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.
The second angel’s message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the Advent message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time, they have fallen lower and lower. Not yet, however, can it be said that “Babylon is fallen, … because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” She has not yet made all nations do this…. The work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination.
The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;” and they that “received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,” will be left to receive “strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11. Not until this condition shall be reached, and the union of the church with the world shall be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is yet future.
Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ’s true followers are still to be found in their communion. There are many of these who have never seen the special truths for this time.
The Faith I Live By p. 285
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for me. The crown on my front tooth is deteriorating as well as the tooth next to it and the dentist says I need a bridge. Even after insurance it is way out of my reach financially and they won’t take payments. I am very discouraged and upset. Eileen
—-Please keep my mother in your prayers. Her cancer may have returned. Louise
—-Please pray that I will be healed. B
—-Please, please pray for my husband’s son-in-law. Eric, who had multiple heart bypass surgery. He dearly needs prayers for a miracle. Karen
—-Urgent prayers needed for my Father-In-Law Clarence. He had a stroke causing a brain bleed. The prognosis doesn’t look good. Roberta
—-A patriarch of our church is in the hospital with Influenza A. She is 84 and struggling to breathe. Her name is Edna. She is so very loved. Please pray. Jennifer
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Dear Friends,
When I was nine, my mother and I spent a wonderful vacation at Wisconsin Dells. We saw all there was to see and did all that there was to do. One day, we happened to pass by a fish farm. I had always enjoyed going to the fish hatchery in my home town, so I asked if we could stop and see all of the fish on this farm.
There was one big difference between the fish hatchery where I was used to going and the fish farm however. The fish hatchery was where fish were raised to release into the area’s lakes and streams, and this fish farm was designed to give the tourists the feeling that the had caught a rainbow trout for sport. This place had several man-made ponds dug into a grassy field and brimming over with fish.
The owner took us to one of the ponds and gave me a pole and some bait. Then he threw in a handful of fish food. Suddenly the water churned as countless numbers of trout vied for a tasty morsel. He instructed me to start fishing. Within seconds my pole bent as a trout had taken my bait. I was delighted. My mother had paid for fishing privileges for two fish, so the process was repeated. She took a picture of me holding my fish. I was so proud of my catch.
When I got older and was looking through the photo album, I realized how impossible it would have been not to have caught those fish. Those animals were trapped in a small pond. They were in a feeding frenzy as they all competed for the fish pellets. My bait was just another bit of food to compete for.
How much like that fish farm is this sinful, old world. The evil one entraps us in his snare just as surely as the owner of the fish farm baited the fish by feeding them just before letting me fish. He gives us just enough worldly pleasures to cause us to think that all is well, that we are having a good life. Then when we least expect it, realize that he has us in his grasp. We become alarmed and try to free ourselves, but soon find that we are helpless. We are caught just as surely as were those two rainbow trout.
How much we need deliverance from the “fish pond” of sin! How much we need a deliverer! Praise God, we have Someone Who is mighty to save! (Isa 63:1) He can untangle us from the cords with which that enemy has bound us! “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” 2 Sam 22:2-4 We serve a Living Saviour! He frees us from the devil’s snares! He left the glories of Heaven and “gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:14 Wonderful Saviour! Paul exclaims, “thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” 1 Cor 15:57,58
Our Great Redeemer assures us, “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” Isa 43:11 “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Eze 33:11 “Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” Joel 2:12,13 “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” Isa 45:22; 44:22
Let us turn away from the snares of the evil one by putting on the whole armour of God “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Eph 6:11, 12 Let us cling tightly to our Only Salvation allowing Him to deliver us from the devil’s traps. Let us “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18
Rose

Babylon is Fallen