TEXT REVELATION 14:1-13
INTRODUCTION HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO PICTURE A LAMB WALKING AROUND WITH ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND MEN FOLLOWING HIM? IF YOU HAVE, YOU WILL APPRECIATE THIS MESSAGE MORE THAN SOME WHO HAVE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT AT ALL. YOU WILL ALSO BE INTERESTED TO READ ABOUT THE ANGELS THAT JOHN SAW FLYING THROUGH THE AIR WITH THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL TO PREACH. THEN, YOU WILL SURELY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT MYSTERY BABYLON. ALL THIS, AND MUCH MORE, CAN BE FOUND IN THIS MESSAGE.
In the September 1977 issue of the Contender, we made reference to seven particular subjects from the word of God that have been of special interest to me. Since that time, (as people began to be curious about those messages), we have received many requests for those back issues; therefore by the help of God (if he allows this age to stand long enough), we will try to reprint them, in the light of present day conditions. We have just finished printing the message dealing with the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and now we would like to devote this message to the 144,000 men who are sealed in their foreheads during the first half of the 70th week of Daniel. we have dealt with this subject in other messages, but we have never printed it in full detail like we have it in sermons that I have preached; therefore I would like for us to open our Bibles to the 14th chapter of Revelation, and by the help of God we will see what this 144,000 men are ordained to do, and when they will do it. I believe this old book will speak to us if we will just lay aside our old traditional ideas and let it. We have been feeding long enough on the spiritual food that God gave to our grandparents: it is now time for us to feed our souls on fresh manna that God has given for our day and age.
PLAYING WITH GOD’S ECONOMY
Ever since we printed the three part series on the Apostle’s Office, we have been receiving letters from all around the world, thanking us for the stand that we have taken here in an effort to hold up truth for the people of God to see in this dark hour. The year of 1977, that was to be a climax year, has come and gone, leaving many hungry souls grasping for something that they can hold on to. It is a desire of my heart to help every sincere one of them find their way back into the stream of God’s will for their lives. I believe 1977 was a climactic year in many ways, but not for the rapture, and the coming of the Lord. The closing of that year without these expected events taking place, has caused many people to realize that they have been sidetracked. I do not make fun of them, nor belittle them in any way, for I realize that if it were not for the grace and mercy of God, I could have been caught in the foolishness that has been promoted by certain people over the past 12 years since Bro. William Branham’s death. I do not hesitate to call it foolishness, for there is no scripture to be found in the Bible to tie their ideas to. If you could use such terminology, it is like playing with God’s economy: just like children playing with money, not knowing what it really is good for. Money can be used to purchase many of the things of life, but to a small child it is just something to play with; if it winds up in a mudhole it makes no difference to them. Brothers and sisters, it ought not to be like that with the word of God. If this word is handled right, it can purchase eternal life for those who handle it and believe it.
EVANGELIZING THE WORLD
Now, give me your attention, as we open our Bibles to Revelation, chapter 14, to begin our message, I am using the title, the Everlasting Gospel, which is found in verse 6. You will see why as we deal with the subject. I realize that there are still many people out there who will read this message and be critical of it, but let me say, right now, some of you who would be critical will know exactly which tape you could go to and hear Bro. Branham says, “Wait until that Jew gets the gospel; for he is the one that will evangelize the world.” We have to keep it scripturally now; even though Bro. Branham said that we cannot just look at it from a traditional standpoint. We will have to see what evangelizing the world in that hour would mean. This 144,000 will definitely have a job to do after they have been sealed with the spirit of God, as a result of the preaching by the two witnesses that prophesy for three and one-half years from the beginning of the week of Daniel. When we hear someone speak of evangelizing, we immediately think of some of the great revivals of our past, but let me remind you that God is closing the door of grace to the Gentiles. We are living in a day when every spirit out of hell has been turned loose on this Gentile world. It is hard to preach the truth to them anymore. They just do not want to hear it. When God allowed the Bible to be taken out of the schools, it was a sign that the age of grace was beginning to draw to a close. This country was founded on christian principles, by a people that was fleeing the dictatorship of old world religion, and even though drunks, prostitutes, and other vile creatures came to this country, it was still known as a christian nation for most of its years. God did not allow this nation to be founded just so a bunch of Europeans could come here and discover gold. No, it was a wilderness, prepared by God, for those people who were supporting the reformation, to have a place to flee to. God directed those pilgrim Christians, who had a reformation, revelation burning in their hearts, to this country where they hacked out places to build their log cabins, and begin a new life. These people visited the various tribes, proclaiming the gospel to them, and from this humble beginning, grew a mighty nation which has been looked upon with respect and admiration by people around the world. In other words, this country has served a purpose of God, but it looks like God is just about finished with it, for we see that politics and religion are so corrupt, and morals so low we must conclude that God has withdrawn his hand from it. If that be the case, we are close to the end, but Praise God for the good years we have had. We have had opportunity to hear the gospel, and prepare ourselves for what is just ahead. The wise virgins (the bride of Christ), are busy making themselves ready to meet the bridegroom, and the foolish virgins are out there somewhere getting oil, while the population in general has given themselves over to gross deception. Some have their confidence in what they call a worldwide revival through the Charismatic movement, but I will have to say, that is a delusion; it is too late for a worldwide revival among the Gentiles. This gospel is just about ready to return to the Jews from whence it came. The only genuine revival in the meantime, will be among the true bride of Christ as she makes her final preparation to meet the Lord in the air.
DELUSION —GREAT DECEPTION
The apostle Paul spoke of a time when God would send strong delusion upon a people because they had no love for the truth. Brothers and sisters, that time is at hand, for there has never been a time when so many people were going to church and professing to be christians as there is now, yet their way of life does not measure up to a life of holiness; that is delusion. The delusion was not to come from the beer taverns, nor from the White House, nor from the cults, which are known to be satanic; it was destined to come through what the world looks upon as christianity. The charismatics are in the forefront of deception, for they only see God as someone who will give them great riches, heal their sick bodies, and let them speak in tongues and enjoy it; they care precious little about revelation. Therefore, this 144,000 men will definitely have a function to fulfill as God prepares this old world for the literal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to rule and reign. Now, we will read a few verses of our text chapter, starting with verse 1 of chapter 14. “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads, 2, And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. 3, 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, which were redeemed from the earth. 4, These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 5, And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” John was lifted up in the spirit and shown all these things which he recorded in the language of his day according to the understanding he had of what he saw. This was God’s way of hiding the real significance of these prophecies from the eyes of the great men of wisdom, and preserving them to be revealed to his bride people just before the coming of Christ. This particular scene does not have its fulfillment until the middle of the week of Daniel, after the peace covenant has been broken and the antichrist is in control of all politics and world affairs. The two prophets will have been killed already, and there will be only 3 1/2 years left of the 70th week of Daniel.
IDENTIFYING THE 144,000
Some of you who will read this message may not understand all the things we refer to, but space will not permit us to explain every reference fully; therefore it may be necessary for some of you to write and request other papers to help you understand the references we use. Let us go over to the 7th chapter now for a quick look at the scripture that explains who these 144,000 men are. Chapter 7 gives us a little picture of conditions in the social and political realm just before that week of time is introduced. It opens with four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth. Naturally, we are not to think of the earth as being square, with an angel standing on each of the four extreme corners, but rather, let us examine this terminology and see if we can not bring it in line with what we know from historical records that we are familiar with. Jerusalem is known to be the very center, or heart of the earth. Prophetic directions are always figured from there, and the history of mankind originated in this Middle East setting; therefore, as we find these four angels of chapter 7 standing on the four corners of the earth, let us be aware of the fact that they are stationed right there in the Middle East, the heart of the earth where all directions begin, and the winds that they art holding are the winds of world conditions that affect political, spiritual, and social affairs as well as the economy of the world. They are to hold back every condition that would cause an upheaval in world affairs until the time appointed by God for them to be turned loose. We find in verses 2-3 that there is another angel, with a commission to seal 144,000 servants of God in their foreheads before these winds are turned loose to blow upon the earth. The scriptures make it very clear that these servants of God are Jews, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and it is the revelation of who Jesus is, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost that they are sealed with. This will take place as a result of the ministry of the two prophets, or witnesses of chapter eleven, who will preach (or prophesy), for 3 1/2 years to the Jews, as God turns from the Gentiles, back to the Jews with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. By that time the gospel will have made its complete cycle, starting from the Middle East, moving westward until it has returned from whence it came. Nevertheless, this 144,000 men that follow the Lamb wherever he goes, are Jews that believe the gospel and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost during the first half of the week of Daniel that is to have its fulfillment at the end of this Gentile age, and the fact that they have His Father’s name written in their foreheads, lets us know that they have received the revelation of the God-head, and have fully obeyed the Lord, as they are seen following the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. They are sealed during the first half of the seventieth week of Daniel, and they become ministers of God during the last half of that week. From the time that 70th week of Daniel is introduced to the world in its prophetic order, there will be just seven years of time left before the Millennium reign of Christ begins. Brothers and sistern, do not think that time will linger on after that week has run its course. No, Jesus said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And THEN shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with POWER and GREAT GLORY.” The celestial elements will declare that the week has run its course, and vindicate the prophecy of Jesus by announcing his arrival. In the meantime we should watch the signs of the time as world politics become more and more unstable and corrupt, and religious systems are taken over by the devil, and the economy is being turned upside down, it just lets us know that we are getting close to that week of Daniel, and the rapture of the bride. Somewhere upon the face of this earth there are two men that are destined to fulfill the role of those two witnesses we spoke of. They may not know what they are destined to do, but you can believe that God has them set aside to fulfill that ministry when the time arrives.
