I AM SURE MOST OF YOU KNOW THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONAL RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN THE WORLD TODAY, BUT I WONDER HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE EVER STOPPED TO THINK, WHY? HOW CAN THE SAME SCRIPTURES LEAD SO MANY PEOPLE IN SO MANY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS? WHERE IS THE PROBLEM? THE PROBLEM IS THIS, TOO MANY PEOPLE JUST TRY TO INTERPRET THE WORD OF GOD, INSTEAD OF BEING LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE WORD OF TRUTH. THAT IS WHAT THE BIBLE IS, THE WORD OF TRUTH WRITTEN BY MEN WHO WERE INSPIRED OF GOD. YET PEOPLE MISUNDERSTAND AND MISS-APPLY THE WORD OF TRUTH MOSTLY BY HUMAN REASONING AND HUMAN DESIRE TO KNOW SOMETHING OTHERS DO NOT KNOW. WELL EVEN THOUGH ALL OF THIS IS TRUE, THAT DOES NOT MEAN THERE ARE NOT SOME WHO DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT VARIOUS DEBATABLE SCRIPTURES PERTAIN TO, THEREFORE I BELIEVE WE CAN CLEAR UP SOME OF THE MISUNDERSTANDINGS THAT ARE SO WIDELY CIRCULATED AMONG RELIGION TODAY, JUST SIMPLY BY OPENING UP TO GOD AND ALLOWING HIM TO HELP US RIGHTLY DIVIDE HIS WORD. ONE THING WE WILL UNDERSTAND, IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GREAT TRIBULATION, AND THE GREAT TRIBULATION.

Let us open our Bibles to Revelation 7:1-8. We see in the first part of this chapter down through verse 8, that the two prophets have already appeared on the scene in Israel, as described in chapter 11, which naturally is in the first half of the seventieth week of Daniel’s seventy weeks. It is through their ministry, that the 144,000 servants of God are sealed. That is in the first three and one half years, that is this period right here. (Pointing to chart which shows a time line) in that period of time, there are 144,000 Jewish, young men sealed by the Spirit of God, to be used in the last half of that week. We know because of what is contained in the 12^th chapter, that it is during that same period of time that the woman in the 12^th chapter is also instructed by the two prophets, as to what to do when they see the antichrist come to Jerusalem and sit himself up in the Jewish Temple, after having killed these same two prophets we want to notice especially, this 144,000 servants of God that are sealed, that they were alive at the time of John seeing them. They were on earth. In the 9^th verse it says, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, (notice the position where they were, before the throne) clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” We know by the revelation of the 5^th seal, that those Jews that were killed in the hour of Hitler’s great holocaust, after their spirits are already in heaven, it is then that they are given white robes. My reason for saying that, is because it stands out so vividly that this great multitude John saw there were all arrayed in white robes. They were not all from Hitler’s holocaust though; Notice what it says here in verse 10, “And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, Saying, Amen: Blessings, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.” We are using this great multitude that we have just read about, because in days gone by I used to take it for granted that these are the great multitude that give their lives in martyrdom going through the dark tribulation hour in the last half of the week of Daniel. That is not true. Do not let that confuse you because we are going to explain the difference. That multitude John saw back there have not had any part in the seventieth week of Daniel: They were already dead at the time they were seen there: they are not on earth. That is their spirits before the throne of God. Notice the position of these white robed people. The Bible is not a book written, just to throw a remark here and remark there: Oh no, God’s word is precise. Every objective or picture or detail about it has a meaning. We are going to prove to you as we go through this message, that this multitude did not come up out of the great tribulation that is still ahead of where we are living, yet they did come through great tribulation in their hour of time on earth. You have got to know some history, to even talk about this. We will say this though, The gospel was not written to build some as foolish virgins, some others as wise virgins, and some others as just barely making it by the skin of their teeth, (so to speak). The whole gospel story is a complete revelation of the grace of God sent forth in to the earth, through which God would redeem out of fallen mankind a people from all nations, a people that He can mold and fashion into the image of His Son. Jesus is the firstborn, and we being many, are born again to be molded into His very image. That is not a work that takes place the first day you believe. It is a process of yielding to the Spirit of God and allowing Him to lead us, and little by little, being led by the Spirit, we become more like Him as time goes on.

LETTING THE WORD OF GOD TEACH US

In order to approach this message properly, we have to take a look at some of the seven seals. We are not preaching on the seals, but we do have to show what these certain seals produced in their time factor. First let me explain the lines on the chart we are using, for the benefit of those who will view the video. The green line is the time line that runs right straight on through the Millennium to the end. The red line starts with the death of Abel. He is the first one this red line pertains to. In that B.C. period, that is the line that all the saintly people had to go into. It is when we come to the A.D. period, and grace has been provided by the Creator, through the death of His Son, that God’s objective is that out of all the races of people on the earth, He will redeem to Himself a Bride for His Son. That Bride is the highest calling of God in Christ Jesus that any mortal soul can be lifted to. Knowing that, we also know and understand that not every person that has lived and died within this period of time, from back then until now, is going to be in that high calling of God. We have got to take every parable, and every passage of scripture that gives us a little glimpse of the ultimate picture and allow the Holy Spirit to put them together for us. It is not confusing, it is just that it has been constructed in a way that the world of religion out here can never know what we know. I would not know anything myself, if it were not for the grace of God and the mercy He has shown me. I am thankful from the depths of my soul for what He has revealed to us in this hour of time. Revelation sweeps out a lot of superstition and confusion that we everyone grew up with. I will say to you at this time, that by the grace of God, I am going to prove to you that those saints that are martyred in this dark tribulation time just ahead, called the great tribulation, are not in that great multitude yet, that John described in chapter 7. They are only in the great multitude seen over here in chapter 20, as the resurrection takes place at the end of that great tribulation. That resurrection, brings up all that are represented by the red line on our chart, all that have white robes, no matter what their heavenly position is. With this in mind, let us look at the seals. We know that the first seal, when it was opened, revealed to us the true identity of that white horse rider, and I must say this, It was not opened in 96 A.D. It was only seen that way so it could be written in the Bible for a generation later on. All of this, from chapter 4 on, is related to the end time. You cannot even read Roman history in the Middle Ages in the book of Revelation, it only refers back to the beast that was. You have to go to the pages of history written much later, to see what the Roman Empire really did evolve from, and what it evolved into. We will say this, When the revelation of chapters 4, 5 and 6, came, the chapters that contain the seals and how heaven looked, it was only after God’s prophet to this Age was used to reveal them, because the seals standing alone had no revelational meaning to the inhabitants of the Age that are destined to be affected by the fulfillment of them. No. Not until there was a voice on earth that God would project the meaning through. Have you noticed, that around the throne there were four beasts? The first was a lion, the second was an ox, the third was the face of a man. And the last, the fourth, was an eagle. When the first seal was opened John heard the first beast say, Come and see. He heard the second and the third beast say the same thing, but when we come to the fourth seal, John heard the VOICE of the fourth beast say, Come and see. For the first three, he did not mention hearing a voice, but when the fourth seal was opened he heard THE VOICE OF THE FOURTH BEAST say, Come and see. I just want you to take note here, that the word voice, stands out. That lets us know that God would have to have an instrument on earth that would be a voice. We know also, that the last beast was like a flying eagle. Well we know we are right now living in the part of this dispensation when the effects of that fourth seal, the pale horse rider, is being applied. The pale horse rider has been doing his dirty work right on through the years, even while the effects of the other riders were still being felt. With this in mind, just remember, we cannot say the first seal affects, which were of the white horse, ended after so many years and that was the end of it. If you would look into the pages of history, you would not find history written like that. All these things have an overlapping application. As something begins to fade here, something begins to appear here. When the second seal application begins to be effective, that ox beast speaks of an object of sacrifice which shows that as the people move into the second age, the age when the red horse rider was riding, there is going to be a blood bath. Keep in mind though, that the Catholic Church had not yet come into the picture. It was that evil, Roman, pagan empire that took such great pleasure in human sacrifices just for the sake of entertainment. The devil worked in that old pagan empire, trying his very best to liquidate, annihilate the whole realm of Christendom. We can say this, That ox head was a symbol that the power of God was going to manifest itself to the earthly believer, and as they would be faced with this terrible beastly system and be brought to the arenas to be subjected to some horrible means of death, the power of God would be on hand to give them grace to bear it. Death ran rampant: It was like a never ending cycle. Are we saying that those people are the only ones that ever experienced this kind of grace? You have to go to history to see the entire picture. How was this manifested? If you read the anti-Nicene fathers, or Fox’s book of Martyrs, you will find many of those people had just been converted from paganism. They had not had a chance to live six months to grow in the grace and knowledge of God: Some were martyred immediately. When that Roman Empire began to round them up by the hundreds and bring them into the arena where they would die, some were burned at the stake and others were fed to wild beasts. Histories declare the grace of God, the power of God would come down upon those victims of that terrible hour of death and the anointing of God would be so strong upon them, that instead of the spectators hearing screams of anguish and pleading to be spared, they heard just the opposite, like, Hallelujah! Glory to God! And many of them began to sing praises unto the Lord. In one particular setting in history, the arenas were full of spectators, people were being burned at the stake, and instead of the spectators hearing the people screaming as the flames were leaping all around them, they heard them singing praise unto the Lord. Suddenly something got on the spectators who were watching the great spectacle and they began to jump to their feet and run into the arena yelling, I want to die like these. They took their places beside them and burned, while shouting and praising God. We can say this, God gave people grace to die, and they never felt any pain. The anointing of God upon them gave them such joy they did not even consider death nor pain.

GRACE TO LIVE BY – GRACE TO DIE BY

Knowing how God intervened on behalf of martyrs we have read about in history, are we going to say, Well that is the only element of people that ever died like that? No. Let us back up some, back to the beginning of Christianity, under the first seal. Who was the first martyr? Stephen. Did God give him grace to die? He sure did. When that hypocritical bunch of Jews began to stone Stephen, bashing his head in, did anyone hear Stephen saying, Oh, that hurts? No. What did they hear out of him? Was it not, I see Jesus standing on the right hand of the Father, Hallelujah? The more they bashed, the more he spoke out what he say. Therefore we can say, God has always been present to give grace to His people, no matter what hour of time it might have been. Even though you would have to say, Yes, that second age in the annals of Roman history, would go down as one of the most bloody, and the most cruel hour of seeing human beings suffer, as far as I know, that has ever been written about even though there have been many others. Do not ever think all kinds of martyrdom ceased back there. What was the devil’s objective? It is a proven fact, he tried to send down the road enough false prophets and false teachers, with their false revelations, to overthrow the entire plan of God: That is why that white horse rider appeared like he did, but that was not possible, because the great plan of God had already allowed for all that the devil would do. We see in history, how God cause those believers to be anointed with that lion spirit. What is the nature of a lion? You just simply cannot slip up on a lion. Try it, and you will see that he has better hearing than you. He has better smell than you have. Why is it characterized like that? The Holy Ghost is watching out for you. When you go that way, He is looking behind you. Do you understand my point? He knows the devil is after you. He knows the devil is going to try to trick you. That is why, in that first age, those apostles wrote their epistles like they did. Look at John, in the little epistle called 1^st John, how he wrote, Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit. It is that alertness, so always be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. That is how that first age of Christendom was able to survive the onslaught of the evil one.

