BABYLON IS FALLEN...

The devil can go right there and work and stay. The devil gets in the pulpit and the seats too! One of the best habitations the devil has today is the church organization. He gets his greatest work done through it. He’d rather live in that which calls itself the church, any day, than the saloon. He can’t work as well---where he can be seen. If he can take up his habitation on a church corner and get under the garb of religion, he’s really in business. That’s a long way from Ephesians the 2nd chapter, verses 19-21, where he said, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto and Holy Temple in the Lord.”

God’s church is a habitation of God. Babylon is fallen, is fallen. I’ve often said, when these false preachers stand in all their ungodliness, right in our town, we had better remove them. Why did they come? Their church is starting to have dances every Saturday night in the church basement. And what does the preacher tell them? “We’re having it in the church because we want to keep the world out of it.” Talk about a deceived man---soup suppers, bingo parties! I heard of one the other night in a church of God congregation on Sunday night. Christ must rule the church.

This mighty angel came down from heaven and showed the fallen condition, but in the 4th verse, John said, I heard a voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people. The Holy Ghost is calling---He said His sheep hear His voice. What voice? The voice of the four horns of the golden altar. What was it? The blood of Christ crying out to His people, “I want you to move.” Now the preachers tell you of the fallen condition, but I am ”God” calling you to come out of there. Bro. Warner had no man calling him out. The song he wrote: “When the voice from heaven sounded warning all to flee from the darksome courts of Babel, back to Zion free; Glad my heart to hear the message and I hasten to obey, and I am standing in the truth today.” We need the voice from heaven. It will never sound until we preach: Babylon is fallen. We’ve never had it fail us yet. When we’ve faithfully preached under the anointing of the Spirit, Babylon’s fallen condition, we’ve had people hear the voice of the Son of God calling them out of Babylon---to leave it and come back to Zion. That’s how they know it’s the truth. We want to prove the message. We get up here and show Babylon’s false condition and all about it and just think we’ve done a beautiful job and that man on the seat has a right to say, “You’re just a man like I am---that’s your idea about a voice from heaven. About the time he does that, the Holy Ghost will say, “This is not just any man preaching, that’s my messenger, he’s telling you the truth.” We need the voice to back us up or we’ll never get anybody out of Babylon---without that voice from heaven.

There are some people, who won’t move at every whimper. They’ve learned the voice of the Holy Ghost and they know when He’s talking. And when He talks: they move! While we’re sounding forth the sixth seal message, let’s preach as faithful as we know how. It’s not as simple as falling off a log---to get out of Babylon. There’s been too much preaching, that people are just as well off, down in Babylon, as they are in Zion. If you’d preach that way to me, I would say, “Just keep right on going---I’ll stay where I am, if I’m just as well fixed down here in Babylon. There’s a reason why God calls His people back to Zion. Let’s go back to the types a little. Jerusalem is the type of the church’s dwelling place. Israel was still God’s people when she was in Babylon, but she could not truly worship God there. God’s decree was to go back to Jerusalem and build the temple and you know that is a type of the church. We have to own the fact that we cannot build the temple of God in Babylon. Zion (Jerusalem) is the family of God’s proper dwelling place. The 87th Psalm says, “Glorious things of thee are spoken.” That is the only thing spoken of. One of the most glorious things spoken about her is: that man is born in her. It makes no difference where he got saved. They may have been born again, somewhere in Babylon, or in a kitchen, or in a field. That’s where they were born. At the time they were born again, they were born in Zion. They became a member of the family of God. We like to illustrate it this way: All our children were born in the hospital, but they were born in the Wilson family. We don’t care how much they have down there to keep them, they cannot do as good a job of raising them, as we can at home, so we brought them home. Old Babylon has had some good nurses, but Jerusalem, which is above is free and she’s your mother---an she’s not down in Babylon.

