Author: words and signs

Three Angels

“I saw an angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal Good News to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people. He said with a loud voice, “Fear the Lord, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters!…”

“… I heard the voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow with them.”

Revelation 14:6-7 and 13

These three angles in the vision summarise that three general messages in this book so far.

The first angel has the Good News that there is salvation from God for all who repent from their wicked ways and turn to the Lord. It is the timeless and unchanging message of the gospel and is offered to every kindred, tribe and tongue on the planet. The message is clear. We must fear the Lord and give Him His proper place in our lives and worship. It is the end of all things and judgement is at hand. We must “Flee from the wrath to come.” This is the message of this first angel, which represents the servants of the Lord, the messengers, who proclaim the gospel with authority, power and vehemency. They preach the everlasting message of redeeming grace for all who will believe.

We are to ensure we are worshipping the true God and not some figment of our own making. We worship the one who made the heavens and the earth and to whom all glory belongs. He is the only Saviour and is revealled to us in His Word the Holy Scripture. The end is not yet. But time is running out and judgement is ahead for all who refuse the message of the gospel and the Saviour that it preaches.

“Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Romans 5:1-5

We are not saved through our works or outward form of religion, but only through faith in the shed blood of Christ and we have peace with God only though Him. The Christian perseveres through faith and reaches the heavenly city by walking through this life and bearing its burdens and the rejection of other people, in faith and hope in God alone.

The second angel tells us that the kingdom of this world is over. The great Babylon has fallen to the wrath of God and is bearing the consequences for her infidelity to the LORD. Babylon cannot sustain us or provide for our souls. The consequences of seeking restitution in her are the same fate that she faces- eternal death. This is the eternal outcome for all who do not repent, for they will bear their own iniquity and suffer the consequences of their own sin. the infidelity of the kingdom of Babylon has caused many to stumble and fall away from the faith and into the night of unbelief.

“Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will lead many astray. Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

Matthew 24:10-12

The third angel has a voice of warning to all who worship the Beast of this world and gives themselves into its influence. Anyone who worships him or receives his mark on they forehead or hand, will also drink out of the cup of Gods wrath, which is unmixed wrath and is the full force of God’s just punishment for sin. These people will be tormented forever before the Lamb, who was slain that they might not suffer so. Yet they have deliberately turned away and so they experience eternal punishment forever. There is no rest for them and they spend eternity in stark contrast to the peace of the people of God.

Those who remain faithful and wait patiently for their redemption, remain obedient to the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus will receive eternal life.

The theme for the people of God is rest from all their labours. Those who die in the Lord are kept safe in Christ until the end time when they will be released from death by the resurrection of the people of God. They receive rest from their service and sufferings for the sake of Christ and are safe in His warm embrace.

“For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”

Romans 14:7-9

The Song of the Redeemed

“They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand, those who had been redeemed out of the earth.”

Revelation 4:3

The next part of the Revelation is in regard to the victorious state of Christ, The Lamb of God and the whole multitude of His people in heaven. The vision shows the sight of the Lamb of God standing on Mount Zion with the 144,000 and having His mark on their foreheads, as set apart for God.

The Lamb of God is the all-conquering Saviour of His people, who now stand with Him, redeemed and glorified, to rule with Him in heaven. They stand with Christ, as the city set on a hill, Mount Zion, the city of the living God.

“But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels, to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel.”

Hebrews 12:22-24

They have been brought there through the shed blood of Christ and made perfect as justified daughters and sons of the everlasting kingdom. Their lives bought for them with that great price, the blood that was shed for the whole world, for all our lives in this earthly world were paid for by the mercy of God. They have also received the heavenly life, because they repented and turned from evil and are righteous people made perfect.

The number 144,000 is the integer for the complete and accounted-for people of God, chosen before the foundation of the world and now saved out of the sinfulness of that world and safe in the eternal presence of their Redeemer, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The mark on their foreheads is the name of the Son, Jesus Christ and the Father, the Eternal God.

The sound that is heard is like the gathering of many waters, the rush of a pent up flood.

“So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD. “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.”

Isaiah 59:19-20

It is the sound of great thunder, intimidating and powerful as the power of God resounding through the heavenly courts. John says the sound is like harpists playing on their harps, so it is melodious and not a random sound. It is the introduction to the glorious song of the Redeemed people of God.

