Well, we've had a break of two
weeks, one of them intentional, the other one not so intentional,
but it's good to be back with you. And I want you to turn back
to Revelation chapter 13. We looked at the first few verses
of it, up to about verse 9, the last time we met. But I want
to come back and look at the rest of the chapter. Revelation
13 paints a terrible picture of this world as the kingdom
of Antichrist, Satan's kingdom. All that hates God is in that
kingdom. Satan hated God, his righteousness. Satan hated his righteousness,
and his Christ, and his gospel of redeeming grace. All of this
is anathema to Satan, he hated it. That's the kingdom of Satan. Revelation 13 pictures for us
the culmination of the hatred of Satan for God's kingdom intention. What was God's kingdom intention
from the beginning? It was that people, human beings,
should populate the paradise of God. I believe that that is
above all else what Satan hated and had to oppose. And Satan,
that's what led to the fall. These people, rising up to be
joint heirs with the Son of God, and reign supreme and judge,
no, no, no, Satan thinks I can't have that. And so he ferments
the fall in the Garden of Eden, and he deceives Eve. And for love of his wife, Adam
was not deceived, but he ate the fruit and plunged his progeny,
the whole of the human race, you and me, into that state of
sin and separation from God. You see, Satan couldn't stand
the fact that these people, there was a multitude that God had
loved who were joint heirs with Christ, and they were going to
take precedence over him. And so, He has aims, and his
aims are to build a world kingdom of peace and happiness, a utopia,
without respect, without honour for the righteousness and justice
of God. That's Satan's plan. He wants
a peaceful, happy world, but without the righteousness and
justice of God, which In God's creation, it is God who has made
all things. It is God who has given all life.
And God is holy. And God is of purer eyes than
to behold iniquity. And God is above all. And therefore,
this kingdom of Satan cannot be allowed to succeed, because
it's without respect to the righteousness and justice of God. And you see
that, that however much the aims for a peaceful utopia are, the
outworking of it because of sin is always evil and corrupt. And
so God reveals in his word his seven-sealed plan to disrupt. And there's only one who is worthy
to unloose those seals and implement them, and that's the Lamb of
God. That's the Lion of the tribe of Judah, a Lamb who has been
slain. It is God who is manifested in
the person of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb
of God, said John the Baptist. It's only He who is able, because
only He is able to satisfy the requirement for God's kingdom,
that those sinners that were loved with an everlasting love,
the multitude that no man can number, would be justified, would
be made meat to be inheritors of that kingdom of God. And how
would they be made meat? by the blood of the Lamb. How
did they overcome the opposition of Satan? By the blood of the
Lamb. Read it, it's there plainly again
and again in this book of Revelation. And so God's plan with this seven-sealed
book is to frustrate and finally destroy Satan's kingdom. Now,
in Daniel chapter 7, which we've referred to often, there you
see the Old Testament empires portrayed as beasts, lion, like
a lion, like a leopard, like a bear, fierce beasts, but they're
always individual, and they're always trying to achieve Satan's
global unity, but they keep failing, they keep failing. But then in
chapter 13, as we saw last time, I stood upon the sand of the
sea and saw a beast, a beast, a single beast, rise up out of
the sea having seven heads and ten horns. And the beast, verse
2, the beast I saw was like unto a leopard. His feet were like
a bear. His mouth was the mouth of a
lion. And the dragon gave him his power. The devil gave him
his power. This is one beast. with the characteristics of all
of those that we saw in the Old Testament empires, seeking worldwide
unity for the purposes of Satan, but now it is one beast, one
kingdom, arising. Where does he come from? The
sea, not the literal sea. No, no. The sea of sinful humanity. That's where this beast, this
worldwide empire arises from. It arises from the sea of sinful
humanity. And it's powerful. And it's blaspheming. Speaking against the truth of
God. It's blaspheming. And it's worshipped. You read it there in those first
few verses of chapter 13. It's worshipped by the majority
of people. But look at verse 8. All that
dwell upon the earth shall worship Him, whose names are not written
in the Book of Life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of
the world. You see, in the eternal purposes of God, there is a Book
of Life. A Book of Life with names in
it. How many? an innumerable multitude of names.
