Armageddon Continues

We have found as we have studied into the Revelation that it is a revelation of Jesus Christ, revealing Christ throughout the Gospel Day. We have found how he shows Himself strong, what His Grace and His power can do for men and women in every trying circumstance of life. We have found that the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head is the holy mother church of the morning time, the church of The Living God. We found that the man child which she brought forth was the converts who were caught up to God and to His throne. The man child was those converts who were killed for true Christianity in the early days of The Church.

We proved the great red dragon not to be the devil himself, but an agent through which the devil was working. Namely, the Pagan Roman Empire with the seven heads and the ten horns working against The Church. Going deeper into the study, we read where John, in the vision, saw war going on between the dragon and his ministers, and Christ and His ministers. The dragon was cast down into the earth, or put down from that ecclesiastical position, and proven by The Word of God to be earthly, sensual, and devilish. There was NO God in that religion whatsoever.

I want you to understand who the dragon is wroth with: he is wroth with the seed of the woman, the remnant of her seed. Now this brings us up to our very day and time: the remnant of her seed that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 19:10 will tell you that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. So who is the devil stirred up at? Who is he against? Who is he making war with? Those who keep the commandments of God and have the Spirit of God.

The devil is not against nominal religion. Understand THAT VERY CLEARLY. He is against those who definitely live for God, those who definitely keep His commandments, those who definitely have the real Spirit of God working in their lives. Friend, this conflict is a SPIRITUAL conflict, as we taught you in the beginning. Armageddon is a battle of true Christianity against anti-Christianity. While false teachers are talking about one antichrist (to come in the future), the Bible says there are MANY anti-Christ(s)! Who are they? ALL sources of religion which are against the TRUE Word of God are anti-Christ religions and working against the true cause of Christ.

The Faithful Record

There are two verses in our Scripture lesson that we want to consider. They do not portray a very beautiful picture, but one that we can gain much from if we will really open our hearts up to God. Let's read Revelation 12, verses 6 and 14:

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

The Word of God bears a faithful record--it tells the WHOLE story. Many people who study the Revelation just gloss right ver this apostasy. All they talk about is that God had a place prepared to keep The Church through the 1260 years of dark ages, but right before our eyes is a picture of the great apostasy! When man writes his books, he is prone to tell only the good parts, but the Word of God is faithful to tell the WHOLE story.

Even though God exalted Abraham to the place that he could be called the "friend of God" and the "father of the faithful", when he lied, the Bible told off on him. We NEVER get so close to God that He covers our wrongs! It was the same with Moses. No one got as close and near to the heart of God in the Old Testament as Moses, but when his anger got stirred until he threw down the tablets of stone and broke them, God told it on him. The Word of God is THE faithful record.

When Jonah got peeved and sat under a gourd vine, the Word of God told on him. It tells both sides of the story--the good and the bad. The Apostle Peter weakened and denied the Lord. Demas, a man once greatly used of Christ, one of the leaders in The Church and highly esteemed for his preaching, became worldly minded. Having loved the world and the things of it, he went to hell loving it. The Bible tells all. The Revelation of Christ Jesus is spoken of as a faithful and true witness: it deals with the facts.

Now when we begin to study the apostasy and the terrible dangers of it, I would like to be able to say that The Church continued right on through in pristine glory. Sure, I'd LIKE to say it, but I can't. I would like to be able to tell you that she continued in that high position, being the light of the world, shaking worlds and casting down evil, but that is not the story! No, my friend, following some of the greatest works that the church ever accomplished was a great falling away, an apostasy, and a turning away from God's Word.

I want to tell you, and I want you to remember it, Just beyond every victory you have, you will go through your sorest temptation. You can avoid a lot of trouble if you will just remember that warning. Let me tell you, the devil will be working every way possible to work an apostasy in your individual life. Brothers and Sisters, the devil does not take the victories you and I receive sitting down any more than he did the great victories of The Church! Beyond every mountain is a valley. Every time the people of God got high in their experience, the very next move was a "valley" or "desert" experience, and the devil brought many people down. It does NOT, however, have to be that way! The Word of God comes to us as a lesson, to point out the dangers and how easily this can befall us UNLESS we learn by the examples of the peoples of the past, and do differently than they did.