What we’re facing is: a lot of people that have been born in the family of God, and belong to God and have been born in Zion, but they don’t know it. It’s one thing to be born in Zion and another thing to get mature enough in the Scriptures to realize that you were born in Zion, and to pick up your “duds” and come to Zion. Zion is a (spiritual) place you come to. Paul says, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit.” We can keep the spirit of God anywhere, if we walk in the light, until we come to the unity of the faith. Zion is the place (not literal location) to come to. Paul spoke to the people in Hebrews 12, and he didn’t say you were born in Zion, but “Ye are come to Zion.” Paul tells us the Spirit gave some ministers, teachers, and preachers. What for? It was for the edifying of the body of Christ, the Church. They were used to instruct so that we’re not blown about by every wind of doctrine. We must grow up in Christ. He wants the body to be as big and as glorious as the head is. We can’t possess the body of Christ in the world all dispersed out here in many (faiths) religions. God sent ministers to edify the body and bring it together that it might have the promise of him and might grow up to him. Now, it was so! Let’s go back and get the type. In the first chapter of Ezra you will read that after Cyrus settled, God moved on him. Let’s read the first verse: “Now in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, that the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the King of Persia.” This is an old wicked king, but God used him and set thirty people loose to go back to Jerusalem. He made a proclamation throughout his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, “Thus saith Cyrus, King of Persia, the Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” He came right on down through---and whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods, beasts, beside the free-will offering…” Brother, he really had them stirred up didn’t he?

BUILDING GOD’S HOUSE...

Then rose up the chief of the fathers and the priests and the Levites and all them whose Spirit God had raised, (Lord, raise the spirit of the people to go build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem). Now, they brought up the question: How are we going to go? Who are Israelites and who are not? Everybody will be wanting to go to Jerusalem. Cyrus said get out the list and as they go to leave the city, check them off. We find in the 2nd chapter, that some of the Israelites had married Babylonian women and their wives had such power over them, they said, we don’t want to be called by your name, we don’t like that old Israelite name. They changed their names to Babylonian names. They lined right up---got into the line and the old priest was checking them off. They got up and said, “What’s your name, mister? He gave his name as such and such. “That doesn’t sound like an Israelite name.” “Well, it’s like this---we married wives down here, and they wanted us to take their names. We took their names and raised our families under them.” The reader said, “This is something new---I don’t know what to do about this. So, they went to Ezra. He said the only thing I know to do is to quarantine them. Do you believe in typeology? Quarantine them---they must not eat the most holy thing with the rest of them, lest the people would get defiled too. Ezra stood up and said, “There’s not a thing we can do with this until a priest raises up with the Urim and Thummin.” Thank God, for the Urim and the Thummin. What was this? It’s nothing more than the Word and the Spirit or the judgment of God. How do we know? Look under Aaron’s breastplate. They put the Urim and the Thummin under there, so he could judge the people. When Saul backslid, he couldn’t get God to answer him through the Spirit or through the Urim. Ezra said, “We can’t do a thing until a priest stands up with the Urim and Thummin.” (Ezra 10). The 10th chapter of Ezra and the 7th verse, Ezra prayed through. “Since you’re so burdened, Ezra, I’ll give you the understanding. Here is what to do.” I wonder if we believe in typeology. Someone said, “We never preached it that way.” That’s where we get into trouble. We just tell people they’re “in Jerusalem” wherever they are and so they just bring Babylonian falsehoods right in with them and the first thing you know, we’ve got another Babylon started. If people really want to go to Zion, they really don’t mind a little quarantine. We’ve found out, a little quarantine will let you know if people really want to go or not. We’d rather they “throw their fits,” while “under quarantine”, than when they get over in the city. We’re not telling you, that we put any people under any particular situation, we’re preaching on typeology. We’re ready to tell you that God’s people are ready to meet such conditions, without man ever telling them a thing.

We told you, that the worst charge the preachers in this city have on us is, that we can get the best people they’ve got. We tell them, “That’s who we’re supposed to get.” We can have some of them stand up and testify---the best of them that come---they’re preachers. We’ve gotten their preachers, their Bible school teachers and Bible class teachers---the best they have---and we’ve never had one yet, that said we’ve required a thing of them. Everyone came by way of the altar. When we showed them what they did and how they were grieving the heart of God, they came weeping to the altar begging God to forgive them. Then when they rose up they said, “Bro. Wilson, don’t use me for a while. Just let me sit over here until I get settled.” They quarantined themselves.

ALL GOD’S CHILDREN SHOULD RETURN...

