Revelation, Authority, & Infallibility ...

Who are you?  What are you?  The answers to these questions will say a lot about you.  Your identity can be self-described in a number of ways.  It may begin with your name.  When others pose the question to you, “who are you”, the most common response may well be your name.  Your name is a title given to you since birth.  It is meant to distinguish you from others in your family.  It is meant to identify you in terms of great affection, originating from your parents, where no matter the relationship you have today, it most probably began with one of extreme love at the birth of a new child to them.  But over time, some decide the name given them at birth, does not suit them, and they decide to change it to something better in their minds, to something else.  This is not meant as disrespect.  And in fact, in the Bible it happens a few times.  Abram, was changed to Abraham, and Simon to Peter.  The change for Abraham had meaning beyond affection, it meaning in designation to “who” he would become.  The same is true is for Peter.  And at the end of all things, Jesus intends to give us all new names in the Kingdom of heaven, names better suited to identify who we are meant to be, and who we will also become in the state of perfection throughout eternity.

What are you; is perhaps the more interesting question.  The answer here could originate in a combination of your age, or sex, or religious or political affiliation.  But most commonly your answer may find root in your job, your occupation, your skill set – that help you earn a living and sustain yourself.  Most of us grow up into the job we have, through a series of educational progressions, and then influenced by a set of circumstances we never could have predicted but find ourselves either victim of; or reaching the aspirations of.  We do what we need to do, to make a living, to provide for ourselves, or for our families.  So what we are matches the demands of the place, opportunities, and times we live in.  And there are few among us who answer this question as … I am a prophet of God.  The ones who do answer this way, are pretty much seen as “cuckoo lulu” right out of the gate.  Our minds jump right to the ideas of con-man, or self-deluded, and in the worst of all states, an agent of Satan.  So what kind of revelation, does it take to be a prophet of God?  And could it be a position more of us could occupy, if we only understood it better?

When we think of the great heroes of the Bible a few of them stand out because they are most closely associated with the ideas and the term prophet.  Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah.  Daniel of the Old Testament and the apostle John of the New, prophesied in tandem of the timeline of our world, all the way to the end of all things as we know them.  So it is easier to look at John and declare he was a prophet, even though He was also a disciple, and a fisherman, and a searcher of God.  After reading the book of Revelations however, it is easy to see how John could carry the title “prophet”.  But then is the gift of prophecy a full-time occupation?  Saul, the first king of Israel, who is known more for his ignominious end than his life, was given to bouts of prophecy.  So much so, that it was a common expression to ask, is Saul among the prophets.  And Matthew reveals to us that Peter too was given revelations that would become prophetic.  Does this make Peter a prophet, and if not, could the idea of prophecy being a more limited thing that happens in the course of one’s life, make you a more likely candidate than you might have once believed?

I ask for many reasons, but the context of my question comes from personal experience.  No, it was not me this time 😊.  In this instance it was my wife of 30+ years.  Over the course of our life together my life has not always been what it should have been.  I went to the Lord in prayer asking what His will was as I struggled with the situations I put myself in.  And out of the mouth of my wife (totally unbeknownst to her) were descriptions of my situation as clear as if she had first-hand knowledge – which she did not at the time.  My answers came from her lips, and all the way to the writing of this blog she has never known it.  But I did.  And God did.  His word passed the lips of my wife without her knowledge or cognition.  Does this make her a prophet, perhaps, perhaps not.  But more importantly, does it mean that revelation that comes from God, can pass through any human vessel – even when they are unaware it is happening, this I think is how it happens.  Matthew in his gospel to the Hebrews seems to cite an example of just such a case.

The story begins in chapter sixteen picking up in verse 13 saying … “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?’  The story begins with a simple question of identity.  Jesus is not looking for an answer directly from the crowds, He has chosen to wait until the troop has traveled far from the last crowds, and He is now                                                                                                                                                           focusing in on what the disciples think about who He is.  His question (like many a helpful teacher) already has the answer in it.  The “Son of Man” is another way of referring to the Messiah, the Christ, or the Son of God.  Nevertheless His disciples appear to miss the clue and offer more genuine insights into what the common answers are (perhaps including what they themselves are thinking).  They respond in verse 14 answering … “And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.”  This answer is meant to be flattering.  For Jesus to be associated or identified with Elijah or Jeremiah or even more recently John the Baptist (all of them back from the dead) means that Jesus would definitely be a hero to the nation.

It might account for all the miracles, if God saw fit to bring back a prophet of such high caliber back from the dead to be His messenger / Messiah to His people.  While a “normal” Jewish believer could not do what Jesus does, perhaps a resurrected hero of the past could do it.  So it is not altogether impossible to believe that the disciples were using the response of the people to this question, to hide the fact that they may have shared these beliefs.  As such, Jesus gets more specific, and removes the cover of the people and the collective “they” in their answers.  Picking up in verse 15 He asks … “He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?”  Now the veneer of what other people think has been stripped away from the answers they will give.  And to us the answer should be obvious.  Frankly, they must have been having a collective memory problem for it to be anything less than obvious to them.  It was only days ago when Jesus walked on water, calmed a storm, instantly bent time and space for them to move a great distance.  He fed 5000 then 4000 men (plus their women and children).  He healed like Israel had never seen before.  No prophet of the past had ever done anything like this, on any scale like this, ever.  So why did they hesitate in their response?

Could it be, that they, like us, get fixated on an idea, and even when the Truth is presented differently to us, we may declare it for a moment, but begin reverting to our preferred ideas almost immediately.  The disciples were falling victim to their respect of the existing church leadership, believing that it would be hard for them to get it entirely wrong.  These ideas of an answer they already offered, while supposed to be flattering, were also a compromise between what they should have known, and what the church leadership would offer as a counter argument at the time.  The miracles of Jesus were undeniable.  But if Jesus were Elijah come back from heaven, then perhaps not so implausible.  It keeps Jesus from being the Son of God, while offering a “logical” argument on how Jesus did what He did.  And generations of non-believers continue to look for compromises of the idea of faith where the identity of Jesus remains.  Make Jesus a “really good guy” and throw out the miracle stuff as exaggeration.  Even within in the church, make Jesus a partner in your salvation, not the author and finisher of it.  A compromise between what the Truth says about Himself, and what we will allow ourselves to believe about Jesus and how it all works.