Darkness And Famine

The Apostle Paul, through the discernment of the Holy Ghost, knew there was a falling away coming. He knew what was going to happen shortly after he died. In Acts 20:28-30 he wrote to the elders, Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

God allowed Paul to know this was about to happen to the body of believers, The Church. This great falling away did not happen merely for the sake of happening, but God saw what the hearts of men would be like. Amos 8:-12 reads,

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

Through His Holy Word, God revealed that a day would come when He would cause the sun to go down. He would cause the light to cease to shine, and there would be a great famine following it. What kind of famine? A famine of hearing the Word of God. Someone might ask, "When does it take place? Can you pinpoint it?"

In Matthew 24:29, Jesus said, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken... ("Tribulation of those days" = AD 70, at the destruction of literal Jerusalem and the temple. It is spoken of as "The Great Tribulation" in the scriptures. "Sun shall be darkened" = the sun that the woman was clothed in.) Because of these things, there will be darkness come over the earth. NOT literal darkness, but SPIRITUAL darkness!

What sun, moon, and stars will cease to shine? "The Church" was the light of the world. God prophesied this way because of her attitude toward His Word; she did not want it anymore. Now, just mark this down: we are only the light of the world as we hear The Word of God, obey it, and apply it to our lives. That is the ONLY way it shines!

Whenever we get the idea that the morning church had, "We are not going to obey the dictates of God's Word", the light is going to go out. That is why such a condition of coldness, deadness, formality, and darkness are in congregations of "The Church" all over this world.

My friends, it is well for us to study these things. The tribulation was in AD 70 and from then on, we can read in Peter's and Paul's writing of that falling away coming. The tribulation at Jerusalem took place in AD 70, and directly following that, the sun began to be darknened, a prophetic picture of a falling away from Gospel Light by God's people.

"...And The Woman Fled..."
When things begin to happen in The Church, any true minister of the Gospel is going to begin to see it. Every one of God's faithful ministers began to point out this apostasy that was coming right in The Church. The Apostle Paul instructed the Thessalonians (in II Thessalonians 2:1-4), Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. ("Falling away first" = falling away from The Truth; "Man of sin" = the pope of Rome.)

Paul foresaw a falling away from truth and he saw that the light was going to begin to dim. This falling away is symbolized in different scriptures in different ways. The Church is spoken of in the scriptures as "The Bride", or the "pure woman". Revelation 12:6 tells us, And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (The Greek says that "the woman fled" means "the woman apostasized".) Who feeds her there? The nations that she was supposed to rule over with a rod of iron.

What you feed The Church is what makes her what she is. As long as God had true ministers who were feeding her the truth, she had grace, ability and understanding to stand against every force of hell. False preachers, however, began to get in among The Church and to feed her. She was weakened until she apostasized and fled from her position that God had ordained for her to stand in. So, the "pure woman", The Church, is symbolized as fleeing. The Church here plays a position just like some wives: when the battles of life get too much, they say, "Well, I'm just going to leave." That is what The Church did then--she fled, or apostasized.

While there were millions who stood true and were killed and caught up to glory, there were countless millions who recanted and backed off. When they were brought right to the stake, about seven out of eight recanted. They did not have what it took to stand. We get a picture here of a great part of The Church fleeing from the staunch of battle. Oh, it's the same today. We have people who like to come out to church in dress parade, but just watch them flee when the battle comes.

In Revelation 12:6, we have a picture of countless numbers of people who fell away, fled, and apostasized into the wilderness. I want to tell you right now, into the wilderness is a 100% different picture than standing on Mount Zion. A wilderness throughout the Word of God symbolizes a cold, dark place of confusion.

The Church is also spoken of as Mount Sion, according to Hebrews 12:22. Revelation 8:8 shows us Mount Zion as a mountain on fire, going into the sea; the same picture of apostasy. What is the sea? Revelation 17:15 tells us, ...The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. What happened? A church that was governed by God, led by the Word of God, living by the Word of God, and set on fire by the Holy Ghost, fell into the hands of men and her fire went out. She lost her glory and went into confusion.

Not only is The Church likened to a bride and called Mount Zion, but she is also called "the heavenly Jerusalem". The eleventh chapter of Revelation pictures the whole city, the New Jerusalem, being trodden under the foot of man for 1,260 years. Four different places in the Bible point out this apostasy under different symbols, but all tell the same story. What was the picture? Men took over what God had once controlled. How did men take over? The message from God seemed too straight and seemed to require too much. So many, as they still do today, desired to come down to a more "human level" (the humanistic view).

