Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, Nos. 15, 16

THE ONLY PEACE OF MIND

Volume 2

Numbers 15, 16

V.T. HOUTEFF

That Which Is To Be During The Sixth Trumpet While Probation Still Lasts

Satan's Triple Defeat Brings The "Time Of Trouble Such As Never Was"

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TEXT FOR PRAYER

Cherished Sin Keeps Truth Out

C.O.L. p. 50 -- "'He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.' The gospel seed often falls among thorns and noxious weeds; and if there is not a moral transformation in the human heart, if old habits and practices and the former life of sin are not left behind, if the attributes of Satan are not expelled form the soul, the wheat crop will be choked. The thorns will come to be the crop, and will kill out the wheat.... If the heart is not kept under the control of God, if the Holy Spirit does not work unceasingly to refine and ennoble the character, the old habits will reveal themselves in the life.... Christ specified the things that are dangerous to the soul. As recorded by Mark he mentions the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things. Luke specifies the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life. These are what choke the word, the growing spiritual seed. The soul ceases to draw nourishment from Christ, and spirituality dies out of the heart."

This reading commands us to pray that the seed sown in our hearts may fall in good soil, that it may take root; that we be free from the cares of this life and from sin, for no matter how impressive the Truth that goes into one's ears, It will never reach the heart if there is any cherished sin therein.

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THAT WHICH IS TO BE DURING THE SIXTH TRUMPET WHILE PROBATION STILL LASTS

TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,

MINISTER OF D. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS

SABBATH, NOVEMBER 15,1947

MT. CARMEL CHAPEL

WACO, TEXAS

The subject of our study is found in Revelation, chapters 10 and 11. We shall begin with--

Rev. 10:1 -- "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire."

This angel has all the characteristics of a power that sends down "the latter rain," and that causes the spiritual grain fully to develop, for that is what cloud, sunshine, and rainbow, indicate. As a rainbow never appears without rain, the angel is therefore the angel that brings the rain and the sunshine for the development of the final harvest.

Rev. 10:2 -- "And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth."

There is but one book in the Bible that has had to be opened, and that is the book of Daniel (Dan. 12:4). And since the first thing which the angel did was to open the book, the analysis proves that he actually appears on the scene at the commencement of the time of the

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end, the time the book was to be opened. (Rev. 10:2).

You know that man naturally starts out with his right foot. Now, since the angel's right foot was upon the sea and his left foot upon the land, the symbolism shows that he starts out on the sea, the province of Daniel's beasts (Dan. 7), then on earth, the province of the two-horned beast (Rev. 13:10-18). His work, therefore, starts in the Old Country, and should include the very first truth that was disclosed from the book of Daniel. All in all his message and power prove to be world-wide -- land and sea.

Rev. 10:3, 4 -- "And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not."

Here we see that there was another truth which could have been recorded, but John was told not to write it. We do not know how extensive a truth the Seven Thunders contain, but possibly as much as or more than the Seven Trumpets. Regardless, however, one thing stands out boldly, and that is that the omission of the Seven Thunders leaves a gap in the chain of Truth. And since the Seven Thunders are not recorded, the truth of them cannot be revealed by interpretation, for there is nothing written of them, and therefore nothing to interpret from. If, then, we are ever to know the truth of the Seven Thunders, it is to be shown to us perhaps by the same means as The Revelation was shown to John.

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Rev. 10:5-7 -- "And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, Who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to His servants the prophets." (At the beginning of the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the Mystery of God is to be finished.)

What about the statement, "there shall be time no longer"? -- The answer is found in Rev. 10:6, which in actuality proves that there shall be time no longer for the Mystery of God to be finished; that the remaining days of the sixth trumpet, the time to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, is the time for the Mystery of God, the Gospel of Christ, to be finished. In fact, the very first announcement of the seventh angel is that the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, -- that the Gospel work is finished.

Rev. 10:8-10 -- "And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."

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To eat the book is, as it were, to "swallow" its sayings. The honey sweet must be the joy that comes from its promises, and obviously the bitter denotes inability to digest, to comprehend all, and thus a disappointment. These, you know met fulfillment in the days of the First Advent Movement, when through the study of the book of Daniel, they learned that the cleansing of the Sanctuary (Dan. 8:14) was to begin in the year 1844, but who misunderstood the cleansing to mean the end of the world and the return of Christ. The disappointment came after the set date had passed and after the expectation of the people failed to materialize.

Rev. 10:11--"And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings."

After the disappointment they were commanded to prophesy again; that is, again to proclaim the cleansing of the Sanctuary. This work they were to do among many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings, obviously not to all.

