It is my privilege to be permitted to
share the word with you this morning.
I'm glad to be with you.
Thank God for His presence with His people.
I was traveling the other day with...
I'll drop these lines out.
I remember one of the men, the fellowship
from Epsom, and we were talking a little
bit about...
Who is the sun-cloned woman?
It's easy to ask a question like that,
but it takes a long time to answer
it.
Quite a witness of peace in my heart
that I should try and answer that question.
You'll have to use a lot of patience
in this lecture.
It's very important.
So let's
turn to Revelation.
God intends His people to read and know,
but it seems it's a bit released
to do so.
Gracious leading and understanding.
He's dealing with me inwardly on certain very,
very important matters.
From the bridegroom.
It starts off with a portrait of the
bridegroom, and it leads on to the marriage
supper, and gives us a picture of the
heavenly home prepared.
It is from the bridegroom.
In fact, some of the hymns we were
singing this morning drew their very material and
word from the book of Revelation.
And that wonderful phrase about the blood of
the Lamb comes from this last book.
So the people's spirits respond to the book
of Revelation, even though their minds have been
put off by all sorts of strange and
conflicting opinions.
There is nothing new which responds to the
theme of the blood of the Lamb.
Hallelujah.
Instinctively you know it's the voice of the
bridegroom to this bride.
And that is basic, I'm sure, to the
understanding before we venture very far, groundwork.
Intense.
A little bit of groundwork here.
Yes, it is a love letter from the
Lord.
Have sent for an angel to testify these
things in the churches.
That's how he puts it, not just in
the first chapter, but also in the last
chapter.
And he makes it plain that he is
writing to the church, for the church, and
concerning the church.
Now the Reformation brethren understood this very well.
That the Jesuits were so alarmed at the
impact of the book of Revelation on the
errors of their great Roman church that they
tried every means to break it up.
They tried.
Some, the Dominicans, tried to quench the testimony
of those who loved the Lord by torture
and inquisition and fire and death.
But the Jesuits were wiser.
They saw that for every Christian you burned,
a dozen would rise up to take his
place.
And so the Jesuits were much wiser than
they.
Education.
And they began to try and change the
Scripture around.
And they eventually, in the 17th century, came
up with the brilliant idea that Revelation didn't
work.
And with amazing ability, he spun his web
of clever thinking.
And alas, it has diverted the attention of
the church in these end times from the
basic intent of the book.
It was to the church, for the church,
and concerning the church.
To show to his servants, says Jesus, things
which must shortly come to pass.
And if you want to know who his
servants are, Revelation chapter 1, verse 1, gives
you the perfect definition.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, to show to his servants things
which must shortly come to pass.
And he sent and signified it by his
angels.
It was John the Apostle, the man who
loved the Lord Jesus.
And there's your key.
So when you find a reference to servants
in the book of Revelation, they are people
like John, who loved the Lord, and served
him.
So simple, isn't it?
The book is simple, really.
If only you had a simple heart.
It's when you get all complicated, and you
get people shouting weird doctrines into your ears
and stuff, and talking about a computer in
Brussels, or somewhere, and things like that, that
you can all put on.
But basically, this is from Jesus, to his
church.
And in a little while, we'll hit the
door in verse 3 of that lovely introduction.
Blessed is he that readeth, that's the man
who would stand up in the assembly at
Ephesus or Smyrna, and readeth to the rest
of the company, and they that hear the
words of this prophecy, and keep the things
which are written therein.
There was a blessing for reading it, and
a blessing for listening to it.
But the reason for that blessing in the
early church was this, the time is.
That is, this wonderful prophecy was due to
begin to find fulfillment very, very soon.
And that's why it would be such a
blessing to a man who read it, and
those who heard it.
Isn't that very nice?
We know that when it began.
And we also know the goal to which
it is leading.
For all the way through the book there
is a recurrent end theme.
Not merely the new heavens and the new
earth, but the return of our Lord Jesus.
So that the closing phrases of the book
include this sort of exhortation.
Revelation 22, verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent
my angel to testify unto you these things
in the churches.
What things?
Just chapters one to four?
No, the whole book.
For this is in the last chapter.
To testify these things in the churches.
I am the root and offspring of David,
linking with the Old Testament.
The bright and morning star, linking with his
second coming.
And then, let me miss out a few
verses.
He that testified these things said, Surely I
come quickly.
Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
So then it was a book, a letter
which was to begin with blessings on those
who first heard it in those seven churches,
including us.