The Measuring Rod

John was put on the Isle of Patmos to die, but Jesus came to him and said, "Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." Revelation 10:11. Why did God send John back? Because John was the only one right at that time to depend on. When he went back, he wrote First, Second, and Third John. If you want some strong stuff to line up to, measure your life with that!

In Revelation 11:1, John said, And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. ("Reed like unto a rod" = that's the Word of God. The reed is a symbolic expression of a measuring piece, and this reed was like a rod. The rod always symbolizes the Word of God. "Temple of God" = The Church.)

Why was John instructed to measure The Church? Because in the falling away, The Word of God was beginning to close, and the doctrines and commandments of men were being taught until you could not even find The Church. Everything was The Church, just like it is today. So God told John to take the rod and measure The Church so that people can see where The Church starts and where it stops. There needs to be lots of that kind of preaching today. Brothers and Sisters, when you get right down to measuring the true Church of God (Body of Christ), she doesn't reach over the false hills of Babylon (false religion).

Verse 2 of Revelation 11 tells us, But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (or 1260 prophetic days). I want you to see something: John was told to measure the temple and them that worshipped therein. The great doctrines of The Church are necessary for The Church to be The Church. Brother, the devil wrecked the Church of God reformation movement by making them feel they didn't need to preach the doctrines of The Church to be The Church. On the contrary: nothing else makes The Church to be The Church, separate and distinct, but the true doctrines of The Church. Without the preaching of the doctrines of The Church, the people lose sight of it.

So John was instructed to measure the temple, or The Church, to let the people see how big The Church is, what she takes in, where her walls reach. He was instructed to measure the altar and them that worship therein. What is "the altar"? My, if people could only realize what the altar is! Then they could forget about two cleansings and two altars. CHRIST is THE ALTAR! How many altars do you have? The altars in the Old Testament symbolized Jesus Christ. He IS the ALTAR. How many Christs do you have? The altars in the Old Testament temple symbolized Christ. He is the altar. He is the sacrifice. Everything about that old temple was Him. So when we measure the altar, my friends, we are reminding people that is only THROUGH CHRIST that we receive a full atonement for sin.

As we learned in a previous message, the life is in the blood. At the same time the quickening power of the Holy Ghost regenerates and cleanses you with the blood, there is life put in you whereby you can serve The LIVING GOD. Brothers and Sisters, that is the altar, but because it is NOT preached, we have gone into greater darkness, I suppose, than ever before existed. You can't get in the true temple without coming by Christ in a full commitment to Him. He cleanses you from all sin and puts the power of His life within you. Then you come into the temple. No man can operate the altar. No man can get up an atonement for sin. It is ONLY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.

Heart Circumcision

John was not to measure the temple and the altar only--but also them that worship therein. This merely refers to the people who are in the temple, who worship in The TRUE Church. I want to make a statement, and the Bible will support me: there is not an UNCIRCUMCISED Jew in the New Testament temple, the Church of God (body of Christ). Some teach that when you are born again, you come into the temple, and later on you have to have circumcision. No! There is nobody but New Testament Jews in the temple. No one was considered a Jew until he was circumcised, and the circumcision of the New Testament is circumcision of the heart. When does it happen? When you come in repentance and God takes the old heart out and puts a new one in. Thank God, you become circumcised!

In those days, none but the males could be listed in Israel because none but the male could be circumcised. In the New Testament, however, there is neither male NOR female. Why? Because the woman needs circumcision now; she needs her heart changed, too.

So who is truly worshipping in the Church of God (body of Christ)? In John's day, the agnostics and others rose up and said, "This is no longer necessary. That isn't necessary. You do have to do that or this." So John was instructed to measure them that worship therein, not by men's ideas, but by the rod. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell you to measure by any preacher's book!

Paul said that he did not come preaching with wisdom of words. Truth is not found by wisdom of words. If it were, the wisest men in the country would have the truth. Truth comes by DIVINE revelation. You can take words and prove anything. Plenty of people get off track by studying words. If you EVER get to the truth of the matter, you must get on your knees, pour your heart out to God, and stay there until God shows you what is truth.

