Revelation, the 11th chapter, we're going to begin our reading in verse 13. This is the word of the Lord. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell. And in the earthquake were slain of men 7,000, and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe was passed, and behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders which sat before God in their seats fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and has reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, in the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints. and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldst destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament, and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Thus far the reading of God's word. Now what I'm attempting to offer in this sermon series, as I hope you know, is not my interpretation. There are a lot of far better men than I to interpret difficult predictive prophecy, especially unfulfilled prophecy. But I'm attempting to bring three interpreters to the book of Revelation. First and foremost is scripture itself. One of the cardinal rules of proper hermeneutics, biblical interpretation, is that scripture interprets scripture. Obscure verses have to be interpreted through more clear verses. And words in scripture have to be defined by scripture itself, not by Webster's dictionary. Secondly, I try to bring you the opinions of the finest minds of the church throughout history who've written on this subject, going back to before the Reformation, going back to Augustine, in fact, and such. Often these men, as I've shown, they saw and wrote about events that were yet to come in their time. in world history because they saw them predicted in the Book of Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible and they were proven right when these events did actually occur. Remember we talked about last week the prediction of the French Revolution a hundred years before it happened and the excesses of the French Revolution by some scholars. On those occasions when these men are significantly divided on the meaning of a passage, which doesn't happen as often as you might think, I try to bring you all the interpretations and the arguments for and against them. Thirdly, I bring world history as an interpreter to your attention because history interprets prophecy. Time and time again we can read biblical prophecy and recognize particular historical events that were the fulfillment of that. In some remarkable cases, as we've talked about down to the very day, as in the three and a half years or 1260 days exactly, between the official pronunciation of the death of Protestantism by the Vatican and Luther's nailing the 95 theses to the Wittenberg church door, igniting the Protestant Reformation exactly 1260 days. So since the latter part of Revelation chapter 9, and we're halfway through the book of Revelation here, but since the latter part of chapter 9 we've seen the rise and fall of nations, including the Roman Empire, Islam, and the Roman Catholic Church, We've seen Christianity come from 12 apostles to spread throughout the known world and finally become the official religion of the Roman Empire, something that people would have thought absolutely impossible. We've seen the church gradually brought under the influence of paganism and worldly lusts splitting into Romanism and Eastern Orthodoxy. We've seen the defeat of Islam and its temporary withdrawal as an aggressive enemy against Christianity. We've seen the proto-reformers who came before the Reformation and the stirrings of biblical faith then. The death of Protestantism officially declared at the ninth session of the Vatican Lateran Council on May 5, 1514. As I said, precisely three and a half years later, 1,260 days exactly, its extraordinary resurrection in the form of the Protestant Reformation ignited by Luther on October 31, 1517, which hit Europe like an earthquake and shook Romanism to its foundations. Speaking of earthquakes, we're in verse 13, the latter part of 13. At the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell. And in the earthquake were slain of men 7,000, and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven. Last week, we looked at that 10th part of the city and what that means. This week, we are going to begin with looking at the 7,000. Albert Barnes wrote in his commentary, no events have ever taken place in history that would better be compared with the shock of an earthquake than those which occurred when the long-established governments of Europe, and especially the domination of the papacy, so long consolidated and confirmed were shaken by the Reformation. So he said that was the earthquake. James Durham writes, the earthquake consisted mainly in the bearing down of the reformers doctrine and profession. That is, their life, profession, faith, and how they lived it out. He said that was the earthquake. Durham also said, in the original translation, it says, were slain of men 7,000. He says, is 7,000 names of men pointing at some more eminent than others in this city? Now, in an earthquake, usually a lot of people are killed, especially in third world countries, as we know. We read about Pakistan with thousands of people killed and all that. In