When Daniel was receiving his revelations, and
the question was asked, when would these things
be?
He was given an answer.
The angel said, Seal up the words of
this prophecy, for the time is not right.
But when John was given his revelation, he
was told, Seal not the sayings of this
book, no gap here, for the time is
at hand.
This book was to go into action, not
like some of Daniel's visions, which would be
delayed, but right away.
So the early church rightly found their guidance
and strength against the persecutions that were coming
from this book.
And the saints of God down through the
ages understood their way in the midst of
darkness and tribulation because of the book that
the heavenly bridegroom had sent to guide his
church through the long years of her suffering.
If you've got those basic things right, one
of the best things to do, if you
don't know much about it, but one of
the best things to do, if you're not
good at it, is to get in the
outside frame first, the pieces with the straight
edges, put them all together, and when you've
got the frame, you can fill in the
rest.
But if you don't get the frame right,
you'll have a bit of a job doing
the rest of the thing.
And here if we can get the frame
right, this is from the bridegroom to the
bride, to the church, for the church, to
guide her in the midst of deception and
trouble, we shall be able to fill in
some of the pieces.
And so now we'll turn to Revelation.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven,
a woman clothed with the sun and the
moon under her feet and upon her head
a crown of twelve stars.
And she, being this child, cried, travailing in
birth, and pained to be delivered.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and
behold a great red dragon having seven heads
and ten horns and seven crowns upon his
head.
And his tail drew the third part of
the stars of heaven and did cast them
to the earth.
And the dragon stood before the woman which
was ready to be delivered for to devour
her child as soon as it was born.
And she brought forth a man-child who
was to rule all nations with a rod
of iron and her child was caught up
to God and to his throne.
And the woman fled into the wilderness where
she had the place prepared of God that
they should feed her there a thousand two
hundred and three score days.
And there was war in heaven, Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon and the
dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not.
Neither was their place found any more in
heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out, that
old serpent called the devil and Satan which
deceived the whole world.
He was cast out into the earth and
his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice saying in
heaven, And now is come salvation and strength
and the kingdom of our God and the
power of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brethren is cast
down which accused them before our God day
and night.
And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony and they loved not their lives unto
the death.
Don't you think that beautiful verse belongs to
the church of course.
Why it's tempt with it.
You don't need a lot of the exegesis
to realize that this belongs to the church
of God.
Therefore rejoice ye heaven and he that dwell
in them woe to the inheritors of the
earth and of the sea for the devil
is come down unto you having great wrath
because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time.
And when the dragon saw that he was
cast unto the earth he persecuted the woman
which brought forth the man-child.
And to the woman were given two wings
of a great eagle that she might fly
into the wilderness into her place where she
is nourished for a time and times and
half a time from the face of the
serpent.
And the serpent cast out of his mouth
water as a flood that he might cause
her to be carried away of the flood.
And the earth helped the woman and the
earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the
flood which the dragon cast out of his
mouth.
And the dragon was wroth with the woman
and went to make war with the remnants
of her seed which keep the commandments of
God and have the testimony of Jesus.
This is not literal.
It is a divine cartoon.
The woman is not a literal woman.
The son with which she is clothed is
not a literal son.
The moon beneath her feet is not a
literal moon.
It is a divine cartoon.
Chapter 1 we read He sent and signified
it by his angel unto his servant John.
Revelation is a book written in signification or
sign language.
S-I-G-N He signified it.
The Greek has the same connotation.
It is a book of signs.
The language of Revelation is sign language.
Some time ago I saw in an American
paper a cartoon of the Ayatollah Khomeini riding
an unwilling donkey and holding a carrot before
its nose.
The unfortunate donkey had the eager and frustrated
feet of a peasant of America.
It was a cartoon which could easily be
translated by those who knew the facts.
But if you don't know the facts you
can't translate it.
And God was the first cartoon designer.
Why, even when he designed the tabernacle it
was a picture of heavenly things.
Detail by detail, measure by measure the perfect
cartoon in three dimensions.
And this book is stated to be written
in sign language.
And in the woman and the moon and
the sun and the other features of this
chapter we have a divine cartoon with certain
meanings.
And so many have puzzled and said, who
is this woman?
Even the most literal of the literalists will
concede that she cannot be literal.
Well, of course she can't.
Well, we shall have to be detectives and
try and find out who she is.
And I propose that we start off with
the last verse and have a look at
her children.
