The image of the beast is....

Continuing with our Image to the beast study.

Facts:

The Beast- is a political/religious entity. 

Therefore the beast's image must be the same.

The Image- is a political/religious entity.

As stated already in this study, the neither the beast, nor its image are literally beasts, but rather prophetic beasts.

Dan 7:2  Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
Dan 7:3  And four great beasts

Dan 7:17  These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

Do you see... the beasts are NOT BEASTS as in animalistic creatures. We are dealing with prophecy, not literal, but prophetic language. (((Once more I urge you to go back to my previous prophecy studies to get the full picture if you don't have it already. June 11, 2011 the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation studies I did start on that date and continue on.))))

If the Image of the beast will be a political/relgious entity we must look at our political/religious goings on. We must try to comprehend whether or not there are things there that are beast like, and guess what, there are.

The separation of church and state...

We put on our facebook pages any number of pictures stating this nation was founded under God and the Christian religion, and in doing so we neglect history entirely. 

It seems to us unGodly & unChristian to not want prayer in our schools, to not want prayer in our military, to not want religion in our government.  The truth of the matter is as simple as this--

Mat 22:17  Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
Mat 22:18  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
Mat 22:19  Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
Mat 22:20  And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
Mat_22:21  They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

Render to the political the things that are political and to God the things that are God's. Caesar was not God's.  Caesar was of the pagan persuasion

'Caesar Augustus worshiped the pagan Roman gods, but even worse, he allowed himself to be worshiped as a living god.'

http://christianity.about.com/od/newtestamentpeople/a/JZ-Caesar-Augustus.htm

When our Savior said to render to Caesar the things that were Caesar's, He was holding up a penny with Caesar's inscription upon it. That belonged to Caesar. Things political- Caesar's.  Things Godly- God's.

The two are separated. Jesus did NOT instruct His apostles to set up a new government on earth.  Jesus did NOT come to be made a physical king and ruler over things of this earth! Jesus did NOT promote earthly rulership, but rather heavenly rulership. Our focus is to be on things heavenly while living here and loving others as God loves them, being kind in all ways.

You've heard of religious communes, in truth our Savior wants our lives to be lived in that manner- where we are all loving as God is loving, forgiving, sharing what we have...

Now before you jump down my throat and call me a socialist, no, I'm not a socialist. I'm a Christ follower.  And Christ teaches us to be loving to all, to share what we have, to be givers not takers, to do well and treat others well.  Christ also said there will be poor always-

Mat_26:11  For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.

In a socialist society the goal is for all to be equal, right? For all to share in everything equally according to everyone their own needs.

This sounds idealistic because inevitably time and time again this sort of society has led to corrupt government ruling, still with a class system in place- the rich are very rich and few, while the poor are very poor and in great numbers sharing in their poverty.

Christ knew that there would be poor always. Christ knew that there would be political systems in place and that they would require of their people their due. Christ did not say to NOT give the government what belongs to the government.  Christ was saying that all things of this earth are meaningless and only heavenly treasures have any real value. So, giving to the government anything it requires of us as long as it is not our faith in God, is what we are required to do. Nothing of earth's treasures has any eternal value, not gold, not silver, not clothes, nothing.

As that old saying goes- 'You go to the grave with nothing.' And, 'You can't take anything with you.'  There hasn't been a single dead person who has been able to take their earthly treasures to any sort of new life. Even those who believe in the lie that you go on to live immediately after death (something Christ, Himself did not do), will admit that no dead person has been able to take a single possession with them anywhere after they've died. Sure they could be buried with a possession, but if you dig up that grave the possession would still be there if it hasn't rotted away to nothing.

The point to all this is that separating politics from religion IS BIBLICAL and IS ENDORSED by JESUS!

So, while people fight to bring religion into our government, in truth aren't we really fighting FOR an image to the beast who is the epitome of such an existence - religion and politics meshed together.

Satan wants us to be appalled at how much people have fought to take religion out of government facilities, and he's succeeded, I'm guilty of it myself- God forgive me- I was blind.

Slowly Satan slipped in the mingling of the two - religion in politics and he did so just so he could orchestrate such outrage when it would be removed, only in order to... what? Possibly bring it back in force? To have an outcry raised so loud that to keep it out would wreck havoc on society.


The beast truly is a religious/political system.
The image must be the same, a religious/political system.

We cannot ignore these truths, remember how we've already studied and it is only once that image is fully formed that people will have (NOTE THE PAST TENSE) people will have already decided for or against God?  It's while the image is being formed that we are in the decision process, the choosing process. Will we worship the image of the beast, will we receive the mark of the beast, or will we choose Christ and worship only Our God and His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit- three separate Gods in one agreement?

Just as we are watching the signs and we know that 'HE' has not yet planted the palaces of his tabernacles between the seas and holy mountain- Daniel 11:45, we are noting how it is growing closer and closer.

And just as that prophecy is on its way to being fulfilled, so to is the Image of the Beast prophecy on its way to being fulfilled.

Can we know the date of their fulfillment? No. No more than we can have a date of Christ's Return. We are given signs and we are told to WATCH for those signs and we are told to PRAY.

No excuses.

None of us will have a single excuse for not being prepared, for not having oil in our lamps and extra oil with us, ready for the Bridegroom to come for us. You can try to manufacture all the excuses you want to, but none will hold up to the truth.

If you're looking for an excuse to give God so He pardons your unwillingness to truly give your heart and life to Him, your unwillingness to love Him, you won't find one, not at that stage of earth's prophetic timeline.

Decisions need to be made.

Many face death's sleep before this time, and that has put an end to their decision making. Others will be alive and faced with the decision, but it's not going to come as a notice in the mail asking you to check this box if you want to worship the beast image, or check this other box if you want to worship God. You aren't going to get a popup on your computer screen saying, DECISION TIME- MAKE A CHOICE TODAY, TOMORROW IS TOO LATE.  What you might hear is a voice right now, a whisper, a thought whisper by the Holy Spirit telling you to choose now, right now because you aren't promised tomorrow or even a minute from now.

Once we choose then our lives will reflect that choice- are we living for God or Satan? Our actions, the fruit we produce will tell. Is Christ our all in all? Do we live for Him, knowing when we sin it is HIM we are hurting, HIM we are sinning against? Do we seek His forgiveness for our weakness, and consecrate ourselves to His keeping, to His forgiveness, His righteousness?

By God's grace! By God's love!


'Image Speaks as a Dragon-

In Facts of Faith, Christian Edwardson makes this comment on Rev. 13:11:   The prophet continues: "He spake as a dragon." . . . A nation speaks through its laws. This prophetic statement, therefore, reveals that a great change in policy is to come over our beloved country. The "dragon" is a symbol of pagan Rome, that persecuted the early Christians during the first three centuries.'

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

A political system speaks through its laws, through its beliefs.

*******

The dark night of papal supremacy (Rev. 13:12, Dan. 11:45, Isa. 2:2-3,) and oppression of all who resist the Roman Catholic dictatorship (Rev. 13:15-17,) followed by the personal appearance of the power behind the papal throne (Rev. 13:2b & 4a;) Isa. 14:12-14; Rev. 17:3b & 8,) is looming, but it will come to an end in judgment from the throne of God (Rev. 16,) and the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will follow swiftly (Rev. 19:11-21.)

http://www.adventistlaymen.com/Documents/FROM_MORAL_MAJORITY_TO_TEA_PARTY.html (((Recommended reading))))

Papal supremacy -

Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Dan 11:45  And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

Isa 2:2  And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isa 2:3  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
(Further Isa 2:6 declares 'many people' are not God's people)


Oppression of all who resist the Roman Catholic dictatorship-

Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

followed by the personal appearance of the power behind the papal throne (Rev. 13:2b & 4a;) Isa. 14:12-14; Rev. 17:3b & 8,) is looming,

Rev 13:2  ...and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Rev 17:3  ... and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Rev 17:8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

But it will come to an end in judgment from the throne of God (Rev. 16,)

Rev 16:1  And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Rev 16:2  And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Rev 16:3  And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
Rev 16:4  And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
Rev 16:5  And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
Rev 16:6  For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
Rev 16:7  And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Rev 16:8  And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
Rev 16:9  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Rev 16:10  And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11  And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Rev 16:12  And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
Rev 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Rev 16:14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Rev 16:16  And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

And the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will follow swiftly (Rev. 19:11-21.)

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 19:17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18  That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
Rev 19:19  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.


By the grace and mercy of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, may we be HIS when He comes! May we be under His all powerful protection as the end times come upon us and we CHOOSE to worship HIM not the beast power! Please, Lord, let us be YOURS now and forever!  Amen.

Image to the Beast - Study Continued

Continuing from yesterday-  The Image to the Beast.