However Peter offered a dissenting voice from his peers continuing in verse 16 saying … “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. [verse 17] And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”  The revelation of who Jesus is, is indeed a revelation sent from God the Father to Simon Barjona (who will be called Peter momentarily).  This revelation cuts through all the compromises and makes clear who the Truth is.  Peter did not know it was coming.  Peter was not in deep prayer asking for a revelation.  Peter was there, and God spoke through him.  The words of the Father God sent through the mouth of Peter, not for the benefit of Jesus (who already knows who He is), but for the benefit of the church (those others around him) who needed to hear it loud and clear.  To chase the compromise out of the room, and out of the thinking, God spoke through Peter.  And because of this Jesus rightly points out that this revelation is a blessing.

Prophecy, and revelation, need not be a full-time occupation, or gift of the Spirit that happens every moment of every day.  It can come as it is needed and through any vehicle our God chooses, at the time when it is needed most.  It is not a casual thing, it is an important thing.  It is not needed to predict the conditions of the roads before you travel to work, or help you find your misplaced keys.  God may help you find those keys, but that is not revelation, it is the love of a Father.  Revelation has immediate impact on the church, it drives away compromise.  The words of my wife had exactly that effect for me.  They made clear my compromises and clear what Jesus is capable of fixing, even when I could not see the way clear for it.  The words of Peter did the same thing for those like-minded friends & followers in that venue, and were verified by Jesus Himself as being true.  This was revelation indeed, but was it authority?

Jesus continues in verse 18 saying … “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  The first thing Jesus does after this revelation is to change the name of Simon Barjona into Peter, which has the meaning of a small stone.  Throughout scripture Jesus is referred to as the cornerstone (or the stone upon which everything else relies in the structure).  Telling now formerly Simon, that his new position is Peter, is telling him that he too will be a stone in the structure of the church Jesus is going to build.  Peter will NOT be the cornerstone.  Only Jesus could ever be that.  A church built upon any man is sure to fall.  But a church built upon God will last and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, and believe me, they have tried, and continue to try.  Jesus is trying to convey to Peter that he has a position in the new church, that it will be his shared mission to promote and grow the church Jesus will build.  This is the same position Jesus offers you and I.

Jesus then looks across the group of His disciples and continues saying in verse 19 saying … “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  The disciples are to be given the keys of the kingdom.  This is obviously symbolism.  There were no literal keys ever minted or transferred.  The meaning was to be symbolic.  Whatever the church was to ask for (in unity) would be granted and done by Jesus who would soon return to heaven.  Whether to open a door, or to seal one up for protection, requests of the church (when two or more would gather), were to be heard by the kingdom of heaven. 

It is important to understand how DIFFERENT this model was, than the one Israel had since the days of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt.  Since the wilderness wanderings, Israel had a temple first constructed with gold plated boards, and covered in tent materials, containing a physical ark with a mercy seat.  Later king David would collect the materials and make the plans for a temple his son Solomon would build over many years.  That temple would survive until Nebuchadnezzar invaded and twice destroyed it progressively.  Israel would rebuild it and in the days of Christ it would be only a former shadow of itself yet still magnificent.  Even then Israelites tended to face the temple when they prayed (no matter where they were in the world).  They were proud of their temple and believed that the presence of God Himself could only be found in that location.  What Jesus was saying now, was something entirely different.  From now on, the unity of believers would represent His church and as few as two of them could open or seal up the kingdom.  The presence of God would be found anywhere instead of only in one place.  That was radical.  That was contradictory to the prescriptions of Moses at the time, and for centuries of tradition since.  But this was to be the new model.

So then the question; was authority transferred by the words of Jesus?  And what authority?  Obviously the church of Jesus would forever belong to Jesus not men.  Obviously the work of our salvation would forever belong to Jesus not men.  And often we would not understand it, or even like it.  Matthew continues picking up in verse 20 saying … “Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. [verse 21] From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”  Right off the bat instructions from Jesus regarding His church include NOT sharing the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God.  How completely counterintuitive.  You would think the idea of sharing the identity of Christ would be priority one.  But the timing was not right.  So it was not.  Had the disciples been wholesale sharing their beliefs at this time, the anger of the church leadership would have cut short the ministry of Jesus.  And Jesus knew that cutting short His ministry without time to prepare His disciples would have an even more catastrophic effect on them with what was coming.

Jesus also begins revealing to His church what was to come in the near future.  This was prophetic, as it had not happened yet.  Yes, Jesus was a prophet in the terms we think of.  But then Jesus was God, so knowing what God knows, can it still be considered prophecy, or just more of the Truth.  But it did not matter, the message of the Truth, was something His church did not want to hear.  The shortsightedness of man sees the death of Jesus as the end of hope with respect to the Romans.  This was true.  The reign of Rome was to continue for centuries after Jesus (first militarily, and then as a great religious persecuting power).  Jesus did nothing to undo that.  And the Truth He was sharing with them was about His death, but also about His resurrection.  It seemed the back half of that news never could pierce the hearing of His own church leadership.  Peter (the newly identified small stone in the house of the Lord) now does what any prudent deacon should do, when the Pastor seems to be running amuck.

Matthew continues in verse 22 saying … “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”  Peter takes Jesus aside (keep in mind this is a rebuke) and says to Him, hey look, this just isn’t going to happen to You.  The people are ready to make You our King.  In fact, they have tried several times by force already, and somehow You have been able to disappear from the adoring crowds.  But in any case; You have a job to do according to our interpretation of scripture, where You are supposed to throw off Roman oppression, and setup Your Kingdom forever.  So You need to put this death nonsense out of Your head, and get busy with Your primary mission.  No more death talk, you get it.  Especially accusing the church leadership of wanting to torture and kill You.  That kind of talk is going to get You tortured and killed, by the people who still trust them, if not by them.  Now are we clear with what needs to happen?  I am sure all of us believe the same way here, and want the same things here.  You just gave us keys, so this is how we intend to use them.

