Bible Readings for the Home

Chapter 51

The Second Angel's Message

What announcement is made by the second angel of Revelation 14?
"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Revelation 14:8.

To whom is the term Babylon elsewhere applied?
"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." Revelation 17:4,5.
NOTES. - A woman, in prophecy, denotes a church. Eze. 23:2-4; Jer. 3:1, 14, 20; Rom. 7:4; Rev. 14:4, 5.

What does the apostle call the church that has become corrupted by worldly alliances?
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James 4:4.
NOTE. - Babylon is also said to commit fornication.

And what is that called which was to reveal the "man of sin," or the papacy?
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
NOTE. - If a "falling away" in this case means apostasy, the "fall" of Babylon must be a moral fall, caused by a departure from the simplicity of the gospel.

What work was this "mother of harlots" seen to engage in?
"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration." Revelation 17:6.

What was in the hand of this woman?
"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication." Revelation 17:4.

What effect had this wine (false doctrine) upon those to whom it was given?
"With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." Revelation 17:2.

This woman is said to be the "mother" of harlots. Are there any churches which have sprung from the mother church of Rome, directly or indirectly, and which resemble her in doctrine or otherwise?
"If the church of Rome were ever guilty of idolatry in relation to the saints, her daughter, the Church of England, stands guilty of the same, which has ten churches dedicated to Mary for one dedicated to Christ." Catholic Christian Instructed, page 18.
Mr. Hopkins, in a treatise on the millennium, says: "There is no reason to consider the anti-Christian spirit and practices confined to that which is now called the church of Rome. The Protestant churches have much of Antichrist in them, and are far from being wholly reformed from corruption and wickedness."
"There is a powerful element of Romanism in all the larger Protestant bodies. The clergymen do not teach to the people the Bible itself in its purity and simplicity, but they require them to receive instead a system of clerical interpretations of the Bible." Literal Christian.

What confessions have been made by leading men, which show that they consider the churches to be in a fallen condition?
"A confession can be had from the lips of the pastors of most of our churches, that in our midst there are wicked, unholy, corrupt men who maintain their position, and are saved from a righteous discipline, either by their wealth or social position. It is true of this church, and it is true of many of the churches around us. If a ship should go to sea with as many rotten timbers as we have spiritually rotten members, it would go to the bottom in twenty-four hours... One thoughtful, intelligent layman, a member of the church which is a leader in its denomination, said the other day, 'Our church has degenerated into a great, strong, social, fashionable organization.' " G. F .Pentecost, in Christian Statesman of Jan. 8, 1876.
Robert Atkins, also, in a sermon preached in London, said: "The truly righteous are diminished from the earth, and no man layeth it to heart. The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are lovers of the world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature comfort, and aspirers after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but they shrink from even reproach. Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy, is engraved on the very front of every church; and did they know it, and did they feel it, there might be hope; but alas! they cry, 'We are rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing.' "

What does Paul say of the condition of the church in the last days?
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

How does the prophet elsewhere describe the condition of Babylon?
"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Revelation 18:2.

Where will many of God's people be found when this cry is at its height?
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:4.

In this call to "come out" of Babylon, what message does the Lord send to guide His people into the truth for these days?
"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:9-12.
NOTE. - It is worthy of notice that the first of these angels has simply an announcement to make of the judgment at hand; the second tells the condition of the religious world, and exposes its unfitness to meet its record in the judgment previously announced; while the third provides a remedy whereby the people may be made ready to meet the judgment and the coming King. Thus subject is treated in the next chapter (52).