There is a place OUTSIDE THE CAMP of Babylon’s vain worship and pseudo-church. "Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb. 13:13), and when you have departed from all these things and broken Babylon’s idols from off your neck and cast their image from before you, then you will see NO MAN BUT JESUS ONLY, and then you will understand what it means to be JOINED UNTO HIM. When this wisdom is sweet to your soul, then you will discover the secret place of the Most High, where the King brings you into His chambers, a hidden place of meeting with the Lord, that place within our own being where our Lord ever dwells, where we go in and shut the door, where we meet Him alone in the most intimate fellowship and the most exquisite union of soul and spirit. This is a place which the world cannot invade. Even should soldiers come with guns and carry you away they cannot separate you from it, for it is within yourself. "I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also" (Jn. 14:3). Where is this place? Jesus said, "Where I am." That is sufficient! It is a place in the spirit that no man can violate. A hidden place for those who are in the world, but not of it, in the very sanctuary of the Spirit of God. A place where we can see the countenance of the Bridegroom, and hear his voice!

Ah, we do not arrive at this secret and sacred place with one grand leap. It is a continual leaving, leaving, leaving, and the nearer and dearer HE becomes to us, the more rejoiced we are to leave everybody

and everything for Him. But where are we to go? Outside the gate, outside the city which hath played the harlot. Do you think that we shall see Him if we stay inside the city? inside with all those who do not love Him enough to go out to meet Him? if we stay with those who spurn Him and are half-hearted? NO! It is as we "go forth" that we behold Him, the King in His beauty, and discern His beauty as He sits upon the throne of our lives. Let us go out to meet Him, outside the city wall that we may behold Him; let us leave everything which is in the city that our eyes may be anointed to behold Him who is altogether lovely, the Bridegroom of our soul. When earth is in our eyes, we cannot behold the Christ; when Babylon is in our eyes, we cannot discern the Bridegroom; when anything else is before our eyes, we cannot embrace Him. Everything must be cleared away if we would see and hear and know Him!

I was blessed by the sweet testimony of Patricia (Gus) Savas, a former Catholic Nun who was called out of Roman Catholicism and led into the paths of sonship by the sovereign dealing of God. She wrote, "When the GUS book came out, I was frequently asked to give my testimony. Sometimes, I would look at the audience and say, ‘Some of you out here have been delivered from drugs, from alcohol, from pornography or sex perversion, but I have had a major deliverance. I have been delivered from religion.’ When you are under the control of most addictions, during moments of sobriety or lucidity, you know you have a problem. Religion, however, is a blinding spirit; it’s actually like having a blindfold on. You’re following these rules, this program, doing ‘good works,’ so you must be okay, right? I’ve Got my religion; don’t confuse me with the truth. I am a good person" — end quote.

Some time ago a sister in Christ shared with me a dream she was given by the Lord. She said, "I saw a country type brownstone church building, which obviously was very old, and quite dirty from age and neglect. As I watched, I heard music coming from the building. I said, ‘There is a wedding taking place.’ The music, however, was not wedding music and I could not see inside. Then my eyes fell upon a young woman and a young man out front with their backs to the church building. I wondered why they didn’t go in. Then the scene changed, and I saw inside the building. There I beheld the groom coming up the outside aisle with his bride by the hand. He was very tall, clean-cut, with a prominent nose — walking so fast his bride was almost being dragged (not unwillingly). He was hurriedly rushing out of the building. Then I saw the outside of the church building again and fire was shooting out from under the eaves. A force from the heat was blowing down, enveloping the two people I had seen outside earlier. The girl’s hair was blowing like a cyclone and my thought was, ‘Why don’t they get away?’ But they could not. The power of the heat and the wind simply enveloped them. As I watched, the whole front wall collapsed over them. I awoke, and the power of the dream stayed with me for days. I believe it is speaking what Christ is doing today — calling a people out unto Himself and drawing them in a quick work out of the old systems of man" — end quote. To which I can add a hearty, Amen! The dream speaks powerfully of our text: "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partaker of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues…therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord who judgeth her" (Rev. 18:4,8).

The Holy Spirit imparts a revelation on how much the institutional religious system is Babylon the Great, and then He whispers in our heart the solemn secret that not only is Babylon judged and destroyed as a system "out there" — it must first be judged and destroyed right within the heart and experience of every member of God’s called and chosen elect! The Lord is coming to deliver His creation from every evil influence, and He deals first with the great harlot to rid the earth of such a thing. We see this so clearly in the Revelation! Before the marriage of the Lamb, before the One riding the white horse smites the nations, before Satan is cast into the abyss, before the holy city, New Jerusalem, descends out of the heavenlies, before all men stand before the great white throne, before the nations walk in the light of the city, before all things are restored and made new — before any of these and many other wonderful events — BABYLON IS JUDGED AND DESTROYED! Therefore, on a personal level we must begin by judging all the elements of Babylon in our own hearts! I do not believe that there is a corruption in any of the carnal church systems of man (or any other realm of the world) of which I could not find the germ in my own heart. That is the mystery!

