When we consider the deeds of the large Christian organizations and churches throughout history, and even today, we can understand that organized Christianity is every bit as evil as the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of the Book of Revelation portray.

So much for the major Christian systems. How about the smaller groups? No doubt many of the smaller denominations and independent works are not nearly as corrupt. But Babylon is the "mother of harlots." Her daughters, even though they are smaller and not as mature in viciousness, aspire to her wealth and prominence.

How many of the smaller churches, although relatively innocent at this point, are not viewing with envy the ornate tabernacles (tombs) of their notorious mother? The spirit of their mother is in them.

It is not unusual for a little queen to desire to be a great queen, but her character may suffer in the process of becoming great.

How can we recognize the spirit of the queen when it arises in us? The spirit of the queen is the desire to gain an advantage, through means of our association with Christ, to act independently of reliance on Christ.

The spirit of religious ambition (whoredom) presents itself as the desire to "bring glory to God." The magnificent Christian edifices are constructed with the professed goal of "bringing glory to God."

But buildings do not bring glory to God, only to the builders!

Numerous Christian enterprises are motivated and guided by human strength and wisdom. This is true even of small missionary groups laboring in primitive surroundings. They vie for converts, money, and success. The vying reveals they are laboring in their own strength and will, not in the strength and will of Jesus.

It is not our purpose to discredit missionaries who give their lives to help lepers, the mentally retarded, and other victims of Satan in remote areas of the earth. Such little known soldiers of the cross have their reward with Jesus. Rather, our purpose is to warn all believers concerning a spirit that is ready to corrupt our labor in the Lord.

God is glorified only in Christ and in the people in whom Christ is dwelling. God is not glorified in a physical structure (Acts 7:48).

How many times do the "queens" of the Kingdom grind the faces of the poor so a monument to the glory of the queen may be constructed? On how many occasions has this happened in church history?

The Christian churches, being queens at heart, desire to sit next to Christ on the throne. They hope to show their own glory to the nations of the world or, in the case of the small assemblings, to the town or village where they are located.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. (Revelation 18:3)

The major denominations are involved financially and politically with the institutions of the world, supposing they are promoting the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. The small churches may attempt the same thing on their own scale. The small church courts the favor of the local community and its motive is the same as the gigantic federation of churches.

To be continued.