GOD’S TWO WITNESSES
Now, I have been asked the question, “Bro. Jackson, who will those two prophets be, will they be literally, Moses and Elijah?” Some believe it will be the literal Moses and Elijah of old, that will have to come back and be killed by that beast system after they have prophesied for 3 1/2 years, all because of the scripture that says, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the judgment.” They say, “These men did not die, so they will have to come back and be killed.” Let me remind you first of all, that the scriptures also declare that man’s days shall be 70 years, but some do not live that long, and others live much longer than that. Does that make the word of God wrong? Absolutely not. Seventy years is an average life span. But, one thing we do know for sure, the apostle Paul said, “We shall not all sleep, but we SHALL all be changed, and besides that, remember, God is sovereign. If He chooses to take one now and then, as He did Enoch and Elijah: He does not have to get anyone’s permission to do so. Nevertheless, until Jesus comes it is ordained for man to die. We do not have to change the scripture one bit for that. Now, as for the fact that those two prophets are referred to as Moses and Elijah, do not let that cause you to miss the word of God, for we know that John the Baptist was referred to, as Elijah, but was he? He certainly was not a reincarnation of the old Elijah; he was a Jew from his own generation who had the God identifying spirit of Elijah upon him. He ministered in the same generation that he was born into, and lived in. Being of that generation he knew how to face the people, for he was familiar with their way of life and all the sin and corruption that they were involved in. That is why I will have to say, “Why would God bring back a prophet who lived 1400 years before Christ, knowing only the social ways of the ancient past, to speak to a people in this modern age?” Some think just because Peter, James, and John saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, that it will have to be them, literally preaching to the Jews over in the week of Daniel, but let me remind you that it was not their literal bodies that were viewed by the apostles. for Jesus said it was a vision, MATTHEW 17:9. That was only to typify the kind of ministry that would proceed his glorious appearing when he comes to rule in the millennium. Certainly a vision like that, does not put their literal bodies on the scene. I have had a dream where I saw Jesus come to me, but he did not leave his mediatorial work just to appear to me. Furthermore, let me say to those of you who dogmatically hold to your belief that Moses and Elijah must come back so they can be killed, What about Enoch? How will you get him in on it? You will still have one that has never died. It is best to leave those things in the hands of God, for if you push that kind of idea too far, you will just saw off the limb you are hanging on to. Now I will state it in plain language, the two witnesses of Revelation, chapter 11, who prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth, will be two modern day Jews from this twentieth century, born in this generation, and they will be familiar with the social order of their day. Psychologically they will be adjusted to present day society. They will know how to drive a car, or go down to the airport and book passage on a jet if need be, but Moses and Elijah could have to ask some questions if they were suddenly thrust into our day. The only transportation they know anything about would be something like an ox cart, or a camel.
THE WOMAN NATION
We have talked about the 144.000 men from the twelve tribes of Israel that will be sealed by the Holy Ghost as a result of the prophecy of these two witnesses, but they are not the only ones who will benefit from that ministry, for in chapter 12, we find that there is another element of those Jews, pictured as the woman who brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. This element of people will be made up of men, women, boys and girls, which will be a representation of the whole nation of Israel. They will also believe the gospel preached by the two witnesses, and be sealed with the Holy Ghost. I want to show you a scripture which will prove to you that this group of people represent the true woman nation that produced the man child which we know was Jesus Christ. These are they which God will preserve, alive, through the time of great tribulation for the purpose of repopulating the Jewish race of people in the millennium. Some will say, “How come it only mentions the 144,000 being sealed during that time?” These are men who have a special job to do when the time comes for their particular ministry. We will take a few minutes to run through it all, so that you may have it all together.
ORDER OF EVENTS
The 14th chapter is a picture of this 144,000 Jewish men who have been revelated and sealed with the Holy Ghost during the first half of the week. Time wise, the middle of the week has arrived, the two prophets have been killed, the antichrist has broken his covenant with the nation of Israel, their privilege of offering sacrifice upon the altar of the temple is denied, and the antichrist has desecrated the temple by seating himself on the throne that rightfully belongs only to Jesus, and by that time he will be fulfilling, 1, Thes. 2:4, by presenting himself as God to the people, demanding to be worshipped. This will fulfill the abomination that maketh desolate. when no Jew is able to offer sacrifice, nor come before his high priest to pray to Jehovah. At this time the true spiritual Jew (the woman of chapter 12:1-6) will be fleeing into the place where God has prepared for her to hide while the antichrist is making his blood bath. Please remember this, the political Jew that has sold out to the antichrist will not flee, for he will be interested only in the dollar. Try to catch the picture brothers and sisters. The woman of chapter 12:6, absolutely does not include every Jew in the nation of Israel; it only includes the true, spiritual, revelated Jew, and the reason they are revelated, proves even more, predestination, and the foreknowledge of God, for we see it written in the scriptures thousands of years before it comes to pass. God will save these Jews alive to preserve the seed of Abraham for the millennium. Now, with all this laid out before us, we can see that (time wise) the events of this 14th chapter are taking place in the last half of the week. In the vision, as John looked and saw a Lamb, (to him the Lamb looked literal, but to us it was only symbolic of what is to take place), we must try to catch the picture of what the Holy Ghost is showing here. He saw the Lamb and his company standing on Mount Zion. That is the summit area of where the city of Jerusalem is built, and many of you have been there to see this very place. The whole general area where Jerusalem exists is Mount Zion, but within the area you have various elevations and peaks which have names of their own, such as Mount Moriah, where the temple was built. Mount Moriah is the place where Abraham took Isaac to offer up sacrifice to God, and it is commonly believed that Solomon built the temple over the very altar, or rock that Abraham used as an altar, but Mount Moriah is made up Mount Zion. From there you work your way on up through what they call the upper city, and on to upper Zion which is the extremity of the mountain range. Up there is where you find the upper room. It is believed that King David was buried in a cave up there, and some time later a building was erected over the spot. This building was probably used for sacred memorial purposes, and used much by the society in the days of Christ, that being the place where his disciples had the last passover supper with him before his crucifixion. This is just to familiarize you with the spot where John saw the Lamb and his company of 144,000 that was sealed in the 7th chapter, and it says that they had HIS Father’s name written in their foreheads. First we want to identify the HIS in verse 1. That, of course, is Jesus Christ, who was the Lamb of God according to John 1:29. Therefore, it is the Lamb’s Father’s name that is written in the foreheads of these men. The Lamb’s Father would be Jehovah, and the name of Jehovah would be the redemptive name that was manifested by the Iamb, who is Jesus, the Christ. In other words, the name that was written in their foreheads, was Jesus. Now comes the question of how the name was written. What John saw in the vision looked like a literal name, written in the foreheads of those men, but you and I know, brothers and sisters, that the writing which John saw, was only to symbolize that the men had a revelation of who the Lamb really was. Actually the men will not have any kind of writing that shows literally on their foreheads; that is where the mind is, and it simply means that they will have a revelation of the true identity of their Messiah, and a genuine revelation actually becomes that much, a part of the person who receives it. In the next verse John says he heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder. That was the voice of Jesus, the same voice Ezekiel heard, for his thundering voice is described in various scriptures, as the voice of many waters, and the harpers which were harping, were the angels which will be singing with him in the day that was represented in John’s vision. Praise God, brothers and sisters, that lets us know that the same voice which spoke to Ezekiel more than 500 years B.C. and spoke to John in 96 A.D., will be speaking to the 144,000 men who are sealed with the Holy Ghost, during the last half of that week of Daniel. John also heard those angels singing a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders, that no man could learn except the 144,000 which were redeemed from the earth. The one hundred forty and four thousand were not in heaven; they were on earth, but John heard the voices from heaven singing the song, and the 144,000 were the only ones who received the revelation of it. Hallelujah! God knows how to speak to his elect, and the world can not understand it.
