Participants:
Series Code: TMC
Program Code: TMC000023A
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00:22 Heavenly Father, tonight
00:25 we ask that You will touch Your people once again. 00:29 Give us the Holy Spirit, Lord. 00:32 May we see Your love; may we understand Your care 00:38 for the church. 00:41 May we purpose in our hearts to follow You. 00:47 May the Holy Spirit be present tonight. 00:51 Take this stammering tongue 00:55 and may it be made clear 00:58 that each of us may have a place in Your kingdom 01:02 because we've given our hearts to You. 01:04 We pray in Christ's name, Amen. 01:14 The most beautiful creature 01:17 that God ever made on this world 01:21 was a woman. 01:23 When God created Eve she was perfect. 01:29 She was perfect in beauty; 01:32 she was perfect in figure; 01:34 she was perfect in temperament. 01:37 She was perfect in every way without question. 01:41 The crowning act of God's creation was the creation 01:46 of a woman. And it says this about her: 02:36 Without question when He made Eve - 02:40 made her to be a companion to Adam - 02:43 God, in His love and His mercy and His kindness, 02:49 created a very very beautiful creature. 02:53 And then the Scripture simply tells us that sin came in. 02:58 But when sin came in and death... 03:01 death passed upon the human race, 03:04 even then 03:06 women retained their beauty for years. 03:12 I mean not just a little time but for a long, long time. 03:17 Listen to me: 03:19 I'm coming now 2,000 years 03:23 from Eve... 2,000 years from Eve 03:27 and I want you to listen to what it has to say 03:31 because it says this: 03:33 that Abraham and Sarah 03:38 are on their way to the land of Canaan. 03:41 Abraham is greatly concerned 03:44 and he's talking to his wife 03:48 Sarah. This is what he says to her... 04:00 Now Abraham's talking to his wife; 04:03 they're getting close to coming to Egypt. He's worried. 04:06 You know what he's worried about? 04:08 Huh? Do you know what he's worried about? 04:11 He's worried about his wife because she is? Beautiful. 04:17 "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful 04:22 countenance. " And so he told her: 04:23 "Tell them that you're my sister. " 04:26 Do you know how old she is? 04:31 Do you have any idea how old she is when he's concerned? 04:35 Sixty-five years old! 04:40 Sixty-five years old and he's concerned. 04:42 Not like this woman in this picture, folks. 04:48 Sixty-five years old... probably no wrinkles! 04:53 Absolutely gorgeous! 04:55 Said: "Tell them you're my sister. " 04:57 Without question Esther was gorgeous. 05:02 Rebekah was beautiful. 05:05 God created women very very beautiful. 05:10 And so when God got ready 05:15 to give us the Scripture, 05:17 when He got ready to give us the Bible, 05:20 and He said: "I need something, I need something in Scripture 05:26 to represent My church" 05:29 God reached out and took the crowning act of His creation 05:34 and said: "I'll use a woman to represent My church. " 05:39 "I'll use her to represent My church. " 05:42 And thus you find the Scripture saying: 05:44 "And I have likened the daughter of Zion... " That's the church! 05:54 And so you find that God speaks of His church 05:57 as His bride. 06:01 Talks about her as His bride. Says: 06:33 Oh! That's how He presents His church. 06:37 And men: if you didn't catch on tonight, 06:41 you should have just caught on 06:43 'cause God just told you how to love your wife. 06:46 If you didn't catch it, then you need to look carefully 06:50 because it says He presents His church how? 06:54 Without spot or without wrinkle or any such thing. 06:58 I'll guarantee you if you can convince your wife 07:01 that she doesn't have a wrinkle or a spot or any such thing 07:04 she'll love you the rest of her life! 07:07 So that's how He presents the church: 07:10 beautiful, glorious! 07:18 So God just simply said: "I'm going to take a woman 07:21 and this woman is going to represent My church. 07:24 And I'm going to come back after My bride. " 07:27 "And at midnight a cry was heard 07:29 'Behold, the Bridegroom is coming; 07:32 go out to meet Him. ' " 07:33 So as you pick up God's Word and you're studying prophecy 07:38 you're going to find that God uses a woman 07:40 to represent a church. 07:43 That will be all the way through the Scripture in prophecy. 