LIFE AND DEATH UNDER THE CALF SPIRIT

As we move on from that first age, the devil could see that he was not going to be able to destroy the Church by that kind of deception, so coming on into the next age, there is where he tries to kill them all by other means. The more he killed, the more others because converted. Keep in mind as we look at that great multitude in chapter 7, that it says they came up out of great tribulation. If you had all the histories that have been written concerning that hour of time, you would find that many of those saintly people that stood there in those arenas awaiting their fate, had not even been given chance to live a year after their conversion. When we come to the parables about the talents, and about the yielding of the fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold, we have to realize, that pertains to those who have had opportunity to walk with the lord and grow in His grace and knowledge. You do not take a man that is saved today, even though he is baptized with the Holy Ghost, if he should have a car wreck tonight and die, do not tell me that God is going to look at him from the standpoint of his talents or how many fold of fruit he should have borne. He has had no chance to live a fruit bearing Christian life yet. That is what we have to look at. My point is, There was a great multitude that died like that. With this in mind then, when we go to the third horse rider, here is where we see the face of a man on this beast, so we are not only entering the Dark Age period of what Catholicism was and is, but we see how God would raise up men, right there within the hour of Catholicism, to stand for truth as it was revealed to them. Those men who lived in the Catholic ranks, god used many of them to try to bring a revival to the Catholic Church, but the Catholic hierarchy absolutely snuffed out their lives. Then as we come closer to the Reformation period, it was the wisdom of men against that old antichrist spirit. You can take the writings of the anti-Nicene fathers, and there are certain parts of those volumes that have letters written by some of those men that lived in that hour, letters they wrote to magistrates and kings when they were arrested. They questioned the governors and magistrates, as to why they had been accused of such and such, when they were not guilty of it. Some of the letters they wrote were written with such wisdom, you would have to recognize the hand of God in them. The dark age of that black horse rider was a long period of time, but did martyrdom cease? No. It did not cease, but martyrdom came in different ways. When the rider changed from a red to a black horse, we look at that black horse rider, how it symbolizes the power of darkness associated with the Catholic Church as it existed in that period, and as the devil in it caused the Catholic Church to change the gospel into certain ceremonies, creeds and rituals until the true revelation of the word of God was almost lost. They sold it, but there was no life in it. As we look at the Catholic Church system itself I ask you, Did martyrdom cease? It did not. When we come into the thirteenth century, going into the fourteenth century, in the country of Spain, was the Spanish Inquisition. That Catholic Church was in power. The old imperial ship of Rome had ceased from being on the caesars, but by now it is on the papal chair (in the Dark Ages). That Spanish Inquisition put hundreds of Christians as well as Jews into these tribunal courts. Some will say, But Bro. Jackson, why did it say they come out of great tribulation? If you have never read history, then you would not necessarily know what tribulation is. I am going to ask you a question. Do you want me to tell you how some people died in the Spanish Inquisition? It is very sickening to think about. In the house where we used to live, before we built the one we now live in now, (that house was owned by some people, two brothers, which were Masons.) There was a bookcase that had an old history book in it. Do not ever think the Masons did not study Catholicism. I assure you, they did. This book was written about the Spanish Inquisition. They had the torture table. That was where they would lay you, tie your hands to a wench and your feet to a fixed point. Then huge burly type men would get hold of the crank and start turning. The idea was to break ever joint, pull every fiber of your being completely apart. That was only one way they tortured. There were some others I do not even like to tell about. You might think the Roman Empire was cruel, but the Catholic Church was just as cruel as they were. They thought of every device that could be thought of. It was known that they would take men and women that they had brought into their tribunal for the purpose of making them recant, and if they did not recant, they would take all their clothes off, take a knife and run that into their body openings. They would cut it enough to insert a big post. Then they would push that post into that opening, take an ox and pull that body down over that post, and then stick that post in a hole in the ground. Does that sound like anything you want to think much about? Does that sound like tribulation to you? That is the only reason I am telling some of these things: I want you to realize there has already been many times of great tribulation on this earth. What does it matter whether you die in a gas chamber, or by a cruel method like that: it is all in the category of tribulation. Jewish women as well as Christian women that were expecting children, they would cut their stomachs open with a knife, take their infant out and feed it to the swine. That was what went on in the Spanish Inquisition. The Catholic Church liked to hear their victims scream. That is where a lot of those saints became a part of that great multitude. Do you understand my point? We know this, that the black horse rider rode the longest of any of them. There were high peaks of history, and there were low peaks of history. As the Reformation started in Europe, martyrdom seemed to begin to move to a low level. Then we come to another hour just before the Reformation really did get on fire. Look what happened in the hour of Joan of Arc. She was part of the Catholic Church system, but not a dedicated one. The French country was taking a beating from the invasion by the British. The leadership of France had ceased to be like it should be. Their military men were afraid, but God dealt with this young girl by the name of Joan of Arc, and He began to give her visions of how to lead and speak, and direct the French leadership. That takes your mind back to the hour you read about in the book of Judges, how in Israel, when there was a woman leader by the name of Deborah, that God dealt with like that. Where was Israel spiritually at that time? She was in apostasy. I will say this today, Look at America, how she has more women in government, and how she is in an apostate condition, and at an all time low level spiritually. It is going to stay that way until God changes the whole picture. When I read about Joan of Arc, I noticed how God would give her a vision, letting her see certain leaders, and she would go and tell them exactly what tactics to use, how to line up the military and all. It was through her visions, as they moved accordingly, that France was able to come forth victorious. The Catholic Church hated, literally despised her, and called her a witch. We must keep in mind though, when God has a nation of people that reach an all time low in apostasy, He can use a mule if He needs to, in order to fulfill His purpose. He did use a mule, or donkey when dealing with old Balaam. We have to be sensible enough to recognize these points in history. When we look at this black horse rider, how that rider influenced the world with that old Catholic dogma and creeds, it makes you realize what the Reformation actually accomplished for some. That old spirit carried right straight on through the centuries though. Not everyone was delivered from it. Look at the continent of South America, a continent that has come fully under the control of that Catholic system. No wonder those nations are broke. No wonder their societies are living in poverty: The Catholic Church has never stood for anything that would bring success to its constituents. It sure was not the Catholic Church that made the United States of America the great nation it became. If it had not been for those Protestants leaving Europe and coming over here to seek a better life, and out of a wilderness hacking out places to build villages and mountain cabins, and embracing the Reformation, the United States would not have been a bit more than South America has been. Remember, it all comes down to this, Jesus said, Seek ye first the kingdom of god and His righteousness and all these other things will be given you. That is the key, to seek God first, desiring to walk with Him in righteousness. That is what happened with the early Pilgrims that came here. They sought God first, and put all the material things second, third and so forth. Out of a wilderness they built their log cabins and lived on dirt floors, rode horse back, or traveled on ox carts, because they were living on a continent where they felt free to worship God according to the dictates of their own heart. I have to say, even though it may sound like I am bragging, that when you look at all the modern achievements of things that modern man today, the world over, is enjoying, whether it is radio, television, cars, the automatic washing machine, or whatever, the greater percentage of all of this has been designed and built right here in North America. That does not mean the rest of the world does not have the same things, but right here in this country, is where the groundwork, the original blueprints originated. Because this nation was one that put God first, then God could use those men that had the technology and the ability, to invent things that would benefit mankind. I have to say, Though modern technology got most of its roots right here in America, and much of it is what our nation became known by, I am persuaded that she has just about reached the end of her rope. She has become an apostate nation in most every way, and if you say anything in a public place about God, and about getting back to the old groundwork of things, it is almost like you have said a bad word. We don’t want you talking about God around here, is the familiar cry of our day. We don’t want Jesus Christ mentioned around here, as being the only way to God: We all have a right to choose our own religion, but we do not want to mix religion in with politics. We have to keep church and state separate. Yes Saints, we hear that kind of talk just about every day, and that kind of attitude is the very reason why crime is out of control in our generation. You cannot push God out of your schools and businesses without paying a great price for those actions later on. Those who say, Let’s get this thing of religion out of the picture, are going to pay a great price for their attitude one day. I have to say, That is why we have a crime situation that is out of control. That is why we have child abuse, spouse abuse, and all kinds of abuse and excesses in just about everything. We used to have th John Dillinger type of gangsters, but we also had law enforcement officers that were capable and willing to deal with them. Now we have everything from eleven year old to eighteen year old youths running loose, that are more dangerous to our society than John Dillinger ever was. He was a saint compared to this bunch of rascals out here on our streets today At least they did not just drive down the road shooting at anything they saw. This bunch of lawless characters out here today, could not care less who they shoot at, a little child, and old person or who. When someone really does try to understand them they hear, Well I learned it on TV. I learned it from the entertainment world and all like that. If you say anything to the entertainment world to try to get them to stop that kind of stuff, they say, Well we believe in freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Of course they do, and I say to them, Then you will go to hell along with all who dedicate themselves to this sort of thing.