Verse 17 Here we are, the spiritual Sherlock
Holmes is all harmed with mankind's love.
At the sea the dragon was wroth with
the witch keep the commandments of God.
So she is a mother with many children.
Alright.
She is a mother with many children.
And let's have a look at her seed.
They keep the commandments of God and have
the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The same kind of description as is given
in chapter 14 and verse 12.
Here is the patience of the saints.
Here are they that keep the commandments of
God and the faith of Jesus.
Obviously the same sort of people are referred
to here.
These are your clues in which finally you
can find out who her children are.
And then when you find out who her
children are you may begin to find out
who the mother is.
Look at, say, 1 John 5 verse 3.
John writing to the children of God says
in verse 3 For this is the love
of God that we keep his commandments and
his commandments are not grievous for whatsoever is
born of God overcometh the world.
So the keeping of the commandments of God
is a mark of truly born again believers.
How's that?
Do you know anybody else who can keep
the commandments?
It just doesn't work.
They know what they should do but they
can't do it.
But those who are born of God and
love him and know his love keep his
commandments and his commandments are not grievous.
Hallelujah.
Oh we're moving in along the line of
divine clues.
Let's have a look at the remnant of
her seed.
That's in verse 17 and note the following
references in Revelation chapter 1 verse 9 John
says I was in the I was your
companion in tribulation.
Hello John.
And in the kingdom and patience of Jesus
Christ was in the isle that is called
Patmos for the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ.
So John has the second part.
The testimony of Jesus Christ.
Oh someone then who's thinking and witness is
like that of John.
Have another look in chapter 6 and verse
9.
I saw the salt of them that were
slain for the word of God and for
the testimony which they held.
There it is the commandment of the slain
prince.
Have a look at Revelation 2 and 13.
I know thy words.
Where Satan's seat is.
Conflict with Satan.
He that overcometh
and keepeth my works unto the end.
To him would I give.
3 verse 8.
I know thy works and I have set
before thee.
Has kept my.
10.
Because thou hast kept the word.
From thee.
Pray to lead us not into temptation.
By and large then her children are people
like John who love God.
Who is your father?
These are
believers.
These are brethren.
These are suffering.
And they have an elder brother.
For the first one that was born of
the woman was her first born.
The man child.
Some people have tried to make a weird
theory out of man.
Male child is the correct translation.
Male child.
Who was.
Who is destined to rule all nations with
a rod of iron.
Have you ever heard of the first born
among.
When you get all the scripture into your
bow.
Here we are back on to basics.
We know who they are.
Their elder brother.
Who is the mother?
Well we know she's a symbol.
Some say that she's the church.
I don't think that will exactly do.
But you're not born of the church I
hope.
People who are born of the church are
not born again.
They've merely signed the register.
Is she Israel?
Well that looks a bit more like.
But you're not born of Israel.
Who is your mother?
Is she Sarah the wife of Abraham?
Not bad.
Is she Jerusalem?
Oh.
Is she Jerusalem which is above?
Now we're nearer still.
Galatians 4.
Verse 26.
But Jerusalem which is above is free.
Which is the mother of us all.
So we're getting a little bit nearer aren't
we?
We've now given her a name.
And we have called her Jerusalem which is
above.
Now just a minute.
Who is she yet?
Look a bit closer.
For it is written.
Verse 22.
Abraham had two sons.
The one by a bondmaid.
The other by a free woman.
But he who was of the bondwoman was
born after the flesh.
But he of the free woman was by
promise.
Which things are an allegory?
We're dealing with allegories aren't we?
That is with symbols which represent truth.
This is an allegory.
These two women are the two covenants.
Galatians 4 and verse 24.
Two covenants.
The first at Sinai which produced children under
bondage.
The second in Christ the heart and reality
and core and nature of the New Testament.
The new covenant which is the whole gospel
of Jesus Christ.
That's why Peter says.
You were born again not of corruptible seed
but of incorruptible by the word of God
which liveth and abideth forever.
For all flesh is as grass and the
glory of man is the flower of grass.
And this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you.
I was born of the gospel.
That was my mother.
And whenever I hear the gospel my spirit
finds itself right upon.
Back at mother's skirts.
And if you're born of God you'll find
the same thing.
The gospel which scares other people draws you
close.
The gospel which offends the proud and the
righteous will bring tears to your heart.
The gospel which brings condemnation and distress to
the ungodly is comforting a soul.
You know where your mother is.