Spiritual Jews And Gentiles

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. As we read Romans 2:28, 29, remember John was instructed to measure only the temple and those that worshipped therein, not those who stood in the outer court. In the old temple, it was into the outer courts that the Jews came; the Gentiles had no part. The priest went into the first room and the high priest went into the holy of holies, alone, once a year.

When Jesus died on the cross, He washed us in His own blood and made us kings and priests. Now WE are allowed to go in. When He died on the cross, He tore down that middle wall of partition between the literal (physical) Jew and Gentile. Spiritual Jews can enter right into the holiest and live there, but in the outer court there are millions of spiritual Gentiles. Who are those Gentiles? To the Jews, they were uncircumcised unbelievers who had no part in the covenant. Today, the Gentiles symbolize unregenerate men (and women) who have no part in the New Covenant.

By the time the eleventh chapter of Revelation was given, the standard (the message) had been lowered and The Church was loaded down with unregenerate Gentiles, many more than the true. So when God told John to measure, he was told to measure only the temple itself. God has no measuring for the unregenerate--they can't measure to the Word of God. There is no need to try to put the Word on unsaved people. Now get what I said there--I did NOT say there is no need to preach The Word to unsaved people--to offer the message of salvation to unsaved people. I said, there is no need to try to put the Word, as in measure, on unsaved people.

Let's read again Romans 2:28,29, shall we? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Do you get your revelation(s) from God? Whom do you praise for the understanding you have? Mean are afraid to stand up and say that God told them to preach it this way. My friends, the dangers of this thing that I'm preaching are all about us today.

Foes--Without And Within

The Prophet Amos told us that whenever the light begins to dim, when the sun and moon, and the stars begin to fall, there would be a great famine following. That great famine is pictured as the Word of God being closed. It WAS closed until the 16th century reformation when it began to be opened a little.

Amos said it was not a famine of meat or drink, but of hearing the Word of God. That famine was brought about from without and within The Church. The first way it was brought about (without) was by the Pagan Roman emperor right at that time. His platform was to completely close out Christianity. His platform was to seek out all copies of the Word of God so that he could burn them. So, little by little, The Word of God began disappearing. Outwardly, the Pagan Roman empire was burning and destroying the Word of God so no one could read it.

That was helping to bring on the famine without. Within were false teachers, right within The Church, rising up and teaching perversion. Jesus warned us that when iniquity begins to abound in The Church, there will be far more sinners in what is called The Church than there are saints, and the sinners take over. Over the country, where that which calls itself the church, the majority rules and the majority are sinners! If there are a few saints there, what happens to them? They get trodden underfoot. Brothers and Sisters, iniquity abounded! Lawlessness and rebellion got into the hearts of God's people.

Going back to Revelation 11:1,2, only the circumcised Jews who kept the Law could enter the court and only the priests could enter the temple, but Thank God! He made a way in for us! John was instructed to not measure the court without the temple--it is given to the Gentiles, symbolizing unbelievers. Those are not to be reckoned as of the true temple.

In the estimation of the Jews, Gentiles were idolaters, outside of God's favor. So this great group here that God told John to not even measure symbolizes a body of worshippers who are not the true children of God. God does not even spend any time trying to measure them.

In that outer enclosure today, there are millions who have never come through the veil and had definite connection with Christ. They have never come by the altar, Christ. They have joined churches, they have gone to priests, they have listened to what preachers said, but they will not measure to the Word of God. Why? Because they refused to make a total commitment to Jesus Christ.

In those days, they took over the supposed work of The Church, and this caused the true temple to be cast down, trodden under the foot of man, out of the picture. Through that period of time, The TRUE Church was lost sight of, crushed down, while men and devils ruled and reigned. According to this Revelation, the only true temple God had was in the individual hearts of many people who were hidden away in the dens and the caves. I know this is a very sad picture, but it is a very true one.

A Time Of Famine

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. Amos 8:11. There we can see the prophet predicting a famine, not of something to eat or drink, but a famine of hearing the Word of God. A far greater ill has come on any people when God brings a famine of the Word of God, rather than a famine of literal food. So many people worry about a food shortage, but the existing famine of the Word of God is ten thousand times worse. We are so bound by the flesh and so living after the flesh that we don't get excited until we see a hard time coming on the flesh. Any nation, however, that God has brought judgment on to the place that there is a famine of hearing the Word of God, that nation is cursed the worst of any nation under heaven.