In his book Seven Lamps of Fire, George Warnock wrote these penetrating words: "When we see One like the Son of man walking among the lampstands with Seven Eyes — God wants us to look at Him, because He wants to change us. We can’t look into those eyes and not be changed! I recall looking into the eyes of a prophet, whom the Lord used in fellowship with other members of the body of Christ, to bring forth a new prophetic movement in the middle of the last century. When I was called forward to receive prophecy with the laying on of hands, after a brief time of waiting he said, Look at me! As I looked up I was very much aware of light in his eyes…as he began to prophesy. I will never forget that moment, and I know that it was from that time that I began to see the Word of God in a new light. I feel strongly it is time for a new moving of God in the earth. He desires to bring His people into still higher realms in the Spirit. We must have the Lamb look upon us, with those seven eyes.

"The movement I mentioned became known as the Latter Rain — a name that people gave it a year or two later. But in the beginning it needed no name, and they simply referred to it as this move of the Spirit. God was graciously pouring out His gifts on the church. These gifts are intended for the edifying of the body…gifts of healing and miracles and other wonderful operations of the Spirit — besides gifts that impart spiritual wisdom and understanding. But it was not God’s intention to start a new denomination with this prophetic movement, and I think it is for this reason that those in later generations wonder what it was all about. And they ask, Where is it now? Multitudes of people in all parts of the earth, partook of the blessing of this movement — and the impact of it has carried on in succeeding generations, as any real move of God should. But as far as I know, it never became a denomination known as The Church of the Latter Rain — at least not prominent enough to make its mark in history. And for this reason it is considered by many to have been a little shower that soon evaporated.

"In the beginning of the movement there was a certain emphasis on coming out of the old systems — coming out of Babylon. But it soon became evident that many would come out of the visible Babylon, while bringing some of the system along with them. I recall a few years later what one of the leaders said about his own experience. He said the Lord spoke to him one day, ‘You are trying to get the people to come out of Babylon, but I want to get the Babylon out of you!’ I’m afraid this continues to go on in the church, and because one has left the mainstream of the denominations, and has set up his own organization — is no proof that he has come out of Babylon. The Babylonian desire for greatness and enlargement, and wanting to make a name of renown, and keeping the whole system well under control — is strong in the hearts of men. And God must deal with all those inward desires that continue to plague the church" — end quote.

Douglas Clark, in a little writing he sent me, shares the following instructive remarks. "When we hear the clarion call to come out of Babylon, God opens our eyes to the mixture of flesh and spirit that exists in the religious systems of man. For many the journey stops a few yards from the church door. We may come out and become separate, but there is often a failure to go further. Why is that? There was a movie out some years ago called The Sixth Sense. Bruce Willis played the main character, a psychologist who had a patient who saw the spirits of dead people. The psychologist didn’t believe the boy, and so the whole movie was about him trying to help the boy overcome his hallucinations. Finally, at the end of the movie the psychologist realizes that the boy is actually seeing dead people. Then comes the interesting twist. The psychologist begins to realize that he is one of the dead people! What a revelation! First the psychologist couldn’t see the truth about the boy. Then he finally realizes the boy does see dead people and then at the very end he finds out that he is one of the dead people!

"Sounds a lot like our journey. We begin as most church folk not recognizing all the spiritual death around us. Then we begin to see it in our surroundings as the Lord calls us out and unto Himself. Finally, if we continue on in our journey to know Him, He shows us the death is in us! How easy it is to see the Babylon within the Institutional Church while overlooking what in us needs to be overcome. It is true our eyes need to be open to our surroundings, but I declare to you that until the Babylon in us is exposed we will not grow in our quest to know Him! The same spirit that gave birth to the mixture of flesh and spirit within the church systems is alive and well right within us! Right now it is trying to figure out ways it can pervert what God is doing in this hour so that it can escape its own demise! The spirit I am speaking of is called Self-preservation and he is in the temple of God seeking a way to sit on the throne of God, ruling in place of the true King. This is why some home fellowships encounter the same old problems we dealt with back in the system. Babylon is in us! How often do we fail to see that the calling of God to come out of the religious systems of man is only the beginning of our journey? It is a much longer process removing the spirit of Babylon from us! That is why in our journey to know Him He often strips us of ministry and gifts for service. His gifts and anointing often become diffused with our carnal reasoning and self-efforts. This is the confusion that is defined in the name, Babylon" — end quote.

The good news is that the strongholds of Babylon are surely falling within God’s elect by the omnipotent indwelling Spirit of the Lord! God is forming a people in this very hour who fulfill within themselves the prophecy of David wherein he said, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauty of holiness from the womb of the morning" (Ps. 110:3). Even now God is raising up a people who are willing in this day of His power! Willing to change their concepts, willing to give up all their old beliefs, willing to forsake the old ways, the old associations, the old priorities, willing to silence the demands of the flesh, willing to crucify every carnal religious desire, willing to follow the paths of HIS LEADING, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, but to press forward with an eye that is single to HIS GLORY. Oh, yes! This is not easy for many to accept, and that is why in the Revelation such a great cry goes up for the city that is going down! Even some among us are going to mourn because they have built up a little kingdom that they don’t want to see God’s fire come to!

