We have come to the last part of the chart. The morning star you get in Revelation 22 while the earth is yet at its darkest, that is the only bright light to be seen. The morning star, the rapture. When we come further (Second Coming Crisis) we find Malachi 4 being fulfilled, the Sun of Righteousness rising with healing in His wings. That's how the day begins to develop. Then when we come to 2 Samuel 23, to the Millennial Valley, and King David is speaking of the king that is yet to sit upon his throne, and He shall be a morning without clouds. That is the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Coming into eternity we need the words of Peter in 2 Peter 3, it's the day of God. That is eternity, the never ending day, without a night and anything that belongs to time.

We spoke about the seven vials of retribution, and God dealing with the whole of nature and creation, until everything is in absolute chaos. There will be a darkness, the like of which they've never known before, save in the time when God visited Egypt with the plagues. The sun shall be darkened after those days, and the moon be turned into blood, and the stars of heaven shall fall. The efforts of Satan as he gave his power to the first beast, the political man, the one that tries to defy God in carrying on the times of the gentiles when God says there's an end; and the other one, the second beast, the religious man, that will seek to destroy the Jewish nation when God has promised for them a millennial blessing. So Satan has given his power to the two beasts, and the one who failed in heavenly places now fails in earthly places, and darkness covers the whole of the earth.

Then shall appear the sign of the coming of the Son of Man. Now brethren and sisters, can I tell you this these are principles that you've got to find out. Signs belong to the nation of Israel, they don't belong to the church. Now will you please get hold of that. The Jews seek after a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom. The ones that will recognise the sign are the ones that are alive when those signs are given. Anything less than that is mere speculation, so leave it alone. I'm convinced of this, that today it is given to us only to know the pattern of prophecy, but to the Jew it is given to see the unfolding of the pattern, and there is a tremendous difference. That is why we get such a lot of speculation when it comes to how prophecy is going to be fulfilled. You will notice the Lord Jesus says 'When ye see that which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, then know', hm? 'When ye see the fig tree putting forth her leaves, then know.' Then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven, and all these are in relation to Israel because the church will be out of the way altogether. So now, that is a principle, and we have got to observe it, and it will save you from a lot of disappointment when you discover that your speculation has just fallen on dry ground.

But brother and sister, the Lord Jesus is coming when all the efforts of Satan in respect of power, both in heaven and in earth have entered into absolute chaos, and failure, and defeat for Satan. Then amidst the darkness this great light is going to shine, and it's the brightness of His coming. Just as suddenly as all our troubles will be over when the Lord Jesus comes to take His church, so the troubles of the faithful remnant of Israel will be over when He shall appear from heaven in glory.

Now, how long it's going to take I don't know,' but I'm going to tell you this, I'm glad I'm coming with Him, I'm not waiting for Him to come. It's going to be a terrifying sight. The coming will be long enough for the first beast, the second beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, to gather together to Megiddo.

They'll gather all their forces together, and meet that blessed one, King of kings and Lord of lords, there with the scroll, the Word of God, and coming with the hosts upon their white horses. A lady in our meeting says she's scared to death of it, she says she's always been afraid of horses. Anyway, she'll have the opportunity to ride one then!

I've pointed out before, there is not going to be a battle.

Calvary has won the battle, and He'll destroy them with the sword which proceedeth out of His mouth. It will be enough to speak, and all the forces of the wicked one will be destroyed.

So that will be the end of it, and He will come, as Zechariah tells us, He will touch Olivet, and it will be divided, and it will be the resting place for the remnant, as the Lord Jesus deals with the whole of the situation.

There's going to be a time when the Son of Man is going to set up His kingdom. He will deal with those fleshly relatives of Israel: Edom, that is Esau; Moab; Ammon; the sons of that wicked union of Lot with his two daughters. The beast is not going to deal with them, they are going to be left. He will set up His throne, and He'll deal in righteousness and judgement. So peace depends upon righteousness, that's why there is no peace in this country or in the world today, because peace can only be established on righteousness. 'Therefore, being reckoned righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,' that is the word justification. To be reckoned righteous.

The tribulation is in Matthew 24, and the Lord continues, 'Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened unto 10 virgins.' 10 is not the number of the church; 7 is the number of the church.

The church is spoken of in the singular; these are spoken of in the plural. 5 of those virgins, the Lord Jesus says: ' I know you not.' But He will never say that to His virgin that is espoused to Him, that He is going to marry one day. This is the nation of Israel, and He is giving a brief history of the nation, they are going out without their lamps lit; they are taking their lamps, or their torches, and their oil in their vessels with them. But the oil is distinct from the torches. They are going out in the day, just like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. Then the night came, and all Israel is fast asleep. As David says, 'thou hast given to them the spirit of slumber.' Now you can never say that about the church. From Pentecost until now, somewhere or other, the testimony has been alive in the darkest ages of the church's history there has been a light shining somewhere. But the ten virgins, whether they are wise or foolish, they are all asleep, God has given them the spirit of slumber, and that is the nation today.