“In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter: the one which keeps faith. You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for in God, The LORD, is an everlasting Rock.”

Isaiah 26:1-4

This is the victory song of the people of Judah from the Old Testament. This new song will be different, for it is the eternal song and theme of the Redeemed, but it will have similar sentiments. The Praise will be to the Lord for all His mighty salvation and the shed blood of the everlasting covenant will be remembered forever.

“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

2 Samuel 22:17-20

The Redeemed people will sing of the deliverance of the Lord and their secure salvation, bought for them at such a high price, as this song of praise from king David. The cross of Christ will be the theme on that great day of eternity also. The song will reverberate through the courts of heaven forever, it will be the everlasting theme of the Redeemed and no one else will be able to sing it.

These redeemed people have not been sullied by the false religion and adulterous ways of the sinful people caught up in the kingdom of the Beast. The wicked are all gone now and the people of God rejoice at their personal deliverance from the hands of eternal death.

“These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless.”

Revelation 14:4-5

They are blameless, not because they are faultless, but because Jesus took the blame for them. They follow Him everywhere, and will never let Him go. He is the truly Belovéd and they the Beloved. He will be the central theme for their song, for He is the reason they are counted worthy to be in that celestial throng.

“When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:

“Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

Revelation 5:8-10

All glory and dignity belong to Christ and He is set above all others for He is the Lamb once slain, the all conquering one, the judge of all the earth. All power and dominion belong to Him and He will reign for ever and ever.

“They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.”

Revelation 22:4-5

The Mark of the Beast

“He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.”

Revelation 13:16-18

The beast from the earth decrees that everyone receive a mark that will enable them to live on the earth and participate in society. Without this earthly, godless mark they will not be able to buy or sell. Life will become impossible for the people for God, for they will not have this mark on them. They are sealed by God with the work of the Holy Spirit and His mark that bears fruit to God. They cannot and do not participate in the godless culture of the day and do not join in with the unfruitful works of darkness.

“They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.”

John 17:16-18

Christians will have to support each other like no other time before. We must encourage each other in the Lord as we see the Day approaching.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful. Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.”

Hebrews 10:23-25

The mark of the Beast is said to be on the hand or the forehead. It affects everyone from the highest thinker to the manual labourer. Everyone will have this mark. They will have received it from the kingdom of the Beast and will be subject to Him because they have this mark. They will bow down to the God’s of this life and worship the Beast and all that He gives them. This is the ultimate human subjugation. We will be utterly under the thrall of this world and never consider God accept as a swear word to insult His holy name. The mark may not be a physical one, or it may be some way of conducting commerce that everyone will need. It will be a world order and the nations will conspire together against the Lord and His ways, to follow the ways of the Beast.

“Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his Anointed, saying, “Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The LORD will have them in derision.”

Psalm 2:1-4

The number itself is the number of man. It is a number that is totally bound up with itself, hence 666. It is the philosophy of human minds taken over by it’s own evil self, and unrighteousness will abound in the world, due to the godlessness of the thinking. Without God there is no goodness, kindness, self-control, gentleness, love, faith or hope. All these positive things will disappear from the culture and all will become increasingly cruel. People will imbibe the poison and will not be able to resist it because their hearts are hard towards God and the truth of his Word. The false teachers of the Word will have muddied the truth so badly, that the truth will be hard to find and human minds will not be able to receive it.

We have the influence of the media, which transfers itself into almost every home. It has a massive impact on our psyche, without us even realising it. We are brought up with it, and it appears so innocuous and “normal.” It is the normacy of it that is so dangerous. Things appear and we accept it, because it is on certain channels that we trust for some amorphous reason. We cease to question or hold the report or the broadcast to account in our minds, and we accept it because it is on television and that has become our standard for “normacy.” This is everywhere, and we accept things because they are familiar or things are spoken by people that we might know of and somehow feel we trust. This is good ground for sowing seeds. This is good ground for delusion to grow.

“… all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

2 Timothy 3:12-13

The delusion will come in and the whole of humanity without the faith that saves us will be lost to God and themselves. They will lose their souls to the second death, which is forever.

“Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.”