07:46 So... as God does that it says: 07:57 Now I want you to remember that 07:58 'cause we're going to come back to that. 08:06 Watch as he goes on: 08:22 So the church is the apple of God's eye. 08:26 And he said to her: "Escape, 08:28 you who dwell with the daughters of Babylon. " 08:31 We're going to be looking at that comparison 08:33 in Scripture tonight because that is extremely important 08:36 that you and I understand what it's talking about when it says: 08:39 "Escape, you who dwell with the daughters of Babylon. " 08:43 Unfortunately as we went down through time 08:48 Israel wasn't altogether faithful to the Lord. 08:52 Many many times they went running off after other gods 08:56 and they went worshiping other gods. 08:58 And so you get to books in the Bible where God makes 09:01 this comparison. If you never understood the Song of Solomon, 09:05 well read it and understand it's talking about His love 09:07 for the church. 09:09 But when you get to the book of Hosea 09:13 all of a sudden you get a strange combination there 09:17 because God tells the prophet Hosea: "I want you to go out 09:21 and marry a prostitute. " 09:24 What He told him... to go marry a prostitute. 09:28 And Hosea went and married a woman by the name of Gomer. 09:32 Listen... this is what he says about it: 09:50 He said: "Go out and marry this harlot, this prostitute. " 09:54 And so he went out and married Gomer 09:56 but Gomer wouldn't be faithful. 09:59 She went running off. 10:01 And God would tell Hosea: "Go get her and bring her back 10:04 home. " And Hosea would go get her and bring her back home. 10:06 But she wouldn't stay at home. She'd go running off again. 10:17 So He's making a comparison. He's using Hosea 10:20 saying: "This is the way the children of Israel were. 10:22 They went running off after other lovers. " 10:25 Hosea 3:1: "Then the Lord said to me: 'Go again. 10:29 Love a woman who is loved by a lover 10:32 and is committing adultery. ' " 10:34 He said: "She's run off, Hosea. Go get her. 10:37 Bring her back home. Care for her... love her. " 10:47 Said: "This is the love of the Lord 10:49 for the children of Israel. " 10:51 Over and over Israel went running off. 10:54 When you get to the New Testament 10:57 and into the books of like Revelation 11:00 God pictures a woman - a very beautiful woman - 11:04 standing on the earth. 11:09 This is what it has to say about this woman in Revelation 12: 11:22 So here she is. She's clothed with the sun; 11:25 moon under her feet. 11:37 So it says that this woman 11:39 is pregnant. She's about ready to deliver. 11:42 About ready to give birth to the baby. 12:07 So it says that this great red dragon 12:09 standing before that woman ready to devour that Child 12:13 just as soon as it was born. 12:15 Let's see what this Child is 12:17 that she's going to give birth to. 12:28 So it says she gives birth to a boy. 12:31 Says He was to rule all nations with a rod of iron 12:33 and was caught up to God and to His throne. 12:36 Speaking of this woman it says: 12:39 "Then the woman fled into the wilderness 12:44 where she hath a place prepared of God 12:46 that they should feed her there 1,260 days. " 12:52 So tonight we want to take a look. 12:54 We want to identify who is this woman. 12:57 We want to identify who the Child is. 12:59 We want to identify who the dragon is. 13:01 We want to put all that together. 13:04 This woman is clothed with the sun. 13:07 She has the moon under her feet. 13:11 On her head she has a crown or a garland 13:15 of twelve stars. This represents the church. 13:19 That's what it stands for: it represents the church. 13:22 The sun that she's clothed with 13:24 represents the gospel in all of its purity. 13:28 The moon that is under her feet 13:30 represents the Old Testament period that she's coming out of. 13:34 And the garland or crown of twelve stars 13:37 represents the 12 apostles that Christ has given the 13:41 commission to take the gospel to all the world. 13:45 There's a dragon... great red dragon. 13:48 That dragon is standing before that woman 13:52 ready to devour the Child as soon as it is born. 13:55 Let's see what it says about him. 14:07 So that dragon represents who? The devil. 14:12 What it represents here. It says 14:14 "the old serpent, the devil" standing before this woman 14:17 ready to devour the Child as soon as it was born. 14:46 Now folks, there has only been one Child that has ever 14:51 been born that was to rule all nations with a rod of iron 14:55 and that Child was Jesus Christ. Amen! 14:58 Only One that's ever been born that was caught up 15:01 to God and to His throne - OK? was Jesus Christ. 15:06 So this prophecy is concerning Jesus Christ. 15:10 Now, I'm sure 15:14 all of you here have read or someone has told you 15:20 the Christmas story. 15:22 You've heard it enough to make the application 15:24 because you remember those wise men. 15:28 They followed a star, and they followed that star 15:31 all the way to Jerusalem. 15:36 They have inquired all over the city for the Child. 