The 10th chapter of Ezra 6-8 verses: (7) “And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity that they should get themselves together unto Jerusalem: and whosoever would not come within three days according to the council of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those who had been carried away.” 10th verse: “And Ezra the priest stood up and said unto them, ye have transgressed and have taken strange wives.” Now, we’re confident every man and woman here knows---that’s what we do when we join ourselves to the (Babylonian harlot) and we do just they did---took the harlot’s name. They said, “But we didn’t know it was wrong.” Okay, as long as we didn’t know it was wrong, it wasn’t a sin to us, but after God shows us it’s wrong, it will bring “a blight” on us. It’ll bring a hurt on us. What are you trying to do? We’re just trying to show: there’s quite a difference between the Church and Babylon. No one ever comes over to Zion easy. It’s hard to climb sometimes. We told you we didn’t require a thing. We just preach Babylon’s fallen condition and leave the people in God’s hands. It’s He that calls them. We’re saying that they came on their own. “Make confession unto the Lord and do His pleasure…” but, here’s something we’ll have to do: “…separate yourselves from the people of the lands and from the strange wives; and being guilty they offered a ram of the flock for their trespasses.” You don’t believe in typeology do you? I know you don’t (smile). But, what are we gonna do? Let’s get back to the Revelation.

Some may think I’ve gone to meddling in the Revelation---I hope you understand things thus far. Rev. 9:14, saying to the sixth angel, which had the trumpet, “Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year, for to slay the third part of men.” Are we to add that up? Well, we don’t feel impressed to add that up.

Through the Word of God, as well as spaces of time, there’s an appointed time. Jesus talked in such terms as “the hour is come”. That was not sixty minutes nor a hundred years---it was an appointed time. Even so, God had an appointed time for this angel to sound out. We believe he had it right down to this specific time when this angel would sound out and loose God’s people from (spiritual) Babylon. So it was appointed to slay the third part of men. Do you have to kill them to get them out of there?

To understand the slaying, we must read a little further. The 16th verse, “and the number of the army of the horsemen were 200,000 thousand: and I heard the number of them.” Here we have a symbol of the evening light reformation. That was their commission, to go out with the message and loose God’s people that were bound in old (spiritual) Babylonian captivity. He said the number of the horsemen, (the symbol of warfare)---that’s why He took horses through here to show the militant phase of the Church. However, what about the 200,000 thousand? That’s an innumerable number or an innumerable company. There’s not such a number as 200,000 thousand. We had some school teachers--- and we let them toss that around for about ten minutes, while we were preaching. One said it was two million and another said it was 20 million, but it’s not. We have it on the blackboard---that it’s true. When you get to 999,000 you go to millions. John said, “I heard the number of them,” and he said I heard or read the same in Rev. 9…”And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.” He said in the 15th verse, that they were to slay the third part of men. Now, who were the men they were to slay? The men we preached about wanted to die out, but their old false religion had them and they could not find anything there to die out of. Their experience was an old “up and down miserable condition”, and they sought a place where they could die out and live for God, but it couldn’t be found.

NO PLACE TO DIE OUT IN SECTISM...

Then, God sent Daniel Warner and carried the message to them that there is a place to die, if you really want to die. The horses had heads as lions. The Morning church was symbolized as a lion and out of their mouth came fire and brimstone. Good, solid, fire and brimstone preaching will kill people yet in our day. Under that kind of preaching they are still coming to the altar and the ministers don’t give them so much attention. There are times when they need to be left alone to pray through. Sometimes there’s deception working, right at the altar. People come to the altar and the personal worker just starts working with them and talking and even leading out in prayer and they feel a little bit better, but they won’t get an experience until they pray through. Paul tells us that the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But you have to get them to die out before the spirit can give them life. As long as they’re alive with the old life, they can’t receive new life. We have too many dead men walking about. The first thing to do is to send forth the precious Word and let them know that they are dead.

Now, let’s return to our scripture and read the 17th verse. “And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire.” Now this is different from the breastplates of yesterdays message.

This is nothing more than Armageddon. The horses show that a battle is waging. We must fight now. We’ve been speaking each day about the Holy Spirit. What are these breastplates of? Fire. If we’ve lost the fire, we simply have no breastplates. We can’t raise up men to fight against the mighty forces of Protestantism. They have on their side a great army of intelligent and educated men who stand arrayed against the very forces of truth and Godliness. In this, we can’t compete with them. But, praise the Lord, we have these breastplates of fire. But this, you say, won’t work. Yes it will. You can get a group of these highly educated theologians together and let them discuss and use the Greek and the Hebrew and back to the English, and then a simple man of God, saved and filled with the Holy Spirit can come in and testify to the might workings of God and these men cannot compete with the breastplate of fire. They’re confused and without knowledge of the might power of God in our day. Fire---Holy Ghost fire, was what they had in the early days, and they went forth conquering and consuming everything before them.