A NEW SONG
Some time ago one of our brother pastor’s was talking with a man who was a Jehovah Witness, and during the course of their discussion this man said, “I want you to know that we ARE the one hundred and forty-four thousand.” This brother just looked at him and said, “Have you got a new song?” The other man did not even know what he was talking about. He then told him that the Bible says they will have a new song that no one else can learn. Saints, do you not see how that the Bible (in a humorous way), will sometimes cut a man’s revelation to pieces?
REDEEMED
Now, verse 3, says these men were redeemed from the earth. That does not mean they were raptured, or caught up from the earth, or translated, (whichever term you are familiar with), but the word REDEEMED as you see it here, carries the same meaning as it does when we say that we have been redeemed. It simply means that they have been set apart for God, and preserved from the wrath of the beast. We readily confess that we have been redeemed, but we are all still walking on this earth in the same physical flesh that we were in, before our redemption. In Colos-sians 1:13-14, Paul speaking of giving thanks unto God, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath TRANSLATED us into the kingdom of his dear Son; In whom we HAVE REDEMPTION through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” He says we are translated into the kingdom of the Son of God, and we already have redemption from the power of darkness, but we are still right here on earth. Praise the Lord, this 144,000 will have been redeemed from the earth, but they will all still be on the earth when this scripture is fulfilled.
COMPARING JUDAISM WITH CHRISTIANITY
Let us notice verse 4, and consider it very carefully, “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.” That really sounds natural, doesn’t it? One would think they were all celibates, but that is not the picture at all. This is spiritual terminology, signifying that they were men who had not been proselyted by Gentile charismatics and filled with Gentile dogma. God will not let any of those Jewish men ever be converted to Gentile christianity even though we are living in a day when many preachers and missionaries are all worked up because so many Jews are becoming interested in the gospel of Christ. From some of the literature I receive in the mail, I am made aware that many Jews are beginning to ask questions about the Gentile’s Christ, and the christian way of life. This causes many Gentiles to want to rush right over to Israel and pass out tracts and Bibles. I also share the excitement of realizing that God is beginning to soften the hearts of those people, but I realize that it will take those two prophets of Rev. 11:3-12, to present the gospel to that nation of people. One of the brothers of this assembly handed me an article recently, stating that Jewish Rabbis have been discussing among themselves, certain issues of Judaism, and christianity, making comparisons of how their basic faith goes back to the Bible. Some of them are saying, the Jesus of the Bible which the Gentiles call Christ, was a Jew. They know him as a Jewish prophet, and even though they did not receive him as their Messiah 1900 years ago, they concluded one of their recent discussions by saying, “If it should be that this Jesus which the Gentiles call Christ, should turn out to be the Messiah of the Jews, we would not find it hard to accept.” Brothers and sisters, it should give us a good feeling, to realize that God is beginning to soften the hearts of the Jews in this way. This is a sign of the end time. It points to the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ for his Gentile bride.
FOLLOWING THE LAMB
We know that this 144,000 Jewish men will never be touched by apostate christendom, or they could not be referred to as virgins, (spiritually speaking), and verse 4 goes on to say that they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. They will never receive any of their instructions from some protestant denominational church headquarters, or missionary board; their instructions will come directly from the Lord. They will be led by the spirit of God. Now, as we come to the word REDEEMED, again, notice how it is used. In verse 3, it says they were redeemed from the earth, meaning set apart from carnal minded earthly people, but in verse 4 we find that they were a select group set apart and reserved for the Lord. In their mouth was found no guile. This was the same thing that Jesus said of Nathaniel when he came to him; no guile, no hypocrisy. In other words, they were men who had the quality of being able to look at issues squarely, and honestly deal with them, without compromising for some humanistic program. All of their dealings will be strictly Godly oriented. “For they are without fault before God.” They have been chosen by God for a specific work; and we will see what that work is later, but right now let us consider the last part of verse 4. Where it says these were redeemed from among men, it concludes by saying they were the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. That has real significance. The word firstfruits, proves that there will be more than just the 144,000 that will receive the Holy Ghost. This is where we see that there will be a great host of Jewish men, women, boys and girls receive the same revelation that the 144,000 receive. It lays in the word firstfruits. The apostle Paul referred to Jesus as being the firstfruits from among the dead, but certainly he is not going to be the only one who ever comes forth from the dead. Right? Again, he is referred to as being the firstborn among many; therefore if we can catch the significance of the word firstborn, it means that he stands at the forefront of the many others. In 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul expresses it like this, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the FIRSTFRUITS of them that slept.” Then he goes on to further clarify the statement in verse 23 where he says, “But every man in his own order: Christ the FIRSTFRUITS: afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” This word designates the 144,000 as being the firstfruits of the great Jewish national revival, and it sets them apart from the rest of the Jewish society. This explains the term that they were redeemed from among men. All of this is written in such a way that it confuses the minds of the great know-it-all scholars, who refuse to see anything other than what their particular school teaches. That takes us back to what Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18, “UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH: AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT.” It is the rock of revelation that Jesus is building his church upon, for once you receive a revelation on a certain truth it becomes a part of you. There is no argument of man that can separate you from that revelation.
TWO WINGS OF AN EAGLE
We have just finished a message on the woman of Revelation, chapter 12, where we identified the woman who was clothed with the sun, the woman who brought forth the man child, and later fled into the wilderness when the great persecution started, in the middle of the week of Daniel. We saw in that chapter, that the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, into the place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and a half time, (three and one-half years), from the face of the serpent. The woman that flees is that great host of Jewish people, other than the 144,000, who believe the message of the two prophets that prophesy for three and one-half years in the first half of the week, and the two wings of a great eagle is the message and instructions that they receive from those two prophets, for prophets are referred to in the scripture as eagles, Exodus 19:4. Actually, the reason a lot of people find these scriptures so confusing, is that they do not realize that by the time the middle of the 70th week of Daniel arrives, the Jews will actually be divided into four separate groups. So that you may better understand the terminology used, we will name each division. First we will say, there will be a great host of the political Jews that will sell out to the antichrist: they will be destroyed with the rest of the ungodly. Then secondly, there will be the 144,000 select men that cannot be touched by the beast. They have a special work to do in the last half of that week. Thirdly, you have that great host of men, women, boys and girls, who believed the message of the two prophets at the same time the 144,000 believed. These are they who are referred to as the woman. They will flee the wrath of the antichrist to a place where they can hide for three and one-half years during the time of the great tribulation, and the reason they will flee is as we said before, they will have been given instructions by the two prophets. Then, when Jesus sets up his millennial reign, this group will be ushered right into that era of time, (in their mortal makeup) for the purpose of replenishing the Jewish race during that one thousand years while the devil is bound. Then, the fourth group or division will be those Jews which have remained in dispersion, scattered among the nations, and not too terribly concerned with the real issues up to this point. These are they which will awaken to what is really happening at the same time the Gentile foolish virgins do. From this group there will be many martyrs who will choose to be killed by the beast rather than to deny God. It is this particular element of Jews along with the foolish virgins from the Gentile ranks that are commonly referred to as tribulation saints, and they are seen in Revelation 20:4, as we have pointed out in other messages. Some were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, (Gentile foolish virgins), and others were beheaded for the word of God, (Jews from the 4th group we mentioned), and they are resurrected between the great tribulation and the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ, for it says that they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
SOME WILL HIDE —OTHERS WILL PREACH