Where from? Which race? Every tribe and tongue
and kindred we read elsewhere in this book. They're written
in that book because they're the ones whose sin debt to the
law of God, whose curse under that law is redeemed by Christ
himself coming as their substitute in their place, and dying for
them, and paying their debt to the law of God, to justify them
from the curse of the law, to make them the righteousness of
God in Him, and thereby to qualify them for eternity, for the heaven
of God. Those ones do not worship Him.
Those and those alone do not worship Him. Everybody else worships
this beast, this satanic beast, which is the world empire arising
out of the sea of sinful humanity. But those whose names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life, those who are loved with an everlasting
love from before the foundation of the world when they were chosen
in Christ, chosen in Him, they do not worship Him because they
are sealed by God. They are not marked with this
beast, they're sealed by God. But this one beast, in the first
half of chapter 13, is not the complete Antichrist. Antichrist
is exactly what its name suggests, that which is against the Christ
of God. It's anti-Christ. And it's Satan's
Antichrist, for Satan, above all, is against the Christ of
God. No, this one beast is not enough
to complete Satan's Antichrist. It needs another beast. And he
arises in verse 11. Now look there in verse 11. And
I beheld. John's perspective is an earthly
perspective in chapter 13. He stands on the sand of the
sea. And now he's looking, and I beheld another beast coming
up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb,
and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power
of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them
which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly
wound was healed. This anti-kingdom of God, of
Satan, for it to triumph, it needs the universal support,
virtually, of mankind. That's what it needs. For it
to triumph, in Satan's plan for it to triumph, there can be no
dissent amongst mankind, amongst fallen sinful mankind. There
can be no dissent. You know, your sin doesn't matter.
We're all going to build this utopia together. And Satan can
tolerate no dissent from that idea that everybody must support
this kingdom. So he produces a worldwide empire
of enthusiastic godlessness. Am I stretching imagination?
He produces a worldwide empire of enthusiastic godlessness.
Just go for a walk within a mile or two of where you live, and
a bit further afield, and look at the news, and look at the
media, and all the rest of it. a worldwide empire of enthusiastic
godlessness. That's what surrounds us, everywhere,
throughout this world, in different manifestations. That's what we
see today. But the empire, on its own, needs
help to achieve that position. It doesn't achieve it by itself,
just by being. Do you remember somebody once
said, I forget who it was, somebody might tell me later, probably
some attribute it to Marie Antoinette or something like that, but it
needs bread and circuses. Do you know, how are you going
to keep a potentially rebellious population content and not rebellious? Give them bread so they're not
hungry and give them circuses so that they're entertained.
It needs bread and circuses to make the people of this world
supportive, to whip up support, to make them enthusiastic. And
the second beast, this other beast that comes up out of the
earth, with two horns like a lamb, speaking as a dragon, he produces
the things that the first beast needs for people to enthusiastically
support him. He comes from the stable earth,
not from the tempestuous sea. He's more stable, is this one.
And look, he's like a lamb. Gosh, that doesn't sound threatening,
does it? Have you ever seen lambs frolicking in the field in spring,
just born? I mean, they look like the most
harmless bundles of fluff ever, don't they? And wolves and dogs
and things that think they can attack them find them the easiest
of prey. He looks like a lamb. He doesn't
look like he'll hurt anybody. He comes up out of the earth
and he has two horns, so he has some power. And he speaks as
a dragon. He has the speech of Satan, the
one who is his lord, the one to whom he owes allegiance. What
is his purpose? Verse 12, look what he does.
He exercises all the power of the first beast before him and
causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the
first beast. That's what he does. He makes
people in their masses, in their hordes, all except those in verse
8, whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, they
all worship that first beat. This is what we need, this worldwide
kingdom, this power. Which one are we talking about?
The one whose deadly wound was healed. When was the deadly wound
healed? Well, when was the deadly wound
inflicted? Tower of Babel, Genesis 11. The Tower of Babel, the confounding
of the languages. That first beast arose then,
a worldwide empire, all of one language, all united together
in opposition to God, and God came down and confounded the
languages. And that was the deadly wound. His plan then was scuppered. It was utterly frustrated because
the peoples couldn't understand each other. The languages of
the world were mutually incomprehensible. His deadly wound though, later
was healed. I saw a beast and the deadly
wound, the deadly wound particularly was the confounding of the languages.
You look at it today. How much? Translation of incomprehensible
languages is so little of a problem. Even people that haven't studied
can hold up their mobile phone with a suitable translation app.
I saw a report from somewhere the other day where the reporter
said, I used my phone to do the translating for me and had a
conversation. It's happening. It's happening. His deadly wound
was healed. Here it is. a restoration of
that attempted kingdom of Babel in Genesis 11. And he doeth great
wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the
earth in the sight of men, and deceives them that dwell on the
earth by the means of those miracles. He performs miracles, and he
has the power to do them in the sight of the beast. And it's
all for the purpose of making men and women worship that first
beast, that worldwide empire, that worldwide empire in contradiction
to the kingdom of God. So great wonders, miracles of
technology, phenomenal power in the hands of men is what we
read about. In verse 14, using miracles to
authenticate his lie, because it is a lie. He speaks as a dragon,
and what was the dragon speaking? Blasphemies. That was the name
on the head of the first beast out of the sea in verse 1, the
name of blasphemy. He spoke blasphemy, he spoke
lies about the truth of God, saying to them, that dwell on
the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, the first
beast. They should make an image, they
should make an icon that they should worship. They should make
an image to him, to that beast which had the wound by a sword
and did live, and force that all should worship that beast,
and that any that didn't worship that beast would be killed. to
pronounce death on any that would not worship it. How does the
imagery manifest itself in our day today? There's growing pressure
all around us for a global kingdom. as the solution to all of man's
problems. That's the pressure. You see
it all around us. It's so that you know the truth of what is
written here, and therefore, other conclusions that we draw
from here, you know this is the Word of God and the truth of
God. Because exactly as God said it would happen via John the
Apostle, 1900 and odd years ago, are coming to pass before our
very eyes today. Pressure for a global kingdom
as the solution for all of man's problems. And it's supported,
this idea is supported and encouraged by technical wonders. You see,
people wouldn't be persuaded if there wasn't the technical
wizardry all around us. Look at it. Think of what's happened. You can think of it in terms
of my lifetime, particularly. I know flight in aeroplanes was
becoming more common around the time that I was born. The Second
World War had largely been fought with aircraft maneuvering in
the skies. But it's a relatively recent
thing. Certainly, the idea of mass worldwide travel in aeroplanes
is a relatively new thing. People didn't go abroad for holidays
50 years or more ago, very few did. It's a modern day phenomenon,
is worldwide travel and global communications. I was reading
somebody commenting on this, and he was saying, we're not
there yet, but I can see the day come when you will be able
to speak face-to-face with people on the other side of the planet.
And honestly, when my generation were children, you would have
said, don't be ridiculous, how on earth can this happen? And,
was it four years ago, we went to Australia and were able to
speak just like we're looking into one another's faces with
people 10,000 miles away from us. Because it's taken for granted
now, isn't it? And instant translation, I've
already mentioned, of confounded languages. And we have these,
these sort of phenomena where People talk about the science. In other words, there's only
one. There's no debate. You can't go and raise any objections
to it. The science. This is what you are meant to
believe. The World Health Organization will tell us all how to keep
well. The World Economic Forum will
manage all of our money and where and what we're allowed to spend
and what we're allowed to do. You see, it's all this globalism.
They think, they alone, So the script goes, have the answers
to global well-being, to your well-being and mine, so come
on people, worship this image. They set up the rules for life,
what we now call woke ideas. There is one education system. We're not there yet, but you
sense the general pressure. Children are increasingly raised
and indoctrinated And I use that word deliberately. Raised and
indoctrinated by the state, and taken out of the control of their
parents, which is the God-given way that children are raised.