As to those who oppose truth, their breastplates are of iron and their creeds are of iron. That’s what they trust in. That’s what they hide behind and what they trust in. But our breastplates are of fire. God’s eternal Word preached in its fullness, without fear or favor, is warming up the fire---that’s our breastplate. They had heads like lions and out of their mouth, went forth fire and brimstone. That’s the message we’re living by. We have the same thing coming out of our mouth that we have for a breastplate. Revelation 14:7, we have a picture of this same movement. John looked on Mt. Zion and saw an hundred and forty four thousand. God gathered that nucleus out, and used them through the 14th chapter to reap the earth. He came down to the 7th verse, and John said that right in the midst of that heavenly atmosphere he saw an angel with the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell upon the earth. He’s still using them today to reap the earth. What did this angel preach? “Fear God and give glory to Him. For the hour of His judgment is come.” Turn to the 18th chapter of the Revelation, and there you will find when this same angel cried out. Revelation 18:10, “Standing afar off for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, Alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come.” And the 17th verse says, “For in one hour so great riches is come to naught.” What, is meant by this saying?

The very hour that God gets the truth of the message across it us, that will be the hour when judgment comes in and that same hour, God opens up the truth about Babylon---some of the things taught in her and counted as spiritual riches, will come to naught, and we will find out that there were no lasting riches in it. We’ll find ourselves to be miserable, poor, blind and naked. The 14th chapter of the Revelation seals this thing of fire and brimstone, for it’s a symbol. Why did he pour it out on them? The 11th chapter of Revelation tells us, that old Babylon’s spirit recalled Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. They crucified the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame.

It’s called Sodom because of the lewdness and ungodliness that goes under the cloak of religion. Even as God poured fire and brimstone (a symbol of judgment) out on Sodom, he is pouring out judgments of truth on false religions today, and He’s calling His people to flee. In the 14th chapter of the Revelation and the 9th-10th verses we read: “If any man will worship the beast or his image, or receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, poured out without mixture in the cup of His indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.” Where? He’ll be tormented in the presence of the Lamb and of the Holy angels. And, they won’t be in hell. No Beast worshippers will be in hell. And here on the earth, when they get around where the truth and judgments of God are poured out like fire and brimstone, it will be---and is, torment to them. That’s why they won’t even come to hear the truth now. When they do hear it, they either “get straightened out” or they go away and that’s the last you hear of them.

We read in the eleventh verse, that the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever. Who set Babylon on fire? We were singing: “We will shout while her city doth burn.” Well, who set her on fire? Babylon was set on fire by the ministers who preached the whole truth, (fearlessly); and revealed the deception in the very midst of her. God expects us to turn out the plain truth, and keep her burning. Up to now we’ve have been too lax and allowed her to be at ease. There’s a great and urgent need of this fire to come down on her. Why? Why, because of the honest souls in her midst. We must cry aloud, and warn these, before it is everlastingly too late.

Let’s turn to Revelation 9: 17 and read: “And thus I saw the horses in the vision and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and of brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone.” That was the message they preached. The message comes out of the mouth. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard fire and brimstone preaching, but it’s coming back. Here’s given a picture of the church going forth in all her power and glory and doing just what the Word said, and confirming it.

Let’s read further. Rev. 9:18, “And by these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.” In the first place, men caused the trouble and men must be killed. There are no live men around Zion. If there were, they would be the ones who crept in and caused trouble. These men must all “die out” that they may be born anew spiritually. They must be dead to sin and alive to Jesus Christ. “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature.” Christ said, “Beware of men.” Of whom is He speaking? He’s speaking of men, who have never been made new creatures.

Turn now to 1 Corinthians 3:3, “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men?” There were seven vials to be poured out. In 1880, there were the first three vials poured out, under the sounding of the first three angels. The first one preached: “Fear God and give glory to Him.” The second one said: “Babylon is fallen.” The third one said: “If any man worship the beast or his image…” These were the first three vials.

The Revelation 16:8 tells us that the fourth vial was poured out on the fountains. What is a fountain? The New Testament---that which the Church is clothed with---light and truth of the Scripture. The angels of the early ministry poured out the first three vials. Then, we went into this period of lukewarmness. He poured the fourth out on the Sun, or the New Testament. This is the only vial where power is mentioned. He said that power was given unto that ministry. In the age in which we live, men have a form of Godliness, denying the power thereof. Thank God, He’s again giving power to His ministry of today. What are they doing with it? They’re scorching men!