Thus it was that the first Advent Movement was reorganized and renamed, Seventh-day Adventists. The Seventh-day Adventist organization, therefore, will not finish the work. Its message does not go to all people, to all nations, tongues, and kings. Consequently, the Church, too, is to be reorganized if the Gospel of the Kingdom is to be preached to all nations. "'A revival and a reformation must take place under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things. Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation

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signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices.'" -- Christ Our Righteousness, pg. 121, 1941 edition.

How will the reorganization come about?--

"For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.

"They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.

"And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.

"And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord." Isa. 66:15-17, 19, 20.

In these verses we see a slaughter taking place, a slaughter which takes away the transgressors of the Truth. Those that escape the

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slaughter of the Lord are sent to the nations who have not seen God's glory, or heard His fame, and they are to bring all their brethren out of "all nations." Plainly, then, the slaughter is in the Church, for those who escape are sent to preach to the Gentiles that know nothing of God. Sending the faithful to the nations, after the slaying of the unfaithful, presupposes a reorganization. And the commission at last is to go, not to many nations, but to all nations. If they are to bring all their brethren out of all nations, then they must be the last, the ones to finish the work, "the Mystery of God," to bring probation to a close and the world to an end.

Rev. 11:1 -- "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."

The measuring of the worshipers is in reality the numbering of them. And so you see that following the Seventh-day Adventist Movement there is to be a numbering of its people. And as there is but one numbered company, the 144,000 (Rev. 7:3), the first fruits (Rev. 14:4), the servants of God (7:3), it follows that they are the ones who are numbered, who escape, and also who are sent to the nations. Yes, they are the ones who finish the Mystery of God as they bring all their brethren out of all nations (Rev. 7:9), the second fruits.

Rev. 11:2 -- "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."

The worshipers, the members of the church,

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the tribes of Israel, are to be numbered, but those who are to fill up the court, those of the Gentiles, are unnumbered: "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." Rev. 7:9.

Seven times seven, forty-nine, determined the year of Jubilee, the liberation of the people and of the land, the type of the Kingdom complete. Besides any other significance, the forty-two months being only six sevens, it signifies that the holy city, Jerusalem, will not be "trodden down" all the way up to the time of the antitypical Jubilee, -- the Gentiles are to be driven out of it before the Mystery of God is finished, before the seventh angel begins to sound.

Rev. 11:3, 4 -- "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."

When the prophet Zechariah asked what the olive trees of his vision symbolize, the angel answered, "the Word of the Lord." Zech. 4:6.

The two olive trees, then, are figurative of the Old and New Testaments, the Bible (The Great Controversy, pg. 267). As to the symbolization of the candlesticks the Lord Himself points out that they are figurative of the churches (Rev. 1:20). The two candlesticks in connection with the olive trees are therefore figurative of the Old and New Testament churches,

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the churches which gave us the Bible.

Rev. 11:5 -- "And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed."

From this we see that though the Bible is the best friend to Its friends, It is a terrible enemy to Its enemies. When Truth cannot save, it kills.

Rev. 11:6-11 -- "These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

"And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the Spirit of Life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them."

I need not say more on these verses, for you

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will find a detailed explanation of them in Tract No. 2, The Warning Paradox, pp. 47-48, revised edition.

Rev. 11:12, 13 -- "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven."

The Bible points out that but one bottomless pit was opened, the pit out of which the locusts came (Rev. 9:2), and it was the heavenly Star that opened the pit to let out its captives, -- the locusts who were to hurt only those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads. Since the locusts were capable of knowing who had and also who had not the seal of God in their foreheads, and since they were friends to God's sealed people, the truth is obvious: The Star that liberated them from the pit is Christ, and the locusts are the Christians, the people that were rescued from apostate Judaism.

Moreover, the fact that the Angel of Revelation 20:1 (Satan's great enemy), is the One Who has the key of the bottomless pit, it follows that the Angel of Revelation 20:1 and the Star of Revelation 9:1 are the same, for the One to Whom the key was given, is the only One that could have it.

Now we may ask who is the beast of the bottomless pit? If the Star that came from Heaven and opened the pit is Christ, and if the locusts that came out of the pit are the Christians, then

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there is no way of escaping the conclusion that the beast which came out of the bottomless pit is symbolical of Christendom. Thus it is that the Lord was crucified there.

Now that the city is spiritually called Egypt, it denotes that it is holding God's people in slavery. The name Sodom denotes that God's true people will have to be rescued from it as was Lot.

A tenth part of the city must represent the Lord's part, the tithe, so to speak. The earthquake therefore represents a shaking in the church of God. The remnant who give glory to God, can only be the faithful who survive the shaking. Thus is the church purified. This earthquake, then, is symbolical of the slaughter of Ezekiel nine, and coincides with Isaiah 66:16.

