* Babylon is made up of two things - the beast and the harlot.

* The Beast is the political and economic system of Babylon.

* Think of Germany in the 1940’s:

* They had a dictatorship for govt and socialism for their economy.

* The Harlot is the religious system of Babylon.

* The Beast has no power apart from the Harlot.

* In Germany, it was a weakened church with paid-for pastors by the state.

* The perverted religious system, known as the Harlot, is also seen in the book of Haggai.

* Because of persecution, they started building “their” thing over God’s thing.

* But the most dangerous part of the Harlot is found in vs 6:

* She’s drunk with the blood of the saints.

* She wants to annihilate true believers.

* She can tolerate people of other faiths, but not Christians.

* She wants them DEAD.

* True Christians are threat to the Harlot’s way of life and therefore must be removed.

* Today, we need to learn to live faithfully in the midst of Babylon.

* How? By Conviction, Commitment, and Courage.