What is the image? Who is the image? Does the image already exist? Will the making of the image take time? What happens once the image is made?  

The image is and image of what, who? Rev. 13:11-15

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

*******

The image once finished will be given life by it's creator. Once that image is given life it will speak. Once the image speaks it will demand that all who do not worship it be killed.

The beast who comes up out of the earth having two horns like a lamb, he tells those on the earth to make this image to the beast, the beast which had a wound by a sword and did live.

Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

The beast, the false prophet- miracle working to DECEIVE those that RECEIVED the mark of the beast,  and them that worshipped his IMAGE.

The questions are-

What is the image? The answer, well we have to know what the beast is so we know what its image is.

Do you remember this?

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

We know that mankind was made in God's image. So we know that God is like us, and yet, we know that we fell away from God we corrupted ourselves and tarnished our image. We were MADE in God's image- but we did not remain with God- so to say we are still as we were created to be might not be true. And yet, God took on flesh, our corrupted flesh. God took on our corrupted likeness. God became what we had turned ourselves into, and yet He did not sin, not once proving that it is not impossible for this flesh through HIM to keep from sinning.  Even though we - through sin - corrupted the image we were created with, we have been redeemed.

Now when we talk about an image being made of a beast we know that just as we were created in God's image this image is created in the beast image.   

So we have to conclude that we must know the BEAST.  If we know the beast then we can know its image, right?  

Can others know God by our image?

Joh 14:19  Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

It is possible, yes? We look upon each other and have a general idea about what we are, but we don't know, truly know each other by just looking. A murderer can masquerade as a loving person.  Evil can hide behind a smile and we never know.   

Our image is more than how we look though, isn't it?  Our image is what we are.  Tarnishing someone's image is making them appear bad in some way, right? It's smearing their name, it's making them look bad, ruining their reputation.  Having a good image, is appearing as a good, kind, generous, loving person.

Now, back to the beast.

The beast is without any doubt whatsoever Papal Rome after it's fall in 1798, and after it's wound is fully healed, something that has been accomplished. Papal Rome, a religious political power.  At one time Papal Rome was a very dominating power, it was stripped of it's dominating power in 1798 by Napoleon. Then in 1929 -

'The agreements included a political treaty which created the state of the Vatican City and guaranteed full and independent sovereignty to the Holy See. The Pope was pledged to perpetual neutrality in international relations and to abstention from mediation in a controversy unless specifically requested by all parties. In the first article of the treaty, Italy reaffirmed the principle established in the 4 March 1848 Statute of the Kingdom of Italy, that "the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Religion is the only religion of the State". The attached financial agreement was accepted as settlement of all the claims of the Holy See against Italy arising from the loss of temporal power in 1870.'  (Wikipeida- Lateran Treaty)

And since then -

'The Holy See—as distinguished from the city-state of the Vatican City—has long been recognised as a subject of international law and as an active participant in international relations. It remains such, and indeed one observer has said that its interaction with the world has, in the period since World War II, been at the highest point it has ever had.[

Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_the_Holy_See> '

Click on that link above and go read just how involved the Holy See is in world affairs.   There is way too much for me to put in this article.  

Rev_13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Rev_13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Deadly wound.

That beast's deadly wound was HEALED.  And all the world is wondering after that beast.

Today, right now, October 17, 2013, the Holy See, Papal Rome, is very popular. Yes, there have been scandals throughout the years but right now with the new Pope- Francis- people are pleased with the Vatican more than they have been in many years.

The wound healed.

We have to know this beast - and its power.  The image of this beast, what this beast represents will be made here, right here in the United States.

The Pope has a unique position in the Vatican. He has Cardinals, Bishops, Priests and such all beneath him in power and yet he does little without their counsel.  It's a system - political and religious.  Here in the U.S we have a system political and intent to keep religion separate from the politics. Yet, all the while we have said that the two must be separate the confusion arises when it is realized that religion is a PART of a person if they truly have religion at all. To take religion out of all politics would necessitate all politicians have no religion- and that is a depriving them the right to have a religion- isn't it?  How can the people be represented if their belief systems are not represented? What Christian wants an atheist representing them in politics?  Everything is intertwine d. Our political system is corrupt we all know this, and people seem to be at the mercy of the system.

Do we have an image to the beast in the making?

Has our system taken, or is it taking steps to become a power controlling religion and politics? To worship the image after it has been created is to die eternally. We truly need to know what this image is, how far have we gone towards it's creation, and whether or not we will be compelled to worship it.

No signs are going to be held up, no engraving is going to be made, no tweet, no newsflash, none of that will made telling us it is here. Signs are given to us to watch for. Instructions are given to us.

We are told that it will be an image of a beast we can know everything about.

Truly, we do have to study the beast in order to recognize the image.

Are we doing that?

More tomorrow...by the grace of our LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Some might think this is all unimportant nonsense, but why then did our Lord give this to us? Why? If we aren't to understand, then why?  Our Lord is returning and I want to be HIS when He returns. I don't want to be deceived. I don't want to worship a beast, I don't want to receive the mark of the beast! I want to be among the very elect! I want to belong to Jesus! Please Lord, bless us as we study, as we seek Your truth, Your love! Let the Holy Spirit guide us! All in YOU!

Every Word that Proceeds Out of the Mouth of God - Prophecies Included

Connected to the end of the world is the knowledge that there are prophecies we've been given, and we've been given them so that we may know what to expect. We talked about signs yesterday and such, and we can tell from a moral standpoint that the end of this world surely must come soon, very soon. From a prophetic standpoint we have been give various prophecies some that span thousands of years, 2300 years and on. And that 2300 year prophecy has been studied in detail in my past prophecy studies. PLEASE I urge you to go back to June 11, and onwards and read the prophecy studies to get the in-depth study needed.  These prophecies that have been given to us were given for a reason.

Not ONE single person will be able to say truthfully to the Lord in the day of His return that they weren't given an opportunity to know, to be prepared for His second coming, to be ready for the end of the world.  He laid it all out in His word, it's all there for our studying, for our knowledge. The Holy Spirit will open our understanding, He will give us the spiritual sight that we so desperately need.

The image of the beast-  not a horror movie on television- but a reality.  The image WILL EXIST. I'm not going to say, DOES EXIST because if the things I've read are true, and I have no reason to doubt that they are, then once the image is fully realized that is when the power comes that will cause ALL to worship the image of the beast and receive a mark. All but the very elect will be deceived.

Mat_24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

The elect are already firmly established in Christ and His truth. The elect know already and are prepared. The elect have studied the prophecies given to them and they know what to expect. The elect have surrendered themselves to Christ fully. The elect will KNOW what that image of the beast is and they will NOT worship that image beast and they will NOT receive the mark of the beast.

How many people are alive today in the United States who have no idea that they will be making a choice for or against the beast powers, and that choice will decide their eternal fate?

God says-

Deu_8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Mat_4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Man is to live by… EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD!

We have NO excuse! Mankind has NO EXCUSE not to be prepare!  We are to LIVE by God's word! There is no excuse for us NOT to know the word of God! None!  To say that God has made it all too hard is a LIE! As usual we just want to get a free pass, to slip on in, to take that broad easy road without any sort of work. And there I go, mentioning the word work.  It's so incredibly sad that Satan has been able to distort our Lord's truth by making people believe that they are not to work at all towards their relationship with Christ.  That if they say they believe in Christ as their Savior, asking for forgiveness, repenting, then that's it their part is done.  It's a lie! We are to LIVE in CHRIST, Christ is to live in us! We are to deny ourselves, we are to pick up our crosses, we are told faith without works is dead, we are told to run the race… there are so many places in God's word that tell us we are to LIVE an active FAITH that incorporates our entire lives. We are to STUDY to show ourselves approved.  We are to LIVE by EVERY WORD that God speaks.  If we stop our relationship with Christ at the point of accepting His grace, then we're not living in Christ!  Satan would love to have us believe that we don't have to do anything at all, that we do NOT have to live by God's words even though our Savior Himself told Satan that man is to live by every word coming from the mouth of God.

Part of every word coming out of the mouth of God is the prophecy of the end of the world, the prophecy of the beast, and his image, and his mark.  To push away the prophecies as unimportant words that have come out of the mouth of God is contrary to the very word of God we are to love and live by.

More tomorrow by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

All in HIS LOVE!

The End of the World Pt 2 - The love of CHRIST

The End of the World-

It is a REALITY.  Scoff if you want to, but it's Biblical truth. If you believe in God, if you believe in the Bible, if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you know beyond any doubt the end of the world is going to happen without any doubt whatsoever.

Jesus said so.

Continue with our study let's read further about what God's word tells us about the nearness of Christ's return, because the is when the world end, when Christ returns.

