If you have your Bible, I want to invite you to open it to the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. And this chapter, the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, is the reason that we are here. This is the reason that we are Seventh-day Adventists. And this is the reason that God raised up this movement to take a message, a three-fold message to the entire world. And it said in verses six and seven that this message is going to go to every single person in the world.

This is the third time that God has sent a message that we know has gone or will go to every single person in the world. The first time was Noah. Noah sent out a message and it went to the whole world. It's interesting the ways that God uses to get messages to the whole world. In Noah's time Noah built a boat; and he built a great big boat over 400 feet long and there was no place to float the boat. That got everybody's attention, the whole world. And they thought he was crazy. But the message that Noah preached, about why he was building that boat, where he was building it, got to the whole world.

A second time that a message went to the entire world is recorded in Colossians the first chapter. Paul says that the gospel of Jesus had gone to every single creature under heaven, in Colossians one. And the third time, Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come." And in Revelation 14:6,7 we see the prophecy that this message, the Three Angels Messages, is going to go to all the world. And God has raised up a movement to take this message to all the world.

We have been studying about the church that is going to go through. And I want to be part of the church that goes through, do you? I want to still be part of the church at the end, do you? And if you are going to be part of the church at the end you must be faithful in helping to get the Three Angels Messages to all the world, because the Three Angels Messages are going to triumph. The people that stay teaching it and preaching it will triumph with it.

And I want to study with you especially this morning a part of these Three Angel's Messages recorded in verse eight which is the Second Angels Message about Babylon. Notice Revelation 14:8. It says, "And another angel followed saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

I want to notice several descriptions and definitions of Babylon. First of all, it says that Babylon has fallen. Now can that book fall? Yes it can. That book can fall. Can this book fall? No it can't. In order to fall, in some previous time you have to have been elevated so that you could fall, is that right? When you're laying in the gutter you can't fall, you are as low as you can go. When you're laying on the ground you can't fall. In order to fall, in some previous time you have to have been in an elevated position so that you could fall. Well, it says in Revelation fourteen that Babylon has fallen. What does that mean about Babylon? At some previous time Babylon was unfallen, otherwise you couldn't say that it is now fallen. At some previous time it was pure. At some previous time it was the people of God. That's the first point we see about Babylon. It has fallen. That means that at some previous time it was in an unfallen condition at some previous point in time. (See The Great Controversy, 383.)

Second point that we notice in verse eight about Babylon is that it says clearly that she is a woman. Two pronouns are used. It says "she has made" and then it talks about "her fornication". So Babylon is a woman. We'll notice more about that later. But notice it says that she has made all nations drink of what? Wine. Now, Revelation is a book of symbols. Right in the very first verse of the first chapter it tells us that it's going to tell us some things in symbolic language. It uses a Greek word which means "to give a symbol or sign" or in the Old King James Version it's translated signified. That means to speak in sign language or to speak through means of symbols or signs. So when you're speaking in symbolic language and you're talking about wine, what are you talking about? If you go back into the Old Testament, the Old Testament explains what spiritual wine is. In the book of Isaiah chapter twenty-nine, it says here starting in verse nine, "Pause and wonder! blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink." Here are people who are drunk. They are staggering, but they have not drunk physical alcohol. What's the problem? They've drunk spiritual alcohol.

Notice what it says here. "For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers; The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, Read this, please. And he says, I cannot because it is sealed. Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, Read this please. And he says, I am not literate." Here are people who read the Bible. Some of them that are educated say, "It's sealed."

Have you ever met anybody who says that the book of Revelation is sealed? You can't understand it so you just don't worry about it. Have you ever met anybody like that? But there's no place in the book of Revelation that says that the book of Revelation is sealed. There were parts of the book of Daniel that were sealed, but Revelation is not sealed. The very name contradicts that. What does the name Revelation mean? It means something that's revealed, not something that's sealed.

But people say, "Oh, you can't understand it." Somebody that's never been trained in theology says, "I've never been trained in theology so I can't understand. I'm illiterate." That's what it's talking about here. It's not somebody that can't read. It's somebody who says, "I'm not trained in theology, I can't explain the Word of God."

Notice what the Lord says about this starting in verse thirteen, "Therefore the Lord said: Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden."

