In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of spreading the word of God to every corner of the world. He believes that the purpose of time is to measure the spreading of the gospel. The preacher mentions the power of the book and the role of the seven thunders as a response to the proclamation of God's truth. He also urges the audience to abandon their lives to God, seek the fullness of the Holy Ghost, and live for Christ and souls.

Now to Revelation chapter 10, as again this book that God has promised to be read with blessing comes before us. We've been studying it day by, week by week, and I have testified again and again to the great prophet that it's been to my own heart, and I trust to yours. Tonight the 10th chapter, but just a little review please. You remember that heretofore we have seen the series of six seals. The seals have concealed that which the Lord wanted revealed, and in those seals we saw again the operation of this God across the centuries, from the time that John had the vision until the conclusion of all things, and the ultimate consummation where the church is at the feet of God and singing praise to the Lamb upon the throne. And now we're in the midst of the six trumpets. These trumpets we have seen are religious delusions that increase in terror and extent until the seventh trumpet which is the consummation of all things. Now please do not think of the six seals as being say the first thousand years and six trumpets the second thousand years. This isn't the way it's to be viewed, but rather it is the six seals present one aspect of the entire period, and the six trumpets present another aspect of the entire period. These things are going on not in succession as the first seal and then the second, but they're going on simultaneously across the centuries. And the six trumpets are also going on simultaneously, but they do come to a point of conclusion. Now you will recall that the church was seen between the six seals, between the sixth and the seventh seal, where the number of 144,000 which we saw to be the complete number of the elect, all that God had foreknown from before the foundation of the world are going to be there singing praise to the Lamb that was upon the throne. And the testimony is that God's purpose is going to be gloriously consummated, that he sits upon the throne and he reigns in sovereignty and in love, and that he will achieve every purpose that he has set for himself. Now between the sixth and the seventh trumpets, well I believe that we see the church again, pictured here in the little book and in the measuring of the sanctuary and in the two witnesses. I think that I shall read the portion that has to do with the little book first and perhaps comment upon it and then carry you on to the other two portions. This, remember, is at the conclusion of the presentation of the sixth trumpet and before the seventh, which is the consummation of all things. Now may I also make this statement of preface. What you see here, you did not wait until the conclusion of the sixth trumpet to begin, but this has been going on for the entire period since the time that Christ set the church in the world with the task of witnessing to a lost world. John said, I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven clothed with the cloud and a rainbow was upon his head and his face was as it were the sun and his feet as pillars of fire and he had in his hand a little book open and he set his right foot upon the sea and his left foot on the earth and cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars when he had cried seven thunders uttered their voices and when the seven thunders had uttered their voices I was about to write and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me seal up those things which the seven thunders honored and write them not the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven and swear by him that liveth forever and ever who created heaven and the things that therein are in the earth and the things that therein are and the sea and the things that which are therein that there should be time no longer but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound the mystery of god should be finished as he has declared to his servants the prophets and the voice which I heard from heaven speak unto me again and said go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth and I went unto the angel and said unto him give me the little book he said unto me take it and eat it up and it shall make thy belly bitter but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up and it was in my mouth sweet as honey and as soon as I had eaten it my belly was bitter and he said unto me thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings now we have a little book that is open first notice a few things about the ambassador that brought that little book who is he well some commentators have said that it was the lord jesus christ personally as I've studied it meditated upon it I believe that is just as it says a mighty angel sent by the lord who gave the little book and the little book I will suggest to you tonight is the revelation of grace of god it is the gospel message that we have here in the little book if you please this is the revelation of god in his nature in his character in his attributes in his work it's the revelation of man and his sin and his shame in his death and then it's the revelation of god's gracious moving to meet man's need and here it is tonight nearly 2 000 years after john's vision it's a little book and some of you have copies much smaller than this and it's an open book and all across the centuries the men that have hated