The Track of Romanism

If we are going to be part of the church at the end, we must be faithful in helping to give the Three Angel’s Messages to all the world. The Three Angels’ Messages are going to triumph, and the people that are teaching and preaching them will triumph with them. Seventh-day Adventists were raised up by God to take a three-fold message to the entire world. This is the reason that we are here. In this article we will study the Second Angels’ Message. “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.” Revelation 14:8. What are the defining points of Babylon?

1. Babylon has fallen

“When you are lying on the ground you cannot fall. In order to fall, at some previous time you must have been in an elevated position. That tells us that at some previous time Babylon was pure and was part of the people of God.” The Great Controversy, 383.

2. Babylon has made all nations drink of her wine

This is spiritual wine. Isaiah wrote about it in Isaiah 29:9: “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 is the problem? They have drunk spiritual alcohol.

Notice this verse: “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.” Isaiah 29: 10, 11. Here are people who read the Bible. Those that are educated say, “It’s sealed.” Many people today say that the book of Revelation is sealed, but there is no place in the book of Revelation that says that.

Others say, “Oh, I can’t understand it because I’m not trained in theology; I can’t explain the Word of God.”

Notice what the Lord says: “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.” Isaiah 29: 13, 14.

What is this spiritual wine that the people are drunk with? It is teaching the commandments of men instead of the Word of God.

All the way from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible teaches that God’s standard is His law, and all those who want to be His, must obey His law. The last part of the Third Angel’s Message says: “Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. “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.” Revelation 22:14.

Babylon defies God’s standard by teaching that you do not have to keep God’s Law, or that you cannot keep God’s Law. That is 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. The result is that people become spiritually drunk. They think that they are saved when they are lost.

3. Babylon is a world-wide phenomenon

Being drunk from Babylon’s wine is not something that just happens off somewhere in Africa or India or China or the United States. She has made all nations drink of her wine.

One of the saddest things in the world today is that many Christians are so satisfied. They say, “Oh, I am saved.” They think they are saved, yet they are living in sin. They are drunk with the wine of Babylon.

No one is saved who is living in sin. Matthew 7:21–32. The Bible says that the end of a sinful way of life is death. Romans 6. The only people who can have assurance of salvation are those that through the power of the Holy Spirit overcome sin. Romans 8. Those that go on living in sin are of the devil. 1 John 3:8. The children of God who have His seed inside overcome sin. 1 John 3:9. John says that you can tell who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil by whether or not they are living righteously—keeping God’s Law, the ten commandments. I John 3:10.

4. Babylon is defiled by fornication

What is this fornication? It is spiritual fornication. “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.” Revelation 18:3.

In Ephesians 5 Paul talks about marriage, which is a symbol of the relationship between Christ and His church. “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. [He is talking about the church.] For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:29–32.

Christ and the church are to become one. As the husband and wife become one flesh, Christ and the church are to become one spirit. “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.” 1 Corinthians 6:15–17. 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.

When you have two, then it is holy, but when you have three, it is wicked! The church is to be joined to Christ; but if the church is joined to the leaders of this world, that is fornication.

Government and Christians

What type of relationship should the church have with the government?

Jesus said to Pilate, “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.” John 18:36. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not a worldly kingdom.” Then if something is a worldly kingdom is that Christ’s kingdom? Absolutely not, it cannot be.

Did Jesus teach that we should just be members of the heavenly kingdom, and not even acknowledge any earthly government? Look in Matthew 22. At this time the Jews were trying to trap Jesus on this very point. He said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Matthew 22:21.

There are some things that belong to government. God has given human government, and we are to render to them the things that belong to them. There are other things that belong to God alone; the government has no control of those.

We are now going to examine Romans 13 and see how the apostle Paul interpreted this instruction. It is important that we understand this because we will probably face these texts before courts someday. Paul tells us that we should be subject to the governing authorities in verse one. He says if you resist the authority you resist the ordinance of God in verse two. 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.” 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.” Romans 13:8. Now especially notice verse nine. “For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness.You shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this.”

The apostle Paul was the most highly educated of all the apostles. He knew the law. Why then would he quote only five commandments and say, “Now if there is any other, it’s summed up in this”? It is because of the context. God has given government the authority to enforce only the commandments in the second table of the law.

In other words, human governments have only the authority to enforce laws regarding my relation with my fellow men, but not my relationship with God.

Because of this, all down through history the devil has been attacking those first four commandments, and trying to make men break them.

Any time a church and state join together to try to enforce one of the first four commandments they have stepped over the line into forbidden territory. God will judge them for this, and He will also judge anyone that follows them. At this point we must obey God rather than men.

5. Babylon is a woman

In Bible prophecy a woman always represents a church. Babylon is called a harlot woman, or an apostate church. Because she, like the harlots of Judah and Samaria, is teaching people to break God’s law. Ezekiel 23:37, 38.

6. Babylon is richly adorned

“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.” Revelation 17:4. Notice, she is covered with jewelry and expensive clothes.

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. Each of the twelve gates are made out of one pearl. It is so beautiful! Once Ellen White said that if you could get one glance of the Holy City you would never want anything in this world again. Oh friend, you must be there! But nobody is going to be inside that city that is proud. Malachi 4:1.

Pride was the problem at the beginning. Do you know one of the things that the devil became proud of? his beauty. One of the reasons he was so beautiful was that he was covered with all kinds of jewels and precious stones. Pride is a lethal spiritual disease.

Paul said in 1 Timothy 2 that we should not wear gold and pearls and costly clothing. Why? Because our hearts might be lifted up with pride. And you will be shut out of the Holy City. We may think that it will not make us proud, but that is what God has told us. Do you think that you are wiser than God?