What is this spiritual wine, so that the people are drunk and they're staggering, but they've never drunk physical wine, what is it, what's the problem? They say, "You can't understand the Word of God, it's sealed. I haven't been trained in theology so I can't understand it." And then they go and teach for doctrines the commandments of men. And the result is, the people are spiritually drunk So what's the wine, what's spiritual wine? Spiritual wine is when you teach the commandments of men instead of the Word of God. That's what spiritual wine is.

Here is what some of it is. All the way through the Bible, from the beginning, you can start right in the book of Genesis the second and third chapter, or go all the way to Revelation, you go all the way through the Old Testament, all the way through the New Testament, the Bible teaches constantly that God's standard is His law, and all those who want to be His must obey His law and be faithful to that law. It's all the way through the Bible. In Revelation 14:12, the last part of the Third Angel's Message, it says, "Here are the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14.

All the way through the Bible, the standard is that you must keep God's Law if you want to be part of His people. But Babylon teaches that you don't have to keep God's Law, or you can't keep God's Law. You don't have to keep the Sabbath, or you can't keep the Sabbath. There are many books of theology that have been written to explain why you can't, and how you can't. And all of that is part of the wine of Babylon. You can't keep God's Law. But if you can't keep God's Law, have you ever thought of the reflection that that casts upon God Himself? That means that God made a law and told us to keep it but we can't, so what kind of a god is that? Do you see the terrible blasphemy that's involved in making a statement like that? You are telling God that, "You've told me to do something that I can't do. You've told me to do something and You haven't made any way for me to do it." That's what you're really saying.

The doctrine that you can't keep God's Law, you don't need to keep the Sabbath, that's part of the wine of Babylon. Higher criticism, destroying faith in the Bible, the doctrine of eternal torment, all of that is part of the wine of Babylon --the commandments of men instead of the Word of God. And the result of that is that people spiritually become drunk, intoxicated. And so they think that they're saved when they're lost. That's what happens when you get spiritually drunk. You think that you're saved. You see, alcohol is an anesthetic. Wine is an anesthetic.

You think that you're saved in sin, but nobody is saved in sin. There is not one text in the Bible that will show you that you can be saved in sin. The Bible teaches just the opposite. Nobody can be saved in sin. The angel said to Joseph, "And she (that is Mary) shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1:2 1.

First we noted that Babylon used to be pure, it used to be unfallen, but now it's fallen. Second, it makes all nations drink of wine. The wine is the second thing we looked at. The third thing we ought to notice is that this phenomenon of Babylon is a worldwide phenomenon. It's not something that just happens off somewhere in Africa, India or China or the United States or somewhere else. It says she has made how many nations?--All nations. This is a world-wide phenomenon--drink of the wine.

And I want to tell you friends, it's one of the saddest things that you can study or look at in the world today, that you meet people, all Christians, all over the world, and they're so satisfied that they say, "Oh, I'm saved." That proves they're drunk They're living in sin and yet they think they're saved. They're drunk with the wine of Babylon.

Nobody is saved who is living in sin. There is no text in the Bible that teaches that, the Bible teaches just the opposite. We just quoted a few, Rev. 14:12, Rev. 22:14. The end of that sinful way of life the Bible says is death, Romans six. The only people who can have assurance of salvation are those that through the power of the Holy Spirit overcome sin, Romans eight. Those that go on living in sin, the Bible says you are of the devil, 1 John 3:8. The children of God who have seed inside, do not sin; they overcome sin. (1 John 3:9,10.) John says this is the way you can really tell who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil; whether they're living in righteousness, keeping God's Law, or whether they're sinning, breaking God's Law. It's just that simple. (First John three.)

But people all over the world today, believe that they're saved and they're living in sin, which proves that they're drunk They are drunk on the wine of Babylon. And that's what that wine is. This idea, you can be saved in sin; friends, you can be saved, but you can't be saved in your sins. Jesus came to save you from sin. When people get drunk you try to shake them, you try to arouse them. Many people today are so dead drunk on this, they're so comfortable; nothing you can say or do will wake them up. They are dead drunk on the wine of Babylon.

Number one was what? It was once pure. Number two: Babylon makes nations drink of the wine, which is the false doctrines, the doctrines of men. Number three is that this is a world-wide phenomenon, because it involves all nations. Number four: Babylon is talked about being defiled by fornication. Now what is this fornication? This is not literal fornication so much as spiritual fornication. Look at Rev. 18:3. It says, "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury." Who did she commit fornication with? The kings of the earth.