context, this verse means that many people of the city, the 10th part of the city fell, and there were slain 7,000. So a lot of people in the city would die. Well, what city are we talking about? Well, in context, if you remember, it's Babylon. But it's spiritual Babylon. There's no more Babylon. Today it's a bunch of ruins in the desert. The city is spiritual Babylon. In fact, when John wrote this, it was in ruins. So it's not the actual city that was the historic Babylon. It's spiritual Babylon, which is defined in the book of Revelation, as we have seen, and we'll see again, as Roman Catholicism and the influence it has over nations. So it means that many of these people, particularly the most eminent and renowned among them, will die. Now, this probably means physical as well as spiritual death. I mean, if it were only spiritual death, how would other people see it and be frightened? That wouldn't quite fit in as much as seeing them actually physically die. And we see that in history, which is, again, history unveils prophecy. The Pope's armies and their allies were defeated, killed, again and again and again. Many died defending Romanism. Nations fell away from the Pope's rule in these battles. In many nations, there weren't all battles, but England, France, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Norway. The result of the Reformation were that abbeys, monasteries, cloisters, and the entire Roman religious orders were shut down. and their monks and priests and friars and nuns were turned out to fend for themselves and make an honest living. Now we have to be aware of that number seven again. That number is used more than all other numbers in the Word of God with the exception of the number one. Seven, including its derivatives, seventh and sevens, etc., is used over 500 times in the Bible. It stands for the seventh day of the creation week, the day of rest, for example. It denotes completeness, perfection, as we've read before. In the book of Revelation, the number seven is used throughout the book. We have seven churches, seven spirits, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven lamps, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, Seven thunders. Here we have 7,000 slain in a great earthquake. Seven heads. Seven crowns. Seven last plagues. Seven golden vials. Seven mountains. Seven kings. Get the point. Seven is really important. Well, 7,000 is 7 times 1,000. Now, what about 1,000? Well, 1,000 in the Bible doesn't always mean what we mean. 100 times 10 is 1,000. It sometimes just means it designates a large number. Like in Psalm 50, for example, the Lord says, the cattle on a thousand hills are mine. Well, does he really mean the cattle on only 1,000 hills? What about the 1,000 in the first hill? They're not his? No. It doesn't mean exactly 1,000. It means a huge number. I mean, actually, in that case, it means all the hills in the world. The cattle, all the cattle on all the hills in the world are his. Seven means completeness of perfection. 1,000 means a huge number. Putting them together, Revelation 11, 13, the destruction of 7,000 people probably means the elimination of a huge number of people, leading to the completeness or the perfection of God's plan. So I believe the sense of the verse is that those who continue in their opposition to the gospel after the Reformation brings it to the people, those people who stay within the Roman Catholic Church and most especially the office holder of that congregation, are going to feel the wrath of God's judgments, and in fact they did in history. It says the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven because of this. Commentators are divided as to whether this just means some people, say unbelievers, who had remained in the city of the spiritual Babylon, Roman Catholicism, or does it mean the Lord's people, the biblical remnant of the Lord's people, his elect people who stayed in the Roman Church for whatever reason. Now the word remnant doesn't necessarily mean God's people. We do have it in Jeremiah 31 7, it says, save thy people, the remnant of Israel, thy people. Romans 11 5, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. But remnant can simply mean those remaining. doesn't have to mean God's people. So which one does it mean? I think the key to this interpretation is twofold. The word glory, they gave glory, and to whom they gave glory? To the God of heaven. Those who are not Christ's cannot give glory to God in the true meaning of the word. Nor does he accept it. Proverbs 28 9 says, he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." In other words, those who don't obey God might pray, but God will not listen. Even their prayers are an abomination. So at best, these people, unbelievers, can acknowledge God and pray to Him, beg Him for things. Because why? Because they're afraid. It's a selfish thing. They're afraid of suffering, or they're afraid of things of events have overtaken them and they can't handle them anymore. But, and their unbelief doesn't give them any assurance or comfort, so it's self-centered and offered as a last resort when everything else fails, basically trying to bargain with God. Oh God, if you'll do this, I'll do this. It's not accompanied though, if it is not accompanied