15:39 It has upset the whole city so much so that Herod 15:42 has called them in and said... 15:44 asked them who they're looking for. 15:46 And they said: "Well, we're looking for this Child 15:48 that's to be born a King. " 15:50 And Herod has called in the scribes and asked them 15:53 where the Child was to be born. And they said: 15:54 "Oh, He's to be born down in Bethlehem. " 15:57 Herod told those wise men to go on to Bethlehem 16:01 and when they had found the Child to come and tell him 16:04 that he might go and worship Him also. 16:06 Those wise men followed that star on down to Bethlehem 16:11 and there they found the Child and they worshiped Him. 16:15 They gave Him their gold, myrrh, frankincense. 16:21 Why? Why did they give Him those three gifts? 16:27 Do you know? 16:29 Why did they give Him gold and frankincense and myrrh? 16:37 Well, they gave Him gold 16:38 because gold is the gift you give to a King. 16:43 They gave Him frankincense because that's an incense 16:46 that the priest uses, and Jesus Christ was Priest. 16:51 And they gave Him myrrh because that's what's used in burial 16:56 and they gave Him that for His death. 17:00 They gave Him gold, myrrh, and frankincense. 17:03 But an angel told those wise men to go back another way 17:08 because Herod sought the life of the Child. 17:11 That same angel told Joseph and Mary 17:13 "Take the Child and flee to Egypt. " 17:16 And you remember when Herod found out 17:18 that he had not been told 17:20 you remember it says he sent his army 17:22 and had all the male children two years of age and under 17:26 slain. That's what it's talking about when it talks about 17:29 that great red dragon. Understand something: 17:32 in the first sense... in the 1st sense this great red dragon 17:37 always represents the devil. 17:39 But the devil never comes out and does anything in the open. 17:43 He always uses a power or a system. 17:46 So in the second sense it represents the power 17:49 that the devil used... and that was pagan Rome. 17:53 Pagan Rome is the one that tried to take the life of the Child. 17:58 Watch as the Scripture continues on: 18:10 So he turned his wrath upon the church. 18:32 So it says this woman fled into the wilderness... 18:38 like fleeing away from the persecution. 18:51 He poured out such a flood of persecution 18:54 that it looked like the church was going to be carried away. 18:58 OK. If you've ever gone over to Rome, 19:05 I would advise you to go... take time 19:09 to go down and walk in the catacombs. 19:15 You can get a little bit of a sense 19:18 of the tremendous persecution that went on. 19:21 Let me tell you how it went. 19:24 Rome... pagan Rome... didn't care who you worshiped. 19:28 Pagan Rome was polytheistic. 19:31 They had many many gods so they didn't care who you worshiped. 19:35 You could worship any god you wanted to. 19:38 What Rome was concerned about was your allegiance. 19:43 They wanted to know that you were loyal to Rome. 19:48 So what did they do? 19:50 They took and made a goddess. 19:54 They called her Roma Dia. 19:57 And all that they asked of you to do 20:01 was once a year you had to come in before this Roman goddess, 20:06 pick up some incense, 20:09 and sprinkle it in the fire before the goddess 20:12 and say: "Roma Dia. " 20:15 That was a sign of your allegiance. 20:17 The magistrate gave you a certificate of it 20:20 and you were free to go worship any god you wanted to. 20:25 But the Christians wouldn't do that. 20:28 They said: "No, we won't worship any other God. " 20:34 And because they refused to do that 20:38 they were taken to arenas: 20:42 women, children, men. 20:46 And they were put in those arenas 20:50 and lions that hadn't eaten in days... 20:55 The crowd stood there and turned thumbs down on them 21:00 and they became food for lions. 21:06 The next time you say "I'm a Christian" 21:11 then I would just ask you to remember your heritage 21:15 'cause that's where it came from. 21:17 They said: "No, we will have no other god before us. " 21:22 Because of that tremendous persecution 21:24 they had to flee. And they went into the catacombs 21:26 and hid under the city. 21:28 And some of those people were born in those caves, 21:31 lived, and died. And I've walked into rooms 21:34 in those caves - HUGE rooms - that were full of skulls 21:39 where those people lived and died. 21:42 But because of that she had to flee to the wilderness. 21:58 These Christians fled, and they fled up into 22:04 southern Italy and northern France 22:08 into a place that you and I know that we call the Alps. 22:12 And they moved into that area and they settled there. 22:16 And they began to worship... worship as they believed 22:20 that they could as they read the Word of God and studied it. 22:36 Says she was given 2 wings and she flew into the wilderness. 22:41 There was a country music singer years ago 22:45 by the name of Roy Acuff. 22:48 You remember him? Huh? You know who I'm talking about? 