And there it is folks, a paraphrase of every church leader throughout the ages reacting to news and the Truth they did not want to hear.  Reciting every logical reason why the Truth was wrong.  Reciting every long held doctrinal position so clearly backed up by scripture there could be no possible argument against it, except the words of the Truth, they do not want to hear.  In short, they all net down to the desires and vision of men, stacked against the will of God, that remains in our best interest, and not the best interest of God.  That is what Love means to Him.  Jesus responds in verse 23 saying … “But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”  Ouch!  There is no stronger rebuke in history.  If Peter was given this name of affection because of his new role as being a stone in the construction of the church, he has just gone from blessed – to an offense as bad as Satan himself.

It is interesting that Jesus does not throw Peter out of the church.  But what occurs here is an object lesson on why authority can never be transferred from Jesus to any human.  Peter, and men throughout the ages, and in our churches still, and in our mirrors still; value our own desires – the desires of men – more than the will of God.  It is Satan himself behind this phenomenon.  And it seems perfectly reasonable, perfectly logical, perfectly sensible.  We know God loves His people.  We know God does not want His people to suffer at the hands of injustice.  We know God does not enjoy people worshipping pagan gods as a substitute for Himself.  So it only makes sense that Jesus end all the suffering brought on by Rome.  How could He not?  How could He leave the most cruel empire in human history in charge of the fates of His own people?  This empire ultimately being responsible for the deaths of so many of them.  That does not make any sense.  Yet Jesus looks at that line of thinking, and states, get thee behind me Satan.

In a short period of time Peter has gone from reciting the will of God through his lips, to reciting the will of Satan.  He has fallen so far he is literally “an offense” to Jesus.  No person is perfect, or should be revered just because the words of prophecy have passed their lips.  The message is what is important.  And as to the message, just because you have recited the will of God through your lips, does not make you immune to becoming the messenger of Satan and allowing his words to escape your lips as well.  There is fallibility in mankind, or in any office within the church of Jesus.  Leaders, and lay people alike, make mistakes.  We sometimes pursue a direction that is more akin to the will of Satan than it is the will of God.  To avoid this, we must heed the council of Jesus.  Put aside our own desires, as He did.  Submit our very desires to the transformation only Jesus can enact in us.  And allow Jesus to put our will in harmony with the will of God.  This takes submission on our part, and transformation on His.  But He does not fail.

Our Catholic friends like to use this sequence of texts to proffer the idea that here is where Jesus made Peter the first pope.  I see no evidence of that.  Nor do I see any evidence of establishing a line of succession of the transference of power through the ages.  What is clear, is the absolute fallibility of men, even of Peter.  Peter went from the revelation of God the Father, to attempting to rebuke Jesus citing the words of Satan as what Jesus should do.  That is not the mark of perfection, or of a church leader who can do no wrong.  It is quite the opposite.  It is also a demonstration of what occurs when the will of one person is offered without submission.  Even groups can be convinced of the wrong thing.  It is not just that when two or more are gathered.  It is not just the gathering.  It is the submission of self in the name of, to the person of, Jesus – only then can the will of God can be discerned.

And we must be willing to accept that will and that direction, even when we do not understand it.  Even when we do not think it makes sense.  Even when it seems entirely counterintuitive.  No matter what the revelation we receive over the course of our lifetimes, He is always right, we are often wrong.  Better to rely upon the authority of Jesus to run His church, and your life.  Better to trust the infallibility of Jesus who has never been wrong, than the record of your decisions which are scattered with wrong choices.  Better to look for the revelation of the will of God which comes when we are in submission to Jesus, than find ourselves uttering the revelations of Satan that are so much more pleasing to ourselves, and aligned with our desires and goals.  And the Truth has so much more to say …

 

 

The Contrast of Finality [part two] ...

The scene in heaven is one of overwhelming joy at the impending return of Jesus Christ to our world.  Praises are exclaimed by the first fruits, by the 24 elders, by the four beasts, and by the sentient life across the universe.  But where joy is at its pinnacle, it has an equal contrast in the sin sick world below.  The contrast stands as dark as the light which is its opposite.  The finality of what is about to transpire will set a mark in the history of evil that cannot be undone.  Where heaven rejoices, the world below prepares for a war.  Where love seeks to bring life, renewal, and reconciliation for the redeemed; darkness seeks death, compulsion, and the conquering of any who dissent.  Those who follow Jesus Christ have long awaited His return to take us to our real home – wherever He is.  But for as much anticipation as true Christians hold within them, those who are not destined to be made free from self-love loathe the idea of an early end to their dark desires.  For them, the time to commit sin, to acquire more, to indulge themselves is nearly over.  It is as infinite a darkness they continue to descend into, as is the light we aspire to achieve.

But if there is to be another war, forced by the dark depths of evil itself, then a warrior will they meet.  It is in triumph our Lord is to return to us.  His meek and humble demeanor was ever present to bring us to Himself.  But now, His enemies will see, that love forever rejected is not powerless, it is not weak, it is not so easily defeated on the field of battle.  John reveals the picture of Christ returning to our world as we continue in chapter 19 and verse 11 saying … “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.”  If there are four horsemen who represent the decay of the church who bore His name, there is now a fifth horsemen who intends to reclaim it, both His name, and His people.  Jesus Christ is called Faithful and True.  He is faithful in that our salvation has been wrought in us, despite our lack of knowledge as to “how” this has occurred.  We cannot understand how our evil desires have been replaced by good ones, because we did not accomplish this transformation. HE did!  His word is made True within us, as all of the promises of redemption have resulted in a transformation of who we are, from slaves to self, to freedom to love others.

