well revelation chapter 12 it's interesting up Rudy was actually playing the introduction for the song we were supposed to be seeing according to the a schedule a Barry had flipped it over and was actually sing the song for this evening service However, that song went perfectly with the message this morning. And so that was not an accident, that was providential. I'm thankful for the Lord overseeing the services when we give them into his control. I've entitled this message, The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon. Sounds like the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or something, you know. But that's exactly what this chapter is about. It's about the woman. It's about her child. And it's about a dragon. And I must confess, in preparing this message, knowing what I was getting into, I was coming into it with fear and trembling. Many hours spent studying this passage. I'm very excited to share with you this morning the wonderful truths, I believe, that God has for us from this passage. And I believe it will fit together and make sense when it's all said and done. Let's dive right into it. I would like to Share with you an illustration I came across this week that I felt does a good job preparing us for what we're about to read. With dramatic skill, a Sunday school teacher was relaying to the elementary age children in her class the story of Abraham offering up Isaac. And she painted a very vivid portrait of what was going on, of what Abraham was feeling as God was asking him to sacrifice Isaac, the son of promise, on the altar. And as the tension built in the story, and Abraham and Isaac got to the mountain, and Isaac says, Father, where is the lamb? And Abraham with much deliberation and sorrow of heart, pensive view on his face, I guess probably said, God will provide himself a land. And as they got to the altar and Abraham took Isaac and bound him and placed him on the altar, one little girl said, stop, stop, I can't handle this anymore. Another little girl said, Mary, don't be silly. This is one of God's stories. And God's stories always turn out OK. Isn't that the truth? God's stories always turn out well for those who love God, to those who are the call according to his purpose. And at first glance, we read some of these stories in Revelation, we say, no, no, no, stop, stop, I can't handle this. No, no, this is one of God's stories. And God's stories always turn out okay in the end, for those who love God. With that in mind, let's read chapter 12. This is right on the heels of the seventh trumpet having been blown. The seventh trumpet is introducing the last seven of God's great judgments in the world. These are called the bowl judgments or vial judgments. Vial meaning a bowl, a container. And but before we can get into those bold judgment chapters twelve thirteen and fourteen really provide some background information for what's going on on the earth during this time. And so this is kind of almost an aside or kind of a background as we get into those final judgments. But all of this is right in the final three and a half years of this tribulation period right before Christ will return to establish his kingdom. So with that in mind, let's begin here in verse 1. We'll read the entire chapter, all 17 verses. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child who was to rule or shepherd all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, and that they should feed her there 1,203 score days. There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not. Neither was their place found anymore in heaven. The great dragon was cast out. That old serpent called the devil, Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast down into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the woman which hath brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness into her place where she is nourished for a time and times and a half time from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Well now you can see why I've titled this the woman the child and the dragon. Let's pray father. These are very sobering truths, and this is reality. These are not mere allegories, although there is allegorical language. We look forward to the fact, though, that we are on the winning side. We take with faith, by faith, the fact that all your stories turn out well. We're thankful that we prevail against the great adversary, sin and Satan himself, because of the blood of the Lamb. That's that blood we claim today as our cleansing from sin and our power over Satan. And so illumine us today that we might gain truths that would be practical even for our trials today. For it's in Christ and we pray. Amen. As we've read this chapter, I thought, how do I make this practical for today, for you, for me? As we go through this passage, it really struck me that I think what God is trying to teach us here is that God is the great provider. God is the great provider as we go through this passage we're going to see three different sections here we're going to show first of all that God provides a good shepherd the second passage we're going to see that God provides a great Savior. In the last section, God provides a great sanctuary. And so let's look at this now, kind of take this apart. I want to look at verses 1 through 6. He provides a good shepherd. And I get this from verse 5, where it says, and she brought forth a man child who was to rule. Do you see that word rule there? That's the Greek word that often is translated as shepherd. Shepherd. So this child who is born is going to be the great shepherd of all the nations, or we might say the good shepherd himself. And we see in verse one that this shepherd this son that's being talked about is born of Israel. So where did you get that. Let's look again at verse one. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of 12 stars. Well, this is going back all the way to the book of Genesis. In fact, what we really see here in chapter 12 is the cosmic struggle between good and evil from the very creation itself all the way till the end of human history. We get a really kind of a microcosm view of the whole history of good versus evil, of God versus Satan, of the fall and man's ultimate redemption. A lot is packed into this one chapter. Let me read to you from Genesis chapter 37, verses 9 through 10. It says, and he, that is Joseph, dreamed yet another dream. And he told his brothers and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more. And behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. Joseph, the twelfth star. And he told it to his father and to his brethren, and his father Jacob rebuked him and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee in the earth? And so we see here that John is actually referring back to that dream. the sun the moon the twelve stars that was Jacob his wife and the twelve sons of Jacob the patriarchs of Israel and so what that teaches us here right off the bat in fact it says there is a great wonder or sign literally this is telling us that this is really symbolic of Israel itself I'm not making that up the scripture itself tells us that this is who the woman is Israel This is Israel. Throughout the Old Testament, the promised seed had always been prophesied to come from the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Furthermore, through Judah and ultimately through David. And so the woman here represents Israel. This shepherd is not only born of Israel but this shepherd is also born of a woman and she verse two being with child cried travailing in birth and pain to be delivered. I think ultimately this takes us all the way back to the very fall of man. You remember when God was dealing with. Serpent. with the woman with Adam because of their sin in fact we're going to see a little bit later in that that Satan is called that old serpent again referring back to this event at the actual fall of mankind but one of the curses if you will one of the consequences for Eve's disobedience is that when she would give birth to a son or child it would be in sorrow and pain and great suffering all the way back to the very first mention of the gospel. One of the things that God would send a Savior to help man overcome the consequences of his sin, it's referring back to that moment in Genesis chapter 3. What's interesting also, when you go back to Isaiah chapter 7, verses 10 through 11, Moreover, the Lord spake unto Ahaz, that wicked king of the southern kingdom, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God. That word, sign, in Isaiah, when it was translated into Greek, was the same word translated, wonder, in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 1. What is this great sign that he would receive? Isaiah 7, 14, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Same word, wonder. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. Galatians chapter 4 verses 4 and 5, Paul would take this very theme and say, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Often in scripture Israel was actually referred to as a woman or even the wife of Jehovah. And it was not unusual for Israel as a woman. We talked about going through great labor pains like Isaiah 26 verse 17. Like as a woman with child that draws near the time of her deliveries and pain and cry it out in her pangs. So have we been in thy sight O Lord the prophet says. And so this son that we read about in Revelation chapter twelve. Very uniquely is coming out of the nation of Israel. He's going to be a Jew. And also there's something about him being the seed of a woman, which is unusual because typically they were referred to as the seed of the man. Not of the woman. I think this has overtones of a virgin birth as well. And furthermore the shepherd is born not only of Israel not only born of a woman but the shepherd is born despite opposition versus three four and five. And there appeared another sign or wonder in heaven and behold a great red dragon. This speaks of course to his ferocity. his fierceness, his destructive nature. He's a red dragon, perhaps referring to the murderous beast that he is. By nature, red in tooth and claw. And this beast has seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads. We'll get more into this later on in the book of Revelation. Suffice it to say, I believe that the seven heads refer to seven Empires, great empires down through the ages. I believe when Daniel saw that great statue in Nebuchadnezzar's day with the head of gold and the chest of silver and the midsection of bronze and the thighs of iron, and then the legs of clay and iron mixed with ten toes, I think that was kind of an insight of what was going on. seven great world empires, ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head. We're going to see that these 10 horns, I believe, are going to appear on the last of these heads. That these 10 horns refer to in Daniel's prophecy, in Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 7 and Daniel chapter 9. And so there's much about this dragon that we see his influence in human governments and empires through the years to try to crush God's work to frustrate God's plan. Not only that but verse four in his tale drew the third part of the stars of heaven. And cast them down to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations or shepherd all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. Not only was this great red dragon very much influencing the world's empires and kingdoms and emperors and kings of down through the ages, but this red dragon also had a tremendous negative influence on the angels of heaven themselves. It is not unusual in scripture for angels to be referred to be referred to as a star or stars. In fact we saw this just recently in Revelation chapter nine in verse one and the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven onto the earth and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. All right so this star falling is not some piece of chunk of ice or something coming through the atmosphere. Now this is a person. An angel. It says here that this great red dragon at some point there's conflict in heaven and with his tail he sweeps through the angelic hosts and snags one third. And that one third then are the demonic hosts that we fight even this day. Such hostility. has evidenced itself throughout the Old Testament, whether it was Cain killing Abel, and I believe Satan had some influence there, or whether it was Athaliah murdering all of David's royal seed, except for one, Joash, from Noah to Abraham, to Moses, to Herod's great slaughter of all of