22:52 He used to sing a song. 22:55 Sang it, and people liked it 22:58 but they didn't know anything about it. 23:00 You may have heard him sing it. 23:03 It was called The Great Speckled Bird. 23:07 That's what it's dealing with, folks. 23:09 That's what that song was about. 23:11 She fled into the wilderness 23:13 where she was cared for by God. 23:17 She fled there... up into these mountains. 23:20 These people became known as Albigenses. 23:24 Waldensian people. 23:27 Huguenots. 23:28 They were people that took their stand on the Word of God 23:32 and they said: "We will worship the Lord 23:34 and we will follow Him and Him only 23:36 and we will follow the dictates of our conscience 23:39 and we will follow the Word of God. " 23:42 And they stood on that. 23:44 And because they stood on that 23:47 they received great persecution. 23:50 Because down in the city of Rome certain things were happening. 23:57 The church was receiving favor. 24:02 You remember certain things happened at this time. 24:14 All of a sudden the bishop of Rome 24:19 has stepped to the seat of Caesar 24:21 and he has seized the scepter. 24:23 And all of a sudden anybody who didn't agree with him 24:27 was a heretic and was persecuted. 24:31 This is what is happening there. 24:34 That happened in 538 AD. 24:37 You remember it says she's going to flee into the 24:39 wilderness for how long? Huh? 24:43 1,260 years... 24:45 you've seen that over and over... 24:47 to 1798 AD. 24:51 This is what is happening to the church at Rome, folks. 24:54 Listen: 25:01 Now folks, I'm talking about what is happening in the cities 25:03 like Rome and Alexandria and Constantinople. 25:06 All of a sudden the church received favor, 25:09 was accepted by the government. 25:11 Actually they became the head; they were in favor. 25:14 I'm not talking about these people up in the mountains. 25:18 They're receiving persecution. 25:21 "It became the established religion in the Roman Empire. 25:24 Took the place of paganism. " Listen carefully: 25:40 Because the Christian church took in all the pagan customs. 25:44 They just took them all in. 25:46 The things that the pagans did they took in. 25:48 Not these people up in the mountains. 25:50 They said: "No way! 25:52 We will follow the Word of God; we will worship the Lord; 25:55 we will not accept that. " 25:57 But the church had received the favor of state. 26:01 Up here in the mountains these people are worshiping God. 26:09 They're hunted... greatly persecuted. 26:16 They had a great burden on their 26:18 heart to spread the gospel. 26:20 So back then the only way you 26:23 got Scripture was to write it 26:24 by hand. And they would write 26:26 Scripture and they would take and they would slit 26:28 their clothes and slide the Scripture inside their clothes 26:33 and sew it back. And then they would go into the towns 26:36 as traders or people that sold things 26:39 and if they found somebody that was interested 26:41 in the Word of God they would open up their clothes 26:44 and take it out and share it with them. 26:46 If they were caught, they were killed. 26:50 If you go up there and walk into those mountains 26:53 and visit their places, you'll see places they worshiped. 26:56 This is a room where they hand copied the Scripture. 27:00 If you go to their little churches, 27:03 go in, the pulpit... if you go around and look 27:06 at the front of the pulpit, it said this on the front of it: 27:10 "If you be no missionary, you be nothing at all. " 27:13 That's what it says. 27:15 "If you be no missionary, you be nothing at all. " 27:19 They went out and they preached the Word of God. 27:22 But the church had to go into the wilderness. 27:25 It had to go into hiding. 27:27 Had to be there just to exist. 27:29 But it says: "the earth helped the woman. " 27:32 Hmm... "the earth helped the woman... " 27:42 This dragon cast out such a flood of persecution 27:44 looked like it was going to wipe the church off the earth. 27:47 But it says it opened up its mouth... 27:56 Well, how did the earth help the woman? 28:00 Great persecution during this time, folks. 28:03 You can go back and read it in history. 28:05 But all of a sudden you have developing what was called 28:09 The Reformation. 28:11 And men like Hus, Jerome, 28:15 Bohemians, who stood up and they preached the Word of God. 28:21 They said: "This is what we believe. 28:24 This is what we'll preach. " 28:26 And they stood on the Word of God 28:28 and for that they were burned at the stake. 28:31 Wycliffe took the Word of God and translated it 28:36 so the people could read it. 28:38 And because of his preaching of the Word of God 28:41 they sent a delegation down and arrested him 28:43 and was going to burn him at the stake 28:45 but he died before they got him to the stake. 