Let us leave this now and try to stick to the 144,000. We want to watch where they go and what they do and see what the results of it will be. The woman is running, but this 144,000 is not going to run from anyone, for nothing can hurt them. When the bottomless pit is opened and hell is turned loose upon earth so that men are running, screaming, crying for the rocks to fall upon them, those men who have the seal of God upon, or in their foreheads, cannot be touched by any of it, Rev. 9:4. They know that when the time comes for the woman to start running, it is time for them to start preaching. Praise the Lord, that is exactly what they will do too. Now let us see what they will preach. We pick up back in the 14th chapter, with verse 6. The middle of the week has arrived and these men are ready to start traveling. No, they are not running from the beast; watch, they have a revelation in their bosom, and only a short time to carry it. 6, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell gn the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Brothers and sisters, this angel is not a man. He is absolutely a supernatural being in heaven, seen flying through space. Now that angel does not do the preaching on earth, but he is definitely the one ordained of God to start screaming it in the heavenly realm when time on earth has moved to a place that coincides with God’s time in heaven. Then as he goes streaking through the heavens (in the spirit world), with his message, these selected men on earth who are filled with the spirit of God, have their antennas up, and they catch the message. Being in tune with God they pick it up, for they are the receivers and transmitters of that message. As that angel screams in the heavenly realm, this 144,000 begin to be inspired to proclaim this message or gospel to the various peoples of all nations. It is not a gospel of, repent and be baptized, as you and I have known. We are only familiar with the gospel (good news) that God gave to us Gentiles, a gospel of grace that the devil has tried his level best to wreck in the dark ages, but the gospel that will be proclaimed by these servants of God cannot be wrecked by the devil. It will be the last good news that will ever be preached to the inhabiters of the earth. Not for the purpose of getting anyone saved, and into the church, for when this is being fulfilled the church will already be gone in the translation to the marriage supper. Amen. How could you get anyone into a church that is gone, already? We would say it is not a gospel of grace, but in reality, it is the grace of God working to preserve a people, as well as to warn the Gentile foolish virgins along with the Jews in dispersion, not to bow down to the beast. Verse 6 shows us that it is a gospel to be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. These men will not have to clear it with a church board someplace before they can preach it for they are subject to the leading of the Holy Ghost. They are utterly dependent upon the spirit of God. I will also say; this is the only group of people that will be racially and socially equipped, and in a position to do such a work in so short a time. Can you see why? Remember, these are men who have returned to the land of their ancestors from every nation under heaven, and have been in that land to hear the two prophets. This will be sort of like a reverse action from two thousand years ago when the gospel of grace to the Gentiles began to be proclaimed. In that day they had a commission to be witnesses unto the Lord. First, in Jerusalem, then in Judaea, and Samaria, and then unto the uttermost part of the earth. As those disciples began to fan out from Jerusalem with the gospel message burning in their hearts, they went first to the Jewish element of people in the particular areas. This accomplished a two fold purpose. The gospel was first to be presented to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles according to their command, and, in so doing they were able to communicate with the Jews of every area they went to because of their mother tongue (HEBREW) which every Jew knew. By presenting it to the Jew first and gaining disciples they automatically had their interpreters to speak to the Gentiles of that area. Remember, the New Testament had not been written in those days, and every Jew in dispersion had the Old Testament; therefore it was a matter of testifying to them of Jesus Christ, and then proving it by the scriptures they had available, that his sacrificial death was actually prophesied in their scripture. It just goes to show that when people follow God’s instructions, he has the way prepared before him. That is why it did not take the early church forty years to preach the gospel as far as they did; they knew exactly who they were going to; the Jew first, and then to the Gentile, just like stepping stones.
WHERE WILL THEY PREACH?
When the middle of Daniel’s week arrives, and that persecution starts, do not think those Jews who have returned there from every nation under heaven (who now have a revelation of Jesus Christ burning in their souls), will take off to some strange country to do their preaching. No, they will go right back to the nation they came from. There will be no language barrier, for they will be preaching to the very people they grew up with. They will know the culture of the people, and be familiar with the best way to approach them. It will not require a huge program, with all the churches of the area participating as they & in other religious crusades. All they will need is a heart in turn with God; he will see that the) have the opportunity to get the message to the people. Do you catch my thought, brothers and sisters? In my mind’s eye, I can see those Jews coming back to America, Canada, Mexico, South America, France, Spain, and all the other places that they have migrated from; not necessarily the same ones that left these places, but in some cases it will be the children of those who migrated. They will be thinking, “I have some aunts and uncles back there that need to hear this.” So back they will go. Sure they will go to the synagogues. They will want to talk to the Rabbi. That will be the order that God will have them follow. They will go to the Rabbi first, and then, to the others. You say, “Will they listen to them?” Yes, for the time will be right. Nothing is impossible with God. If what is being done fits the scriptures, God will make a way for it. If you had tried to preach the baptism of the Holy Ghost and the new birth, a hundred years before the time, you would have gotten nowhere with it, but when the time arrived for it to be preached, nothing could stop it. The more Satan tried to stop it, the faster it went. They put those early christians in jail, they stoned them to death, nailed them to crosses, and persecuted them in every way imaginable, but the gospel spread like a forest fire. Why? Because, scripturally, it was time for it. So will it be when God anoints this 144,000; their message WILL be received. Burning in their hearts will be a desire to tell their fellow brethren, who never returned to the homeland as they did, that they have heard two prophets, and that they have seen them smite the earth with plagues as Moses did in Egypt. Let me put this in the message, right here: when those two prophets smite the earth with plagues, those plagues will be in Israel, and the Middle East countries. The rest of the world will be unaffected by them. Let me say it again, the plagues will absolutely be confined to the land of Israel, and the surrounding areas. You say, why is that? It is because the people have returned there to their God given inheritance, and then turned right around and made a covenant with the antichrist. God will speak to them through those plagues. Do you think, when Elijah was on earth, and prayed that the heavens be shut up, that they were not having rain in other parts of the world, maybe even floods? Do you think when Moses turned the waters of Egypt to blood, that people all over the world were drinking blood? Absolutely not, these are signs to the Continued from page 4 people that God is dealing with at the time. That is why God permits those two prophets to smite the land. He is confirming their word, with signs. Now you can see how the 144,000 will have a message to tell their fellow countrymen as they go back. The message will consist of three primary things, “FEAR GOD; GIVE GLORY TO HIM, FOR THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT IS COME, and WORSHIP HIM THAT MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, AND THE SEA, AND THE FOUNTAINS OF WATERS.” This is called the everlasting gospel, and it is to be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. This of course, is what the angel said. You do not find angels saying very much, but when they speak it carries a lot of weight. What they say in very few words, can be preached from for twenty years. Therefore we will say, even though this angel did not say very much, when this 144,000 begin to digest what he said, they will have a story to tell.
NO FEAR OF GOD
I will try to show you some of what I believe with all my heart it will be like when those men begin to speak. For years now our schools and universities have taught evolution, and atheistic doctrines of man’s beginning, ruling out every theory that would give God any place in any of it. They have made fun of the Eden story in the Bible to the point where many young people are ashamed to have any of their fellow students, or teachers, know that they ever believed in the creation as we have it recorded in the Bible. They have their minds so filled with tadpoles from some stagnated pond, and monkeys hanging from trees, that all they can think of is something idiotic. Brothers and sisters; you would think that young people living in such an age as this, with all of the modern technology they have available to them, would be smarter and wiser than young people of by-gone days, but it seems that this generation will fall for just about any thing that some crackpot teacher brings into a classroom. There is no fear of God left in the average person of the world, and conditions are getting progressively worse instead of better. Jewish boys and girls who have lived in these Gentile surroundings, and attended their schools with all of this kind of teaching in them, will have no knowledge of the Jehovah God that their forefathers believed in, and served. Certainly they would look upon the story of Abraham leaving his own country and kinfolk, just because he heard the voice of God instructing him to do so, as some kind of myth. They have been taught to look upon those things as something the old folks believed and taught, because they were uneducated and simple minded. Thank God they were simple minded enough to believe the word of God. Jesus took a little child one day, and set him in the midst of the people he was teaching, and said to them, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Naturally, he was having reference to the fact that a little child will believe what his parents tell him, without asking for proof, and without checking the science books to see what Dr. So and So had to say about the subject. This is not blind ignorance as some proclaim it to be. It is just simple trust. Jesus was emphasizing the point that a man must have faith and believe the word of God, for God is not obligated to prove anything to anyone I have said these things to call your attention to what world conditions, and the minds of men will be like when the time comes for those anointed servants to begin their preaching. I can see them now, as they go to their fellow countrymen and brethren and say, There is a God: we have seen him in action. We have seen two of his prophets doing miracles, turning water into blood, burning up green grass and trees, and turning the sun and moon black as pitch. They have told us about the Messiah, how our forefathers crucified Him, and how He arose from the dead three days later, and is alive today. We know of a surety that this Jesus who was crucified by our forefathers was the Messiah they had been waiting for. They have told us that He is coming back again in just a little over three years. Praise God, we will still be here when He comes again. I can see them as they walk up to those young students and ask them, “What are they teaching you in school? There is a Jehovah, and we have His spirit in us. He is real, and He is doing everything that is written. about Him in the scriptures’. Before they get through, they will have had opportunity to testify in the colleges and universities of the world. Do not say such a thing is impossible. There is nothing impossible for God. I believe they will shake their finger in the face of those great men of the educational systems and say, “You have taught these students wrong. You are guilty before God.” Why did the angel say, fear God? It is because there is no fear of God anymore. Why do we have X-rated movies? It is because there is no fear of God. They do not even believe there is a God. That is why perversion of every sort is running rampant in the world today; men have no fear of God.