FOURTH HORSE RIDER

When we come to that fourth horse rider, the pale, or gray horse, we find that rider riding right on out to the end of the age, right on through the other seals. You who see the chart we are using, can see that we have the fifth, the fourth, and the seventh in time relationship but they do not come in order. We know the revelation of the fifth seal is: that it pertains to those Jews that suffered and died in the hour of Hitler’s holocaust. When God used Bro. William Branham to bring that revelation to this age, we were made to understand, that not all of that six million Jews died as saints. I have no idea at all, as to how many of them died as a saintly Jew. I just have to say, In the mind of God, there were many of them. Where were they when John saw them? When you read the fifth seal, you find that they were seen under the altar in heaven. Notice the position, under the altar, so they were not in that multitude that I just read about in chapter 7. That multitude was seen standing before the throne. The throne and the altar speak of two different relationships. It is where those in heaven are seen, that identifies where they belong in time, so with that in mind, those under the altar were Jews. They come under the fifth seal, but while that was going on, the fourth seal had not yet been applied. We know this, Seal one, two, three and four are four riders or different colored horses, but in reality all four riders are of the same source. I will prove to you in this message, that the riders of these four horses are related from the beginning of the gospel era, up until the ending of the gospel era. This fourth horse rider, it says in one translation, it is a pale horse he is riding. Most of you have seen different colors of horses. There really isn’t any such thing as a pale horse, because that would mean you were looking at one that has no hair. When you use the term pale in a medical term, you are looking at someone or something that has lost the coloration of his face, the blood is all gone and you say he has a pale look, meaning lifeless. How many understand me? So the true translation would have to be that it is a gray horse. It is a fact that some gray horses, when they are standing at a distance, the way the sunlight hits their coat, they almost look like they are white, because the light pulls the white out. Here is the point, this fourth horse rider, as Bro. William Branham brought out and described it, is a gray horse. At that time he did not say that it was riding, but I am going to say this, No sooner had God taken him off the scene in 1965, and we come to 1966, 1967 and along through there, that the gray horse rider began to ride. What was the first and primary motivation of this gray horse? It is a combination of Catholicism and Protestantism, united under Ecumenicalism, and that thing began to manifest itself all over this globe. I believe it was in Toronto Canada, back in the late 1960’s, there was a Catholic meeting in which people were supposed to be receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, and there were Catholic nuns ministering to the people for this. Also in the 1960’s, up here at Notre Dame in Indiana, which is a Catholic college, for a few short weeks, there was a revival broke out among some of the Catholic students. That is the last that has been heard, because since the U.S. Supreme Court has taken prayer out of the schools, and taken Bibles out of the schools, they don’t do anything like that in the universities any more. From that time on, whether it is in Louisiana, or Texas, or where, the ecumenical spirit has absolutely galloped all over this world, uniting Catholics, Protestants, and all those who have no revelation of the time they are living in. They have no understanding of Biblical prophecy. What is it doing? It is uniting the tares in bundles, getting them ready for the judgment day. Does that mean that everything that has went on since then is negative? Absolutely not. Look at all these young people here and other places, how the Lord has dealt with them. They have everyone been born since that pale horse has been riding. I know a lot of people that have just found the Lord in the last twenty five years, and some just lately. The point is this, We are living under the effects of that fourth horse rider. We know this, The end of that fourth horse rider is going to absolutely bring death, and hell to the world, as well as that bunch of foolish virgins and Jews that are to be killed by the effects of that beastly system. You hear preachers today, talking about the New World Order, That it is going to be the beast, it is going to be this or that. On and on they go like that, because they have no revelation whatsoever. All they can do is just speculate. When you read about that fourth horse rider, he is only given power over one fourth part of the earth. Does that include China? Does that include the Orients? No. It means that part of the world where that European beast system is located. I have said this all along, Whatever some may think the beast system is, when you come to the place where you try to make China tow the mark, they will spit in your face. That is why I have to say, The only beast that is going to rise, has already risen and is on the scene today. It just hasn’t been anointed yet, because the right conditions are not ready for it yet. Everything is all in place already, so it is just a matter of time. With this in mind we can say, While we are still living here under the dispensation of this fourth seal, we need to keep our spiritual eyes and ears very alert and not allow the devil to slip up on us with any of his deceiving tactics. It has a very short duration now, because as it began back here in the 1960’s, it terminates right over here in the week of tribulation. That means during this period of time, God is selecting, weeding out, sifting out, perfecting His Bride, getting her ready to leave this world. Those that are destined to be foolish virgins, are absolutely going to just sleep right on spiritually, until it is too late for them to be anything else. They are haphazardly watching things go by. When the hour of time comes that God takes His Bride out of here, then the world, time wise, has come to the approaches of the week of Daniel. Does anything we have said annul the reality of this fifth seal? Absolutely not: Keep in mind, it was told to them that had already been martyred under the fifth seal, Rest a little season until your fellow brethren and fellow servants are killed in the same manner that you were. So now there has to be a reason why the fifth seal looks ahead to receive the martyred souls of those that are Jews in this period of time. Let me go back though, to periods prior to Hitler’s hour. Bro. Jackson, are you really saying there are Jews that were killed in the Spanish Inquisition, that are in this great multitude also. I have to say, those that I have read about, that died in the Spanish Inquisition, they died just as torturous a death, as any Jews that is facing this hour, could possibly die. Notice what it says here under the fourth seal, and power was given until him that he should kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, and with wild beasts. The sword speaks of their kind of capital punishment. But hunger speaks of famine, right? With death, crippling virus diseases. What does it tell you in Matthew 24? Did not Jesus say, And there will be famines, earthquakes, pestilence in divers places? The world medical system right now, knows there are already certain viruses appearing on the horizon of the medical science, and they say, If we cannot keep this back, God help us. For the time would come that it could wipe out total continents. When you look back between the 12^th and 13^th centuries in Europe, when the black plague was running rampant, there were a lot of places in Europe, that it took everybody in the village. Bro. Strom men told me there are two villages in Norway today, one is named after the only man that was left alive. The other is named after the only woman that was left alive. That is when that black plague hit. Medical science has somehow or other come along with these vaccines that pretty well curtail such as this, but do not ever think that these things cannot still come upon the scene. God is going to allow them to be used, because He is going to show the earth, I am still God, I still rule from the heavens, and I can do whatever it takes to fulfill my purpose. With this in mind, the fifth seal still hangs over this area for the last part of its fulfillment. The fourth seal still hangs here, because the Bride is being made ready under this seal, and at the same time, the tares are being bound together for burning. Now please do not misunderstand me, I am not saying that everything within the organized system of religion is a tare. We have to remember that the foolish virgins are caught up in all this denominational religion you see displayed all around you. The reason I am taking this approach, is because time moves from left to right on our chart. Nothing comes from this direction. Everything that has been going on from this point, (where Jesus was crucified) is dealing with the soul of man, to give him an opportunity to make a choice, a choice to accept his salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Naturally we know he is not going to live forever. Sooner or later he has to take his place within the realm of death. Either he is going to fall in this red category (as we show on the chart) or he is going to fall in this blue line. According to the scriptures, the blue line represents all those that are seen wearing white linen. They are bride saints.

PARTIAL RESURRECTION

At this time, let us go back to the seventh chapter of Revelation, where we read about this great multitude that has come out of great tribulation. I have said this, Back here, when Jesus rose from the tomb, it says many of them that slept in the graves came forth and appeared in the city. That does not mean every Old Testament saint that had died since the day of Abel, all the way down to that hour, arose and came into Jerusalem. A lot of those Old Testament saints are buried all over the entire area of the Middle East, because that is where they lived. On the other hand, those Jews that had died in the perimeter of Jerusalem, it says they came forth and appeared in the city. This was done to show that among the dead, those that have been held captive in paradise of hell, something has happened that changed that situation. There has been a partial resurrection. A lot of people say, Well, I can see just a few resurrected, but I cannot see a lot, all because they go to a verse of scripture in the book of Acts where it says, concerning King David, and his tomb is with us today. Sure his tomb is. I know where the tomb is. The Upper Room is over it. That is where the early disciples were told to go and wait for the promise of the Father. It was sort of like a civic center. The tomb was downstairs. It was a sacred place. There was a big room upstairs: That is what they rented for social gatherings. When it says, and many of them that slept in the graves came forth, does that mean the tombstone was turned upside down? No. Does that mean there is a pile of dirt laying there? No. Immortality has absolutely defeated death, so the tombs are still there, but I have my doubts you would see any bones there. According to Matthew 27:51-53, that is what it says. But when we come to the hour of the apostle Paul, he is the one that clinches it. He speaks like this, He that ascended, went up, is the same that ascended, went up, is the same that descended, went up, is the same that descended first in the lower parts of the earth, when He went down into hell. Hell, at that time, had two categories, paradise and torment. What does the scripture say? He went into hell and preached to the imprisoned spirits. He preached to both categories. He gave testimony as to why they were there. When He came forth from there, those saints that were held captive in paradise were taken out of there: That is why Davie the psalmist said, as he looked down the corridor of time and saw that his body could rest in hope, For I know that He will not leave my soul in hell, neither shall He suffer thy holy One to see corruption. So when Jesus was crucified, and His body went into the tomb, it never got to the point where it stank. When He came forth from that tomb, there is where David’s hope and everything lay. Therefore our point is, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 4, He that ascended is the same that descended first. He went down into hell, down into that part called paradise, and now that the proper atonement has been paid, He set those captives free and took them to glory with Him. So right there, was a resurrection of those old testament saints, because they are laying in this line. That did not stop that category. That category keeps coming right on.

WHAT ABOUT THE RAPTURE?

