20-Christian Influence

Jeremiah 51:7,

“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord´s hand, that made the earth drunk; the nations have drunk of her wind; therefore, the nations are mad.”

In II Peter 2:20, the apostle Peter warns us that anyone who has known the Lord and then falls back into practicing sin, is worse off than before he knew Jesus. Peter says a person is better off never knowing the Lord, than to know Him and then turn from His commandments. For by turning from His commandments we turn from Him and His love. We must always remember that God is holy and pure and His word never changes. He must punish sin. When God chastens and punishes, it is His motive to cleanse sin from the man. But God has given all men the eternal choice to either follow Him or rebel against Him. Those who will not repent under His chastening and scourging will be excluded from His kingdom. This applies to the backslidden saint, as well as the heathen.

Those who have turned from the holy commandment to love the Lord with all their hearts, who have left this first love, always find it hard to repent and be renewed. This is true, especially of those in willful, premeditated disobedience. But we must always teach and remember that God will forgive a sorrowful, broken, repented heart. Man has the eternal choice to live or die. This is the grace of God. God will remove all the things that evil men use to satisfy their lusts. Then a man has only two alternatives, God or death.

If this principle defined by Peter applies to men, then it also applies to groups of men. What does “…Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord´s hand…” mean in regard to this principle? Babylon hath been is past tense, meaning that at some earlier time, prior to God´s judgment upon her, Babylon had God-fearing people influencing the nation. The golden cup in His hand could mean that God used the believers in Babylon to pour out the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because of the faith, love, and kindness of Babylon´s pocket of believers, God poured out His blessings upon Babylon. But something went wrong. We see that Babylon is no longer a cup of gold in the Lord´s hand. It was in the past. What happened? The people began worshiping the blessing instead of the Blessor; the promises, not the Promisor; the gifts of the Spirit, not the Giver; the creation, instead of the Creator. This gradual turn from thankfulness to selfishness in the lives of the professing Christians, is what made all the earth drunk.

This idolatry spread to the whole earth to make it drunk and mad! This parallels the prophecies of the harlot church which committed fornication with the kings of the earth, (Revelation 17:2-4). This is true because the harlot of Revelation 17:4 is spoken of as having a golden cup in her hand. This means that the Lord God has given up the harlot to her false doctrines. What she teaches and pours out to the people is an abomination to God. The cup is not in His hands anymore because He will not have any part in heresy.

This selfishness and harlotry grieves a holy God. It grieves Him to see people take His name and turn His blessing into the poison wine of the world. Most people in the world suffer from this chronic idolatry, which is becoming more intense as this age draws to a close. It is an idolatrous heart that would rather build his own kingdom, rather than have Jesus return to establish His on the earth. What happened to Israel in the days of Hosea will happen to America, only worse.

Hosea 10:1-2, (LB)

1)”How prosperous Israel is – a luxuriant vine all filled with fruit! But the more wealth I give her, the more she pours it on the altars of her heathen gods; the richer the harvests I give her, the more beautiful the statues and idols she erects. 2)The hearts of her people are false toward God. They are guilty and must be punished. God will break down their heathen altars and smash their idols.”

What nation of the world fits this description Jeremiah gives us? Who is or was the cup of gold? What is the situation today? Has the golden cup become past tense yet? No other nation on earth can fit but America. The rich, proud, compromised Laodecian church is in full bloom in America, just as Israel was in the days of Hosea. These are the people who have turned God´s blessings and promises into pagan idolatry.

The sad thing about this is that the people of these churches believe they are in God´s will. They don´t know they are blind and naked. Their desires are for the satisfaction of the flesh. They go to church every Sunday, but only for show or entertainment, and they don´t listen to or love the truth even when they hear it. The heathen god of Hosea is “self” in America. The beautiful statues and idols are the cathedrals and showplaces that Christians build for themselves.

I believe when the rapture occurs, the golden cup will be past tense. The spit-up Laodecian church will continue to poison themselves and the world with the wine of idolatry. As these harlot churches fall into utter apostasy, the judgments of God will fall to chasten, punish, and scourge them. This chastening begins when God allows the Russian-Syrian confederacy to invade Israel, thereby initiating World War III. At the end of the 70th Week the landmass of Babylon will be totally destroyed by God´s judgments. As Peter warned believing men against turning from God´s commandments, Jeremiah and John warn Babylon´s professing church. Godly sorrow, repentance and the rapture is the only way out.

The combination of the rapture and the growing apostasy of the Laodecian church will seal America´s doom. Jesus said He would come when people least expected it. The worldly Christian is not looking and longing for Jesus, only His children who hear His voice and follow the Good Shepherd. Others are too busy satisfying every whim of their carnal hearts. The presence of true believers in Babylon is holding back the wrath of God on the ungodly and the sinner. The rapture will remove the saints from Babylon and judgment will begin. Satan will then be allowed to carry out his plan.

Why is it that the doctrine of the soon coming of Jesus, which is the most mentioned of all New Testament doctrines, is preached the least in so many churches? It is because most pastors and teachers are full of the world, which prevents them from being filled with the Word. If they were filled with the light of God´s word, then the return of Jesus would fill their motivations, mind and mouth.