John points out, that evil is not to be allowed to run free and make all the decisions of what will happen next.  It is our God who judges.  It is the opinions and decisions of our God that are final.  What evil desires and wishes is to be made of no account.  If there is war to happen, our Lord will not shy away.  It is He who will bring war to evil, such as evil has not considered possible up to now.  Bathed in self-deception, evil has convinced itself, it can win based of the sheer force of will.  It is wrong.  John continues to describe the scene in verse 12 saying … “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.”  Evil cannot stand in the presence of love, for love consumes it entirely.  The eyes of our Lord appear as a flame of fire, for to look into them is to see the infinite love of God.  Evil sees this love as a consuming fire from which it cannot escape.  It is why Moses was only allowed to see the back of God, not His face.  Had the Lord revealed Himself and His infinite love directly and unfiltered to Moses, it would have consumed Him for its magnitude.  Moses while still clinging to the sins he cherished could not have stared into those eyes without revealing the evil he still had within himself, and thus being consumed by love.

On the head of our Lord is not a single crown to imply an ordinary kingship, rather there are “many” crowns, to signify He is not just a King, but a King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  No matter how great any king in this world has risen to prominence, no matter how high we believe ourselves to have ascended, we are reminded here there is One who is FAR greater than any of us.  Neither David, nor Solomon, nor Nebuchnezzar, nor Alexander the Great, nor any since will be able to compare in the slightest to the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings.  In the days of John, a king was a well understood concept.  His authority was absolute in the region in which he ruled.  There were no democracies, there was no place to appeal beyond the authority of the king.  So the imagery presented to John is something he fully understands and grasps, it is our Lord who is the real King, and the greatest King to have ever existed.

John also reminds us that He bears a name which no man knows except He Himself.  We do not really know the name of the Father God.  The closest name we ascribe to Him is YAHWEH, based on the systemic substitution of the letters YHWH wherever His true name existed in scripture.  This was a precaution taken by Jewish scribes to insure we never took His real name in vain.  Hard to do that when we do not truly know what it is.  But in this scene of His returning, Jesus bears the name of our God, which we have lost and do not know.  His identity, His name, will be revealed to us at that time, even John is not granted insight for his revelations to show it to us now.  We must wait to see it, to read it, to have Him tell it to us. 

John continues in verse 13 … “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.”  The Lord’s method for saving us, was to take upon Himself, the punishment we deserved.  It is by His blood, that our own can be preserved.  Thus he returns in a vesture, whether this is his entire clothing, or perhaps a breastplate, or vest, it is dipped in the Blood He shed for our redemption.  John again refers to Jesus Christ as the “Word of God”.  Keep in mind this is how the gospel of John begins, that the Word was God.  He continues in verse 14 … “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”  The host of the redeemed first fruits, perhaps the angels who have supported their Lord before in battle, perhaps other sentient life who rally to the command of their Lord, all stand arrayed to witness the triumph of the power of love over evil, even evil which will not relent.  The garments of the redeemed first fruits are white and clean, this is only possible because the garment of our Lord is soaked in His own blood.  It is His blood that has made us righteous.

John continues in verse 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. [verse 16] And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”  The words of our Lord cleave those they encounter.  For those who submit themselves to Him, we are cleaved of our sin, and left remade in His righteousness.  For those who refuse to submit, they too are cleaved and smited and overcome, their decision to refuse respected, but their lives of evil cut short as a result.  There is no disputing His word, there is only accepting it, or accepting the consequences of sin and death instead.  The rod of iron which He is to rule with, stands as the immutable principles of loving others, and not loving self.  This is a non-negotiable item for our God, and His government.  Satan’s attempts at balance, at bringing in the ideas of self-love even if only in small quantities are to be no more, they are defeated.  There will be only one kind of love in the kingdom of our Lord, a love of others, not self.

John reminds us again of the imagery of treading the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.  Love does not enjoy the pain that selfishness brings.  Love for others hates what love of self brings.  The sympathy and frustration and patience of trying so hard to see pain and death redeemed now gives way to an anger with the suffering that love of self has caused.  Evil has made its choice.  That choice will be respected.  And now it will see how much the Lord hates pain, hates death, hates suffering that evil causes – the anger is to be poured out without mixture, without dilution, without shelter upon those who have embraced the course of evil.  Those who have chosen to love self above all else, and refused the redemption and transformation gifted by our Lord, are to now experience what that choice means.  They are to have their own suffering revealed to them, returned to them.  What they have wrought upon others in a quest to please self, is about to come home to themselves, they will now see what it means to suffer personally, not just to remain in apathy as their victims suffered.

John again makes it clear that the name on His thigh is a final declaration of His authority in all matters.  Our God is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  His authority will be unquestioned, undisputed, and the steeped in a finality that cannot be undone.  What is about to transpire is a final mark in the history of evil that will never be undone.  Evil wanted a battle, so a battle is coming.  Evil deceived itself into thinking a victory was possible, that self-deception is about to be undone, and truth revealed.  John continues in verse 17 saying … “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; [verse 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.”

The angel standing in the sun calls to the birds of the air to gather themselves together as they will be on clean-up-duty for the battle about to transpire.  There is not even a question about who will be losing this battle and who will be winning it.  It is not the humble, selfless, servants of God who will be consumed by the fowls of the air, it is the proud men of the earth.  Both those who think themselves as great, and those who know they are not.  It is those who seek to war against what is coming, rather than submit to a power that could have freed them.  The hold of the beast over those who bear his mark is complete.  They are fully self-deceived.  They fully believe the false prophet and imposter of all the known deities is indeed the only god they need serve.  Who else could come to disrupt what their god tells them?  Who else could bring disruption to the order their god demands?  The ideas of the Bible, the culmination of the return of our Lord, does not so much as enter their heads.  This must be some sort of alien invasion, like in the multitude of science fiction movies they have seen.  How could it be otherwise, if god is already here?

John continues in verse 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.”  Armageddon has arrived.  Despite the clarity, despite the finality, despite the contrast of an army dressed in white, led by a God who will surely be undefeatable, the war will go on.  They see Him coming as He promised, yet vow to fight on.  They know in the deep recesses of their minds, that He who is returning is the Truth, the Way, and the Life.  They know it is Jesus Christ who descends now with His angelic throng, yet despite the certainty of truth, there is nothing left to do, but to war on.  Even now, the stubbornness of evil is revealed.  Even now, there is no change of heart or mind, there is only a deepening in the course of sin they have embraced.  Instead of surrendering and pleading for mercy though the time for this has past, they will even now, refuse the mercy or love they might have otherwise already gained access to.  The decisions are final.  The contrasts of finality have been set, there is no going back, there is no vacillation, there is only to move forward into war.

