Sermon Notes, All Saints Day, 1 November 2015 Anno Domini
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Rev 20:7-10 KJV)
In the early decade of the 90’s, Jean Raspail, a French journalist, wrote a controversial book entitled, “The Camp of the Saints.” The book was a novel of prophetic dimensions. It quite well articulated historical policies of the French government and people for the post-war years, and drew a wise and accurate prophecy of where those policies would soon lead. He emphasized the liberal immigration policies of the French government in the last few decades, and then, he drew an amazingly perceptive conclusion as to where these would lead. The French people would be inundated from their own land, their culture (what was left of it) destroyed, and their religion declared ‘verboten’ by Muslim and Near Eastern hordes who flocked, unabated, into France. The French Federal Court banned Mr. Raspail’s book in France – they had not gained a great deal of expertise in ‘political correctness’ at this point so resorted to brute force. But the consequences of keeping one’s culture and religious society pure and undefiled was a lesson that applies to all nations.
Yesterday was Reformation Day. It signaled a return to Holy Scripture as the sole rule of life for the Christian Church. Today is All Saint’s Day. It had its beginning last evening (at sunset) as All Hollows Eve. Both holi(HOLY)days represent the duties and responsibilities of the saints of God to protect their faith and their culture from ungodly movements such as that of Islam.
It is distressing to note the compromising attitudes of formerly godly churches surrendering to sins of the flesh such as homosexuality in the wake of the decision of five ungodly judges who happen to be political appointments on the US Supreme Court. Which law takes precedence – God’s or man’s? And listen to the resounding plurality of pulpit voices proclaiming that the Christian Church and Islam “worship the same God after all.” There are a few characteristics of the satanic Allah that do not measure up to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – of you and me. Allah is by no means a god of mercy. He demands total justice with no hope of redemption – and that justice he demands is twisted by a thirst for blood and torture. Allah has no Holy Ghost. He broods alone over the darkness of Hades and the underworld. There is no Holy Ghost to guide and direct the understanding of the Muslim, he, therefore, is left to his own devices, and the deceit of mullahs and imams, to discover the truth of his wretched book.
Allah has no Son and is, admittedly, incapable of visitation of his presumed creation on earth. It seems, according to the wicked Quran, that Allah began his creation with a clot of blood. Where this blood came from, and what was its DNA, no one knows. But blood has been on Allah’s mind from the beginning and he sheds the blood of innocent and defenseless women and children as a ‘bonus’ of war. Rape and slavery are also a mainstay of this brooding satanic idol. The Quran has the temerity to claim that Christ never died on the cross – that God the Father had someone else (who looked like Jesus) die there in His stead. What a stretch of wicked imagination – that one man should die in the place of Christ when Christ only could have died for all men!
The sands of the Levant of Syria and Iraq, and a hundred other venues, are turned to crimson from the shed blood of Christian innocents, and countless others – even little children and babies – by a religion where men lack courage to stand against a standing army in the field. A Christian cannot deny his faith, but a Muslim can lie outright to save his skin. So many young children are beheaded because they will not renounce their faith. Satan is a genius, and he has hit upon a religion that comports perfectly with his evil plan to destroy every vestige of God and His Creation on earth. The media and political culture of America make Islam into a sacred cow. You may curse the Christian faith, destroy its Book, and cast all manner of ungodly aspersions against the Lord Jesus Christ, but do not dare to serve bacon in our restaurants, or forbid Muslim prayers in our schools.
Why do you believe the political forces of America are so solidly behind exalting Islam? It is not because they honor Allah (intentionally), or believe a single Sura of the Quran! It is because Islam is totalitarian and Fascistic. It can be used as a tool for world leaders to finally, they believe, destroy the Church and her Christ! Our Lord Jesus Christ keeps getting in the way of dictatorships around the world. In their struggle to unite into a one world government – compromising its own economic monopolies, religion, and social contract – Jesus is the Stumbling Block. Our Lord asserts an exclusive religion. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life!” All of the others are willing to compromise on that point, but not Christ! And wherever Christ is, there is the Word of God that seems to overrule, constantly, the schemes of evil men who wish to dominate all others and exalt themselves as gods (like Kim Jong Un of North Korea).
If you examine carefully the text from Rev 20:7-10, you will learn a very important point. God has always preserved His remnant among the people – even among evil, wicked nations who have forsaken the Lord of their blessings. The remnant is not a large host of souls. In fact, a remnant is the trimmed cloth cut away from a pattern and cast into the dustbin. We see in the end time that the saints of God will amount to no more than a simple CAMP. A Camp is a temporary and remote habitation usually found in wilderness places, and the army would not even consider it a fortress. It is small and not naturally well defended. There will be ONE such camp at the end of time – the Camp of the Saints. “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Please note that the combined armies of all of the earth are gathered against this small enclave of saints. But with what result? ” . . . . fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”
The Army of God is not dependent upon superior materiel and resources, or mighty armaments, or stratagems that are brilliantly conceived, or immaculately arrayed millions standing at arms – the Army of God has One Word sufficient to conquer, and we all know it. The whole Creation was formed by that Word, and the whole Creation shall be consumed with fervent heat by that Word – except those who have accepted the Promise made to Abraham and fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.
By the way, reading further in Revelations 20:11, we see that, after the devil that deceived those armies (verse 10) and was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone for ever and ever, then comes the White Throne Judgment! “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.” (Rev 20:11) The Adversary of your soul (and prosecuting attorney) will not be found at that Judgment to bring charges as he did against poor Job!
God will not place new wine in old bottles, so He takes His new Creation of the elect and places them in a new Heaven and Earth! “ 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Rev 21:1-4 KJV) The Tree of Life will be restored to that Edenic Paradise, and there will be no sorrow, pain, or death for these are passed away with the miseries brought upon Creation by the disobedience of Adam.
We need not worry about Muslim butchers in that Land, for all that defiles will be shut out. “ 22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Rev 21:22-27 KJV) Even mothers who have senselessly aborted their little babies, and found forgiveness in God, shall feel the tender little hand of their child grasping at theirs.
Here is the most beautiful part of all: “ 1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” (Rev 22:1-5 KJV) See the miraculous appearance again of the Tree of Life? That Tree of Life surrounds the River of Life and the streets of the City. Our Lord Jesus Christ is that Tree rejected by Adam! His Word is the River! See, we shall still love and know God’s Word beyond this veil of unknowing.
Another important point I wish to point out to the saints hearing or reading this sermon: Where is the Holy Name of our Lord found with the saints? It is important to know this for allusions to it are made in other parts of Scripture. “ . . . . and his name shall be in their foreheads.” Where is His Name – is it ON the forehead or is it IN the forehead. The frontal lobes of the brain is the portion in which decisions and judgments are made. Simply smearing a name ON our forehead, of having a mark forcibly branded on our foreheads does not change our hearts and minds one bit; but that which we consciously love and accept is inside our souls – not external to them. In actuality, if you are a saint, that blessed Name is already IN your forehead.
The wicked receive a mark IN their foreheads – not some vile word written on the surface, or a UPC code – but a MARK of decision to follow after evil and to reject the good. ” If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” (Rev 14:9-10 KJV) The sin nature is not forced upon us, but a volition of the mind.
The Saints of God receive, not a mark, but a seal. Only a King is able to seal a matter, and our King of Kings seals us to Himself. He places His Law in our hearts and His Word in our Minds. ” Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” (Rev 7:3-4 KJV)
There is a current commercial aired on TV in which the gentleman at the end asks, “What’s in YOUR Wallet?” By the same token, I address the saints who hear or read this message, “What is in your thoughts, mind and heart, friend?”