Let's go back to Ephesians five, notice what is says about the church. It says in Ephesians five, it talks about marriage. Marriage is a symbol of the relationship between Christ and His church. Ephesians 5:22-32. Notice, over and over again he compares the marriage to the relationship between Christ and His church. And he says, verses 29-31, "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones." That's the church he's talking about. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Verse thirty-two, "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

"Christ and the church"-- these two are to become one. As the husband and wife become one flesh, Christ and the church are to become one spirit. Let's read that in 1 Corinthians 6:15-17. It says, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For the two, he says, shall become one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him." Notice, he that is joined to a harlot, is one flesh with her, one body with her; but he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

Now when you have two, then it is holy. But when you have three, then it is wicked! Does that make sense? The church is to be joined to Christ; but if the church is also joined to the leaders of this world, what do you have? That's fornication. That's adultery. I want to read to you a few statements concerning the relationship of the church to government, and the relationship of the Christian to government.

First of all, let's read a few things that Jesus said in the gospel of John, the eighteenth chapter, in verse thirty-six. This is at Jesus' trial, and He's speaking to Pilot. John 18:36. "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from here." Jesus said, "My kingdom is not a worldly kingdom." Well, then if something is a worldly kingdom is that Christ's kingdom? Absolutely not, it cannot be. Because Jesus said, "My kingdom is not from here."

Well, did Jesus then teach like some Christians have thought that we should just be members of the heavenly kingdom, and we should not even acknowledge any earthly government? No, Jesus didn't teach that. Look back to Matthew twenty-two. They tried to trap him on this very point. Matt.22:21, "They said to him, Caesar's. And he said to them, Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are Gods." There are some things that belong to government. God has given human government, and we are to render that to them. But there are other things that belong to God alone; and those we are not to render to the government. Jesus made a sharp distinction. He said that some things belong to God, and some things belong to Caesar.

And we're going to get into some nitty-gritty now, and that's where most preachers get in trouble. It's when you start making the messages particular. But let's go right over to Romans thirteen and see exactly how the apostle Paul interpreted this instruction. We're going to need to face these texts before the courts one of these days, so we better know what they mean. Romans thirteen, he talks about submitting to government, he talks about being subject to the governing authorities in verse one. And he says if you resist the authority you resist the ordinance of God in verse two. And he says that the government is God's minister to you for good in verse four. And he says in verse five, "Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake." And then he talks about paying taxes in verse six. And in verse seven he says, "Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

"Owe no one anything except you love one another, for he who loves one another has fulfilled the law." Now notice especially verse nine of Romans thirteen. "For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery." What's that? That's the seventh commandment. "You shall not murder." What's that? That's the sixth commandment. That's two. "You shall not steal." That's the eighth commandment, that's three. "You shall not bear false witness." That's the ninth commandment, that's number four. "You shall not covet." That's the tenth commandment, that number five. "And if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this."

Now I want to ask you friend, for this is the apostle Paul writing. The apostle Paul was the most highly educated of all the apostles; he studied at the feet of Gamaliel; and he was a Pharisee and a strict Pharisee, and he knew the law. Of all the apostles he knew the law well; and I want to ask you this question now, how is it that he apparently didn't know that there were ten commandments? He says five, and he says "If there is any other." How can the apostle Paul, who knew the law as well as he knew the law, quote five commandments and say, "Now if there is any other, then it's summed up in this"? How could he say that? The reason is because of the context in which he's talking. God has given to the government the authority to enforce those commandments that he lists.

But God hasn't given to the government the authority to enforce the first four commandments. You study that on your own and look for the context of what the apostle Paul's talking about. He's talking about our duty to obey government and their authority to enforce the law. And the law that they have the authority to enforce are those commandments that he lists. Anything that has to do with my relations with my neighbor, he said, "If there's any other, it's all summed up in this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Regarding my relation with my fellow man, does the government have the authority to enforce the law that says "you shall not commit adultery?" It most certainly does. By the way, some people aren't going to like this. Have you ever thought through the implications of that. Does the government have the right to know who's married and who isn't married? Do they? Yes they do. There are some people today who have forgotten that, and they say, "Well, I'll just go and I'll get married and it's none of their business." Oh, yes it is their business! The seventh commandment is listed there. The government has the right to know who's married and who's not married.