2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Throughout history we've lived in a lot of vicious times, where man has tortured man just for sport. Barbarians times, times that we can point to and say that something like that would NEVER occur in our day. However, from what I can tell, this particular sign- 'disobedient to parents' holds a special interest for me. Because even in the age of barbarians children were still expect to respect and obey their parents, yes? There has never been an age throughout history where it was common for children to be disobedient to their parents. Now, it's happened, but I'm talking about an acceptable practice, not the "NORMAL" growing up rebellion that is quickly put in check by a disciplining parent.  Today it is COMMON for children to disobey parents and the commonality of it has this world filled with children who think absolutely nothing, no remorse whatsoever, for their disobedience. In our society there is an epidemic of disobedience more so than in any other generation- this is truth.

You can read the rest of those signs-

Lovers of self.
Covetous.
Boasters.
Proud.
Blasphemers.
Unthankful.
Unholy.
No natural affection.
Trucebreakers.
False accusers.
Incontinent.
Fierce.
Despisers of those that are good.
Traitors.
Heady.
Highminded.
Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.
Having a form of godliness but denying the power of God.

-and it's clear that today's normal, average person has several of these traits and they think those traits are good things, nothing to be despised.

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Love- true love (and I'm not talking the mushy emotional sort) but true love for others in a selfless way is more of a rarity than a commonality in our world. This world is filled with self-lovers who have no love for others and only love for themselves.  Tell me I'm wrong if you can, convince me I'm wrong. Convince me God's word is wrong, try anyway, but it's not wrong, He is never wrong. People might argue they love easily enough, but the truth is, their version of love, their belief of what love is, is something totally perverted from love, real love, selfless love.

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water

Sound familiar? Where is the promise of his coming? Why hasn't Jesus come back yet? Things haven't changed and never will. These are the things people tell themselves and believe. More and more people have lost faith in the Word of God, in the promise of Jesus Christ. It's easier on the conscious, easier on the sin loving soul to believe that there is no accountability for the actions one commits.  To deny Christ's return means denying the day of reckoning, it means not having to care about judgment, or punishment. Easier to just believe things will always be the way they are, no boat rocking.

We must comprehend that Christ will return, it's a FACT.
This truth is more sure than all other promises we've ever heard, yet people side step it and pretend it's a huge lie, a stupid fable, anything but real.

1Th 5:1  But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

That is a passage of scripture I'm going to ask you to read again, better yet, I'm going to take it verse by verse.

1Th 5:1  But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

We know, we are told, that the day of the Lord will come as a thief.  Meaning….

You won't expect it! You aren't told when a thief will rob you. We aren't given the date of our Savior's return, just the signs that it is approaching.  When you live an in area where thieves frequent you might be inclined to put bars on your windows and deadlocks on your doors. You'd prepare for the likelihood of being robbed even if you didn't know when it might happen. You'd expect to possibly be robbed. We know that Christ will come again and we must prepare for that return.

1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Satan doesn't want us to be ready, he wants us to believe that we are safe and sound without preparing.  A woman carrying a baby knows she will deliver that child, she expects it but if things go without complication she will not know the exact moment that labor will start.  But she will know that once it begins there is no turning back, she will continue to labor painfully until that child is birthed.  Recently I heard a story about a young mother pleading with a caregiver during her labor to make it stop, to somehow get that baby out and make it all go away. Of course the caregiver told her that there was no stopping it and no making it stop.

Our Savior will return and all those not prepared are going to be destroyed. Sudden destruction will come upon the unprepared.

1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

We are warned, we are told, we know! We don't have to be among those who are unsuspecting of a thief. We are children of the light, children of Christ! We are of the day, not hidden in darkness, slinking about in the shadow, hiding from the light, keeping ourselves from knowledge.

1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

We can't sleep.
We must watch.
We must be sober.

We must put on the breastplate of FAITH and LOVE.
We must put on the HELMET.
We must have the HOPE of SALVATION.

Ask yourself, please… do you have the breastplate, do you have the helmet?

Do you have Faith and love, do you have the hope of salvation?

All by the grace of God we can have these! All by the grace of our Lord we can have faith, love and hope- salvation in CHRIST our LORD!  We can be ready for His return!  We must be ready for His return! The end of the world is approaching, Christ is coming, we will must be prepared! We must note all the signs we can and never stop watching for them not until our Savior appears in the sky with His angels and calls us to come live with Him forever!

All by HIS GRACE!

All by HIS LOVE!

All by His MERCY!

In His RIGHTEOUSNESS!

The End of the World Pt 1- (Plus a note of the deepest gratitude to our God)

The End of the World


Mat 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Why would the disciples ask that question if it was something ludicrous to believe?  Why would they ask Jesus , Son of God, what the sign of the end of the world was? 2000 years ago and they were talking about the end of the world. Does each successive generation contemplate this event? Surely there has never been a time in all of history after the fall of mankind, when mankind hadn't thought about this world ending. The idea that some day we will get it right, when we haven't been able to get it right in 6000 years is so preposterous it's laughable. This world does not have a fix. There is no fixing this world. There needs to be a new world where this old one with all its sin stains and sin scars, it's open bleeding, pus oozing sores, will be done away with. There will remain nothing of sin from  this sin spoiled world, nothing.  There needs to be an end to the old and a new, a brand new world, put in its place. We've all had things that have become too worn, too tattered, too torn to replace. We've owned favorite things, cherished things that have had to be thrown away, tossed in the fire, destroyed much to our dismay. We understand when something is beyond repair. This world is beyond repair. It must be made new. The disciples of Jesus knew that the end of the world must come to pass. They asked Jesus for a sign concerning it. Of course they asked so many different questions at once, that Jesus in answer made the whole thing a bit cryptic but that isn't surprising, not when Jesus taught in a lot of parables so that only the discerning, only those who truly love Him and desire truth would be able to comprehend the truth of His words. The Holy Spirit teaching Jesus said this:

Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Why do you suppose Jesus said His Father only? Why do you suppose Jesus said His Father decided not to make the date known? Simply because those alive 2000 years ago might have thought, 'Wor, thousands of years from now…  And either they'd be slack in their desire to see Jesus at the end of the world, or maybe they'd despair that it was so far away. Each generation believe it could be near, but there are additional signs given so throughout the many generations people would be able to realize that the end was drawing ever closer. 

Jesus said -

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

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We have to realize at some point in time the last days will happen.

Jas 5:3  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

This tells us just having important earthly treasures are- meaning- they are NOT important at all! Eternal life is the important thing not any treasure we con find on earth.

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Jas 5:4  Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Jas 5:5  Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
Jas 5:6  Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Be patient!

There would obviously come a time where people would be tempted to grow impatient, so we are told pointedly to be patient!!!

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Luk 21:11  And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

We must note the signs given to us. We must pay attention. It does us no good to ignore things.
There are great signs, not tiny signs, not signs that would be barely noticeable. God wants all of us to be ready. God wants all of us to be waiting for Him at the end of the world. God wants all of us to live with the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Savior beating loudly in our hearts. 

More tomorrow on this study by the grace and mercy, the love the amazing love of GOD!

God has revealed His love to us in so many ways.
The miracle of birth.
The miracle of new life is something that goes so far beyond our comprehension.
God knows us from the womb!
God protects us from the womb!

We are God's from the womb!
We are His servants, His creations!

Please Lord, accept the thanks and praise we can give to You, it is so tiny compared to the great and wondrous things You do for us everyday! We are unworthy, YOU ALONE are worthy! 

Thank you!  Thank you for the miracle of life within my new great nephew, Elias!

All praise, glory, and honor to YOU, only YOU!

Image to the Beast (Pt 2)

Yesterday we began to study the Image of the Beast.  Why is it important to do this? Seriously, why should we bother with studying the image of the beast, shouldn't we just leave all that confusing prophecy stuff to Bible scholars? We could but then what about this--

Rev_16:2  And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

Read that again, please, indulge me.

The seven last plagues are beginning to fall in this verse and who receives the plagues? Who experiences  the plagues effects? Those who have the MARK of the BEAST and….   did you get that…. AND … yep, I'm emphasizing the AND… those who worship the IMAGE of the BEAST!

Of course if you want to believe you'd never a worship a beast, that you're safe because you refuse to worship monsters, well it's that sort of understanding that will lead you to do just that because this image, and this beast are NOT vile creatures that have come up from some underground fire pit with horns dripping blood, with razor sharp claws, and a serpentine tail capable of cutting a man in two. That is the stuff of horror, fantasy, and science fiction.  Just a cursory glance at the book of Revelation can leave someone mystified and very confused, but I'm here to tell you that all those SYMBOLIC beasts can be explained, they can and guess what? The Bible itself explains them right along with undisputed history.  I'm not lying! I'm not trying to deceive anyone! I have no reason to do that, none whatsoever.

