The Second Angel Warns About the Wine of Babylon
"And there followed another angel, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that
great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication.'" Rev. 14:8
"Babylon is said to be 'the mother of harlots. ' By her daughters must be
symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of
sacrificing the truth and approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the
world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to
religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt." GC 382, 383
"What is that wine? - Her false doctrines. She has given to the world a
false Sabbath instead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and has repeated the
falsehood that Satan first told to Eve in Eden - the natural immortality of the soul. Many
kindred errors she has spread far and wide, 'teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men.'" 2SM 118
"If we turn from the testimony of God's word, and accept false doctrines
because our fathers taught them, we fall under the condemnation pronounced upon Babylon;
we are drinking of the wine of her abomination. " GC 536, 537
Individually we could be holding on to false traditions which could leave us in an
unsaved condition. We must examine everything we have been taught, especially on the plan
of salvation.
"Let all who accept human authority, the customs of the church, or the traditions
of the fathers, take heed to the warning conveyed in the words of Christ, 'In vain they
do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. ' Matt.
15:9." DA 398
"We should not allow any argument of man's to turn us away from a thorough
investigation of Bible truth. The opinions and customs of men are not to be received as of
divine authority. God has revealed in His word what is the whole duty of man, and we are
not to be swayed from the great standard of righteousness. He sent his only-begotten Son
to be our example, and bade us to hear and follow Him. We must not be influenced from
the truth as it is in Jesus, because great and professedly good men urge their ideas above
the plain statements of the word of God. " FE 128