GOD WILL NOT COMPROMISE
The gospel that will be proclaimed by those servants, will be a gospel to combat atheism. Notice the primary theme. First, Fear God, then they will lead the people to give God the glory He is due, realizing that the hour of his judgment is at hand, and the third main thought is to get them to recognize God in creation. Worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. Now you may say, “Bro. Jackson: will everyone who hears their testimony, believe it? No, but there will be some that will, and that is what preaching has always been for: to give everyone a chance to hear. and those with receptive hearts, a chance to believe. Naturally, Satan will still be doing all he can to thwart the plan of God knowing that his time is short. He will not give up until God has him bound and put out of circulation for the millennium. Now, I know some of you are saying, or at least thinking, that there are still a lot of young people who believe in God, and reject evolution and atheistic teaching. Yes, you could say that, but upon investigation you will find that most of them believe in the coexistence of all religions. They have the attitude that, Yes, we believe that there is a God, but we believe that He can be approached through any religious belief. Doesn’t the Bible say that God is no respecter of persons, they will say, Of a surety, the Bible does say that, and truly, God is no respecter of persons if you apply the scripture where it belongs, but I will assure you of this one thing, God is a respecter of those who have a genuine revelation of who He is, and are filled with His spirit. He will respect them, and be with them throughout the eternal ages. On the other hand, God’s word does not obligate Him to have respect unto anyone who will not come up to His standards, and believe me, when you try to get Him to put His approval on all of this coexistence movement, you are trying to take Him away from His word. With that in mind, if you are one of those who think like that, then examine yourself and we will see whose servant you really are. The devil has always tried to get God to deviate from His word in some kind of a compromise. He caught Jesus in a physically weakened state when He had fasted forty days, and tried his level best to get Him to compromise, the very one who the scripture says was the Word of God in flesh (John 1:14) therefore, why would he not try to get each of us to compromise, knowing that we have our confidence in the word of God. If he cannot get us to deny the existence of God, then the next best thing he can do is try to get us thinking that God will be satisfied with us, no matter what we believe, just as long as we believe something, and go to church once in a while. That is a lie, and it comes from the father of all lies, the devil himself. God chose a particular race of people to reveal himself to. He gave them a revelation of His oneness, and He caused them to write a book, (the Bible) a book that has never been equaled. It has been contested and challenged by men of every age, all in vain of course, for it is the only book that has been fulfilled, and is still being fulfilled. In that book He gives explicit instructions to those who desire to walk in fellowship with Him, and let me tell you right now, you will not find a half a dozen different ways to do that. God has one way, and that way is perfect. There is no need for a substitute route to God, for He makes a way for every sincere soul that desires to walk with Him in truth to do so.
CONDEMNING BABYLON
Let us move along now, for as we approach verse 8, we find that there is more than just the one angel. Praise God, saints, this just thrills my soul. Here in verse 8 we have another angel with a message. We will read it in a minute, but first I want to say, we have a lot of men in our day that really want to be one of those angels. They go to Revelation 10:7, and they know that the angel there was a servant messenger; therefore every time they find an angel mentioned, they think it is to be another man. Brothers and sisters: that is not so; these are angelic, spiritual beings, in the heavenly realm. Verse 8, “And there followed another angel, saying “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Notice, this angel speaks in past tense. He doesn’t say, she is making all nations drink. He speaks that, SHE BATH, past tense, already made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Only in that hour, will Roman Catholicism receive her final condemnation, and it will not be the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ doing it: it will be those servants of God which have been anointed to condemn that harlot system. Yes we have had our day, and our message that revelated Romanism for what it is in the sight of God, but the final condemning voice against her will be the voice of the 144,000 servants of God. We have spoke out against the harlot systems of organized religion, and especially against Roman Catholicism which is the mother of them all, but our voice was just for the purpose of warning innocent souls not to become entangled with them. However, in that hour of time when these men are fulfilling their calling, they will pronounce condemnation upon all apostate religion.
TO THE JEWS, CHRISTIANITY IS CATHOLICISM
Some of you have been to the land of Israel, and you have seen with your own eyes, that Roman Catholicism owns more property there than all of the rest added together. You can attribute that to the mother of the Roman Emperor, Constantine. who went to the land known as Palestine in the third century, (with a bag full of money), and founded churches on the spots where certain scriptural events were believed to have taken place. Upon investigation you will find that their property holdings in the Holy Land run into the millions of dollars. For this reason, when the Jews think of christianity, they think of Catholicism, Mr. Begin has made a statement to the effect that, with Israel as guardians of the city. they are willing to make Jerusalem a free international city, open to all faiths. To them, that would mean Judaism, Christianity, and Moslems, with Christianity being Romanism. The Catholics have The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The Sacred Shrine, Church of the Nativity, and on and on, with a church building on almost every sacred place, (so to speak), where anything of scriptural importance took place. Let me be quick to tell you though, when those two prophets get finished revealing that apostate church system to those new converts, (the 144,000) and the antichrist breaks his covenant, the souls of those men will be aflamed. They will condemn that system going and coming. We Gentiles can preach against it until we are blue in the face, but we will not alter the system one bit. It will take a Jew to do that, and then, the time will have to be right. When the time is right for them to do their preaching, those servants will condemn apostate religion in every nation under heaven. By that time the ecumenical spirit sent out by Rome to recapture their departed, fallen, protestant brothers, will have done its work, and all apostate religion from the christian realm will be under one-head, the Pope, (the antichrist), and he will be making a blood bath for anyone who opposes him. One thing will be disturbing him though: he will not be able to lay a hand on any of those servants of God that are busy exposing Him.
JUDGMENT OF THE WHORE
The 17th chapter of Revelation gives us a look at the way God will judge that great whore (Roman Catholicism) when the servants have finished condemning her. He will use the Ten Horns of Europe. Brothers and sisters: that is why we are reading so much about communism, in some form or the other, rising within the governmental structures of Europe. It is getting close to the time when God will use Communism to destroy Catholicism. Look at the ground that was gained by Communism recently, even in Italy, the very seat of Catholicism. That does not mean that Communism will take over Italy, Spain, or any other country before the hour has come for it to do so, but because we are getting close to the coming of the Lord, and the fulfillment of all that is prophesied, God has to let these spirits begin to arise and be identified to the world. Do not fear though, God will cause them to be held back until the time is at hand for them to fulfill His objective. Praise God, the true church of the Living God will already be in glory by them, and the world will not see her go either. There will still be apostate christendom existing here, in the form of Romanism and apostate Protestantism. That is what makes up the overall Babylonian system. It will be nothing but a bunch of religious confusion, full of politics and corruption. That is why the 144,000 can refer to it as fallen; spiritually, it is in a dead slate. It has no God oriented purpose. Follow me now, as we let the scriptures back up what we have been saying. Please do not think that what is in the 14th chapter takes place at one time, and what is in the 17th and 18th chapters, at some other time. No, these two chapters go with what the 144,000 are saying over in chapter 14.
