Come out of her, my people

Revelation 18:4

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.

Mystery Babylon is spoken of here in very distinct and descriptive terms. She is the object of the great wrath of God, and is full of detestable and hateful abominations. Who is mystery Babylon? I shall not venture a guess. A mystery is a mystery. Let us be careful when trying to decode something that has not yet been decoded. We shall know in time. But there are some things we can understand now, that is, the principle being taught here. Mystery Babylon the great is a picture of the evil and wicked world. It is a depiction of even the evil that is now prevalent and pervasive in this world. We must be ware of it, and know of it; we must be discerning of it, that we may avoid it at all costs. The Lord says, “Come out of her, my people!” Come out! Do not partake of her sins! That you receive not of her plagues!

Dear friends, we must come out of the wickedness of this world. We must not partake of it. We must stay away. Does not the book of Proverbs tell us to avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away? For you see, we do not want to partake of her plagues! But if we partake of the sins of the world, we shall become automatic and default partakers of the consequences of the sin of the world. Does this mean we cannot mingle with those of the world? It does not mean this, for then how shall we be a city on a hill? How shall we be the light of the world? We are in the world, but Jesus has said that we are not of the world. For then, if we could not be in the world, we must needs go out of the world. But God has not called us to be sequestered, cloistered in our own little environments, having no contact with the world. We are the salt. We are the light. We are the influence. But concerning the practices of this world, we are to be the children of the light, and not the children of darkness. We are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. And what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, asks the apostle, and what communion hath light with darkness? None, of course! We cannot have any meaningful fellowship with any of the evil of this world.

Beloved, let this serve as a warning to all of us to separate ourselves from the evil of the world. All of us live in different circles and in different arenas. But in whichever arena we find ourselves, let us fight the evil and not join the evil. For the battle is the Lord’s, and we are on His side! Come out of the evil! Receive not of her plagues! For she shall be rewarded double for her iniquities. And when we see the smoke of her burning, we shall rejoice eternally. One day, evil shall be banished, and Satan shall be bruised under our feet shortly. It shall be a day of most exceeding joy. And until that grand day arrives, let us maintain the purity of Christ, that we may not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

“Father, we can readily and easily discern that evil is about us on all sides. This evil is fighting us incessantly. But we praise you that you are on our side, and shall one day eternally triumph. But, Lord, we pray that we would never be swept away with the error of the wicked, that we would never partake of the deception and evil about us, but continue to reprove it. May we shine forth for Thee in this world, as we live as your peculiar people, zealous of good works. And we shall praise you for this. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”