John continues in verse 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.”  There is a special fate reserved for those who have led this deception, and who have sought to lead the genocide of the followers of Jesus Christ alone.  The beast, the dragon, the second beast, and the third – Satan and all those who have led the quest to compel the conscience of others, the leaders of these ideas, from papal supremists, to Islamic facists, to atheistic proponents, to fundamentalist protestant militants – the leadership of this war against Christ are to be cast alive into a lake of fire.  This will consume the earthly participants, and push the supernatural ones into a state of punishment.  The leadership is dealt with in a special way at the outset of the battle evil has chosen to pursue.

John then continues in verse 21 saying … “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.”  Those who remain of the evil in this world; the followers, the passive aggressives, the apathetic, the self-denialists, those who would still attempt to rationalize their way out of this dilemma - are to be slain by the word of God.  A simple command from the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, ends the lives of those who would have sought to end His once again.  The battle does not last, it does not involve casualties on both sides, but only on one.  It is not a battle that can be ended by retreat, to live to fight another day.  It is over.  It is ended, with the leadership consumed in a lake of fire, and the rabble evil hoard fallen by the words of Christ.  It is quick and decisive with zero survivors.  The saved have already been caught up in the clouds to greet Him in the air.  His foot has never even had to touch the ground to fight this war or to win it.  It was won while he yet approached.  The dead in Christ have already been awakened by the sound of the trumpet, they have already been called from their graves to meet Him in the air.  The scene John describes is about the contrast of the saved with those who are not.

The finality of this battle cannot be understated.  The contrast is stark and eternal.  Fates have been forever sealed when once the decision to compel the conscience of men was embraced.  Now the results of that decision are to be seen.  It is death that was chosen.  Like the Pharaoh of old who sought to kill the Israelites, and instead found his firstborn slain; so the wicked who sought to kill those who dissented from their majority view point now find it is them who are to be slain.  The choice to pursue blood, has been respected, but the result was to find it is their own blood that is spilled.  The outcome was not expected, but it was chosen.  If evil had its way, the righteous of the earth, the humble, gentle, followers of Jesus Christ who are guilty of nothing but loving others, would be completely dead and gone from the earth.  This was the plan of the enemy.  He sought to kill every living thing that follows Christ, and kill the God of our universe, once again.  His plan was foiled.  His choice altered by an outcome he did not wish.  There are slain to feed the birds as the angel predicted only moments ago.  But as predicted, the slain are those steeped in the evil of self-love.

The most longed for event in human history, is also the most destructive and hated event in human history.  The contrast of life and death has never been so apparent as now.  Those who love others experience an infinite joy, that overwhelms them entirely.  Those who love self, experience pain and an early demise, to be cut short of all their evil intentions, goals, and desires.  Those who love self, HATE what has come.  They hate His return.  They hate His followers.  They hate that gentle demeanor, that speaks and acts of nothing but love for others.  The contrasts of finality have long been set.  How this event in the history of our world is perceived is defined by the construct of the character you retain when it occurs.  Will you stand with the redeemed of Jesus Christ, who have allowed His transforming love to free you from your slavery to serving self?  Or will you take your place with the demonic hoard who look for no greater glory than to indulge self just one more time before it ends?

This battle is over before it begins.  It was always going to be so.  This revelation however has a much deeper significance.  Because this revelation is given to you today, BEFORE, these things occur, BEFORE your decisions are final.  You have the luxury of time in the here and now, to determine which side of this conflict you intend to be identified with.  These truths are sure and certain, but they also remain in the future as of today.  Our nation has not yet implemented the universal call to take on the mark of the third beast.  Our churches have not yet abandoned Christ and called for the killing of any who will dissent with the majority view.  We are on the road to these things, but they remain as yet, incomplete.   There is still time.  Time is the gift you are given today.  You can read this revelation in a time that is not yet advanced as far as the scriptures surely foretell.

That is the point of these revelations.  They are NOT a history book, offering no hope for the reader.  They are a prediction of what is to come.  In the day of John, nearly everything was set in a current or future tense.  In our own day, six of the series of seven things, have come to pass.  The seventh is still ahead of us.  While we do not look as did John, with a wealth of future time to see ourselves embrace the salvation of Jesus Christ; it is still not too late yet.  But the highway we travel towards these events will not be deterred or delayed much longer.  These revelations, like the remainder of the gospel, stand as a love letter from your true God.  They remain an invitation to start the process of transformation to perfection in the here and now.  They offer a surety that your salvation will be witnessed by you through the power of Jesus Christ alone.  This is NOT about fear tactics.  Only the wicked have reason to be afraid.  Those who would be free, have reason to rejoice, because freedom stands ready to be embraced.

The contrast of how you view these events, and these sure predictions, is an indication of where you stand with Christ today.  If what is written, strikes fear in your heart, then pray to submit yourself to Christ, and let His peace, replace your fear.  If what is written appears to you as a message of hope and love, then pray a prayer of thanksgiving that your salvation has already begun; pray that your submission can be full and complete and immediate, so that your joy can only grow in the here and now.  This battle, though still in the future, and marked by a contrast that cannot be undone, was not to be the final battle.  There was to be one more.  There was to be an epitaph of death itself still to be witnessed …

 

Three Beasts [part one] - The Woman and the Dragon ...

John, the beloved apostle of Christ, was given revelations of Jesus in a prophetic forum, steeped in symbolism, but with a singular purpose … to see us redeemed, remade, and reconciled to God.  Throughout the book of his revelations, we have seen our redemption in every message, every warning, and every interpretation.  To find our salvation, is to find ourselves relying upon Jesus Christ.  It is He alone who is able to save us from ourselves.  It is He alone who offers us the gift of perfection, the gift that would transform who we are, into the creations He intends us to be, creations who love others and not themselves.  These messages show the supremacy of Christ, and point out our NEED of a savior outside of ourselves, to save us from the chains of self-service that we have embraced.  We are unable to free ourselves, we NEED someone to free us.  We are the enemy that needs to be remade from scratch, reborn into a new way of thinking, a new way of loving that leads us into harmony with His laws and His goals.