And ecumenical religious ideas. All of these things. You must
join up to that one thing, and anybody dissenting is treated
very badly, and in extreme cases killed. Look at Daniel chapter
3. In Daniel chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar, who'd had an amazing dream revealed
to him in chapter 2 and had seen a lot of the truth of God, but
very quickly, either at the behest of his advisors, but in verse
1 of chapter 3 of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold.
Ooh, there it is again, image. See, we've seen that. An image
of gold whose height was three score cubits. This is big. And
the breadth six cubits. And he set it up on the plain
of Dura in the province of Babylon. And they said that everybody,
there must be, when the trumpet sounds, when the herald cried,
you must all bow down and show your allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar's
image. How similar this is to what we're
reading in Revelation 13. When you hear, verse five, at
the time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut,
psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up, and whoso
falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into
the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. You see, it allows no
descent. who does not worship shall be
killed. He had the power, verse 15 of
Revelation 13, he had the power, this second beast, this one like
a lamb with horns, to give life unto the image of the beast,
that the image of the beast should both speak and cause, listen,
that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should
be killed. Is that not exactly what we just read in Daniel chapter
3? Everyone must happily support
this idea, upholding the ideas and the technological wizardry
set up by the second beast in support of the first beast. It's
a global unity of thought, of creed, of purpose, of science,
falsely so-called, the scripture says about it. This second beast
is really a prophet, because he speaks. A prophet is one who
speaks on behalf of another. This is a prophet who speaks
on the behalf of the first beast, and therefore speaks for Satan.
He's identified as that later. Look in Revelation chapter 19.
In Revelation 19 and verse 20, this is when the final judgment
is falling. The beast was taken, and with
him the false prophet. The beast is that one in the
first half of chapter 13. And with him the false prophet,
that's the one we're considering in the second half of chapter
13. The one that wrought the miracles before him. and with
which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and them
that worshipped his image. These both were cast into the
lake of fire, and again in chapter 20 and verse 10, and the devil
that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented
day and night forever. This second beast is the false
prophet. He's the false prophet. He speaks
for Satan's kingdom, but he speaks lies because Satan is the father
of lies. That's what Jesus said. God's
word is truth. But Satan and his beasts blaspheme
against the truth of God. They tell the lies of evolution,
science, falsely so called. Why do they do it? To blind people's
minds to the truth of God. They persuade men in their masses,
in their overwhelming masses, not to retain God in their knowledge. You look at all the people you
know around you, yeah? they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge. Where does it say that? Romans
chapter 1 verse 28. The indictment of Paul against
this world. They did not like to retain God
who created them and upholds all things by the word of his
power in their knowledge. And all who conform to this worldwide
empire and these beasts, verse 16, He causeth all, both small
and great and rich and poor. You see, they're all in it, the
whole spectrum of this world. The only ones left out are those
in verse 8, whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Poor,
free and bond, he causes them to receive a mark in their right
hand and in their foreheads. What, you mean they go around
with a great big mark on their hand and a great big stamp on
their foreheads? No. Mark in their right hand is symbolical
of the works that they do. And a mark on their foreheads
is symbolical language for the thoughts that they think. They
think the thoughts of the beasts of Satan's Antichrist. They do
the works of the beast of Satan's Antichrist. This is what they
do. They're identifiable as supporting
Satan's Antichrist's beast. And they alone are permitted
to buy and sell, to trade the necessities of this life. Look,
verse 17, that no man might buy or sell save he that had the
mark, of Satan's beasts, and of the thoughts of Satan's beasts,
the name of the beast or the number of his name." Oh, now,
this is difficult, isn't it? This truly is a dreadful prospect
for God's true people. For those who are not written
in the Lamb's book of life, who most definitely will not worship
this image of the beast that the second beast sets up. Those
in that Lamb's Book of Life, true believers who will not worship,
you don't, you can't, how can you? How can you worship this
falsehood, knowing who God is, and knowing where God is, and
knowing what God has said? How can you do it? You can't.