him have been utterly incapable of silencing a mighty angel was sent of god bringing this little book and he came from heaven you must not forget the fact that this one is speaking for the triune god the one that sits upon the throne and reigns it is a mighty angel he has been equipped by god with power adequate for the task of presenting this testimony his appearance fills those who see him with awe for there are many sense many ways in which he does resemble the lord jesus by that reflected light that he is permitted to bear in order that you might recognize the authority and the power of this book then see this strange and lovely little suggestion it is around his shoulder as a mantle is a rainbow you understand the rainbow back there after the flood when god gave this rainbow promise and said man shall not be destroyed by water again that rainbow spanning the heavens every time it rains and the sun should reflect upon it is the seal that god has given to generation after generation saying i am a covenant keeping god and so the the angel that brings the little book to john has a rainbow the proof and the seal that god is a covenant keeping god my people says he which are called by my name will humble themselves and seek my face and pray and turn from their wicked ways then will i hear from heaven then will i forgive their sin then will i heal their land covenant keeping god and thus he said whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved a covenant keeping god this is the testimony of the age what he promises he will perform and then of course he's a bright angel the brightness of the sun is upon him testifying that wherever the little book shall go there the illumination of god shall follow and it shall be as a light in a dark place that the book itself shall carry with it wherever it is read in simplicity and sincerity its own illumination you say is that true isn't the whole purpose of preaching to explain the book yes but how many there are into whose hands has fallen a copy of the book or a portion of it and god has lightened their dark hearts and god has brought them savingly to himself just through the word and thus there is the illumination that accompanies it as even the angel was there glorifying with this celestial light that his feet shall stand as pillars of fire the word of god shall stand who is the mere man that's going to destroy this word stands unmovable and unmoved but notice it's a book and this book is itself not what is being revealed but it has a message that reveals another and the one that's being revealed is god and because of the revelation of god man can see himself the bible is the revelation of god we accept this that this is god's full and complete and final revelation this little book that was handed down as it were by the angel or came supernaturally by inspiration of god and then a little book seemingly so inconsequential do you see what this means think for instance think of uh whitcliffe and tindale these men who believe that the anglo-saxon people the english people should have the bible in their own language you recall of course that these men were martyred because they dared to break the hold and grip that ceremonialism had upon the minds and hearts and lives of men when you see these men burning at the stake and pouring out their life and dying what have they done well all they've done is brought a little book but see the avidness with which england receives that book when in the great cathedrals the copies which were made at such expense so laboriously were inbound huge things were they standing a foot off the top of the desk and padlocked securely and chained and what did they do men came and stood behind that desk and read from that little book and england's people came and stood and listened and if if you would have the explanation why england and the countries we call so-called christian countries have any degree of progress from the day when they were savages chasing each other around through the forest with clubs and offering one another on sacrifice to their druid gods any change that's come has come because of the power of that seemingly inconsequential little book you know what joy it is tonight to realize that there are over 1700 languages or over 1100 languages into which all of the bible has come or a large portion of it at least and still there are 1700 languages to go into which this book has not been sounded and when it comes what an experience it is what an experience it is to see people take the book and and read it learning having learned to read and then say god speaks my language and this is one of our tasks on the mission team is to carry this book so seemingly inconsequential and yet it's the power of god unto salvation notice it's an open book and it's open in the hand of god and it's going to be there i told you some weeks ago how that baltair had said that in one generation the bible would be gone and it would be forgotten it would be a relic in the museum that it had lost its relevance to modern man and that other generations wouldn't have to fear the change that it would impose upon their conscience but the irony of it is and the glory of it is that baltair's very house in paris is the depot for the british and foreign bible society and gospels are being sent from there all over frank and more bibles are being sold now and and i trust being read now than ever before it's an open book that all may see that the wayfaring man uh while he runs may still see and god has set himself to keep this book open well we notice also what it is to do what it is to acquire what the uh message of it is to be it is sealed here by the seven thunders of god