Don't forget what produces the famine: mankind's attitude toward the Word. Consider mankind's attitude toward the Word of God today. I get calls for needs of every kind, and I try to bring spiritual help to them. Whether they are dying, their home is breaking up, they are going bankrupt, their greatest need is spiritual help, which they REFUSE. I repeat, a famine of the Word of God is one of the saddest events that can happen to a divinely taught people.

Let us consider two scriptures: Revelation 12:6 tells us, And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. "They should feed her..." -- Who fed her? She was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, but my friends, because The Church let down the standard, she began being fed by preachers who were not even saved! Jude, verse 4 tells us, For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. They began to feed her things that were totally contrary to the Word of God--Bible truth. The devil can weaken you faster that way than any other way!

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. Revelation 12:14. There we see another phase of The Church: the ones who stood true. God had a place to keep them. They were taken care of by a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place to be nourished there. There is a vast difference between feeding and nourishing. There is ONLY ONE THING that will NOURISH The Church. The Church will NOT grow or be nourished on funny stories or moving ideas. There is ONLY ONE THING that will NOURISH The Church: the Word of God--THE TRUTH!

Brothers and Sisters, God had a place for the ones who stood true. Certainly, there was an uprising: MAN-MADE religion was going to reign for 1,260 years. The point I want to make with you right now is that The Church is to be, has to be, MUST be, nourished.

Let's take a look at Acts 20:26-28. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Could we, today say that we are "pure from the blood of all men"? If you can say that, you are making a BIG statement. Being a preacher of the Gospel means more than just putting on a black robe and being applauded by the people. Paul said he had not shunned (avoided, found a way to NOT do it) to declare unto them the "Counsel of God". What is that? All that God had laid on his heart! He wasn't worried about offending the deep pockets of his congregations. He wasn't worried about being politically (or for that matter, socially) correct! And then he went on in verse 28 to warn the "overseers". Who are the overseers? Come on, who are the "overseers" of "the flock"? Those in authority over the congregations! Those who so quickly decide that they are above reproach, that they cannot stumble and fall, that they are beyond temptation. Watch out!

Yes, Paul very plainly warned that For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:29,30. He was warning them, not only were there going to be those moving through the congregations (bodies of believers), but preachers and evangelists and high-office deacons and teachers would speak perverse things--things NOT in line with the Word of God.

Brethren, if you do not live the truth, you canNOT preach it. God will not let you. Oh, yes, you can stand up before a crowd or group of folks and read scripture. You can tell the people what YOU think it means, but it (your sermon--message) will NOT feed (nourish) The Church unless the Holy Ghost anoints it!

It means something to "feed" (nourish) The Church! When you eat, there must be nourishment, or your health with suffer. You can always tell when there is nourishment in the messages that a group of believers is getting: The Church will grow and be strengthened.

Esteeming God's Word

Every kind of life requires nutriments. Too many people think that all man is made up of is appetite and sensation, but friends, we need to understand that man has a higher life than that! Only God's Word satisfies the cravings in mankind and solves the problems in life. Jesus said, I am that bread of life. John 6:48. Jesus also said, Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. John 6:54-56.

Listen to Job in Job 23:10-12: But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. THERE is the place of victory, which is exactly where God brought Job through to, Amen?

Brothers and Sisters, folks set the Word of God back in the corner while they satisfy their natural appetites and indulge in pleasure. Then they wonder why their spiritual feet slip and why they cannot stand as they ought. Natural food is necessary, but there is something much more necessary. Your soul is worth ten thousand times more than you body, if it could even be compared!!

Job said, "My foot hath held his steps..." How would you like to wake up one morning as the owner of two million dollars, only to find that evening that it had all be wrested from you? How would you like to lose everything in one day? What was Job's secret? Where he held God's Word was the secret of it all! People wonder why they are always falling, stumbling and slipping. If they would get some esteem for God's Word (and quit esteeming themselves!!!), it would take out the slips and stumbles and falls!

God's Word is meat indeed, and contempt for the Word can bring famine. Remember that Amos foretold of a famine of hearing the Word of God. Why did God do it? Because of contempt twoard His Word. Contempt toward God's Word will bring a famine. God can withhold religious privileges and leave His people in darkness. When they refuse and despise His Word, He just draws it away.