I want to cover some important points at this time. First though, let me say this, The seventh seal, when we are talking about numerical equations and things, seven follows six, but it is not so in the revelation of these seals. The Church is raptured under that seventh seal, because the revelation of what the seventh seal is, being followed by those seven thunders, makes it imminent that the Church be raptured. Now we have separated this blue line where the rapture takes place, so you can distinguish it from the black line, which marks the beginning of the week of Daniel. How many of your charismatic type preachers today, the ones you hear on television, John Haggle and all the rest of them, that say the rapture could take place just any time, really know anything about what they try to major on They make it sound like Christian pilots will be flying 747’s, driving buses, and all such, and they go on down the line making it look like those Christians are going to be taken, and the plane or bus or train just left to run by itself until it crashes somewhere. It is not going to be that way. That is the way they look at it, because they allow their imagination to run wild. The point is, when we get down here, if Paul can say this and be positive, then Paul is positive about when the raptures is going to be also. Look what he said in the 15^th chapter of 1^st Corinthians, “Beloved we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.” Then in 1^st Thessalonians he tells us again, “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that those that are asleep, we shall not prevent them, for the Lord shall descend from heaven first with a shout:” (He has already done that.) Then the voice of the archangel, that is coming in this seventh seal. And the trump of God, which is for the dead, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which remain alive shall be caught up with Him in the clouds and forever be with Him. When? Well Dr. So and So said it could be just any time. That is plain nonsense. That comes right here, to what Paul said in 2^nd Thessalonians, chapter 2. What he said in the first letter, now it is a necessity that he write the second letter, concerning the coming of the Lord and our gathering together, or being caught up to meet Him, that, that day shall not come except there be a falling away first. Now I too was caught up in this old theological meaning of the falling away, apostasy. Ever since I cam home from WW2, there has been an apostate spirit in the realm of world religion and it stinks. But look at the world today, politically and domestically, how there is absolutely an anti-God spirit within the whole of them. They want to shut up every mouth piece, so the actual Hebrew translation is, That day shall not come except there be an open rebellion first. It is like that in every nation on the face of this earth. Don’t talk about God around here! The U.N., that they all harp about is just a decoy. Cold, dead denominational churches just go right on entertaining each other, but they have no more revelation than a hound dog trotting down the highway. While society has gone beyond going to church, they have educated their young people to live like devils, think like the devil, act like the devil, talk like devils, until they have lost all traces of common decency. They have lost all respect for that which should be respected, they have no manners and no principles. They do not eve know how to talk to human beings. They would consider it a shame to say, Thank you Sir. Why should anyone say that? It show you have manners. When you get to the place where you cannot have proper respect for other human beings and regard them for what they are, I have to say, you are no more than an animal. I have horses that treat me better than that. At least they will nudge me on the shoulder. When Jesus said these words, When I come, will I find faith on earth, what did He mean? Sure there is a lot of so called faith, but will you find very many people that really believe in God the way the scriptures teach faith? They take their polls and say, We found that 67% believe in God. Oh do they? Start talking about the mercy and grace of God when you are around them and see what happens: They will walk away and leave you talking to yourself. There is an altogether different spirit prevailing on today’s society: Things are not like they were sixty years ago. We are living in an hour when the political, the military, and the economic factors of society are all in the hands of Satan. It is all being controlled by him. From the standpoint of the Jewish people, those that want God to come upon the scene and show His miraculous power, and give back their country, their holy city and their dignity, all they are getting is a sell out by their own leaders. When Barak was over here talking to Clinton, and talking about how they would not get together on Saturday, because that is the Jewish Sabbath, what good is the Sabbath going to do any Jew, when he has no other revelation to go with it? He turns right around and sells his constituents down the drain. No wonder the Palestinians are able to take advantage of them and try to cut them off from this village or that village, shoot at them, harass them and even kill certain ones. Those Palestinians have really got the psychology built up. They send their little kids out to talk to Israeli soldiers, and the little smart alecks are agitated by their parents, Go on and throw some rocks, throw a fire bomb, throw a smoke bomb, agitate them, aggravate them, irritate them and if you get the chance, kill them. But Bro. Jackson, it looks so bad when those Jewish soldiers shoot at those children. From one way you might look at it, Yes, but the way God looks at it is a different story altogether: When God turns that army of Israel loose one day soon, it is going to look worse than when Israel went into the walls of Jericho. God told them back then, Don’t save one of them alive except Rahab and her family. Kill both old and young. You may say, but times have changed. Well God has not changed: When He says, The day of my vengeance is at hand, Look out. There are many scriptures dealing with the Lord’s vengeance, so even though He is a God of mercy and grace to those who acknowledge Him, He is a God of vengeance to those who reject Him and harm His chosen seed. Therefore knowing all these things we have talked about already, we know there is going to be some more Jews die right here (in the seventieth week of Daniel). Time is bringing that from the left to the right on the chart we are using. Time is bringing the foolish virgins from the left to the right. Right there, (in the week of Daniel) is where they are going to meet their martyrdom. Right now, let us look again at this great multitude. Why was John shown that great multitude at this point (in chapter seven)? Because the rapture has just taken place. This multitude was in white robes, but it is there spirit that is in heaven in that scene. In the 19^th chapter, it is the resurrected Bride that is seen in heaven, and they are in glorified bodies because they are robed in white linen. That is why John saw them there, but he was not shown how she got there. Keep that in mind, saints: It was the apostle Paul, who, by what he wrote, timed it with the manifestation of the man of sin. Therefore what Paul taught in 1^st Corinthians 15, then in 1^st Thessalonians, and in 2^nd Thessalonians, concerns the rapture of the bride Church. That of course is the second part of the first resurrection, when those white linen robed people (the bride) are taken up, and that eliminates the need for that blue line on our chart, because there will be no one left on earth represented in it. That great multitude is still moving along on this red line. So when we get in the red line, those foolish virgins that are killed because of their faith, this is where they meet death (in the week of Daniel). Also, those Jews that live and then die for their faith in God, that is where they meet death. Both Jews and Foolish Virgins are going to be killed because of their faith in God, when the antichrist sits himself up in the Jews’ temple in Jerusalem. He will endeavor to rid the earth of everyone who does not bow down to him. That is when the reality of the mark of the beast stands in the forefront, and those who receive it are damned and doomed.

THE SIXTH SEAL

Now let us look at the sixth seal. It overshadows this period. The two prophets of chapter 11, coming from this side (the first half of the week where they were the one’s that told the 144,000 the good news and brought about their sealing with the Spirit of God), are killed in the middle of the week. They are also the one’s that tell the woman the good news, so that when the middle of the week does come, and they kill the two prophets because they came from this side (on our chart) into the last half of that week, she will know it is time to flee into the wilderness. That is when the 144,000 servants that have been sealed, will flee also and go to the Gentile nations, where they will preach the everlasting gospel, both to Jews in dispersion, as well as to foolish virgins. They are not preaching to dead people: They are preaching to people that are still living out there in every part of the world. That 144,000 will preach to the nations, and the woman element of Jews that have been sealed by the ministry of the two prophets, will have fled into her place of hiding, because those prophets will have told them where, and when to go, to escape the wrath of the beast, the antichrist. Read the 12^th chapter. They are taken somewhere to hide, and it definitely will not be in the ancient city of Petra. When that Israeli army gets through with Moab, I would not give you a dime for that canyon, as a place to hide. The point is this, somewhere in this world, God has a nation and a people that He has prepared to hide those fleeing Jews which are referred to as the woman. Maybe right now, that may not look like it will be possible, but remember, in the 12^th chapter, when that time comes, (which is in the middle of that week) and that woman flees into the wilderness, to that place that has already been prepared, God is the ONE that will have prepared the people and the place for that purpose. For those who still insist on Petra, as the place where God will hide the woman element of those Jews that flee from Israel, I just want to tell you, You cannot make the Bible read like that. It plainly tells you in the 12^th chapter of Revelation, and there they fed her. Who are the they, it refers to? Of course it pertains to certain people, and it has to be in a place where those that flee into it, will be safe from harm, and a place where the people living there will minister to their needs. I have to say, The 144,000 that preach the everlasting gospel in all nations will be protected by their God, but those Jews and Gentiles that take heed to their preaching will die for their faith, but they will be resurrected to life. That will be Gentile foolish virgins, and the other element of Jews that are to die just like those we saw under the 5^th seal. They are going to die right in here, (in the last half of the week of Daniel) Do not be confused though, because those that are enlightened, which are the 144,000, and the woman of chapter 12, will never be martyred. They are given everlasting longevity of life. Does that make sense? Why is that? Because that Jewish nation has to have something to repopulate the nation after Jesus comes back. That is His way of preserving a mortal realm of the Jewish nation. I have been asked many times, Will the 144,000 be killed? No. They will not. Well, I just do not understand that. Some say, I can understand that the woman is not going to be killed, but when the 144,000 go to every nation preaching, how can they escape death? They take the good word to the people that live in those nations, so that they will know not to accept the mark of the beast and not to worship his image. How do they get by? Why do they not get killed? Do you know why people ask all these questions. Some people have to have every little detail, or they will not believe anything. That is the way it is. The sixth seal contains another truth, because there are people that are saved under the application of it, but they are never martyred. Those that are martyred here are martyred because they are fulfilling what the fifth seal speaks of, and the fourth seal, because that is where they both terminate together. Now let me show you something: The Lord comes, (I am just going to give you a little preview) and sets up His kingdom. What next? I am going to ask you. Who is going to say what scriptures we read to bring the third part out of the ground? Are we going to read 1^st Corinthians 15? No. Because that event has already taken place. It is Jesus on earth with His Bride. Now I want to show you something. Turn with me to Revelation 12. The middle of the week has arrived. The woman has taken her flight. She has gone where she is going to be hidden and nourished for 3 ½ years. That dragon, that system of the beast is on the scene, and I will say this, Yes, it is going to be the pope of Rome at the head of it, but he is no longer going to be a baby kissing, lovable pope. He is no longer going to be a pope that will hail Mary: he is going to be a Satanist. Why do you say that Bro. Jackson? When that pope has to sit in Rome and watch the miracles those two prophets do, demonstrating the power of God and condemning the pope, do not tell me he is going to keep that old lovable attitude. The devil is going to anoint him for his prophesied role. He is going to be so full of the devil he will have to act likewise, but until the middle of the week comes, he cannot touch those two prophets. By the time the middle of the week does come, that old pope will have witnessed about all he can take. He will plainly say, I am going to show that bunch who is boss. When he enters Jerusalem, he is going to take that European police force with him. The U.N. is no longer in the picture. When he comes into Jerusalem, he is going to have such animosity and jealousy, that God will allow him to kill the two prophets. He is going to kill those prophets, and in the eyes of the carnal Jewish society, it will look like this man is more powerful than anyone. You are going to see a man that will not worship the same God his fathers did. He will not regard women. He has no respect for anything except that which pleases him. The only thing that he worships is the god of wealth. What does Daniel 11 say? That is exactly the description, because he is a Satanist. There is no way he can enter Jerusalem and show them, I am as good as their two prophets, without putting them to death. They have put him to shame, so this is the only way he can shine above them. That is why we will see this take place. Then he will start killing those Jews that honor God, and also the foolish virgins. He wants to absolutely get rid of all religion and everything else that points to anything that honors God.

