Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 332. The tune is Bodmin
934. Now let the feeble all be strong,
and make Jehovah's arm their song. His shield is spread o'er
every saint, and thus supported who shall faint. Hymn 332. June Bodmin, 934. Now let the heavenly Lord be
strong, and make the earth a solid stone. His shield is spread for
every side, And the supported you shall find. O'er the hills of heaven-gaze,
His mingled cruelty and grace, Our faithful God Restrains her
hand, Perchants her down with iron bands. And by His hand He built His
way A strength proportioned to attain And when united, trials meeting,
We'll know the path of safe retreating. Thus far we've proved the promised
truth, Which Jesus died, he died with blood. Still be His gracious, wise,
and just, And still in Him let Israel trust. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Book of the Revelation and Chapter
12. Revelation Chapter 12. 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
with 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 heads and his tail drew
the third part of the stars of heaven and it cast them down
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 unto God and to his
throne and the woman fled into the wilderness where she had
a place prepared of God that they should feed her there a
thousand two hundred and threescore 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 there place found
any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out. That old serpent called the devil and Satan which deceiveth
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 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 death. 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. And when the dragon saw that he was cast onto the earth,
he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child.
And to the woman that 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 after the woman that he might cause
her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth held 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
wrath with the woman and went to make war with the remnant
of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, We do desire to bow before Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.
We do desire Thy presence here in the sanctuary as we gather
round Thy Word, and we do pray for light and understanding in
Thy Word, and that Thy Word may be a lamp unto our feet and a
light unto our path. and that our souls may be edified
and fed with that living bread that cometh down from heaven.
We pray for the divine power and the heavenly unction of the
Holy Ghost to be known and felt in our assembly. Most blessed
spirit of truth, nothing can be done without thee. Without
thy heavenly power, O Lord, no sweets the gospel can afford.
no drops of heavenly love will fall. And it is our desire that
we may truly worship Thee, that we may indeed have a view, a
revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, manifest in the flesh,
a revelation of the glory of His person, the Holy God, man, and a revelation of that sacred,
holy law fulfilled and honoured and magnified by Jesus Christ
our Lord and that we may have a revelation of the sufferings
and death of Jesus Christ and the glory of his resurrection
and the wonder of his ascension into glory. We thank thee for
these wonderful things that dwell in Jesus, the Son of God. And
we pray that they may be revealed unto us, that the eyes of our
understanding may be enlightened, that we might know what that
good and perfect and acceptable will of the Lord is. O Lord,
we do pray for grace to present our bodies, a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable unto thee, that which is our reasonable
service and that we be not conformed to this world. But may we be
transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we might know
what that good and perfect and acceptable will of the Lord is.
We read in thy word that as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God. We also read, O Lord, that it
is only the blessed Spirit that can reveal unto us the precious
things of Jesus. And we pray that that may be
so tonight. He may take of the things of
Jesus and reveal them unto us. and that ye may testify of Christ
in our hearts, that we may have a view by faith of the glory
of his person, of that incarnate mystery, that wonder of wonders,
God manifest in the flesh. Gracious God, do hear us, we
pray thee. Have mercy upon us, we beseech
thee, and lead us forth in that right way. We read in thy word,
and he led them forth by the right way. unto a city of habitation,
how we need thy constant divine leading, how we need thy enlivening
grace, how we need the power of the Spirit and the glories
of Christ in salvation, how we need that eternal love of our
Eternal Father drawing us unto Jesus Christ and that evidence
in our very souls, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee, all that we
may be drawn, O Lord, into spiritual things, and that we pray, most
gracious Lord, that thou would remember us as a church and as
a congregation, and that thou would work mightily among us,
that it may redound to the glory, honour and praise of thy great
name, that we may see thy goings in the sanctuary. We thank thee
for what thou hast done. We bless thee, O Lord, for thy
lovingkindness in visiting us, in appearing to us as a church
and as a congregation. Pray that thou wast blessed,
dear Lydia, especially be with her on this coming Sunday, and
that she may feel truly united unto us as a church. We do humbly beseech thee. She
may be enabled to serve no more a stranger, or a guest, but like
a child at home. Lord, we pray that thou would
remember each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship. Remember us with the favour that
thou bearest unto thy people. Visit us with thy great salvation. Remember the whole of our congregation. We think of the little ones and
the children. as they're brought into the sanctuary, and we pray
that thou wouldst bless them indeed, that thou wouldst show
them thy ways and teach them thy paths. O Lord, do hear us
in heaven, thy holy and thy ever-blessed dwelling place. We do humbly
pray that instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou
mayest make princes in all the earth, and we pray that it may
be so among us. They may be brought forth in
thine own time and way, to testify of the wonders of redeeming love.