Friend, this jewelry and adornment issue is serious business. It is a matter of whether or not we are going to do what God’s Word says or not.

7. Babylon is a persecuting power

“I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” Revelation 17:6. She is drunk with the blood of the saints. She is a persecuting power. In verse eighteen it says: “The woman who you saw is that city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” It’s the great city. In John’s time, when the people read this, they did not have any question in their mind what city this was. Even in the time of the reformers they knew which city it was.

Let me ask you this question: If you were going to pick out right now, today, one city which has 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!

“On her forehead a name was written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Revelation 17:5. This city has daughters—daughter churches. These daughter churches are the churches that are passing out the same wine—the doctrines of men, that she is passing out to all the world.

Stanton and His Message

In 1893, there was a man named Stanton who published a paper called the Loud Cry. He taught that you must come out of the Adventist church because it had become Babylon. He even said this message was the Loud Cry. Ellen White wrote a number of articles that were published in the Review and Herald in the latter part of 1893 condemning this man for what he was doing. In these articles Ellen White explains more than a dozen times who and what God’s church really is. She said that it is not going to go down, but will go through to the end.

She says that Babylon is the churches that cling to the doctrines and traditions of Rome and follow her worldly practices. Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 233. She also says what God’s church is that is going to go through. “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 Satan, will be accounted the children of God, and through the righteousness of Christ will stand perfect before God.” Tesimonies to Ministers, 40, 41.

Who is it that is going to make up the breach and are the children of God and are not to be called Babylon? It is the people who do what? That vindicate the law of God! They are not telling people that you cannot keep it!

“While the Lord was pouring out His Spirit upon the people, did these men receive of the heavenly anointing? While the deep movings of the Spirit of God were made manifest among the people, and souls were being converted, and hard hearts broken, there were those who were listening to the suggestions of Satan, and they were inspired with zeal from beneath to go forth and proclaim that 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, were Babylon.” Testimonies to Ministers, 49. Who is the church that is going through? It is the people that are receiving God’s Spirit.

“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 its glory.” Testimonies to Ministers, 50. The church that is 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? You cannot have the love of God in your hearts and display it to others if you are not keeping His commandments. 1 John 5:2, 3.

The true church are those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12.

The Path to Life

What will happen if we are not faithful to our trust? Ellen White said in Testimonies to Ministers, 362, that we were in the track of Romanism, and she wrote in 1886 to the General Conference president and said we could become a sister of Babylon. This is a matter of prophecy that we cannot contradict, so we cannot say that at some point in time the structure could not become a part of Babylon.

What can we do so that we do not become part of Babylon?

1. We must preach the Three Angels’ Messages. These messages are present truth for our time, and include the doctrine of righteousness by faith.

2. We must cleanse the camp. “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?” Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, 188.

3. We must repent and stop trying to control other men. In Testimonies to Ministers, Mrs. White says that we are on the track of Romanism because of this.

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.

Putting off a Decision

If we fail to do these things, we will be taking another path that ensures that we will become part of Babylon before the end.

“Oh,” somebody says, “I already knew that, Pastor John, that’s what I have believed for years, and I am waiting for that to happen, and when that happens, I am going to make the right decision.” People are preaching that today.

I have thought this through. What would have happened if you had been alive in the early part of 27 A.D. when John the Baptist was preaching? 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.” You find out that John the Baptist did not have any permission from the Sanhedrin to do what he is doing. You say, “34 A.D. is not come yet and this is God’s church until the end of the 70 weeks, so I am going to follow the church and the church leaders.”

Then you set up an independent ministry and you send 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.”

Soon Jesus comes on the scene. You go to check with the Sanhedrin. They say, “Well, He came here without authorization and cleaned things out in the temple, but we do not approve of what He’s doing either because He has not come and told us anything. He does not acknowledge recognized, organized, and authorized 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 was not the Messiah. It could have been said, “I’m following the church organization that God set up. We are God’s chosen people.”

The time comes that they crucify Jesus. But you say, “The end of the 70 weeks has not come yet.”

Finally you are there one day with Saul. You have been successful in convincing thousands and thousands of people that they should stay with God’s chosen people, with His church. They get ready to stone Stephen. Do you suppose that you would say then, “Well, I guess the 70 weeks are over now, I guess that we were wrong, I guess that we should turn around and believe.” Do you think you would have done that? No friend. You were lost way back there when you started listening to John the Baptist and decided to let someone else be conscience for you.

Friend, it is the same today. There are people all over the world saying, “Pastor John, I am just going to wait till the National Sunday Law, and the wicked are shaken out and then I will do what is right.” You will not. As we go through life, day by day, week by week, we are all developing habits. And if you developed the habit of just going along with the system, you will not suddenly, when a great crisis comes, turn around and do just the opposite. That does not happen.

Friend, we are living in serious times. Concerning the wine of Babylon, Ellen White said, “The neglect of plainest warnings will place us on the guilty list.” Manuscript Release, vol. 19, 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.” Manuscript Release, vol. 21, 284. God has been sending a message of revival and reformation to the Seventh-day Adventist church now for many years. The vast majority are not listening. Instead they are getting ready to receive the mark of the beast.

Friend, it is time to wake up, and say, “Lord, I am going to follow you all the way, and do what you want me to do no matter what happens.” If you just drift along, you are going to receive the mark of the beast like many other Adventists.

Your only safety is to accept all of the Three Angels’ Messages and live by them. Say: “Lord, by your grace, I am going to keep all your commandments. I am going to have the faith of Jesus and do His will.”

The End