THE SEED OF THE WOMAN

We are going to go through this 12^th chapter, because I want to show you something there. The great tribulation is on, and the woman has fled into the wilderness. The 17^th verse says, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, (The woman has two kinds of seed.) which keep the commandments of God, (That is one of them, the Jews that have the same testimony as those that died under the fifth seal. Now comes the second group…) and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” That has to be the foolish virgins. Watch now, as we take that to the 14^th chapter. We are moving fast in the time factor. Both groups are being martyred. The 14^th chapter says in the 12^th verse, “Here is the patience of the saints: (That refers to those tribulation saints.) here are they that keep the commandments of God, (pointing to the Jew again) and the faith of Jesus.” The foolish virgins have the faith of Jesus. That establishes the two seed, so go with me to the 15^th chapter. Those two groups have been martyred, so let us see the description of where they are. “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues: for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire.” Who is standing on this sea of glass? All those martyred saints, those foolish virgins and Jews. Where is the fifth seal Jew? He is under the altar. Where did John see the great multitude? They are before the throne. Do you catch the picture? Where are the tribulation saints seen? They are standing on the sea of glass. There are three different positions mentioned. It is supposed to be that way to identify each group. I want to give you something to think about, as I show you why. Go to the 20^th chapter, 4^th verse, Notice how it starts, And I saw thrones. Where are those thrones? They are on earth: Jesus is on earth with His Bride. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them.” Who are the they? They are the Bride saints that have returned to earth with Jesus. They went up right here, (pointing to chart in the beginning of the first half of the week of Daniel_ and they came back with Him right here. (At the end of the great tribulation) Then he says, “And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands: and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” It goes on down the line and begins to tell you who all is in that multitude: He said, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. Now why are these particular tribulation saints of that period, the first ones resurrected? Go to Matthew 25:31. This is a parable, but it tells us something we need to know. “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, (Here He is, He has come. What is He doing? He has poured out God’s wrath upon the wicked, and now He has taken His throne position. The Bride has taken her throne position.) “And all the holy angels with Him, then shall he sit upon the throne of His glory.” Now read this illustration. He gathers before Him the mortal subjects of the present tense element of society that survive the wrath of God. Why? He is coming with His Bride to rule and reign over them. But He is not going to reign over all of them. Some of them are fit to live and be reigned over while they repopulate the earth, because they have just lived physically through this dark trying hour, and they paid the price. They made the right choice. God watched over them that they were able to survive. Watch the setting. Jesus’ own words, then shall He gather the nations before Him, and He shall separate them as sheep from the goats. He will say to them on the right hand, to those that He describes as sheep, Come, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for thee from the foundation of the world. It is longevity of life. For I hungered and ye fed me. I was naked and ye clothed me. They will say, when saw we thee this way? Now who is Jesus looking at? He is looking at these tribulation saints that have just been raised up because they are the ones He is having to judge those mortal subjects by. This is not that bunch down in San Quentin prison. He is judging His earthly recipients that have just been tried and there stands these immortal souls that have been beheaded, starved to death, froze to death and so forth. They will say, When did we see you this way? Who is He pointing to? There they are resurrected already, because they have got to be there to judge these others by. Now when He has that living element of mortal people judged and they are able to enter into the glorious Millennium reign, having longevity of life, then He will turn to those that are likened unto goats and say, Depart from me. They will say, When saw we this way? He says something like, The very fact that you failed to do it for these my brethren, you did it not unto me. Mat. 25:46 “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” If that don’t make sense to you what does? He cannot judge that living, mortal realm of society by any other generation coming up out of that line, except those of their very generation, those that were martyred. That is why they have to be resurrected first. We still have a lot to cover, but right now, I want to go back to chapter 7, and verse 9, and clear up a few points.

EXPLANATION OF CERTAIN EVENTS

We want to go back to the scriptures we read earlier for a few moments, so open your Bibles to Revelation 7:9, and we will read that one verse now. “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” We have a chart that can be seen on the video taped messages. I wish everyone who reads or hears this message could see it: it helps us keep each thing in its proper place. The reason I say that is because there is a lot of controversy, especially in the ecumenical realm of religion today, as to whether this multitude represents the bride Church or not. I have article from Hal Lindsay’s writings. He has taught that nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Church will be raptured before the tribulation period. He said, That is all a false teaching. Well if you will allow me to explain what we have on the chart, I believe we can clarify that. WE do not have all the verses of scripture to go with it, but reading here in chapter 7, verse 9, this is the scripture they use, trying to prove the Church goes through the great tribulation of the week of Daniel. They say this is a picture of the Church going through tribulation. It absolutely is not the Church going through the great tribulation. Keep in mind, this chapter has a specific setting: the time is the beginning of Daniel’s seventieth week. The seventieth week has been introduced, the two prophets have come on the scene, an angel has been seen flying from the east back to Israel, having the seal of the living God, and he is crying to the four angels bound in the river Euphrates, hold back the winds until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. The first eight verses tell you how many servants of God were sealed of the twelve tribes of Israel. Where does this take place? In the first part of the week, right in there (chart). WE also have to realize that the woman in the twelfth chapter is also sealed under the ministry of the two prophets in the first half of the week of Daniel, which takes place at the same time the 144,000 are sealed. They all hear the prophets at the same time. Keep in mind, that the multitude that is seen as the woman of Revelation 12, is the Jewish society standing in the streets listening to the same two prophets the 144,000 listened to. In both settings we have to realize time is moving from left to right, all human flesh that has lived and died, lived and died, lived and died is moving rapidly toward this terrible hour of the great tribulation, and there are people alive today, young people that will never die. God is changing the order of events. It is hard to believe that, but it is what the scripture says. Before the week starts, every human being has had to take his place in some generation of time, and be dealt with by trials, but this seven year period is the last and shortest period of man’s existence on the planet. Therefore God has a specific purpose in what He does there. So under the sixth seal, God causes the 144,000 to be sealed for a specific purpose. The woman element of the Jews is sealed also, even though it is not spoken of in that manner. The 144,000 and the woman are not going to be martyred. We do not see them having to come up in a resurrection anywhere. God is going to deliver them and bring them through and beyond the week of Daniel. They can be a part of the Jewish society, to help replenish the earth with that race. That is backed up in the 19^th chapter of Matthew, when Peter, one day, says to the Lord, Master, what shall be our reward, seeing that we have forsaken all to follow thee? He said, In the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye, each one, Remember who He is talking to, and who He is talking about: The twelve apostles of course. Ye shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. That lets us know we have already passed through the week and we are over here. (Where Jesus is preparing subjects for the Millennial reign) I want to read the rest of those verses about this great multitude, because this multitude that John is allowed to look at, and it says it is a multitude that no man can number or count. That was the language in 96 A.D. I wonder how come man was able to count six million Jews in WW2? Think of it. That great multitude does not have any Bride people in it whatsoever. I am going to read it. After he had seen the 144,000 sealed, this follows, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, (Notice where they stood, before the throne, for that is important. It tells us who they are.) and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. And cried with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And He said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Now Hal Lindsey says, That is proof that the Church is going through the tribulation. I wonder why they never did see the Bride in heaven, clothed in fine linen. That multitude Johns aw there, had not yet been in a resurrected body. It was their spirits there in heaven. Keep in mind, the revelation of the fifth seal. Those souls, where were they? They were under the alter. Now these positions in heaven mean something: Do not think of heaven as a shoe box. It is bigger than the world you live in. The positions that those spirits have, are what begins to tell you what their origin is. Those Jews under the fifth seal, they worship God according to the Law. That was their testimony. So to be under the alter places them under the Mosaic Law, because the alter is how they look to God. That is why it stands there. But this multitude that stood before, not under the alter, and before the throne, proves they are Gentiles; simply because they knew who the Immortal one is, He that is sitting on the throne, and they knew how to worship God. They had to wash their robes and make them white, it says down here, in the blood of the Lamb. These people that are the resurrected Bride, are going to be represented as wearing fine linen, clean and white. How do you think they got white robes made out of fine linen? They too had to absolutely be washed in the blood of the Lamb, but we must keep in mind, that they received a revelation that far exceeds what all these others have. We find a lot of people today, out in the world of religion, that think, Well, I believe I have a revelation as much as anyone. I just want to warn anyone who feels that way, there is a right way to look at any truth, and there is a dogmatic way to look at certain things, and a dogmatic application. God will not bless such an attitude. If we truly desire to be in the Bride of Christ, what is wrong in wanting to understand everything that is written in the scriptures, concerning how we can grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord? Observing rituals does not bring about spiritual growth. We grow in grace and IN THE knowledge of who Christ is, and what the purpose of God is, as we humbly walk with Him in the revelation of His word. Some wills ay, But when you teach on the serpent seed, are you saying that I have to believe all that to be saved? We are not saying that at all, but it certainly does show you why we need a Savior. It is just that simple. You would wonder why we live in the most intellectual age any human race has ever lived in, yet there are some things in the scriptures, that causes people to feel like crawling over a mountain would be easier than understanding the revelation of them. I have never answered the person that asked that question about serpent seed. Sometimes I wonder if I even should. It goes to show, some people shut their minds to any further truth other than something like John 3:16. They like to say, Thank God, Jesus saved me and that is all that is necessary. Well I have to say, Yes, that is the beginning, but that is a long way from growing in the wisdom and knowledge of God. So when we look at this great multitude, we are going to ask ourselves a question, Is this all foolish virgins? No. There are different ways to look at this. We realize this, we are living in the age and coming close to the hour, those foolish virgins are going to have to go through this period of time and give their life in martyrdom, but the term foolish virgins, only applies to an element of believers in the wind up of the Laodicean Age. You have that great multitude of believers that have been butchered in so many ways right on through this Age of grace, and all of them fall into a category similar to that of the foolish virgins, but we cannot call them foolish virgins, because they never had the opportunity to grow in stature and understanding of the will and purpose of the Creator, like the foolish virgins have, here in this last generation of Laodicea. Many of those saints were killed almost instantly after accepting Jesus, so there was no way they could have gained any Christian Stature like the Bride saints will have, yet they will have white robes just like the Holocaust Jews and the foolish virgins. Keep in mind, time and these people that are identified in this picture, moves from left to right, as they go into this dreaded hour of tribulation just ahead, but right here (in the second half of the week of Daniel) is where those foolish virgins seal their life, because they die as martyrs. Many more Jews will also die then, right along with the foolish virgins, and they will fulfill the rest of the fifth seal, where that group were told (Rev 6:11) “that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled,” so we can see, that this slaughter in the last half of the week of Daniel fulfills that. They are all going to have white robes. It does not, and could not put them in the Bride of Christ, because they will not have the revelation and spiritual growth and testing that is required of the bride to enable them to rule with Christ. The beautiful thing about it is, at least they are given life. You may say, But how come there is such a multitude. First of all we must look all the way back to the beginning of the grace Age, back to 33 A.D., when the Church was born. Who made up the Church body at first? It was Jews. That is why we can say, The foundation of the Church, the beginning started with the Jewish people that believed the gospel and accepted Jesus Christ, so as time moved out from there, they took their place in this blue line. A few years later the Gentiles were brought in, so the two began to grow side by side, making up the body of Christ. After about two hundred years though, it seemed as though the Jewish picture within the body of Christ just faded into the background, leaving only Gentile people to fill the ranks. By the time we come into the second century, going into the third century, the devil had succeeded in making sure the gospel that was once delivered by Jesus and the apostles, was being bombarded with false teachings, as different teachers from different sectors of Christendom went out spreading their version of it. They were the antichrist’s, the messengers of Satan sent forth to pervert the true gospel. Since this multitude is said to have come out of every nation, I want to try and show you, that it is not a multitude that is coming out of all the nations right now. If I had a map of the world up here, I would show you that hardly any of the Middle East has Christians growing there. Saudi Arabia will not tolerate it. Neither will Jordan, Neither Iraq or Iran. They say Egypt has only ten percent that profess Christianity, and we all know that not all of them are true Christians. Egypt is basically Islamic people. Therefore when you see that all the old Biblical world is now mostly under the Moslem religion, you know I am telling you the truth. That is where the Moslem religion started out, so we have to look to another part of the world for this kind of people to come out of. WE an say this, There is no doubt, that in the first thousand years of Christendom it was harder to live a full life without having your head cut off, than it is today. Back then, very few Christians died of old age. Most Christians sooner or later, met death at the hands of someone else. There was much, much more martyrdom than there was natural death. We need to go back and take a look at the history of Christianity. Again, if we had a map of the world, we could point to where the gospel had spread to by the second century: It had already spread across North Africa, All the major cities of those North African countries had Christian churches in them, from Cairo on through Morocco. Saudi Arabia had been Christianized. Syria, and all the way into Iraq and parts of Iran, Christianity flourished. Many of the early Jewish Christians that had been scattered after the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., found themselves in those places embracing Christianity. Going into the third century though, there began to be a cooling off, people just taking things for granted, instead of studying the word of God that had been delivered to them and pressing forth in the faith. That is why, by the time we come to the fourth century, in that part of the old world, Christendom had become more or less just a commonplace thing, like it is here in America today.