We pray, most gracious Lord, that thou, in thy great mercy,
wouldst hear prayer for our young friends. I know as to all their
concerns and all that they stand in need of, but Lord, bring them
to see that there is but one thing that is needful, that great
need of Jesus Christ and that feeling sense that without Him
I must perish. Oh, we do pray that Thy eternal
love may be revealed unto them in Jesus Christ to redeem and
deliver them from sin and Satan's power. For Thou has made a new
and living way into the holy place. And we do thank Thee,
Lord, that that is so. We pray that Thou would graciously
Hearken, O Lord, and guide them in all the matters of providence,
whatever it may be, whether it's in their education or employment.
There may be those crooked things in those rough places. May they
be enabled, O Lord, to bring all matters to Thee. And Lord,
do graciously help them to do that which is right in Thy sight.
and that help us each, Lord, to do good unto all men, especially
unto the household of faith, that we might live to him that
died, be surrendered to the crucified one. We read of our Lord Jesus
Christ, how he went about doing good. We pray that we may have
that same spirit, that same love. We do humbly pray thee. We seek,
most gracious Lord, that thou would remember all in the midst
of the journey of life and knowest their concerns, especially parents
as they bring up their children, may they be enabled to bring
them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And graciously bless the families
as they gather for worship in the home, the reading of the
word and prayer to be made. And O Lord, we do pray that thou
in thy great mercy wouldst graciously remember those of us that are
in the evening time of life's journey. And that we pray to
be delivered from the temptations of Satan, each one of us. For
Lord, he goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We've read of him in thy word,
how he cast out water like a flood to drown the woman. Oh Lord,
we do cry to be delivered from Satan's temptations. We think
of that wonderful promise, when the enemy comes in like a flood,
the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. Oh
gracious God, deliver us from temptation. Whether it's as an
angel of light or whether it's as a roaring lion, we cannot
stand against the wiles of the wicked one. Oh gracious God. We think of thee here upon earth,
Lord Jesus, under the temptations of Satan. And he had nothing
in thee. But Lord, he has so much in us.
A wicked heart of sinful nature. An evil heart of unbelief. All
these things dwell in us. And Satan has much to work on
within us. Oh, do graciously deliver us
from his power. Deliver us from temptation, for
Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. We pray, most
gracious Lord, to make us more spiritually minded, our heart
and our affections set upon things above. We pray for our dear aged
sister, Ina, that Thou wouldst be with her and undertake for
her. Lord, hear us, we humbly pray
Thee for Thy great name's sake. And, O Lord God, we do pray that
Thou, in Thy precious mercy, would remember this village,
that Thou would remember the prodigals, that Thou would make
bare Thine holy arm in the Gospel, cause those prodigals to return,
work mightily in the village and the surrounded area, bring
our sons from far and our daughters from the ends of the earth Arise,
arise, O God of grace, into thy rest descend. Thou and the ark
of thy strength let thy priest be clothed with salvation. Thy
saints shall shout aloud for joy, Lord abundantly bless the
provision of thy house and satisfy her poor with bread. O Lord,
we do beseech of thee. Grant a building up, grant a
reviving, grant a renewing, grant a replenishing, And when thou
dost bring these precious souls in, that perhaps have never worshipped
in a house of prayer before, that we may be given the grace
and the love and the wisdom to receive them, we do humbly beseech
them. Lord Zion is minister and broughtler,
and the boar out of the wood doth waste her. Few come to her
solemn feast. But O Lord of hosts, O God of
Israel, O thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine
forth we do humbly beseech they turn again our captivity as the
streams in the sound lord remember our brethren the deacons give
them needed grace wisdom and help in all their responsibilities
both here and elsewhere and undertake for them we do beseech them and
we pray most gracious lord for truly thankful hearts Thankful
we are for thy tender mercies. We look back over the past year
and, Lord, we are thankful for thy wonderful mercies, thy loving
kindnesses, thy great goodness. And, O Lord God, we are thankful
for the wonderful and precious glories of Jesus Christ, that
he is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.