Then the cry is going to go out, 'Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.' I've got a New Testament, the first translation in English, not an original, mind you, it would be worth a lot of money, but it's a Wycliffe-Purvey translation of 1383. Do you know how it was translated, and three or four translations after that? 'Behold, the husband cometh with his wife.' I like that, that's lovely, that puts it in its right setting.

There is going to be a marriage in heaven, and God is going to perform it, and there are going to be witnesses there. 01d Testament saints are going to witness that marriage, and they are going to come down to the earth for the marriage supper. I don't believe in speculation, I like to give you some Scripture for it.

Will you have a look at every parable concerning the wedding of the nobleman's son? These are parables that are given to the Jews. Look too at Isaiah 6. Then look at your concordance for the wedding of the nobleman's son. It's the wedding supper. So the Jew, the remnant, he's going to be there.

So the nation of Israel will be dealt with first of all in respect of their testimony. But when we come to the servants with the talents they are going to be judged in respect to their ._ works, because their testimony is proved by their works, and brother and sister, I wish we could get that home. It's not enough to say it, you've got to prove it. If any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things are past away, behold all things are become new, and all things are of God. Now young people, for your own soul's sake, and for the comfort and assurance of others, prove your salvation by the evidence of a new life in the power of the indwelling spirit.

So the man with the five talents 'gained five more'; the man with the two, 'gained two more'; the man with the one said, 'I knew that thou art a hard and austere man, reaping where thou hast not strawed, there it is back again.' They were judged in respect of their works. As the foolish ones were cast out because they had no testimony, then that wicked one was cast out because he had no works. Now that's the nation of Israel. As the principle moves today (for if judgement must first begin at the house of God) then God will begin with His people.

Then He'll go to the nations, and here are the sheep and the goats. Now have a look, it says they are nations. God will divide again in respect of testimony, because you can tell the difference between a sheep and a goat, can't you? I can do that.

The goats are upon the left hand, and the sheep are upon the right hand, and there's the testimony. But then having been judged in respect of testimony they will be judged in respect of their works. 'You visited me in prison, you clothed me when I was naked, you fed me when I was hungry.' 'When did we this?' 'Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these the least of my brethren ye did it unto me.' So He will set up His throne in righteousness, and He'll judge the nations in righteousness, and those whose testimony and works do not come up to the righteousness of the throne of Christ will be cast out, for only righteousness is going in to the millennial day.

Now brethren, He's going to rule with a rod of iron. The remarkable thing is that the word is 'shepherd'. He'll be a shepherd with a rod of iron. So in the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus there will be no compromise. Then there is the Branch, but there's a branch, a shoot out of it. This means in relation to His flesh, that he springs from the branch of Jesse, David's son; but there is His deity, and He springs out of the root.

Before Jesse ever was, was the man Christ Jesus.

Will you notice, brother and sister, that there is the seven fold spirit upon Him. Have a look, count them for yourselves, and if you'd like to look into the New Testament Scripture you'll find the Spirit of God described in a seven fold way. The Spirit of truth, the spirit of life, He's the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind etc, have a look at it for yourself. You'll find the description of the spirit of God, the seven eyes before the throne, seven spirits before the throne, here is the seven fold character of the spirit of God in all His completeness, in all His perfectness, as He is in the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As it is established in righteousness, then we can understand there won't be a law for the rich and a law for the poor. Or law for the black and a law for the white. There'll be no compromise; there'll be righteous judgement from the throne of God for the whole of the thousand years. He will rebuke with equity, and it doesn't matter who he is, what he sows he will reap, and the labour of his hand he will obtain. I heard a good translation, 'the blessing of the Lord which maketh rich, and addeth no tax to it.' There won't be any need of taxes in the millennium, or need a great police force, or a large army. You won't need your nuclear bombs. In the millennium it will be the blessing of the Lord, and no tax to it.

Let's go a step further. The whole of the creation, the birds, the beast, the creeping things will be at peace amongst themselves. The lion will eat straw like the ox. They are going to go back to the Edenic condition of things, and in that sense there is nothing going to hurt or destroy in all God's holy mountain. I'm really interested in natural things, and love to see the handiwork of God. The wolf, the calf, the lion, the ox, dwelling together. There will be complete harmony when the second Adam comes to sit upon the throne of the earth. Also the lower creation will again recognise the authority and position of the human race. Just like it did before sin came into the world, and Adam had dominion over all the works of God's hands, he had dominion over all the creatures, and they came before him, and they recognised his authority. The animal creation is going to recognise the authority of the human creation.

