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"And there followed another angel, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'" "Babylon is said to be 'the mother of harlots. ' By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt." "What is that wine? - Her false doctrines. She has given to the world a false Sabbath instead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and has repeated the falsehood that Satan first told to Eve in Eden - the natural immortality of the soul. Many kindred errors she has spread far and wide, 'teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.'" "If we turn from the testimony of God's word, and accept false doctrines because our fathers taught them, we fall under the condemnation pronounced upon Babylon; we are drinking of the wine of her abomination. " Individually we could be holding on to false traditions which could leave us in an unsaved condition. We must examine everything we have been taught, especially on the plan of salvation. "Let all who accept human authority, the customs of the church, or the traditions of the fathers, take heed to the warning conveyed in the words of Christ, 'In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. ' "We should not allow any argument of man's to turn us away from a thorough investigation of Bible truth. The opinions and customs of men are not to be received as of divine authority. God has revealed in His word what is the whole duty of man, and we are not to be swayed from the great standard of righteousness. He sent his only-begotten Son to be our example, and bade us to hear and follow Him. We must not be influenced from the truth as it is in Jesus, because great and professedly good men urge their ideas above the plain statements of the word of God. " |