~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(VISION RECEIVED FRIDAY 10 AUGUST 2001 -- just a month before the terrorist attack in New York and Washington, D.C.)

By Catherine Brown, Scotland Catherine's email: catherine@yerton.com

Note from Steve Shultz: Catherine Brown has been a regular prophetic voice to the Church from Scotland. This article is a bit long, but I believe it's a good word for the church.

Friday, August 10, 2001:

“I found myself transported in the Spirit to another realm-- to a cave which housed a monstrous demonic beast. The whole atmosphere pervaded utter destruction, and it was as though I had been taken into the very bowels of hell. At this point the beast seemed to be unaware of my presence. It was truly the most vile and hideous demonic being I have ever seen. There are no words to describe how grotesque it was; its head was absolutely enormous.

The scene flicked from the cave onto a street, which had oddly painted pink building giving the effect of a “gingerbread� sickly sweet yet sinister and dangerous place. The beast, now aware of my presence, came menacingly towards me and pointing to it I asked, “What is your name?�

==========

APOLLYON

==========

It replied, “Apollyon� and the word flashed across my eyes in the vision. [As this point I had no idea who or what Apollyon was]

I noticed the pink buildings did not have windowpanes, but in their place were iron bars. I knew deep in my spirit that these buildings housed some of the most depraved acts known to mankind and that there were many imprisoned here. I was appalled. I was protected from the specific details; being permitted only the impression of them. I saw demonic creatures through the window bars that stood guard over those imprisoned there. I asked the beast whom these poor souls were enslaved to and it answered, “Babylon�.

I asked the beast, “What do you want?� It pointed at me and replied, “You�, and advanced towards me seemingly intent upon my destruction. For a few seconds terror struck my heart. However, I concentrated fully on Christ. I went out in Christ, hiding totally in His presence. Instantly, the very ordinary clothes I wore were illumined into garments of the brightest white. I had been totally transformed, the beast being repelled by the garments with which I was clad.

================

AFRAID OF PURITY

================

I sensed terrible fear in the beast and asked, “What are you afraid of�? Amazingly, it answered me thus, “Purity that leads to holiness�.

-- Two days later I discovered what Apollyon meant. I found it in Revelation and then wept for about two hours. I was simply appalled.

“They had a king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon�. Rev 9:5

The beast named Apollyon reminded me of one named “the Destroyer� that I encountered during a series of horrific visions of the Holocaust.

-------End of extract

This (above) is an extract from a recent prophetic experience that left me staggered and appalled. At the time of receiving it, I felt there was a specific personal application for me in the area of entering into a deeper experiential call to holiness. I also felt that the vision had a significant corporate application and I have waited on the Lord for this, liaising with some respected apostolic/prophetic leaders to ask for their wisdom and input.

================================

THE TERRORIST ATTACK ON AMERICA

================================

In light of the recent tragedy in America and in view of the incredible surge of commentary of the spirit of Babylon, and whether or not this attack on America was the judgment of God, I feel compelled by the Spirit to share what I am able at this point.

I have carefully read the various comments on the Elijah List from respected leaders and concur with the heartbeat of what has been shared. I want to be very honest and vulnerable and share with you that one of my first thoughts was, “Oh Lord, is this judgment�? “Oh Lord, forgive us�. I think that the world over, people were very frightened by what they saw. We have mourned together, touching the loss of broken hearts of precious Americans. Whilst I can never begin to understand the depth of pain such terrorist activity has inflicted on the individual families, I can empathize at the loss of a loved one, having grieved for my own parents when they passed away. The church worldwide must continue to stand in prayer with America.

I have been deeply entrenched in prayer, asking with all my heart, for the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation to bring an aspect of Godly insight and healing to the questions being asked around the world about the American tragedy. My heart’s desire is to hear God clearly and to bless the church, and through that, to see the world turn to Christ and the Father’s loving embrace.