ORIGIN OF ISLAM

By the time we come into the sixth century, I believe it was 675 or thereabout when Mohammad was born, and that set the base for Mohammad to begin to rise up with his teachings. In two hundred years of time after his birth, Islam was a fast growing religion. Just look what it has turned into: It has become a militant religion. Those who have gone that way, have turned it into the most bloodthirsty religion that has ever been on the face of this earth. I get letters from the Philippines telling me what is going on there. IN certain areas of the Philippines, Islam is making inroads, especially in the hill country, coming into the church areas, invading and terrorizing the small congregations, robbing them, taking their belongings and making it very hard for Christian groups to survive. To me, knowing what the Bible says about those religions, and living in the day when God is going to do something with all of them, that religions has got to be brought to an end. It has made its boast for the last twenty years how they are going to start a holy jihad in the western world. I have to say, They have the capability to do it, because they have a fanatical people that will blow themselves to pieces just to tear up your church. In the light of the scriptures we have ben looking at lately, I have to believe with all my heart, God is going to deal with that thing very soon now. As we consider this great multitude of Chapter 7, why there are so many in it, when the Bride has already been taken in the rapture, what scriptures do we read that shed light on this multitude? WE have the scriptures that cover what took place when Jesus rose from the dead. We also have the scriptures I brought into the message earlier, that cover the time when the Church is taken up right about here, (in the beginning of the week of Daniel) and that is 1^st Corinthians 15, 1^st Thessalonians 4^th chapter, and 2^nd Thessalonians 2^nd chapter. You cannot use those scriptures over here, where Jesus and the Bride are already back on earth. What scriptures can we quote, that deal with the resurrection of the others? There are none. Jesus is the sole authority, so all He has to do is speak the word, and these dead that are in this white robe line will come up, but they are not all going to come up at once: They are going to come up in their order. Was that not told to Daniel that way, when Daniel kept saying to the angel, I don’t understand some of these things. He kept begging the angel to tell him more. The angel finally said to him, Daniel, this is sealed until the time of the end, and thou wilt sleep and be awakened, and you will stand in your lot. Therefore we have to realize we are living in an hour that is crucial, as Bible believing Christians. We are living in a time element that is fast approaching this week of Daniel, because with the conditions in the Middle East like they are right now, it lets us know we need to have our house in order, and we need to be just what the book says we should be. With that in mind, I have to say, Everything that is written in here for our instruction and edification, I believe the time has come that we should try to understand it. Remember, this multitude represents the hundreds and thousands that have been saved, and for some reason they did not pass the mark to be chosen for the Bride. Now Bro. Jackson, what do you mean by that? Almost everybody seems to have the idea, that every person who believes in Jesus Christ is going to be in the Bride. The Bible does not say it in that way. Well Bro. Jackson, how do you explain this? Did you ever think about the parables? Go with me to this parable in Matthew 25. First off, let me ask you, what is a parable? It is Jesus’ way of taking a natural situation or object, and using it to explain a point. It does not always bring out the whole dimension, but it gives you a profile of an overall application that is understood Now we are not reading about the five wise and five foolish. We are starting in the 14^th verse. Notice in the parable about the five wise and five foolish, He has just got through telling you all about the conditions of the end time in Matthew 24. Then he leaves that and looks to the future and says, “And then,” What does the word “then” mean? It sure don’t mean right now. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unto, so that is future tense. The parable is applicable for all times, but only at the end of this Age, will the foolish be faced with the beast and his mark. You do not have just a one time setting. It repeats itself from generation to generation to generation when it comes to believers receiving from Him and investing for increase. “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man (He is using this to refer to himself.) traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.” Jesus says something like this, yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me, for lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Then again He spoke like this, that He would pray the Father, and the Comforter would come, and when the Comforter comes, He will take the things of mine, and show them unto you. Well what was the things that HE was talking about? Jesus did not have a suitcase full of money, did He? He did not even have a knapsack. But He said the Holy Spirit would take the things of His, and show them unto you. So we have got to realize, that same anointing of the Father that was in Him, in all the fullness, is placed right on the body of Christ, the Church, distributed through the Church to every individual member of His body, and the things that the Father manifested in and through the Son, these same things are to be distributed and manifested in every generation, all the way to the end. For every generation, as long as the kingdom of heaven duration will last, this will be effective. It is to keep revolving, going over and over. This generation will come along and hear the gospel, they will take their place in the ranks of believers, they will receive the things of Christ and be responsible for the proper use of them. First it is an anointing: It is life. That puts the believer in a position to start living and growing for the Lord. I sure hope none of you think, Well, I got baptized last night and joined the church, Praise God, I have it made. That is the way a lot of church going people thin, but those who go through life thinking that way are not bride people. At that point you have only started. The race is not over when you get baptized. From that point, you start growing in spiritual stature by the grace of God. You are going to learn something, and you are going to apply what you learn to yourself, if you are going to be a part of the bride of Christ. When I look back, I just have to say, Thank God! I, like many of you, first surrendered my heart to the Lord in a denominational church, but you are not going to grow very much if you sit down in some old cold denomination church and expect to turn out the way the scriptures make it plain that believers should. The gospel of Jesus Christ was not written with certain levels in mind, like, This is for the foolish virgins, this is for the wise virgins, This is for those that have certain talents, and this is for those that are going to bear a hundred fold. No. The gospel is a well rounded story, and it has every necessary ingredient needed to produce a new born again child of God. It has something for you from the time you first believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, until the time has come that you are ready to leave this world. There is a no place where we can lay aside what He bestows upon our life, and just drift along thinking everything will be alright. We have two particular parables that make that very clear, the talents and the seed sown in good ground. Mat. 13:23 “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that hearth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” That of course is bride saints. Mat 25:14 “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. Mat 25:15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.” When He is speaking of the talents, He first gathers His servants and distributes to them His goods. In this manner, what could Christ really have distributed? The very same thing that took place on the day of Pentecost. He had prayed the Father, and here it came. The beginning of the body of Christ, when 120 disciples gathered in the upper room, the Holy Ghost fell upon them. Not long after that, God added another three thousand more to that 120. A few days later five thousand more were added. As time passed, God added to the Church daily, such as should be saved. The point is this, Some of those people were not destined to live very long after believing. It seemed like the Church was just getting starte4d,w hen Stephen was in the street one day preaching the gospel, and a little later a bunch of angry Pharisee types were bashing his head in with rocks. He was the first martyr, but I have to say, However long He had been a believer from the time he had accepted the Lord and been baptized, he took the talent that had been put in his grasp, and he was investing with it. As he invested, it made a bunch of Jews so angry they literally bashed his head in. That is why I said earlier, Do you think God only gave grace to die rejoicing, to those saints under the second seal, so they would die singing praises to God? What about those in the first seal? He gave those martyrs that same grace: It was just like God came along and inoculated them with the Holy Ghost, to the point where they became numb. They cut them to pieces, beat them to a pulp, and even Polycarpa, at the time he became a martyr, dreamed that he saw his pillow on fire. He knew they would burn him at the stake. Even then they almost didn’t get the fire going. They soon found out he was not going to scream and beg for his life. God gave that kind of grace to a lot of those people back there. The point in these talents, and it should be easy to understand, is that anyone should use the talent they have, instead of hiding it. He gave to one, five talents. He gave to another, two talents. Why the difference? He is never going to give you more than you need to live your life to its fullest for Him. He knows our ability. That is explained all through the Bible. He gives to everyone according to their individual ability. He knows what you have the potential to be able to do with it, so He gives accordingly. You come to the third one in the parable, and look what he did, became fearful and hid his talent. This is not the kind of people that are going to rule the world with Jesus Christ. That is why I said a while ago, that this is not just a picture for a one time application. It repeats itself every generation. The one that had the five went and invested. In other words, first he has to start living right. When he starts out living right, after a while God is going to see to it that the life he is living, if his life is a life of prayer and dedication to the will of God, is a life that other people will begin to take notice of. You will hear people say, If there is any man around here that knows the Lord, that man does. When the community begins to talk about you in that light, it lets me know they see something that bears a good testimony. After a while it begins to have an influence on others wanting to accept the same thing. You must keep in mind, that investing in this sense is knowing how to use what God has put in your life, in a way that reaches out and leads others to accept the same thing. Take that right over to Matthew 13, to the seven parables. The first parable says this, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a sower that went out to sow seed. Some seed fell by the wayside. The birds came quickly and devoured them. That is a man that hears the gospel, but the devil sits there and snatches it away. Some fell on stony ground. It has just enough soil and moisture that the seed began to sprout, but before long the sun begins to dry out the moisture, and it all began to dry out and wilt away. Some of the seed fell where there were a lot of thorns. You know this, that thorns grow in good ground. You hardly ever find thorns growing in a pile of rock. Therefore immediately, here comes the shouting and praising god, but after a while, when pressure persecution mounts, cares of this life begins to draw attention toward the world. It soon becomes easier to go with the crowd than to stand for truth, so the cares of the world draw you away from the things of God. Some people just simply cannot cut loose from relatives. Where you see one, you see the others. There is nothing wrong with that, if it is kept in its place. There is a place for us to be loyal to our families, but if we are going to walk with the Lord, we cannot always walk with grandpa, because grandpa might be pulling on your sleeve, Son, I wouldn’t get too caught up with those holy rollers if I were you. I have been going to church a long time now: you ought to do like me. Brothers and sister, we have to follow the Lord: It is an individual walk with God. My point is this, That parable wound up by saying, but some seed fell on good soil. Good soil in this case, is a tender heart and a spirit that is of a meek attitude. That does not say such a person is already a saint, but it is a person that knows how to receive, knows how to respond, how to reach out in order to allow God to begin to work in his or her life. The final analysis was, The seed that fell on that kind of soil represents different individuals whose lives were fruitful, but they did not have the ability of the sixty, and the hundredfold. Remember, the talents were given to every man according to his several ability. The life in which the word of God produced a thirty fold increase, it just very simply means that person is going to have the ability to bear the fruit of the Spirit in that capacity: When he does, that is all the heavenly Father expects of him. Others have a sixty fold ability: that is what God will expect of them. Others a hundred fold ability, so that is what is expected of them. I know some people have the attitude that you can graduate from thirty fold to sixty fold and so forth, but that is not right. Show me someone who has. It just does not mean anything like that. Not even natural grain works like that. The point is this, If some are going to be commended for how they have received this grace, and how they allow their inner being to begin to be molded and patterned so they can bear fruit and expression in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, then I have to say, You are going to have to live more than three days. Do you understand what I mean? You are going to have to live more than three days. If you are going to take the talents and invest them, you are going to have to live more than three days. We have a lot of people today, that are so set on everybody being in the Bride of Christ, they cannot see anybody else in anything else. Well let us go back to Calvary for just a moment: Right there, is where something started. Jesus was the ONE ordained to die in your place and my place. He was the first fruit from among the dead. When He hung on the cross, there were two thieves hanging there also, one on each side of Him. One was very arrogant, cursing and yelling, his mouth uttering vile utterances, with nothing good to say about the man hanging in the middle. He finally said, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” The man on the other side rebuked him, saying, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?” We deserve to die, but this man has done nothing worthy of death. He then said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom, And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Did you catch the revelation in those words? What had he done to merit death bed salvation? The only thing he could do. He believed and repented in his heart. That is how we all started out. When we look at this multitude, remember, you and I did not live two thousand years ago. It is difficult for us to look back that far and see the true picture. Some say, Well I cannot accept the idea of death bed salvation. That means you do not believe Jesus knew what He was saying: HE said, “TODAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” From then until now, the various generations that have lived and died have produced this great multitude that is seen standing before the throne: They have not yet been resurrected. That is their spirits John saw standing there. They have white robes, just like those Jews under the fifth seal have white robes. These people know why they are there: That is why they are worshiping God and the Lamb. That is why they are before the throne saying, what they are saying. They represent a nucleus of people that through time, have had to give their life, some one way, and others another way. We just have to accept it. We live in a world today that has been very calm, at least in this way; and I thank God, that in America we have had no genocide. How many understand my point? The same way in Europe today. However, when you go back 1200 to 1500 years, in Europe, only God knows the untold number of innocent people that were butchered because of what they stood for. Many of them never did get to live a life that they could grow in the grace of God, and in the knowledge of God. They knew nothing about what it is to invest a talent, to take the things of God and gain an increase. They lived and existed and survived, and in a short order of time, they gave their lives in martyrdom. The point is, Are they going to hell? NO. They are in that number. How do you know that, Bro. Jackson? Scripturally, that is the only place they could be. When God makes a covenant He honors it: Therefore God’s word means exactly what it says, concerning those who believe. They receive life, not death and hell.