i verily believe with all my heart that these seven thunders are the power of god answering to the proclamation of the truth of god if you would see the power of the book in the life of individuals then go with us to some of the mission fields where we've been go for for chance if you could in imagination at least out there to the baleen valley and see these that just a few years ago within this decade since 1954 will you remember it was back in 54 that the first penetration was made and we prayed these missionaries in to at least one section and god has answered with that thunder from heaven that has broken the chains that hell is forged around the hearts and minds and spirits of men for generations and taken them free and now whole villages are seemingly coming sincerely and earnestly to the lord jesus christ and it behooves us thus to recognize that that thunder that you find here is the thunder of god or the voice of god speaking in confirmation of the book it is not only in that book having its effect on the heart breaking the stony heart in pieces but one of the most interesting things in connection of the baleen ministry is the fact that one day when things were so hard and they were pressed on every side as i understand it and i haven't i wanted to check that i might have all the facts complete but as i understand it the son of one of the chiefs was ill and then died and a national pastor there assisting the missionaries realizing that here was a glorious opportunity for god to demonstrate the power took that little dead child in his lap and held him against his breast and almost as elijah did with the widow's son prayed and laid hold of god though we aren't publicizing it in any sense of demanding to be reckoned as a sensation god in sweet and sovereign grace brought love life back into that little body and the child was handed back a lie god is answered with thunder they went everywhere preaching the word and the lord went with them confirming the word with signs and wonders and this is what he said he would do when the word was given out when the word was proclaimed it would be thus confirmed and we found that this has been true across the centuries not in that particular thing but in the fact that god has answered from heaven now we notice that this book contains a mystery great is the mystery of godliness the mystery of the grace of god the mystery of faith and in this little book we find that the mystery that is here set forth was to be finished and to be completed the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound the mystery of god should be finished as he has declared to his servants what does he say that the little book is going to continue in its ministry right up until the sounding of the seventh trumpet or the consummation of all things when god will have completed this mystery now what is the mystery well we know that paul spoke of of the mystery of the church and then he spoke of the mystery which is christ in you the hope of glory elsewhere we find the mystery of faith what does mystery mean well all it means is there's something that's been previously covered that's now hidden there is that glorious revelation that's been unveiled in the book that god is not just taking one nation israel but he's going out to every kindred and tribe and tongue and nation the truth is going to be sounded the gospel is presented the demand for repentance will be made there will be hearts that will hear and heed and respond and believe and be saved and one day when the last member of this company is in the bar number is complete in fact 144 000 not a numerical number but the completeness of god's eternal purpose is finished then the seventh trumpet can sound and the mystery is finished what's the mystery it's this that god the father has promised his son the people and he's going to get them now lord jesus knew it for there he said all that the father giveth me shall come unto me beloved i believe it i believe it with all my heart all that the father is giving the son are going to come to him and how are they going to come through the sounding of the message of the little book through the proclamation of the gospel through the through the sending forth of the truth of god that word is going you say well there are still tribes we haven't entered yes that's right do you know from my previous account to many of you at least of the fact that there in anglo-egyptian sudan there's that chap that the spirit of god led for nearly 400 miles from down by lake rudolph up to the boma plateau to meet dick live this angel of light had appeared to him and said if you follow me i'll take you to the man that can take the blood off your hands and the black out of your heart the only white man in the world that knew the murray language the language this boy had learned when he was a slave in the murray tribe it wasn't his tribe god had prepared him for the grace of god by the message of grace by letting him be captured in war and taken to the murray country and there to learn the murray language now he's gotten up in the middle of the night left before dawn with a his spears and a bit of grain and some water and starts out through the trackless jungle and every time he comes to a path and makes the wrong turn the angel in white appears to him and said not that way but this until finally he stumbles into the only camp of the only white man in the world that knew the murray language and was a sincere christian and he tells his story how this figure in white said follow me and i'll take you to one whose face is like the sun and he'll tell you how to take the black out of your heart and blood off your hands so there is dick lies