I believe the Holy Spirit has given me some additional insight to add to that which has already been given. In order to understand this, it is important to examine the vision I received more closely.

===============

INTERPRETATION

===============

In the corporate application of the vision, when the beast (Apollyon) speaks to me, he is addressing the church. When I speak or make any action towards the beast, I am doing so on behalf of the church.

The vision was simple yet profound and deeply disturbed me for some time. My heart was broken at the spiritual reality of Apollyon and Babylon and the consequence of being ensnared to these demonic influences. These spiritual beings are evil and foul to the core. I suffered many days of physical sickness as I recounted the vision. The Spirit of Jesus is repulsed by these beings.

In the vision, Babylon represents all that is of the spirit of the world, and therefore, all that is contrary to the Spirit of Christ. The pink buildings are symbolic of the many snares and bondages to sin, particularly sins of the flesh, lust, greed etc. The vision portrayed many who are currently held in a place of imprisonment to these snares.

The beast was repelled because of the Holiness of Christ. I [as the church] was illumined in beautiful garments of white, representative of His imparted Righteousness. This speaks of a process of transformation in the church through yielding to the conformation of the nature of the Holy Spirit. This was shown in the vision in the two spiritual conditions I displayed before the beast – the first in the condition of imputed Righteousness, the second in the condition of imparted Righteousness.

========================================================

THE CHURCH IS TRANSFORMED ONLY IN THE HOLINESS OF CHRIST

========================================================

This transformation process of the church has already begun and will be completed as promised by the vision. The only thing Apollyon feared was “purity that leads to holiness� and it was rendered powerless in the vision because I [representing the global church] was illumined in the Righteousness, purity and holiness of Jesus Christ through impartation. The churches’ transformation into the deepest levels of experiential holiness will enable her to defeat the spirit of Babylon over whole nations. The Destroyer will be unable to destroy.

==========================================

GOD IS MERCIFUL – HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER

===========================================

More than ever before, I am convinced that God is merciful and holy and that this never changes. God has not suddenly become a tyrant who will be merciless to His children. God’s desire is that ALL should be saved 2 Pe 3:9

In the Old Testament God sent the prophets to warn people AHEAD OF TIME of His righteous judgments. Nineveh was saved through Jonah’s preaching (even though he was reluctant!). God sent Abraham to intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah. Elijah was sent to turn the hearts of the nation back to God and the generations to each other. Ester and Mordecai saved the nation of Israel from Haman’s despicable genocide plot. Repeatedly, the Bible reveals God to be slow to anger and abounding in mercy – His love endures forever.

============================

GOD IS LOVE AND GOD IS HOLY

============================

I am aware that several key prophetic voices have forewarned of times of distress upon America, and also that if we will intercede these disasters will be ‘minimized’ in terms of loss of life and national impact. God is both a God of love and a holy God – these aspects of his nature are inseparable. Sadly, I concur there are areas of unconfessed sin in America, but this is not restricted just to America. It is of grave concern that this picture is reflected in many other nations of the earth too. This unconfessed sin permits the enemy legal access to prevail against the church. Some of these unconfessed sins would include idolatry, despising God’s Law, abortion, greed, injustice, slavery, and sexual sin including homosexuality and other perversions and persecution of the saints. Despite these horrific sins, I do not believe this is the reason America suffered tragedy. However, this must not lead us to a place of complacency. There is much to repent for and the time is short, but we turn in these times to the Cross of Christ. It’s message of reconciliation and hope must be our anchor and that which we share with a desperate world.

=========================

TRAGEDY BUT NOT JUDGMENT

=========================

I must stress again, it is not my belief that this tragedy is the judgment of God and, indeed, sometimes things happen that are contrary to the will of God. It was NOT God’s will that thousands should die. Jesus is altogether beautiful in every situation, and God is never the cause of our troubles, He is always the answer! As has already been stated by leaders we must see the tragic events in America from a spiritual perspective.