Chapter 16 deals with the judgment of God that falls, right at the very end of the week of Daniel. All right now, the angel said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” I want to make a statement here for the benefit of some of you who may still not be too sure about this city. Some Bible scholars and students of years gone by, as they studied Revelation and Daniel, they came up with the idea that when the antichrist comes on the scene, and the beast system is in control, that the ancient city of Babylon is going to be rebuilt. That is a result of natural reasoning, for naturally the city, Babylon, being mentioned here, makes it look like a literal city named Babylon will have to exist then. Brothers and sisters: those who believed that teaching surely did not read Jeremiah 51:62-64. Babylon, the literal city, has sunk, never to rise again. When the ancient city of Babylon fell, it became just a place for bats, owls, and desert varmints to inhabit its ruins. She is never to rise again. Therefore, Babylon, as it is referred to here in Rev. 14:8, has a spiritual, symbolical interpretation. The Jews were taken captive to the literal Babylon in ancient times to set a type of what the true church of the Living God would go through in the dark ages. By the 5th century the church had drifted so far from the word of God that they were carried into Babylon, (spiritually speaking), and Roman Catholicism became the system that housed it. Then the reformation was God’s means to bring the true church out of Ecclesiastical Babylon, or out from the dominion of the city called Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and abomination of the earth. I am quoting part of verse 5 in chapter 17, so turn to that chapter with me, and we will compare verse 2 of that chapter with verse 8 of chapter 14. Let us read verse 1, which identifies the topic of conversation, and what John saw. 17:1 “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, “COME HITHER: I WILL SHOW UNTO THEE THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT WHORE THAT SITTETH UPON MANY WATERS: 2, WITH WHOM THE KINGS OF THE EARTH HAVE COMMITTED FORNICATION, AND THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH HAVE BEEN MADE DRUNK WITH THE WINE OF HER FORNICATION.” Notice now, the wording of verse 2, and see if it does not match exactly, the last words of 14:8. John is seeing a vision of the future judgment of that great whore, the mother of harlots, which is at this time, still making the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wine of her fornication (Her doctrine). Chapter 18, verse 3, gives another conformation of what we are showing you. “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” All three verses are speaking of the same thing; the main difference is that, chapter 17, refers to the system as a woman, showing her in her female role as a church system, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. Isn’t that exactly how the Roman Catholic church has exist-ed for better than 1000 years? History proves that wherever she has introduced her teaching to fallen mankind, she has worked her way right up through politics with the thought of gaining control of that nation. You say, how can she do that? Simple, every genuine Catholic is subject to the Pope first, regardless of what some may tell you. Brothers and sisters: this is one place where the scriptures will really pinpoint that Roman church system if you will examine what we are showing you. Whenever a country or nation, places Catholic men and women in strategic roles of leadership, they have left themselves open to be ruled by Rome. She has committed fornication with the kings and potentates of the earth. She teaches her creeds and dogmas, and the people become intoxicated with it. In other words, they become drunk with it. Basically, it is their mass, and their prayers, and the tragic part of it all is that there is no salvation in it at all. It cannot produce the new birth. Actually, chapter 17 shows the woman in her international courtship with kings and potentates of the world. She is a spiritual celebrity, but a fornicator, and she is not pictured as a cheap honky-tonk girl out trying to pick up a man. She is pictured as a nightclub celebrity, a gal in the upper class. Saints: I hope you catch my illustration. A honky-tonk type of prostitute will hang around the beer joints and taverns, and cater to the common class of men, but there are others who can only be found in the swankiest night clubs in town. They cater only to the upper class of society, politicians, kings, rulers of nations, and so forth. You will find them decked out with beautiful clothes and fine jewelry of every sort. That is the picture John was shown in the vision, a woman arrayed in purple (17:4-6) and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: “And upon her forehead was written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, (protestant church systems) and abominations (apostate teachings) of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” You must remember that, even though this vision was pertaining to a certain city, and to a certain system that is headquartered in that city, John was seeing it as a beautiful woman, dressed in the finest clothing that money can buy, with every kind of jewelry imaginable, and not just a beautiful, well dressed woman, but an ill-famed woman with her clientele from the upper class of people from all over the whole world. This is language of the spirit of God who in-spired men of old to write this book, (the Bible) and I know it sounds strange to some of our readers who are not familiar with this subject, and I am sure that some of you are even thinking, “How does he get the Catholic church out of the description?” For your benefit I will point out a few things that will identify her.
WOMAN — BEAST — CITY
The first verse of chapter 17, is identifying a whore that sitteth upon many waters. We have already read the description of her, and who she commits her immoral deeds with, (the inhabitants of the earth including kings and rulers), and we have seen that she is drunken with the blood of the saints that she has martyred. John is seeing a beautiful woman and he begins to be amazed, and look at her with great admiration. but the angel checks him (verse 7) by saying “Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her.” He first describes to John the beast that is carrying the woman, and that is still in the language of the spirit, to keep it hid from the scholars of the world systems, but when he comes to verse 15, he tells him plainly that the waters which the woman sitteth upon are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. That makes the WATERS of verse 1, people. Then in verse 18, the angel says, plainly, “And the WOMAN which thou sawest is that GREAT CITY, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” Now tell me, do you know of a city anywhere upon the face of this earth (other than Rome, Italy) that rules over kings and people of the whole earth? Some might say, “That is referring to the old Babylonian Empire.” No, that will not fit the scriptures. This woman is drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and she is to be judged and condemned by the 144,000 Jewish servants of God who have not even been sealed by the Holy Ghost yet. We cannot apply it to any period of time before Christ, for she was drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and the fact that she is to be condemned by the 144,000 servants of God in the last half of the week of Daniel lets us know that the woman is still alive and active in our day. Therefore, if you will look at chapters 14, 17 and 18, together, you will have no trouble realizing that the city referred to as Babylon in chapters 14 and 18, is the woman of chapter 17. Now, just to say that Rome, Italy is ruling over people of the whole earth would not be correct, unless we are able to identify something within that city that actually does, for we know the Italian government itself, has no ruling authority over people of other nations, but we have already identified the church system within that city that DOES have ruling authority over people that are scattered over the whole earth.
THE CHURCH — A CITY
Now comes the question, Why is a church referred to as a city? it is because a city (naturally speaking) has always been looked upon, and served as a place of refuge, and the center of communication, especially in days of old. Every religion that has ever sprung up anywhere upon the face of this earth, has always had its center of orientation attributed to a city somewhere. I am using this as a natural means to illustrate to you what I mean. in ancient times, when trouble came, where did the people flee to for protection? To the city, for the city was always built with walls that furnished a certain refuge to those who would flee to them, in Hebrews, chapter 12, we have the apostle Paul making reference to something that ties together what I am saying. Admonishing the christians to walk right, and follow after holiness without which no man shall see the Lord; he uses Esau as an example of one who did not place first things first. Then he goes ahead to say, “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest.” Going on to describe the conditions of the children of Israel following Moses out of Egypt, he concludes by saying, “But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.” I am sure you will see why I read that verse; Paul said, (speaking to the New Testament church) you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Yet we realize that we did not make a literal trip to Mount Zion, to get saved. What is Paul talking about then? Before I answer that, let us read two verses from chapter 6 of Hebrews, 17, “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it with an oath: 18, That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have FLED for REFUGE (Notice, FLED FOR REFUGE) to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Like we said, a literal city in days of old, served as a place of refuge for its inhabitants. It was protection against attacking armies as well as wild beasts and other intruders. That is the natural side; now let us look at the spiritual application. Paul says we have come to Mount Zion. On top of Mount Zion in the natural is the literal city of Jerusalem. That was for the Jews, in the natural, their place of refuge, but we have come to the New Jerusalem, that heavenly city which is the church of the firstborn. That is where fallen mankind flees to. For what? Not for physical refuge, but for spiritual refuge, spiritual existence. Spiritually, the church is also the center of activity and communication even as the literal cities of old. As you study this old book you have no trouble establishing the fact that the church is referred to as a city; therefore the false church (the one Satan started, to get people off of the word of God), would also be referred to as a city. Look at apostate christendom the world over; within their walls you will find men in their fallen, unregenerate state sitting there, smoking their cigars, cigarettes, and drinking beer along with every other fallen spirit under the sun. They have opened their doors to everything and anything that might have a desire to join them. No wonder God’s word says she has become the habitation of devils, (18:2) and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. By the hour of fulfillment of these scriptures, Gentile apostate christendom, with Roman Catholicism at the head, in the leadership role, will be so far removed from the spirit of God, that it will truly be filled with every kind of Satanic filth and corruption. It has already got to the place where a decent person is not allowed to make any kind of a statement about homosexuals nor any of the perverted acts of this society, which are all an abomination to God. What happened to a certain well known person when she spoke out against homosexuals teaching little children in the schools is a good example of what our present society is following after. You will all know who I am referring to without calling her name. My point is this though, when people are off of the revelated word, they are open to any slimy spirit from the pit that may come along. Even a group of preachers in Indianapolis, Indiana, came out against this woman. Brothers and sisters: it is bad to lose a job because of certain convictions that must be stood for, but it is ten times worse when a group of, supposed to be, preachers, men who are supposed to be standing for the word of God, turn against you, and hold up for the abominable thing. There is one thing sure though, a true man of God will not com-promise. Neither will you find him selling out to some kind of a religious program. Nevertheless, Babylon is confusion, and certainly this old religious world is in a confused mess with nothing but destruction to look forward to. In the meantime while God is letting their cup of iniquity fill up, all these conditions will continue to grow worse. Then, when the time is right, those Jewish servants will expose it all. Some people think the Jews do not know anything about Catholicism, but let me tell you, some of them have had opportunity to find out just how rotten she really is. On top of that, those two prophets which will prophesy in the first half of the week of Daniel will know all there is to know about that corrupt system. chapters in with verse 8 while we were still there. We said earlier that there are three primary objectives, or duties for the 144,000 servants to perform when they come into their hour. We have covered the first two already, which brings us down to verse 9, where we find a third angel shouting with a loud voice, “If any man worship the beast, and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:” That was the message of the third angel, and like the other two: his words were few, but what he has to say will give the 144,000 a lot of preaching material. They will have been thoroughly taught by the two prophets, so that the angels need do little more than get them started. What the three angels have to say makes up the framework for the everlasting gospel. Naturally as those servants go out into the world with these things burning in their heart, they will be able to preach for hours on these three basic things. Just let your mind take a minute to think how much could be said from the three basic thoughts of the first angel. These men will not just stand up and say FEAR GOD, GIVE HIM GLORY, WORSHIP HIM WHO CREATED ALL THINGS, and then sit down. No, think of all the Bible examples that could be given to show why men ought to fear God, then think of the many reasons to give him glory, and by the time you get through doing that, you will be ready to worship him. Then there will be a time of pronouncing condemnation upon spiritual Babylon, which was the message of the second angel, and after that, after they have finished explaining about the beast system, and the head of that system that will be incarnated by Satan in that hour, I can just hear them saying, “Therefore, brethren, if any of you worship that beast and his image, and receive his mark in your forehead or hand, you will have nothing but the wrath of God to look forward to. It is better to reject him and his evil ways, even at the cost of giving your lives in opposition to him, for at least, in doing so, you will be accepted by the living God.” That is the kind of preaching that will cause many of those Jewish people, and many of the Gentiles known as foolish virgins, to reject the mark of the beast and be martyred.