Many a sick chamber has been embittered and many a dying hour has been darkened by remembrance of warnings that God gave through the Word. They had been despised and rejected. In that dark hour, that person would have liked to have gotten hold of some light, but there was a famine going on in their life. The preacher couldn't get through to them, nothing that can be said is of any comfort. And this happens time and time each and every day in our world, now! Why? The famine! What brought the famine? In the first chapter of Proverbs, we are told that when we reject God's counsel and do not take His reproof, then when calamity comes, He will laugh. When you call for Him, the only answer you will get is FAMINE!

How To Avoid Spiritual Famine

Famine comes in The Church in the local congregation as well as on us individually. When the message or messenger is rejected, when the temple is profaned by worldly influences, when worship becomes a wearisome toil, God takes away His blessings. When God takes away His blessings, then men (and women) will know how real and rich the blessings really were, by seeking for them and not finding them!

Someone might ask, "How do we keep such a thing (famine) from happening?" Well, the Bible speaks EXPRESSLY to us about it in I Timothy 4:1-5.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. Oh, that cuts a wide swath through a LOT of the world's "MAJOR" religions (doctrines), doesn't it? Let me tell you, when we refuse the truth, we throw ourselves OPEN to the lies of the devil! If you do not want to believe and accept the truth of the Word of God, the devil has ten million other things for you to fall for! He has seducing spirits of every kind. If you refuse to listen to the Holy Ghost, if you do not want the truth, then there is going to be a seducing spirit, a doctrine of the devil take hold of you.

This scripture passage right here points to the papacy and how its foundation was first set up. They did not believe the Word of God and because of their unbelief, they were turned away from truth! We know that the papacy, even today, teaches against marriage and that we are to abstain from meats. They are devilish doctrines! And every one of their false precepts were conceived out of falling away from THE TRUTH of the Word of God, which produced ONLY a work of darkness.

After Paul wrote this first letter, he told Timothy in II Timothy 4:1-4,

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. What does God, through Paul, call the papacy's (and others') false doctrines? FABLES. And look at the millions who have been deceived by them!

The Measuring of "Time"

Returning to the Revelation, I would like to give you the "times" signal. The Holy City, The Church, according to Revelation, Chapter 11, was to be trodden underfoot for 42 months or 1,260 days (prophetic years). First of all, you have to realize that, in the Bible, time is in no way limited to a "year/day" method as we limit it. To the Jews, there were 12 hours to a day. The Jewish DAY was measured from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The NIGHT was measured from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Within the Bible, time is measured in many different ways. A day in the Bible may be expressed as a certain epoch of time, or a span of life. The Bible speaks of the day of creation. It took many hundreds of years, but it is called a day. It speaks of the day of salvation: "now is THE DAY of salvation" (II Corinthians 6:2). When? From AD 33 clear through to the end of time. It is called "a day", even though thousands of years are taken in.

The Bible also speaks of the "Day of Grace". In John 8:56, Jesus said, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. He was speaking of the first advent of Christ clear through to His second advent. Second Peter 3:8 tells us, But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Just the very word TIME is a measurement. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Daniel 7:24-25. The little horn that raised up in the midst of the other horns is a picture of the Pope. He was to reign a time, times, and a half-time. The length of that reign was to be a time, times, and a half-time. There time itself is a measurement of time. When Jacob worked to gain the hand of Rachel in marriage, her dad Laban gave him Leah instead. Laban told Jacob that if he would "fulfill her week", he could also have Rachel. The Bible says that he worked seven (7) long (additional) years to get her. I want you to see that time is used in various ways throughout the Word of God.

With all this in mind, let's look at Revelation 12:6, which says this length of time was a thousand, two hundred, and threescore days (1,260 days). Revelation 12:14, speaking of the same period of time, said it was a time, times and a half-time. Revelation 12:2, speaking of the same time, said it was 42 months. Now get out your "ciphering pencil": forty-two months, multiplied by 30-day months, gives you 1,260 days again. The same period of time is spoken of as 1,260 days, 42 months, a time, times, and a half-time--all picturing that 1,260 years of dark ages.

In the Bible, whenever you read TIME, it always refers to one year. One year equals twelve months, and 30 days to a month equals 360 days. Whenever you read times (plural), and no number is given before it, it is always taken to mean two years. So times would be 2 years. And 24 months, multiplied by 30 days in a month, would equal 720 days.