with saving faced in Christ, it's fruitless, it's a waste of breath. The unbelievers in Romanism then and today give glory to men and to inanimate objects not to God they give them to Popes and to Mary and angels and saints to statues and crucifixes and bread and bones so they may say well we pray to God but again it's the same as another unbeliever praying to God Even their prayer is abomination. So that's the first point. The second point is to whom they gave glory. To the God of heaven. In this verse, the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven. So they worshiped him in spirit and in truth, something that unbelievers cannot do. Therefore, this verse is, I believe, referring to the biblical remnant, the elect of God's people. Those who had stayed in the Church of Rome at the time of the Protestant Reformation, perhaps fearing for their lives, or fearing for their lives, or their husbands, or their wives, or their children, if they left the Roman Catholic Church. And that was, in many places, a real fear, a real threat. In France, for example, before the French Revolution, we talked a lot last week about the excesses of the French Revolution, to the point that I stopped and I didn't give you all the material I had, because it was getting pretty gruesome. But in France, for example, before the French Revolution, it became illegal to leave the Roman Catholic Church if you were in it. It was illegal to leave it. There was a law that said that if a child of a suspected Protestant family said anything favorable to the Pope or to Roman Catholicism, no matter how slight, that child would be taken from his or her parents and put into a Catholic orphanage to be raised by priests and nuns, never to see their parents again. It was a law. History records that little children were encouraged by Roman priests to make some statement, no matter how innocent. They were given candy and told it was from the Pope. And then they were asked, do you think the Pope is a nice man? And if they said yes, that was enough. That was their desire to become a Roman Catholic. And they were taken away from their parents to be indoctrinated as good little Romanists. So a lot of people didn't leave the Roman Catholic Church, even though they recognized what it was and they believed the Bible. So I believe, along with many expositors, that this verse teaches, more than 1,500 years before it happened, that when God's elect who were still in the Roman Communion saw the Lord's judgments upon that imitation of paganism, their eyes were opened and they fled from it. In England, in Germany, Holland, France, Switzerland, Bohemia, Scandinavia, in fact, half of Europe, people left the church. And this symbolically resurrected the witnesses of Revelation 11 above the rage and temporal power of their enemies. So God's faithful remnant, his elect, realized, they were still in the Roman Catholic Church, but they realized when they got the Bible in their own languages, which they never had had before, remember Wycliffe and all the movement to get the Bible into people's own languages in Germany. Luther translating it for the first time to German and such. So they read the Bible in their own languages, which they never had before. They heard the preaching of that same word of God, which they'd never heard before. And through reading the famous biblically based tracts of Luther and other reformers, Luther was big on tracts. He wrote many, many tracts and printed thousands or who knows how many. They went all over Europe. So when they did all this, they read the Bible, they heard it preached, they read these biblically based tracts, and they compared all of this gospel teaching to the abomination of the mass and the obvious blasphemies of Rome's teachings, they realized that the Roman faith was a dead faith. That they could no longer remain in Roman Catholicism at the risk of their eternal soul, even if they were to die physically. Jesus said, you know, don't be concerned about those who can kill the body, but not the soul, but concerned about him who can throw both body and soul into hell. Just as some of us in this room, including me, were raised in the Roman Catholic faith, then read the Bible and heard it preached, went back to Mass, and then we were horrified to see it through eyes that had been opened by the Word of God. And then we realized we were sitting among the spiritually dead, We fled it for the living Church of Christ. Of course, the difference between us and those of earlier days is immeasurable. There's nothing heroic or inspiring about our story. Those people, however, left the Roman faith knowing they could be persecuted, imprisoned, even burned to death for it. So whether in France or England or Holland or virtually anywhere else in Europe, History testifies that the remnant, God's elect, but particularly, as this verse seems to indicate, his elect still within the grip of the Roman Church, were terrified when they saw God's judgments coming upon Romanism in uncountable numbers. The majority in many European nations fled out of it to embrace the gospel. I want to take, as you know, in these sermons I've tried to weave in the stories of martyrs so we understand a lot of what happened because we are woefully, myself included, uneducated