THE PURPOSE IN PREACHING

Let us go now, to 1^st Corinthians, where we will begin to see a progression of faith in believers. We must always remember, the gospel was written to produce a family, a body of believers in which Christ is embraced. He is the central figure, the central theme of the gospel of our salvation. Our purpose, is to grow and progress more and more in the image of Him who died for us at Calvary. Remember also, I did not write the Bible: I am just here to tell you what it says, and why. If I tell you what it says, please do not get angry at me for doing it: That is what God called me to do, so I want to take a look at the Corinthian church for a few minutes. It was a fast growing Church in the days of Paul. In fact, he stayed there quite a length of time, because God added to that Church daily. The first converts were a household of Jews. I think we all realize by now, that this city had been a society of people living in immorality for a long time. It was a city well known for immorality. I am not personally pointing the finger at anybody, but facts are facts. I have been there, and walked where Paul walked: High on Mt. Corinth is a rock, and on top, is an ancient pagan temple. Something similar to the Catholic nuns, lived up there. They were known to be prostitutes. They were what kept that temple in operation. It was a known fact, each certain season when the maritime fleets of the Mediterranean would come into the Corinthian harbor, those young women that lied up there and kept that place, when ship after ship after ship had come into the harbor and dropped anchor, it was their duty to leave the mountain and come into the city and begin to approach the young sailors. The object was, Let us make love and worship the goddess of love. If you had lived two thousand years ago, in Corinth, no doubt your life would have been affected by that very practice. The simple fact is, Christianity started out in a hell bound world. It lacked a long way from being clean and decent. Nevertheless when Paul went there and began to preach the gospel to them, many of those Corinthians began to repent and accept the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not long until there was a fast growing Church there. The grace of God was taught and expressed: The power of God had filled those people with His Spirit. How else were they able to speak in tongues and glorify God? Do not tell me it was the devil’s doings. When Paul wrote this letter, he was not writing to devils: He was writing to people that needed some teaching. But like always, when the Spirit of God is at work, there is at least one lone character resisting. As we read here in the 3^rd chapter, notice, Paul started out by comparing the ministries. Paul, Cephas, and so forth. (9^th verse), “For we are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.” In other words, we see here, what he teaches, and what he hopes to build in the realm of a collective fellowship. How are these people going to respond, and what is the image that we are hoping to cultivate out of this? Let us take heed. In the 11^th verse it says, “For other foundation can no man lay that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire: and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (Listen to this.) If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Do not miss the point here. The question is not, What would cause one’s work to be burned? But rather, who was he talking about? The ending of the verse shows that it had to be believers. He is illustrating some condition that is contrary to a perfect walk with God, but the illustration has got to point to someone that somehow or other is just too weak in the flesh to maintain a steady growth in the stature of Christ by overcoming; Such a believer just never seems to reflect any spiritual light that would cause anyone to want what he or she has. Our very Christian life is supposed to attract others that the Spirit of God may be dealing with. Such a person means well, so how are we to look at their life? We are not trying to unChristianize anyone, but many believers do things that are a reproach to the body of Christ. You know it, and I know it. He or she will start out one day on good footing, two days later Satan has presented a stumbling block that has already brought about a display of carnal flesh to tear the testimony all to pieces. It is our human nature to say, Well we need to be patient. For how long? I have to say, There comes an hour that you cannot continue to stand on your head, waiting for a positive change when there are others that need our fellowship. If any man’s work shall be burned, it does not say he is lost, it just says he suffers by losing a reward. What kind of reward? That person will have no ruling authority. Why? Because God gave him, or her something to start with, and what did they do with it? They took the one talent and hid it, because they did not trust the grace of God to know how to invest it and live an overcoming life. Do you understand what I am saying? Don’t say, Bro. Jackson, you are trying to tell me if I have some terrible sin in my life, that will keep me from being in the Bride of Christ. I am not talking about that. If you are trying to justify a cardinal sin, after you have given your life to the Lord, there is something wrong with you. For whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. It means he no longer sins willfully. He that is born of God, is not going to let the devil stay on his shoulder day in and day out, but there is such a thing as a weakness of the flesh: That is what Paul was dealing with in the 5^th chapter of 1^st Corinthians, a man that could not overcome fornication. That kind of thing marked the Corinthian lifestyle: That was a real part of their culture. Yes God can forgive it, but not for you to live the next twenty years like that. That is a reproach to the Church. Do you want the community to talk about the Church in a derogatory way, because you cannot overcome your carnal ways? No true believer would, so what did Paul say about it? (1^st Cor. 5:5) “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Paul is merciful: He is not saying he should be destroyed in the lake of fire, but a man in the Church, who claims to be a believer, and has received the grace of God in his life, and knows something about truth, yet for some reason or other he finds weak moments in his life that he just cannot overcome, he has to be put out of the fellowship of believers, that he not bring reproach upon the entire body. That is why these things are written like this. Deliver him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Oh Bro. Jackson, that is only a one time thing. Oh no: That happens in every generation. It is dozens and dozens in counties, states, and countries. So when you look at this multitude, yes, some had their heads cut off. Some could not make the grade, but keep in mind, it is all made up of people that one way or the other, made a try. At least they are all given life. Please try to understand. I would never point my finer at anyone, because I look back when the Lord began to deal in my life, I had that old cigarette habit hanging on to me. I never did smoke a pack a day, and I have heard of some that smoked four packs a day. I never got that far down the line, but I did have the habit. You will never know how badly I wanted to get rid of those things and just could not. But that night I went to the altar and said, Lord, I want you to save my soul, give me an assurance that I know my sins have been put under the blood of Jesus, Give me a know so salvation and take this craving for cigarettes away from me and I will do my best to teach your word. You do not know the times that I tried to quit smoking. I would pay fifty cents for a pack of cigarettes, open them up, smoke one, but I didn’t want to take the pack home with me, so I threw it away. I tell you saints, the devil can really get you bound up, until you really lay your problem in the hands of God. You do a lot of things you do not want to do, when this old flesh is allowed to go its way. I will never forget, what happened with me, after I went to the altar that night: I was going with a neighbor boy to an agricultural class and had not had another cigarette since going to the altar, but as we rode along he reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette and then passed them to me. I took one. He flipped his lighter and the minute I took one puff, it was like a neon light began to flash, You know what you said, You know what you said, I rolled the window down and gave that cigarette a flip. He never did see me do that, and I was glad. He never did say, What did you do that for? Thank God, I never did have a desire for one of those things from that day till this. That has been almost fifty years now. I have been on airplanes where the smoke was so thick I could hardly breath: Then come home with my nostrils so irritated I would get a bad cold from the effects of it. There have been many people through the years, come into this congregation with that same habit. I know they would feel bad, but I am not going to point my finger at them, when at one time I was in a bad shape myself. I have said this though, God has his way of taking those things away from you. I have talked to individuals, and after some days, maybe weeks, God would deliver them completely. God sees your attitude and motive. That is why, with some it is instantly accomplished, with others, it is progressive, but either way, He does it and He does a good job. My point is, You have to realize these examples here in the Bible were written for people to learn from. This is not something hypothetical. This is not a make believe picture. It is realism. Where is that person that was living with his father’s wife? He is in that multitude: He has a white robe. Well Bro. Jackson, what about all these people in white robes? How will they be looked upon in the Millennium? Let me say first, in the Millennium, you are going to have a theocracy. That is a government ruled by, or subject to religious authority. Since God’s angelic family is in three categories, there is no reason to think it will not be that way with redeemed children of God in the Millennium also. You read of Archangels, Seraphim, and also the ministering angels, so that gives you three categories. The Bible says the ministering angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to them that shall be heirs of salvation. They are innumerable, because they are ministering spirits on man’s level. If angelic beings can exist in the family of God in three categories, that is exactly what we are going to wind up seeing in the Millennium. We are going to see the Bride of Christ, (the wife of Jesus) sitting on thrones over here as the Millennium starts. Then you are going to have the red line. This is all the saints. But they are not walking around twiddling their fingers. I have to believe they are going to be a whole lot like representatives. If you could ever see the islands of the South Pacific and see all those thousands of natives that never knew that Jesus was born, or even that Moses existed, somebody is going to rule over them. Somebody is going to represent them. When the Bible says in that day the law shall go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and in that day all nations shall go to Zion to worship the Lord, yes in the beginning of the Millennium it is very possible, since it will start out with a few mortal people, but as the Millennium population grows and increases more and more, I can see where it would be utterly impossible for the world population to go to Jerusalem, because you could not get that many people in there. There would have to be representatives, representing so many. I really feel like we ought not try to figure everything out though: I just want to be there. The people in this great multitude, (the red line on chart) are saints from all ages, saints that have white robes, not white linen like the bride of Christ will be robed in. I have to believe some of them are those slaughtered in the Spanish Inquisition. Some will say, Well I can understand how the Jews died under the fifth seal under Hitler’s holocaust, but what about those under the Spanish Inquisition, how did they get in this group? You may not think of that as great tribulation, but that is because you do not know what tribulation is. If you know what that Spanish Inquisition was like, you should thank God you were never in a position like that. It lasted over a hundred years. I remember reading a novel based on fats. A French king, coming toward the end of this Inquisition, had invaded Spain for the purpose of helping bring an end to this Inquisition, this brutal torturing of people. He had heard of this great cathedral, how it was a place where they would gather these people. So he and his troops went to this great Catholic cathedral. Here came the priests. They welcomed them, Come on in and investigate, search the place. He and his troops went in and looked in every closet, every crevice they could find, but they found no trace of anything where people could be brought and tortured, then killed. Yet rumors came from this area, that this is where such things took place. This king walked all over the corridor area of huge stones. He finally told the soldiers to bring several containers of water and pour on this floor. We will find out if there is a tunnel under here. When he said that the priests got very nervous. They knew he was on to their trick. The soldiers brought in containers of water and began pouring it on the floor. That king walked around until he saw the water disappearing between some of the stones. He thrust a sword down and pried that stone open. It opened up to a stairway. When he went down, there were dungeons, caves, the whole area was undermined, all kinds of places of torture were down there. There were still some human beings just barely alive. The Catholic Church was torturing them because they would not live up to the dictates and rituals of the power of the papacy. I have to say, If you could stand where this multitude was, at the time John saw them, you would probably hear them tell quite a story. The point is, Those people were there. They did not make it into the Bride ranks, but they were given life, or they would not be wearing white robes. I did not put them there, but they were there, so they had to come from somewhere. You tell me how they got there. One thing I am sure of, The foolish virgins were not in that multitude. The foolish virgins are yet to die, in the tribulation that is just ahead. How many are listening to me? A white robe is a white robe. It does not matter whether it is a black man or a red man, it is still a white robe. They all have to merit it by the same means, by giving their lives in great tribulation. Some of these people were martyred, having probably never lived long enough to know what the grace of God was and how to grow into an image and likeness of Jesus Christ. Do you understand my illustration? I am glad that God knows all about it. The point is, That great multitude is going to be there, and the Bible tells us how they got there. Here is your Old Testament saints, they go up here. They are already in heaven. Now I have been asked this, Bro. Jackson, when a Christian person died, where do they actually go? Do they just go to sleep and remain in an unconscious state? No. They are very much alive. Down here on earth, in this physical body, this is an outlet for the spirit being that you really are, but when death comes, and your spirit, which incorporates your soul and makes you the person you really are, departs that body, it is still just as much you as it ever was. If you are a believer, you are under the blood of Jesus Christ, you go immediately into heaven. That is where Jesus took those others He loosed from paradise below. Your spirit goes there. Are you able to think? Sure you are. How do you know? I thank God, through the years gone by, there has been saints down through time that have had visions of having passed from this life into the spirit world.