The people of the Lord have long been held captive by the spirit of the world. Thank God, there has been a little light in Babylon, and there has even been the voice of the bride and the Bridegroom (Rev. 18:23), for the people chained in that horrible darkness have been the Lord’s people. The Lord has, in mercy, allowed the least faithless of the popular churches to declare enough of the gospel to lead a few to the Saviour. A few of these have received of His Holy Spirit and His gifts. They have in measure tasted of His reality and drank from His fountain of life. But from here on, practically everything that is taught and done is nought but defilement and shame: nothing but the precepts of the elders, and the lies and deceptions of the antichrist. Organized religion today, while totally ignorant of the fact of there being an antichrist, is busy teaching his doctrines, observing his forms and ceremonies, and glorying in his shame. To His people who sit shackled in these chains of Babylonian bondage the voice of the Lord commands, "Come out of her, my people!" Thank God, the chains of the Babylon system are doomed to destruction. This mysterious system is to be finally and irrevocably destroyed. Wherefore the Lord saith, "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: LOOSE THYSELF FROM THE BANDS OF THY NECK, O CAPTIVE DAUGHTER OF ZION. For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for naught; and ye shall be redeemed without money" (Isa. 52:1-3).

The hour of the final deliverance of God’s people from Babylon and the manifestation of His glory, majesty, wisdom, and power upon them is at hand. The King is coming! He is coming to His temple! He is coming within to set His people free, that they in turn may deliver creation. The strong walls and high towers of Babylon shall all come down. Her chains and shackles upon God’s people shall be broken. Our release from all bondage and captivity is even now under way. Once the church is cleansed from her idols and defilement, she will be in a position to bring deliverance to a sin-sick and judgment-weary world, when "the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea" (Isa. 11:9). Only when Christ’s church is delivered from her idols can she ever hope to bring deliverance to the world. And that deliverance has to come. It will come through those who have given up their all, those who have lost everything to be married to their Lord, and who henceforth live only unto Him. The water of life must flow from the city to bring healing to the nations. The sons of God constitute the throne in the city of God, but the city itself is the bride of the Lamb. It is made up of all those who are delivered out of Babylon, released by its mighty destruction, then cleansed, purged, refined, changed, and transformed by HIS LIFE. Before any of us can have any part in God’s great restoration of creation we must forsake all and follow the Lord alone. No one can deliver men from the lies of the antichrist while continuing to preach those lies. No one can deliver the world from the bondages of sin, fear, carnality, limitation, and death while himself remaining a captive of those things. And before God’s true church can persuade men to give up their idols, and loose their bands, she must first get rid of all her own golden calves and come to Zion with everlasting songs of joy and praise upon her head.

Alma McClure once printed a letter in her paper The Winnower which she had received from a sister who had had a startling experience of the dealing of the Lord. This sister wrote, "I began going to a church, and after about eight or nine months, I was awakened one morning from an ominous dream. I dreamed I had just parked my car in a funeral-home parking lot which was filled with cars. I knew they all had a special permit to park there, but I didn’t have one. And I thought, ‘Well, no one will catch me if I just stand behind my car and watch it so I can drive away before the authorities arrive.’ But, as I stood there, I became off my guard, in a state of unawareness, and first thing I knew, this policeman was standing in front of my car writing me a ticket. I had let down my guard, and now I was going to pay! Heavily! I asked him how much it would cost me, and he said, $88.00. That’s when I awoke!

"Immediately I knew the Lord was telling me that if I didn’t get out of that funeral-home (dead church) parking lot, I would really lose out! I felt the number ‘88’ stood for a double anointing, or something spiritually very, very valuable, that would be taken away from me! If I didn’t get out of the church of dead people, I’d really lose out! So I didn’t go back. For more than a month I went nowhere. But I got so lonely! So then I began attending another church…until He took me out of that one! It’s very dangerous to ‘let our guard down’ thinking we’re just going to ‘park’ in the parking lot of death for a few moments. But, thank God, He warns us in a dream to get out or we’ll lose out! He cares for us when we’re too much asleep to realize our unawareness. Thank God, He truly is our Shepherd, to guard us so well! We’re such stupid, careless sheep, sometimes…when we get so hungry to be with other sheep, we wander from His voice. But He does come after us, if we are truly called and chosen. Thank God, He really has chosen me, in spite of all my stupidity! And I will walk alone now, whatever the cost! I’d rather pay it down here, than lose out in the up there high calling! Thanks for your letter of great encouragement, that makes it a joy for me to go on without man’s order…his perfect order…of dry, stacked bones…so very, very neatly stacked in man’s perfect order…of dry, bleached bones!" — end quote.