Matthew 16:24-27

It will be subtle and it will be deadly. We must be on our guard against listening and entertaining anything that is evil and that will take our mindset away from CHRIST. We must be questioning people and not accepting of all that is given out by authorities and institutions of state or church. The kingdom of God comes in the hearts of the true believers and not in organisations that purports to serve God. All is corrupted in these days and we serve the LORD with holy humility and caution about where we give our allegiance.

“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance. Surely they will say of Me,‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’ ”

Isaiah 45:22-24

There is still hope. The door of salvation still stand open for those who will come and trust in the only Saviour. We revile the works of darkness and embrace the light of God. Every knee will bow. The kingdom of this world is not forever, in fact, it is very short. Do not receive the godless ways of his present evil age, but trust in God, for He alone can save ignoble us. He will give us His righteousness and strength and bring us safely through all our trouble according to His precious and unbreakable promises.

The Beast from the earth

“I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people.”

Revelation 13:11-13

Another Beast is revealed. He comes up out of the earth and is of the earth, earthy. He is of the earthly man and exceedingly sinful. He appears like the lamb, emulating the Lamb of God, but speaks with the voice of Satan. He is a false teacher and encourages the people on earth to worship the Beast from the sea. This is the false face of earthly religion the re-emergence of pagan culture and tradition. It appears peaceable like a lamb, but destroys the soul with eternal death.

This Beast can emulate the very fire from heaven, which is a mark of the work of God. When the Spirit comes it manifests as fire from heaven and the Beast from the earth seems to be able to manufacture this phenomenon. This false sign and delusional wonder seems to vindicate the work of the Beast. It is a strong delusion and dupes the gullibility and superstitious mindset of the people on earth. They are blinded by their own conceit and folly.

“And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12

The Beast of the earth lifts up the Beast from the sea and causes the people to fall down and worship the image of the Beast. Those who refuse to worship the image of the Beast, the people of God, are killed. Christians experience a time of great unpopularity and what they believe is ridiculed and opposed by the “great and the good” and the world-view of Christians is subjected to contempt as all false religion and science is venerated to oppose the LORD and all that He has said,

This is a time if great persecution against those who will not bow down to the God of this world, or the false religion that supports it. God has given this vision to us to encourage us because He knows what is coming and will always provide for His people.

“Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

Luke 12:32

God keeps His people in the centre of His will for them and keeps their treasure in heaven, reserved for the coming kingdom forever. The Beasts are frightening, but the people of God are protected by the mark on their foreheads, and given a holy boldness to stand for the Lord. Their mark is the fruit for the Holy Spirit, and is not regarded by the people of earth any more, since cruelty and cowardice abound.

“The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and him who loves violence his soul hates.”

Psalm 11:5

“But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Revelation 21:8

The Beast from the sea

“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names. The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority…”

“… It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.”

Revelation 12:1-2 and 7-10

The beast is the final symbol of the Antichrist. John is standing on the beach looking out to sea. He sees the beast rise out of the sea, a great sea-faring military power, which has the authority signified by the seven heads. It has ten horns, ten kings that rise up with him and he has control over them. His purpose is purely blasphemous, and to oppress the saints of God. He is fast and cruel like a leopard after his prey; he is aggressive and mets out death like the paws of a bear and his mouth spews out intimidation over the people of God. Satan gives him his authority, his evil, royal demeanour and power to destroy.

The people of earth worship him because they are intimidated by him and they worship Satan, and desire and practice all that is evil. They are in thrall to the beast. The beast has a fatal wound on one of bits heads. The wound is healed miraculously, by Satan’s power, a false miracle that falsely vindicates the falsely acclaimed divine power of the beast and is a counterfeit to the ways of the Lord. It is wholly blasphemous. His words spew out false claims and his deeds are fake and false.

There is much that would hurt and deprave the church of Jesus Christ today. So much falsehood is poured into the minds of people and leads them away from the true God, as revealed in the Scripture. The Beast is rampant and takes to himself the hearts and minds of the unwary. He takes in all who do not truly love the Lord and are willing to subdue themselves under his power and seeming authority. The whole edifice is blasphemous and is a counterfeit gospel that hoodwinks those who are not secure in the faith and the doctrine of Scripture.