Moreover, the fact that the Mystery of God is finished when the seventh angel begins to sound, and also the fact that the shaking is here shown to take place during the sounding of the sixth angel, the Truth stands out that the shaking takes place before the Gospel work is finished. The Spirit of Prophecy in our day also foresaw this shaking:

"I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause

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a shaking among God's people." -- Early Writings, pg. 270.

Rev. 11:14-19 -- "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.

"And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

"And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."

If you wish to study the eleventh chapter of Revelation in all its details, read the Tract, "To The Seven Churches."

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TEXT FOR PRAYER

"The Cares Of This World"

I shall read from Christ's Object Lessons, pg. 51, paragraph two.

"No class is free from the temptation to worldly care. To the poor, toil and deprivation and the fear of want bring perplexities and burdens. To the rich come fear of loss and a multitude of anxious cares. Many of Christ's followers forget the lesson He has bidden us learn from the flowers of the field. They do not trust to His constant care. Christ can not carry their burden, because they do not cast it upon Him. Therefore the cares of life, which should drive them to the Saviour for help and comfort, separate them from Him."

In this reading we are instructed not to carry our own burdens, but to let the Lord carry them for us. Had we horse sense, we should be better off. As you know, horses do not worry about their next meal. Their only aim is to serve their master's will. They leave all the burden for food and shelter to their masters. They know that they are worthy of their hire.

Horses, you see, have more faith in their masters than most Christians have in God.

Now let us kneel and pray that we shall thoroughly realize these things and that we shall place our full trust in our Master. We have a good Master, and we are His sons, not His horses, remember.

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SATAN'S TRIPLE DEFEAT BRINGS THE

"TIME OF TROUBLE SUCH AS NEVER WAS"

TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,

MINISTER OF D. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS

SABBATH, NOVEMBER 29, 1947

MT. CARMEL CHAPEL

WACO, TEXAS

Our subject this afternoon is found in Revelation 12, and is illustrated on the following chart--

PICTURE

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Rev. 12:1-6 -- "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red Dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the Dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne. 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."

We all somewhat agree, I know, that this woman of Revelation 12 is symbolical of the Church; that the Dragon is symbolical of Satan; and that the child represents Christ. But inasmuch as we may not agree as to whether the woman is symbolical of the Old Testament church or of the New or of both, it is essential that we study to see eye to eye.

Now, the questions naturally arise, If Christ is the One Who brought forth the Christian church, then how can she be His mother? And was not Christ born at least thirty years before the Christian church came into being? Is not the egg laid before the chicken is hatched? And finally, is it not true that if we blunder forth on an erroneous premise that we shall find ourselves further and further from the truth on

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the subject? -- Most assuredly. Let us, then, make certain of the foundation upon which we build.

We all know that Christ was born, not to the Christian church, but to the Jewish. This being so, then how can we escape the truth that this twelve-star-crowned woman is primarily the Jewish church who travailed and gave birth to the "world's Redeemer" in the Old Testament period?

Moreover, before the child was born, and before the Gospel of Christ came to the Church, she was clothed with the sun, and the moon stood under her feet. There is therefore not the slightest excuse for one to conclude that the woman represents the Church clothed with the Gospel of Christ. And if her sun clothing does not represent the Gospel of Christ, then what does it represent?

Since she was clothed with the sun before Christ's birth, and before the Gospel came, then her sun-clothing must be the Bible, the Word of God that clothed her in the period of the prophets.

What is symbolized by the moon under her feet? -- The fact that the moon of the heavens reflects the light from the sun to earth, the symbolical moon therefore being under the woman's feet, and the sun shining directly upon her, not by reflection through the moon, denotes that her channel of light conveyance, the moon, was passing away, was no longer needed, that the sun itself, the source of her light, shining directly upon her, enveloped her with its bright rays. What could the moon then symbolize but the period before the Bible came, the period

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before Moses, in which the Word of God did not shine directly on the people as It does to-day (for they had no Bible in those days), but was reflected on them by men of God, the medium, that is, the prophets before Moses never wrote down the messages of God but verbally passed them on.

Though this twelve-star-crowned woman symbolizes something in the Old Testament time, as we have already seen, she nevertheless is seen to symbolize something in the New Testament time. This we see from the fact that after the child was born, and after the Christian church came into being, the woman was given the wings of a great eagle, and was thus enabled to fly into the wilderness, there to be nourished "for a time, and times, and half a time." Moreover, her leaving the vineyard (her homeland -- Palestine) and going into the wilderness (the lands of the Gentiles, for that is what wilderness symbolically stands for in contrast to a vineyard), again shows that she continued after her child was born.