"Come," said Christian, "and join me. For I am on my way to the Celestial City. It is a place of great delights, of everlasting joy, and wondrous comfort." "Indeed, it sounds good," said Pliable, "and methinks that I will join thee on the King’s Highway." Thus it is that John Bunyan delineates for us the journey of Christian and Pliable on their way from the City of Destruction to the City Celestial, in his immortal Pilgrim’s Progress. However, they had not gone very far out of the City of Destruction when unexpectedly and precipitously they plunged headlong into the Slough of Despond. "Is this," lamented Pliable, "the happiness you have told me all this while of? If so, then I think that should I ever get out of this alive, I shall return to the city from whence I came and you may possess that brave country alone for me." So, with several strenuous exertions, he made his way back to the side of the slough from which he entered and, dripping mud and muck behind him, hastened himself back to the City of Destruction. Thus we have the profile of this unforgettable character, Pliable, drawn for us by Bunyan.

Now, what is this City of Destruction, what is this City Celestial, and just who is this character called Pliable? I am certain most Christians would identity the City of Destruction as the world, or man’s lost state, or perhaps even hell itself. They would in turn view the City Celestial as heaven. In the Revelation, however, the City of Destruction is Babylon, the great harlot, and the City Celestial is New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ! And the character, Pliable — why his name is legion and his descendants multitudinous. Through the age vast numbers of saints have heard the call to "Come out of her," to flee Babylon lest they be partakers of her sins and receive of her plagues, to depart the City of Destruction before her judgment falls. Many make their professions and they start on the journey out of the harlot city in search of the Holy City, the bride of the Lamb. But alas, it is only a short while till many of them, staggering out of the loneliness, pressures, trials, testings, and tribulations of their own Slough of Despond, are hurrying back to the comfortable City of Destruction, even though they have been told that God intends to destroy that city and judge all who remain therein. Yes, my beloved, there have been many who for a season have treasured the beautiful hope of the high calling of God, but despairing of the aloneness of the walk, the dealings, the provings, and refining fires encountered upon the journey, they soon make their way back to Babylon. Their eye is upon the crown and not upon the cross! Their eye is upon the glory and not upon the processing that qualifies for the glory! The idea that one must truly suffer with Christ in order to reign with Him is exceedingly repugnant to them. There is no place in their soul for a Slough of Despond! The gifts, the blessings, the excitement, the comfortableness, the prosperity, and the busy-ness of Babylon are much more to their liking. So they have turned back to the City of Destruction!

The following admonition from the anointed pen of the late Carl Schwing still speaks powerfully to us even today. "When we were ‘taken’ from the camps of the fun, food, and fellowship crowd, the Holy Spirit led us into the ‘Wilderness of Aloneness.’ In our aloneness, we found our Beloved…and He freed us from the doctrines and religious notions of human thought. He gave us freedom…freedom to be all He would have us to be…freedom to become all that He is…freedom to sit with Him in heavenly places and to have fellowship with the Father. It was then that our ‘Wilderness of Aloneness’ became our ‘Fortress of Aloneness’…closed in with our Elder Brother and our Everlasting Father. A Fortress to ‘keep out’ those who would ‘gaze’ and to ‘keep in’ the sons that would be prepared for the Day of the Lord…sons that would regain His presence and the knowledge and experience of His life, joy, and glory, they shared with Him in their beginning.

"There are those who say that we are part of the occult. Others call us spiritualists, mystics, isolationists, and even heretics. They say these things because we will not seek the Living One among the dead ones; because we will not worship in temples built with hands. The liberty of the sons of God will not be found among those who are bound hand and foot to the ideologies and programs of men. It seems strange to those that worship in religious shrines that we would worship in our home, or in the mountains, or forest, or at the water’s edge…or worship in the house of grief and sorrow, or upon a bed of pain and suffering, or in the shadows of heartache and disappointment. It seems even stranger to them that we should glory in our cross, rejoice in our rejection, and find life in our aloneness…and to receive the overwhelming power of His Presence and Love here within our ‘Fortress.’ Oh! What great gifts the Father has given to us…with Him in the vast family of God’s sons! Ten thousand hallelujahs! Now, in the light of this glorious dawn, He is gently and lovingly gathering the Lillies of the Field…to bind them together with the cords of love and give them to their Everlasting Father. Oh! Sons of the morning, be still and know that our God is a ‘Mighty Fortress’!

"Alas, there are those among us that are turning back to the old ways, the old order, thinking they will find life in the steeple-houses of the fun, food, and fellowship crowd. Though our Elder Brother has done wondrous works; though He has taught them wondrous truths; and though He has shown man how to have spirit converse with our Father, there are those who have gone back to the temple of flesh, to the blind leaders of the blind, back to the bondage of ordinances, holy days, and numberless religious practices, praying the prayers of their fathers of old, eating once again of the wilderness manna. However, it was the very ‘turning back’ of the multitude which brought forth the living words of truth from the depths of Peter’s heart: ‘To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!’ Therefore, may the ‘turning back’ of others stir the truth within us, reminding us of all the wondrous things the Lord has done for us, reminding us of all the words of life He has revealed to us, reminding us of the still small voice that speaks within, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’ Let us slay the giant of religion that would take us captive and return us to the rulers and children of the house of divisions and bondage…slaying him with the Stone that the builders rejected…the living Stone that is so precious to us…the Rock of our salvation! And we, also, are living stones, fitly joined together to form the City of the Living God!