Don't get far from mother.
Feel alright.
Never depart from the simplicity which is in
Christ Jesus.
It's the good news that Christ came and
died for our sins.
According to the scriptures was buried.
He was crucified for our sins.
Raised again for our justification.
This is your mother.
You were born of God.
God said in Jeremiah.
I will write my laws in their hearts
and on their minds will I write them.
They shall be my people.
I will be their God.
They shall all know me from the least
to the greatest.
And their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more.
That's where your mother is.
And that's Jerusalem which is above.
For a city has two realities.
The building and the people.
You dwell in this Jerusalem which is above.
I hope you do.
I hope you're rooted and grounded in the
gospel of Christ.
Otherwise you'll be in a very shaky condition.
You'll get as close to mother as you
know how.
Sing in the depths of your heart.
Yes Jesus loves me.
The bible tells me so.
You're getting back to mother then.
Hallelujah.
Oh let your spirit find rest right there.
Yes and she is like Jerusalem was for
Israel.
A city with towers and bulwarks.
And you're safe inside her.
Stay there.
Stay within the gospel.
Limitation.
Actually it's liberty not limitation.
But it looks like limitation doesn't it.
When you cut yourself down to a one
track mind and love Jesus completely.
Hallelujah.
What a glorious limitation.
What glorious liberty.
But not only is Jerusalem which is above
the mother of us all.
And she is that city in which we
dwell.
But eventually the people and the city are
one.
So that at the end of Revelation you
see the new Jerusalem coming down out of
heaven from God.
And you and I can enter in through
her open gates.
They were once closed.
The gates of a limited election of the
twelve tribes of Israel.
But now they're swung right.
Hallelujah.
It's glad to be within the city.
Glory to God.
As weak shall be as ten.
And how's it go?
Shall be as David.
Strong in the strength of our blessed Jerusalem.
Mother and Father.
Isaiah 54.
Paul picks up this lovely passage.
Say no barren that did not bear.
Break forth into singing and cry aloud.
Thou that didst not prevail with child.
For more are the children of the desolate
than the children of the married wife, saith
the Lord.
Enlarge the place of thy tent.
And let them stretch forth the curtains of
thy habitations.
Spare not.
Lengthen thy cords.
Strengthen thy stakes.
Thou shalt break forth on the right hand
and on the left.
Fear not.
Thou shalt not be ashamed.
Thou shalt not be confounded.
Thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth.
And not remember the reproach of thy widowhood
any more.
For thy maker is thy husband.
The Lord of hosts is his name.
The Redeemer and the Holy One of Israel.
The God of the whole earth shall he
be called.
When Paul picks up this chapter, he says
it belongs to the gospel.
You read it in Romans 10.
This is the gospel here, which is in
this anagram of the woman.
And that blessed promise was made, wasn't it,
to concerning Eve and her seed?
It was very definitely made to Abraham.
In thy seed shall all the factors of
the earth be blessed.
And that promise looked as though it was
neglected in the intervening years.
In the meantime, the law came in and
began her children.
Children unto bondage.
And the poor gospel had to wait, age
after age, until at last, in the fullness
of time, God sent his Son, made of
a woman, born of a woman, made under
the law.
To redeem those that were under law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons and
become younger brothers of him who was gone
before.
Hallelujah.
Your elder brother is there.
He's reached the right hand of God.
And he's expecting you to join him.
And already, even now, sharing his fellowship and
sharing a measure of his reign.
Glory to his lovely name.
In Hebrews 12, 22.
Ye are not come unto Mount Zion.
No, I'm sorry.
From verse 18.
Ye are not come unto the mount that
might be touched and burned with fire, blackness,
darkness, and tempest.
And now in verse 22.
But ye are come unto Mount Zion, unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to
the general assembly and to the church of
the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and
to God, the judge of all, and the
spirits of just men made perfect, and to
Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and
to the blood that is sprinkling, that speaketh
better things than that of Abel.
Why, that's what Revelation language is meant of.
See that you refuse not him that speaketh.
Psalm 48.
Ever and ever.
And he will be our guide even over
death.
Thus in Psalm 49, 15.
God will redeem my soul from the power
of the grave.
Well, the next thing to be looked at
in this passage is the dragon.
And he is defined.
No difficulty about him at all.
The great dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, is defined in Revelation chapter 12.
Verse 9.
The great dragon was cast out, that old
serpent, called the devil
and Satan.
No doubt about it, is it?