You can remain stubborn and stuck with believing it's impossible to understand all that gobblygook symbolic prophetic stuff but ask yourself this… why would God give us these books of prophecy if there weren't a message for us.

Did you know the same book of Revelation which talks about the image of the beast also says this--

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Rev 22:3  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

Rev 22:4  And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

Rev 22:5  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Rev 22:6  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

And this--

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

No more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain-  these are things most Christians have NO trouble at all believing, that one day God is going to destroy this sin-filled earth and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

So while people love to hear all the pleasant things to come from the book of Revelation they just want to brush aside all the hard, seemingly incomprehensible  beast and mark stuff. Leave it to the scholars, the pastors, they'll learn and then teach us what we need to know, that way we don't have to trouble our pretty little heads with stuff that is just too darn confusing.

Maybe that sounds harsh, it probably does. I don't understand everything, but by the grace of God I'm going to study and pray, hoping that He will reveal His truth to me. We can't hide from the truth. We are responsible for rejecting knowledge.

Joh_5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Rom_15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Rev_1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev_22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Those are NOT my words! Those are GOD'S words!

I'm not trying to convince you to study, or maybe I am, but only because when we read the words- 'Blessed is he that reads and hear the words of THIS prophecy and keeps the things in that prophecy' - we have to comprehend that those who do not will not be blessed!

If we are to keep the sayings in the book of Revelation we have to know them, don't we? How can you keep something you don't have?

By the GRACE of God alone, through His mercies and the ever loving guidance of the Holy Spirit, may we study, may we hear, may we understand and keep all that we need to so that we may be among those blessed.

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If you didn't read yesterday's study yet, please go do so, I don't want to repeat all the cautions and suggestions, but I will say, if you don't have a background already in prophecy please go back in my blogs to June 11, 2011 and on from there and read all the blogs on prophecy you can- it will give you the basics that are used here for those who know the basics already.      Thanks!

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I'm taking excerpts from yesterday's study so that I can expound on them a bit- my expounding will be between parentheses such as these -- ((( ))))

Rev_19:20  And the BEAST was taken, and with him the FALSE PROPHET that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

(((Miracles are wrought to what end? To deceive those who already HAVE the mark of the beast and worship his image.  It states- 'which he deceived them that HAD received'  So, these miracles aren't there to convince people to take the mark of the beast or worship his image. It's easy to believe that the miracles are done to CONVINCE people to choose the beast and his ways. It's easy for us to say when we see those miracles foretold then we'll make sure we don't believe them. But according to the Word of God which we just read, if we wait till then it will be too late. The sign of this miracle is surely given at a point just like the seven last plagues, announcing that the time of trouble such as never was (Dan 12:1) has begun and we know at that point everything has been decided, probation for all of mankind is over. ))))

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Let us read on.  Twelfth verse:  "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the beast, whose deadly wound was healed."

Now, has this beast that was seen coming up out of the earth been exercising as yet all the  power that the first beast before him did?  [Congregation:  "No."]

Has he compelled them that dwell on the earth to worship the first beast?  [congregation:  "No."]

 Is that verse, then, the 12th verse, fulfilled until the time of the 15th verse?  [Congregation:  "No."]

Until the time after the image is made?  [Congregation:  "Yes."]

Then those two verses of the prophecy are manifestly NOT FULFILLED IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THE STATEMENTS ARE SET DOWN.  Is that so?  [Congregation:  "Yes."]

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The thirteenth verse:  "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."  Is that fulfilled before the image of the beast is made?  [Congregation:  "No."]

*

And what then? -- Fire comes.

"He doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."

Men will see it; and it is done to decide this question-- to decide that they are the people of God; that they are men of God.  And when the true people of God say that that is not the test -- that that does not prove anything, then you see, they will say:  "Well, you go back on your own evidences.  You say you believe the Bible, you say that is your foundation, and you agree that that decided this question once."  "Yes, sir."  But now, when we do the same thing, you deny that that is any decision at all.  What is the use of reasoning any more with such men as that?  They all go back on the plainest evidence, that they themselves say that they stand upon.  What more should be done but to kill such a people as that?  You can't reason with them anymore, and the fate of the world, the plagues, and pestilences and all these things are coming upon the people on account of your craze, because you will not surrender or yield; you are stubborn, you will have it your own way anyway.  Now, in order to save people whose lives are precious, the only thing we can do is to put you out of the way."

So, we say, and you will see by reading, that that is NOT DONE BEFORE the image of the beast is made; it is AFTER that, that it comes.

*

SO THEN THE THREE VERSES WHICH WE HAVE READ, YOU YOURSELVES SEE, THEY ARE NOT FULFILLED IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THE STATEMENTS ARE SET DOWN.

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But do men receive the mark of the beast before the image is made?

Under the message, and the responsibility which the message brings, are men held responsible for receiving the mark of the beast and worshipping the beast before the image comes on and undertakes to compel them to do it? -- NO; because we found in our lessons here that UNTIL THE IMAGE WAS MADE THERE WAS A WAY OF ESCAPE FROM THE WORSHIP OF THE BEAST.

 The way was open for a man to refuse; but AFTER the image is made, there is NO WAY open for a man to refuse to worship the beast, because there is no place on the earth where the power comes, there is no escape any more, and then it is that men become responsible for worshiping either the beast or his image.  There is no other way of escape.  The only way is to turn to God, then.  Then the time comes that the decision is clear cut, and must be made between God and the powers of the earth alone.

*

Now then, these spirits, they are the spirits of devils.  The next verse (Rev. 16:14) says:  "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

But these spirits of devils working miracles come from where? -- They come from certain places to do these miracles.

That is the truth, isn't it?  And they come from those places, to gather the people to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.  These spirits of devils come at that time with this miracle-working power, in this miracle-working power, in this miracle-working way, to do a certain thing.


Where do they come from? -- The beast and the false prophet (or the image of the beast).  Then, from those testimonies, and from those two verses, isn't it plain that the deceiving miracles-- the great miracles that are wrought to deceive men, come  AFTER THE IMAGE IS MADE, AND NOT TO MAKE THE IMAGE [Congregation:  "Yes."]

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Then you can see again that up to the fifteenth verse, NOT ONE of the verses is fulfilled in the order in which its statements are set down.

"Well, then," says one, "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT THAT WAY FOR? HOW ARE WE TO KNOW, THEN, WHEN IT DOES COME?"

"Vol. 4" tells you that, too.  It says this, page 443:--

"TO LEARN WHAT THE IMAGE IS LIKE, AND HOW IT IS TO BE FORMED, WE MUST STUDY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BEAST ITSELF,-- THE PAPACY."

We are to learn of the fulfillment of the prophecy, and be able to detect that, from our knowledge of the things of which it is an image.

IN OTHER WORDS, WE ARE NOT TO GET THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS PROPHECY FROM THE PROPHECY ITSELF ALONE; BUT WE ARE TO DETECT, AND TO LEARN OF THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS PROPHECY FROM THE RECORD OF THE NATURE, THE WORKING, AND THE DISPOSITION OF THE BEAST OF WHICH THIS IS ONLY AN IMAGE.

 So you see, in order to see when these passages are fulfilled, in order to see when they are met, we must be ACQUAINTED WITH THE ORIGINAL, we must be ACQUAINTED WITH THE BEAST, and well acquainted with it, that when any ONE of these points appear, we can see where that belongs, because we know where it belonged in the original; and then, knowing where it belongs, we can avoid that thing.

There is a peculiarity about this prophecy that is not about many others:  There are some prophecies, like the prophecy of Daniel seventh chapter, the passing away of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, and so on, -- those prophecies, men could see the fulfillment of them in the event, and they could be perfectly safe in it.  In other words, was it safe for men acquainted with the Scriptures to look for another kingdom to succeed Babylon, and to look for it as Medo-Persia, and know when that thing was fulfilled from the event itself? -- Yes; and they could see it fulfilled and the event itself.  But mark you, here is this prophecy that comes at the END OF THE WORLD, AND IN THE WHIRL OF EVENTS THAT BRING THE END OF THE WORLD, AND THE MAN WHO WAITS TO SEE THIS FULFILLED IN ORDER TO ACT, HE WILL BE TOO LATE.