"Our Elder Brother said that when we pray (worship or praise), we should go into our closet (our secret place) and close the door — that we might have private and intimate converse with our Father — assuring us that our Father would hear us and answer us, that He would come into the secret place of our heart, and would close the door, to be alone with us, to commune with us, to shed His life and light upon us, to assure us of His abiding presence, faithfulness, and love, for He sees and hears and speaks in this secret place, and therefore is He there. There is no room for forms or rituals within our secret place. It is the place where the Spirit of God comes as a ‘rushing mighty wind’ to fill our inner son with the fire of the Father’s matchless love, to prepare our inner son for the time of divine worship, for the time of the communion of the saints, the time to consciously sit with Christ in the heavenly places, the time to eat of the Manna of Life.

"The outer man has no part in this worship! This is when the hand of our inner son reaches out to touch the hand of God. This is the assembling of the firstborn (the first to come forth from the Father in that most glorious beginning of beginnings). This is when the Holy Spirit lifts the veil of the Holy of holies for us to enter, that we might worship the Father, who is spirit, in spirit and in the beauty of holiness. This is the holy time of the renewing of our inner man; the hour of remembering our place in Him in ages past. My beloved, as you know, the secret place of which I write is where we walk in the liberty of the sons of God! It is the holy ground upon which mighty angels fear to tread! It is the place where flesh and blood cannot enter! It is the assembling we must not forsake…as is the manner of some who have returned to the assembly houses of brick and stone. Let us enter our ‘secret place’ even more, as we see the day of our manifestation approaching. In the preciousness of our aloneness…in the beauty of our secret place…in the glory of His presence…let all that is within us, praise His holy Name!" — end quote.

"For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her" (Rev. 18:5-8).

"For her sins have reached unto heaven…" The meaning is not that the sins of Babylon are like a mass or pile so high as to reach to heaven, to pollute even the realm of the spirit, but that they had become so prominent and offensive as to attract the attention of God and move Him to action.

"…God hath remembered her iniquities…" That God "remembered" Babylon’s unrighteousness does not mean God had forgotten it. The phrase "God remembered" is a Hebrew expression meaning God had been remembering it all along and now was about to go into action to do something about it. The same phrase is found in Genesis 8:1 where God "remembered Noah" and caused the rain to stop and the waters of the flood to recede. It is found in Genesis 19:29 where God "remembered Abraham" and sent Lot out of Sodom, for God knew of Abraham’s loving concern for his nephew. Genesis 30:22 states that "God remembered Rachel" and answered her prayers by opening her womb so she conceived and bore a son. Thus, God’s remembering Babylon’s unrighteousness means He had been considering it all along and now was about to bring His righteous divine judgment on it.

"Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double." The scene changes now with a call for the agents of God’s judgment to do their work on Babylon. Some think this call is a response to the angel’s call for the people of God to leave Babylon. As they leave, they call for retribution for what Babylon has done to them and to multitudes of others who have been deceived, or suffered, and even died at her hand. It is my conviction, however, that the voice here is still the voice of the same "angel" mentioned in verse four — indeed, it is the voice of the Lord Himself who says, "Come out of her, my people…" The call is for God’s agents to act in divine justice and render or recompense to Babylon as she herself has rendered to the Lord’s people. True saints of God will not try to avenge themselves on any adversary. The love of Christ will cause them to forgive those who mistreat, malign, and enslave them. But the time must come when those who have been the masters of Babylon’s deception and bondage must face God’s righteous judgment. The Voice tells us plainly that those who willfully partake in her sins will also receive of her plagues. Babylon will be judged "double the double" according to her works. This does not mean that her punishment will be double what she deserves. The judgment will still be according to her works. " Double the double" is a cryptic way of saying that she will receive a full measure of all she deserves. That is, she deserves punishment in two categories — not only for the harm, damage and suffering she has caused the Lord’s people, but also for the corruption of the ways and truth of God, and the greed and immorality behind what she did to them. In this way she receives "double the double." She will drink the passion of God against her from the same cup she used to pour out her corruption upon the people of the Lord!

"How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." Part of the reason given for her judgment is that she is always thinking in her heart that she is sitting a queen, not a widow — that is, she sincerely thinks that she herself is the true church, the actual Bride of Christ, well favored of the Lord, the very kingdom of God on earth with authority to rule! She positions herself for leadership, sitting on the throne as queen, as did Jezebel in the days of Elijah, and her counterpart in the church at Thyatira, the Jezebel who called herself a prophetess and a teacher, seducing God’s people to commit fornication. She expects always to rule, to be in control. She loudly professes that she shall "see no sorrow" or tribulation. So she continues on in her abominable lifestyle, "living deliciously," foolishly justifying her lust and greed and travesties, "naming and claiming" whatever appeals to her at the moment, not knowing what her end shall be. In her drunken, deluded stupor, she is blind to the impending judgment God has appointed for her! She does not believe the plagues of God’s judgment will ever come upon her. Babylon of Isaiah’s day felt the same way, but in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy it was leveled to the ground and made a swamp, "pools of water" (Isa. 14:22-23), as archaeological records of Sennacherib confirm. It is also just as sure that the present Babylonian world system will come to a total end!

