-276-
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were
created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things
hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church;
he i s t he
be g i nn i ng and t he f i r s t bo rn f r om among t he dead
, so that in everything he
might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness
dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether
things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood,
shed on the cross.
Onc e y ou we r e a l i ena t ed f r om God and we r e enemi e s
i n y our mi nds be c aus e o f y our e v i l behav i o r . Bu t now He has r e c onc i l ed
y ou by Chr i s t ’ s phy s i c a l body
through death to present you holy in his
sight, without blemish and free from accusation
−
if you continue in your
faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the
gospel.”
(Colossians 1:9-23)
The Reformation was a great spiritual battle, meaning the errors were
disclosed and reform should have been complete. However, the opposite
occurred, [the dragon was not mortally wounded]: Satan was given a
reprieve, and deception continued as the order of the day. “And the dragon
stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He
had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns and on each
head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had
feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the
beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the
beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been
healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men
worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and
they also worshipped the beast and asked,
‘Who i s l ike t he beas t ? Who
c an make war aga i ns t h im? ’
The beast was given a mouth to utter proud
words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his
dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make
war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority
over every tribe, people, language and nation.
Al l i nhab i t an t s o f t he ear t h
wi l l wo r sh i p t he beas t
−
a l l who s e name s hav e no t be en wr i t t en i n t he
book o f l i f e be l ong i ng t o t he Lamb t ha t was s l a i n f r om t he c r ea t i on o f
t he wo r l d .
He, who has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into
captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and
faithfulness on the part of the saints
.
Then I saw another beast, coming out
of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He
exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the