Isaiah gives us two illustrations. He says they shall place the sucking child upon the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall play at the cockatrice's den. The first one cannot help himself. I remember a friend of mine talking about his child.

His wife had put the child in the pram in the garden. When the wife went to look at the child there was a rat in the pram, just chewing at the child's cheek. The child could do nothing. That's the sucking child, it's the weakest thing. Contrast a kitten a couple of hours old and you'll find it trying to crawl around.

The human babe is the weakest thing that there is, it has got to stay where it is put. A mother, wittingly or unwittingly, will be able to put the sucking child upon the hole of the asp, that

lethal thing, and know quite well that the authority of the human race will be recognised. As for the weaned child, once he discovers he has feet and can walk you don't know where he is or what he's getting into, and the weaned child shall play at the scorpion's den, just for the mischief of it, and the Spirit of God uses these illustrations to show that the creation is going to recognise the authority of the human race.

Brother, not only that, but the nations are going to meet together to that blessed Person, and that Person is going to make the dictates of peace, and they will learn war no more. An woe

betide the nation or the person that dare raise a sword, for immediately he will be judged, and sacrifice his privilege of living the thousand years of the millennial reign.

Then He comes to the Jews, and Ephraim are the 10 tribes, and Judah the 2 tribes. There is Ephraim, envious of Judah; there is Judah, vexing Ephraim. Isaiah says there will be no envy, there will be no vexation, there will be a unity of the nation again.

Now we daren't go any further into that, except to say this, the right of the firstborn is possession and power. Now that was divided because of what Reuben did, going up to his father's wife's bed. The right of the firstborn was taken, one part was given to Judah, that's the power, and the other part was given to Joseph, and that's the possession. So I see Judah, still with the sceptre and David's crown; I still see him with the Aaronic priesthood; but I see Ephraim going up his own way, but with ten tribes under his hand. You will find the truth of that when you come to the Son of Solomon, Rehoboam and the son of Joseph, Jeroboam, and you'll find the nation divided. So the right of the firstborn is divided, the one has the power, the other the possession, but here, brother and sister, you'll find Ephraim and Judah together, one nation. Instead of the nation of Israel being the tail, they'll be the head, and kings shall be their nursing fathers.

So we get that picture, briefly, of the complete turn about of the situation that is now, when the' King comes to sit upon his throne, from the level of government and of rule, right down through the animal behaviour, the acknowledgement of human authority, the nations at peace, the unity of the nation of Israel, all acknowledging the government and authority of the man at God's right hand. So God says: 'Sit thou here, until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.'

How often have you heard that the desert is blossoming as the rose? How often have you heard that? But it's not. The Jew is clever and a more industrious than the Arab. The Arab doesn't mind roaming round and finding the easiest way out, but the Jew, when he went into possession, made his kibbutz and started to irrigate he land, and to produce where the Arab couldn't find a thing to produce. Brother and sister that is artificial irrigation, but in that day you will not need it. Instead of parched ground, standing water. Ever been on the beach with your youngsters? They dig a big hole in the sand, and run down to the water and fill a bucket, and put it in the hole and run and get another, and when they come back to the hole it's gone, and you get the blame for taking it out. Listen, the thirst of the earth hasn't been satisfied yet. There will be no Gobi, no Arizona desert, no Sahara, the thirst of the earth will be satisfied, and the result will be that the desert will blossom as the rose.

But now, if anyone takes a sword, it's going to be dealt with in judgement and he will surrender his right to live throughout the thousand years. Listen brethren, a thousand years is a long, long time; the devil's been taken and put in the bottomless pit, so he can't be blamed for everything. I'll tell you this, he gets the blame today for a lot that he is not responsible for. The devil can only be at one place at a time, he's only a preacher. When a man is tempted he is drawn away of his own lust, so don't blame ¯ the devil for something that you are responsible for.

There are families going to be born in that thousand years, children are going to be born. It is estimated that between Adam and Noah, a period of about one thousand two hundred years, you have got 11 generations to Shem, Ham and Japheth. Those who know their statistics better than I can work them out say there was an average of 10-12 million people. That is a lot of people, especially when you consider that only 8 souls were saved by water.

