God's heart vs the heart of the Whore

God’s heart is for the outcasts that come to Him (Is 56:1-8). Those who oppress and reject them become God’s enemies because they hate and exclude the outcasts which the Lord has brought in (Is 66:5-6).  In some ministries it is as if God’s enemies live in His house to represent their own interests and not the interests of the Master of the House.

We find this theme of self-representation in both the Old and the New Testament.  No place does it seem more apparent than in the description of the Whore, “Babylon the Great” of Revelation 17 and 18. Though she thinks of herself as the wife of the King, her heart is not as His. Things that point to her having her own agenda are;

·         Rejecting God’s servants, and mistreating them

·         Allowing blasphemers to be her support

o   Does not protect God’s word but lets others twist and pollute it in exchange for their friendships

·         Intercoursing with the world for her benefit

·         Using others to make herself rich and famous

·         No sense of accountability to God as His wife

God doesn’t like His people to be rejected, or mistreated, used and abused, lied to and polluted by the world.  If we find ourselves in an organization that does this, we are not to stay (Rev 18:4).  The examples Jesus and His Apostles left us in their writings contradict what the Whore does. They wrote;

·         Receive each other (Mt 10:40-41), and do good to those who belong to the household of faith (Gal 6:10)

·         Defend the faith entrusted to us, resisting false brethren (Jude 1:3)

·         Keep ourselves from being polluted by the world (Jms 1:27)

·         Whatever things that were gain to us, we now count as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus (Phil 3:7)

·         Speak to others as God’s servants, and not deceitfully as our own masters (Rom 14:11-12; 2 Cor 2:17; Heb 4:13)

God loves His people and is saving up a special reward for those who mistreat them (Rev 18:20).  As those who labor in God’s house, may we serve Him in truth and purity, not setting our own agenda first nor using the Church as a platform to represent ourselves.  Remember, what may be an outcast to the world is precious in God’s eyes. All men will benefit the Church when they are instated in their rightful place and built up in their faith.  Amen.