"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." Because of Babylon’s self-exaltation, taking glory to herself that belongs only to God and His called and chosen elect, and because of her greedy, sensual luxury, the plagues of divine judgment will come on her suddenly, swiftly, and powerfully. In "one hour" the prophecy says! It’s not talking about 60 minutes. Spiritually, it signifies that her judgment comes swiftly, and in the day, the hour, the time, the season of God’s dealing. Death, mourning, and famine will be part of the judgment. Consuming fire will complete it!

The scriptures specifically foretell a number of judgments which are destructive in their nature. Here the Revelation points to the time when "Babylon the Great" or "Mystery Babylon" will be judged — and consequently destroyed. Mystery Babylon is not limited to any single ecclesiastical body, but is composed of many, indeed of ALL who are walking apart from the LIFE OF THE SPIRIT and the HEADSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST. For two thousand years God has been calling out and forming a heavenly people, born from above, filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, led by the Spirit, growing up in the life and power of the Spirit, the workmanship of GOD BY THE SPIRIT, the true church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. Along side this glorious company of the Spirit-born and Spirit-led the enemy has planted the tares: the doctors of the law, the bishops, theologians, ministers and priests organizing carnal systems, legislating laws and commandments, writing static creeds, instituting ordinances and sacraments, performing empty ceremonies and powerless rituals, and teachers poring over the dead letter of the Word, but never being quickened by the Spirit of Truth.

These blind leaders of the blind are the lords of a vast and powerful system which calls itself "the church," but is not the church at all, but a blinding, restricting, abyss of incomprehensible darkness and confusion that holds men’s spirits in such bondage to lifeless traditions that they can never see the glory of God nor His transcendent purpose in their lives. It is only when the blazing fire of the Omnipotent Spirit sovereignly penetrates the dankness and death of Babylon’s walls that men first catch a glimpse of the living Christ of God and rise up to FOLLOW HIM. The chains fall off, the prison doors swing open on their rusty hinges and these followers of the Lamb behold a world of freedom and revelation and reality and life and glory beyond the constricting walls of denominationalism, ritualism, tradition, and the kingdoms of men. Rather than continuing to call a few souls here and there out of the City of Destruction, God has now decreed HIS JUDGMENT against this idolatrous system of Babylon, and has already established by His immutable counsel just HOW THE JUDGMENT SHALL BE EXECUTED.

"And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning…and they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate" (Rev. 18:9,19).

Let me share some spiritually poignant words written by David Wilkerson many years ago. "Babylon is not a physical city; it is a spiritual condition — even as Zion is not just a city in Israel, but also a spiritual representation of the true church of Jesus Christ. Babylon is the harlot church! It really is not complicated. Forget about the seven heads and the ten horns — those are only symbols that signify the worldwide influence of the harlot. What we have is a vivid picture of the apostate, sensual, rich church of today! A famous, influential harlot, in possession of great wealth and prestige — but polluted with nakedness, fornication, and filth! God has decreed ‘Enough! I’m going to put a sudden end to all spiritual foolishness!’ What does it mean to us — right now, in our day? So much, in fact, that God says it will tingle the ears and astonish the whole world! We are going to witness the fall of some highly esteemed ministries! Multimillion dollar projects are going to come crashing down! It will be headline news! Some churches that have strapped themselves with monstrous debt will go bankrupt! Liberal denominations will suffer an even greater loss of revenue! God is going to shut down every TV program that uses ungodly men and methods! There is coming a great purge! Only the spiritual ministries will remain! Those who hear the call of the Spirit to purge their ministry, God will bless and increase. Those in league with the world will only grow more unspiritual and worldly. The spiritual man of God will fill the breach!

"God is getting ready to do a new thing! He is going to bring down the proud, the famous, the ambitious — and lift up humble, unknown prophets to bring the church back to repentance and holiness! Friends, the days of superstar evangelists are all over! No more one-man shows! No more stealing God’s honor! No more glamour! No more showmanship! No more world-directed choreography in God’s holy place! No more big-time religion! The Holy Ghost is going to shut down corporate religion! God has declared He will not finance the ego of any preacher of the gospel! The Holy Spirit is already wooing the children of the Lord away from bigness, brightness, and sensationalism. Even sinners are fed up with all the pitiful appeals for money! A revived, sanctified people are going to discern between the clean and the unclean! Those in the middle of building their little empires will weep and despair — as God brings it all down! He is going to write ‘Ichabod’ over their doors! His glory will depart from them! God is going to cause the hustle and bustle — the busy pace — to burn out and wear down all who have wasted so much time at building — instead of seeking the face of God! ‘I am against you Babylon…I will lift up my hand against you and roll you down from your heights and leave you a burnt-out mountain…you shall be desolate…you shall be completely wiped out…’ (Jer. 51:25-26, L.B.). The scripture commands — ‘Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquities; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; He will render unto her a recompense’ (Jer. 51:6)" — end quote.