sitting in his tent with a gasoline lantern illuminating it when one of the christian and sudanese soldiers brings him in and tells this story and a little while later speaking in the murray language this man has been brought to christ our god is working through other agencies than those that may be reported by our annual statistics god is moving and i submit to you that when the last member of the body of christ is in the mystery is finished he has the body he has the the complete number then the seventh trumpet can sound but i tell you something else the seventh trumpet will not sound until when and all the united nations and their activities and all the khrushchev's and stalin's will have to live and die and grow on in their writings and anger and wrath until god says thus far nope brother it's finished he says this is an open book and the mystery is going to be finished and then can the seventh trumpet sound but not until then aren't you glad that god's on the throne aren't you glad that he's alive and reigns and rules and no man is pulling anything over his eyes or doing anything behind his back i'm so glad that our god is sovereign and he sits there in that glory that none have given to him and none can take from him now the directions concerning the book are these take it take it have you taken it have you taken it to be the word of god the word that came down from heaven the word that was breathed by god and authoritative and binding upon the consciousness and hearts of men have you taken the book well that's good i'm glad you have because all have it but it's not enough to take it some have taken and said yes this is the word of god i hold it to be the word of god you have it on your home and you respect it carry it with you to church but he didn't only say take it he said take it and eat it what do you mean eat it oh it's got to become flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone it's got to become yours there's so much difference between learning the scripture by an intellectual outline and by analysis and having that truth that you have embraced by your quotation marks as it were and your definitions having that truth burst into life as the seed does in the springtime when the days become long and the sun warms the soil it's all a difference between having the seed sprinkled on the little glue on your paper and saying now these are the seeds for timothy hay and this is for clover and this is the seed for apple trees and and here they are from before another car for the pears and so all the seeds are classified this is what you do when you analyze the scripture apart from the life-giving breath of the holy ghost this is what many have done but that isn't enough he said take it and eat it what do we mean well we mean by that process of ingestion and digestion and assimilation this truth becomes living truth incarnate in you in your experience and in your life this is why people say i tried christ and it doesn't work there's no power nothing happened they didn't try christ they didn't take him they took a few words and superficially ascended to them christ comes in he brings life when the word of god comes into your heart and life and you truly believe it then it governs and controls and directs take it and eat it but you know what he said it'll be sweet to your taste sweet in your mouth sweet as honey and it is oh when a sinner hears the word god's soul of the world it's sweet but wait a minute that isn't all it says it says all have sinned and come short of the glory of god that's bitter the soul that sinned it shall die there's the bitterness and so when the world hears the word the first hearing oh how sweet god loved me yes but that isn't the whole message that's it but not all of it it's also that you are under the sentence of death and here is where so many turn away if all there was in the bible was john 3 16 there'd be many that might be happy with it but it goes on well you see god can only make alive those who he's slain and so there has to be the bitterness that comes until one stands as did that sinner in the temple god the merciful to me a sinner taking sides with god against himself and then the sweetness began for there he sees the wounded lamb there he sees the wounded ribbon sign and there he sees the blood in the water burst forth god's answer to a sinful heart god's answer to a guilty conscience where the lamb of god dies oh the sweetness that comes knowing that it's not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy hath he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the holy ghost but then the bitterness again but we enter into the fellowship of his sufferings and we look out and see a world waiting to hear of his death and realize that in his heart he intended none to die without hearing for he wanted all to come to repentance and so then there comes the bitterness of grief again for these that sit in darkness we find that our hearts echo that wail and cry of the perishing multitudes and the burden comes upon us to leave loved ones and friends and home and go and if we are not to go to sin but we can't be indifferent because first the sweetness and then the bitterness that brought that perfect sweetness in the full finished work of christ but then there comes the bitterness of concern for those for whom the savior died but he couldn't prophesy until he had eaten john was told to eat the book and i submit to you that you will have no witness for jesus christ until you've eaten it sweet or bitter as it must be you'll have no witness for christ until you've eaten the book and it's become part of you flesh of your flesh you can only witness to what you've seen and felt and experienced you feel something and see something experience it it's not hard to talk about it's awfully hard to get excited about the preacher's outline unless that truth that he's put into the outline has become incarnate in your life but then you're not talking about an outline anymore you're talking about something that's real so he said you can't prophesy until you eat the book you wondered sometimes why it is you've been so silent about speaking to sinners about christ well this the answer isn't far to seek you haven't been eating the book of late and then you haven't been putting the incense on the altar you haven't been breathing out in prayer and intercession but when you eat it it's going to be burst into you and you prophesy because you've eaten it when you pray you prophesy because you have something to say god's put it in your heart and so he said eat the book and thou must prophesy again you can no more understand the truth of god and experience if not share it some way somehow then you can be alive and not breathe and be well and not be hungry they just follow together this is what we find now concerning the little book what will be the results what is going to happen as the consequence john had to prophesy john had to make declaration of the truth john had to give the message of the little book he had to communicate it he had to share it what's going to be the result of the preaching well i say this with grief it's going to be twofold it's going to be a savor of life unto life to those that believe but i can no more say that and stop and be fair with god than anything at all it's going to be a savor of death unto death to those who do not believe as long as that little book is open as long as its message is given there will be people being saved but at the same time that there are people being saved there will be those who through the obduracy and the stubbornness of their hearts reject the message and then what happens to them they come under the trumpets the religious delusion for god will not allow a vacuum in nature or in the human heart nature abhors a vacuum and does all it can to fill it and when god sees that the truth and the light of the word is rejected then he says having rejected the truth he will send them strong delusion that they believe a lie and so the preaching of the word is going to have that twofold effect life to life to those that receive it death to death to those that reject it as long as he tarries and spares us there will be those receiving it unto life but as long as the word is preached that word still stands he that believeth not shall be damned thus the little book is that preaching of the word that's going to characterize the entire history of the church from the time john saw it right up until the mystery is finished and the last member of the body of christ is in and nothing's going to stop it until then and it can't be pressed on after that what about us what does this mean to us well doesn't it mean this that we understand and recognize and realize that it's still called day and we're still free to preach there's no reason at all why we as a church cannot go into every home that will allow us in our vicinity and carry gospel literature not once every three years as we have done but once every year or twice a year or three times a year there's no reason why the door is open today still call day and we can work there's no reason why we can't call in homes and meet on the streets and corners and have buildings and and tents and reach people it's still called day so we know this that the seventh trumpet hasn't sounded however it may near it may be to sounding the book is still open still in our hands still to be eaten and still to be prophesied that behooves us therefore to prophesy until maybe we'll be that generation that will find that the end of all things have come while they're alive but i wanted to be this that that last day before the seventh trumpet sounds as long as god allows it we're some way or somehow trying to make someone hear the truth that's given in the open book this is our task after that the holy ghost has come upon you you shall be witnesses so it behooves us to realize that our general week for for me to suggest to you well now we're so near to the seventh trumpet and so near to the con how do i know and how does anyone know the times and the seasons are in the father's hands he's not committed that to us and revelation doesn't tell us when it's going to happen but it tells us that until the mystery is finished the little book will be open and it expects it to be eeky and its message to be declared we're still living in that period called time and it behooves us therefore to be about our father's business now the next thing when i touch it i'm reluctant to i'd like to but i will at least the next two verses and there was given on me a reed like onto a rod and the angel stood saying rise and measure the temple of god and the altar and them that worship therein and the court which is without the temple leave out and measure it not for it is given under the gentiles and the holy city shall be tread under foot forty and two months john had eaten the book and then he was given a reed and the reed was a rigid rod a measuring unit how long we don't know but john in his vision was given a reed and told to measure now notice the sanctuary and the temple of god and the altar and them that worship therein but not the court what is he saying he is saying that he has the responsibility to that generation that he serves to bring the divine measuring rod in order that men can see whether or not they are christ that's what he's doing for he is separating between those that are alive in christ and those that are dead in their sins there was the court and there were many that were close to the temple they were in the city of jerusalem a religious city and they thought they were all right because they were in jerusalem or because they were in the court but john is to bring this measuring rod down and he is to measure the temple but namely the sanctuary the altar the the for the altar referred to here is the altar the golden horned altar the altar of incense those that worship the lord what is he doing he is being told by god that it's his responsibility to see to it that souls are not deceived regarding their relationship to the living god and he is to measure in order that they can have a frame of reference to know again i commend to you not the one that was put out by moody for it's just a partial volume but the original that was put out and published by jonathan edwards in the diary of david brainerd such a volume ought to be on your heart and you ought to share in it and learn of this man that measured so faithfully in all how god blessed him and the mighty revivals that broke out in new jersey and along the delaware river and back up into massachusetts where he labored near west stockbridge wherever this dear man this young man for he lived hardly to 30 but wherever he went and labored and ministered there the blessing of god attended it but you find in one place in the original volume he tells how that under great persecution from an indian tribe on the few christians that were there relatively few he preached a message of comfort and consolation but after the preaching of this message to the christians comforting them in their afflictions he said that there were 18 of the people that had been awakened and convicted of their sin but had not found good hope that testified that that day they had were satisfied that they were savingly in christ and he rejoiced but he said that night before i retired as i began to review the day's ministry it was as though god illumined my mind and caused me to see that possibly some of that number that had testified to good hope in christ had merely mistaken the consolations to the christians as being to them and that they had not savingly met christ so said he the next day on monday though i was spitting blood throughout the day for at that time he was dying of tuberculosis had lesions in the lungs and spitting blood throughout the day i went into every hut and to my grief i discovered that 16 of the 18 did not have grounds for good hope in christ then said he think of it think of it what if i had died while they presumed to think themselves saved and in the lake of fire had risen up to curse me before god as an unskilled workman that didn't know how to lead them savingly to christ he said i'm so glad that i can report now subsequently that that 16 have come to rest in christ on good grounds of confidence but here was a man that measured the temple here was a man that was careful for the souls of those entrusted to him this is what god said to john he said you're not only prophesied john but here's a reed and you measure the sanctuary so that no one is going to think no one's going to think that they're right and if they're not right it's your responsibility not only to preach but to measure this morning as i was talking to you about matthew 7 where we spoke of the straight gate and narrow way is in contrast to the wide gate in broadway we spoke to the trees that have the leaves and the bark but the heart of the trees never been changed we spoke of some that said lord lord but they'd never made the transaction of abdicating the throne and inviting christ to sit down we spoke of men that had a house the floor plan and the material being found but there was founded on sand what are we doing what is this that the lord jesus was doing giving us a measuring rod he put a measuring rod in our hands that we can measure between the sanctuary and the court and let no one think that because of their proximity to church or baptism or catechism or profession that they're in christ unless they're worshipers that are there in the sanctuary that have been brought there by by god so it's the responsibility of those who eat the book not only to proclaim it but to measure also the last thing we see in this portion that pertains to the church has to do with the witnesses the two witnesses verse 3 and i read to the verse 13 and i will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days clothed in sackcloth these are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before god of the earth if any man will hurt them fire proceeded out of their mouth and devours their enemies and if any man will hurt them he must be in this manner be killed these have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy and have power over waters to turn them to blood and dismite the earth with all plagues as often as they will and when they shall have finished their testimony the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them and their dead body shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called sodom and egypt where also our lord was crucified and they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in the grave and they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and shall send gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented them they dwelled on the earth and after three days and a half the spirit of life from god entered into them they stood upon their feet great fear fell upon them which saw them and they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them come up hither and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them in the same hour was there a great earthquake the tenth part of the city fell and in the earthquake were slain men 7 000 and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the god of heaven now there's been a great deal of speculation as to just who these two witnesses might be some have said they were elijah some have said that moses some have said elijah and moses and so on across the centuries may i be just a little different tonight and suggest to you that the two witnesses that he refers to are not two men as elijah or moses but rather remember when he says out of the mouth of two witnesses shall any fact be established and his testimony is thus that this entire peer period of the open book and the preached word and the measuring of the temple god is a prescribing two witnesses and these two witnesses are first god's word and secondly the prophets that proclaimed god's word and that these two witnesses are sufficient to testify to the obduracy and the stubbornness and the rebellion of the hearts of men and god has called two witnesses to those that have responded and refused and rejects the word and reject the words you see the world perishes not for want of the word of god but for the rejection of it and this we find that here they the the world and this has been happening all across the period it isn't something that's going to happen it will happen but it's been happening for each generation is responsible for its own review dealing with the word and you go back and see nero as he gathers all the christians he can and does them to death and bestial in human ways and what's he doing he's killing the two witnesses the prophets of god and he's fighting against the word of god as though he somehow he can stop and the whole period of days i would not want to make this 1250 days a literal period but rather for the entire prescribed period that god is sending the witnesses with the word for this entire period men are going to be rejecting their witness and despising them and hating them and are going to do their best to kill them not two men if you please but legal and competent testimony that is given by the word that is sent from heaven and the men that have eaten the word and declare the truth of it this testimony cannot be set aside the prophet and the word are true and what they've declared are true there's this ceaseless sounding forth of the word but then i do think also that there is a future aspect to it i think the time is going to come when nearing the time of the seventh trumpet when the preaching of the gospel when god will have finished the mystery we've spoken about and he will allow the testimony to cease i said until the mystery is finished until the number of the redeemed is complete it's going to go on but then there will be a little respite and there will be this stamping out and this killing and all the rejoicing think of it the rejoicing there's going to be finally when men say we've done away with the word my how many there would be tonight if they could just destroy the word of god you say well we live in free america it's all right but let me call your attention to one thing you realize that the best estimates we have are that there are just seven million evangelical believers that have we have grounds to think are born again in america seven million that isn't the protestants but we no one is so uh enthusiastic is to think that all protestants are born again but those that have studied the matter say that between five and seven million people are the born again ones in our land now that's against 185 million not very big is it not a very large percentage and if they ever took it in their minds to take after us one of the most interesting studies that came to my hand last year was a study put out by a sociological group trying to ascertain american attitudes toward religion you see we preachers had thought that this unchurched half or it's nearly 80 million in america that are totally unchurched we preachers thought that they were apathetic and indifferent but this sociological study said that they were virulently antagonistic what does that mean that they hate fundamentalists they hate bible believing christians they were obscurantists we're standing in the way of progress we're an assault to their consciences and an insult to their intellect well america is the last bastion of freedom along with a few other countries that hold the same privileges look what's happened in russia look what's happened in china two-thirds of the world some have said under the control of the hammer and sickle that wouldn't be surprising but perhaps in our lifetime maybe not i don't know the times and the seasons are in the father's hand but someday the number is going to be complete the lord's going to allow these to just as it were stomp out the witnesses seemingly vanquish the word and the those that speak it and they're going to say isn't it wonderful now look we're free from this as the president or the the say the head of the world health organization said that america that the world will never be a healthy place to live until all the religious superstitions of the christians with their antiquated moral standards are eliminated and that we're going to have to treat such who hold such agent and such antique attitudes as enemies of the health of the world and the world health organization has taken as its goal to eliminate from the minds of men such antique standards of conduct as the ten commandments and the religious superstitions of christianity because they interfere with world mental health now it seems to me that we should recognize that gradually witnesses being silenced our schools now are pretty well have excluded the word of god our colleges mock the truth of god most of our churches please preach nothing but a pagan moralism i wonder i wonder if we're coming to the time in the near future when the body of christ will be complete and god's going to allow the witnesses to be stopped because it is complete and the world is going to laughingly say isn't it wonderful they're out of our hair these people that torment us and upset us and disturb us but oh what a sad day for them when that happens none to plead none to pray for these two witnesses shall rise up to their condemnation the word and the prophets of it and so the picture is that one in which god sovereignly reigns until the last of the redeemed are gathered and then time shall be no more well why god's only purpose in time is to get a people for jesus christ that's all time is just a little interval in the flow of eternity and when god has gotten his people for christ time shall be no more i don't know when it'll come but i know the only reason that the days are still measuring the years now is because somewhere there's another one to be brought out of darkness into light and out of death into life no wonder dr simpson said the gospel shall be preached to the whole world and then shall the end come for when it's been preached and the last one gathered in the witnesses have their testimony their competent legal testimony against a christ rejecting world god will say there's no point in time anymore time shall be no more the seventh trumpet shall sound and the gathering the gathering of all things oh dear heart tonight think of it we're still living in this called day when a man can work the night coming but no man can work no how we ought to be about our father's business our lives controlled with passionate desire to get this word out this message out get it out to the last tribe in the last remote valley and get it out to the last apartment building on the island of manhattan because you don't know whether that last soul is going to come from some tribe up the amazon or whether it's going to come from some apartment on park avenue but one day he's going to say or him time shall be no more because the only purpose of time is to measure out the sounding and the pulsing of the gospel and then he shall kill the witnesses leave them in the streets and laugh at them and mock at them and say we're through but these same witnesses shall rise up and we heard them cry to the rocks and the mountains to follow to hide them from the face of the wrath of the lamb whose word they've rejected and whose servants they've slain an encouraging message yes encouraging because nothing can stop the ongoing of the gospel nothing can stop it until god is finished and then nothing can keep it because god is finished how long it'll be the times of the seasons the day and the hour all hidden in the heart of god but it behooves us to labor while it is called day and it behooves you that are here that have had the gospel and have spurred it or rejected it to see such folly to receive jesus christ give yourself to him experience the cleansing of his precious blood the deliverance that he died to pray and enter into life for it's time to do for peace with the lamb of god for the time of his coming draweth nigh for just as no man can work no man then will repent it is called day why don't you come to christ now dear child of god why don't you rededicate yourself anew to the giving forth of the gospel and the spreading of the truth and the eating of word and the prophesying of it for it's still called day the little book was given it's open and it'll stay open till god's finished we're to measure the sanctuary until the end comes let us bow in prayer yes father we think tonight of the fact thou hast left us this open word our hearts cry out to thee that thou will give to us compassion for the lost burden for those other sheep that he said he must bring a deep passionate longing such as others have shared to see the gospel preached to the last tribe and village oh god grant that this people shall eat the book even though it becomes bitter in the demands it makes upon us and the requirements it imposes help us lord to be faithful for the night's coming when no man can work we such just a few more days to be filled with praise to tell the old old story then when twilight falls and jesus calls we shall go to him in glory think of it lord help us to think of it help us to see it help us to understand it abandon our lives to thee seek and know the fullness of the holy ghost without which our witness is ineffectual feed upon the word and live constantly for christ and for souls oh god gather together here of people that are 100 percent for christ bring back again a people that love thee and more than they love themselves love souls more than themselves and have a passionate desire to glory the lamb to glorify the lamb of the slave and show us father there's such a little while such a little while ye shall be witnesses unto me after that the holy ghost has come upon you grandfather tonight we shall both eat the book and in breathe the fullness of the holy ghost that our lives may count for eternity we pray for unsafe souls with us they might come to christ tonight oh god let the word be in us a living quickened work and let it do its gracious work we thank thee that thou art on the throne thou art reigning thou are ruling thy purposes are going to be fulfilled but nothing can stand in the way of what thou art doing oh how we praise thee for it our lord bind the word upon our hearts let it control our lives make us the kind of men and women thou dost want us to be for jesus sake amen