What Christians can learn living in Babylon

My family and I are watching a DVD series on the history of the world by a group of scholarly and passionate Christian historians. Dr. Paul Jehle was the last presenter and we learned a whole lot as he reviewed the history of Babylon which goes back all the way to the time just after the flood. We learned many fascinating truths about this culture as well as how to stand against it! Much of our modern day culture has been influenced by paganism.

What did I learn about Babylon?

• It was founded by Cush, the son of Ham and the father of Nimrod, the mighty hunter.
• Babel, Belus, Baal, “god of confusion” is the source of al mystery occult relgions and conspiracies
• The goddess mother and the Son’ Semiramis and Ninus (Nimrod and his wife) are symbolized in ancient empires and pagan religions
• The Tower of Babel and the Dispersion (2150 BC); combining advanced technology, rebellion, and witchcraft was dispersed around the globe
• Babylonian religion is the ultimate perversion of the Trinity: Lucifier, Mother (and Child), and demonic gods demanding blood sacrifice and sexual perversion are the unholy trinity of Babylonian worship–it encouraged body piercing and bringing pain to yourself ( here is the origin of modern body piercing and tatooing)
  

Lessons to learn from the Babylonian Empire

#1: Believers must embrace the kingdom understanding of their times.

• Daniel was inspired by Jeremiah who was inspired by Josiah—legacy of multi-generational continuity
• Daniel’s preparation (home and church): prepared him to remain pure during captivity. Prepare for captivity! Don’t take to picket lines and jaw it out with a homosexual captivity. That is not what Daniel did. you don’t every day tell the culture that they are pagan! Bless your enemies, don’t curse them. But remain separate!
• A believer’s stand must be a lawful resistance to tyranny, respecting those who persecute you and creatively seeking ways to demonstrate love. A love that transcends what we believe!
• Believers need to understand and embrace the captivity of their times, knowing God’s purpose for it! If you are ever in this situation. . . . do __________; how to handle your neighbors—how you are going to reach your neighbors without compromise!

#2: Believers must be willing to embrace a philosophy of separation

• Daniel’s friends would not bow to the idolatry of the day—statism–(separate from music and trends)
• Faithfulness to go into the fire is true success—separation unto God. Don’t approach situations with the mentality, “God I will go into the fire as long as you promise me you will bring out.” Give me a guarantee of that then brings persecution: Wehther we live or die we won’t bow.
• Covenant rests on a willingness to cut out that which offends God—separate from sin
• True success is the ability to stand alone.

#3: Believers must learn to minister in captivity through love and service

• 25 years of loving service elapse between Daniel 4 and 5 spanning two empires—25 years of silence between Daniel 4 and 5
• Not until the last ruler of Babylon, when Daniel was probably 82 is he called forth to prophesy by Nebby’s wife
• Daniel ruled Babyolon for about an hour: He is promoted to rule only after he was separated, his faith tested, and served faithfully
• Daniel rules Babylon for approximately one hour, when Cyrus conquers during the idolatrous feast.

#4: Believers must embrace the cross and not promote themselves

• Daniel became prime minister under Darius
• He instructed Cyrus on his providential work in his life, preparing him for such an hour
• He benefitted Persia by decentralizing power and increasing self-government under law (much bettter government)
• No one could find hypocrisy in his walk with God
• He looked for no short-cuts from God
• He boldly continued to pray, waiting for God’s deliverance

One final lesson we can learn from Daniel’s life is how to impact a proud, pagan culture through humble, diligent, service. “It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:19). As the king learned, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” (Daniel 4:37)

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Christ’s temptation and ours!

An Christian who lived around AD 450 gave this excellent advice,

“Fly from all occasions of temptation. If still tempted, fly further still. If there is no escape possible then have done with running away.  Show a bold faith and take the two-edged sword of the Spirit. Some temptations must be taken by the throat like David killed the lion. Others must be stifled as David hugged the bear to death. Some you had better keep to yourselves and don’t give them air. Shut them up as a scorpion in a bottle. Scorpions in such confinement die soon, but if allowed out for a crawl and then put back in the bottle and corked down they will live a long while and give you trouble.  Keep the cork on your temptations and they will die of themselves.”