Is there?
Which deceived it the whole.
But he's a strange dragon.
He has, he's red, the color of war.
He has seven heads and ten horns.
You meet him in Daniel.
He comes at the fourth, he's the fourth
great empire.
Once again, a cartoon of the great Roman
Empire.
Any Bible student can tell you that.
And his seven heads are successive heads.
His ten horns all stand up together.
And they're all on the last head.
Actually, the divided head, the eighth head.
But the seven heads represent the four, the
rulers over Rome, over the great Roman Empire.
Leading up to John's time.
For the angel said to John, five of
them are fallen.
One is, in John's time, the great pagan
emperors.
And one is yet to come, the last
head of that great Roman system.
And you know that the pagan emperors were
replaced by the Christian emperors.
And he stood before the woman as she
was travelling to bring forth her firstborn.
Isn't that what happened?
Didn't Satan move in the might of Rome,
and particularly Rome's puppet, Herod, to try to
destroy the firstborn?
His malice was manifested there.
And all through Jesus' life, Satan was in
the background from the temptations.
And then it intervals onward time.
And again, the archenemy of God and of
our souls was at war.
Until at last, Jesus said, this is your
hour.
And the power of darkness.
And Satan sought to destroy that blessed man
-child.
And seemed to have overcome him.
But the child was caught up unto God
at his throne.
And there was war in him.
Did you know there was war in heaven
when Jesus rose?
Chapter 2 and verse 15, 14.
He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that
was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing
it to his cross.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made
a show of them openly, triumphing over them
in it, in his cross and resurrection.
Hallelujah.
Jesus is victor.
And when he rose from the dead, the
mighty angels of God were in attendance.
And there was war in heaven.
And Satan was cast down.
Our foe has been defeated once for all,
when Jesus died.
And that's the plain facts.
Now he goes to receive, as our context
says.
But in reality, his power was broken by
our blessed Lord Jesus, by our great elder
brother.
Oh, when I was a boy, sometimes, a
very small boy, that is, sometimes we small
boys would start boasting.
And when the, when, one against the other.
And Jesus is that great elder brother.
And over principalities and powers, Satan had, that
he came, he died, that he might destroy.
Through death, he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is the devil,
and deliver those for all their lifetime.
Hallelujah.
He is still a deceiver.
And he still keeps his people in bondage
by his lying system.
When you know what Jesus has done, you
can destroy the strongholds of Satan.
Hallelujah.
You can be more than conqueror.
Blessed be God.
Don't think that the defeat of Satan is
still future.
There's a consummation in future.
That the great victory was won at Calvary.
Born and seated at the right hand of
the Father.
Principalities and powers being.
And for every one of us in this
room, there is victory here and now.
Every power of darkness can be destroyed.
Jesus has won.
He has taken our curse and his own
body on the tree.
The child was called up, where to the
throne?
Revelation 3 and 20.
To him that I overcome it, will I
grant to sit with me in my throne,
even as I also overcame and am set
down with my Father in his throne.
There it is, the whole thing ties together
beautifully.
And if you're not out of it, you're
in it.
You're sharing the victories to you, for you,
concerning you.
Rejoice that Jesus Christ is victorious.
Oh my.
And I heard the devil and Satan, they're
still deceiving you see in that verse, but
they're cast out of heaven into the earth.
And I heard their voice saying in heaven,
Now is come salvation and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of
his Christ.
For the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, which accused them before our God day
and night.
And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb, by the word of their testimony,
and they loved not their lives even until
the death.
The early church rejoiced in the victory of
Jesus Christ.
They confessed him to be Lord of all.
They denied the dominion of mammon and the
dominion of men.
They saw that Jesus Christ was Lord.
And they burned from him.
Hallelujah.
They loved not their lives even until the
death.
And if you are still clinging on to
your life, remember the warning here that love
of this life shall lose it.
There's too much comfortable Christianity in these days.
It's no good.
It's lulling many into deception and compromise.
God, bring us back to the clean-limbed
Christianity of early years.
And remember that if you belong to Jesus
Christ, you will belong to one who suffered
for you.
And if we have to live in the
protection of a temporary little bit of peace,
don't be lulled to sleep by that.
There's danger ahead, and we should be facing
danger and difficulty.
They loved not their lives even until the
death.
Now has come salvation.
That's marvellous.
You know, the book of Revelations doesn't stand
on its own.
It's all linked with the rest of the
Bible.
