The temple had been measured up by the measuring reed; the little rooms all of one dimension, each one as large as the whole building. The worship and the worshipers all measured by the measuring reed--the Bible-- and then the kingdoms of earth are the kingdoms of the Lord. And I do feel like joining in with the old apostle, and saying, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy of this book;" the Lord having made known that the measuring reed, the two witnesses for Jesus, the two Testaments, after lying dead 1260 years, after being clothed in a bad translation, in a dead language that long, was, in the days of the fighting with gunpowder, to be brought to life again, translated into the living languages of earth, and given to the Lord's people to measure the Church, the worship, and the worshipers--the whole building and all its materials. And every man that has read history as much as he should, knows that it is literally fulfilled. We have it alive to-night, and I bless the Lord that made known to us that it was to be given to us as a measuring reed, in the days of the sounding of the sixth angel's trumpet. And by the time we get all the/179/worship measured with it, and get all the worshipers measured with it--as we said on last night--and all the congregations measured with it, we will be ready to sing out, "The kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of Christ." The only way to bring about that glorious time is, just to work by the one rule--not measure our measures by it, but measure the church itself. Not measure our rules and our notions by it, but measure by the Bible, by the reed itself. That for ever turns over and throws down into the dust the argument that the Bible is a kind of constitution to try rules and laws by; it is the measure itself, to measure the Church, the worship, and the worshipers.
 
But when the kingdoms of this world are declared to be the kingdoms of Christ, John says, "The four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces and worshiped God." And John says that they bowed and worshiped when the four quarters of the world acknowledged Jesus. And I said that that had reference to the millennial age, when the kingdoms of this world all acknowledged Jesus. I said so in my lecture on the fourth chapter; and I said there would be some more proof of it, and right here it is; just at the point where he says the kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of Christ, he introduces the elders bowing and worshiping, the whole family of the Lord, Jews and Gentiles, united and worshiping the Lord. They not only bow and worship, but they say, "We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and west, and art to come." The most of our modern translations leave out "to come," here, but they do not in the fourth chapter, which is a parallel with this portion precisely. In the fourth chapter, these elders and beasts, while bowing and worshiping, at the time when the kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of Christ, say the Lord is to come. Do you know why I make this quotation? Simply to show that at the /180/ time when the kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of Christ--the millennium ushers in--the Lord has not come yet, in person; they could not say, "art to come," if he was here. Little words carry a large amount of meaning sometimes. "Because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged." What class of the dead, "And that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great." Just that many of them at the commencement of the reign of Christ on earth--the millennial age, those that fear the name of the Lord, small and great, will be raised and judged, and rewarded, John says. I just leave it with you; I know nothing more than he tells me.
 
And the Lord said at that time he would destroy them that destroy the earth; those that had been destroying his people and his word will be destroyed when the saints possess the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens. He is through with the history of the Bible, from the day that the testimony was all brought together into one volume; through with the dark ages while it was dead as a rule, and the time it was revived and stood up, and was given to the Lord's people for a measure to measure the Church, until the Lord's people rule all over the earth, by the Bible. John gives us an entire history of the Bible; and when he has done this, he has made known a matter that is of so much importance that he must give us a history of it, and that matter is the kingdom of Christ--the Church of the Lord. He has introduced it, and it is measured by the measuring reed, in the days of the fighting with fire, smoke and brimstone.
 
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven," (they were measuring it) "and there was seen in this temple the /181/ ark of his testament; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."
 
At the time when the Lord destroys them that had fought against his cause, the gunpowder, the fire, smoke, and brimstone, made a heavy hail-fall. John knew no other name for the balls--the cannon balls and the small ones, than to call them hail; and it was to destroy the nations and kill the third part of men; and no sensible man needs more proof than to read its fulfillment. It is literally fulfilled. Leaden hail falls on the nations and destroys them, and will destroy every one that will not acknowledge Jesus.
 
"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 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 hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days."
 
This was a wonderful vision. John said it was a wonder. He saw a woman clothed with the sun, a beautiful garment of light, and she had the moon under her feet, and she had on her head a crown of twelve stars. But here stood a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and its tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them down to the ground. I do wish /182/ you would lend your imagination, and try to look at the vision with John. The woman brought forth a man child that was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and that old red dragon tried to kill it, but failed. It is caught up to God on his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness and staid there 1260 days. A day stands for a year, or there is no meaning in the prophecies. It would condense too much to take it literally. We have already proved that a day stands for a year, by the mouth of the Lord. What is this vision?--that is the question.
 
David says, in the second Psalm, of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel; and then he exhorts kings and rulers to kiss the Son, lest he be angry; and they perish when his wrath is kindled but a little. The matter is settled then.
 