Also in the Revelation, it referred to a dividing of times. Since time is one year, then the dividing of time would be six months, or 180 days. When you add them up, you get 1,260 days. So the period of time was 1,260 days or prophetic years, that The Church was trodden underfoot of man. Oh, God had a true people, but they were only individuals hidden away in the dens and caves. The TRUE Church could not come together in an outward way because she was trodden under the foot of men's religion.

The Flood Out Of The Dragon's Mouth

Now, what is the picture? Part of the woman is symbolized as fleeing and falling away, or apostatizing. There were also people who stood true, symbolized by the woman who was nourished by the Word of God. When the falling away moved to such an extent that men rose up to reign over The Church, God took the woman on two wings of an eagle, which shows divine deliverance. He kept her in the dens and caves during this particular time.

Revelation 12:17 tells us, And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed... Now that is what WE are--we are part of the remnant of her seed, the morning-time seed. Verse 15 of that same chapter tells us, And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. Many people say this was another seige of persecution, and certainly there was persecution, but by just staying with the symbols, I believe you will see something else there.

First, we want to consider why the serpent cast out the flood: to carry her away. Away from what? To carry her away from the true standard, to carry her away from the position she was standing in. He knows if he moves us from a solid positiuon, he has us. All he has to do is just carry us away a little bit. Then it is only a matter of time until we have no foundation!

What did he cast out of his mouth? He cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman. In the Old Testament, we find that Aaron was the mouth for God. In other words, Aaron was God's mouthpiece, through whom He spoke. Then we come on over into prophecy, and there God told the prophets to get the Word at His mouth, or STRAIGHT FROM HIM. My friends, we get a picture of God's true ministry getting the Word at God's mouth throughout the Bible. And right while God's true ministry was getting the Word at God's mouth, the dragon's ministers were getting the word at the dragon's mouth.

Brothers and Sisters, the very serpent talks. Out of the serpent's mouth came that which beguiled Eve. What beguiled her? What the devil said to her through the serpent's mouth. Every symbol of the Book is expressing the flood as coming out of the serpent's mouth. Now, what is he using against the remnant of the seed? My friends, it is still effective: he has never found anything better--it is STILL that which comes out of the serpent, or the dragon--the devil's mouthpiece.

Today, in America, he is burning Bibles or cutting off Christians' heads. Oh no! He has become so subtle! He has changed his tactics for today's people. He was using the Roman Empire, a carnal force, and killing Christians, but now he has turned to far more deceptive means--casting out of his mouth false falsities, the doctrine(s) of devils. Why? To carry The Church away from her true, Godly position in order to weaken her and get her down to his level where he can "handle" her. So, out of his mouth comes his force against The Church today.

Doctrines Of The Devil

What are some of the things that are coming of the dragon's mouth today? What are some of the seducing thoughts that will hit your mind? Why that old dragon will come right along, when the Word of God is preached (taught) and tell you, "I believe I ought to have liberty of thought," or "I have a right to think what I want to think about it all." I want you to see this as a flood coming out of the enemy's mouth!

God and His Word speak VERY plainly, but those old seducing spirits are hard at work today. He causes individuals to turn the truth aside. How? By causing you to feel, "Well, that is just Brother Wilson's opinion." I don't ask you to take everything I preach on blind faith and trust: measure it against the True Word of God and see if it is truth! If it is truth, then you'd better take it! There is a flood coming out of the dragon's mouth, much more of a flood than there was in the beginning.

These are some of the devilish ideas and doctrines of the devil: "That is just your view--there are two sides to every question. When you preach strong on The Church, you don't have charity. If you REALLY LOVED people, you wouldn't talk bad about their religion." I am talking about what comes out of the mouth of the dragon, and it WILL affect you and your Christian experience!

I have had more than one preacher say to me, "Well, I think the older brethren got carried away with zeal when they preached the Revelation and thrashed and lambasted Babylon. I think we need to love them." Well, that is what I am doing when I tell you the truth. I am talking about the flood that comes out of the mouth of the dragon. It is STILL coming at the remnant of the woman's seed. And what does he want to do? What is his purpose for this flood? To carry you away from your true position.

With too many people, there is no real, direct appeal to the Word of God and no abiding by the plainest Words of God. Many are using Pilate's infidelic question, "What is truth?" Truth personified was standing before Pilate and yet today, you will still have people question a sermon about the Word of God with, "What is truth?" That statement came from the mouth of the dragon through a man bound with infidelity, who went to hell. How can you and I EVER question, "What is truth?" when God has written so plainly in His Holy Word? Such statements, ideas, and impressions all come from the devil.