the children in Bethlehem, to the people of Nazareth seeking to pitch Jesus off of the cliff to kill him, ultimately to the cross itself. There was hostility. Satan and his marshaled evil forces sought to destroy this child even before the child was born trying to destroy it I believe that's why verse for his tail drawing the third part of the stars of heaven that event took place before the birth of Christ. The war that we're going to see here in verses seven and following take place after the birth of Christ. And yet, despite this powerful beast, this red dragon, able to influence the angelic hosts themselves, influence nations and empires and kings and armies, he cannot win. against God and his son. Psalm chapter 2 verses 2 through 9 the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed the son of our passage saying let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh He shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure. God says, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill. I will declare the decree the Lord has said unto me. Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. This child, as we see in verse 4, was caught up. That's the same word in Latin that's translated rapturo, where we get our word rapture. This child was caught up. I believe this was at the ascension, caught up to be there at the throne in heaven. Satan has no further access. And so he turns his attention to his children still in this world. Well verse 6 tells us that the woman or Israel if you will the woman flees into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her for a thousand two hundred and three square days one thousand two hundred sixty days you're going to see this particular number repeated several times twelve sixty twelve hundred sixty days or forty two months or three and a half years it's all the same. Now obviously when Jerusalem was first destroyed in A.D. 70. People who had been reading the Bible particularly what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24 where Jesus warns when you see the abomination of desolation set up in the temple itself flee to the hills. The Christians who were aware of Jesus's teaching. When the Roman hordes began to come and establish their standards there at the temple and take control they saw the handwriting on the wall they got out of Jerusalem. None of the Christians died at that point. But ultimately Jesus is prophecy in Matthew chapter twenty four about the abomination of desolation I believe refers to a point of time right here. Halfway through the tribulation period as the. Dragon has come to a point of heightened frustration we're going to see why just a minute. That God has prepared a place for his people out in the wilderness. apart from the devil himself. I believe that this period of twelve hundred sixty days also is the period of anti Christ's raging we'll see that in chapter thirteen. But here's a wonderful truth from these verses. God is our great provider he has provided a good shepherd by the way who is that good shepherd Jesus. Jesus himself says that, right? In John chapter 10, I am the good shepherd. What kind of shepherd is this? Psalm 23 comes to mind. In fact, if we have that shepherd, we shall not want. God is our great provider. He's provided a shepherd, and his name is Jesus. He's from Israel, he's of the seed of the woman, and he was born despite Satan's best efforts to destroy him. Because he's not in control. God is. Second of all, verses 7-12. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels. and prevail not neither was their place found anymore in heaven and the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil Satan which to see with the whole world he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Now if you were here for Dr Parker's. Ordination Council. Member one of the pastor said Dr Parker When does this conflict where Satan battles Michael in the heavens, when does this take place? Unfortunately, on Sunday mornings, we'd only gotten to Revelation 11 yet, and quite got to Revelation 12. So I told the pastor, I said, don't worry, we're getting to that in a few weeks. Well here we are we're getting to it. I see in this passage and I want to direct your attention particularly to verse 10 and I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now is calm. What's that next word. Salvation. He not only provides. A shepherd a good shepherd. He provides a great. Savior. A great savior. We need a savior because we face a powerful Satan. There's no way you and I or all of us together in our own strength could ever match up against the likes of this one. This red dragon. This deceiver of the world. It seems as though verse 7 really follows on the heels of verse 5. So the child is caught up to heaven, to his throne, and after that event, this war at some point takes place. The question really is, when does this take place? I believe that this takes place during the tribulation period. Why is that? Because right now, I don't understand this, but right now Satan has access to accuse you and me before God. If we look at scripture, were there not times recorded where Satan accused godly people before God's throne? Job comes to mind, right? Well, I don't know, God. I think Job, he's probably just serving you because of what he gets out of it. Well, that wasn't the case at all. But he was sure to accuse. In Zechariah chapter 3, you're going to see him standing there before the throne with Joshua, the high priest, and saying, ah, he's a sinful creature, he could never be the high priest. And so it is, down through the ages, even in Peter's day, when Jesus is all Peter, Satan desires thee to sift you as wheat. And this is why the promise is so wonderful when we see in 1st John chapter 2. That there at that throne where one is accusing us, and by the way he's doing it day and night. That's the same expression used to describe how often the four living creatures in Revelation 4 and 5 are praising God day and night. Satan is just as indefatigable. I mean he is just always accusing us. But you know what 1st John chapter 2 tells us? that we have an advocate with the Father. We have a lawyer, if you will, who's standing there pleading our case. And who is that lawyer? It's Jesus, the righteous one. And you see, it doesn't matter what Satan says. If we have been covered by the blood of the Lamb, then we are righteous in God's sight, not because of any good of our own, but because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ charged to our account. But he still is a formidable foe. That great dragon, great dragon, that old serpent, it takes us all the way back to the Garden of Eden. And the whole formation of sin and curse and devastation that he helped bring about. The world deceiver, the devil, the slanderer, Satan, our adversary. By the way, Michael, his name means who is like God. Oh, Satan so desperately wants to be God. But he's not like God. He's just a created being. And Satan and his hosts will ultimately cast him out of heaven. Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1 says, And at that time, in the last days, shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And by the way, notice in verse 9 again, the words cast out, cast out, cast out. No choice for the devil. He is forcibly thrown out of heaven once and for all. But you know what? We need a Savior not just because we face a powerful Satan. But we need a savior and this is probably even more sobering. We need a savior because we have personal sin. Sin that distances us, that separates us from a loving, holy, just God. In fact, we get this impression verses 10 and 11 because this Satan Well, let's look at verse 10 again, and I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now is come salvation Through the strength of God that results in the kingdom of God Through the agency of the authority of Jesus Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night and and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. There's our salvation motif, right? Jesus is the lamb of God who died to take away the sins of the world. It's the blood of the lamb that blunts all of the accusations of the devil himself. And by the way, the devil doesn't have to work hard to find things against me. Does he have to work hard for you? No! It's all there laid out very easily for him to just completely... And no wonder he can do it day and night. He's got enough material to do it with. But we overcome this great adversary and we overcome this separation from God based upon the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. They loved not their lives unto the death. Let me ask you something this morning. We often focus on this wonderful truth That we overcome sin, we overcome the devil based upon the blood of the lamb. But let's not forget the second part of that. The word of their testimony. Now you're not saved by what you do for God. That's the difference between true Christianity and all religion. True Christianity is all about what God has done for you. And accepting that by faith, and it's by grace through faith that we accept that. But there is a reality here. How is Christ's kingdom spread other than by us telling other people about this wonderful blood of Jesus Christ that has been shed for them? How is it that Christ's kingdom occupies, takes ground, wins souls. It's through the testimony of people who love not their lives unto the death. Maybe I could put it this way. It's really not so much a question of, although it may come to this, are you willing to die for Christ? Let me ask this question. Are you willing to live for Christ? Is Christ far more important to you than life and death itself? The devil's wrath really here is more emotional than it is rational. Verse 12, therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them. But, okay, so heaven has just lost its great adversary. but woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea for the devil is come down on to you having great wrath because he knows that he has but a short time. All right so this is terrible for earth at this point because not only are people suffering from the wrath of the land. But Satan is going to come on to the scene here and he is completely destructive he has no love for anybody. He's going to focus on the woman in her seat. But if there's collateral damage, so be it. And this is why there's a great woe. But you know what? Rejoice! because we have a great provider our God is a great provider he provides a shepherd he provides a savior for us and we need that savior because of this great Satan and personal sin. But finally. He provides a sanctuary look at verse thirty. And when the dragon saw that he was cast under the earth. his time is short he knows that he persecutes the woman that were persecuted can also be translated pursued the idea of relentless pursuit you know those nightmares you have of being chased by some dragon or you know some monster or something like that all right this is their worst nightmare he is pursuing persecuting the woman which brought forth the man child all right so this is again a reference to Israel in particular Why is he so upset with Israel? Because Israel is the apple of God's eye. Apart from the existence of Israel as a nation, the promises of God cannot be fulfilled. If God's promises aren't fulfilled, then God is not God. Satan wins. This is why Israel has always been an object of hatred. I contend that the existence of Israel as a nation today is one of the greatest proofs of the reality of God and His promises. But He is going to throw everything He has against this people But notice what happens, verse 14. All right, this is taken right from Daniel's prophecy, when it talks about a time and times and half a time. In the Hebrew, it's a little bit easier to see, because the Hebrew actually has a way of saying two, without saying plural. In English, we just have singular and plural. And plural could be two, could be 500. We don't know. Plural, single, one. Plural, two to whatever. In Hebrew, they actually have a one, a two, and a plural. And in Hebrew, it's one and two. So it's one time and two times and a half a time. That's where we get the three and a half years, three and a half seasons. Well, God provides a sanctuary for his people from persecution. I love this expression here. He's given them the wings of a great eagle. In Exodus chapter 19 and verse 4. God tells the people of Israel, you have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bear you on eagles wings and brought you into myself. Now were they literally