Oh, we thank Thee for what He has done in delivering us from
sin and Satan's power, in destroying the works of the devil, and what
He has promised to do. Oh, do hear us, Lord. We humbly
pray Thee and have mercy upon us, we beseech Thee. Help us
to cleave to Thee, help us to look to Thee, help us to follow
hard after Thee. We thank Thee, O Lord, for our
little house of prayer. We thank thee for the open Bible,
liberties that we still enjoy, and we would indeed return thanks
unto thee for thy tender mercies. May we use these liberties and
the means that thou hast granted to us to the good of our immortal
souls. We do humbly beseech of thee. O Lord, we do pray that thou
would remember the churches We think of our own little group
of churches and pray that the wind of the Spirit may blow among
us, precious souls may be gathered in. And that thou would remember
the charities to which we affiliate and bless them, Lord, and bless
what they endeavor to do in thy great name. And gracious God,
we do pray, keep us close unto the truth as it is in Jesus. Keep us close unto thy holy word,
we do humbly pray thee, and deliver us from straying aside, away
from thy holy word and thy divine directions. Remember the editors
of our magazines, remember the secretaries of our societies,
remember the committees as they gather. Remember thy people throughout
this land, where thy people gather, where thy servants stand. All
that thou wilt remember them for good, that thou wouldst bless
thy people everywhere, that thou wouldst return unto Jerusalem
with mercies. O Lord God, we do pray that thou
wouldst now be with us as we turn to thy holy word, and come
and open thy word to our heart and to our understanding. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar. Come and forgive all our
many sins, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1055 to the tune, Lord, 677. Come, you souls by sin afflicted, bowed with fruitless sorrow down,
by the broken law convicted, through the cross behold the
crown. Look to Jesus, mercy flows through him alone. Hymn 1055,
tune Lord 677. the the the you Praise to Jesus, praise to Jesus,
praise to the Savior. ? And to him be all the glory ?
? Christ is risen today ? ? And to him be all the glory ? ? Christ
is risen today ? Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. God shed on thee a glorious crown,
and shield thee, as we in this world praise thee. Which the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, And in Him our life enjoys. Wishful lovers, wishful lovers,
when they come their happy home. ? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? ? O'er the land of the free and the home
of the brave ? When can we take our winter's
day? How did our summer pass then? I would again direct your attention
to the book of the Revelation chapter 1, reading verse 1 for
our text. Revelation chapter 1, reading
verse 1. The revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which
must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it
by his angel unto his servant John. We notice on the Lord's
Day how vital is the revelation of Jesus Christ. How central
it is to the experience of every true child of God. Every person that is born again
of the Spirit, they desire a revelation of Jesus
Christ. They desire Him to be revealed
unto them. They understand in some little
measure that the language of the hymn writer, give me Christ
or else I die. The revelation of Jesus Christ,
a person that is under the law under the divine teaching of
the Spirit and brought to feel their emptiness, their poverty,
their sinfulness, their need of salvation, of redemption.
Such souls long for a revelation of Jesus Christ, that they understand
the language of the dear Apostle and bear in mind he'd been in
the way many years. When he said that I may know
him, Who? Jesus Christ. That I may know
him in the power. That's the vital thing. It's
not just to read about Jesus Christ and to know about Jesus
Christ, but you want to know the power of his love. The Apostle,
he says, the love of Christ constrains us. And when that does, there's
a revelation of Christ. You see a beauty in his person.
You see a fullness in Him. You see a loveliness in Him.