TESTIMONY OF COMING BACK FROM DEATH

Two years after my wife and I were married, she had an aunt that died in the Corydon hospital: They tried to keep her alive, but she died. She was dead longer than the doctors and nurses though she had really been dead. But all of a sudden her heart started beating and she began breathing. She came back to life again. The doctors and nurses had given her up. She told me personally, that her mother had died when she was a small girl, and she had to help raise a smaller brother and sister. In that moment she was dead, she passed out of this world right into the spirit world. She said, You talk about beautiful flowers, there are no flowers here like them. My mother came to me, and I had not seen her since I was a little girl. I grabbed mother and held on to her, saying, I want to go with you. My own mother told me, No, you must go back, because you are not yet ready to come here: you have a husband to take care of. Now do not tell me she was laying there unconscious, waiting for the resurrection day. Her mother said, No, you have to go back, your husband needs you a while longer. She said, Bro. Junie, those flowers were beautiful. It reminds me of the song, I am going to a city where the roses never fade, where the stream of life is flowing. There is an area in heaven where the departed spirits go and remain there, it is like they are in a great big camping area, waiting for the day to be reunited. I have to say, When Jesus comes for His Church, those that are in the Bride, that body is going to resurrect and go to meet Him. Then when HE comes again to set up His Millennial reign, those spirits that are all represented in this, are going to come back with Him, and there is going to be a resurrection of their bodies. That is what we call the ending and fulfillment of the first resurrection. That completes the resurrection of all who have life. There are three stages to the first resurrection. Now, let me bring this back to where we were earlier: I want to rephrase this part. I want to bring out something else. Those Jews that died under the fifth seal, God had a reason for having those spirits under the altar, that shows they were people that knew how to worship God through that altar of sacrifice. We might note also, that this present time of trouble started over in Israel just about the time their day of atonement was going on. I was talking to the sister over there the other day, about how the Jews still hold to the first five books of the Bible. You hear them talk about the Torah, the sacred scriptures, the Torah. There is nothing wrong with the Torah, but if you have no respect for the prophets, then you can keep the Sabbath until you are gray headed, and I am sure there are Jews in hell wishing that they had read a little further in the book. That is why Jesus, when He was here, many times when He had something He wanted to explain to the people, whether it was the disciples or the multitudes, He would begin with Moses: that is the Torah, Then He would hit the Psalms, and then the prophets. When He got finished, He had given them a complete picture. With that in mind then, this sister said, On the day of atonement, the Jews get together, they read the Torah, then they start through their rituals, Heavenly Father, I ask forgiveness for my stealing, I ask forgiveness for my cursing, I ask forgiveness for my smoking, I ask forgiveness for this and for that. She said, I told them, I don’t want to go through all that any more: I have an atonement through the Lord Jesus Christ, and I have to say, Why go through all that ritual anymore? I said, Sister, that is an absolute fact. That is one Jews that has seen that the day of atonement only pointed further to something yet to come, way back then. As we look at those Jews that were under the altar, we must note that the multitude I read about in chapter 7, were standing before the throne. That gives them separate identity, apart from those Jews under the altar. Then, the foolish virgins and Jews that have to go through this dark tribulation hour over here, and be martyred, where do we see them? We see them in the 15^th chapter of Revelation, standing on a sea of glass. How many know what you make glass out of? Sand. You heat it real hot for that. They were seen standing on a sea of glass with flaming fire leaping from that glass. Ow the Jews under the fifty seal, they were saying, Oh Lord, how long? But this great multitude, they were worshiping God and the Lamb, Hallelujah, blessed be God and His salvation, and so forth. In the 15^th chapter of Revelation, those souls are dead, and their spirits are in heaven, standing on that sea of glass. One element is singing the song of Moses. Only a Jew can sing that. The others were singing the song of the Lamb. The Gentiles sing that. Now that has to show you, that you have done three different groups of people in heaven that are all going to wear white robes, and they are not in the Bride of Christ. Don’t argue with me. It is in the Bible, as clear as it could be. They are not all the same bunch, but they are all wearing white robes. When Jesus comes back, with His resurrected Bride that is dressed in fine linen, they are all going to be riding white horses with Him, but HE is also bringing the spirits of all those white robed people; and as He takes over the reins of this world’s governments, first He is going to hit this planet with some devastating blows that are going to cause it to reel and rock. That is the sixth seal being applied, and yes, it covers these mortal creatures that have heard the everlasting gospel. It protects them. They will never be changed from mortal to immortality. They have longevity of life given to them; and they will have an eternal seal of life upon them.

EVENTS OF SIXTH SEAL BEING APPLIED

The sixth seal has another side to it. When those people are safe, there are other events. Let us go to Revelation 6:12. Here is the external side of this sixth seal. As I said earlier, Sitting right here in this assembly, are young people that have been born under the time of this fourth seal. That gray horse rider is still riding today. The Bible says death and hell followed him, so let us read about the external side of this sixty seal. Chapter 6, verse 12. “And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, (That has not happened yet.) And the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed (Now read the 19^th chapter of Revelation with that, because it also says that.) As a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” Why? Because Jesus is coming to earth, and He is going to execute wrath. Let us see how the Bible backs up all of this. Go with me to Matthew 24:29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days (Right there, is the end of it, immediately after the tribulation, which tells us when that is going to happen.) Shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the starts shall fall from heaven, and the power of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man.” There He is: He is coming to earth. Who is with Him? His Bride, and He also has the spirits of all those people that are going to be in that resurrection that takes place then. When He comes, with His Bride, He brings the spirits of all of them with Him, to be reunited with their bodies. Did you know there is more on this sixth seal, scattered through the Bible, than there is of any other seal? Go with me to Isaiah 13:9, and notice. “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the wicked for their iniquity.” Joel says the same thing. Turn with me to Joel 3:14, and let us read that. “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: (we have got to make a decision, we have got to do something about this problem in the Middle East.) For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” Let us go back to Isaiah, chapter 24, verse 19. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. (This is talking about a resurrection.) Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously.” When that sixth seal is fully expressed, Christ is going to be on this earth and this planet is going to reel and rock. Yet somewhere, He is going to have some people that are going to be secure.