Page 11 - The Road from Babylon to Zion

Yet there are those who have come out of these and they are not yet free of Babylon,
for Babylon at its heart represents a spiritual principle.

Let us examine one more example of that which people are identifying as Babylon in
this day. This last example is also related to Rome and her heresies. Many are
identifying Babylon today by outward measures, by forms of worship, forms of
assembly, practices and traditions. Many are looking back to the manner and practice
of the apostles and how things have deviated since those first meetings of the early
saints. Certainly there is value in discerning these matters, but returning to a “New
Testament form” does not insure one’s departure from Babylon, nor does holding to
what is considered a deviation from the original pattern mean that one is still in
Babylon.

By way of illustrating what I am speaking about, some say that home churches are the
model that was portrayed in the New Testament and that large gatherings and
meetings in buildings dedicated to the gathering of the saints (church buildings) is a
Babylonian device and it should be avoided. The truth, however, is that there are
saints meeting in homes who are indistinguishable from those who meet in church
buildings. The only difference is one of form. The true distinction between Babylon
and Zion is one of the heart, and it cannot be measured or quantified or described
and set forth by examining traditions, practices, or forms.

This is not to say that these things are unimportant, but leaving a fellowship of
believers who meet in a church building to join others who meet in someone’s home
is not to be mistaken as journeying from Babylon to Zion. Neither is leaving a church
that has pastors and deacons to go to a church that has a five-fold ministry of
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Nor is leaving a body that meets
on Sunday to join a group that meets on the traditional Sabbath which began at
sundown on Friday. Nor is leaving a group that uses the names and titles God, Lord
and Jesus to join a group that uses the names and titles Elohim, Yahweh, and
Yahshua.

All of these matters should be examined, and we should ask the Father to grant us
wisdom and understanding in them all, but these things do not mark the boundaries
of Babylon and Zion. The Pharisees sought to conform to the letter of the Law and
they had an appearance of righteousness, but Yahshua testified of them that inwardly
they were full of dead men’s bones. Even so, we can faithfully reproduce New
Testament forms to the best of our understanding and still be considered citizens of
Babylon. We should consider our Savior’s words: