And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out from her, my people, in order that you might not participate in her sins and in order that you might not receive any of her plagues. Because her sins have accumulated up to heaven and God has remembered her crimes. Treat her the way she treated others. Pay her double according to her works. Mix double for her in the very cup in which she mixed." Rev. 18:4-6.
It is easy to look at the residents of Babylon and say, "What's the matter with them? Why are they supporting the evil city with their presence? Don't they see what she is doing?" But the reality is that it is hard to recognize the corporate sins of an organization when you are a part of it. Since groups of people tend to share the same blind spots, it is easier to see corporate sin from the outside rather than from the inside.
God's end-time people will need a great deal of discernment to recognize clearly the deceptive webs of Babylon when the end comes. To avoid getting sucked into Babylon's deceptions, we need to develop a prayerful knowledge of God's Word. And we will want to combine that study and prayer with a healthy dose of self-distrust, so that we can discover our personal blind spots as we approach the end. One way to discover blind spots is to study the Bible in groups and do a lot of listening to others. Safety rests in many counselors.
I express my self-distrust with the following prayer from time to time: "Lord, I want the truth, no matter what the cost--even the truth about myself." Such truth can be costly. One Christian prayed two hours a day, telling God passionately that he loved Him so much that nothing else mattered. It was not until his wife died suddenly that he truly understood what it was that he had been praying about.
When we see corporate abuse and exploitation, we need to speak out against it. But eventually a society becomes too corrupt to listen. At such times God tells us to withdraw from it before it self-destructs or gets destroyed from the outside. We hear echoes of Sodom and Lot in the call of Revelation 18:4. When Sodom's time for destruction came, Lot had to leave Sodom or perish with it.
It is easy to condemn anyone belonging to an organization that operates contrary to Scripture. Our text, however, shows that many connected with "Babylon" are not doomed until the very end. God has His saints in every place and in every organization today. In a world with many shades of gray, it takes discernment to know right from wrong.
Lord, I see the need to study, stretch, grow, and learn. I invite You to be my constant guide and support along the way.
It is easy to look at the residents of Babylon and say, "What's the matter with them? Why are they supporting the evil city with their presence? Don't they see what she is doing?" But the reality is that it is hard to recognize the corporate sins of an organization when you are a part of it. Since groups of people tend to share the same blind spots, it is easier to see corporate sin from the outside rather than from the inside.
God's end-time people will need a great deal of discernment to recognize clearly the deceptive webs of Babylon when the end comes. To avoid getting sucked into Babylon's deceptions, we need to develop a prayerful knowledge of God's Word. And we will want to combine that study and prayer with a healthy dose of self-distrust, so that we can discover our personal blind spots as we approach the end. One way to discover blind spots is to study the Bible in groups and do a lot of listening to others. Safety rests in many counselors.
I express my self-distrust with the following prayer from time to time: "Lord, I want the truth, no matter what the cost--even the truth about myself." Such truth can be costly. One Christian prayed two hours a day, telling God passionately that he loved Him so much that nothing else mattered. It was not until his wife died suddenly that he truly understood what it was that he had been praying about.
When we see corporate abuse and exploitation, we need to speak out against it. But eventually a society becomes too corrupt to listen. At such times God tells us to withdraw from it before it self-destructs or gets destroyed from the outside. We hear echoes of Sodom and Lot in the call of Revelation 18:4. When Sodom's time for destruction came, Lot had to leave Sodom or perish with it.
It is easy to condemn anyone belonging to an organization that operates contrary to Scripture. Our text, however, shows that many connected with "Babylon" are not doomed until the very end. God has His saints in every place and in every organization today. In a world with many shades of gray, it takes discernment to know right from wrong.
Lord, I see the need to study, stretch, grow, and learn. I invite You to be my constant guide and support along the way.
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