You see a glory in Him. Like the Apostle himself says,
we beheld His glory. The glory of Christ. The glory
as of the only begotten of the Father. Full of grace and truth. How many of us have come here
tonight and that is indeed the longing of our heart. To have Christ revealed. to see
him, to know him, to serve him, to follow him. It is the desire,
isn't it? The revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave unto him. We noticed on Lord's Day that
this opening verse, it really, it's a stamp on the whole book
of the revelation. that indeed is what it is. It
covers the period of time from the first coming to the second
coming of Christ here in the book of the Revelation. Hence
he says those things which must shortly come to pass before the
end of time. And he sent and signified it
by his angel unto his servant John. John was on the isle of
Patmos for the He was persecuted for the name and witness of Jesus
Christ. And we notice on the Lord's Day
how Christ revealed himself to him, I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending, the first and the last. And he reveals himself in that
way on a number of occasions, right the way through the book
of the Revelation. I do not believe it's proper to look at the book
of the Revelation in a what you might say it's written in an
order so that we know where we are in certain places in these
last days it's not written like that but we have a revelation
of Christ coming to judge the world we have a revelation of
the things that will take place here on the earth and it keeps going back So you
read through one chapter and then in the next chapter go back
to something else and then you read through another chapter
and again it will speak of the judgment and the last days. It's
not in chronological order. It's a revelation of the things
that will happen in these last days. It is indeed. And what I wanted to carry on
here tonight, we spoke of various places on the Lord's day in the
morning and the afternoon of the things that come to pass
in these last days and the revelation of Christ in these last days
and my mind when I was considering these things today it went very
much to like the seven seals in the book that was in the right
hand of him that sat upon the throne in chapter five we looked
at it on Sunday And we notice there, there was a revelation
of Christ, the Lamb in the midst of the throne. But in the chapter
11, we have another revelation of Christ. He said, there was
given me a reed, like unto a rod, and the angel stood saying, rise
and measure the temple of God and the altar and then that worship
therein. and then it goes on in verse
3 and he says and I will give power unto my two witnesses that
they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days
clothed in sackcloth now we're not to take these numbers as
being literally so many days it's like it speaks in chapter
20 of a thousand years really but those thousand years are
the period of time covered from the first coming to the second
coming of Christ. We're already over two thousand
years so you can see what it means is a very long period of
time. Indeed the apostle Peter in his
second epistle he says unto God that a thousand years are but
as a day and a day as a thousand years. Time doesn't mean anything
to God. He lives in eternity, he doesn't
live in time. We read in Isaiah, thus saith
the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. He inhabits eternity. He doesn't
inhabit time. He created time here upon earth. And the time is controlled by
him. And what controls time is the
world, orbiting the sun. The world itself orbiting and
that controls the seasons of the year. The moon is another
thing that controls the seasons of the year. These things were created by
God. But here in the book of the Revelation,
and he says, and time shall be no more. That's the end of time. And that's the end of this world,
when time shall be no more. And it's all in the hand of God.
Christ said in his teachings, when he was speaking of his second
coming, no man knoweth the day nor the hour, when that shall
happen. How many people, some good people,
have prophesied of exactly when the end of the world could be,
and they've all been proved completely wrong. Christ in his teachings
says to us, it's a foolish thing to do that. No one knows it. We think we do. The godly Puritans,
they had to suffer much persecution in the 1600s from the powers
that be. And many of them write that the
end was near. The days were so wicked that
the end was near. The second coming of Christ was
coming. Here we are. We're 400 years
further on. You see, my beloved friends,
It's a foolish thing to try to do what Christ said, no man knows
the day nor the hour when Christ will come again. But here in
this chapter 11, these two witnesses, it says in verse 4, these are
the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before
the God of the earth. And if you look into Zachariah,
we read in Zachariah of the two olive trees that stand beside
the Lord of the whole earth and the oil flowing from those two
olive trees into those golden pipes, into the lamp, the candles
that burn here upon earth which is his church. Now I have always
very firmly felt that those two olive trees represent Christ and the Holy Ghost. They
stand beside the Lord of the whole earth, the Father. And
grace flows through from God into his church, the oil of grace
from those two. Now, I have no reason whatsoever
to change that interpretation as I look here in the revelation. These are the two olive trees
and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the whole earth.