28:49 And then along came men like 28:51 Luther, Knox, Zwingli, Calvin: 28:57 all these great reformers. And they stood up 29:00 and they preached the Word of God and they said: 29:02 "This is what we need to follow and our conscience will not be 29:05 dictated to. " And as a result of their preaching 29:09 some of the princes of Europe 29:11 began to stand up and they said: "Well will be free. " 29:13 "We will believe what we understand God's Word 29:17 to be teaching and we will stand on that 29:19 and this is what we will believe. " 29:21 And they stood up, and the persecution began to let up. 29:26 And things became easier and easier. 29:30 But it says: "The earth opened its mouth 29:36 and swallowed up the flood. " Something else happened, 29:40 and that was the discovery of the New World 29:43 that you and I live in. 29:45 For you remember, our fore- fathers who came over here 29:49 they were fleeing persecution. 29:52 They were called what? 29:54 Pilgrims. 29:55 They were coming over to a land where they could worship 29:58 as they believed they should. 30:01 And so the earth opened up its mouth 30:03 and they could get away from the persecution. 30:05 They could come to this country and they could worship God 30:08 without persecution! 30:11 Swallowed up the flood of persecution 30:14 that was taking place. 30:17 But it goes on in the book of Revelation. 30:20 Now you need to follow me carefully. 30:23 Follow me carefully. 30:26 Revelation 2 verse 20. 30:46 Said: "I have a little bit against you because you allow 30:50 this woman Jezebel to teach and seduce My servants. " 31:00 Now folks, this can't be talking about Jezebel 31:05 in flesh and blood. 31:07 Do you know when the book of Revelation was written? 31:10 Written in 90 AD. 31:13 Do you know when Jezebel lived? 31:16 Oh, back around 500 BC. 31:22 Jezebel would be 600 years old! 31:25 No, this is not talking about Jezebel in flesh and blood. 31:28 I've told you that in Bible prophecy 31:31 a woman represented what? 31:33 What? A church! 31:36 A good woman represents a? Good church. 31:40 A bad woman represents a? Bad church. 31:45 OK, He said: "I have something against you. " 31:47 This woman Jezebel... 31:58 Do you remember the story? 32:01 God sent Elijah, and he told Ahab and Jezebel 32:04 "If you don't change your ways, 32:07 if you don't repent, it won't rain for 3-1/2 years. " 32:12 Well they didn't repent. 32:15 And God told Ahab 32:17 "You're going to be shot in battle. " 32:20 And that's exactly what happened to him. 32:21 And he told Jezebel, he said: "You'll be eaten by the dogs. " 32:26 You remember what happened to her? 32:29 Jehu came riding up in his chariot 32:31 and she was sitting in the window, the palace window, 32:34 putting on her make-up. 32:36 And Jehu drove up, 32:38 told the servants "throw her out. " 32:40 And they threw her out the window 32:42 and he ran over her with his chariot and killed her. 32:45 I've never understood the next part because 32:48 it said he went in and ate. I don't understand that. 32:52 But after he had eaten 32:54 he turned to the servants and said: "Go out and bury her. " 32:57 And they went out, and the dogs had eaten all of her 32:59 but a little bit of the palm of her hand 33:01 and a little bit of the scalp of her head. 33:03 It's not talking about Jezebel in flesh and blood. 33:07 It's talking about at the end of time, and it's using 33:09 Jezebel to represent a church. 33:12 OK, let's see how long... How long did God 33:17 give Jezebel and Ahab to repent? 33:20 Come on. Three and a half years He gave them to repent. 33:24 I told you that in Bible prophecy 33:26 a day represents how much? 33:28 One year. 33:30 In Bible reckoning of time there are 360 days 33:34 in a Biblical year. 33:35 So if I multiply 360 33:40 by 3-1/2 it gives me 1,260. 33:46 1,260 years. 33:49 Talking about from 538 AD to 1798 AD. 34:05 OK... so there you have it. 34:13 That's the time that God gave the church 34:16 to repent. 34:19 Are you with me? 34:21 He gave them 1,260 years to repent. 34:23 And it says: "She repented not. " 34:28 Now if I could take you with me tonight 34:32 I'd take you over to Geneva, Switzerland, 34:34 which you're looking at. 34:36 There in Geneva, Switzerland, they have what is called 34:38 the Reformation Wall. 34:42 That's a picture of it. 34:43 I don't know... it's probably two blocks long. 34:46 On that wall as you can see along here 34:49 they have all the different reformers. 34:51 Now you can't see that one very well right there. 34:54 That's the only American that's on there... 34:57 on the wall. Do you know who that was? 35:00 Roger Williams. 35:02 That's who's there. But it's a big wall 35:05 and here are the statues and all on it. 35:07 Luther, Knox, and Zwingli and all these great men. 35:10 Now let me make something clear, folks. 35:12 These reformers were great men of God's Word. 35:17 You go back and read their lives. 