When Paul was writing 2 Corinthians, he came
to that very same revelation.
He's talking about Jesus, chapter 5 in 2
Corinthians, who was made to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him.
And then he quoted from Isaiah 42 and
said, We as workers together with him beseech
you also that you receive not the grace
of God in vain.
For he said, I have heard thee in
an accepted time, and in a day of
salvation have I sacred thee.
That is, when the father heard the son's
cry in his dying hour, I heard thee,
my son, in an accepted time, in a
day of salvation have I sacred thee.
God raised him from the dead.
And so Paul announces, Behold, now is the
accepted time, now is the day of salvation.
When Christ is raised from the dead, seated
at the right hand of God, sent forth
the Holy Spirit into all the earth, now
is the accepted time, now is the day
of salvation.
There was war in heaven, Satan cast down,
Jesus raised from the dead, and we proclaim,
now is the accepted time, now is the
day of salvation.
And that's precisely what is revealed here in
Revelation chapter 12.
I heard a loud voice, excuse me being
loud also, saying in heaven, Now is come
salvation and strength and the kingdom of our
God and the power of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, he is defeated, he need not crush
you down anymore, it's over, the victory's won.
Praise God.
He's just a deceiver, cast down to earth,
working such damage as he can, before he
is cast into the lake of fire.
Hallelujah.
Therefore, rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell
in them.
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and
of the sea, for the devil is come
down unto you having great wrath, because he
knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Have you noticed how all the way through
the New Testament the Christian era is spoken
of as a short time.
He that cometh will come.
Has it?
Yes, a little while.
And he that cometh will come and will
not tarry.
Short time.
Behold I come quickly.
Short time.
All the references to this age are a
short time.
One interprets the other.
I think that God so wrote it that
way, not just because a day with him
is a thousand years, and a thousand years
is one day, but also because he wanted
every generation of Christians to be ready and
expecting the coming of their Lord.
He wouldn't have been discouraged if they had
thought that two thousand years of failure lay
ahead.
The early church, Confucian doctrine, disclosed the length.
And lamps trimmed as those that wait for
their Lord.
Praise the Lord.
We too need to be ready in this
our day.
Yes, he
knows his time was short.
And you have been born of that same
mother promise.
That blessed gospel promise.
Praise the Lord.
And he is he
was cast to the earth.
He persecuted the woman that bore the man's
child.
Same Satan, who warned against Jesus Christ on
earth, who sought to accomplish his destruction when
Jesus rose from the dead, began to turn
his attention on the church of God.
Isn't that right?
Read in the Acts how Peter and John
and Paul and the others were persecuted.
Satan had another game now, bitter cruel persecution.
And under pagan Rome, hundreds and thousands died
and suffered and were tormented and imprisoned and
were robbed, cruelly treated, sent into exile.
Satan warring against the remnant of the seed.
And all down through the church age, the
remnant of Christ's seed, that little flock, has
suffered in country after country.
If you've read the sad story of church
history, you will know how those who named
the name of Christ thought they were doing
the will of God in putting fellow believers
to death.
The story is ugly.
Chapter after chapter, millions upon millions have suffered
at the hand of those who have been
called Christians.
Satan has his deadly work down through the
years.
And don't think that persecution is over, it's
not.
It wasn't many years ago when some of
our brethren in Chad were buried up to
the neck in Uganda, and we don't
know the numbers.
In Russia the figures are uncounted.
They say that in Maya's regime for the
last 30 years, over 60 million have suffered.
Satan is still destroyed, seeking persecute and destroy
the remnant of the seed.
And especially his enmity is against those who
keep the commandments.
And has God down through the ages provided
a measure of protection?
Has the earth opened her mouth and swallowed
the flood that has been sent after the
woman?
For time and again, men have sought to
blot it, even in old land, the
burning of the stake.
Did old Mother Earth come?
And when men have Mother Earth, the
few who kept alive the gospel, attacks, wars
made against them, they were sought to, men
sought to exterminate them.
The Italian armies have always protected God's
people.
When they were being persecuted to the death,
it was the highland territory and the mists
of the hills that again and again protected
God's children.
Yes, it's the Christian age, a sad age
unto salvation, ready to be redeemed.
So let's look inside.
Who's your elder brother?
Jesus, who shares his father's throne.
Who are your brethren?
All those who love the Lord in sincerity,
and they are marked because by the indwelling
spirit they keep the commandments of God and
have the testimony of Jesus Christ.