So it's Christ and the Holy Ghost. If any man will hurt them, this
is during the days of gospel preaching, fire proceeded out
of their mouth and devoured their enemies. And that these have
power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their
prophecy. This is in the preaching of the gospel. We noticed on
Sunday in chapter six, that one of the prime things, the very
first First thing that is revealed in these gospel days, he, that
is Christ, sits upon a white horse and he goes forth conquering
and to conquer. And that is in the hearts of
his people, his chosen people. He will send his gospel through
every nation, every kindred, every tongue, every tribe, and
every people. But when, it says here in verse seven,
and when they shall have finished their testimony, comes a time
when their testimony is finished. The beast that ascendeth out
of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome
them and kill them. Now that doesn't mean that Christ
has been killed and the Holy Spirit has been killed. What
it means is in this prophetic language is that work is done
and Satan then loosed for a season. If you look into chapter 20 it
speaks there of the thousand years and I saw an angel come
down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand and he laid hold on the dragon that old serpent
which is the devil and satan and bowed him a thousand years.
Again I say this is the days of the gospel and it's the gospel
that binds satan as the lord the holy ghost pours his power
upon his servants and they go forth to preach the everlasting
gospel and they're as terrible as an army with banners that's
what we read in the word of God and it says here and cast him
that is the devil into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a
seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till
the thousand years should be fulfilled and It's during these
thousand years, not literal thousand years, but this long period of
time, that the gospel is preached.
And Satan is bound by the preaching of the gospel. And it says here
in verse five, the rest of the dead live not again until the
thousand years are finished. This is the first resurrection.
The first resurrection is the new birth. that is what happens
during those thousand years precious souls are being born again of
the spirit souls that were chosen by the father redeemed by the
son they're sanctified by the holy ghost then it says here
in verse 6 of chapter 20 blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no
power but they shall be priests of god and of christ and shall
reign with them a thousand years And when the, this is the point
I want to bring to you, and when the thousand years are expired,
Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And if I'm not deceived, it appears
to me that we're in that day when Satan, if you look back
over the past several hundred years and the gospel has spread
throughout all the earth. And the churches have been blessed
all the earth. And now there's a great withholding.
Even generally in society, the spirit of Antichrist is so prevalent. Wickedness and even immorality
and unrighteousness abound on every hand. Why? Because Satan
is loose for a little season. Just what it says here. And when
the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations that are
in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them
together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the
sea. And they went up on the breadth
of the earth and encompassed the camp of the saints about.
And the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven.
See the company of the saints, the church of God, it will be
encompassed by enemies, quite literally, and their desire to
destroy them. But then we see that Christ comes. When they encompass the camp
of the Saints of Bel, Christ comes to gather them. He gathers
them to battle and then they went up on the breadth of the
earth and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophets
are and shall be tormented day and night forever. And so this
is what I mean when you go from chapter to chapter you're given
a revelation of Christ, a revelation of the period of time and here
as we're looking at chapter 11 it says there, and when they've
finished their testimony the beast that ascendeth out of the
bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome
them. And this time when the saints
are overcome Christ speaks of it, it'll be a time of troubles
such as have never been on the earth before nor ever will be
thereafter. They'll be gathered together
against the Lord's people in great power and their dead bodies, that's the
two witnesses, see the world will think that Christ is finished.
God is finished, that's what they'll be saying. And they that
dwell on the earth shall rejoice over them, verse 10, and make
merry and send gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented
them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and a half,
now again, it's an indeterminate time. It doesn't mean literally
three and a half days. The spirit of life from God entered
into them. And they stood upon their feet,
and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard
a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up hither. And
they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld
them. The same hour was there a great
earthquake. This is the end of the world.
The tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain
men 7,000, an indeterminate number, but a vast amount of people and
the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven.
The second woe is past. And then we have here the seventh.