He is allowed to make war with the saints of God and he overcomes them. He has authority over the whole earth and wrecks havoc on the Church of Christ. Everyone succumbs to his power, authority and lie, except those who’s names are chosen by God, before the world was created- the elect and glorious people of God. They will die deaths for Christ’s sake, but God is in complete control of it all. All His purposes are being worked out, even in such dreadful circumstances. If God’s people are to be captives or if they die by the sword, God is always in the final place of authority. It is only part of Satan’s little while.

“Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”

Revelation 12:12

This is the endurance of the saints. All who follow Christ with true hearts will overcome the oppression of their faith and remain faithful to their Master and Captain to the very end.

“At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. See, I have told you in advance.”

Matthew 24:23-25

In these days we need to be more rigorous about what we let into our minds and psyche. We need to be on our guard, lest we fall away and our faith is vain. We should not be so trusting of governments and leaders, who will easily lead us away from following Christ and trap us with evil laws and dictates. We must be prepared to follow our Lord and God to the very end and obey what He says, not the prevailing secular culture or church culture. We must immerse ourselves in the truth of God and be sure of what we are believing in and where our hope is founded.

“Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

Colossians 2:6-10

Once for all

“But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.”

Hebrews 9:6-8

The parallels are being drawn in this passage between the old sacrifices by the Priest in Old Testament times, before Christ came into the world and what He accomplished on the cross of Calvary. Now that Christ is come, and has offered Himself as the atoning sacrifice for the sin of His people, there is no more need for the old sacrifices.

Christ is the reason for the old order, to demonstrate to the people before the death of Christ, what kind of Deliverer was coming. Jesus has come in the flesh and he lived an died at the end of the age. We are now living at the end of the age and waiting for the final deliverance of the people of God. Jesus came once and died once. Once for all time. A once and perfect sacrifice for sin – the shedding of His blood to pay the just penalty for the unrighteousness of those who would believe.

People die because of the sin in our world and in our lives. Death is the penalty for sin and we all die. After death comes the judgment for the sin committed in this body. But Christ came to bear away the sin and the punishment it deserves. Jesus came the first time, as the Saviour of the world to pay the penalty for the many who would believe in Him and is coming the second time for all those who are eagerly awaiting Him.

On that cruel cross He was made sin for us, even though He knew no sin, and abhorred even the thought of it. He was the sinless one, yet He took our burden on Himself and bore it away on His body on the tree. He became sin for us. How totally terrible that was and is to think about. The perfect one made rotten like us, who took our sin and suffered the eternal consequences for it. This is the Saviour we reject or accept. How can we escape if we neglect such a one who did such a thing as this for our sorry selves. His love is true and real and we must humble ourselves and come to Him.

There is nothing left to pay. It is all done for us. We just accept it and trust in Him and what He did for us. This is the heart and mindset of the true Christian.

The War

“They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death. Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”

Revelation 12:11-12

There is now seen a war in heaven, not the third heaven where God dwells, but the heavens above the earth. It is a war of attrition of the angels of God and the dark angels of the forces of evil led by the great dragon, Satan. Michael the archangel makes war against the dragon and overcomes him by the power of the shed blood of Christ. The victory os secured in the death by the death of the only Saviour and Lord, Jesus the Saviour of our souls. This is the power of our salvation, the blood that washes clean from sin and purges away our guilty stain.

Satan is thrown down to earth, as there is no place for him in heaven. He is a beaten and a spent force that can only deceived the daughters and sons of human kind which he does with great malice.

A voice is now heard, that tells John that the kingdom of God is now come in the world, for the enemy is now defeated. The people for God are safe from him, since he can only accuse. They overcome through the blood of the Lamb and because of the faithful word of their testimony. These true and faithful believers are willing to give their lives for the sake of the Lord and many will lay down their lives before the end comes. They are faithful unto death and therefore gain a crown of everlasting life.

The blood of Christ has redeemed them from the prison house of sin and Satan and has set them free. They are bought with that precious blood, shed for sinners and shed for us, that we might be free from the accusations of the holy law of God and the accusations of the evil one. We are free people and rejoice in that sacrifice made for us.

Hebrews 9:26-28

The people of God rejoice in the victory achieved at the cross of Christ and they overcome in the power of the spilt blood of the Lamb. The earth and all that is in the earth experiences great woe, for the devil is aggravating, tempting and deceiving it’s people and causing great harm. He is allowed to do this and he carries out in his spite for he knows his time is short.