It is our dependence, our submission, our humility in how we perceive ourselves that can lead us to look to Christ to find our salvation.  While we think of ourselves as independent, without need, self-sufficient, that we avoid Christ and look for salvation in the mirror.  John begins his next revelation with the imagery of a woman.  Before we consider the details of this next revelation, consider why God might have revealed to us the imagery of a woman.  In John’s day, women were NOT self-sufficient.  Women depended on men, whether fathers, or husbands, or sons to own property, to be fed, to be protected and provided for.  A woman in John’s day was NOT a warrior, a leader, a general, someone who would wage war and defeat enemies.  A woman’s only weapon, and perhaps her greatest, was found in her ability to love, to support, to care for, to nurture her family, and those who she loved.  It is this characteristic that made her indispensable.  It did not matter that she was not the “breadwinner”.  It did not matter that she would be ill equipped or trained to defend her estate from marauders or fierce some creatures.  She was the prize, the pearls of greatest value that must at all costs be protected, defended, and provided for.  Her love was the gift that was so important, it was valued more than a man’s own life, for without it, life was of little consequence.

In this context, John begins in chapter 12 of revelations in verse one saying … “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:”  A woman is revealed here, she has imagery of the sun, the moon, and 12 stars.  These images were revealed long ago, in a prophetic dream that Joseph had.  His parents were the sun and moon, the 12 stars were he and his brothers.  This dream is given only 3 generations into the lineage of Abraham, just after God has established his covenant promise with Jacob, now Israel, to have the special relationship with them of being their God, and they to be His people.  The children of Israel would now represent His people, His followers, and in our modern vernacular, His church.  This woman may well represent a dependent creature whose value is found in her choice to love.  She is a follower, who is dependent on a higher power to be preserved.  She does not lead, she follows.  Her love and choice to love, is her greatest possession and gift she offers freely.  The children of Israel had a special relationship with God because they chose it to be so.  They were His chosen because they chose to follow Him, our only God.  The first group of followers, His first church, was composed as it is today, by those who choose to follow Him.

John continues in verse 2 … “And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”  The woman seen by John is pregnant and in labor.  The Messiah was to be born of this woman.  The long awaited Desire of Ages was to come through this church, this group of followers who trace their choice to follow through the generations all the way back to Israel, and to Abraham.  But there were others in this lineage of the chosen who did not share Abraham’s bloodline.  Ruth was a Moabitess and grandmother of David.  The prostitute in the wall of Jericho who was spared with her family for helping the spies of Joshua escape unharmed joined in this lineage as well.   Even Uriah the Hittite’s wife Bathsheba was forgiven of her part in adultery and the murder of her innocent husband and became the mother of Solomon.  Whether from Egypt (Joseph’s wife and lineage), or Moab through Ruth, or Canaan through the woman in the wall of Jericho, or a Hittite like Uriah, many others were part of the Woman revealed to John who now stood ready to give birth.  Not all were of the bloodline of Christ, but all of them made the same choice to follow the one True God.  And all looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, the Son of Man, to see the restoration of the world occur.  The church of God has always been open to any who would choose it.

John continues in verse 3 … “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.”  The second set of imagery begins with a dragon.  A dragon has long been considered the top of the food chain in the animal kingdom.  Even man takes his risk when confronting the mythical dragon; unarmed, man is no contest for him.  A dragon is not a subservient creature.  He does not bow to anyone.  He is filled with pride, and one could consider it is rightfully so.  What other creature has skin of armor, teeth like spears, an ability to fly, and breathes consuming fire upon anything in its path?  A dragon kills and conquers by nature.  Its enemies only find rest while it sleeps.  And in this case, sleep is not on the agenda.  This dragon has seven heads with seven crowns, as well as ten horns.  The imagery could be applied to kingdoms united in one purpose.  Given the evil imagery, the purpose would likely not be a good one, but an evil one, to follow the nature of the dragon.

John continues in verse 4 … “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”  In case it was not clear already, the casting of one third of the stars of heaven down to earth had only one historical interpretation.  It identifies this creature as Lucifer, now Satan.  Satan’s war with God did not end with his first negative encounter with the power of God.  He now waited to kill the Messiah and insure that the mission of our redemption never sees the light of day.  He waits to kill the baby before it can become a man.  So king Herod gives orders to slay every child under the age of two in Bethlehem in order to see the Messiah die at birth.  Many die, but not the Christ.  At every turn in His earthly ministry the work of the dragon is to see Him fail at our redemption.  The nature of every temptation has a similar theme … “it does not have to be this hard, there is an easier way to see man redeemed”.  All He need do is use His power selfishly, or simply make a gesture of humility to Satan’s ownership of the world.  Or perhaps He might just not let Himself be killed, wounded might be enough.  No reason to go all the way to death by choice, instead find an easier alternative.  Satan’s temptations always look like the easier way.  Since Satan missed killing Him at birth, he must find another way to defeat the Christ.

John continues in verse 5 … “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.”  The man child who was to rule all nations with rod of iron was the Messiah, the Christ.  His destiny was to be our only true King.  Only recently was John shown the vision of the seventh trumpet sounding where the declaration of Christ taking up the power He has to rule all nations is time to begin.  The Messiah came.  He was not killed at birth.  He performed the mission of our redemption.  He lived a life of pure unselfish love to serve others and never Himself.  He showed us the model of the character of God, and the government of heaven.  And He lived this way unto death, even the torture and death of the cross.  Love knows no limitations.  Love will go all the way to the grave to see us redeemed.  Love will pay any price for us.  And Love did pay our price.  The price paid, the Messiah ascends to the Throne of God, to His Father’s side.  Our judgment never in question, our verdict was always guilty, but now our punishment has been taken upon Himself, and we will not have to endure it.  He already has.  The dragon is frustrated again, his attempts at killing Christ or thwarting His mission has failed.