And they have a right to know who's committing murder, and who's lying, and all of that that is listed right there. But they do not have the right to come and tell you whether or not you can worship idols. Did the apostle Paul know about the commandment to not worship idols? Oh, sure. He quotes it in the very same book He mentions it in chapter two. But the government doesn't have the right to enforce that. Why? Because that does not have to do with my relationship to my fellow man, that has to do with my relationship with God.

The apostle Peter talks about the very same thing here in first Peter the second chapter. Notice, he says in verse seventeen, "Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh." So, we are to be obedient, we are to be obedient to civil law, that is the law that governs our relationships with our fellow men.

But notice what he says in chapter four. He says in verses fourteen to sixteen, "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter."

Both Paul and Peter teach that the state has authority to rule the relationship of men and women, our relations with each other. But they do not have the authority to rule one's relationship with God. That is why, as you study your Bible, when the devil tries to trap the people of God and force them to obey them, he always attacks one of the first four commandments. You look back at the time of the children of Israel. What was the commandment under attack by the idolaters? It was the second commandment and the fourth commandment. You look at the three Hebrew worthies in the plain of Dura, what was under attack? The second commandment and first commandment. You look at the persecution of the early Christians by the Pagan Roman Emperor. What was under attack? It was the second commandment. You look at the persecution of the Christians during the Dark Ages, what commandment was under attack? It was the second commandment and the fourth commandment, these two.

And what is going to be the great issue at the end of the world? Is it going to be the fifth or eighth or is it going to be one of the last six? No! The issue at the end of the world again will be like it has always been since the beginning. It will be one of the first four commandments. What was the issue, by the way, in the Garden of Eden? The issue in the Garden of Eden was the first commandment.

And any time a church and state together try to enforce one of the first four commandments, any one of the first four commandments, they have stepped over the line into a territory that God has forbidden them to be; and God will judge them for it, and God will judge anyone that obeys them. When they did that in the time of the apostles and the Jewish church told them not to preach in Jesus' name anymore, they said "If it seems better to you that we should obey man rather than God, you'll have to think that over, but we're going to obey God rather than men."

Number five, we touched on this briefly, Babylon is a woman. Look in Revelation the seventeenth chapter and you have here a description of a woman, verse four. Now a woman in Bible prophecy always is a description of a church. By the way, this is such a common symbol that whole books of the Bible have been written about it, books that people can't figure out why they're in the Bible. Like the book, Song of Solomon. People can't figure out why it's in the Bible. That book is one of the most spiritual books in the whole Bible. It's in symbolic language, just like Revelation. It's in symbolic language. And the Bride represents the church, and Solomon, the Bridegroom represents the Lord.

Whole books! Hosea, that's one of the major themes of Hosea. Gomer, it said right in the book, represents the children of Israel. And Hosea her husband represents the Lord. Many chapters have been written in the Bible with this symbology. Ezekiel twenty-three. What's it alt about? It's about two adulterous women, and who are those two adulterous women? Well, it's the children of Israel, Judah and Samaria. And they have left the Lord, and they're called harlots. This woman in Revelation 17 is called a harlot. How is it that you come to be called a harlot? Well, they came to be called harlots because two things: they worshipped idols and they broke the Sabbath. That's Eze. 23:37, 38. So this is a woman, it's a church, and it's a harlot. It is a woman that is teaching people to break God's commandments.

Notice something else here in Revelation 17 about this woman in verse four. It says "she was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication." She's covered with jewelry and expensive clothes.

Now friends, listen. If you like beautiful things, if you like jewels, God has made a city for you that is full of jewels. The streets are gold. The foundations are adorned with twelve different types of precious stones. The gates, twelve gates, each gate is made out of one pearl. You can't even imagine what the outside looks like, trying to imagine it in your mind, let alone the inside. It is so beautiful! Ellen White said one time, she said if you could get one glimpse of the Holy City you would never want anything in this world again. Oh friend, you must be there! But to be there, nobody is going to be inside that city that is proud, you read that in Malachi 4:1. All the proud, all that do wickedly, all the proud are going to burn up.

Pride was the problem at the beginning. And do you know one of the things that the devil got proud about clear back at the beginning? His beauty. And why was he so beautiful? One of the reasons he was so beautiful if you read Ezekiel 28 was he was covered with all kinds of jewels and precious stones. And pride is a lethal spiritual disease. And the Lord has all the jewels, he has it already, the city's all built, and it's full of jewels and it's all ready for people to come into it, but you can't go in there if you have pride in your heart. The Lord says the sin problem has to be solved first before you can have all these jewels. And so look at what He tells us here while we're getting ready to go live in the city where the jewels are, notice what He says to us here in first Timothy the second chapter while we're getting ready. I wonder sometimes when I'm reading this if Paul would have addressed both men and women today if he would have been talking to our society. In their society, men didn't wear jewelry very much, so he addressed it only to women. He says in verses nine and ten, "In like manner also let the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works."