when it comes to our church history. I want to give you an example of the persecution of Protestants in one nation under the Roman Catholic Queen Mary of England. I just finished reading Alison Weir's book, The Children of Henry VIII. which is a she wrote the the wives of Henry VIII and she followed up with the children of Henry VIII and she says in that book Protestants were still very much a minority group under Mary when Mary came in and they were perceived by the Queen, Queen Mary and her advisors as a cancer in the body politic of the Commonwealth that must be cut out lest it affect the sound members of that body. See what happened to Spring of Speed, King Henry VIII died his successor was edward his son six uh... edward the six was the most faithful christian ruler of england in history he was solidly reformed love the reform had been brought up uh... by some of the greatest uh... english theologian puritan reformed theologians had been trained he came to the throne when he was a teenager uh... and uh... so yet uh... a region uh... a person who acted in his stead until he attained majority age, but he was very, very hardcore Bible believer. Through God's will, Edward VI died when he was still a teenager. I don't recall, he ruled about four or five years or something, but he died and he succeeded after very odd little event in English history with Lady Jane Grey who became Queen for 10 days, but he was then succeeded by his stepsister Mary, Queen Mary, who was just as much a Catholic as Edward was a Protestant. So that's the Bridge of Speed in history, except Edward didn't persecute and kill anybody, any Catholics. See, we read about persecutions. You don't hear much because there isn't much to tell about Protestant persecutions of Catholics. There was no Protestant inquisition. So getting back to Mary, again quoting from Alison Weir's book, Protestantism she regarded as a cancer in England. It must be cut out lest it affect the sound members of England. Quote, each execution was to be authorized by the Queen's writ. The property of a convicted heretic, a Protestant, would then automatically revert to the crown. Quote, Mary believed that it was her Christian duty as a sovereign to make the heretic suffer a foretaste of hellfire in this world. So at the last, they would repent and be saved. She would not show her customary mercy to those guilty of crimes against God. And there's not a single instance on record of her extending clemency to a heretic. You could recant and say, oh, I've decided to become a Roman Catholic. Well, that's wonderful. Your soul is saved. Now we're going to burn you to death. Continuing the quote, nor would she permit others to show lenience. Mary saw her duty clear and carried it out with chilling single-mindedness. The first victim of the Marian persecution was John Rogers, an official of St. Paul's Cathedral and a married priest. He was burned alive on February 4, 1555, quote, in the midst of an angry protest by the watching crowd who were incensed that he had been forbidden to say goodbye to his wife and children. The next of what would be hundreds of Protestant martyrs was John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester. Quote, Hooper suffered next on February 9 in his own diocese of Gloucester. His death was terrible. The gunpowder bag which was sometimes hung around the necks of heretics to ensure a speedy end, did not explode. And he burned for three quarters of an hour, pitifully begging the crowd to fan the flames in order to end his agony. Immediately, there was a public outcry. See, Queen Mary thought that by making examples of these heretics and publicly burning them, that would make people say, well, I'm not going to be a Protestant. I'll go to the Roman Catholic Church. No, no, no, no. Far from converting the Protestants to the Roman faith, as had been intended, the burnings had the effect of hardening their resolve and inflaming their anger against Queen Mary. The bravery of the men who had died so painfully was an inspiration to many. Already, they were regarded as martyrs with beliefs worth dying for. But the burnings went on. Over the next few years, around 240 men and 60 women died at the stake. Most were popular preachers, artisans, farm laborers, or poor ignorant folk. Some were blind or disabled. One woman, Peritine Massey of Guernsey, was pregnant. Her baby was born as she was burning and cast back into the flames by the Roman Catholic executioner. Compared with the thousands who were martyred on the European continent for their Protestant faith, the Marian persecution was on a very small scale. But it was unprecedented in England. and therefore sufficient to inspire horror and revulsion in most people. In the minds of the English, Catholicism was increasingly becoming identified with brutal persecution. Yet Mary persevered, believing that the hearts of her people had been hardened by heresy, Protestantism, and that more examples must be made to bring them to their senses. In the eyes of the government, Protestants were enemies of the state and must be ruthlessly eradicated. Mary had come on a tide of popularity to the throne, but the burnings cost her that and the love of many of her subjects. She was reviled by Protestants as the cruel persecutor