decided not to bow to this image and worship it, the consequences of your actions would see you thrown into the furnace. As soon as the king realized that three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused, he was ENRAGED!
Even though they could articulate to him why they couldn’t listen, he was so enraged he sought to have them killed. But God ultimately had mercy on them. At first, the king eliminated the jewish temple, and the advisors condemned the Jews. Then, the king forbade the worship of the one true God and only allowed the worship of himself. Many allowed their beliefs to be compromised, saying well, it's what the king wants! Then, when the king saw that there were three young men bravely standing up, he sought to cut them off, effectively seeking to cut off the next generation from God through intimidation and elimination.
I don’t necessarily think that because I was alarmed by Revelations 17, we are in the end times, but I do think the Spirit of Babylon is alive and well. The governments and authorities have recently sought to shutter the church doors. Compromised teachings are being touted as Biblical truths; we hear the serpent's words from the garden of Eden echoing from all those years ago: “Did God really say…?” Now, if we aren’t careful and diligent, our children are being turned against us ever so slowly in hopes that we don’t notice. It is said that if you don’t affirm your child's life-changing and harmful decisions, you (as their parent) are the problem.
So how do we respond? Something I found interesting was that in the face of the Spirit of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego didn’t act in kind to the king. Instead, they exhibited the fruit which God calls us to have in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Because of their confidence in God, they could confidently face persecution; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew it wasn’t flesh and blood they needed to worry about, but rather, they needed to worry about the spiritual forces of evil they had just encountered.
I know this has been long, but I have one last important point to read from the Bible. Find Romans 12:9-21 with me. As you look for this passage, I believe Romans 12: 9-21 directs us on how to respond to a society, a world that is full of little Nebuchadnezzar's enraged when we refuse to bow in affirmation to their self-made images. It directs us in responding when the rulers and principalities threaten us. It instructs us how to respond when we are considered bigoted for seeking to live by God’s truth. God instructs through his servant Paul, through God’s good and perfect word, to respond like this, found in Romans 12:9-21 when it says this:
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
“But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Let’s Pray