I do not personally believe we have yet seen the events depicted in the Bible that would lead me to believe we are living in the days of Revelation 18, for instance, we have not yet seen the rise of the antichrist. Therefore I do not agree that New York and Washington are to be considered Babylon in these days. To see the cities burning is not to imply that these are the places “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her� Rev 18:9

=====================================

GOD LOVES AMERICA AND AMERICAN PEOPLE

=====================================

God loves America and God loves the American people, God loves New York and he loves Washington and Pittsburgh. Christ died for love of America. America is part of his beautiful bride and a precious diadem in his royal crown. It is not a time to condemn America, but to speak love, and hope to her. God’s plans for America are to prosper her and to give her hope and a future. We must pray that America will see the restoration of the desolation of many generations. The Lord has permitted the shaking of the foundation of the fabric of American society. God in his mercy and love is pouring out a double portion of grace upon the United States of America in these days. We will see apostolic/prophetic government raised up in the churches that will guide the nation to her Godly destiny.

On this thought, I pleaded with heaven, asking the Lord for an understanding of recent events, if, indeed, they were not His judgments, then how were we to understand the times? I was reminded by the Lord, that as the saints war and contend for the heavenly places, we will see the effects of this spiritual warfare on the earth.

“Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.� Rev 12:17

==================

SPIRIT OF BABYLON

==================

Babylon, in Old Testament times was the commercial, religious and political capital of Babylonia, which was the dominant power in the Near East in the 6th century B.C. In the New Testament, “Babylon� signifies the world and its forces in opposition to God. It is often contrasted with “the new Jerusalem�, in which God will finally reign supreme (quoted from the Hodder Dictionary of Bible Themes�

It is not unreasonable to suggest that the spirit of Babylon seeks to hold the seat of power in every nation, through infiltrating and occupying positions of power and influence in economic, political and religious systems. The spirit of Babylon seeks total ownership of the temporal, governmental and spiritual wealth of the nations.

===================================================================

"REFUSAL TO BE OWNED BY BABYLON WILL CAUSE SPIRITUAL CONFRONTATIONS OF CATACLYSMIC PROPORTIONS – BUT THE VICTORY BELONGS TO CHRIST!"

===================================================================

The Spirit impressed these words to my mind “Refusal to be owned by the spirit of Babylon will cause spiritual confrontations of cataclysmic proportions, but the victory belongs to Christ, and therefore, to the Church in Christ. I have defeated the Spirit of Babylon and the victory is assured. As in all of your warfare, this is a Work of the Spirit of Grace and part of the completed work of the Cross of Calvary�.

=========================================================

A COUNTER ATTACK BECAUSE OF PURITY – THE ENEMY IS AFRAID!

=========================================================

I began to pray in earnest about the phrase “cataclysmic proportions�. At this point, the Holy Spirit arrested my thinking and said, “This attack on America is a counter attack from the enemy because of the effectiveness of the global church in entering into the lower levels of purification and holiness. The church has not only been preaching the message of repentance but has entered into the practice of repentance. This has struck great fear into the heart of the enemy, to such an extent that he has launched a counter attack against the kingdom of God, in order to stop the advancement of the kingdom�.

================================

THE ENEMY HAS A THREE POINT PLAN

================================

The enemy sought to strike terror into the world, through attacking three strategic world centers. These are the economic, political and spiritual centers of the world. He attacked the World Trade center (the financial capital of the world); he attacked the Pentagon and attempted an attack on the Whitehouse (the governmental/military seat of power) and I believe he is still intent on carrying out a third attack on the Biblical spiritual center of the world, which is Jerusalem.

=========================

ISRAEL NEEDS OUR PRAYERS!

=========================

Since the enemy has failed on this occasion to take out the third target i.e. the spiritual center of the world, that is Jerusalem, WE MUST PRAY FOR ISRAEL! The Holy Spirit told me that the enemy is determined to launch an all-out attack on Israel and we must pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

“COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE� Rev 18:14

Like no other time in the history of mankind, it is time for the church to turn from any and all sinful snares and to be purified by the Blood of Christ. We must “wash our garments� Rev 22:14 and be purified. There can be no room in our lives for an adulterous relationship with the spirit of the world. We must be single-minded in our devotion to the Spirit of Jesus-- in order that He will deliver us safely from the spirit of Babylon.