35:20 I mean, they didn't always agree with one another 35:23 but they always agreed on one thing: 35:26 they agreed on the Word of God. 35:30 They agreed and they said: "Everybody should have the right 35:34 to read the Scripture for themselves 35:36 and to stand on the Word of God. " 35:38 They were God-fearing men that stood up and preached 35:43 the Word of God for all they were worth. 35:45 And they said: "Here we stand and this is what we believe. " 35:48 And they were great great students of God's Word. 35:52 And they tried to the best of them 35:54 as they understood God's Word to walk in it. 36:02 Unfortunately, something happened. 36:08 When Luther died 36:11 they built a fence 36:14 and they said: "All that Luther believed 36:18 that's what we'll believe and nothing more. " 36:23 They built a fence and they drew up a creed 36:26 and they said: "This is what we believe... 36:29 nothing more. " 36:31 And when Knox died they built a fence. 36:36 And they said: "What Knox be- lieved, that's what we believe, 36:40 nothing more. " And they drew up a creed. 36:42 And when Calvin died they built a fence. 36:46 And they said: "Oh, what Calvin believed 36:48 that's what we'll believe and nothing more. " 36:50 Dear friend, those men would have never accepted that. 36:54 They would have never in this world accepted that 36:57 because they were men that believed in God's Word 37:01 and they believed that as an individual understood the Word 37:04 of God they needed to walk in the light of God's Word. 37:07 Every one of them believed that. 37:09 They would have never accepted the fence. 37:11 They would have never accepted a creed. 37:15 And as time went on 37:19 they lost... they lost what those reformers had 37:24 and what they believed. 37:27 Now watch carefully 37:30 because it talks about this woman 37:32 on this scarlet-colored beast. 37:53 Who commits fornication with her? 37:55 Huh? Kings of the earth. 38:05 How many were made drunk? 38:07 The inhabitants of the earth 38:10 made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 39:04 Sees this woman riding on this scarlet-colored beast. 39:10 Now folks, are you understanding me tonight? 39:12 This is Revelation 17. 39:15 Do you understand where the book of Revelation ends? 39:18 With what chapter? 39:20 Huh? Do you understand? 39:22 It ends with what chapter? 39:24 Twenty-two. 39:26 Twenty-one and twenty-two talk about heaven. 39:30 You understand that? 39:33 Twentieth chapter talks about the millennium. 39:38 Seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen talk about this woman. 39:43 I hope you're understanding 39:45 this is down at the end. 39:49 This is at the close of time 39:51 it's talking about this woman. 39:53 You and I need to identify this woman. 39:56 Not hard to identify who she is. 40:04 You've gotta look for a power, a church - 40:08 woman represents a church - 40:10 that has committed fornication with the kings of the earth. 40:13 It had to be a world power. 40:16 OK? You can't go looking for some little church 40:19 over in the corner. That won't work. 40:21 Has to be a church that's had world power. 40:28 When it speaks of "drunk with the wine of her fornication" 40:32 that is false teachings. 40:35 That's what it's drunk with, the teachings of the church: 40:38 the wine of her fornication. Listen: 40:43 Let me share with you what's involved here. 40:52 These are some great great issues. 40:56 I mean, these are issues, folks, tonight 40:58 that you need to be crystal clear on. 41:00 Let me share some of them with you: 41:08 OK? You've got to make a decision. 41:11 What is the authority? 41:13 Is the Word of God the authority? 41:26 I talk to people and they say: 41:28 "Oh, my preacher says... " 41:30 Is the preacher the authority? 41:33 No. The Word of God is the authority. 41:37 God's truth... God's Word: THAT's the authority. 41:41 That's where you must build your faith. 41:43 Let me share another great issue with you. 41:46 Prayer. Satan's counterfeit? 41:52 Tells you you can pray to an image. 41:55 Image is not going to do you any good. 41:58 Has nothing to offer in any way. 42:02 That's Satan's counterfeit. 42:05 Scripture tells you it's the Holy Spirit 42:08 that takes your prayers and makes them viable before God. 42:14 Another great issue: 42:24 You can get there by your good deeds and what you do. 42:28 You know? As people tell me they say: 42:31 "Well, it really doesn't matter. " 42:33 "God's not particular. " 42:36 "I can do it my way whatever day I want to. " 42:39 No... that's not God's way. 42:42 God's truth is Christ's grace. 42:45 That's the only way you're going to be saved 42:47 is by the grace of Jesus Christ. No other way. 42:50 Another great issue: intercession. 42:55 Do you understand who's your Intercessor? 