The following dream was given to Richard L. Jones, a pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A in March, 2006. "In this dream I was in the downtown area of a large city and there was a lot of activity going on around me. The next thing I knew, I was on the top of a tall structure that was being dismantled. It was not being torn down, but dismantled and carried away on flatbed trucks. I was directing heavy equipment, like huge cranes and such, that were being used to dismantle the many structures of the city. These structures were made of stone, or cast concrete facades, with steel beams used as supports for the structures. Again, I was having the cranes and other heavy equipment lower large pieces of these structures and facades to the ground so they could be moved and taken away on heavy trucks.

"I awoke from my dream and inquired of the Lord what this meant. The Lord said to me, ‘I am dismantling the old religious structures that have been erected by men. I am clearing the way to build what I desire to be raised up in this place and at this time! There is a large city to be dismantled, but I will raise up a new city built upon foundations of Divine Truth which support pillars of Righteousness and Justice. But first there will be a great dismantling and many will be exposed to the winds and the rain, to the hail and the hot sun, to the snow and the darkness. I am their Strong Tower. Oh, how I so desire for them to run to Me in that day of the great dismantling! For I am raising up a New City for those who will.’ I knew then that my dream was about the ‘dis-mantling’ of the old church structure as we know it and that God was going to raise up a new church, one that is built according to His divine providence and not built on the plans and ambitions of men" — end quote.

The picture given us in chapter eighteen of the Revelation, of the judgment of Babylon, is a picture of utter desolation that is drawn before our eyes. Instead of the joyful light and illumination of her festive streets, there is now absolute (spiritual) darkness: for even the light of a candle shall shine no more. Instead of the bustle of machinery (her programs and promotions), the joyful sound of music, the glad voice of bride (God’s true people) and bridegroom (Christ the Head), there is now a doleful and gloomy silence. She is set on fire and her fire burns so brightly that all the world beholds it together in awe and somber wonder. Then with great steaming convulsions she sinks into the depths of the sea to be seen never again. Babylon is turned into a region of death and destruction! All her glory is gone in one hour, and that forever. God has sent judgments upon that system throughout the age, as in the days of the Reformation, and in the days of the French Revolution, but this is the final and complete judgment upon Babylon. She has committed fornication with the kings and the princes of the world. She has made the nations drunk with the wine of her fornication. She has deceived them with all her sorceries. In her was found the blood of the saints and prophets. She has made war with the Lamb throughout the ages. Her iniquity rises to heaven. Therefore, in one hour has her final and complete destruction come!

I recently quoted some words from Ray Prinzing’s wonderful book, Revelation — A Positive Book, and I will quote a small portion of that again as it is so vital to the present message. "Particularly we are led to emphasize coming out of religious Babylon. ‘We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies’ (Jer. 51:9). We would have healed her — oh, how we tried to bolster her up and heal her! We poured our strength into her, ignoring the instruction to ‘Give not thy strength unto women…’ (Prov. 31:3). We fasted and prayed for God to revive her! Though she reeked with abominations, traditions of men, false doctrines, and platitudes for itching ears, still we tried to heal her. But in time the holy Spirit speaks so loudly, ‘flee out of the midst of her,’ that we have to obey. All her works, her kingdom building endeavors for self, are not sufficient — but are as filthy rags ready for the burning" — end quote.

There are many sincere, good people who are trying to reform and heal the old church systems. But they cannot be reformed, revived, or healed — they must one and all be destroyed — just as the Lord has revealed! "The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God…for His device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of His temple" (Jer. 51:10-11). Even those within the church systems who truly love the Lord must be thrown into the melting pot, melted up, refined, and reconstructed. No healing is possible! No reform is possible! John Wesley found out that it was not possible to get the people saved in the Church of England, therefore he was led to form a society for the salvation of souls. But John Wesley himself prophesied that his new society would depart from the faith and decline. He prophesied that one day Ichabod would have to be written over the Methodist societies, for "the glory would depart," as they themselves apostatized. And today "the glory has departed," except in flashes here and there where a truly consecrated preacher and people rise, for a brief season, above the level of the dead sea of formalism, hypocrisy, and moral and spiritual corruption. The movement as a whole has gone all the way from being a society for the salvation of souls, to becoming a society for the damnation of souls!

Fear not, saints of the Most High God, for your Father is in control of all these things and is directing all these events. He concludes none of these ominous judgments until first He brings His sons to mount Zion with authority and power to fill the earth with His glory. Notice the scripture I quoted in the paragraph above — "The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare IN ZION the work of the Lord our God…" Then the prophet goes on to tell how God is against Babylon, to destroy it. Oh, yes! The Lord will bring forth His righteous people, His holy sons upon mount Zion, those who sing the new song, those who are virgins, undefiled by women (harlot churches), those who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth (all the way into the fullness of God), those who are redeemed from among men (out of the Adamic nature), those in whose mouths is found no guile (deceit, false doctrines), those who have ascended into the throne zone! The pattern, the order, the sequence is clearly seen in the Revelation — the manchild is birthed and caught up to the throne in chapter 12, the 144,000 sons of God are seen standing in righteousness, glory, and power upon the mount Zion in chapter 14 — then Great Babylon is judged and destroyed in chapters 17 and 18! The Lord will bring forth the righteousness of His Zion company and reveal to them His purpose before moving in mighty power to judge the harlot and destroy her kingdom from the face of the earth. That is God’s order! It will, at long last, be the hour of the exaltation and ministry of those humble followers of the Lamb to whom shall be committed the rule and reign of the kingdom of God under all the unbounded heavens! Isn’t it wonderful!