“ABOVE ALL ELSE, GUARD YOUR HEART FOR IT IS THE WELLSPRING OF LIFE� Pro 4:23

Before addressing the global picture the church must take note that nations are composed of individuals. The first site of the warfare against the spirit of Babylon is in the hearts of individual men, women and children, who in turn make up the nations! Many theologians agree that the heart is the seat of our wills, and therefore, a key site where the enemy of our souls (Satan) will battle for control to gain a seat of power.

============================================================

APOSTOLIC COMPASSION = APOSTOLIC PRAYERS = APOSTOLIC POWER!

============================================================

Our warfare is not against flesh and blood but must be for flesh and blood. By this I mean, we (the Church) must fight [in the place of prayer] on behalf of the prodigals and the unsaved. There is no other way forward but in apostolic intercession – intercession prepared to pay the price no matter what the cost; Intercession that is Christ centered and for the lost. Intercession that is agape. Apostolic power will be poured out on the saints [for reaching the unsaved], in direct correlation to the Revelation of the Compassion of Jesus Christ to the church. This will cause the miraculous Ministry of Jesus to flow in the church.

THE POSTURE OF DANIEL – “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with hi in prayer and petition, in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed ..� Dan 9:3,4

Before the Church can enter this level of warfare for the nations, she must first be purified. She is called to the posture of Daniel in Daniel 9. She will carry the nations before the throne of Grace and Mercy, through the washing of the Blood of Christ - that the King of Glory may come in.

================

DO NOT BE AFRAID

================

“But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they (the unsaved) fear; do not be frightened.� But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.� 1 Pet 3:14,15

For a few seconds of the encounter within the prophetic experience in confrontation with the spirit of Apollyon/Babylon, I was filled with terror, but quickly hid myself in Christ. This speaks of an overcoming grace given to the church for these end time days. We are not to be afraid, but to be a people of faith, trusting the supremacy of Christ to be our refuge and our hiding place. Christ is our strong deliverer and all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to him.

“They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings – and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.� Rev 17:14

Fear not saints! Faint not saints! The Battle belongs to Christ. The call is before us to enter into His holiness and see the captives delivered and set free.

The enemy is so afraid of Holiness and Humility that he has launched a spiritual attack of cataclysmic proportions against the church and the world, however, victory belongs to Christ!

Now is the time to pray as never before. Now is the time to push in and stand together, believing God for His strong deliverance. It is to glory that we are called.

=============================================

THE COUNTENANCE OF STEPHEN AS HE WAS MARTYRED

=============================================

Do not be afraid of martyrdom, it is the highest expression of love for Christ. Ponder for a moment the beauty and Grace of Stephen’s countenance, even as his life was martyred. It was for the joy set before Him, that Christ endured the Cross. So too, it must be with His joy as the source of our strength that we press in for all that lies ahead.

As the church enters into the experiential Holiness of Christ she will be brought into a place of joy and liberation heretofore unknown.

“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look, he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.� Acts 7:55, 56

=======================================

LIKE NEVER BEFORE THE CHURCH MUST PRAY!

=======================================

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quite lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth� 1 Tim 2:1-4

World peace is in the hands of the praying church – we are exhorted to pray for our kings, for our government and for all those in authority that peace would reign supreme.

World revival is in the hands of the praying church – the destiny of many souls rests with believers to pray for a revelation of the truth of the Father’s heart – He loves ALL men and desires that they would be saved.

Beloved Americans, we stand with you in prayer, believing the Lord for a mighty harvest of righteousness from this heartache. We speak hope and prosperity to you in the love of our precious Father.

Catherine Brown