Therefore this is a prophecy with which God wants us to be SO WELL ACQUAINTED BEFOREHAND THAT WE WILL LOOK AT IT FROM THE RIGHT SIDE, AND NOT BE BEHIND IT WHEN IT DOES COME. AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT, YOU SEE THE LORD GIVES US A PICTURE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN WROUGHT OUT IN HISTORY; HE GIVES THE COURSE OF EVENTS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN CARRIED OUT, FULFILLED BEFORE THE EYES OF MEN, IN A SLOW PROCESS;  SO THAT IN STUDYING IT AS IT OCCURRED SLOWLY IN THAT, WE CAN BECOME THOROUGHLY ACQUAINTED WITH THE PRINCIPLES THAT WERE ESTABLISHED, AND THEIR GROWTH, AND THE RESULT OF THEM. AND HE DOES THAT IN ORDER THAT WE MAY BE SO WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THOSE THINGS IN ALL THEIR BEARINGS, THAT WHEN THE FIRST HINT OF THOSE THINGS IS TOUCHED HERE, WE MAY KNOW THE OUTCOME OF IT LONG BEFOREHAN, AND THEREFORE, HAVE AMPLE TIME TO TAKE WARNING, AND NEVER GET CAUGHT.

This is why the Lord does not want us to look for the fulfillment of this prophecy in the prophecy itself; because IF WE WAIT FOR THAT, THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY WILL BE THOSE THINGS UPON WHICH DEPEND OUR SALVATION AT THE VERY MOMENT THAT THAT THING IS FULFILLED; AND IF WE ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE, IF WE ARE LATE, WE ARE SIMPLY LEFT. THEREFORE HE FIXED IT, SO AS TO SHOW UP THE BEAST IN ITS FULNESS, IN ALL HIS WORKING,  IN ORDER THAT BY STUDYING THAT, WE MAY BE ABLE TO DETECT THE IMAGE, IN EVERY PHASE AND ON EVERY SIDE. THE FIRST HINT OF ANYTHING OF THE KIND IS ENOUGH; BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT THE THING IS; EVERYTHING IS IN IT; AND THEREFORE JUST AS SOON AS THAT THING IS TOUCHED, WE CAN SAY, "THAT MEANS THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST; THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST IS IN THAT THING, AND I MUST AVOID EVERY CONNECTION OF IT OR WITH IT FROM NOW UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD." WATCHING THE GROWTH OF THAT THING WHICH HAS BEEN STARTED, WHICH I KNOW WAS THE SPIRIT AND PRINCIPLE OF THE PAPACY WHEN IT WAS STARTED, WHICH I KNOW WAS THE SPIRIT AND PRINCIPLE OF THE PAPACY WHEN IT WAS STARTED, WHEN I SEE THAT AND AVOID ALL OF IT AT EVERY STEP, I AM ON SAFE GROUND, AND UNLESS I DO THAT I AM ON DANGEROUS GROUND.


Therefore the Spirit of Prophecy has told us that if we would know about the image, we MUST STUDY THE ORIGINAL -- THE BEAST.  And those who are watching it in this way will be able to detect the evil thing in every one of its phases; no difference how it comes up, or where it comes up, even if it be only the merest glimmer.  AND GOD WANTS US TO BE SO WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THE ORIGINAL THAT WE CAN DETECT THE IMAGE EVEN THOUGH IT BE ONLY A GLIMMER.

*
My thoughts--

(((Truly this makes perfect sense, does it not? We are given prophecy straight on to the very end of the world. We are given prophecies concerning our Savior's second coming, we are given prophecies about that second coming that tell us that those who are HIS at His second coming will go with Him to heaven (obviously they're not there already)  even the dead that are His will be called from their graves, and those who are alive that are His will go with Him without ever tasting death's sleep.  We are told this!  This is prophesied. We are told what the end times will be like.  We are given prophecies like the one we've been discussing in Rev. 13 and we are told there is going to be an evil power that does miracles, and many are going to belong to that evil power. We are told what that power will be like- another power described in great detail so as to make no mistakes.  We are told that we must KNOW what is coming, because in the very end when we are living in that prophetic moment as prophecy meets reality there will be no time to sit down and study history, it will be history in the making and WE will be in that history in the making prophecy.   There will be many, in fact, NO ONE alive when Jesus Christ returns will escape being a part of prophecy unfolding in that very moment.

Jesus tells us to watch and pray... watch and pray...watch and pray.
Jesus tells us we are blessed if we read and understand.
Jesus tells us to be ready, to have extra oil by our sides.
Jesus tells us to have on the marriage clothes.
Jesus does not lack in the warning department. None will be able to say they didn't have a chance to know, not a single person.

So, if we are given warnings shouldn't we take heed to them!?

We need to be Christ's, wholly Christ's first and foremost. But every single apostle and disciple that lived when Jesus walked the earth before His death and right after His resurrection before His final ascent to heaven, had to go on and live their lives in Jesus. They spent their lives living the truth of Salvation in Christ, and we too must live that truth with a very active belief in our Savior.  Studying, praying, watching, waiting, living, loving all for HIM.

Knowing all this prophecy means NOTHING if we do not have the LOVE of Christ in our hearts, in our very lives. Christ must be in us teaching us, guiding us, blessing us, loving us.

Christ did NOT want us to be ignorant to the signs of His return. He gave whole discourses on it. He didn't want a single person to be ignorant of salvation in HIM and our need to love Him more than anything else, and in loving Him, obeying Him in all things.

Our studying this prophecy isn't over yet, by the grace of God we will continue to feast at the meat laden table of Scripture, praying always for guidance and understanding that will only ever bring us closer and closer to HIM and all HIS TRUTH, in HIS LOVE!

Image to the Beast

Tonight's blog is on the Image to the Beast.  A word of caution to the first time reader, okay, and the second, third, fourth time readers of this blog… if you haven't followed this blog for long, in order to get a lot of background on the Beast mentioned, may I suggest you go to past blogs- starting with the one written on June 11, 2011 and keep on reading those prophecy blogs until you understand what I mean by the following blog.  To just read this without any background it may seem totally preposterous, but I'm not asking you to believe my word at all-  I am asking that you believe God's word. So please, if you happen upon this blog and start reading only to be completely shocked and disbelieving, do yourself a HUGE favor and go back to that blog in 2011, I wrote a whole bunch on prophecy, BIBLICAL prophecy straight from the Bible and lived out through our history.  Thank you!

*******

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

*******  (This study is meat, not milk, so if you're not into really studying and studying hard, please just skip this study. )

(For the purposes of living in the times we do- we must remember this was written

March 5, 1893. Yes, 1893 - 120 years ago.  Also- there are additional notes after Jones' study that are very pertinent so don't skip reading this all the way to the end, please.)

*******

A SERMON delivered by Elder A. T. Jones, in the Tabernacle at Battle Creek, Mich., Sunday evening, March 5, 1893.

(((Note: In this sermon Elder Jones is actually speaking with the congregation, and they answer him.  I will be adding my interjections between parentheses such as these, as I try to expound on what we are studying. Also, all extensive capitalization of words and passages are mine and meant for emphasis for the blog placement where bold or italicize fonts do not work when copy pasting.))))

'Image to the Beast'

by A. T. Jones

Let us turn to the 13th chapter of Revelation to begin with this evening, and study that passage of Scripture that refers to the United States, and see if we may know WHERE in the prophecy the working of this power comes in to  DECEIEVE "THEM THAT DWELL ON THE EARTH, BY THE MEANS OF THOSE MIRACLES WHICH HE HAD POWER TO DO IN THE SIGHT OF THE BEAST."  (((Rev 13:14)))) I know that a good many are losing sight of what has been done by looking for something that they had decided must be done first; and while looking for that which they had decided must be done, and neglecting to use that which has been done, they will still go on, getting further and further from the light, still less and less prepared to meet any of these things, whether they have come, or whether they are yet to come.

Now, in the 13th and 14th verses is the statement of prophecy about the working of that power:  "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.  (((Rev 13:13,14))))

From the connection in which this is placed, a good many have been writing to me and saying that all these things must come to pass before the image is made; that these workings and wonderful manifestations are the workings of Spiritualism, and are to persuade the people to make an image to the beast.  It is important, therefore, for us to study the prophecy and see what it says, and as much as possible, what it does not say.

Let us now begin with the eleventh verse of the  thirteenth chapter: 

 "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." 

When did he speak as a dragon? When he was coming up?  [congregation: "No."] 

When is it that he speaks as a dragon? 

Read the fifteenth verse:  "AND HE HAD POWER TO GIVE LIFE UNTO THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST THAT THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST SHOULD BOTH SPEAK, AND CAUSE THAT AS MANY AS WOULD NOT WORSHIP THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST SHOULD BE KILLED." 

That is when he speaks as a dragon, is it?  [Congregation: "Yes."]

Isn't it the image of the beast that speaks as a dragon?  [Congregation: "Yes."] 

Was the image of the beast made, when he was seen coming up out of the earth, was the image of the beast made?  [Congregation:  "No."]

Was he then speaking as a dragon?  [Congregation:  "No."] 