We used to wonder who was going to judge Babylon, but we have found out. In Revelation 18:20 we read, first from the King James Bible, "Rejoice over her thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her." Those words appear to indicate that God is going to judge Babylon with HIS OWN JUDGMENT. But we will read the literal translation from the Diaglott, "Exult over her, O Heaven! and you saints, and you apostles, and you prophets; BECAUSE GOD JUDGED YOUR JUDGMENT ON HER." The actual word by word translation from the Greek text reads thus: "…because judged the God the judgment of you on her." What a word that is! So we see it is first of all the judgment of heaven. "Exult over her, O heaven, and you saints…" "Heaven" denotes the realm of sonship, throneship — kings and priests. Then it is the judgment of saints, of holy ones, that is brought upon her. Paul said the saints are to judge the world! How my heart rejoices that God has declared that the judgment that He shall bring upon this Babylon, shall be the judgment of sons and of saints, the apostles and the prophets. We will pronounce the judgment and God will enforce it! But it will not be a vindictive or retaliatory judgment, for it is the judgment of THE MANCHILD IN THE THRONE AND OF THE HOLY ONES! We will not be as we have been, mixtures of flesh and spirit, of truth and error, of carnality and spirituality, of Adam and Christ. Oh, no! As of now we have no desire for any of God’s people to pronounce judgment upon us, neither do we want to pronounce judgment on anyone else. There must come a mighty change in all of us for this, until we have fully PUT ON THE MIND OF CHRIST! Jesus said that He judged righteous judgment, because He sought not His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. All the holy sons of God must come to this before being able to judge Babylon in the spirit of RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT!

This great truth was first revealed to John the beloved in chapter seven of the Revelation. "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads" (Rev. 7:1-3).

There are many beautiful truths and deep mysteries hidden in the symbolisms of this passage, but I am sure the reader can discern in the action of the four angels the ministry of judgment. Four is the number of that which is world-wide or universal, and the winds which blow with devastating force are the symbol of judgment. Everywhere in scripture the winds are revealed as divine agents and used either for blessings or for judgments. Here, the four winds are significant of judgments which for the time, the four angels are holding back in order to permit the Seer to have a vision of something that must be brought forth and established before the winds are permitted to blow!

Let not the winds blow — until! He holds the winds back — hold everything in restraint for a season — endure the corruption, UNTIL THE SONS OF GOD ARE SEALED IN THEIR FOREHEADS! Bring no judgment upon the earth realm, or the sea realm, nor upon the trees, representing those activities, works, creations, and institutions of men which grow and are produced out of the carnal mind (earth) — let there be no judgment upon any of these things until the sons of God have put on the mind of Christ! As I write these things and meditate upon them it becomes crystal clear within my spirit that there can be no righteous judgment out from God’s elect until we all have been imbued with the nature of the Father and the mind of Christ. Any man, apart from the mind of Christ, is unqualified to render any kind of judgment — and he will never be able to judge even his own soul, or his body, or the trees that grow out of his earth, apart from the understanding and wisdom of the mind of Christ. Much less is he prepared to administer righteous judgments to those realms outside himself — the world of mankind and the harlot systems of Babylon. Righteous judgment comes only out of the heavens of the spirit of the Lord! Thus the divine fiat issued by the word of the Lord that the four winds be restrained from blowing upon the earth, the sea, or any tree, until the mind of Christ has been fully formed in God’s kings and priests!

The fruit of this judgment will be glorious indeed! The long dispensations of apostasy and backsliding and faithlessness will be ended. We shall have come to the most blessed age of all: to the time when God is introducing yet one more provision, a new, incorruptible, and eternal order and arrangement which shall never go down to defeat as have all the provisions of the past. Great Babylon shall have fallen to rise no more! "And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, AND SHALL BE FOUND NO MORE AT ALL!" (Rev. 18:21). "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing: now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert (that all men may seek the Lord and be refreshed). The beast of the field (natural man) shall honor me, the dragons and the owls (men of unclean natures): because I give waters (or life) in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praises" (Isa. 43:18-21).

In this glorious Day apostasy has raised her ugly head in God’s church for the last time! The adversary, with all his lies and deception and ignorance, is now a vanquished foe! God’s new thing, God’s new order must now triumph as Great Babylon sinks into the sea never to be found anymore! God’s manchild company ascends the throne. God’s holy city, New Jerusalem, descends out of the heavens of the spirit. The nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him. And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads…and they shall reign for the ages of the ages. Oh, the wonder of it! Oh, the mystery of it!