Thomas C. Trinka
March 7, 2015
Friends, in my last message I strove to point out that all of us are currently living in a world, or better stated immersed in a world, which God defines as Babylon the Great. It is a worldwide system that will reach it’s zenith just before it’s utter destruction, which as we know, will occur, when Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
As I highlighted last time, God instructs us, and warns us in Rev. 18.4 to “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Please note, that in Rev. 18.4, God divides His instruction and warning into two distinct parts. First God gives us the instruction to come out of Babylon. For if we do not comply with God’s instruction, we will have to suffer the consequences, of her sins. The consequences of which is receiving the plagues of God’s wrath.
This is a telling verse, in that we have no recourse. For if we spiritually remain in Babylon, we remain under Satan’s influence, and thus will fail in our God ordained mission of becoming Holy, as God Himself is Holy. So today, I thought I would follow up on my prior message, with one focused on how we go about coming out of Babylon. For since Babylon the Great is a worldwide phenomenon, which is both physical and spiritual, it is not possible to physically separate ourselves from it. Rather, our departure is a spiritual endeavor, coming out of the satan influenced ways of this world. As many scriptures show, our battle is spiritual in nature, and thus we must come out of Babylon from the inside out, if you will. In essence, we must mature to the point, that we are able to reprogram our entire thought process.
I’d like to read something that was published on one of the Church of God websites. It was written by John Ritenbaugh, and I think it does a good job at kind of framing this subject matter.
I’m going to read a few verses from Matthew 16 and then read Mr. Ritenbaugh’s commentary.
Matthew 16.21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
- (22) Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
- (23) But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
These verses show how easily a disciple of Christ can become the means of communication from demons. Peter did the speaking, but Jesus spoke to satan, attributing the source of the disciple’s action. His verbal outburst was against God’s will that Jesus suffer and die. Without recognizing it, Peter permitted himself to be a willing conduit for Satan’s will! I think this is an important point that is being underscored by Christ’s statement to Peter. One that Paul also addresses in Ephesions 6, verse 12. In which he wrote;
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”
Therefore, our battle to come out of Babylon, first and foremost takes place, in our minds. John Ritenbaugh continues by saying, “Several years ago, I clipped an abstract of a book, Wrestling with Dark Angels, which was advertised in a book catalog. The abstract reads: They’re those inner “voices of reason” that try to convince you that wrong is right, that evil is good. They’re Satan’s dark angels, and you fight them every day. It is a war for our mind”
John concludes by stating “The solution for us today is to combat this influence by means of the continuous influence of God’s Holy Spirit flowing from our relationship with God through Bible study, prayer, meditation, occasional fasting, and obedience” “Being in the spiritual presence of God and His Son Jesus Christ is the antidote. It is our shield and the means by which we flee Babylon” — John W. Ritenbaugh
These last two sentences really hit a cord with me. Let me just repeat them again. “Being in the spiritual presence of God and His Son Jesus Christ is the antidote. It is our shield and the means by which we flee Babylon”
After doing some self mediation on this point, a song that I had heard long ago popped into my mind. It was a song from the Musical Godspell, entitled “Day by Day” The lyrics are as follows;
Day by day Day by day, Oh Dear Lord Three things I pray, To see thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly, Day by day, Let me repeat the central part of these lyrics; To see God more clearly,
To Love thee more dearly, and to follow thee more nearly, Day by day
Friends I believe that by following this simple, yet profound advice, we can and will be successful to win the battle of our mind, to conquer our carnal nature and succeed in coming out of Babylon. So I’m going to structure the remaining portion of this message based on these three simple concepts, all of which are somewhat interrelated.
First, We must see God more clearly.
Let’s turn first to Exodus 24.9-11 To get the context here, the nation of Israel had just ratified the covenant, in the previous verses.
9 Then Moses went up, [on Mount Sinai] along with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.
The reason I turned to this text is to underscore the point, that we are to walk by faith, and not by sight. For this account teaches us, that physical sight is not all that important, if it fails to make a lasting impression.
For consider, that very soon after this event of sharing a meal in the very presence of God, the elders of Israel, along with Aaron made and worshipped the golden calf. So what is important for us to do, is to come to see God in a spiritual sense. And a good example of this, is found in the book of Job.
Job 42. 1-5 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
- 2 “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You
- 3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
- 4 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
- 5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
- 6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”
In these verses, Job expresses the revelation of truly seeing God for the first time. Notice in verse 5, that Job is recorded as using the word eye, in the singular form. He does not say, but now my eyes see you God, but rather now my eye sees you. I believe the point that is being expressed, is that Job has gained spiritual insight, seeing or better stated, understanding God in a truer sense, for the first time. And this revelation, motivated Job to a deeper state of repentance and humility, then he previously had.
