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June 13, 2006
Rick Joyner: "Taking The
Land--Reformation Of The Church"
Mystery Babylon
For centuries, there has been much
speculation and accusation about who the great harlot, or "mystery Babylon" is
in Revelation 17. Because of verse 9,
"Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are
seven mountains on which the woman sits" (Revelation 17:9), the
Reformers nearly universally agreed, that this was a reference to the seven
hills that Rome is built upon, and therefore was a reference to the Roman
Catholic Church. Reformers later said that she was called "The mother of
harlots," because she gave birth to so many other denominations that were
likewise committing fornication with the spirit of the world, many of which were
the churches spawned by the Reformation.
The reference to this system as "mystery Babylon," was because this system was
built in the spirit of the tower of Babel in Genesis
11:1, 4-9:
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in
the Heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over
the face of the whole earth."
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower
which the sons of men had built.
And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language,
and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be
withheld from them.
Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not
understand one another's speech."
So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and
they ceased building the city.
Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language
of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of
all the earth (NKJV).
Reformers considered this to be the same thing that happened to the
institutional church. When the church was unified under Rome, it tried to
establish the Kingdom of God by might and power, not by the Spirit;
metaphorically presuming to reach Heaven on human wisdom and power. So the Lord
looked down upon what men had built and did the same thing He did to the first
tower of Babel--He scattered the languages so that now, there are thousands of
different languages or denominations.
We also see here, that the great power of unity can be used for evil, when the
motives for building are selfish ambition. Because the reference in
Revelation 17 is to a "mother of harlots,"
there are obviously offspring of the "mystery, Babylon." If this application is
correct, the unity of evil is the profound arrogance that we can reach
Heaven or the Kingdom, by our own strength and wisdom. Which is really motivated
by seeking to make a name for ourselves, and not to glorify the name of the
Lord.
Certainly, the history of the church can appear like a long trail of unfinished
towers of Babel: Project after project that ambitious men thought would gather
people together, and keep them together so that they would not be scattered over
the whole earth.
Projects can only hold people together
for so long; only Christ can truly unify people. As long as we continue to build
on projects, even good ones such as missions, people will always end up
ultimately scattered, rather than unified.
True Unity Takes Discernment
Because of the teachings of the antichrist
coming on a platform of a one world religion, or a one world government, many
Christians do not want to have anything to do with any movement that seeks to
unify churches. This can be a healthy resolve in many ways, but it can also
cause us to miss being a part of the true church; and Scripture reveals we will
be in unity when the Lord returns. Those who are controlled by fear rather than
faith, will inevitably be deceived. The answer is to discern, and give ourselves
to being a part of the true church. He is coming back for a bride, not a harem.
Therefore, the real issue is to determine the motive for the unity. Selfish
ambition is not hard to discern.
The Lord said that He would build His church, and the true church is being built
by the Lord, on a foundation that is Him. However, He is using men who compose
His body to do the work. He uses men to lead, through the councils of apostles
and elders, such as He used in the first century. He also uses individuals, such
as Stephen, Philip and many others throughout history, to release revival,
spiritual breakthroughs and advances. The real issue is whether something is
being done by the Spirit of the Lord, or by men. This is the original foundation of
true faith that was demonstrated by Abraham, as stated in
Hebrews 11:8-10,
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would
receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in
tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
for he was seeking the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is
God (NKJV).
Like Abraham, those who are on the true sojourn of faith, often have to leave all
they know behind, just as he had to leave Babylon. Then there will
usually be a period of not really knowing where you are going, but you will know
what you are looking for--that which is truly being built by God, not men. There
must also be a time when we find the land that we are called to, and settle in
it. The true quest of faith will ultimately end in achieving the goal, even if
we ourselves may not complete the building, we can claim it and possess it for
future generations.
The Church of Living Stones
The Lord is also building His church out of
"living stones," not physical stones. This does not mean that the Lord does not
use physical buildings. But when the main focus is "building buildings" instead
of people, we have departed from the course that God is building. For
this reason, many of the organizations we call churches, are at best just
piles of living stones that have not been built together into a dwelling place
for God.
If our identity is not more with our church than with any other group or
organization, including our natural families, we are not yet been built
together the way we are called to. However, it is a fellowship of the heart that
is not of compulsion, but of those who live for the King, and daily seek to do
His will.
It is true that a counterfeit church has been built, or is being built. But the
way to avoid being seduced into it, is to be a part of the true church whose
Architect and Builder is God. More than just being a part of what God is doing,
a basic source of true faith is the pursuit of being a part of what God is
building. In truth, the main thing that God is doing in the earth is building
His church. If we are not vitally involved in this, we are missing a most basic
element of the true faith. True faith is more than just having accurate
doctrines--it is abiding in the Lord and being obedient to Him in all things.
This does not negate our devotion to sound biblical truth, but true faith is an
action verb. True faith is not static, but kinetic, moving, living, and always
in pursuit of God and His purposes.
Focus On Christ
As I said in the beginning of this study,
if we are not going to be deceived in these times, we need to spend much more
time seeking to understand what Christ is doing, than what the antichrist is
doing. Likewise, I think we should spend much more time studying true
Christianity (rather than the counterfeits), and the nature of the true church,
and less time on that which is not. If you don't want to succumb to the
temptations of the Tree of Knowledge, start eating of the Tree of Life.
However, we do need to know where, and what, the Tree of Knowledge is, so we do
not eat from it, and we do need to understand the schemes of the devil.
Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
www.morningstarministries.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rick Joyner's Upcoming Itinerary:
August 16 - 20, 2006
Catch the Fire
Harvest Rock Church
Pasadena, CA
Contact: (626) 794-1190 or
www.harvestrockchurch.org
September 15 - 16, 2006
"Hearing God During These Strategic Times"
Dove Christian Fellowship International
Contact: (717) 627-1996 or (800) 848-5892 or
www.dcfi.org
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