Those that will not do that, this chapter speaks of an absolutely
terrible time. He said, what a depressing message.
And in a sense, I don't deny that. You know, in a sense, being
a Christian and knowing the truth of God's gospel and His grace
and the true condition of this world is the most amazing, dilemma's
the wrong word, but it's all I can think of at the moment.
Because on the one hand, things are terrible. and there's absolutely
no hope and on the other hand for the believer things are glorious
and there's never been a higher pinnacle of wonderful assured
hope and that's it it's a complete dichotomy that's what i was struggling
for not dilemma dichotomy a separation of the one end to the other and
so it is here for the people of god this world this kingdom
of satan's antichrist with these beasts and everybody en masse
going along with it It's a terrible place to be, because if it isn't
already there, the time is coming when you and I who believe will
struggle to trade in this world. You know there are examples of
that. I was a teacher in state schools back in the 1970s, and
I like to think I was reasonably successful and did a good job
at it. But you know, as a science teacher then, if I, I'm too old
to do it now, but if I was to apply for a job teaching science
as I did then, the way I did then, the way I think that was
successful then, I wouldn't be appointed. Because I do not conform
to the science. I do not conform to that which
this satanic world is dictating that everybody should go along
with enthusiastically. You have to go along with it,
otherwise you can't conform. So you might say, well, what
a dreadful situation. Jesus himself said in Matthew
24 verse 21, for then shall be great tribulation, great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no,
nor ever shall be. The word of God is not pulling
its punches, it's not trying to keep it secret from us. There
are difficult times. The innumerable multitude of
God's saved people in heaven, you read about them in Revelation
7 and verse 14. Who are these? These are they
which came out of great tribulation. Those who are seen in heaven
in Revelation chapter 7, those who are seen in heaven came out
of great tribulation. For those who believe God and
follow Christ, days are coming that will be very hard, almost
intolerable, except they be shortened for the elect's sake. That's
what Matthew 24 verse 22 says. Jesus said the days will be shortened
for the elect's sake. It's as if we're being told,
you know Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress, that we're on the narrow
way that leads to the celestial city, and we're being told that
the narrow way to the celestial city will become more and more
like a horrendous storm at sea that is guaranteed to drown us
before we arrive safe. But wait. But wait, wouldn't
it be terrible if that message was stopped there? I've got 13
minutes or so left, wouldn't it be terrible if it stopped
there? Isn't that a depressing picture? Are you a true believer?
Do you have a hope of heaven? Look, there's an awful situation
to go through, which is this kingdom of Antichrist. But look,
look, verse 18, here is wisdom. Ah, ah, here is wisdom, here
is wisdom. Christ is made unto us wisdom. Christ is made unto us wisdom.
In Christ dwell all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Right,
what's he saying to us? Here is wisdom. Let him that
hath understanding Those are the people to whom God has revealed
the mystery of His saving grace, the mystery of His gospel, the
mystery of His truth that's been hidden from ages. God has revealed
it to His people, to those whose names are written in the Lamb's
Book of Life. Let him that hath understanding, that's them, His
people, count the number of the beast. Now you who believe God,
listen to this. It is the number of a man. The
number of the beast? This terrifying, terrifying prospect,
which no doubt will be very, very powerful, and a lot will
feel the effects, though they will never be destroyed if they're
Christ's people. It's an awesome, fearful thing,
but look, The number of that beast is the number of a man.