And 18th century pastor Charles Simeon wrote about the connection between Christ’s temptation and ours!

There is a striking correspondence between the assaults which Satan made upon our Lord, and those which we also, each of us in our measure, have to contend with: for so saith the Scripture; “He had to be made like his brothers in every respect” and “in all points he was tempted, even as we are.” In fact, the reason of his submitting to these trials was, that by means of them he might acquire a sympathy with us in our conflicts, and “being touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” attain both a disposition and ability to afford us the help which we stand in need of. In our conflicts with the world, he bids us look to his victories over it as a pledge of what he will guarantee to us: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” So, in like manner, he tells us that “the prince of this world is cast out;” and that, provided only we “resist him, he shall flee from us” also, and in due season “be bruised under our feet” forever.

Let us not then be discouraged at the thought that “we have to wrestle, not with flesh and blood only, but with principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places” for there is armor provided for us, even the very same that Jesus himself made use of: from the Holy Scriptures we may take, as it were, “the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit: and, fighting in the strength of the Lord Jesus, we shall be enabled to withstand all the powers of darkness, and stand victors over all. Yes, we shall rise superior to them all, even as Jesus Christ himself did, and, as assessors with him in judgment, shall unite with him in pronouncing the sentence which shall doom them all to that lake of fire into which they have in vain labored to plunge our souls.

Are any of you then under circumstances of temptation to distrust, as persons forsaken by the Lord? Know that “your God will never leave you nor forsake you.” If it seems long, wait for it for it shall surely come, and not tarry “one moment beyond the proper time.”  If, on the other hand, you are tempted to presumption, remember that, whatever  the stress you may lay on promises from God’s word, you cannot hope to be preserved, except in the ways that God himself has prescribed. If, like Israel of old, you go against your enemies unsent, you shall, like them, assuredly, meet with a repulse. Finally, if, like Demas, you are tempted to apostatize from God, and to prefer the things of this world as your portion, reject the proposal with abhorrence, and, instead of yielding, like him, determine, through grace, to live only for Him, who lived and died for you.

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Peace!

Peace is a restful assurance that God is going to keep all His promises to us His children. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you.” Peace is one of the fruit of the Spirit. God is called the “God of peace.” Thereof as Sam Storms writes in his new book In Hope of Glory,

“A sudden tsunami may sweep away my house and family, but my life is hidden with Christ in God” (see Col. 3:3).

“A terrorist may separate my head from my body, but nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord” (see Rom. 8:35).

“An incurable disease may ravage my body, but God causes all things to work together for good to those that love God and are called according to his purpose” (see Rom. 8:28).

“An unfaithful spouse may walk out, never to return, but has promised never to leave me or forsake me” (see Heb. 13:5).

“Enemies of the faith may persecute me and confiscate my property, but I can still rejoice because I have a better possession and an abiding one, an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for me” (see Heb. 10:34; 1 Pet. 1:4).

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God! Our ultimate reward!

“God himself is our ultimate reward. God is what makes heaven, heaven. Without God, without Christ, heaven would be as unfulfilling as this present world. In the upper room, in a prayer overheard by the the disciples on the night before His death, Jesus revealed the meaning of eternal life—it is to know “the only true God and Jesus Christ whom God sent” (John 17:3). Then, in a remarkable request, Jesus asked, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24). To know Christ is heaven; and to be with him is to see his unimaginable glory!”–Jerry Bridges

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A prayer for the Lord’s Day

Let us, therefore, forsake the vanity of the crowd and their false teachings and turn back to the word delivered to us from the beginning, “watching unto prayer” and continuing steadfast in fasting, beseeching fervently the all-seeing God “to lead us not into temptation, even as the Lord said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

—Polycarp (69-156)

(HT:  Christian Persecution)

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Having a bad day?

When you think you are having a bad day, read the following entries from a blog that deals with the persecuted church.

This post just talks about what all of us would consider a bad day in the States.

This one and this one deal with things we never deal with yet here in the US.

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