Paul said don't wear gold and pearls and costly clothing. Why? Because your heart might be lifted up with pride. And if your heart is lifted up with pride, you will be shut out of the Holy City. "Oh," somebody says, "that doesn't apply to me, I'm not proud." Well let me ask you this question, I just read it to you from the Word of God. Do you know more about what you can do than God knows? If you know more than God knows that you're in the same position Eve was in, in the Garden of Eden. That's what Eve did. The devil told her that God was wrong and she was deceived, but she disbelieved God and for disbelieving God she was cast out. And if you know more than God knows about anything then you are in the same position that Eve was in, in the Garden of Eden. Do you think that you are going to get to go in when she was forced out?

I want to tell you friend, this jewelry and adornment business is seriousness business. It's not some light and joking matter like some people make it. It's a matter of whether or not we're going to do what God's Word says or not, that's what it is! And jewelry is one of the characteristics of Babylon, don't ever forget that. It's one of the characteristics of Babylon.

I have several more things written down here on the characteristics of Babylon, but we're going to skip some. We're just going to go directly to Revelation 17:6. Notice that Babylon, this church, is a persecuting power. Notice it says, "I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." She's drunk with the blood of the saints. She's a persecuting power. And this woman sits on seven mountains, that's verse nine. But then it says in verse eighteen, "The woman who you saw is that city which reigns over the kings of the earth." It's the great city. Now in John's time, when those people read, they didn't have any question in their mind what city it was. And in the time of the reformers they didn't have any question as to which city it was because it was the same city which ruled over the kings of the earth then. And let me ask you this question: If you were going to pick out right now today one city who had more influence over the kings and the governments of the world than any other one city, what city would you pick? It would be the same city!

But then notice in verse five, it says, "On her forehead a name was written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." So this city has daughters, there are some daughter churches. And who are these daughters? Well, these daughter churches are the churches that are passing out the same wine, the same doctrines of men, that she's passing out to all the world. And what are those things? There's several. But the main one, the most intoxicating one of all, we've already studied.

What is the main thing that gets people so drunk that they think, that they're convinced, that they're saved and you can't even touch them, and they're not saved at all. They're going straight toward hell-fire as fast as they can go and they think they're saved. What is that doctrine? It's the doctrine that you can be saved in sin.

Now, the Seventh-day Adventist church was raised up to preach these Three Angels Messages. We've just been studying a little bit in the second one in Revelation 14:8, and as it is furthermore described in Revelation 17 & 18.

But in 1893, there was a man by the name of Stanton. Now Ellen White, by the way, she was down in New Zealand when this happened. Ellen White was down in New Zealand and Stanton published a paper, and he said "It's time for the Loud Cry" and he gave that the name of his paper. And he said "This is what the Loud Cry is: you've got to come out of the Adventist church because the Adventist church has gone into such great apostasy that the Adventist church has become Babylon too, so you've got to come out of her, and that's what the Loud Cry is. Ellen White wrote a number of articles which were published in the Review and Herald in the latter part of 1893 condemning this man for what he was doing. What I want to go over with you from these articles is something I've found very interesting. In these articles, about one dozen times, actually a little bit more than that, Ellen White explains who and what the Adventist church is, that it is not going to go down, the church is going to go through to the end. And that's what we've been studying. It's amazing!

She tells who Babylon is, she says that's the churches that cling to the doctrines and traditions of Rome and follow her worldly practices. That's in 4 SOP 233. But then she tells who the Seventh-day Adventist Church is, it's not Babylon, the people that are going to go through. She says, "However weak and compassed with infirmity the people of God may be, those who turn from disloyalty to God in this wicked and perverse generation, and come back to their allegiance, standing to vindicate the holy law of God, making up the breach made by the man of sin under the direction of Sen, will be accounted the children of God,. and through the righteousness of Christ will stand perfect before God." TM 40,41.

Who is it that's going to make up the breach and be the children of God and we're not to call them Babylon? It's the people who do what? They're vindicating the law of God! They're not telling people that you can't keep it! They're vindicating it, and making up the breach.

