The sake of some may not have been here to other meetings. In the morning we've been talking some about prophecy. We've been talking something about things that are coming to pass in connection with the Jews taking over Jerusalem and how Jerusalem will be trodden down to the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And if they hold that city, the times must be very near fulfillment. And if God takes up the Jew, there's only one period of seven years during which he's going to deal with them in this world before all the nations of the earth are going to be destroyed. And the whole world is going to be separated as sheep from goats. And the goats will go into the lake of fire, and the sheep will go into his kingdom. These are momentous days in which we live. When I was a boy, I can remember back at least sixty years ago when the Christians were talking about the Zionist movement and a few Jews went back to Palestine, and they thought then, surely the Lord's coming must be near. They've been out of that land for fifteen hundred years, or twenty-five hundred years, I should say, and altogether they got back a little, and then nineteen hundred years ago when they rejected Christ, they've been out of it. all this time. And when a few Jews went back to live in Palestine, they said, surely the coming of the Lord must be near. But now we find there in that land, they've been deprived of this city, Jerusalem, the only place on earth that God ever put his name, the only building that God ever brought in. And they were the only people in the Old Testament who knew God. If you wanted to know the true God in Old Testament times, you had to go to Jerusalem and join yourself to that nation because they were God's chosen people. And now we find that they've been out of their land and they've been cut off. And God has not been dealing with them because he had let the Gentiles overrun that land. But strange things are coming to pass. And if they can hold that city, things might happen very rapidly. And then we are noticing the Antichrist is going to come. He's going to put up an image in that temple, and he's going to make the whole world worship that image. And behind that image is the emperor at Rome that's to be raised up, and behind him is the devil. And the last worship for this earth is going to be the worship of Satan. and the worship of men who are called beasts, and the worship of an idol. And if there's anything God hates, it's worth being idols. That's why the Jews were carried away into the land of Babylon the first time is because of their idolatry. And he said when they came back they had been empty swept and garnished of it. But he said he warned them when they didn't receive him. He says, that wicked spirit is going to bring other spirits seven more wicked than himself. And the last end of this people is going to be worse than the first. And I don't look at Jerusalem and what's happened today as a very rosy picture for the Jews. We may marvel at the way they took it. And we may realize that God is behind the whole thing. It's his time to move. But it means a time of terrible trouble. And the world is going to be upset. Don't you think it's getting upset now? We read about the waves in the and the sea roaring, and the sea speaks of multitudes and peoples, and what unrest we have everywhere. We're living in troublesome times. We're living in times when it behoes every one of us to look and to read God's word and to listen, because I'm afraid the time is short. I want to read two verses tonight. I want to talk to you about the true church and the false church. And this comes in Revelation, seventeen and eighteen later, but I'm going to read Second Corinthians, eleven, two first. Second Corinthians, eleven and two. I am jealous over you. Second Corinthians, eleven, two. Paul's writing. I am jealous over you with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. And what Paul desired of this church is what God desires of his church. And Christ says the church is going to be presented to him one day faultless. And what a day that would be. Well, we read another verse in contrast in Revelation chapter seventeen. It says in verse three, so he carried me, that's one of the spirits. Maybe I should read from verse one, I might come back to these verses. There came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. What a contrast between the chaste virgin and this woman, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. and the inhabitants of the earth had been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit of the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of the names of blasphemies, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple, and scarlet-colored, and deckless gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations, and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her head was a name written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her I wondered with great admiration, or better the revival, a great wonder. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore did so marvel? I will tell thee the mystery, the woman, of the beast that carried her, said seven heads and ten horns. We won't read any further of this, but we have in the Bible a contrast between the true church, pure and holy, and the false church, corrupt and vile. And it's the most vile thing found in the whole Bible. And we have just these two aspects of the church. We have these two churches, will I put, in the world today? We have the Chase Virgin Church, and we have the Corrupt Bile Church. And when I speak of the church, the word church means ecclesia. It means a called-out company of people. And God is calling out of the nations of people for Christ's name. And everyone who is born again and comes to Christ And as we've been hearing in these meetings, we're seeing the Lord Jesus Christ into his heart, or her heart, becomes a member of this church. You cannot be a member of Christ's church unless you're born again. The old life isn't good enough, and we can't make it over. And baptism and all that the church can do will never make you a new creature. You must become a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when before he left, he gave the great commission to his disciples and said, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. This is the greatest work of the church. Go and preach the gospel. Go and tell the whole world that they're lost, that they've been born in sin, that there's a broad road that leads to destruction many are going in there at. But there's a narrow way that leads to life. And Christ said, I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. There's only one door to heaven. And it isn't church and it is religion, it's Christ. And Christians are Christ ones. They have received Christ into their heart. And that's the only thing that will make you a real Christian. And my beloved friend, if you're here tonight and do not have Christ in your heart, You may call yourself a Christian. You may have joined the church that calls yourself Christian. But in God's sight, you're not a Christian because you do not have Christ. God is taking out of the nations their people for Christ's name. Yes, we've been talking about the times of the Gentiles. In Romans eleven, twenty-five, we read about the fullness of the Gentiles. And the fullness of the Gentiles is when the church is completed. God's going to take it home to heaven. And the times of the Gentiles will really end when Christ destroys all the Gentile nations. And all the nations of the earth, and this he is going to do. He said, If I go away, I will come again, said that to his disciples, and receive you unto myself. And when this church is complete, Christ is coming back. He's going to come to the air and call his church out of here before all these terrible times come upon it. They're going to be saved from the Great Tribulation. And so one of these days Christ is coming. That's the next great event. The unsaved people are going to wake up some morning and find out that all these people that said they knew they were saved and were trusting the blood of Jesus are all gone. They'll go into their house and they won't find them. And if I want to know where they've gone, one down here and one there. Some of them may be Catholics and some of them may be Protestants. But if they've got Christ in their hearts, then the Lord Jesus Christ comes. It'll be like a magnet, and all of those that have his life will be drawn up to him. To be forever with the Lord, to be taken out of this old world that's under the curse of sin, and soon going to go through terrible judgments. My brother used to preach with me sometimes for many years. We had tents together. He was a businessman. I was preaching. And I often used to hear him say how that we children and our family weren't so much worried about dying. We were all young. But the one thing that seemed to trouble us more was that we knew father and mother had received Christ into their hearts. And we knew that when Christ came, only those that had Christ would go. And then a couple of our sisters got saved and they had Christ. And my brother told afterwards, he said, I think more than once he got up out of bed and wakened in the night and said, I wonder if the Lord's come. Maybe you heard something. And he'd get on his hands and knees and go around to the bedroom where my father and mother were sleeping. And it was a good thing my father was a man that snored a little because It gave him great comfort when he heard his dad snoring. He said, why? He said, he hasn't come yet. He'd go back to bed tonight. Oh, you just showed him a Christian parent someday. It may be true. Jesus told him, he's going to take your parents. Do you want to be left in this terrible world that's coming? For the Antichrist, Mark. For all those terrible judgments which God's going to send down upon a world that's rejected His Son. Do you want to be here to go through that? If you're not saved, you may be. He said, if I go away, I will come again. How sure? That just as sure as Christ's word. What did he say about his word? Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away. Yes, he's coming. And this church is going to present it as a case version. And God says to it, to his church, that they're to separate from all the evil of this world. He says, Come out from among them and be separate. I want you to be different. And as the world goes on into corruption, I want you to be pure and clean and holy and live lives to me, unto me. And the Lord Jesus promised that church, when two or three are gathered together in my name, I'll be there. And he's with us, watching over us. but he expects that church to be pure and holy. And then when anyone did not live a right kind of life, they were told not to keep company with any man if he'd be a fornicator, if he'd be covetous, if he'd be an idolater, a railer, a drunkard, or an extortioner, no not to eat. They were to put away from among themselves those people that went out and got drunk, and those people that gambled and lived like the world. They were to be a separate people and living for Christ, to be a changed version when He came back to be presented to Him. And this is what we find in the Word of God. I want to tell you something, you may have never heard it before. Do you know what the devil's greatest work today is? Do you know what the devil's greatest work today is? It's to make church members who are not born again. Christ told in the parables that the good of the sower, the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus, went forth and sowed good feed in the field. And the enemy came in and sowed terrors that was just like the wheat when it grew up. Who showed the tears among the weak? The enemy. And the devil wants everyone to profess to be a Christian. He wants everyone to join the church. And he's got people thinking that they get to die, babies baptized, that they're brought into the church without receiving Jesus into their hearts. And getting people thinking they get baptized and join the church, they're going to be saved. And if they join the church and try to live right, They're going to be saved, and all they're trusting is themselves and the church and what they're doing. They're not trusting Jesus at all. Before you can trust the Lord Jesus Christ, my friends, you're going to have to find out something about yourself that you've been born in sin. and that you've lived in sin, and that all your righteousnesses, you know what they are? The best you can do are filthy rags in God's sight. And because you've been born in sin, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. And if you haven't received Christ into your heart, you've never done one thing to please God. You may give your money to the cause and to the church. We better keep it. Buy groceries. Something easy to get more out of it. The Lord doesn't want your money. He doesn't want anything from you. He wants to give you something. He wants to give you salvation. And God sent His Son to save you. And He wants you to trust His Son and not try to save yourself. You know why people try to save themselves? Because they want to rob Christ of all the glory of being their Savior. God sent Jesus to be our Savior, and the whole world is doing the best they can to save themselves. Do they believe in the Savior? No. Do they know they're saved? No. And you can never know you're saved until you find out you're lost. You know why? Because you've got to trust Christ for everything. It's not a thing you choose in. It's by grace you'll save through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of work. Let any man should both. Wouldn't you like to be in heaven and everybody going around, Miss Johnson? Oh, I'm so glad I'm so much better than Miss Smith, you know, my neighbor. I got to heaven. She did not. Better she was. Now, Mr. Johnson, he said, yes, and I was better than Mr. O'Brien over there. Here I am. Patten yourself on the back because you earned your way to heaven. You know what they're going to sing in heaven? Or unto him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. And if you can't sing that song, you'd be out of place up in heaven. Yes, sir? You'd be out of place. You've got to learn the song down here. Praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. I learned in sixty-three years ago how to sing and praise ever since. And giving him all the glory for taking me to heaven. But you know, the devil sowed pears among wheat. And that's what he's doing today. The Lord said, you know, there were ten virgins. Five were wise and five foolish. And he said, they all went out to meet the bridegroom. They all said, yes, we're Christians. But you know, there was only one difference between those virgins. They all had lamps. They all made a profession. And you know, sometimes I'll tell you, to the shame that we were Christians, some church members seemed to live better lives than even Christians. And they all had the lamp of profession, but you know, there was one different. They carried a vessel, and they had to have oil to keep the lamp burning. And only five had the vessel with the oil in it, the new life, the Holy Spirit. Only five had that to keep the oil, the lamp burning. And the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in. And the door was shut, and the foolish virgins stood outside, and they knocked on Lord Mark. Oh, but all you lost. Didn't we eat and drink in your presence? Didn't we go and take the Mass? Didn't we go and take the Lord's Supper? Didn't we do many wonderful works? Didn't we try to help the poor and give to the church? And Jesus was going to say, I depart from me. I never knew you. You never came to me as a sinner to get my salvation. You've tried to save yourself, and all that tried to save themselves is going to miss it. A lot of Protestants, you know, they think if they do the best they can, they're going to be in heaven. And I heard a Catholic priest on the radio the other day, and the man asked him, he says, well, why do people go to you to confess their sins? And why do you say mad, and why do you do this? Oh, he says, that's all part of our salvation. Yes, even preachers of priests don't know that Jesus came to save people and died on the cross to pay the debt and shed His blood and was forsaken of God and cried, My God, my God, why is thou forsaken me? Every Christian knows why Jesus is taken. He was taking their faith and dying for their sins to save their soul and they loved the Lord Jesus because He loved them and gave His life to save them. Yes, we have what's called the ecumenical movement today, a worldwide movement to make the church all one. And this text that I've read about this false church takes in Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. It's going to be one great church. And it's already starting. It's already making progress. And they're getting so liberal that even some of these churches that hated the Jews now invite them into that and pray with them. What good is a Jew's prayer if he doesn't have Christ? No man cometh to the Father but by me, said the Lord Jesus. And you can't mix Christianity and Judaism. Real Christianity has Christ and Judaism doesn't want him. And if you don't come through Christ, God says you can't come at all. And what good are the prayers of people who don't have Christ and if others profess to have them and don't have them, what good are they? We've got a lot of sham religion in the world today. And I'll tell you, my friends, when you read some of these things here in this seventeenth chapter of this book of Revelation, our eyes will be open. Listen to verse one. Revelation seventeen and one. There came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, who talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, I'll show unto thee the judgment of a great whore that sitteth upon many waters. The Fifteen-First tells you what waters are. He said to me, the waters which are soft are, for the horse said it, are peoples and multitudes and nations of tongues. Which church claims to have the most people? You know, some people think, Lord, if you have big numbers, you're right. The Scripture says, no, you're wrong. Drain is the gate and narrow is the way, and few there be the finders. The majority aren't right. And the majority aren't going to be saved. And so we find here this woman sits upon many waters, many peoples, and many towns. And when you get all the unconverted Catholics and Protestants together in one church and count their numbers throughout the world, you're going to have this ecumenical movement, you're going to have the church that's going to be left after Christ comes. You know, isn't it strange after Christ comes and takes his own, that which calls itself the church will still go on for a while. but she's going to be in politics. Do you think the church is getting into politics now? Do you think they'd like to run out of anything? Well, listen. Whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. Verse two, the inhabitants of the earth have been made to drink with the wine of her fornication, her wickedness, her wicked influences. So he carried me away in spirit in the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast full of the name of blasphemy. Who is this scarlet-colored beast? We've been looking about it. The Roman Empire is going to be revived. And this woman is going to sit on this seat, as it were, of this empire, like driving a horse, you know, telling you what to do. Is she in power? Yes, for a while. And it says, This beast is full of the names of blasphemies, and yet she professed to be Christian. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness with her fornication. She has great wealth. Is the church wealthy today? Can the church boast of great treasures, great buildings, great idols, great pictures, and great everything, and great lands or great properties? Yes, all over the world. Well, when Peter healed the blind man, or when Peter passed that blind man that was taken, you remember the third chapter of Acts, he had to say to that poor blind man, Children, gold, have I known, for that which I have I'll give unto you. In the name of Jesus Christ arise. Peter didn't have any silver or gold. He was a very poor man. But sometimes those that say they're following Peter have more than anyone else. And the church is going to be very rich at this time. And upon their head was a name written, mystery, Babylon, the great, the mother of Harlots. Yes, she's got some daughters, too. And when it comes to preaching the gospel and preaching Christ, if we go on, we will find that most of these big churches For the few exceptions, we'll be just building something here to look at. But I'm afraid not much for God. He said, I saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints. Oh, yes, religion has killed many persons because they didn't agree with them. And with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great wonder. No wonder he wondered at her. Her wealth. And in her, the fourth verse says, the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, decked with gold and precious stones, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And that cup will be great because the church is gone. There is a salt of the earth. The true church, the virgin, has gone to be with Christ. And only those that profess to be Christians are going to be left. And there's nothing of God about them because they haven't got Christ. She was drunken with the blood of the saints and with martyrs. And this beast who's carrying her is going to go into the bottom of the pit. I want you to notice that. It says, The beast that thou saws was and is not. It was the Roman Empire in the days of Daniel. He prophesied about it. And it shall ascend out of the bottom of the pit. The devil is going to raise up this last empire. And they're going to go into perdition because they're lost. And they that dwell on the air shall wonder whose names are not written in the Book of Life. There will be some on earth that won't accept this antichrist and what's coming, because there are the hundred and forty-four thousand, and they believe their teaching, and their names are written in the land's Book of Life. But it tells us who this is. Here is the mind which hath wisdom, the seven heads of seven mountains. Did you ever hear about Rome built on seven mountains, Romulus and Ravens? Here they are, which the woman sitteth. Great power in Rome is going to sit on this beast. And there are seven kings, five are fallen, one is, the other is not. And verse eleven, the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth. And that's the one the woman is going to sit on. And it is of the seven, goes into perdition. And these horns are going to give the woman power. And what about it? Verse fourteen, they shall make war with us, with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. They're going to fight against Christ, this beast, these kings. And here she's associated with them. And we saw that those waters were peoples and multitudes and humans and so forth. And then we'll turn over here to the, well, down at the end of this chapter, there's some things might interest us. Notice in verse... Fourteen, these make war with the land. And verse eighteen, the womb which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. And many kings in her control. And then we come to chapter eighteen, and here we see more. In verse three, all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. The merchants of the earth are rich through the abundance of her delicacies. You know how I want to tell you. If the church on earth would collapse, all the merchants would go out of business. They'd buy a lot of things from them. There was mighty power in this world. And now in verse four, he said, I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people. Oh, some of those will be saved at that time. Well, here's that gospel of the kingdom of priests. God, those hundred and forty-four thousand will come out of it to wait for Christ. Some of us have heard that cry already come out. rather round my son. But there's going to be another cry apparently here. And then you notice down further, it says in verse nine, the kings of the earth who have committed fornication, lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her. And Babylon is falling. They're going to lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning and standing afar off. For the fear of torment saying, alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come? Yes, God's going to put it in the heart of the beast to trample that woman. She's going to ride her for a little while, and then God's going to put it in his heart to trample her because of her wickedness. God uses different people to use Nebuchadnezzar to take the Jews out of the land of Palestine. We saw how he's going to use the King of the North to destroy Palestine again in a future day. And God uses kings and armies and everything to accomplish His purpose. And it says in verse fifteen, the merchants, the merchants of these things which were made rich by her shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing. Oh, I'll tell you, it's going to upset the whole commercial world. They're going to weep and wail when they see this great catastrophe coming upon that which calls us out the church that's left. And then it says in verse seventeen, one hour or so great riches has come to naught. And every shipmaster in all, the company of ships and sailors, many as trade and sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw this most of her burning thing, what city is like under this great city? And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, which is wherein we're made rich, all that have ships in the sea, By reason of it. Costliness, for in one hour, is she deathless? And then here's a peculiar verse. Rejoice over her, thou in heaven, and behold the apostles and prophets. Oh, they're going to call for the apostles and prophets in heaven to rejoice over this corrupt church in her defeat and her downfall. Yes. and the church even claims to have the apostles and prophets on their sides. But heaven's going to call to them to rejoice in her destruction because of her wickedness. And she has not honored the Lord Jesus Christ and given him place. She's brought idols into the church and authors. And my friend, there's only one author of Christian needs, and that's the cross where Jesus died. Once in the end of the ages, Christ appeared to put away sin. And there's nothing else in the world more to put away sin. but that man who died and shed his blood, to pay the debt of sin and to put it away forever. Yes, heaven is going to rejoice, and Christ said his word will abide forever. So I might have time just to turn to Revelation. I just want you to see this bride of Christ and her glorious den. She's going to be married to Christ, the true virgin. and verse six. You know, the Christians are told, said to be heirs of God and joined heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. And here it says, I heard, as it were, the voice of the great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God up nip of the rain is, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is common, his bride hath made herself ready. Oh, the marriage of the Lamb. Who's going to be married to the Lamb? who bears a nail print in his hands and feet. The true church is going to be married to him. I don't know of any more glorious thoughts in all the Bible than the day when the church stands at Jesus' side and united to him. And when she walks up that street of gold at the side of her Savior and walks past all those angels and Michael and Gabriel to sit on the highest feet in heaven, So that in the ages to come, God will show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. And that glory, the shining of Jesus' face tonight in heaven, will shine in her face. Because that glory is already shining in the heart of everyone that believes on Him. And we're down here to give the light of that glory, that shining in His face. Oh, may God so and thrill our hearts tonight with these wonderful truths that we want to do it. And then it said to her, it was granted in verse eight, that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of things, for the righteous acts of saints. I think it was Brother Jensen referred to this the other night, that when the bride is going to be arrayed, she's going to make her own garment. That's going to be one of her great privileges. And when she puts that garment on, it's going to be fine linen. And she made it herself. You know how? By the righteous acts that she performed down here. And if we as Christians realize that every righteous act we do for the glory of Christ is a stitch in that garment, I'm sure we want a throne that we'd have part in preparing this garment. Yes, to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the merry supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the truths. Strange of God. Blessed are those that are called to the Mary's Supper, the Lamb in heaven, when this church, redeemed by Christ's blood, that he's taken out of this world, is going to be buried to him and to sit with him and reign with him. Yes, he says, you'll judge the world, you'll judge angels. Oh, what a portion she has. And my friend, think of the wonderful grace of God, that God up there in heaven amidst all that glory and beauty. Ever thought of poor sinners down here, children of Adam, who had disobeyed God and who had sinned and who deserved wrath and judgment, and yet God wanted us to be there with him. And the only way he could do it was by sending his son down here to become man, and to go to that cross and be lifted up and to shed his blood, and to be forsaken of God, and cry, My God, my God, why has God forsaken me? Why all this? Why all this suffering of God's sons? God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever is believing in him. should not perish. God doesn't want men to perish. He wants them to be with him. And my friend, if you perish and go to hell, you can't blame God. He gave his son to die for you. He sent his servants to go and tell them about him and go and preach the gospel and tell them this good news that Christ died for our sins and was buried and ruined again. And when you receive him into your heart of your Savior, God gives you credit for his suffering, his death, his blood, and all that he did to save your souls. And when will you be saved? When you get the Savior. I wonder if someone's is going to get him tonight. I wonder if the Spirit of God has been dealing with others in this camp, and you said, I don't want to leave this camp until I'm saved. But I don't have Jesus, my heart. You may be able to say, well, I joined the church and I was Christian and I was baptized, and I did this and they did that. But when did you come to the sinner and say, Lord, Jesus, I want to thank you for dying from my sins, for dying from me a sinner, and I want to receive you as my Savior." Let's bring a verse or two of number one hundred fifty-two.