John continues in verse 6 … “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”  1260 days, 42 months, 3.5 years, a time – times – and a half, the same prophetic time period used already in this book is again enumerated specifically.  These time periods all add up to 1260 days using the Jewish Calendar, and using the day for a year principle equal 1260 years.  There is not a series of different time periods of this duration, so it is reasonable to assume the time period in question is the same one referenced in different ways throughout this book.  In this context, the woman is forced to flee into the wilderness.  A woman does not flee for no reason.  The dragon remains none too happy with her and it is for this reason she is forced to flee.  But she is NOT left unattended.  She is led to a place in the wilderness where she will be preserved by God throughout the length of the dark ages.  While the horseman of death rides, while the fourth seal is opened, while queen Jezebel attempts at restraining the word of God from the people, while the official Church is nearly dead, while the woes of the conflict between Islam and Catholicism bring blood to the world in the name of God – the woman or church or true followers of God are preserved.  Small groups like the Waldensians who preserve the word of God for the coming of the printing press remain hidden and preserved.  And the seeds of the reformation are sown.

John continues in verse 7 … “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, [verse 8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.”  There is no interruption present in the thinking of John, or in the sequence of events he is revealing to us.  The woman is forced into the wilderness.  And THEN, there was a war in heaven.  There is no indication here that this is flashback in time to before our world began.  There is nothing to indicate this is a momentary pause in the story.  In point of fact, Michael and his angels are said to be fighting “the dragon” and his angels.  Lucifer is in dragon form and likeness.  He has only recently sought to kill the man child as soon as it was born.  He failed.  The woman flees.  And NOW there is seen a war in heaven. 

Our great disappointment was in misperceiving the earth to be the sanctuary that would be cleansed at the end of this period of time.  But perhaps what was truly cleansed was never our world, but the actual true sanctuary in heaven.  It was cleansed from the presence and war of the dragon and his angels against Michael and his angels.  This scripture says that “neither was their place found any more in heaven” from the end of this war forward.  That may well represent a single final cleansing of the Sanctuary the scriptures foretold.  Further evidence this was not a flashback is related in the story of Job, when a meeting (presumably in heaven) occurs where God asks … “Have you considered my servant Job”?  If this war refers to the original war in heaven, why would Lucifer be permitted to be there to hear the question from God regarding the character and life of Job?  But if this war occurs at the end of the 1260 years, it might make more sense that this final assault on heaven itself results in there being no more a place for the dragon or his angels in heaven ever again.  Perhaps the simplicity of one final desperate attempt by the dragon to take over God’s city and temple that is thwarted by Michael and His angels, does in fact represent the cleansing of the Sanctuary foretold in scripture.

John continues in verse 9 … “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”  Again John reiterates, that Satan lost.  He was not just defeated, but he was cast out.  His entire army was cast out.  Their destination was the only home left to them where sin was still present in the universe, our world, our earth.  But the even greater message is told in verse 10 as John continues … “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”  The accuser of our brethren is cast down.  This is the result of the war.  Up until now, he has accused us in front of God as this scripture relays both “day and night”.  Satan has relentlessly accused us before God up until now, until this war is fought and lost.  But now, he has been cast out.  Again, if this war were prior to our creation, there would have been no opportunity to accuse us both day and night before God.  But in this sequence of events, the dragon attempts an insurrection and is cast out of heaven.  No more will he be able to accuse us.

The best news in all of this book so far (and that bar is constantly being raised) is the initial part of this declaration … “Now is come salvation”.  Salvation and strength, and His kingdom are come.  The power of His Christ is come.  It is happening now.  Our judgment, our trial, our court case, our prosecutor have all been put away.  It is over, and what follows, is our Salvation.  We are to be saved through His strength.  We are to be members of His kingdom.  By His power it is so.  And there will be rest in heaven from the relentless accusations of Satan against the people of God.  He has been defeated and cast out.  All that remains now is our Salvation, by the power of His love.  Judgment is done.

John continues to describe how this has occurred in verse 11 … “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”  We overcame NOT of our own strength, or actions, or will, or even motives.  We overcame by the blood of the Lamb.  It is Jesus Christ who transforms us and gives us a testimony of real change, of real life, and of real love for others and not ourselves.  It is Jesus Christ and the blood of the Lamb that has seen us become new creations.  It is the transformation of Jesus Christ in our lives, that leads us to hate who we were and look forward only to what we are to become.  We want our old lives to die, and our new ones to begin.  In a spiritual sense, we wish to take up our cross, and follow Him.  We wish our carnal nature to be put to death, and our loving nature to be created and reborn in us.  This transformation is so complete in the life of one saved by Jesus Christ, that they are even willing to die physically to preserve it.  The testimony of those saved by Jesus Christ, whether Martyrs of the dark ages, or converts of the present age rings true and the same for all time – Jesus Saves.  Our new lives are the only ones worth living.  The brevity of time we spend in this sin sick world is of little consequence, its only value is to share in the mission of pointing others to the same source of saving, redeeming, transforming love, that of Jesus Christ alone.  The Blood of the Lamb truly does save us from ourselves and our slavery to serve self.  And the declaration John hears begins with the beautiful word … “Now”!!

John continues in verse 12 … “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”  The devil being cast out of heaven now takes on an urgency he would not have felt 6000 years earlier.  He knows our judgment is at an end.  He knows our Salvation has arrived.  He sees the power of Christ alive in those who choose to follow Him, in the woman who represents His church.  Satan has been defeated in heaven and cast out.  His time is nearly done. And his anger has reached a pinnacle.  The “woe” we are warned about, is not to underestimate his hatred of God, and any who would be redeemed of God, and transformed by God.  The only recourse Satan has to inflict pain upon God is through the torture of those who God loves, namely us.  So in cruelest irony, Satan inspires man to kill man in the name of our loving God.  He inspires fundamentalism and extremism in the same easy prey, and teaches them to kill those infidels who do not share their conviction and beliefs.  Satan replaces love with hate in the heart of even those who call themselves Christians.  Under the guise of “purity”, Satan would purge the church of Christ with the sword.  Instead of healing those wounded by sin, Satan would inspire Christians to kill the wounded, cast them out, and show them only hate instead of unconditional love.  Love would draw them to transformation, but hate will keep them away from it.  So Satan unleashes his woes, not so much on the world of unbelievers, but on those who are in the process of choosing to be saved from themselves.