I said it's about a dozen times. Here's another one:

"The Lord was pouring out His Spirit upon the people... the Spirit of God was made manifest among the people, and souls were being converted, and hard hearts broken

The very people receiving of the Holy Spirit, who are to receive the latter rain and the glory that is to lighten the whole earth." TM 48,49. Who are these people, the church that's going through? It's the people that are receiving God's Spirit.

We've gone through in our prayer meetings what are the prerequisites for receiving the Holy Spirit. The church that is going through are the people that receive the Holy Spirit, the people that are living by the Spirit. Here's number three, who it is: "Through the church eventually will be made manifest the final and full display of the love of God to the world that is to be lightened with it's glory." TM 50. The church that's going through are the people through whom God is going to make a final and full display of His love. Would you like to be a part of that group? By the way, this is the love of God, that you keep His commandments. You can't have the love of God in your hearts and display it to others if you're not keeping His commandments, 1 John 5:2,3.

Here is who it is: it's those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. She mentions that over and over again. The Seventh-day Adventist church are those that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. That's Rev. 14:12. But now, let me just read you one more. It says, "Let all unite with these chosen agents and be found at last among those who have the patience of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus." There it is, who is going to be the church at the end, who is the church that is going to go through? It's those who keep the commandments and have the faith of Jesus.

But now I want to ask you a hard question. This really is a hard question. What if we are not faithful to our trust? What could happen? Well, there's two things that can happen to Adventism. Ellen White said in Testimonies to Ministers, page 362, that we were on the track of Romanism and she wrote in 1886 to the General Conference president and said we could become a sister of Babylon. So that's a matter of prophecy, we cannot contradict that, we cannot say that at some point and time we could not become part of Babylon. We can't say that. We weren't in 1893.

So here's the question we want to know. What can we do so that we don't become part of Babylon? What can we do? There is a way that we can avoid ever becoming part of Babylon. Here's the way to do it. Number One: If we preach the Three Angels Messages. I want to tell you friends, we've just been looking at the Second Angel's Message, but the Three Angels Message, every single one of them, are Present Truth for right today. If we preach the Three Angels Messages, if we keep preaching them.

By the way, you can't preach the Three Angels Messages if you don't believe in 1844, if you don't believe in the judgment, if you don't believe in the Sanctuary message, if you don't believe that you can keep the law of God. Verse 12 is part of the Three Angels Message. If you don't believe you can keep the law of God you don't even believe the Third Angels Message anymore. That's number one. If we are to avoid becoming Babylon we must preach the Three Angels Messages.

Here's number two: We must cleanse the camp. If we do not cleanse the camp we will become part of Babylon. Here's what Ellen White said to the General Conference president. "We must as a people arouse and cleanse the camp of Israel. Licentiousness, unlawful intimacy, and unholy practices are coming in among us in a large degree; and ministers who are handling sacred things are guilty of sin in this respect. They are coveting their neighbors' wives, and the seventh commandment is broken. We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted, and filled with every foul spirit, a cage for every unclean and hateful bird; and will we be clear unless we make decided movements to cure the existing evil." TSB 188. If we do not cleanse the camp we will become part of Babylon. That's number two.

And here's number three: We must repent and cease this business of trying to control men by other men. That's in Testimonies to Ministers, that whole section where she says that we're on the tract of Romanism. That is the reason. We're trying to control men by other men. Now, that's what we would like to happen. If we preach the Three Angels Messages, if we cleanse the camp, and if we repent and come back to New Testament church organization, we can avoid becoming Babylon.

But there is another path that we could take, that will ensure that we will become part of Babylon before the end. And that is this: Number one: if we quit preaching the Three Angels Messages. How do you quit preaching the Three Angels Messages? Well you start preaching the New Theology. New Theology teaches that you can't overcome sin. You cannot believe both, they contradict. You quit preaching the Second Angels Message, the Second Angels Message says that Babylon is fallen.

But some people say, "Let's all get together." You can't join the world-wide ecumenical movement and preach the Second Angels Message too. You have to decide which way you're going to go. And if you're going to become part of the ecumenical movement you're not going to preach the Second Angels Message --you're going to become part of Babylon before the end. How can you call people out of something that you're a part of yourself? It doesn't make sense.