Taking all these points into one common whole, they positively show that the woman is symbolical of God's everliving Church for all times, and that she is His saving Truth, His true wife, the Truth that gave birth to Christ and that gives birth to all His "brethren" (His followers), "the remnant of her seed." Rev. 12:17.

When the promise of the coming Saviour was made, it was then that the dragon learned that the Church was to give birth to the "man child," and from then on he watched her closely, hoping to destroy the world's Redeemer as soon as He was born. This he endeavored to accomplish

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through Herod, when he caused a multitude of little children to be slaughtered. The child Christ, nevertheless escaped, and the Devil met his first defeat in this connection.

Now the Dragon being fortified with seven heads and ten horns, denotes that he controlled all the civil and religious powers in that day (for the symbolical number "ten" denotes universality, just as do the ten toes of Daniel 2, the ten horns of the other Bible beasts, and the ten virgins of Matthew 25).

The horns represent all the civil powers, while the heads represent all the religious powers, for the Biblical number "seven" denotes completeness. Moreover, the fact that the Church (the Jews), the only agency through which God worked up to that time, crucified the Lord, is in itself sufficient proof that the Church had apostatized, that she had become the Dragon's seventh head, and that thus was the Dragon armed with ten horns and seven heads, -- with all the civil and religious powers. And, so, you see, the Dragon with his horns and heads represents the world captured by the Devil.

Thus it is that the world was lost in that day, and thus it was that Christ came to redeem it. To do all this He started a new church organization. In this light we see Christ, the world's Redeemer, and His mission even more important than we have ever seen it before.

The Dragon's drawing from heaven a third part of the stars (angels, Rev. 12:9) with his tail, not with his claws, denotes that in the beginning of Satan's universal rebellion the angels volunteered to follow the rebel leader,

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and to unite with him in his evil work against the human family.

Rev. 12:7-17 -- "And there was war in heaven: Michael and His angels fought against the Dragon; and the Dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great Dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the Dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 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. 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. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the Dragon cast out of his mouth. And the Dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the

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commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

The main point to be noticed in these verses is that after the Dragon and his angels were cast out of Heaven (Satan's second defeat), and after he had persecuted the Church, and she had taken her flight into the wilderness, the Dragon followed her there, but rather than persecuting her, he cast "water as a flood after her," hoping to cause her to be carried away by it. In other words, after he saw that he could not stop the growth of the Christian Church by persecuting her followers, he changed his tactics and instead compelled the Pagans to join her, expecting thereby to cause her to be paganized -- "carried away."

The Dragon, though, is again to miss the mark, for the earth is to open her mouth and swallow up the flood; that is, Inspiration definitely forecasts that those who join the Church for some purpose other than to follow and practice the Truth, shall be disposed of by a miracle, be swallowed by the earth, as it were. And when this comes to pass Satan shall have met his third defeat. Summarized, here are his three defeats: No. 1 -- Failing to devour the child; No. 2 -- Losing the war in Heaven; No. 3 -- Failing to paganize the Church by flooding her with the unconverted.

When he meets his third defeat, when the tares which he sowed are burned (for as a flood they are swallowed by the earth, but as tares they are burned by the angels), then it is that the Church will appear "'Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,' she is to go forth into all the world,

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conquering and to conquer." -- Prophets and Kings, pg. 725.

Having met such a mighty defeat, and having seen that the Church is freed from his flood, the Dragon's wrath is to be intensified. He will be wroth with the woman and "make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 12:17), "the Spirit of Prophecy" (Rev. 19:10).

Obviously, the remnant are those who are left after the earth opens her mouth and swallows up the flood. They as a body keep the commandments of God, and have the living Spirit of Prophecy, the Spirit Who dictated the Scriptures, Who has led God's people into all Truth down through the ages, and Who still is. Thus it is that the Dragon's wrath, and the Church's purity, caused by the Dragon's third defeat, are to bring the time of trouble such as never was:

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan. 12:1.

Nothing in the world is worth as much as having our names written in the book. And therein we may have our names if we choose to follow the Spirit of Truth and to keep the commandments of God. Here we have seen that those who think that the law, the ten commandments, is "abolished," that their lives need not comport with

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the law; and those who think that the Spirit of Prophecy is a thing of the past, that God has left the world to get along as best it can, that He no longer bothers Himself to send a prophet; that all such shall find themselves in league with Babylon the Great, the seat of the Dragon, and rather than having their names written in the Book, they will have the mark of the beast, and have a part in persecuting the remnant which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Now is the time for all to decide either to be swallowed up by the earth -- cast into the fire -- or to be delivered by Michael, our Prince.

Let us therefore choose deliverance rather than defeat. "O love the Lord, all ye His saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer." Psa. 31:23.

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