Now the seventh is the final one. In verse 15, the seventh
angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying,
may this gain is a revelation of Christ. the kingdom of this
world I'll become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ
and he shall reign forever and ever. This is the great message
of the book of the Revelation that Christ always is victorious. His enemies may appear to have
completely destroyed truth on the earth but they haven't. That's
exactly what the devil thought when Christ was crucified. when
his dead body was taken from the tree. But that was his victory. The devil thought it. He was
victorious, but he wasn't. Why? Because that glorious Christ,
he rose from the dead. He justified all his people.
He brought life in immortality to life through the gospel. And
at the end of time, when the spirit of God is quieted here
upon earth, and they will think that that's all gone. The Christian
faith is no more. then he will come again in power
and in great glory and here he says the kingdoms of this world
are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he
shall reign forever and ever and the four and twenty elders
we explained that they are the 12 apostles of the lamb and the
12 tribes of the children of israel the old and new testament
church which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their
faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God
Almighty, which art and wast and art to come, because thou
hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. When Christ was crucified, he
was crucified to die for the sins of his people, but then
he rose again to justify his people to deliver them from all
sin and Satan's power, and to swallow up death in victory.
What the devil thought was a victory was in actual fact the victory
of Christ over his enemies. And the nations were angry, and
thy wrath is calm, and the time of the dead that should be judged,
that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants, the prophets,
and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great,
And should it destroy them, that destroy the earth. A solemn thought
isn't to destroy them, that destroy the earth. Now we read together
in the 12th chapter, I felt particularly led to read the 12th chapter
of the Revelation. Again, it's a revelation of Jesus
Christ, the same as we have in our text. 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 12 stars, that's the Old Testament
church. And she being with child. What
was this being in child? To the bring forth the Christ
of God, the seed of the woman, that's what it's speaking of.
And to Abraham, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed. Where was that in Christ? To David, there shall
not fail thee, a king to sit upon thy throne forever. Where
was that? It's Christ. And she, being with child, cried,
travailing in birth, paying to be delivered. This is the coming
forth of Christ. When the Son of God became flesh,
it says here, and there appeared another wonder in heaven. This
is the devil, that old serpent, the devil. And behold, a great
red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns
upon his head. He drew the third part of the
stars of heaven. I believe the stars of Avenir
represent angels because the ministers in the New Testament
they're called the angels of the churches and the word angel
means a messenger from heaven and when it says here his tale
that is the devil's tale he drew a third part of those angels
that fell and he cast them down to the earth and the dragon stood
before the woman which was ready to be delivered. You think of
Herod, how that he sought diligently through the wise men of where
this child was to be born. For devour her child as soon
as it was born. And she brought forth a man child,
that's Christ. This is the revelation of Christ,
who was to rule all nations with the rod of iron. And her child
was caught up unto God to his throne, Christ was. He lived
here upon earth as a man. He fulfilled and honored and
magnified God's holy righteous law on the behalf of his people. He brought in everlasting righteousness
for his people. He then offered that holy, pure
and spotless sacrifice on the cross of Calvary to redeem his
people from sin and Satan's power. And it says here the woman, this
is the New Testament church now, And the woman fled into the wilderness
where she hath a place prepared of God. And they should feed
her there a thousand two hundred and three score days. And then
it gives us an insight. There was war in heaven. Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon. And this is in heaven
itself. And the dragon fought and his
angels and prevailed not. What a wonderful mercy, isn't
it? They prevailed not. Nor there was a place found anymore
in heaven. And the great dragon, that Satan,
was cast out. That old serpent called the devil
and Satan. What a wonderful revelation we
have here of Christ and what he's done. He was cast out. Satan, which deceiveth 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, 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. What a revelation we have here
of Christ. And they overcame him, this is
the church, by faith in Christ, and they overcame him by the
blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and
they loved not their lives unto death. Therefore rejoice, ye
heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe unto 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. He's a defeated foe. And when
the dragon saw that he was cast onto the earth, he persecuted
the woman. This is the church of God, which
brought forth the man-child. But you see the Lord delivered
them. It makes us think of that word
in Isaiah, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of
the Lord will lift up a standard against him. Look at here in
verse 15, and the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood
after the woman, 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 now this is where we are
and the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war
with the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of
God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The point my beloved
friends that being made they overcame him. We have to pass
through these some to a greater degree than others the temptations
of satan The thing is, my beloved friend, Satan has so much to
work on in our fallen nature. If he caused Eve and Adam to
fall and they were in a state of innocency, how much more us? We're in a state, a fallen state
of condition with the old man of sin which has come up. The
devil has so much to work on within us. But the only way that
you and I will ever overcome is by faith in Jesus Christ and
they overcame him. by the blood of the Lamb. That
precious blood of Christ applied into the soul with the divine
power of the Spirit. It overcomes the wicked one.
