Chapter 3 – Ambushed Outside the Gates of Babylon

I had barely exited Babylon when I was met with the first ambush of Satan. I
encountered some brothers and sisters who had also come out of Babylon, but they
had fallen into a snare of the enemy, and to this date I don’t know whether they have
escaped. But let me back up and give a few details leading up to this encounter.

My own departure from Babylon was very painful. The Father had told me to stand
in faith in some matters and to also defend some foundational principles relating to
the government of God among the flock of which I was aminister. This stand of faith,
and stand upon the principles of Yahweh’s kingdom, brought me into conflict with
the other ministers and their wives. People who I had once shared intimately with,
prayed with, fellowshipped with, broken bread with, and had walked in love with,
began to call my actions and motives into question.

I was accused of very base motivations, of being prideful and arrogant, of being a
gold digger, of being unloving and lacking compassion. All of this antagonism arose
because I was urging others to stand in faith and because I was teaching the
scriptural principles of divine government.

I experienced some very painful times and they culminated in an elders’ meeting one
Sunday after services where I was rejected by the consensus of the other ministers,
and I was put out of my place of ministry. The words spoken to me during this
meeting were unkind and filled with anger and venom. They were not words of love
between friends.

Even though the Father had prepared me for this moment by telling me that it would
happen, it was still a painful experience and one which left me wounded in my
emotions. I have since found that this is typical of the manner in which many of the
saints have departed from Babylon, and it can make the saint susceptible to an
ambush of Satan if they do not choose to put on a heart of forgiveness and love
toward those who have wounded them. Only a few weeks after being put out of the
fellowship of which I had been a part, I encountered some saints through the
Internet who had also experienced separations, yet they had left with bitterness and
they wanted to entice others to share in expressions of anger, denouncement, and
reviling towards Babylon.

I am not sure how I came across the website of which I speak, but I was initially
drawn to it because of some insights of the Web page’s creator. In many ways this
brother had been given insight into the separation that is occurring among the
children of God in this day. He had some thoughtful teaching, and he created a
forum where people could gather and discuss topics relating to the work of God in
this hour.

I shared some of my own writings with this group and they were very well received.
Having just been thrust out of my place of ministry and fellowship, I was hopeful
that I would be able to find some fellowship and encouragement through this group.

Another brother was given oversight of the discussion forum on this site, and I began
to notice an attitude of disdain, and even reviling, toward those who had not yet seen
the same truths that the people who participated in this group had seen. At first I
thought it was an aberration, but then I began to notice it more and more. I
questioned the brother overseeing the discussion forum about it, and in a very
shocking way he defended his attitude of mocking and reviling those who remained
in what was referred to as the “Christian Religious System.”

As I communicated with this brother the Spirit immediately opened my eyes to the
snare of Satan. Satan wanted me to react to the pain of my expulsion from the body
by donning an attitude of bitterness toward those who had cast me out. He hoped
that my desire for fellowship would lead me to cast in my lot with these brothers and
sisters, and to join them in an attitude of retribution and revenge by reviling the
system and the people who had been the instruments of my separation.

The Spirit immediately let me know that I could not join them, nor did I even desire
to do so. I knew that to embrace the same attitude would be a failure of love, and this
is the most grievous of failures in the Kingdom of God. I began to try to reason with
those in this group and to show them why they could not obtain the blessing of God
by reviling others, but they would not receive my words, and in turn they began to
revile and mock me.

I am going to insert here some excerpts from this correspondence. In these excerpts
the ambush of Satan is revealed, as is the attitude he would entice others to adopt.

I will first list some of the comments that troubled me that were written by the
moderator of the group, as well as some of the arguments he gave defending his
position. Note that CRS stands for Christian Religious System.

[comments of moderator]
And this is the greatest thing that we, as anti CRS’ers could do for the
CRS, for which I have neither sympathy nor disdain. I have not been in
a mainline denomination in years, so the mess doesn’t move me…
I will say, that you will probably react to some of my “strong words” to
others on the list, especially to those who come in and are really just
“browsing” like one does on the net, not having any idea of where they
have landed… I speak what I hear the Father say, and often it is not
sugar coated as most of the CRS would have words to be, for they really
desire one thing from the adherents of their system. That is money…
I haven’t read this yet, but have read a lot of [this man’s] stuff on the
prophecy list and he is a nut case! He is a freak … If my forthrightness
is too much for you, ( concerning this dude ) then what can I say. I don’t
give “religious” people much space…

This is one area that I totally disagree with you, by the way. I don’t have
any sadness or so called compassion for those who are “coming out” or
“want to come out” of the CRS. They either need to SEE the truth of the
system and SEPARATE or just stay in there till they see the light. I will
not baby them in the meantime, hoping they will grow and become
good little anti CRS folks. If they have been “hurt,” it is too bad as far as
I am concerned…