We gave nothing to fear from him, as the people of God, for he has no hold on us. He is a spent force and we are not unaware of his schemes. Christ rules supreme…

Hebrews 2:14-15

The Woman

“A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child. She cried out in pain, labouring to give birth.”

Revelation 12:2

A great wonder appears in the heavens, a new accounting and a fresh picture of the church of Christ and its Lord and Head. The woman stands for the church of Christ, but also the Virgin Mary, who brings forth her first born son. The dragon is Satan, intent on destroying the kingdom of God and waits to destroy the child, Jesus. His instrument is Herod, who’s cruelty killed many baby boys in Judea at that time. Christ is taken to Egypt, the land of exile and slavery, and preserved there until Herod is dead.

The work of Christ is recorded in the gospel writers, and He is preserved until the time of His appointed death, and glorification, being taken up into heaven to reign.

The picture is also of the Apostolic church. The light and glory of God, clothes the gospel of Christ and His people. The woman is clothed with the righteousness of the glorious Christ and the light emanate from her person as the sun. This is the glory of the church, the people of God, on earth. The twelve stars are the Apostles who shine as bright lights at the beginning of the church age. They lay down the unchanging message of the gospel and the doctrines of the faith. These are all recorded and taught in the New Testament. She stand on the borrowed light of the moon, rejecting all worldliness and falsehood, as judged by the Holy Scripture.

The purpose of the church is to bring into being new believers and so the woman is striving in pains of child-birth to bring forth children for God. Satan is always ready to destroy faith and does so through providing infertile ground, hot sun to destroy the seed and weeds and birds to choke it and take it away.

The dragon has great power and earthly institutions are set up to do his work. Kingly power, political power, religious power, that will all stop the spread of true belief and faith and keep the so-called “faithful” blind to the truths of God. There is much falsehood and therefore confusion. The seven crowns denote the excessive power of the kings of the earth who set themselves up against the Almighty God.

“Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against The LORD, and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision.”

Psalm 2:1-4

A child of vigour and strength is born and is preserved by the power of God. It is the Lord who brings His people to new birth and He who keeps them so that not one of them is lost.

The church of Jesus Christ is kept and nourished by the gospel and the eternal word even in the wilderness of this present evil age and will be preserved for the day of exaltation when Christ will return to take His waiting people home to glory. It is a set time and a number time, for the people of God will, not always be in exile. The dragon will be defeated.

“Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, but might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the seed of Abraham. Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.”

Hebrews 2:14-18

God calls to the authorities of this vain world to turn and repent. They can never overcome the Lord and He will never accede to what they desire.

“Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve The LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.”

Psalm 2:10-12

The Seventh Trumpet

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“The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!” The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God’s throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was; because you have taken your great power, and reigned.

Revelation 11:15-17

The sounding of the Seventh trumpet brings great honour and praise to God. We are permitted to see into the throne room of God and to see into the holy temple in the New Jerusalem.

The kingdom of Christ had come and the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of God and of His Christ. The Lord, CHRIST, will reign in His eternal kingdom forever, and His redeemed people with Him in great glory and power.

The twenty four elders, who are symbolic of the entire body of Christ, the people of God, bow down and worship the Lord. They fall on their faces and worship the true King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and praise Him that His power has vanquished the forces of evil and overcome them. The false church, the false prophet and the great Whore, who has deceived so many of God’s creation and have plunged their souls into eternal punishment, have all been dealt with. All these are overcome along with the Beast and the Antichrist.

All who have refused Christ are now judged by Him and have received their reward. The prophets, the saints of God and all those who love the Lord Jesus also receive their rewards and all, both small and great are set high on thrones with Christ. This is the destiny of all those who deny themselves in this present, physical life, and take up their cross and follow the way of God.

When the Ark of the Covenant of God was opened it produced great turmoil with thunders and lightening and great sounds. Such is the majesty of the law and the grace of God, both brought together as friends through the death of the Everlasting Son, Jesus, the Redeemer and Lord of all things. We see His power and majesty in the thundering of the law and the voice of love from the cross. We see His holiness in His judgment of all evil and His humility in His salvation of human souls.

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Daughters of the Kingdom

Women who glorify God