It overcomes the old man. It does. And they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
And they loved not their lives unto death. What a mercy, my
beloved friends, if we indeed have that testimony Now I want
to move on here to chapter 14. And we read of the victory through
the Lamb, through Christ. And then after that, we read
of Christ coming to judge the world in righteousness. Again,
it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. I looked and lo, a Lamb
stood on the Mount Zion. and with him a hundred and forty
and four thousand having his father's name written in their
foreheads and I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many
waters and as the voice of great thunder and I heard the voice
of harpers harping with their hearts and they sung as it were
a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and
the elders and no man could learn that song but the hundred and
forty and four thousand who they exactly represent. We can't be absolutely sure,
but we do know that the Lord's people are drawn from throughout
the whole earth. Look at verse four here in chapter
14. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their
mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before
the throne of God. And then I saw another angel
fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach
unto them that dwell on the earth. And to every nation and kindred
and tongue and people is to be preached throughout all the earth,
saying with a loud voice, this is a wonderful revelation of
Christ in the gospel, saying with a loud voice, fear God and
give glory to him for the hour of the judgment his judgment
is come and worship him that made heaven and earth and the
sea and the fountains of waters. You see this revelation and it
speaks then of the wrath of God against the wicked and the smoke
of their torment and then if we pass on through to verse 14
it speaks of Christ coming to judgment And I looked, and behold,
a white cloud. And upon the cloud one sat like
unto the Son of Man. I think there are 72 occasions
in Holy Scripture, most of them in the New Testament, where Christ
is referred to as the Son of Man. It highlights that the Son
of God became the Son of Man. He assumed human nature. He became
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. And I looked, and
behold, a white cloud. And upon the cloud sat one like
unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and
in his hand a sharp sickle. He was coming to reap a harvest.
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud
voice to him that sat on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and
reaped. This is the reaping of the church
of God, because it's a wheat harvest. the time has come for
thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe there comes
to that time when the end of the world will come he that sat
on the cloud thrusting his sickle on the earth and the earth was
reaped and another angel came out of
the temple which is in heaven he also having a sharp sickle
and another angel came out from the altar which had power over
fire and cried a loud cry to him that sat on had the sharp
sickle thrust in thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the
vine of the earth for her grapes are fully ripe. Notice the difference
you have the wheat harvest of the church you have the grape
harvest what are called the grapes of wrath the grape harvest of
the wicked and the angel thrusting his sickle into the earth and
gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress
of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden
without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto
the horse bridle, by the space of a thousand and six hundred
furlongs. You see, these are revelations
of Jesus Christ, of the glory of his person, In the 15th chapter it says,
and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song
of the Lamb, saying, great and marvellous are thy works, Lord
God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints,
who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name, for thou
art, thou only art holy. all nations shall come and worship
before thee, for thy judgments are manifest. You see these revelations
that we're given. In the 16th chapter we're given
a revelation of the angels, the first angel, the second angel
right through down to the seventh angel. And these angels then
are sent upon the earth by God. And they're all different things
that happened under these angels. And it says here, verse 13, And
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of
the dragon. This is in these last days. And out of the mouth
of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they
are the spirits of devils working miracles which go forth under
the kings of the earth. and of the whole world to gather
them to the battle of that great day of Almighty God. They think
that they are gathering themselves to that great day. But God is
gathering to that great day. And he's gathering there that
it says they will encompass the camp of the saints about. He
gathers them there to destroy them. They think they're going
to be victorious over the church. over those that love our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth. Says here in verse 15, Behold
