The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-06-07

Dan1el v, 70, 2SD he SAID
While our message for today is meat
In due season. to the Household of
Faith and every way most important
to be understood, it is nevertheless a
subject difficult to treat without CIV
ing offense, without being misunder-
stood, without seeming harsh. Bear
with me, then, while expressing what
] believe to be the Divine Message, in
Just as kindly manner as l know how.
The Scriptures which may quote in
support of my presentations seem
harsh, almost to cruelty. but l assure
YOU. my hearers. that am not respon-
sible for the language used. My re-
sponsibility is to speak the word of the
Lord. In doing this shall endeavor
to present the Lords words in as kind
ly a manner as possible. and so far as
possible explain some Of the harsher
expressions; but 1 must not shun to
declare the whole counsel Of God-and
as fully as 1 believe He would now
have His people understand it.
There was no Mystic Babylon in the
days of Jesus and the Apostles. The
expressions therefore in Revelation
bearing upon Mystic Babylon, were
prophetic of the Systems and condi-
lions which have since arisen in the
Church. The word Babylon" has a
Babel" 1t calls our minds back to
the period when the sons Of Noah
lost faith in the Divine, Provfdential
care, and the promise of the rainbow.
and endeavored to erect a structure
for their own preservation-the Tower
of Babel. This attempt led to the con-
fusion Of tongues.
Similarly, following the days Of the
Apostles and the persecution Of the
early Church, an attempt was made
to erect great religious System for the
ChurCh's protection, not waiting for
and relying upon the Divine promise
that Messiah in due time would come
and c>;tablish His Kingdom for the
world blessing. @# "
The religious Tower Of Babel was.
primarily, Papacy. It was wonder
full structure so far as 1t went, but it
never accomplished the designs Of Its
founders 1t never mastered the sit
uation and established the Church far
above th., power and influence Of the
civil governments and earthly mon
archs. ass.
It WA; when the Tower Of Babel rose
to a considerable height in dignity and
grandeur that the Lord manifested His
power amongst the workmen, and con-
founded their speeches. Disconnected,
the further building Of the Tower
ceased. and the people Of the different
languages set up each for himself ac-
cording to the different ideals. This
corresponds well with the Protestant
Reformation movement, and the vari-
Gus denominations into which those
once Catholics became divided.
= Babylon and Its Wall.
Another thought connected with our
subject is that the literal city of Baby
Ion was a prototype, prophetic figure
of Mystic Babylon. The name Baby
lon signifies, "The gate of God'-the
gateway by which access to God is to
be attained This in effect was the
claim made by Papacy, and the claim
she still makes, that she is a great
City, a great Kingdom, that she has a
great wall of Divine salvation and pro-
lection about her-a great wall built
of ignorance and superstition. say her
enemies. .a1A "
In the Book of Revelation Jesus pro-
phetically pictured the greatness Of
this City, this spiritual Empire. 1t is
essentially religious, although it in
cludes the great kingdoms of earth.
which unitedly are styled Christendom.
This great City, Babylon, is represent
ed as being divided into ten different
wards. each Of which represents one of
the kingdoms of Christendom. and
which correspond to the ten horns of
the symbolic Beast. Compare Reve-
lation ri, 10; xii, 13; Kill. 1.
And as this great City, or spiritual
kingdom. thus includes the chief mon
arches Of Europe, so. under another
figure, Babylon, Papacy. is represented
as woman" in whose forehead was
found the name, Babylon the Great.
the Mother of Harlots." Thus is shown
III some IHdnueT tHS VdTlOuS fTOt6StduC
systems Of Christendom which sep
arated from the Mother Church" Of
Rome. still her daughters. still related
to her, partakers Of her character.
traits and disposition. Thus Babylon
with her ten wards includes practically
all Of Europe; and Mother and Daugh-
tiers Of this same family name include
nearly all Of the Protestant denomina-
tons, as well as the Catholic Mother
Church.
What IL Meant by HarIotry?
It should be remembered in discuss.
ing this subject that the language is
figurative-that 1t does not signify that
either the Church of Rome or her
Protestant Daughters are immoral
The thought is that the Church of
Christ was primarily a virgin" com
pany of persons, called out, separated
from the world and its aims and ambi
tions-called to be saints and joint
heirs with Christ in His Kingdom
To whatever extent systems arose
amongst the followers of Jesus and be
came affiliated with any Of the king
doms of this world-to that extent
Scripturally hguratively, they commit
tel harlotrF- because they were espous