Then all of that verse does NOT APPLY in the place where it is printed. 

that you may see this a little more plainly, turn to "Testimony" 32, page 208.  [Vol. 5, page 452].  This was printed in 1885:--

"The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness.  The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the current is tending.  Its professions are mild, and apparently Christian."

Has that any reference to the two horns like a lamb?  [Congregation:  "Yes."]

"Its professions are mild, and apparently Christian; but when it shall speak, it will reveal the spirit of the dragon."

"When it SHALL speak."  That was written in 1885; he had not yet spoken.  Is that Correct?  [Congregation:  "In 1798."] 

"He had two horns like a lamb," when he was seen coming up, and has had them all the time.  Is that so?  [Congregation:  "Yes."] 

"its professions are mild, and apparently Christian."  But there is the prophecy,-- "He spake as a dragon."  And we have found by the connection that it is the image that speaks, and causeth that as many as will not worship the image of the beast shall be killed.  That is the dragon voice.  But "When it shall speak, it will reveal the spirit of the dragon."

Then, I say again, that that eleventh verse is NOT ALL FULFILLED IN THE PLACE WHERE IT STANDS IN PROPHECY, and in the order in which the things that it mentions are mentioned in the prophecy.  THE LAST EXPRESSION OF THE ELEVENTH VERSE IS NOT FULFILLED UNTIL WE REACH THE FIFTEENTH VERSE.

(((If you are experiencing confusion at this point, well so did I. Please keep on reading to the end and then after reading the entire sermon reread it and it will make more sense.))))

Let us read on.  Twelfth verse:  "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the beast, whose deadly wound was healed." 

Now, has this beast that was seen coming up out of the earth been exercising as yet all the  power that the first beast before him did?  [Congregation:  "No."]

Has he compelled them that dwell on the earth to worship the first beast?  [congregation:  "No."] 

 Is that verse, then, the 12th verse, fulfilled until the time of the 15th verse?  [Congregation:  "No."] 

Until the time after the image is made?  [Congregation:  "Yes."]

Then those two verses of the prophecy are manifestly NOT FULFILLED IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THE STATEMENTS ARE SET DOWN.  Is that so?  [Congregation:  "Yes."]

The thirteenth verse:  "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."  Is that fulfilled before the image of the beast is made?  [Congregation:  "No."]

We all know, who have read "Vol. 4," that that is one of the last things that is ever done before Satan comes himself, personally.  You who have read "Vol. 4" know that.  And you who have not read it, just read it, and you will see that the making of the fire to come down from heaven is one of the last things that are done before Satan appears personally, or after, but, taking the most extreme view possible of it, it is among those things that are carried on when the very powers of the Satanic agencies are exerted to their full extent, to deceive, if possible, the very elect. 

This miracle  is wrought to prove to the children of God that they are wrong in keeping the Sabbath.

This miracle is wrought as a deciding test, and it will be one of the very last things before the decree goes forth to put people to death; if not the very last before that, it will be one of the last.

The contest will be between the powers of the earth and the Lord; between those who yield and obey the powers of the earth, and those who obey the Lord.

Now, are these miracles all wrought openly, and above board, distinctly as against the Lord?  Is that what they pretended to do?  [Congregation:  "No."] 

Are they wrought by those who openly and professedly deny Jesus Christ?  [Congregation:  "No."] 

Who then? -- Those who profess themselves to be Christ.

"False christs will arise, and shall show great signs and wonders." 

 This will be done by those who themselves profess that they are representatives of Jesus Christ, and that Christ is with them, and that God is the God of that side of the question.  But it will be denied, and it will be known that it is not so, by those who know the Lord. 

But this challenge will be made.  There was a contest once as to whether the Lord was God or whether the sun was god-- Baal.  The test which decided that day amongst the people that Elijah was a man of God, and that God was the true God, and not the sun-- not Baal-- that test was, fire came down from heaven.

Now, that test comes again, but this time it will be done to deceive; and it will be done by those who claim now to be Baal's, or rather, those who are really Baal's servants, but profess that Baal is god, which is Satan, of course.  And they will present that challenge to you and me:  "Now, you say that the Bible is the word of God.  You stand on that?"  "Yes, sir."  "You say that God is your God?"  "Yes, sir."  "And that the Sabbath ought to be kept because that is the sign of what God is to man and what Christ is to man?"  "Yes, sir, that is the position exactly."  "Now, a test was put once before which decided this question.  That was that fire came down from heaven.  That decided there that the Lord was the true God.  Now, we offer you, upon your own proposition, today, the same challenge.  We say to you that we challenge you to this decision; we give you an open,  fair challenge; we say to you now:  If we are the men of God, if God is our God, and not yours, if we are men of God, let fire come down from heaven upon the earth."

And what then? -- Fire comes. 

"He doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."

Men will see it; and it is done to decide this question-- to decide that they are the people of God; that they are men of God.  And when the true people of God say that that is not the test -- that that does not prove anything, then you see, they will say:  "Well, you go back on your own evidences.  You say you believe the Bible, you say that is your foundation, and you agree that that decided this question once."  "Yes, sir."  But now, when we do the same thing, you deny that that is any decision at all.  What is the use of reasoning any more with such men as that?  They all go back on the plainest evidence, that they themselves say that they stand upon.  What more should be done but to kill such a people as that?  You can't reason with them anymore, and the fate of the world, the plagues, and pestilences and all these things are coming upon the people on account of your craze, because you will not surrender or yield; you are stubborn, you will have it your own way anyway.  Now, in order to save people whose lives are precious, the only thing we can do is to put you out of the way." 

So, we say, and you will see by reading, that that is NOT DONE BEFORE the image of the beast is made; it is AFTER that, that it comes.

Brethren, it is not only time for every one of us to read "Vol. 4,"  but to read it over and over and to know the situation of things as they are.  It is time to read it, and we cannot afford not to read it.

SO THEN THE THREE VERSES WHICH WE HAVE READ, YOU YOURSELVES SEE, THEY ARE NOT FULFILLED IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THE STATEMENTS ARE SET DOWN.

Now let us read on:  "And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast." 

Let us read another passage now, in the 19th chapter of Revelation, referring to the coming of the Lord, 19th and 20th verses: 

"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image."

Some one told me the other day about another translation, speaking of that-- I do not know whether it is the Revised Version or some other-- that reads, "the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that had received the image."

[Elder D. T. Bourdeau:  "So reads the French."]  The same thought is in this.  That shows then that the miracles, the deceiving miracles, that are wrought, are done to deceive them that had the mark of the beast.

But do men receive the mark of the beast before the image is made? 

Under the message, and the responsibility which the message brings, are men held responsible for receiving the mark of the beast and worshipping the beast before the image comes on and undertakes to compel them to do it? -- NO; because we found in our lessons here that UNTIL THE IMAGE WAS MADE THERE WAS A WAY OF ESCAPE FROM THE WORSHIP OF THE BEAST.  The way was open for a man to refuse; but AFTER the image is made, there is NO WAY open for a man to refuse to worship the beast, because there is no place on the earth where the power comes, there is no escape any more, and then it is that men become responsible for worshiping either the beast or his image.  There is no other way of escape.  The only way is to turn to God, then.  Then the time comes that the decision is clear cut, and must be made between God and the powers of the earth alone.

Again:  read the 16th chapter of Revelation.  There the plagues, you know, are threatened to come upon the people because of worshiping the beast and his image.

Under the sixth plague, we read verses 13 and 14:  "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of"-- What?  Doesn't it read this way:  "I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and deceived people into making the false prophet?  [Congregation:  "No."]

What is the false prophet, in other words?  [Congregation:  "The two horned beast."]  The image of the beast is the false prophet, because that verse in the 29th chapter tells it:  "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.  And the beast was taken, and  with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image."

In the 13th chapter, we read:  "He exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him [in his sight], and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed."  Then what is the false prophet? -- The image of the beast.[a]

 ((( I'm going to bring the little [a] reference up here instead of leaving it solely at the end of the article-

[a] Here we diverge from A. T. Jones’ exegesis.  The False Prophet is identified in the article “The Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty It Is Pending” {Article from WWN3(05)} as follows:

”We have interpreted the "false prophet" as symbolic of apostate Protestantism, and rightly so, but we have failed to recognize that the second "beast” came up out of the "earth," not the "sea" where "historic Protestantism" under Luther originated. It is an evangelical "Protestantism" originating in the prophetic "earth," which has now become "the political religious right." It was coming up "in" the earth at the same time that the deadly wound was being healed in the "sea" following World War 1.”))))

Now then, these spirits, they are the spirits of devils.  The next verse (Rev. 16:14) says:  "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

But these spirits of devils working miracles come from where? -- They come from certain places to do these miracles. 

That is the truth, isn't it?  And they come from those places, to gather the people to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.  These spirits of devils come at that time with this miracle-working power, in this miracle-working power, in this miracle-working way, to do a certain thing. 