I come as a thief, blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth
his garments, lest he walk naked. And they see their shame, his
shame, and he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew
tongue Armageddon. Now when that happens, and the
seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, there came
a great voice after the temple of heaven from the throne saying
it is done and there were voices and thunders and lightnings and
there was a great earthquake such as was not since men were
upon the earth so mighty an earthquake and so great this is the end
of the world and the great city was divided into three parts
you see these things are revealed unto us it's the end of time and then will be accomplished
what it says here in the book of the revelation and time shall
be no longer that's when the seventh angel sounds and time
shall be no longer and just briefly to look at chapter 17 and it
speaks of the 10 horns we don't have time to go right the way
through There isn't obviously an interpretation on them. These,
verse 13, these have one mind and shall give their power and
strength unto the beast. This is the end of time, the
last great kingdom on earth. These shall make war with the
lamb and the lamb shall overcome them. This is the message being
sent to the church of God. These shall make war with the
lamb and the lamb shall overcome them. For he is Lord of lords
and King of kings. It's a revelation of Jesus Christ. And they that are with him are
called and chosen and faithful. You see, these make war with
the Lamb. It says in verse 17, for God
has put in their hearts to fulfill his will and to agree and give
their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God shall
be fulfilled. You see, God is over all, Jesus
reigns over all. This is the fundamental message.
It's a revelation of Jesus Christ, that he is King of Kings and
Lord of Lords. We looked on Lord's Day at chapter
19, so we'll pass over that. We looked also at chapter 20,
and I would like just to come to these chapters 21 and 22. Again, the beautiful revelation
of Christ. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away. All these things shall be dissolved. The first heaven
and the first earth have passed away. And there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adored for her husband. heard a great voice out of heaven
saying behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will
dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself
shall be with them and be their God and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither
sorrow nor crying neither shall be there any more pain for the
former things are passed away. And he says here in verse six
and he said unto me it is done I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I'll give unto him that is a
thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. You see, the revelation that
is given to us of the saint's eternal victory, the destruction
of the wicked, and the eternal safety of the church. Look at
chapter 22, and he showed me a pure river of water of life,
clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and
of the Lamb. That's such a beautiful revelation of the Trinity. Proceeding
out of the throne of God, that's the Father and of the Lamb. The
river is the Holy Ghost. What a beautiful revelation that
is. in the midst of the street of it which is the new Jerusalem
and on either side of the river was there the tree of life which
were twelve manna of fruits and yielded a fruit every month and
the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations and
there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of
the lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him and
they shall see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads,
and there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither
light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and there
shall reign forever and ever. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 19. The tune is Lydia, 177. I'll
read the first two verses. We'll commence singing at verse
three. Behold the glories of the Lamb amidst his father's
throne. Prepare new honors for his name
and songs before unknown. The elders worship at his feet,
The church adore around, with vials full of odour sweet, and
harps of sweeter sound. In number 19, commence singing
at verse 3, tune Lydia, 177. ? His holy praise ? ? All blessings ? Jesus, Jesus Christ, you are
our confessor. Sing a tune of praise. Give a song to everyone. It shall come, it shall come,
into thy secret tomb. We hope that some shall take
that oath and open every seal and open every seal. He shall proclaim, how great
Thee be. God shall preserve, as it were, When he turns a sobering gleam,
Of heav'n and earth, of heav'n and earth, Now to the earth a bunch of shade
In a great blessing they shall Nation, glory, joy be thee, forever,
all thy people, ever. ? How much we deeply ? ? How so
dreadfully proud ? ? How strength the spiritual three ? Take us, kings and priests, to
God, and we shall reign with Thee, and we shall reign with
Thee. Lord, what a great torment of
grace! How could it be, my Lord, Make
sure to place me in a place that brings a promise fairer Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and forevermore. Amen.