42:59 Satan's counterfeit tells you 43:01 the priest can intercede for you. 43:05 No! The Word of God says that Jesus is the ONLY Advocate. 43:10 What the Scripture says: "There is only one Advocate 43:12 between God and man: the Lord Jesus Christ. " 43:16 That's what Scripture says. Amen! 43:19 Another great issue is worship. 43:22 Satan's counterfeit says: "Oh, you don't have to worry about 43:25 the Sabbath... we can change it. " 43:30 So you have Sunday. 43:33 God's Word? Going to teach nothing but the Sabbath. 43:37 That's all it will teach. 43:39 I'm talking about the wine cup. 43:42 The wine that's offered to the whole world. 43:44 And it says the inhabitants of the earth 43:47 have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 43:50 Death: counterfeit says that your soul is immortal. 43:56 That you really don't die when you die. 44:01 That's not what the Scripture says. It says "the dead 44:03 know not anything. " 44:06 God's truth: Scripture says that when a person dies 44:09 they're asleep and will remain so until Jesus comes. 44:15 These are great issues... 44:17 issues that you and I need to look at and understand. 44:21 That's the wine cup. So it's not hard to identify 44:24 who this woman is. 44:26 Health: Satan's counterfeit says 44:31 all that's been abolished. 44:34 Don't have to worry about what you eat or how you live 44:37 healthy. That's not something that God requires. 44:40 I'm sorry. God's Word says those laws are eternal. 44:44 They'll always be there. 44:50 Also, she's riding on a beast... this woman is. 44:55 As we studied Bible prophecy we found out that a beast 44:58 represents a nation or a power. 45:09 So the Scripture says that a beast represents a power, 45:11 a nation. So if I have a woman riding on a beast, 45:17 what do I have? 45:19 I have union of church and state. 45:24 That's what I've got. So if you're gonna identify 45:27 this woman, you've gotta look for a woman 45:29 that's involved with civil government. 45:33 OK? Not hard to identify. 45:41 Gotta find one that has persecuted. 45:44 That's necessary. 45:46 I have mentioned to you many times now 45:49 all you have to do is go back and read history, folks. 45:52 If you'll read history, 45:54 you can understand clearly that she has persecuted. 46:13 I mean, you shouldn't have any trouble identifying that. 46:18 Do you think they have any intentions today? 46:22 This is taken from a book called The Keys of This Blood 46:26 by Malachi Martin who is a priest. 46:30 This is what he says 46:31 speaking of Pope John Paul II: 47:01 You'd better believe they know exactly where they're going 47:06 and where they're headed. Don't think they don't, folks. 47:21 Now I want to ask you a simple question tonight: 47:25 if she is the mother of harlots 47:28 then what does that mean? 47:33 If she's the mother of harlots, what does that mean? 47:37 Well it means she has daughters, doesn't it? 47:41 If she's the mother of harlots, she has daughters. 47:45 What are daughters? 47:48 Daughters are people that follow her teachings. 47:54 Churches that follow her teachings. 47:58 That is daughters. 48:02 I mean, the Scripture is very clear on that. 48:04 You and I need to understand. 48:06 Now just kind of get hold of your chair 48:09 'cause we're fixing to move into something that 48:11 may be a little shocking to you. 48:28 Now when John saw this woman 48:31 riding on this scarlet-colored beast 48:33 he said: "I marveled with great amazement! " 48:37 What's so amazing to John? 48:39 I mean, he's seen all these other beasts. 48:42 I mean, he's seen a whole bunch of them. 48:45 Why all of a sudden because she's riding on this beast 48:48 is this so amazing to him? 48:53 Let me tell you why it's amazing. 48:56 This woman in Revelation 12, 49:01 white, clothed with the sun, moon under her feet, 49:06 a crown of 12 stars on her head, 49:09 where did she go? 49:11 Where did she go? 49:14 Into the wilderness. 49:17 She went into the wilderness. She went into those mountains. 49:20 You go back and read the history. 49:23 She went back there, and when the Reformation took place, 49:27 folks, she was thrilled. 49:30 The Waldensian people, the Albigenses, 49:33 the Huguenots: they opened up their arms 49:36 and they accepted the Reformation. 49:37 And it was marvelous. 49:42 And then all of a sudden they found the Reformation 49:46 they had accepted was not really willing 49:51 to continue to follow God's Word. 49:54 They found those churches 49:57 built fences and drew up a creed. 50:01 And you go back and read the story of the Waldensian people 50:04 and the Huguenots and the Albigenses 50:07 and you find they completely fell apart 50:11 because the Reformation they had accepted with open arms 50:15 and the woman that went into the wilderness 50:20 white, beautiful, 50:24 John sees her coming out - the same woman - 50:27 riding on a scarlet-colored beast. 50:33 That's what's amazing to him. 50:36 The woman that was white 50:38 coming out of the wilderness 50:41 riding on a scarlet-colored beast. 50:44 She's given up... she's given up the Word of God. 50:48 She's given up the beliefs that she stood for! 50:53 John said: "I was amazed! I marveled 50:57 that this could happen. That the church that was in white 51:00 coming out riding on a scarlet-colored beast! " 51:17 That's the way the New King James reads. 51:20 I like the Old King James much better here. 51:23 It says: "He went to make war with the 51:25 remnant of her seed. " 51:28 Now folks, if you've got it in your mind 51:33 that Christianity as a whole 51:35 is going to embrace the teachings of God's Word 51:39 and go marching gloriously into the second coming, 51:42 I'm sorry. That's not what the Bible teaches. 51:47 The Bible teaches that when Jesus comes 51:50 there will just be a remnant. 51:53 The Bible says: "Broad is the way that leads to destruction 51:57 and many there be that go in thereat. 52:01 Narrow is the way that leads to salvation 52:04 and few there be that find it. " 52:07 No. Christianity - when they built a fence and the put up 52:12 a creed - and they said: "This is what we'll believe 52:13 and nothing more" they closed the door 52:17 to the work of the Holy Spirit upon their hearts 52:21 and understanding the rest of the Scripture. 52:24 And they continue to follow 52:27 the woman that's riding on that scarlet-colored beast. 52:31 "Went to make war with the remnant of her seed 52:35 who... " What? Come on. 52:39 "Who keep the commandments of God 52:42 and have the testimony of Jesus. " 52:44 It identifies the remnant. 52:45 It says these are people that keep the commandments of God; 52:48 they have the faith of Jesus. 52:51 That's the remnant. 52:53 That's what God is calling people today is to the remnant. 53:15 Listen to what his message is. 53:17 We're going to be talking about it a little bit tomorrow night 53:20 in The Loud Cry, Did You Hear It? 53:23 Listen to what it says: 53:36 God says Babylon has fallen! OK? 53:48 He said: "She has fallen! " 53:51 That means Babylon AND her daughters have fallen. 54:07 All nations have. 54:21 Now how does that relate to you? 54:25 How does that relate to me? 54:26 John... John is having a real rough time right now, folks. 54:32 He's having a hard time in this vision 54:36 'cause he sees this and he's seeing the call and it says: 54:48 In all the churches 54:50 God has His people. 54:52 In ALL churches. Did you hear me? 54:56 Not just one but in all the churches 54:59 God has His people that love Him 55:02 and they love the Word of God 55:04 and they are saying: "I'm going to follow the Word of God. " 55:07 And today God is saying to them: 55:09 "Come out! Come out of her, My people. " 55:17 And that's the way it relates to you tonight. 55:20 God is saying to you: "Come out! 55:23 Follow Me... prepare for My coming. " 55:27 That's what God is saying, dear friends. 55:30 God is calling them. 55:32 Like I said, John is having a hard time 55:34 'cause this woman in white 55:37 that he saw go in the wilderness 55:40 comes out riding on this beast. 55:43 And so you find John is saying: 55:46 "Where's the bride? " 55:48 "Where's the bride? " 55:51 "What happened to her? Where's the bride? " 55:54 Watch: 56:08 He said: "Come, John. You want to know where the bride is? 56:11 Come with me. I'm going to show you the bride the Lamb's wife. " 56:26 Took him up there. He showed him the New Jerusalem. 56:29 Why would he show him the New Jerusalem? 56:33 Shows him. Says: "Having the glory of God... " 56:36 the city does. 56:46 The reason he's showing him the Holy City 56:48 is because inside the Holy City are all of God's people. 56:53 Here's all the people from down through time. 56:57 Back in the days of Noah coming on down through time. 57:01 All the prophets and all the people that followed the Lord 57:04 all the way down through the Old Testament 57:06 into the New Testament. During the time of the Reformation. 57:08 Here all those people have been gathered from 57:11 every tribe, every tongue, every nation. 57:14 Of every culture across the earth they've been gathered 57:17 and there they are in God's City ALL of God's people. 57:21 And he can say: "John, there's the bride. " 57:25 But to you and to me 57:28 God is saying: "Come out of her My people. " 57:33 "Don't receive her plagues. " 57:37 "Don't partake of her sins. " 57:40 God is calling you saying: 57:44 "Won't be anything but a remnant down here at the end. " 57:47 But He's saying: "Come out! Be part of the remnant. " 57:53 He's asking you - asking me - to follow Him. 57:57 To walk with Him and to follow Him by faith. |
Revised 2019-06-17