WORSHIPPING THE BEAST
Many people hear us talk about worshipping the beast and his image, and their thoughts go to literally bowing down before some kind of animal, or a carved image. Brothers and sisters: that is a carnal way to look at the scriptures. For the beast in that hour will be a world system, enforced by unregenerate, fallen mankind. Naturally the head of that system will be an apostate church, and the head of that church will be the antichrist, the son of perdition, the false prophet, all incorporated in the man who has, up until that hour been looked upon as a great world leader, a man of peace. I know this will sound a little strange to some of you, and at first you may not see it clearly, but I beg of you, do not cast it aside until you have asked God to help you understand what we are speaking of. You must face the fact that it is written in the Bible first of all. Then you must surely know that God does not have these things written just to take up space in the Bible. That would be foolish to think God would do such a thing. Now when you have settled that much, then try to realize that we are at the end of the age, and know that, if men of God have not been able to understand the language of the spirit concerning these things, in former days, when they must be for our day. If you will be sincere with God up to this point, He will help you to understand what we are teaching in this message. Now, just to make it a little clearer, let me say it another way. In the last half of the week of Daniel, known as the time of the great tribulation, there will be a one world monetary system, a world political system, a world church, and you will either have to join up with it and be rejected by Almighty God, or you will reject the system and probably be killed as a resistor, but you will find favor with God. Naturally I am not speaking to the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ; she will be gone before then, but perhaps this paper will fall into the hands of some poor soul that will be left behind when the rapture of the bride takes place. This will help you to know what to expect. Remember, the beast is the political system of the world in that hour, and the woman that is sitting upon that beast is the church whose head, or leader will be the antichrist. Naturally, the church will be the voice of authority over the beast political system; therefore the head of the church will be the voice of the whole thing. The image of the beast is the world council of churches, and they also will have to come under the authority of the pope. To worship the image of the beast or the beast is simply just to go along with it, accepting their ways.
WHAT IS THE IMAGE
I realize there are a lot of people who do not like to hear anyone speak against churches. I am sorry you feel like that, but we feel that those who desire to know the truth are entitled to hear it, even if we have to call certain names. He sure of this though, I am not speaking against the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and neither am I saying that this assembly here is all there is of God’s true church, for I realize that God has true disciples scattered all around the globe, but I will tell you one thing for sure; God’s true people will not stay in these apostate, organized systems that are selling out to the devil. I realize that most of us got our start in one of those organized religious systems, but thank God for showing us that we could not stay in them and live, spiritually speaking. If a person will not follow God in truth, there is nothing left for them but to sell out to the devil in one way or the other. In other words, there is no middle ground; you are either on one side or the other. Jesus expressed that when He told His disciples, “If they are not against us, they are on our part.” Now some of you do not want to believe that the World Council of Churches is the image, and is the very reflection of what Roman Catholicism is, but you can be sure of this; the fact that you do not believe it, will not change the reality of it all one bit. When we were involved in Vietnam, it was a group of ministers from the World Council of Churches that protested the decisions of our politicians in Washington; even to the point of trying to send investigators to North Vietnam to see what could be done to stop the war. They were meddling in politics instead of standing for the word of God. The church of the living God, has no business getting her nose stuck in politics, in international affairs. You did not find the early apostles meddling with politics. Imagine Paul, in his day, telling Nero that he ought not to invade such and such a country. You know what would have happened to him. Jesus did not tell us to go into all the world and get wrapped up in politics. His command was to go preach the gospel. The common philosophy today is, get involved, but I do not believe in getting involved. I believe in being an American citizen, and I believe if we love our country we will stand up for it, but I will be an American citizen in the rights of an American citizen; if it calls for a war, then let’s have a war, but let us fight it like a war, fighting to win, and not just play around with it. That is hypocritical in the eyes of God to be fighting about something with no intentions to win. I am thankful to God that he has some people on the face of this earth that, when they go to war, they go with their thoughts fixed on winning at any cost. God bless those Israelites. May they take every inch of ground that God gave to their father, Abraham, and the sooner, the better. God taught them, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, and in my opinion they have some collecting to do. You say, “I don’t believe in capital punishment.There are a lot more like you. That is why the world is in the mess that it is in today. You can not christianize everyone no matter how hard you try. That leaves only one of two things. Either punish the criminal, or let him commit his crimes and go free to repeat them again and again. The law was made for mankind in his fallen state. The man of God does not need the law to keep him straight. All he needs is the word of God to teach him how to live right, and have fellowship with His heavenly Father. It is sad to say, but there is not much spiritual food in the land today. Most all tables are full of vomit, as more and more of the protestant denominations become blinded to truth and turn to shake hands with Rome; giving their time and effort to politics and racial issues instead of the gospel. There was a time when many of the old line denominational churches had a certain amount of truth, but they have all compromised for the sake of trying to please worldly minded church members, until there is no meat left on the bones. All they have now is the skeleton of what once was a people seeking God.
WHEN WILL THE MARK COME?