Another scripture that we can tie into this concept of spiritual sight is found in Matthew 6.22-23
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Please note, that in both of these verses the word eye, is again in the singular form. Now I’m sure there are various interpretations of what Jesus is trying to convey here. My understanding is that Jesus is referring to the minds eye, or we might even call it, our heart. In that we should not be double minded, but instead be focused on applying the direction we receive, from the light of God’s word, into our lives.
This concept is further supported in the next verse.
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
This idea of being spiritually focused, of being single minded, if you will, is a very important concept that must be mastered, if we are to fully overcome the pulls of the flesh, and thus to qualify to enter the Kingdom of God.
We must seek first, the Kingdom of God and acquiring God’s righteousness, as we often sight from Matthew 6.
Another good example is found in Luke 10. 38-42
- 38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
- 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.
- 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
- 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.
- 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
In these verses, we find a great example, that we should frame our lives around. Martha was not seeking first the Kingdom of God, but rather was being overwhelmed with worldly duties, and also somewhat indignant of Mary’s lack of participation in them. How often do we let other peoples actions or inactions upset us? And often for no good reason, when looking at things from a larger spiritual perspective.
In Luke 21.34 Jesus reiterates this same point, telling us;
- 34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down by…[among other things] the cares of this life” And thus fail to come out of Babylon , with the result being “that Day come on you unexpectedly”
- 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Our sight is one of our most powerful senses, in that what we physically allow our eyes, and thus our mind to focus on, can either greatly hinder, or strengthen our overall spiritual condition.
Paul states in Ephesians 5.9-11 that we are to Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 proving what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.
So how do we gain complete mastery over the unfruitful works of darkness? How do we fully develop the single minded focus, to walk as children of light?
Leviticus. 11 sets forth a principle, that will help us to understand what we should be doing. Let’s turn there please.
In this chapter God is codifying the laws of clean and unclean foods. But I believe there is much more to it than that. I believe God is laying out an underlying spiritual principle for us.
Let’s just read a few verses at the end of the chapter.
- 43 You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them.
- 44 For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
- 45 For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Friends, notice that God is tying together clean and unclean foods with holiness. Twice in these couple of verses God commands the Israelites, and thus by extension you and I, as part of the Israel of God, to be holy, because God is holy. And of course our overall mission in life is to become like God is. So why does God tie together the concept of clean and unclean foods, with holiness? Well because as the saying goes, we are what we eat. And thus in a spiritual sense, in order to develop the holiness of God, we must be very careful about what we spiritually ingest.
Paul, adds emphasis to this point in Philippians 4, verses 8-9 where he wrote;
- 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
- 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
So not to take too much time with this point. Let me just summarize this first principle of seeing God more clearly. We should be striving to develop the spiritual insight and understanding that God wants to work very closely with us, to develop the mind that God the Father and Jesus Christ both share. Our job, is to understand this point clearly, to come to see God actively working within us, and to fully commit ourselves to this process of developing God’s holiness. And one of the principle ways that we can help this process along, is to be very careful about what we allow our minds to spiritually ingest.
Our mental diet must become completely clean, just as our physical diet does not include unclean things. I’m sure we have all mastered the practice of abstaining from physically unclean foods. And so likewise if we have our mind singularly focused, we can develop the same good spiritual habit of directing our minds eye on purity as well. As we just read in verse 8. Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
And now on to the second point, of loving the Lord more dearly. Turn with me to Matthew 22.35
- 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
- 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
- 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.‘
- 38 This is the first and great commandment.
Friends, how often have we read these verses, and similar ones, which are sprinkled across the bible? However, how much time have we really spent, truly applying all aspects of this primary commandment in our lives? Verse 37, seems to me, to be the essence, and foundation of what true Christianity is all about. God’s reason for creating and calling us, is so that we may become like He is. Therefore, we must develop the heart and mind of God Himself. The essence of which is love. Taken in this context, the instructions that Christ gives us in verse 37, is all encompassing, involving every facet of our lives.
We must learn to love God with all of our heart, which is our emotions. And all of our mind, which is our intellect, the way we think, and what we think about, as we just covered in seeing God more clearly. And all of our soul, which is our physical life, itself. Paul, in Romans 12.1 refers to this as being a living sacrifice. We must learn to sacrifice our own will. To master our thought process, and thus our conduct in our daily lives. This great commandment in the law, informs us that the only way to accomplish this, is through the spiritual motivation that is derived from truly loving God and His way of life.As we discussed several weeks ago, it’s all a matter of who we listen to, who is the Lord of our lives.
For remember, Adam and Eve had a choice to make. God said to Adam, you may eat of all the trees in the garden, except one. God did not make an unreasonable command. For God’s way of life is truly liberating. The Apostle James refers to it as the “perfect law of liberty” In essence, God said, listen to Me, and you will have an abundant life. You can eat from all the trees, except just this one forbidden tree. But what did satan say? Satan said to Eve, that God is being unreasonable, listen to me. You can eat from whatever tree that you want. You don’t have to listen to God, decide for yourself. You can be like God, being your own god, directing your own life.
And that is how Babylon the Great got it’s start. And mankind has been immersed in this system ever since. Turn with me to Hosea. 6, and let’s read some interesting verses, regarding this subject. God here is addressing the nation of Israel, and He states through the prophet Hosea.
Hosea 6.6-7 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. 7 “But like men they transgressed the covenant; There they dealt treacherously with Me.
God says that He desires mercy, or love for your fellow man, and the knowledge of who and what God is. In other words, understanding that God should be Lord over our lives. Thus in essence, this verse is defining the 2 great commandments. Love of God and neighbor. Please note, the word men in verse 7. In my bible there is a footnote that gives an alternative translation, which reads like Adam, they have transgressed the covenant.
This is a very significant point.
Let’s turn now to Isaiah 24.5-6, and expand this concept a little more.
- 5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they [referring to all of humanity] have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant.
- 6 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left.
The overall context and timing of this, is the final and complete destruction of Babylon the Great. I want to highlight the word translated as ordinance, which has an interesting meaning. The root word means to etch, to engrave, or to inscribe. This word is often translated as staute. But an alternative translation, and one that underscores the root, is prescription. If we are sick, a doctor might write us a prescription to get well. Likewise, all mankind is in a spiritually sick state, leading to death, because they have failed to heed God’s instructions for life.
So in other words, verse 5 is stating that all mankind, since Adam, has changed the God ordained prescription, of how to live ones life. And thus has transgressed Gods laws and God’s covenant. An everlasting covenant that has not changed since the Garden of Eden. What this is stating is, that like Adam and Eve, all of mankind has broken the everlasting covenant, and thus the world, biblically defined as Babylon the Great is under a curse, and will be destroyed. And so to understand this big picture more clearly, how might we define the everlasting covenant, that Adam and all mankind has violated?
Jeremiah. 11.6-8
- 6 Then the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them.
- 7 For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, “Obey My voice.”
- 8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done.’”
Friends, the essence of the covenant that we have made with God, is simply to Obey God’s voice. Rather than our own voices, which in reality is satan’s voice, since he is the prince of the power of the air, and directly tries to influence our thought process. The way we combat his influence, is by being in tune with, and thus being influenced by God’s Spirit. Moreover, our drive and motivation must be focused on loving God. As we read in 1 John 2.5 Whoever keeps, or obeys God’s word, truly the love of God is [being] perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
If God is truly our Lord and Master, and we are striving to love Him more dearly Then our mind, and heart and our life itself, will be God centered. The result of which, brings us to the 3rd and final point, of “Following God more nearly, Day by day” Israel had to physically walk out of Egypt, which is synonymous with Babylon the Great today.
But it was God that guided them and provided for them throughout there journey.
Therefore likewise, in order for us to come out of Babylon, we must be led by God’s Holy Spirit. Galatians 5.16-25
- 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
- 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
- 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. {or under the penalty of the law]
- 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
- 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
- 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
- 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
[Or against living God’s way, there is no penalty of consequence for disobedience]
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
1 John 2.6 states- He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Friends, the key principle to successfully complete our spiritual journey out of Babylon, is found in the last few words from the Godspell lyrics, which is day by day. Life can at times be overwhelming, but God understands our circumstances. The key is to strive to obey God’s voice, one day at a time. The thousand mile journey into the kingdom, is taken one step at a time. Israel walked out of Egypt one step at a time.
Likewise our trip out of Babylon and into the Kingdom is a daily endeavor. I’d like to rap up this message up, by turning to 1 Peter 5. 6-11
- 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
- 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
- 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
- 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
- 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
So my friends, in conclusion, let us all strive to come out of Babylon by seeing God more clearly- Loving Him more dearly, and thus, following our loving Creator more nearly, Day by day.
Thomas C. Trinka