Now here's a thousand years, and we can find children, and children's children and grand children, and so on. They are going to be brought up in the most sublime circumstances that the human race has ever known. Better than the conditions experienced by Cain and Abel. They are going to be brought up in a situation where the Christ of God is the king, and not Adam. Where Satan is out of the way in the bottomless pit, and where he cannot come in the guise of a serpent and tempt. Here in these sublime situations, what's the need of salvation? What's the need of ¯ 'That which is born of the conversion? Listen brother and sister, flesh is flesh,' whether it's in the millennium or anywhere else.

David speaks of those yielding a feigned obedience to the throne, because they will have to obey the throne or else they will forfeit their right to live. There is going to be host, and the apostle John in the book of the Revelation says they are without number as the sand of the sea shore, and Satan, when he is loosed out of the bottomless pit, is going to compass the earth and gather them all. Because they are not saved, because they are not right with God, because they are yielding a feigned obedience, they become easy prey to Satan and his deception again. They will gather together about the camp of the saints, the holy City where the Lord is, and they will seek one desperate, abortive effort to overthrow all the failure and defeat that Satan has had. God will send fire.out of heaven and consume them.

So at the end of the millennium, God deals in judgement, and man has proved himself as much a failure as in any other age in which God has put him.

So just as the beast, the first and the second, were cast immediately into the lake of fire, so now Satan is taken and cast in as well. Then the heavens and the earth pass away with a great noise and a fervent heat. After that there, in measureless space, will be the great white throne set up. I'm using the word as it ought to be used, it's going to be an awful scene, a scene that would strike awe and terror in the hearts of any that have got to stand there. That great white throne is set up, and the man that died upon the cross, the man that sat upon the throne of His father David, that man that now sits upon the right hand of the throne of God, is the man that is going to sit upon that great white throne.

Death and hell are going to deliver up their dead. Death as you know is the body, hell is the abode of the soul, where the rich man still is after almost two thousand years. The Lord Jesus has led captivity captive, the righteous live, but the wicked are still in hell. So that body and soul are going to be raised, and they are going to stand there at the great white throne, great and small, the sea delivering up the dead. The judge is a righteous judge. 'Shall not judge of all the earth do right?' Of course He will. Will you notice first of all that the books were opened, and they were judged out of the books according to their works. That's positive judgement. Now if it's works, brother and sister, it's Law. They are going to be convinced according to the Law, and they have no right to the blessing of God, only His judgement. Then it says another book was opened. This is negative judgement. Whosoever's name was not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire. Now they are going to be judged in grace, and they have despised the grace of God and the Christ that could have saved them. So by Law and by grace they are convinced they have no right to eternal blessing. Having convinced them righteously that they have no right to heaven, then He will convict them. Having convicted them He will consign them to the lake of fire. So nobody standing around the great white throne is going to heaven. It's the wicked dead, all the righteous dead have been raised a long time ago.

We shall then pass into eternity. What can we say? Well, I know that in His presence is fulness of joy, and at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore. There is a man in the glory that has been bringing Out from Himself for all eternity that which has been delighting the heart of God, and He will continue to do it eternally. I like the Greek translation of eternity, the ages of the ages, that means that God has still got work to do, and we are going to see the hand of God, in all the wonders of His person throughout eternity. I tell you brother, heaven and earth will fade into insignificance when we gaze upon the might of the eternal God at work.

If John cannot tell us what is there he will tell us what is not there. There will be more sorrow; no more tears; no more pain; no more death. There will not be a twitch that will cause an anxious look, there will not be a tear that will betray a saddened heart, there will not be a sigh in the face of death, they are gone, and gone for eternity.

Brother and sister, don't look at eternity as if it's an unfolding. Eternity is an eternal now. Do you see that rich man in hell? Send Lazarus. 'Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivest thy good things, but now, thou art tormented'. Go and ask that man what time it is, do you know what he'd say? Now.

There is no growth upon perfection, and eternity is an eternal now.

I'll give you another clue, there's no night there, so you won't be able to govern time by the moon. There's no need of the sun, so you won't be able to govern time by the sun. There's no more sea, so you won't be able to govern time by the tides. There won't be any incidences that these good ladies like, that the brethren forget, 'Don't you remember it was when so-and-so was born?'

I am going to finish with this. You don't believe in evolution, do you? Or do you? Because if you do you ought to be ashamed of yourself. You give all the glory to an ape instead of to God. God showed Himself as a creator, and then showed Himself as a redeemer, but now God has reversed the order. To us He's shown' Himself as a redeemer, the heaven and earth are going to pass away, and He's going to make a new heaven and a new earth. There will be the host of the redeemed looking upon the hand of the creator as he brings a new heaven and a new earth into being wherein dwelleth righteousness.

We are only touching the hem of the garment yet. One day we are going to see Him face to face, his perfect likeness wear, and all His ways of wondrous grace through endless years declare.