Where do they come from? -- The beast and the false prophet (or the image of the beast).  Then, from those testimonies, and from those two verses, isn't it plain that the deceiving miracles-- the great miracles that are wrought to deceive men, come  AFTER THE IMAGE IS MADE, AND NOT TO MAKE THE IMAGE [Congregation:  "Yes."]

Well, let us see whether we are right.  Testimony 32, page 207 (Vol. 5, page 45):--

"To secure popularity and patronage, legislators will yield to the demand for Sunday law."

Will they-- They have done it.  Is that fulfilled?  [Congregation:  "Yes."] 

(((And it was done, this is history))))

That has been fulfilled.  They have done it, and they have done it so certainly that they themselves have publicly said that they did do it for that purpose.  The evidence, more than we have had at any other time, is in this little pamphlet-- "The Captivity of the Republic."  It is a report of the hearing before the Committee on the World's Fair Sunday Closing Bill, an account of which I gave here in my second talk.  This is now being printed and coming from the press.  It is entitled "The Captivity of the Republic."  And the idea is that the Churches have captured the republic and hold it in the captivity in which they have taken it, and the quotations there from congressmen themselves, lately, not simply those of Hiscock and Hawley, and those of last summer, but those of the very latest -- members of that Committee which heard our arguments and refused to hear what they would not hear willingly, but which they had to hear-- statements from these very men saying that they must not go any further in that direction for fear of the damage to the Fair and country at large, that the church element would do.  You have it over and over there in several different ways; so there is further evidence than that which we had last summer; but they keep on saying that they did it then, for that reason, and they still maintain it for the same reason.  So that is fulfilled over and over, if anybody wants evidence on that point.  We continue reading from No. 32:--

"Those who fear God cannot accept an institution that violates a precept of the decalogue."

Does this institution that has been set up by those men to secure popularity and patronage, refer in any way to a decalogue?  [Congregation:  "Yes."] 

Did they mention any precept of the decalogue in the doing of it?  [Congregation:  "Yes."] 

"Those who fear God cannot accept" it.  Do you hear that?  [Congregation:  "Amen!"]

"Those who fear God cannot accept an institution that violates a precept of the decalogue."

And an institution that so entirely violates a precept of the decalogue that it itself could not be set up by the government without taking the precept of the decalogue out of the way, altering it entirely.  It is not set alongside of the other one.  They did not enact any Sunday law on its own merits, but they deliberately set up the precept of God, and took out of it what he put into it, and put into it what the Catholic church set up in the place of it.

"On this battlefield comes the last great conflict of the controversy between truth and error."

And the battle is joined, and we are to go from this Conference into the midst of it.

"And we are not left in doubt as to the issue.  Now, as in the days of Mordecai, the Lord will vindicate his truth and his people.  By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness."

Now another thing:  I want to ask you whether it has been fulfilled.  This was written in 1885, remember.--

"When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power. . . . "

That is, "when she shall."  In 1884 it said, "She will."  This says, "When she shall."  That little special testimony, when it came a year ago now, said, "She is reaching."  She is doing it.  We know now that she has done it.  Don't we?  Let us read from "Testimony" No.33, page 240 (Vol. 5, page 72):--

"When our nation shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act join hands with popery."

But they joined hands with popery in the doing of it, in order to do it; and is it not all true in that one thing?  She has joined hands with the papacy.  That is fulfilled then, is it?  [Congregation:  "Yes."] 

Then the Testimony is fulfilled down that far.  Is that so?  [Congregation:  "Yes."]

Then further:  this same paragraph here, on page 240 of "Testimony" No. 33:--

"When our nation shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act join hands with popery; it will be nothing else than giving life to the tyranny which has long been eagerly watching its opportunity to spring again into active despotism."

We have found by our other studies and by the latest Testimonies that have come that it is through the influence of the United States government that all the nations are brought back to the papacy; and when that is done, it is through this country that life is given to that same tyrannical spirit which passes all over the world.  So then, we are up to that point now, are we?  [Congregation:  "Yes."] 

Now let us see what remains.  There is something else to come in this connection.  On page 207 of "Testimony" No. 32 (Vol. 5, p. 45)  we read:--

"When she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with Spiritualism. . . ."

It is fulfilled up to that point-- up to that last one now.  Is it?  [Congregation:  "Yes."] 

The other remains.

"When she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with Spiritualism. . . .When, under the influences of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and Republican government. . . ."

When they joined hands with popery, it was to set up the papal institution, as the testimony which has been printed in the BULLETIN told us, that God's memorial has been set aside, the false sabbath has been put in its place.  In the doing of that, she has joined hands with popery, has set up the institution of the papacy instead of the institution of God.  That much is fulfilled, then; that was accomplished in joining hands with popery.  Now, the next thing is to join hands with Spiritualism.  And then, "under the influence of this threefold union"  every principle, not only as a Protestant, but as a Republican government goes.  Now, a Republican government is a government of the people, not monarchial.  What is the object of Satan in working all these miracles?  Well, I shall read the rest of that sentence first:--

"When under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and Republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehood and delusion, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous workings of Satan, and that the end is near."

Now, why is it, and for what purpose is it, that Satan does these miraculous things?  Isn't it to prove that he is Christ?  [Congregation:  "Yes."] 

"False christs shall arise, and shall show great signs and wonders, if possible to deceive the very elect."  But he puts himself in place of Christ.

"Christ is King,"  isn't he?  [Congregation: "Yes."] 

When Satan in those miracles puts himself in the place of Christ, it is to be the same thing, is it?  [Congregation:  "Yes."] 

When this is done, then upon the very face of it, every principle of Republican government has been taken away, and they will have a monarchy established.  And so the object of Spiritualism is to open the way for the professed coming of Christ and the setting up of his kingdom on the earth.

So you see, having done so much already, it is easy enough to take the next step and to recognize "Christ" as king.  That is the thing that is being urged now by the National Reformers, who have been working for that which they have obtained; by those who recognize the strength of what has been done in making this a "Christian nation." 

This will be done in much the same way.  The principle will be recognized in some way; and they will clasp hands with Spiritualism.  Then, when that is done, when the way is opened, "Christ" is recognized as king, that opens the way for Satan to come as Christ and set up his kingdom here and do all these miracles and sweep the world with him, and then the cry is raised--"Vol. 4"  [SOP] gives it-- "Christ has come!  Christ has come!"

Then does not all this show to us that the working of Satan in Spiritualism, in these wonders and miracles that deceive men, is  AFTER the making of the image, even as the prophecy says?

"Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in the right hand, or in their foreheads:  and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the number of his name."

Then you can see again that up to the fifteenth verse, NOT ONE of the verses is fulfilled in the order in which its statements are set down. 

"Well, then," says one, "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT THAT WAY FOR? HOW ARE WE TO KNOW, THEN, WHEN IT DOES COME?"

"Vol. 4" tells you that, too.  It says this, page 443:--

"TO LEARN WHAT THE IMAGE IS LIKE, AND HOW IT IS TO BE FORMED, WE MUST STUDY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BEAST ITSELF,-- THE PAPACY."

We are to learn of the fulfillment of the prophecy, and be able to detect that, from our knowledge of the things of which it is an image. 

IN OTHER WORDS, WE ARE NOT TO GET THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS PROPHECY FROM THE PROPHECY ITSELF ALONE; BUT WE ARE TO DETECT, AND TO LEARN OF THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS PROPHECY FROM THE RECORD OF THE NATURE, THE WORKING, AND THE DISPOSITION OF THE BEAST OF WHICH THIS IS ONLY AN IMAGE.

 So you see, in order to see when these passages are fulfilled, in order to see when they are met, we must be ACQUAINTED WITH THE ORIGINAL, we must be ACQUAINTED WITH THE BEAST, and well acquainted with it, that when any ONE of these points appear, we can see where that belongs, because we know where it belonged in the original; and then, knowing where it belongs, we can avoid that thing.

There is a peculiarity about this prophecy that is not about many others:  There are some prophecies, like the prophecy of Daniel seventh chapter, the passing away of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, and so on, -- those prophecies, men could see the fulfillment of them in the event, and they could be perfectly safe in it.  In other words, was it safe for men acquainted with the Scriptures to look for another kingdom to succeed Babylon, and to look for it as Medo-Persia, and know when that thing was fulfilled from the event itself? -- Yes; and they could see it fulfilled and the event itself.  But mark you, here is this prophecy that comes at the END OF THE WORLD, AND IN THE WHIRL OF EVENTS THAT BRING THE END OF THE WORLD, AND THE MAN WHO WAITS TO SEE THIS FULFILLED IN ORDER TO ACT, HE WILL BE TOO LATE.