Seducing Spirits

Let us go back to the very beginning again: And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. Revelation 12:15. Here was the second Adam's bride, just as the first Adam's bride stood. What came out of the first serpent's mouth? Now the serpent was more subtil (subtle, or 'aruwm which means "cunning") than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:1. "Yea, hath God said...?" God had spoken so plainly, and Eve knew waht truth was. She could repeat it from memory: ...Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:16,17. Yet out of the serpent's mouth came that devilish, doubting spirit, "Yea, hath God said...?" He caused Eve to question adn go in confusion as to what God had really said/meant.

Those seducing spirits are more present than ever, in this day and age. Whenever anyone has truth, those seducing spirits are there. I repeat, God has written truth plainly in His Book. Jesus said, Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17. What else is Truth? That which God has written on the tablets of your heart and in your mind. But friends, if you give heed to seducing spirits and that which comes out of the mouth of the serpent, after God has written truth so plainly, you can be carried away into confusion and end up just like Pilate: "What is truth?"

It is not the dragon's rage that we are facing right now. We are facing the serpent's flood. This is what he is using to war against the remnant of her seed.

Paul said in II Corinthians 11:1-4:

Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. What did Paul fear for The Church? Not the dragon's rage, but the serpent's flood! Paul had already run into them, those men who had crept in with "another Jesus" (not the one of the Bible), "another spirit", (not the Holy Spirit), "another gospel" (not the Gospel of Jesus Christ)!

II Peter, Chapter 2, tells us that there were false prophets among the people back then just as there are false "prophets" (teachers) right among us today! They came in privily (privately, with cunning), bringing damning doctrines for which the Way of Truth was evil spoken of. II Corinthians 11:13, 14 tells us, or such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Last but not least, look at the seven churches by AD 96; seventy-seven percent of The Church had fallen, and God's message to five of them was "Repent!" The falling away had worsened. How were they so carried away? By that which came out of the dragon's (serpent's) mouth!

Perilous Times

The message to The Church at Ephesus was, "You have left your first love." The letter to Pergamos lets us know that they were compromising with false teachers and being ruined with false doctrines. It still happens today! Certainly, we want to reach out our hands in fellowship to every blood-washed Brother and Sister in Christ, but when we know people are definitely teaching something false, we have no business putting them up in a teaching position! To do so is just asking for the devil to come in and take over!

Thyatira--this is one that gets hold of people today--had lost the spirit of judgment against wrongdoing because she had overstepped. Saints, don't overstep that tender conscience. God can tell us that something is wrong, but we can override it until we lose our sense of the difference between right and wrong!

Thyatira had lost her sense of right and wrong to the degree that she had people teaching and working in The Church who were immoral and committing adultery. It's NOT being fanatical to say I don't want to lose my sense of right and wrong! When you lose your sense of right and wrong, the most immoral and unclean work can get right in among us and feel perfectly free. We begin right there to kill our influence toward a lost world.

Sardis had lost her spiritual life. She had only a name that she lived, but she was dead spiritually. Laodicea was lukewarm because iniquity (wrong doing--sin) abounded. The churches of this time were filled with multitudes of nominal professors, with errors of heresy creeping in more and more all the time.

Let us return to Revelation 12:17 once more: And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Having flooded out most of The TRUE Church, our enemy, the devil, makes war with the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the true spirit of prophecy.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. II Timothy 3:1. In Paul's eyes, what brought real perils on The Church? He did not say perilous times shall come because Rome is going to have chopping blocks or because they are going to burn you at the stake. Those are only quick ways to get to Heaven.

What brings perilous times on The Church? Well, the answer is right there in II Timothy 3:2-5: For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. When men and women become lovers of their own selves, covetous, proud; when their children become disobedient to their parents. It gets worse as it goes on: without natural affection, highminded, thinking far more highly of yourself than you ought! And what is it THE WORLD stresses now? Why good old "self-esteem". Self love.

Last, but not least, is the peril of loving pleasure more than loving God. The Church of God (body of believers) can live under chopping blocks, she can live under fire, but when her members let the spirit of the world get hold of them to the point that they love pleasure more than they love God, she has a hard time existing. That brings a terrible, perilous time upon The Church. [ The End ]