How the Great Controversy depicted in Revelation 12 applies to the broader experience of God’s Remant church today. Part 1

2016 Hartland Summer Campmeeting: Mission and Purpose of the Remnant Church

<p>How the Great Controversy depicted in Revelation 12 applies to the broader experience of God’s Remant church today. Part 1</p>

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Hartland Institute of Health and Education

Cody Francis

The Rise of the Remnant

Our Father in heaven, we are just thankful that you have given us this day.

We thank you for the opportunity to open your word together.

And we pray that you will be with us now as we read from your word.

And we ask that you will speak to our hearts and we pray that you will strengthen and encourage us.

I would like to look at a passage and a verse in particular that is very familiar to, I'm going to say every single 1 of us here.

In fact, probably most, if not all of us, have this verse committed to memory.

And rightly so, We should have it committed to memory.

But as I've been studying this passage and this verse, as frequently happens when we spend more time studying a passage and thinking about it and praying over it, the Lord speaks to our heart.

And no matter how common or how familiar it is.

We're going to look primarily at Revelation Chapter 12 today.

But Revelation Chapter 12, verse 17 is the verse that I want to read to begin with.

It says, 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." We all know the verse, right?

The dragon was angry with the woman and what does he do?

He goes to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

You know, as I was thinking about this verse and looking at it in the big picture of Revelation, I want to look at it in the big picture of Revelation, then I want to look at 1 particular phrase in this verse.

But I was thinking about an event that happened 567 years ago, something like that.

And it happened in Washington State, where I used to live.

In fact, it happened right on the road that I used to live at.

And there was a lady that left work, and as she left work, she was, I don't know if she left work late or what it was exactly, but she didn't come home from work.

And her husband called the, I believe it was the police department where she worked, and they looked and they found video surveillance of her leaving, driving out of the parking lot.

They said, well, it's out of our jurisdiction.

You're going to have to talk to someone else.

And so he called the county law enforcement agency And they said, well, you know what, there's really nothing we can do because she's an adult and we can't trace every person that is an adult.

So since it's not a minor, there's really nothing we can do.

And so he began calling and talking to people some more.

And after about a week, after rattling the cages of county law enforcement agencies, and finally they decided that perhaps they should investigate this.

And so, of course, her husband became the person of primary interest.

And so they asked, and he said, you know what, I don't care, just come.

I just want to know if we can try to find my wife." And so after, I think, like I said, somewhere around a week, they had him come in and They had him sign papers allowing them to look for cell phone records.

And at the same time they had him take a polygraph test.

And so they were going over that and explaining all of this.

And then 1 of the detectives came in with maps, with results from the cell phone and said, there is evidence, her cell phone is still responding, and it's right within this area.

What they had done is they had triangulated the reception of the cell phone, the different towers that it was, the cell phone was responding to or pinging off of, and narrowed it down to a very small area where that cell phone was to be.

So they went and they drove along the highway.

It's the main highway that goes to this town.

And drove along the highway and they saw 1 area where the bushes were just a little bit out of place.

And they investigated there and they found 20 feet down into a ravine upside down was his wife's car with his wife in it hanging upside down.

And she had been there for 8 days strapped in her seat belt, unable to move, but she had been, and when they arrived, she was still conscious.

Now imagine that, that 8 days without moving, basically, without water, she was extremely dehydrated, and they cut the car, the roof of the car or something in the car, and airlifted her to the hospital.

But it looked like, I don't know the follow-up of the story, but they thought that everything was, that she was going to survive.

And of course, her husband had driven down that road.

In fact, hundreds and probably thousands of people drove on that road every single day.

And it wasn't until they were able to get those cell phone records and triangulate in order to see what the, see where that 1 spot was that they were able to find her.

She was saved, her life was saved by this process of triangulation.

And in a similar manner to that, I want to look at where Revelation 12 fits in the main picture or in the broad picture of the book of Revelation.

And I wanna just survey Revelation just briefly, and then I wanna go directly to Revelation chapter 12.

In Revelation, you see the first 11 chapters are sometimes referred to as the historical section of Revelation, there are 3 major lines of prophecy in Revelation 1 through 11.

You have the 7 churches, the 7 seals, and the 7 trumpets.

And you have the same history that is being looked at from different perspectives.

So with the churches, you have the religious history and a somewhat more of a focus of internal forces working on the history of Christianity.

With the seals, you also have a description of religious history, but a little bit different perspective.

You have the perspective of external forces that are working upon the history of Christianity and the 7 seals culminates of course in the sealing of God's people.

And then you have in verse chapters 8 through 11 or so you have the 7 trumpets, the judgments and warnings, and it culminates in the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.

It's a very interesting way that it is organized and that the thought is developed there.

You have a repeating seventh in the first half of Revelation.

And each of the culmination points is somewhat unique.

So the culmination of the 7 churches is the seventh church of course which is what?

So you have the 7 churches culminating in Laodicea.

And then you have the 7 seals with the horsemen and then the souls under the altar.

And then the culmination really of the 7 seals is in Revelation chapter 7 where we have the sealing taking place.

And then the 7 trumpets, these different events and that were taking place and transpiring, but really the culmination of this also takes place in Revelation 11 where there's this voice that is heard, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

Laodicea, sealing, and the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdom of Jesus, kingdom of God.

I think when we look at it we see the culmination, we see the pinpoint, we see the focal point of it in Revelation chapters 12 to 14 in this cosmic battle.

Now when we look on the other side of Revelation, we see that everything is pointing back to Revelation 12, 13, and 14.

So you have the major events taking place there in chapters 13 and chapters 14 of the mark of the beast.

Revelation 15 you have a group that have gotten the victory over the beast.

Revelation 16 you have those that have received the mark of the beast.

Revelation 19, you have those that were, verse 20, those that were deceived and received the mark of the beast.

Revelation chapter 20, verse 4, those that had the victory over the mark of the beast as well.

When we look at it, the first part of Revelation builds up to this cosmic battle that is revealed, this cosmic vision, this vision of the cosmic battle in Revelation chapters 12, 13, and 14.

And then on the other side of Revelation, everything is pointing back to this cosmic battle.

Which leads me to conclude that Revelation 12 is the dividing point of the book of Revelation, that the heart of Revelation, and in order to understand the churches, the seals, the trumpets, the plagues, and these other events that are taking place in Revelation, we have to look back to the, we have to look to this heart of Revelation where this cosmic battle is transpiring.

So let's look there, Revelation chapter 12.

Let's review Revelation 12 briefly and then let's look at this phrase in particular that we are familiar with.

Revelation chapter 12, let's go ahead and read verses 1 and 2.

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.

And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

We see here the picture of this woman clothed with the sun, standing upon the moon, having this crown of 12 stars upon her head.

What is being pictured here in Revelation 12, 1 and 2?

We have a picture of God's people here, don't we?

But we know that a woman is used as a symbol throughout the Bible to represent God's people.

The Rise of the Remnant

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