John continues in verse 13 … “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. [verse 14] And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”  Satan the dragon continues to pursue the true followers of Christ.  He has not accepted defeat, but instead only escalated his attacks.  But the woman is preserved for a time (one year, or 360 days), times (two years or 720 days) and a half a time (or 6months equal to 180 days) … adding up to 1260 days.  Those who remained faithful to Christ, who comprised the woman Church who alone was led and preserved and protected by Christ, were at war with the dragon.  He would have won without the preservation of God.  This is point we modern Christians hate to acknowledge.  In a contest of man against Satan, man loses.  We do NOT win.  We lose, every single time.  It is for this truth, that we need not fight.  It is for this truth, that our Christ never loses.  When we let God fight the dragon, the dragon loses every single time.  We are saved from ourselves by Christ, not the man in the mirror.

John continues in verse 15 … “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. [verse 16] And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”  The best way to thwart the truth of Christ is to dilute it with other ideas.  So the dragon sends a flood of people, ideas, and doctrines to carry away the woman from the source of the pure truth of Jesus Christ.  We do not have one church now.  We have “n” number of denominations all claiming to be the One church of Jesus Christ.  If he could not constrain Christianity with the iron fist of Catholicism united with the power of the state, then he would dilute Christianity with an innumerable number of doctrines subtly yet distinctly different from one another, so as to lead one group of believers to despise another for their lack of clarity on a given point of scripture.  The evidence that we are truly His followers, in that we “love one another” fades against our desire to preserve our pure doctrines against the false teachings of our contemporaries.

The earth opens her mouth and swallows up the flood, in that the people could not completely overwhelm the truth.  Europe expanded its population and ideas to the Americas.  Those seeking religious freedom found a new place to travel to where it would be harder to be oppressed.  But the diluting effects of the flood remain in place for us today.  In every faith, in every denomination who claims to follow Christianity, the same struggle remains.  Do we look to find salvation by the works of our hands, or do we trust our invisible God to fulfill His promise to change us from the inside out should we let Him?  Do we look to find truth in the person of Jesus Christ, or like our Pharisee forefathers, do we trust our own interpretations of the Word to be the only ones of merit?  Do we show unconditional love to others, or do we abhor their presence in our midst for the knowledge of what sins they still cling to?  The flood has not abated.  The dragon has not resigned.  The dilution of the pure truth of Jesus Christ can find its solace in well-meaning studies of the word.  Those who use scripture as a weapon of condemnation will find themselves wholly on the side of the dragon.  Those who love others to the throne of grace, by the transforming power of Jesus Christ alive in their lives, share the mission of the Lamb in the redemption of the world.  Only when led by Christ, by love, by the goal of redemption, can scripture ever be rightly understood.  Christ is more important than our interpretations of the word.  Love is more important.  For God is Love.

John continues in verse 17 … “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”  Note that the dragon remains angry with the church who follow God.  His flood has not fully succeeded.  Despite his best efforts, there are those who remain loyal to the idea that Jesus Christ can truly save us from ourselves. There remain those who recognize the goal of our salvation is to be remade in harmony with the law of God, not to disregard it.  To keep the commandments of God in spirit and in truth, we must be transformed by the power of Jesus Christ to be made in harmony with the law.  This is something we simply cannot do for ourselves.  The vanity of our attempts at keeping the law absent our transformation is a tool the dragon uses to discourage and dishearten us as he points out our failures again and again.  Those who attempt to keep the law without Christ know they fail repeatedly.  It is our condition.  It is our nature.  It is what we must be reborn to see change.

But those who have been transformed by the power and love of Jesus Christ, those who have allowed Him to remake them, to kill their carnal nature and give rebirth to a spiritual one – these have a testimony that WILL NOT remain silent.  These keep the law because they cannot imagine life any other way.  These understand the law to be a basis of learning how to love others and to love God from which the love of others originates.  These do more than give lip service to a list of do’s and don’ts scribbled in the book of Exodus, instead they embrace the law of love for others in how they live, how they speak, and what they do.  They appear like magnets, drawing others to the foot of the cross, because the love within them is irresistible.  It is these remnant, these few, these transformed souls in EVERY church, in EVERY walk of life, in EVERY nation, kindred, tongue and people who the dragon seeks to find and destroy.  If allowed to live unmolested, just these remnant few would change the entire world in a very short order.

The power of a life transformed by Christ, carries such a heavy influence on every soul it touches.  People are drawn to this kind of love.  They cannot imagine it.  They cannot understand it.  They only know, they must have more of it.  They WANT to find its source.  They develop within themselves a reason and motive to change into people like they bear witness of.  They too want what we have.  They too want to live in a way that brings this kind of joy, this kind of love, this kind of unique method of living.  In this transformational power of Jesus Christ is rooted the true and ONLY draw of Christianity.  It is this simple truth the dragon sought to dilute with his flood.  If he can keep us away from the transformation Christ offers us, he can win.  But when we turn our hearts and minds over to Christ, when we are remade from the inside out, we become imbued with power of the Holy Spirit, and God will NOT be stopped.  It is not our power, but His that shines to the world.  It is not our love, but His that draws the hearts of mankind.  It is not our miracles, but His power working through our broken tools that brings life to those in need.  The outpouring of the latter rain becomes a phenomenon the world has yet to witness.  It is this Salvation, John hears declared in the halls of heaven.  And despite his war against it, the dragon is cast out.  It is NOW when His strength is to see us remade by the Blood of the Lamb, and our Salvation from ourselves seen completed.

But two more beasts were yet to be named and more revelations were to come …