For his number is 666. 600, three score, and 666. His number is 666. Here is wisdom,
right? The number of the beast is 666,
it's not 777. It isn't the perfection of God,
the perfection of God, the perfection of God, it's falling short, falling
short, falling short. Satan and his antichrist cannot
overcome God, nor the purposes of God. No matter how much, turn
back to Psalm 2, this is where I want to come back to Psalm
2. In Psalm 2, no matter how much the heathen rage, and this
kingdom of Antichrist is the heathen raging and imagining
a vain thing. What's the vain thing? A utopian,
peaceful kingdom of Satan, where everybody's happy together and
we're all friends, but we don't care anything about the justice
of God. the heathen rage, no matter how
much the heathen rage, and oppose the Lord and His Christ. The
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together
against them. What a foolish thing to take
counsel against the Lord of all, and against His anointed, who
is His Christ, who is the manifestation of God. And they want to cast
off the constraints of God on them, because this is what their
kingdom is based on. We don't want the constraints
of God. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords
from us. This is what this Revelation
13, kingdom of Antichrist, of Satan, is all about. It's having
no thought or submission to the rule of God. And look at God's
response. You say, oh, I'm terrified at
that prospect of Revelation 13. He that has wisdom, look at this. His number is 666. Because he
that sitteth in the heavens, whose number I might say by comparison
is 777, the Lord shall laugh. He shall have them in derision
at their puny efforts. He shall laugh at their pathetic
efforts to exert their authority over God. Then shall he speak
to them in his wrath. They will not escape. God will
judge. God will rule. He will vex them
in his sore displeasure. Now look at verse 6. Yet have
I set my king on my holy hill of Zion. Go back to Revelation.
Go back to Revelation and the end of chapter 13. God says to
you who despair at this kingdom of Satan, here is wisdom. His number's only 666. And so
chapter 14, where's John? He's still on the earth. We haven't
heard that he's gone up to heaven. Whenever he goes up to heaven,
we have an announcement. He's still on earth. He's still
looking from an earthly perspective. And I looked. and low. There's this terrible kingdom
of Satan and of Antichrist, and of his people not being able
to trade in this kingdom of Antichrist. And be in no doubt, that is a
very, very real prospect. He always says he will keep his
people, he does not suffer his children to go begging bread.
I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on Mount Sion, and with him an
hundred forty and four thousand, having his father's name written
on their foreheads. We see them being sealed in chapter
7. These are the people of God. These are the people of God.
I believe this specifically 144,000 speaks of the believing people
of God on earth at any one time. Symbolical number. I wouldn't
be surprised if it turns out to be very close to an actual
number in this world, because there's such a small proportion
in the days in which we live. But nevertheless, it's the people
of God on earth, and they're with Christ on Mount Zion. Oh, they're in this terrible
world where they are prevented increasingly from trading with
this world, but they're with Christ. They're with Christ.
They're one step away from eternal bliss in his kingdom. As Satan
seeks to crush God's redeemed people into conformity with his
world, worshipping his beast image, preventing them from operating
in this world, the Lamb stands serenely with his people on earth. Yet have I set my King upon my
holy hill of Zion. Let me remind you that chapters
1 to 3 of Revelation were a revelation of Christ, the risen, glorified
Christ. And where was he? He was walking
among the seven golden candlesticks, among the churches. They're symbolical
of his churches in the earth. He's with his churches. He said,
behold, I am with you, and I will never leave you nor forsake you. That's what God said to us. Oh,
we can't trade in this evil world of Satan. I am with you. I will
never leave you nor forsake you. When the children of Israel came
out of bondage in Egypt, where were they going to find food?
It was impossible. They couldn't trade with the
Egyptians or the other nations. Where did they find food? God
sent them manna from heaven that kept them going for 40 years
until they arrived safe home. As times get hard, and don't
worry, I'm not saying that now is the only time, for they have
been hard in days gone by. In the days of Bunyan, for example.
He was locked up in Bedford jail for 12 years, because of his
faith, and because of seeking to preach nothing but Christ.
But, as times get hard, As God's judgment fall on Satan's kingdom,
the question is asked at the end of Revelation chapter 6 in
verse 17, who shall be able to stand? Who shall be able to stand?
And then you go into chapter 7 of Revelation, and the first
half of it is the 144,000. they'll be able to stand because
they're sealed with the mark of God. They're his people. And
then you go up from the earthly perspective to heaven. And then
in the second half of chapter seven, he's in heaven. And what
does he see there? Not 144,000. He sees a multitude
that no man can number from every tongue and tribe and kindred.