Number two: If we do not cleanse the camp, Ellen White said what would happen, we would become a sister of Babylon. And number three: if we keep up our attempts to control the work by our administrators, read TM 362,363 where she said we're on the track to Romanism that will result in us becoming part of Babylon. And then God is going to send a test, that is going to shake it out. It's called a National Sunday Law. And those that have quit preaching the Three Angels Messages, those that have not wanted to cleanse the camp, those who want to control the work by human authority, they are going to yield to the pressure.

"Oh," somebody says, "I already knew that, Pastor John, that's what I've believed for years, and I'm waiting for that to happen, and when that happens, I'm going to make the right decision." I want to tell you there are people preaching that today. And I've thought this through in my mind, how would it be if you would have been alive in the early part of 27 A.D. when John the Baptist began to preach, and you were impressed with his preaching, it sounded like the truth, but you said, "I'm going to go and check with the local Rabbi." And you find out that John the Baptist didn't have any permission from the Sanhedrin to do what he's doing. And you say, "Thirty-four A.D. isn't come yet and this is God's church until the end of the 70 weeks, so I'm going to follow the church and the church leaders." And so you go to the Sanhedrin and you check with them, sure enough your Rabbi was right. And so you set up an Independent Ministry and you start getting the word all over the country, "You have to stay with the church until 34 A.D. Stay with the leaders. We are God's chosen people."

Pretty soon somebody else comes on the scene, called Jesus. You go to check with the Sanhedrin. What do you find out? They say, "Well, He came here without authorization and cleaned things out in the temple, but we don't approve of what He's doing either because He hasn't come and told us anything. He does not acknowledge, recognize, organize, and authorize church authority. You better get the word out." I want to tell you, the word did go out, read the chapter in The Desire of Ages on the crisis in Galilee, the word went out all over the country that He was an impostor and that He wasn't the Messiah. "Well," you say, "I'm following. This is the church organization that God set up. Read the law of Moses. We are God's chosen people, I'm following what the leaders are telling me to do."

The time comes that they crucify Jesus. But you say, "The end of the 70 weeks hasn't come yet." And so finally, finally you're out there one day with Saul. You've been successful in convincing thousands and thousands of people that they should stay with God's chosen people, with His church. And they get ready to stone Stephen. Then would say, "Well, I guess the 70 weeks are over now, I guess that we were wrong, I guess that we had better turn around and believe." Do you think you would have done that? No friend. You were lost way back there when you were started listening to John the Baptist and decided instead of making up your own mind and praying about it you would go and let somebody else be conscience for you. You were lost clear back there.

And it's the same way today. There are people all over the world that they're saying, "Well, Pastor John I'm just going to wait, I'm just going to wait till the National Sunday Law, and then things will shake out and then I'll do what's right." No you won't. Not because you can't, but friends, as we go through life, day by day, week by week, we are all developing habits. And you do not develop the habit of just going along with the system and then all of a sudden a great crisis comes and you turn around and you do completely opposite of what you've been doing for years. That doesn't happen.

You read your own Bible in Acts 8 and I want to tell you, after Stephen was stoned, the people that were opposing them after that point kept on opposing them. And the people that oppose the preaching of the Three Angels Message, the people that don't want to cleanse the camp now, the people that want to keep human control in everything now, they're going to be the same when the National Sunday Law passes, and they're going to go down, they're going to become part of Babylon.

Friend, we're living in serious times. Concerning Babylon Ellen White said, "The neglect of plainest warnings will place us on the guilty list." 19MR 381. "The wine of Babylon is received and all nations become drunken with the spiritual poison. We see that those who will not receive the truth are preparing to resist its influence." 21MR 284. I want to tell you friends, God has been sending a message of revival and reformation to the Seventh-day Adventist church now for many years. And the vast majority are not listening. And what they're getting ready to do is to receive the mark of the beast even though they don't know it.

And that's why I'm preaching this to you. Friend, it's time to wake up, and say, "Lord, I'm going to follow you all the way, and do what you want me to do no matter what happens." If you just sort of drift along, you're going to receive the mark of the beast and many Adventists will receive it and not even know it. We don't have time to get into that today, but I can show you that from inspired writings too.

Oh, friend, your only safety is to accept all three of the Three Angels Messages and live by it, and say, "Lord, by your grace, I'm going to keep all your commandments, I'rn going to have the faith of Jesus and do His will." Is that what you want to do? If that's what you want to do I want to invite you to kneel down and pray with me.