Then in the twentieth chapter of the book of Revelation the fourth verse, ‘And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Here are the tribulation martyrs, those that were not taken out at the beginning of the tribulation period. They were unprepared for God’s great and wonderful work of catching away his Bride. And they went into the tribulation period and they faced the ‘image’ of the Anti-christ. They saw the miracle, they saw the wonder of that which was created by the False Prophet. And they were commanded by the ‘image’ to worship the ‘image’. The ‘image’ itself demands worship. It isn’t that the False Prophet or the Anti-christ alone say that he must be worshipped. But this thing created by the powers of darkness declares that it must be worshipped. It demands worship. And there will be those who die for Christ because they refused to worship the ‘image’ of the Anti-christ.
Let me go back again and in conclusion read for us Romans the first chapter and those two verses, Romans one, twenty-two and twenty-three, ‘Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man.’ Let me say this in conclusion, believe it or not, as contrary as it might seem to be you are still the crowning work of God’s creation. You are still the epitome of his work. And you are more so as you come closer and closer to the perfection of the church. For he is changing his church from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord. And all of a sudden we view in the word of God, that what God does by his Spirit Satan will imitate and duplicate. For we are members of the Body of Christ and will be in his likeness, in his perfection, in his glory having his power surging through us.
But at the same time there will come one who has all the force and power of Satan manifest in him and he is in the ‘image’ of the ungodly. You know we have often spoken of the Devil, the Anti-christ, and the False Prophet. But there is a fourth one there and that is the ‘image’ of the Anti-christ. And we speak of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and we are joined to Christ. But there is a fourth one there, the manchild, born of a perfect wedding. Satan has his imitation, will it be cloning, will it be a test-tube baby, will it be parthenogenesis. What will it be? I’m saying this to us tonight that man has the knowledge and the wisdom and the ability to do it now. Brethren we’re living in the End of the Age. The conclusion of all that is around about us and all that is declared in the word of God is about to come to pass. And I think as we proceed into the future we’re going to see more and more of the possibility of that which God has declared in his word fulfilled around us. I’m glad tonight I know Jesus.
Father we thank you for the privilege we have of serving you, of loving you. We thank you that you have a plan for our lives. That you have called us unto yourself, to serve you, to walk with you to know your power, your blessing in our lives. We thank you for the high and holy calling that is in Christ Jesus. We pray tonight that you will bless your children, that your hand of power and glory shall be revealed in every life. May each of us be drawn closer to you. May we realize that indeed you are speaking to us through your word in these days. For we’re living in the End of the Age, we’re living in the last days. These are days of preparation for the Bride of Christ. Stir our hearts to walk with you, to know you in the power and glory of that new life that is in Christ.
(1) par-the-no-gen-e-sis: reproduction by development of an unfertilized gamete that occurs esp. among lower plants and invertebrate animals.
(2) DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid: any of various nucleic acids that are localized esp. in cell nuclei, are the molecular basis of heredity in many organisms, and are constructed of a double helix held together by hydrogen bonds between purine and pyrmidine bases which projects inward from two chains containing alternate links of deoxyribose and phosphate.:END: