Human Trafficking in the Church — Part 30
At the end of this age, there will be two great women who will finally receive the fruit of their labors and enter into their eternal rewards. One will be destroyed, and one will be exalted to a heavenly position of honor and glory. One is the Mother of Prostitutes and the other is the Bride of Christ.
Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes will finally reap the harvest that she has sown. After stealing, killing, and destroying the destinies of so many of God’s people, she will be destroyed herself.
“Then the heavens and the earth and all that are in them will shout for joy about Babylon because the destroyers will come out of the north against her,” declares the Lord.
“So Babylon will fall because of the slain of Israel, even as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.” —Jeremiah 51:48-49 (ISV)
“Then I saw another angel descending from heaven, possessing great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his radiance and splendor.
“And he shouted with a mighty voice, She is fallen! Mighty Babylon is fallen! She has become a resort and dwelling place for demons, a dungeon haunted by every loathsome spirit, an abode for every filthy and detestable bird.
“For all nations have drunk the wine of her passionate unchastity, and the rulers and leaders of the earth have joined with her in committing fornication (idolatry), and the businessmen of the earth have become rich with the wealth of her excessive luxury and wantonness.”—Revelation 18:1-3 (AMPC)
“After this I heard what sounded like a mighty shout of a great crowd in heaven, exclaiming, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! Salvation and glory (splendor and majesty) and power (dominion and authority) [belong] to our God!
“Because His judgments (His condemnation and punishment, His sentences of doom) are true and sound and just and upright. He has judged (convicted, pronounced sentence, and doomed) the great and notorious harlot (idolatress) who corrupted and demoralized and poisoned the earth with her lewdness and adultery (idolatry). And He has avenged (visited on her the penalty for) the blood of His servants at her hand.
“And again they shouted, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! The smoke of her [burning] shall continue to ascend forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities).”—Revelation 19:1-3 (AMPC)
It is only after judgment is complete for the most corrupt female entity in Scripture that we see the Bride of Christ enter into her destiny in all of her glorious righteousness!
“Let us rejoice and shout for joy [exulting and triumphant]! Let us celebrate and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has come, and His bride has prepared herself.
“She has been permitted to dress in fine (radiant) linen, dazzling and white—for the fine linen is (signifies, represents) the righteousness (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds, and conduct, and right standing with God) of the saints (God’s holy people).“—Revelation 19:7-8 (AMPC)
The tower of Babel is gone now. There will be no more cities and towers built in attempts to reach heaven through human efforts. There will be no more religious empires built to exalt the names and reputations of their own churches, ministries, and ministers. The Bride of Christ will dwell in a city whose builder and maker is God. This is the city that Abraham longed to see (Hebrews 11:10).
“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven final plagues came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a vast and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy (sanctified) city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,** having God’s glory [filled with His radiant light]. The brilliance of it resembled a rare and very precious jewel, like jasper, shining and clear as crystal. **It had a massive and high wall, with twelve [large] gates, and at the gates [were stationed] twelve angels; and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were written. On the east side [there were] three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Christ).
“The one who was speaking with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, its length being the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod—twelve thousand stadia (about 1,400 miles); its length and width and height are equal. He measured its wall also—a hundred forty-four cubits (about 200 feet), according to man’s measurements, which are [also] angelic [measurements]. The wall was built of jasper; and the city was pure gold, transparent like clear crystal. The foundation stones of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;** the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite (yellow topaz); the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. **And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each separate gate was of one single pearl. And the street (broad way) of the city was pure gold, like transparent crystal.
“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all] and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the glory (splendor, radiance) of God has illumined it, and the Lamb is its lamp and light. The nations [the redeemed people from the earth] will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring into it their glory. By day (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed [in fear of evil]; and they will bring the glory (splendor, majesty) and the honor of the nations into it;** **and nothing that defiles or profanes or is unwashed will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices abominations [detestable, morally repugnant things] and lying, but only those [will be admitted] whose names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”—Revelation 21:9-27 (AMP)
“Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Christ),** in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer exist anything that is cursed [because sin and illness and death are gone]; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve and worship Him [with great awe and joy and loving devotion]; they will [be privileged to] see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. **And there will no longer be night; they have no need for lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign [as kings] forever and ever.”—Revelation 22:1-5 (AMP)
The Invitation
You are being called by God.
You are called first to come out of the false religious system that is seeking to pull you away from God’s purpose for your life and to use you instead to build and enrich itself.
“Wake up, Neo. The Matrix has you.”—Trinity’s first words to Neo
“Come out of her, my people, so that you will not be a partner in her sins and receive her plagues; for her sins (crimes, transgressions) have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and crimes [for judgment].”—Revelation 18:4-5 (AMP)
But God doesn’t want you to stop there. God has great things prepared for you! Following Jesus and coming out of the false religious system is wonderful, but God has more for you!
You are invited to prepare yourself to be accounted worthy to be included in the Bride of Christ!
Preparation is necessary. Now is the time to start! There is no time to start! Those who fail to prepare are spoken of in Matthew 25 as “foolish virgins.” These foolish virgins believed in Jesus, and they were waiting for His return, but they failed to prepare themselves, and so they were not allowed to participate in the wedding. They did not attain to the exalted honor of being included in the Bride of Christ.
“… the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’”—Matthew 25:10-12 (NKJV)
God does not want you to miss out like so many believers will! God invites you to prepare yourself. Wash your robe! Remove the spots and wrinkles! Keep yourself unspotted from the world! Keep oil in your lamp, and always keep yourself ready to meet your Bridegroom!
“Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,** so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [of God], **so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless.”—Ephesians 5:25-27 (AMP)
“External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.”—James 1:27 (AMPC)
“But you have a few people in Sardis** who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. The one who overcomes will be clothed the same way, in white garments;** and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.** **The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”—Revelation 3:4-6 (NASB)
“Let us rejoice and shout for joy [exulting and triumphant]! Let us celebrate and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has come, and His bride has prepared herself.
“She has been permitted to dress in fine (radiant) linen, dazzling and white—for the fine linen is (signifies, represents) the righteousness (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds, and conduct, and right standing with God) of the saints (God’s holy people).
“Then [the angel] said to me, Write this down: Blessed (happy, to be envied) are those who are summoned (invited, called) to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me [further], These are the true words (the genuine and exact declarations) of God.”—Revelation 19:7-9 (AMPC)
“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ Everyone who hears this should also say, ‘Come!’”—Revelation 22:17 (ICB)