Therefore this is a prophecy with which God wants us to be SO WELL ACQUAINTED BEFOREHAND THAT WE WILL LOOK AT IT FROM THE RIGHT SIDE, AND NOT BE BEHIND IT WHEN IT DOES COME. AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT, YOU SEE THE LORD GIVES US A PICTURE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN WROUGHT OUT IN HISTORY; HE GIVES THE COURSE OF EVENTS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN CARRIED OUT, FULFILLED BEFORE THE EYES OF MEN, IN A SLOW PROCESS;  SO THAT IN STUDYING IT AS IT OCCURRED SLOWLY IN THAT, WE CAN BECOME THOROUGHLY ACQUAINTED WITH THE PRINCIPLES THAT WERE ESTABLISHED, AND THEIR GROWTH, AND THE RESULT OF THEM. AND HE DOES THAT IN ORDER THAT WE MAY BE SO WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THOSE THINGS IN ALL THEIR BEARINGS, THAT WHEN THE FIRST HINT OF THOSE THINGS IS TOUCHED HERE, WE MAY KNOW THE OUTCOME OF IT LONG BEFOREHAN, AND THEREFORE, HAVE AMPLE TIME TO TAKE WARNING, AND NEVER GET CAUGHT.

This is why the Lord does not want us to look for the fulfillment of this prophecy in the prophecy itself; because IF WE WAIT FOR THAT, THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY WILL BE THOSE THINGS UPON WHICH DEPEND OUR SALVATION AT THE VERY MOMENT THAT THAT THING IS FULFILLED; AND IF WE ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE, IF WE ARE LATE, WE ARE SIMPLY LEFT. THEREFORE HE FIXED IT, SO AS TO SHOW UP THE BEAST IN ITS FULNESS, IN ALL HIS WORKING,  IN ORDER THAT BY STUDYING THAT, WE MAY BE ABLE TO DETECT THE IMAGE, IN EVERY PHASE AND ON EVERY SIDE. THE FIRST HINT OF ANYTHING OF THE KIND IS ENOUGH; BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT THE THING IS; EVERYTHING IS IN IT; AND THEREFORE JUST AS SOON AS THAT THING IS TOUCHED, WE CAN SAY, "THAT MEANS THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST; THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST IS IN THAT THING, AND I MUST AVOID EVERY CONNECTION OF IT OR WITH IT FROM NOW UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD." WATCHING THE GROWTH OF THAT THING WHICH HAS BEEN STARTED, WHICH I KNOW WAS THE SPIRIT AND PRINCIPLE OF THE PAPACY WHEN IT WAS STARTED, WHICH I KNOW WAS THE SPIRIT AND PRINCIPLE OF THE PAPACY WHEN IT WAS STARTED, WHEN I SEE THAT AND AVOID ALL OF IT AT EVERY STEOP, I AM ON SAFE GROUND, AND UNLESS I DO THAT I AM ON DANGEROUS GROUND.

Therefore the Spirit of Prophecy has told us that if we would know about the image, we MUST STUDY THE ORIGINAL -- THE BEAST.  And those who are watching it in this way will be able to detect the evil thing in every one of its phases; no difference how it comes up, or where it comes up, even if it be only the merest glimmer.  AND GOD WANTS US TO BE SO WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THE ORIGINAL THAT WE CAN DETECT THE IMAGE EVEN THOUGH IT BE ONLY A GLIMMER.

Brethren, these things are important for us to consider, and for us to know, so that we shall not be overcome, so that we shall not be taken unawares on anything or at any point, but always be ahead in the thought and in the light of the Spirit of God.

So I say it over again.  From the nature of things and in the fast whirl of these last days and these things all coming so fast, in order to be safe we have got to be ahead of the actual occurrence of events.  And in order to prepare  us for that, God has drawn it slowly out before our eyes in the historical evidence of the beast.  He has drawn that out so that we can study it at leisure, and in this study as it occurred slowly, even up to the full development and ruin that was wrought by it before, we can, by the Spirit of God enlightening us, always be ahead of these things that are coming now; so that when they do come, however fast, we are only glad, because we know beforehand what it all means.  That is all that I can say upon that particular line of prophecy, or this particular passage.  But I did think that it was necessary as so many questions had been asked upon that, to call attention to it before we separate.

Now let us just sketch what is in the book of Revelation after that.  The third angel's message warns against the beast and his image and the danger of drinking the wine of the wrath of God.  And then follows the coming of the Saviour to reap the harvest of the earth, and the people of God standing on Mount Zion.  So there, that is the sketch through from where we are to the final victory.

Then the sixteenth chapter takes up the plagues; the seventeenth refers to Babylon the great, the mother; the eighteenth is the message of warning; the times of refreshing, the latter rain, the lighting of the earth with the glory of God, the calling out from Babylon, because she is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, as well as the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of unclean and hateful birds, and that ye receive not of her plagues; and God hath remembered her iniquities.  And then the word goes on and gives the actual occurrence of the judgment of God upon that great Babylon, to her utter ruin and perdition.

Then the nineteenth chapter you will remember, is that song, that voice of a great multitude of much people in heaven, saying, "Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God; for true and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great" harlot, "which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.  And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.  And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying Alleluia:  for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him:  for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white:  for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.  And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."  And the next thing he sees  is heaven opened and behold a white horse and the coming of Christ, the destruction of the nations of the earth, the beast and his image are cast together into the lake of fire, and the remnant are slain.

Then the 20th chapter is the binding of Satan, the resurrection of the righteous.  Then the thousand years expire, and then comes the resurrection of the wicked and the judgment and destruction of them.  The 21st chapter announces the new earth, and the heavenly city upon it.  And the 22nd chapter-- "And there shall be no more curse:  but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:  and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever."

Now, brethren, don't you see that from the message of Rev. 14, from the record of the third angel's message, when the image of the beast is made, that the rest of the book of Revelation is a straightforward story, as straight as can be written?  From the time the image of the beast is made, and the third angel's message goes forth as it reads, -- as now it goes forth from this Conference, as we go forth with the message,-- the rest of the book of Revelation is a straightforward story to you and me right through to the end of the book?  Don't you see that?  [Congregation:  "Yes]  One event right after another, all coming in directly in connection, and those things are right before us, -- the rest of the book is just that, and you know that well enough.

A sermon delivered by Elder A. T. Jones, in the Tabernacle at Battle Creek, Mich., Sunday evening, March 5, 1893.

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(((The rest of the following is written by the webmaster of Adventist Laymen's Foundation.))))

[1]  The fact that A. T. Jones perceived the form of the image to the beast as long ago as 1893 does not in any degree diminish the cogency of what he stated about how the image is formed, and how to recognize that it has been formed.  His perception at that time was valid, because of a series of statements written by Ellen G. White, such as the following, in “A Solemn Appeal to Ministers” dated 1890:

My brethren , we are living in a most solemn period of this earth’s history.  There is never a time to sin; it is always perilous to continue in transgression; but in a special sense is this true at the present time.  We are now on the very borders of the eternal world and stand in a more solemn relation to time and eternity than ever before.  (TM 147; emphasis supplied.)

In retrospect, we can see that events in the world were taking shape for the fulfillment of Rev. 13 and succeeding prophecies.  (See WWN XIII -  1(80):  WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN  PDF File)  Then came a dramatic change following the 1888, 1897 and 1901 General Conference sessions.  After that last GC session, Ellen G. White wrote the following in a letter to P. T. Magan:

We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel, but for Christ's sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action.  (M-184-1901) 

God’s people are still here over one hundred years later; but it is plain to see that a convergence of prophetic events in the religio-political realm has brought us once again to the very borders of the eternal world.  Sadly we are at this point in history in the midst of the most negative developments imaginable in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  Again, Ellen G. White has alerted us to the fulfillment of a prophecy which reveals that this time the end will not be delayed: 

In the twenty-first chapter of Luke, Christ foretold what was to come upon Jerusalem, and with it He connected the scenes which were to take place in the history of this world just prior to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  (Letter 20, 1901; Counsels to Writers, pp, 23-24) 

This is clearly a reference to Luke 21:24.  See “Jerusalem in Bible Prophecy” in the Documents folder of this website for an exposition of this prophecy. 

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.  Rev. 16:13-15 

And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.  So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.  Luke 21:29-32

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I have to add-  more on this tomorrow.  It's late now and I really want to discuss what all this means to me.

By the grace and mercy of our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ  we will continue to study this and perhaps become acquainted as we are told we must be, as is obvious, really.  In the end, as the last of prophecies are fulfilled we will be LIVING them, not able to look back upon them.  By the grace of God we will be wholly His, prepared for Him, by Him through His love, through His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace, His righteousness, His faith!