And where are they? They're safe in heaven. They're
reigning with Christ in the inheritance prepared for them. When we get
to Revelation 9, we read some terrible things again. The woes
of Revelation 9, the plague of locusts, the terrible destruction
on this creation. When those things are sounded,
the mighty angel of God, who is Christ, in Revelation chapter
10 and verses 1 and 2, He's standing with one foot in the sea and
one foot on the land with a little book in his hand. And what does
that say to us? Whatever those woes do, they're
all in the purpose of God. But don't you fear, the one who
is in control of all things, our God, who is Christ. reigns
supreme. He's got one foot in the sea
and one on the land. However compromised from the
truth of God, the religious world becomes. You say, oh, religion's
just, you know, that which calls itself Christian is so confused.
Get to Revelation chapter 11 and the first two verses. Oh,
there you'll see who are the true people of God. It's not
religion in general. It isn't those that call themselves
Christians. No, no, no, no. It's the inner temple. Go and
take a measuring rod and measure the inner temple. But the outer
court and the wider city of Jerusalem, leave it out. Don't measure,
because they're not the true people of God. As we'll see later,
they're Babylon. They're Babylon, the woman in
chapter 17. Though the two witnesses, later in chapter 11, God's two
witnesses, which is his people on earth, they appear to be killed. You know, it all ties up together.
It's all saying the same thing. The two witnesses appear to be
killed. It's so much like that in this
country in which we live now. They appear to be defeated. The
Church of God, the testimony of God seems to have been silenced.
This world which rejects God is rejoicing over it. And then
in Revelation 11, verse 11, after three and a half days, a short
time relatively, symbolical, but three and a half days, God's
Spirit revives them. And they stand on their feet,
and great fear falls upon all, and they're summoned up to heaven,
and they go up to heaven. Remember that God has prepared
a place in this kingdom of Satan. In chapter 12 and verse 6, the
woman fled into the wilderness. This is the key thing, where
she had the place prepared of God, that they should feed her
there, 1,203 score days. And then in verse 14, And to the woman were given two
wings of a great eagle, they're wings of faith, to fly out of
Satan's world to a place prepared by God where she is nourished
for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent.
How is she nourished there and the serpent can't get her? Because
it's out of this world. There is nothing in that place
prepared of God for his people that nourishes the serpent. So
he can't go there, and he can't get her, and so he tries to sweep
her off her feet with that flood from his mouth. But the earth
helps her. In this satanic world, God keeps his people. Keep them
from evil, prayed Christ. He nourishes the church while
she, what does it say in Chapter 12 and verse 17, the dragon was
wroth with the woman, the church of God, and went to make war
with the remnant of her seed. That's you and me in these days
if we believe. People which keep the commandments
of God. What are the commandments of
God? This isn't talking about the ten commandments. specifically
and narrowly. It's talking about the gospel
of God. It's talking about the royal
law of Christ, which keep the testimony of God, the testimony
of Jesus Christ. He keeps his people, those that
keep the commandments and testimony of Jesus Christ. God nourishes
his church in wilderness isolation from this kingdom of Satan. And
God's eternal purposes cannot be thwarted. We know that from
verse 8 of chapter 13. Because God wrote the names of
his people in the Lamb's Book of Life, slain from the foundation
of the world. Can anything erase those names
from that book? Not a bit, not a bit. God will
be honoured. God's purposes will be honoured.
Those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will
be carried through and brought to glory at His appearing. So,
chapter 13, verses 9 and 10. Here is the patience. If any
man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity
shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword
shall be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith
of the saints. Here is the patience and faith
of the saints. Thou wilt keep him, says Isaiah
26 verse 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in
thee. So alarming as the message of Revelation 13 is, and no doubt
difficult days lie ahead, remember, remember, child of God, alarmed
by that, but remember this, Jesus said to his people, Luke 12 verse
32, he said, fear not, little flock, for it is your father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Can anything prevent
the father's good pleasure from coming to pass? Amen.