Some spiritual life may remain in the organization and good works may be being accomplished. The Bride of the Lamb remains in Babylon to the present hour. There are godly people who love the Lord in the Catholic, Methodist, Pentecostal, and other institutions, but the denominations themselves will never be able to move with the current Presence of the Holy Spirit. Almost the moment the denomination is formed, "Ichabod" (the Glory has departed) is written on it in letters of fire.

The Christian religious systems are involved in the world. The Christian religious systems have been, and still are, involved in the economic and political activities of the world. Much is said in Revelation, Chapter 18 about the grief of the merchants when the secular governments finally turn against organized Christianity and destroy it from the large cities of the earth.

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. (Revelation 17:16)

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, (Revelation 18:9)

And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: (Revelation 18:11)

Many of the large retail establishments of the world would collapse today if the Christian population refused to honor the pagan celebrations known as Christmas and Easter and did not buy material goods to give to one another.

The expression "And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her" (above) reminds one that there will be a convergence of the spiritual and natural realms as we approach the Day of Judgment, the Day of the Lord. In that hour, the spiritual and the natural realms will be one, making it possible for all the kings of history to see the execution of God's vengeance on the Christian religious systems that had represented themselves as the vicars of Christ.

The interaction between the Catholic Church and the nations of Europe is well known to historians. The kings and popes played politics with one another under the impression (held by the Catholic leadership) that the Catholic Church actually represented the Lord Jesus.

The murder, the immorality, the thievery, the covetousness, the politics that occur as the religious leaders and the heads of government vie with one another for control of people, have no place in the Lord Jesus. His Kingdom is not of this world. Yet the Catholic Church and other large Christian organizations continue to this day to play the role of the representative of Christ in the earth. This truly is an abomination.

To be continued.