Concerning the mark of the beast, I want you to realize that such a mark, or number, will not be introduced, or become elec-tive ten years before that final hour arrives. That identifying system will not become a universal thing until after the man of sin has been introduced to the world, and even then it will not be a mandatory thing until the last half of Daniel’s week has arrived. That is when Satan will try to control the whole world by getting the economical strings in his hands through such a system. By then the 144,000 servants of God will be covering the globe with the everlasting gospel, warning people not to have anything to do with that evil system. Romanism controlled every purse string during the time of the Dark Ages, and she will be going all out for a repeat performance in the closing days of this age. I know you will not likely read about it in modern day books, but in the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries, the popes of Rome defied any king to change a decree or law that he instituted. If you can get hold of some of the old books, you can read about it, but you will not find it written in any of the books that are in use today, for this modern generation does not want to hear it. Nevertheless, there was a time when the power of the Papacy controlled the whole European structure. They could close every business establishment there was, at any time. It happened in France, and also in Germany, so do not say that a thing like that can not happen. When the dispensational time clock had advanced to the beginning of the week of Daniel, the Roman Catholic pope, whoever he may be at that time, will begin to be recognized as a great world leader and peacemaker. That is when he makes a peace covenant with many nations for one week, with Israel being one of those nations. You probably could not find a document stating that the covenant was for one week, (7 years) but God is the time keeper, and he says the covenant will be broken by the antichrist, (the Roman pope) in the midst of the week, and that the Jews will be forbidden to go into the temple to offer up sacrifice to Jehovah. “He will cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.” Dan. 9:27. By that time he will have his political, and monetary system in full force. That is when the whole world will feel the squeeze. Revelation 13:16-18, reads like this, “And he (the antichrist) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is SIX HUNDRED THREESCORE AND SIX,” (666). We have already published a couple of articles where we showed a chart of how the pope’s title works out with Roman numerals to be 666, or six hundred and sixty-six, so we will not include the chart in this article, but it is available if you care to request it. When that decree is made in the middle of the week, it will be the signal for the 144,000 to make their move. Please do not be confused if you read in one place where we say that when the two prophets are killed that will be the signal for the 144,000 to move, and in another place you might read that when the antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel, that will start them on the move, and again, like we just said, when he makes the decree that no one may buy or sell without the mark of the beast, that will be their signal, for you must realize that these two prophets have been warning those Jews of all these things, just like I am warning any of you who may not be coming up to the word as you should; therefore, in the middle of the week when these things begin to happen, who can say exactly which event will trigger the move of those men. When you come to realize that that these events are not strung out over a long period, but that they are actually all taking place at about the same time, then you can better understand how any one of these happenings could cause a number of those Jews to know that the expected time has arrived. They will immediately begin to warn the people of the world not to have anything to do with the beast system, saying, “Do not be a partaker of that identifying mark. Have nothing to do with it, for the word of God says, if any of you worship that beast, or receive his mark in your foreheads or in your hand you will have to drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation: (The wine of the wrath of God means, God’s anger.) and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” Naturally, the fire and brimstone is speaking of their final estate, their soulish destruction. Now, who will that pertain to? Those who go ahead and receive the mark of the beast and identify with that ungodly system, so that they can continue to buy groceries and other necessary items.
GOING ALONG WITH THE SYSTEM
Brothers and sisters: can you not see how the unsuspecting man of the world, if he did not have a message being proclaimed by the 144,000 would just go right ahead and do whatever the system demanded? The average person of the world knows very little about these things, and what makes it worse, is that very few professing christians know what is ahead for those who miss the rapture. That is why I say, if it were not for the everlasting gospel, being proclaimed in that hour. When the grocery shelves got empty, and little hungry children begin to cry for something to eat, mother and daddy will do whatever the economic system requires of them. After all this mark will be presented to the population as a materialistic thing, and 9 out of every 10 people would accept it without question if they were not warned to stay away from it. Can you picture what it would be like if no one sounded a warning? You would have millions of people going right along with the system, not knowing that Jesus would be coming in just a few short months. Then when he comes, and fulfills his word, he would have to destroy every one of them because they had the mark of the beast. Then, who would be reigned over in the millennium? The 19th chapter of Revelation tells us that Jesus will come from heaven, riding a white horse, and with him, on white horses, will be his army, (the bride) and out of his mouth will go a sharp two edged sword that will smite the nations. Of course there will be blood shed. There will be blood shed, even before the Lord Jesus returns, for the battle of Armageddon will already be raging, but because of the everlasting gospel, preached by the 144,000 there will be an element of people from all nations, that will escape the wrath of the beast, and by doing so, will also escape the wrath of God, and be carried right over into the millennium.
NEW HEAVEN — NEW EARTH
There are some who believe, even teach, that the whole human race will be annihilated at the end of this age. If that were a fact, then heaven would have to be annihilated too, for the scripture they use is 2 Peter 3:10, where it says that, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” On the strength of that scripture some natural minded people teach complete annihilation of the whole creation without even considering verses 5 through 7 of the same chapter. In this discourse, Peter is reminding the people that, in the last days there shall come scoffers who walk after their own lust, and have little respect for the word of God. Then going into verse 5, he says, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that THEN WAS, being overflowed with water, PERISHED: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” I wanted you to catch the part in verse 6, where Peter said, “The old world which was overflowed with water, PERISHED.” Now you tell me, is this the same world that Noah lived in, or did God completely destroy it and make a new one? We all know that, even though God told Noah He would destroy the wicked flesh along with the earth, and even though Peter referred to the heavens and earth which are now, as though they are different ones, we still know that we are living in the same earth that Noah lived in before the flood. God gave it a baptism of water and cleansed it from all wickedness; thereby causing it to be made new. That is the same terminology which is used in 2 Corinthians 5:17, concerning the new birth, “therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: (NEW CREATURE) old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW.” The flesh is the same flesh as before, but it went through a cleansing process when you received the new birth. Praise God, it will be the same with this old earth; when the baptism of fire hits it, there will be no more sin and corruption. It truly will be made new, but it will still be the same old planet that has stood through the ages, and God will take those people from every nation, that he has spared, as He did Noah and his family, and cause them to repopulate the same earth once again. Yes, Peter said, we look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness; so did Isaiah, but the planet will remain to be the same one. God’s purging fire will burn up everything that is offensive to Him, and by that, all things will be made new. When the bride comes back to rule and reign with Jesus for a thousand years, it will be right back to the same earth, or planet she left when the rapture caught her away. As we said earlier, if God did not have a gospel to preach, and some men to preach it, He would be obligated by His own word to destroy every living soul remaining on the face of the earth, and there would be no one here for King Jesus and his queen (the bride) to rule over, in the millennium, but because there will be a gospel message proclaimed. and because there will be those ordained to believe it, God will spare an element of people from every nation who will pass into the millennium with Christ and His bride.
PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS
We have two more verses here that I want to include in the message, then we will close. Verse 12, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, (JEWS) and the faith of Jesus, (FOOLISH VIRGINS — GENTILES).” The word, SAINTS, in this verse, has no application at all to the bride people. This is strictly pertaining to Jews in dispersion, and Gentile foolish virgins who will have their patience tried during that dark tribulation hour when they will be required by the beast to, either renounce their faith in God or be killed for refusing. Their patience will be tried, but they will not renounce their faith in God. Verse 13, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.” We could paraphrase those two verses like this, “Blessed are those tribulation saints who choose to die, rather than to renounce their faith in God, when their patience is tried by the beast.” This particular scripture can only be applied to that hour of time. We have heard it read at funerals and applied to those who have deceased. Many of them just died a natural death. It is true, they are resting from their labors, but the application of these verses is only to those precious tribulation saints who will be executed, martyred in every fashion imaginable. To them death will be a welcomed deliverance from their sufferings and hardships. You must remember, they will be living in a time when they will not even be able to buy food and clothing and what we call the necessities of life, nor will they be able to sell anything, for they will not take the mark of the beast. I realize there are some folks who claim that we do not need to understand these things, and therefore would not appreciate a message like this, but let me remind you that this book of Revelation, even though it was written by a Jew, and most of it is about the Jews, it still is not to the Jews. The Jews had been in captivity more than 20 years when this letter, or book was written and sent to the seven churches of Asia which were Gentile churches. As I have said many times before, this book is God’s love letter to His bride to be. When I was going with my wife before we were married, there was a time or two when I was not able to keep a date we had planned. On those occasions I wrote a letter of explanation. To her the letter made sense, but if some other girl had gotten hold of one of those letters and read it, she would probably have said, this doesn’t make any sense to me. Why? It wasn’t to her. It could only be understood by the one who was familiar with what was being referred to. That is how this book is, to some who read it. They can not understand the language of it for the simple reason, it is a love letter to the living element of the bride of Jesus Christ here at the end of the age. It has been just like a letter with instructions on the outside of the envelope, “Do not open until such and such a time.” Concerning the book of Revelation, it was, “Not to be understood until the end of the age, and then only by the bride.” Brothers and sisters, we are at the end. The book is opened to our understanding, and it behooves us to line up with the revelation of it, and prepare ourselves to meet the Bridegroom when He comes in the clouds. Not every eye shall behold him then; only those who are ready. Revela-tion 19:7, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and HIS WIFE HATH MADE HERSELF READY.” We must take our own bath (spiritually speaking) and dress ourselves with the revelation of His word. That is what determines whether we are ready or not. May the Lord Jesus Christ be precious to each of you in these days as we anxiously await His return. Amen.
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