The army of God doesn’t waste time with emotional junk like “feelings.”
It is all of the carnal mind and what is needed is for the soulish, mind
junk to be cut off…

I know your perspective. You said what it was in your messages and in
the Phallic Church article. You made it clear that we need to have
“compassion” upon those coming out of the CRS, and be ready to
minister to them as they usually are hurting, etc etc. I am not moved by
this psycho babble “deep inner hurting” stuff that so many express
about their terrible journeys that they have had. That is all 60’s / 70’s
stuff and is birthed in the emotional / soulish realm. I am not interested
in “making friends and influencing neighbors” as it is the basic problem
with the CRS to start with. What most people want in God is another
“country club” that is “Christian oriented.” A place to meet their friends
and “fellowship” each week. If they had to spend an hour with God
alone, it would bankrupt them, spiritually. I know where you come from
on this, and I have heard it many times. And yes, it is often a “breaking
point” for many who have come to the [Discussion Forum] with the
same desires in mind. Usually it is for themselves first, and then all
their friends that they HOPE will see the light and separate. The women
that have come to [the Discussion Forum] especially want to “mother”
those that they see as possibly coming in behind them. It is time for
many to leave their mama’s breast and get on with adult life. That is too
hard for most of the breast fed CRS folks to hear and digest…

Finally, I would say to you, that love is not always the essence that you
have drawn it up to be in your essay. The TRUTH of Love is being
willing to tell others the truth, no matter what the outcome will be. You
may want to have some “lovey dovey” dude in your fox hole with you.
Go for it. In the meantime, I choose to have a LOYAL, honest, and
forthright person in there with me. I especially desire one that is clear
of mind, not DELUDED by his own mind and desires in God, one that
is experienced in the ways of God, one that knows how to shut up and
“receive,” no matter how much he THINKS he knows, and one that is
discerning, not having been muddled in mind by their charismatic
background, so full of love and gifts, hearing all kinds of stuff “from the
Lord,” that they are not worth a crap in the REAL world. That, my
friend, is the only warrior that I will be stuck with, in a foxhole. Know
what? The time that Jesus exhibited the most love in His earthly
experience (except at the Cross, of course) was when He drove the
money changers out of His Father’s House. I suspect that you would
look upon the adventure as a bit harsh.”

It seems appropriate to describe this experience as an ambush, for very suddenly and
unexpectedly I was met with anger and venom that I had not anticipated. Satan’s
most subtle snares always mix truth with error. The people of this group had seen
some truth, but they also had adopted an attitude that was foreign to the character
of God. I was encouraged to join in an attitude of reviling, and those who held this
mindset tried to bully me into agreement with them. But a failure to love will
disqualify the saint who has set their eyes on Zion. With the following words I
attempted to reason with this brother about the absolute necessity of not violating
the principle of love.

I would not attempt to dissuade you from walking in the integrity of
your heart. I would not dream of asking you to lessen your zeal. I would
simply have you to consider, “Is there a point where you quit caring for
people? Have you crossed a line at God’s direction where He has told
you to no longer pray for those in bondage? Has He told you that you
have exceeded the point of Peter’s request when he inquired how many
times he should forgive his “brother?” (Yes, his brother.) Have you had
to forgive more than Christ forgave you, so that you now will forgive
and show patience no longer?”

These are questions I would ask. It is too easy to give up on people. The
scriptures say that we are to rescue some as a branch from the burning.
Are you unwilling to reach out a hand and pull a brother from the fire
because you are indignant that he has taken so long to see the light of
the truth?

You said yourself that Christ went to hell for you. Are you willing to go
to hell for a brother? Paul said, “I speak the truth and I lie not, I would
that I should be accursed that Israel might be saved.” Israel and the
Jews had the JRS [Jewish Religious System] even as we have the CRS
today. Paul was willing to be accursed that they might be saved. Where
do we draw the line? Do we just write all of the CRS folks off and say
good riddance? This was not Paul’s heart.

Even Jesus wept over Jerusalem, the Jerusalem that stoned the
prophets that were sent to her. He had these soulish emotions that you
said you despise. Do you think that love will weaken a warrior of God?
I say it will strengthen him. Love knows no boundaries. Love is
extravagant. It is the love of God that surrounds us and keeps us safe.
Paul said that it was the love of God that “constrained” him, holding
him to the course God set before him.

No, I would not suggest that you water down the message that is
burning in your heart. I would ask you what right you have to quit
loving and quit caring. God said that He takes no pleasure to see the
wicked punished. He is patient and bears long with all of us. Knowing
this, we should all the more strive to excel in these same qualities.

I don’t want to go into the battle with a brother who is motivated by
anger and hatred. I want to go into battle with brothers and sisters who
know the power of love and who will stick close to me and not write me
off the first time they disagree with me. There is a friend that sticks
closer than a brother. What was it that so united Jonathan and David’s
hearts? Was it a common hatred of evil? Was it a shared vision? No, it
was love.

You are swinging your sword a little too freely by calling all those who
are not quite where you are “freaks,” “wackos,” “idiots,” etc… Jesus said,
“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be
guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca,’
[empty head] shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever
shall say, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell”
(Matthew 5:22).

We are told, “This you know, my beloved brethren. But let everyone be
quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man
does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:19,20). David said
that he did not gloat when judgment came to his enemies, rather he
mourned. When King Saul perished, the man that had made David’s life
a misery, he eulogized him in song. Was David some kind of a mama’s
boy? I think not. He knew the heart of God and did not rejoice to see his
adversary stricken.

What of those who were with Saul? Did David seek to destroy them all
because they had stood in opposition to him at some point? No! We
even know that he would have made Abner and Amasa commanders in
his army, but Joab, who was less righteous and less forgiving, slew
these men whom David would have elevated over his head. Are you not
rather being as Joab when you despise all those who are in the CRS and
who are in the process of coming out of her? If God is willing to show
patience and to grant them further time to repent and flee from Sodom,
who are we to not show the same patience and forbearance?

No, I am not saying to water down the message. I am not saying to
make peace with Sodom. I do not advocate any type of compromise with
evil. But I say if Christ gave His very life for these same ones, should we
not go out of our way to effect their deliverance? “Brethren, even if a
man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one
in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be
tempted” (Galatians 6:1).

I know all too well that by the judgment I judge others, I too will be
judged. This is reason enough to be patient and to seek to restore even
those who are standing in opposition to themselves. Did I see the light
because of my great wisdom? Did you? Was it not rather that God in
His mercy revealed truth to us, while we were yet His enemies?

I will continue to stand against evil and to proclaim truth as God guides
me. I will not shut my heart against my brother until God tells me to.
This is all I would encourage you to do and consider as well…
We must be diligent to preserve the bonds of love and peace.

Ephesians 4:1-3
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner
worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility
and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in
love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.

Sadly, I was unable to persuade this brother to walk in love. I then wrote to the man
who had created the website and discussion group, with the hope of persuading him
to rein in those who were using his site to badger and belittle and insult others. I
expected a more moderate response from this brother as he had been a pastor for 13
years. My expectations were dashed, however, when this former pastor not only gave
his full support to his site moderator, but he began to chide and speak in a
demeaning and insulting fashion to me.

Satan’s ambushes often find an opening in our lives through some entrance in our
soul. In this case, these men had been mistreated by the churches they had been a
part of and they experienced rejection and wounding. The soul of man wants to
respond to this wounding with bitterness, and it wants to exact its own revenge. To
follow these urges is to fall away from the path to Zion. Bitterness will lead to a
defiling of our vessels, and it will eventually defile many others as well.

Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of
bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled…

I cannot stress enough the importance of avoiding the perils of this ambush of the
enemy. It matters not if we discern all of the evils of Babylon. It matters not if we
separate ourselves from all pagan practices and we conform perfectly to the pattern
the Lord has determined for His church. It matters not if we discern mysteries that
are hidden from the multitudes. If we fail in love then we have embraced the ultimate
failure.

I Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love,
I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of
prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all
faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my
body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

When the soul wants to embrace error it will ultimately find some justification for
doing so. In Proverbs we are told that all men are justified in their own sight. But
how grievous it will be for those saints who willingly deceive themselves in order to
justify a lack of love. The members of this group justified their lack of love by
pointing to John chapter 17 and declaring that this passage of scripture reveals that
unity among the saints will come as a result of our glorification, not because of love.
They therefore looked to the coming glorification of the saints and they despised
love, compassion, forgiveness, and a humble spirit.

This ambush is set before all of those who would journey from Babylon to Zion.
Many are failing to make progress toward Zion due to allowing themselves to be
overcome by the enemy at this point. Yes, I say that they ALLOW themselves to be
overcome, for no saint has to give in to the subtle snares of the enemy. We are the
Overcomers in Christ, and our Savior has already overcome all. In Him we are
adequate for every situation, every snare and trap of the enemy. We are overcome
only when we allow ourselves to be so.

Make every effort on your journey to Zion to preserve love. Be quick to forgive.
Remember the words of our Savior which Paul repeated to the Roman believers:

Romans 12:14
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.