of martyrs. The term Bloody Mary was not unjustified. For centuries afterwards, Catholicism and persecution would be irredeemably linked in the minds of the English people. And this was certainly her doing. By killing more Protestants than any English ruler before or after her, mostly by burning them alive, Queen Mary of England is known to history as Bloody Mary. But she was simply a tool in the hands of God. The remnant, God's elect, were terrified by her and turned against Roman Catholicism, exactly the opposite of Mary's intentions, but precisely in accord with God's will. As we see in verse 13, The remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven. Just in accord with Revelation 18.4, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Let's not think Rome has changed. They want you to think they've changed. Satan does not change. He simply tailors his tactics from age to age, from nation to nation. Sometimes when he has the power, he comes as that French law we talked about. Or he comes as the Inquisition. or the terror of the French Revolution, or he comes as the power behind Bloody Mary. But cunningly tailoring his war against the church to fit the times and circumstances, sometimes Satan appears as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11, 14, seeking whom he may devour, 1 Peter 5, 8. One of his oldest and clearly most successful masquerades is this institution that calls itself the Roman Catholic Church. By any measure, it is Satan's greatest masterpiece. It does not change. It cannot change, because its head, Satan, cannot change. John 8, 44, Jesus said, He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of all. But in history, following the Protestant Reformation, never again would these nations come under the iron boot of the Pope and his armies. Never again would these nations command their people to submit to the imitation of paganism that is the Roman faith. They obeyed the Lord's commandment in Revelation 18.4, as I just read. Come out of it for my people. Now with Revelation 11.14, we begin a new narrative. The second woe is past, and behold, the third woe cometh quickly. We're going to take a look at this, and then we're not going to try to go through the end of the chapter. We're just going to wrap it up here. OK, what is this about woes? What are we talking about woes here? We'll look at Revelation 8, if you would, just flip over. Verse 13. Revelation 8, verse 13 says, and I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe. Three woes. to the inhabitants of the earth by reasoning the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels which are yet to sound." Revelation 9-12, one woe is passed and behold there comes two woes more hereafter. Now the meaning in verse 14, the second woe is passed and behold the third woe cometh quickly, is that what will happen in the next woe to come will be the final events leading up to the end of the world history. quickly doesn't mean that it would come while John lived, obviously, or sometime in the first century or something. The world hasn't ended, so it didn't come. So quickly didn't mean that. Most reformed commentators that I consulted believe that the first woe was indicated by the sounding of the fifth trumpet back in Revelation 8 and 9. It was the rise of Mohammedan Islam and the war of the Islamic Arabs against the West. That's the first woe. The second woe, indicated by the sounding of the sixth trumpet, Revelation 9.12, was the rise and eventual defeat of the Islamic Turks against the West. Now, it says the second woe is past. You mustn't think that means it obliterated. It simply means the threat that they once were has passed at this point in time. In fact, as we go on, we'll see a renewed rise of Islam as this world gets closer to the last day, and we're seeing it even today, of course. The Battle of Vienna, which was September 12, 1683, marked the turning point for Islam. It was defeated. It faded in Europe and elsewhere, even in the Middle East, and didn't have a resurgence until the moral decline of the West following World War II. So for all that time, from 1683 to the end of the 1940s, Islam was asleep, essentially. For centuries, many Bible commentators have interpreted Revelation 16, 15 through 17, and Revelation 19, 20, which describes the false prophet as the revival of Islam, possibly the one that we see today, and its eventual destruction and the conversion to Christianity of many of its followers. That's why the Westminster Directive for the Public Worship of God says that congregations are to pray for, among other things, quote, the deliverance of the distressed churches abroad from the tyranny of the anti-Christian faction and from the cruel oppression and blasphemies of the Turk. which means Islam. The third woe, the pouring out of the seven last plagues, is going to be described in detail in coming chapters. Most of the best expositors in church history, again, that I've consulted believe that this is the rise and decline and eventual destruction of the papacy. Take a look at Revelation 11. If you would go back to that, please. Let's read 15 through 19. As I say, we're not going to get through the whole thing. And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. The four and 20 elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and wast and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and has reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath has come. and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou should give rewards unto thy servants, the prophets, and the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great, and should destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there were seen in his temple the ark of his testament, and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." That finishes John's first series of visions. All of the seven seals in the book which the Lamb opened, remember the book with the seven seals, described in Revelation 5 have been opened. The last of the seven trumpets have been blown. And remember, God's decrees and judgments are announced with the blowing of trumpets. Remember that the opening of the seventh seal of the book in Revelation 8 didn't immediately bring in the final judgment. It anticipated it, but it didn't bring it in. The sounding of the seventh trumpet doesn't immediately bring in the last day. It anticipates it. It describes what will happen as an announcement of what is still to come. Time will not end. All the events we're going to be describing connected to the blowing of the seventh trumpet next week and future weeks will happen before the last day. It is, as one writer said, a mighty shout proceeding from great voices in heaven to announce the downfall of the rebel kingdoms of this world. The nations are in rebellion against God's word, against God's world, and at some point He will no longer tolerate that. Psalm 2 says, Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then he shall speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. It's a very nice way of saying he's going to destroy them. Destroy them. This verse that I just read from the Old Testament describes precisely what Revelation 11 and chapters 20 through 22 describe. Francis Nigel Lee quotes J. A. Bengel, quote, as soon as the seventh angel sounds, the kingdom of this world becomes the Lord's and his Christ's forever. It is only in heaven, however, that this takes place so immediately. In heaven alone it is celebrated with joy, for dreadful things are still to intervene on earth. Finally, doesn't Christ rule on earth now, though? Yes, of course he does, from the very foundation of the world. What the text means is that Christ's reign is expanding. This is taught in, among other places, Isaiah 9.6. Please look at Isaiah 9.6 as our last verse I'm going to have you look at. It's a verse that I'm sure is familiar to you. I think I've seen it on a lot of Christmas cards, actually. Isaiah 9, 6, although people quote it, but the meaning eludes a lot of them. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and that government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. This is a prophecy of Christ, obviously. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice for henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." Now this cannot be referring to heaven. A lot of people think it's talking about heaven. Since God's government and peace cannot increase in heaven, it's already perfect, right? So it has to refer to this present earth. The increase of his government and peace on this earth is not yet perfected. He's not acknowledged as the ruler of all nations yet. The will of the Lord has not come about there. But there will be a time in history on this present earth, is what this is saying, when all will recognize that Christ rules the nations. He presently allows his enemies time to repent and turn to him or to fill up their iniquities. When his enemies are put under his feet, when all nations come to him, when the papacy is destroyed, all of which are prophesied in scripture is then that the end will come, not before. First Corinthians 15.24 says, Then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father. It doesn't say that will be after the end or right at the end. It says, Only then will come the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, Christ, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. So it's without a doubt it's going to happen. Christ will be universally recognized as king of the earth, acknowledged to be the reigning Lord that in fact he has always been. And he will keep on reigning in this present earth, then in the new heavens and the new earth forever. Finally, David Steele in his 1870 book Notes on the Apocalypse writes, the greatest of all revolutions consists in restoring church and state to their scriptural foundation. transferring both from allegiance to the God of this world to their rightful owner, the Lord and his anointed. When this desirable epoch arrives, for which the persecuted witnesses have long and fervently prayed, for example, Revelation chapter 6, verse 10, and they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? He says, when this desirable epoch arrives, Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged as the ruler of all nations. When all nations, it says in Psalm 2, come to Him, kings come to Him. Gospel ministers and Christian magistrates will seek to do the will and aim at the glory of God. That will happen in human history. Let's pray.