picked up by an eagle and flown across the Red Sea and then plop down. No. And so we know this is not literally that they're flying on an eagle's back. This isn't like the Lord of the Rings series or something you know where the eagles always come through at the end and save the people that may be a reference by the way to this biblical analogy. but God is able to deliver well how did he do it in Egypt always sent in place he parted a Red Sea drowned the Egyptian army that's pretty significant. Wow. Deuteronomy chapter thirty two verse ten. Moses tells him the same thing and he says as an eagle stirred up her nest fluttering over her young spread of the broader wings take at them bear them on her wings so the Lord alone did. lead Israel. Jesus himself would make reference to this in his Olivet Discourse. And in this place of hiding, God will provide for his people like he did Elijah with the raven, or like he did with Israel and the manna, water from a rock, He's able to nourish them. And I got to thinking, well, how does this really apply to you and me? And then the Lord brought to mind that wonderful promise, Isaiah 40, 31. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. You know what? God provides eagles' wings for you and me, if we would but wait on him. God is also able to provide a sanctuary from destruction because, verse 15, now he is really angry, this great dragon. He has been frustrated at every turn. In fact, what he thought was his greatest triumph, the crucifixion of the son, was his greatest defeat. You can imagine how frustrated he would be at this point. Verse 15, the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped. the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth is this literally a flood of water perhaps it was a flood of water that saved the Israelites out of Egypt right literally We also see in Scripture though often that armies are described like a flood. Jeremiah 46, verses 7 and 8. Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers? Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers. And he saith, I will go up and will cover the earth. I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. So sometimes armies are described like a flood of water. Whether it's an army or whether it's literally a flood, I could see how perhaps flooding with water could be a possibility because if the people have fled into the wilderness, into caves, maybe underground, maybe thinking water would flush them out. Maybe water would drown them, perhaps sending a massive army to wipe out these unarmed civilians. We don't know. But we do know this. God will miraculously save them. Will it be an earthquake? And literally, like Korah and his confederacy, where they were swallowed up in the earth, He's capable of doing that. Will it be a massive sinkhole where all the waters will drain into and provide safety for his people? We don't know for sure how he's going to do that. We just know that he will do that. Ultimately, God is our sanctuary, our refuge, our safety. Deuteronomy 33 verses 27 is Moses is about ready to go on to be with his God. Leave this earth. He encourages the Israelites, and he says, God is our sanctuary. What a great provider our God is. He's provided us a shepherd, He's provided us a savior. He's provided us a sanctuary. Well, at the end of each of these sections that we've looked at, verses 1 through 6, and 7 through 12, and now 13 through 17, there's kind of an ominous overtone. Verse 6, verse 12, verse 17. You almost get the impression that the devil isn't giving up. Yeah, he may have been thwarted at this point, but it's not over yet. Verse 17, and the dragon was enraged with the woman. He couldn't touch her. He couldn't touch the sun. So now what does he do? He turns his attention to the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. I believe this is probably a reference to the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who are not holed up in this sanctuary, this refuge, but are going out, spreading the testimony of Jesus Christ. And he is going to try to pour out his wrath upon these individuals. But you know, we have a glimpse of his anger even today. Some of you may remember this. On January 25th, 1981, A brief item appeared in newspapers across the nation. The Summer Institute of Linguistics, run by Wycliffe Translators, had put out a notice that one of their translators, a man by the name of Chet Bitterman, had been captured by Colombian terrorists. They had submitted a ransom to Wycliffe, saying that if they did not remove all of their translators and all of their biblical work out of Columbia, that they would kill this individual by February 19th. Well, Bernie May, who was the United States Director of the Wycliffe Bible Translators, sent out a call to prayer, which read in part, Wycliffe has a corporation policy that we pay no ransom. It is part of the risk, which is just another word for faith, that we all take. We simply trust God to work all things together for good. Chet knew when he joined Wycliffe that it was risky business. But following Christ is always that for all of us. The man who wholly follows the Lord will invariably come under the shadow of the cross. It's inescapable. But the promise of a harvest of righteousness is just as invariable. So I ask you to join me in prayer for the bitterments. I also ask you to reassess your own commitment to Christ. It is mandatory as we move from Gethsemane towards Calvary, that we know who we are and where we stand when the torches light the garden at midnight. A few weeks after Bernie May had circulated that petition for prayer, Chet Bitterman was executed. But don't forget, God's stories always turn out good. There's always a good ending to his stories. By the way, I don't think Chet is suffering at all right now. He's far better off than any of us are right now. God is the great provider. But as I went through this passage and was meditating on it this morning, this last truth hit me. God is our great provider, yes. But here's the ultimate and wonderful truth. God is our great provider, and Christ is the great provision. He's the shepherd. He's the savior. He's the sanctuary. Come unto me, Christ says. All ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. What a great God. What a great Jesus.