Some writers say the man-child is the Lord Jesus. Then, the woman John saw must have been the Virgin Mary, for she was the mother of the Lord. They say that the red dragon must have been Herod the Great, for Herod did try to take the life of Christ; he sent forth his men of war, and slew all the children in Bethlehem of Judea, from the date of Christ's birth down to that time, from two years old and under. But Joseph, warned of God in a dream, took the young child and his mother, and went down into the land of Egypt, and Herod failed to take the life of Christ. It looks like it fits, almost in every particular; but still it can not be the true exposition, from the fact that in the vision of John, the man child and the woman were separated one from the other; but in the flight down into Egypt, Joseph took the young child and his mother together. It can not be the true exposition from another fact: "down into Egypt," has never been, that I know of, in the Bible, called, "up to God's throne." It can not be the true exposition from another cause--the strongest /183/ one of all: John was telling of things that v ere to come to pass in the future--after the year 96, while the flight of Joseph and Mary down into Egypt was a matter that had taken place more than 90 years before John was in Patmos, and it required no revelation from the God cf heaven to make known that matter of history.
 
But there is another matter that shows that this is not a correct exposition of this vision. This, Herod the Great was a man who had but one head. That is all. He was a bad man, but no individual man is, in the Bible, called a beast or dragon. This can not be the correct exposition, from the reasons assigned.
 
We look for the true meaning, then. And the true meaning is just named, the matter just introduced by the Lord himself, when he says, "The temple of God was open, and in it the ark of his testimony." The Church of the Lord is open; John saw the Church measured up; he saw the bride of Christ--the Lamb's wife. The Church is called the woman--the Lamb's wife. Paul says, in one of his letters, A man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church; that the Church sustains the same relation to Christ, that the woman does to her husband. And for that reason we ought to say as Paul said, that the wife should be named of her husband. The whole family in heaven and on earth is named of Him, and all married to Him. We know what the Church ought to be called, then,--married to Christ, the wife of Christ. The Lord save us from assuming any other name than that of the husband. No good wife would wear any other name than that of her husband; she would not consent to. It is an insult to the husband for the wife to call herself by any other name than his. But, for a long time the Church did it; for a long time the Lord's people were in Babylon; but when they measure /184/ up by the measure of the Lord, they will have no name but the husband's. John looked and saw the Church in all its beauty; saw the Church clothed with the sun; just what Jesus said about it,--"You are the light of the world.)' O, that we might realize it! The Church clothed with the sun, putting on the true light! The light of a perishing world, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true light. No wonder John said the woman was clothed with the sun. The Virgin Mary never wore that light; but the Church does. She puts on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true light; and hence John said she was clothed with the sun.
 
But while he saw the Church in her beauty, clothed with the sun, he said the moon was under her feet. And the Lord intended we should know what was meant by that. The other is not hard. The Church is the light of the world. It is proper to say, then, she has a garment of light on. But what is the moon under her feet? One writer said, the old Jewish dispensation. May be not. I do not think the Church rests on that, or tramples it down, either. The Church has no business to trample down the Jewish dispensation, or to destroy it. She does not stand on it for a foundation; it is not under her feet, in any sense. What is it, then? Let the Lord tell. I quoted it just now, but you did not pay attention to it. Jesus says of the Church, "You are the light of the world,"--of the people of the world. The only light the world has, is the Church; and the only light the moon has, is the sun: the moon has a borrowed light from the sun. Every child of ten years knows, whether he has studied the science of astronomy or not, that the moon borrows all its light from the sun. And the world borrows all its light from the Church; for Jesus said, "You are the light of the world." Then that which has a borrowed light from the sun, is the moon, as certainly as the moon borrows its light, literally /185/ from the sun. And John saw the Church clothed with a garment of light, with the world under its feet. While it was giving light to the world, it stood above the world, not on it, as a foundation; but it put the world down under its feet, and stood above it; while the world borrowed light from the Church, the Church stood above it, when measured up rightly.
 
Then it had on the head, at the very start of the Church, twelve bright stars. The twelve apostles stood at the head of the Lord's family, or Church, at the beginning. No wonder John said, on the head was a crown of twelve stars' at the starting point. The stars were the foundation, laid upon the great corner stone that was laid first. And then the whole building was reared, and they stand at the head, or starting point, a crown of glory. O! what a beautiful Church! The light of the world, with the twelve bright stars for its starting point, or on its head!
 
And the Church, in all its beauty, stands travailing in birth, pained to be delivered. She was in travail, and brought forth a man child, that was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. But who is the man child? That is the question. I could not tell, if the Lord had not made it known. In this very connection, and in some other place, ne said the seed of the woman are those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. In this same connection--did you hear it?--the man child, or the seed of the woman, are those that keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. They are Christians. Language could not be plainer. The seed of this woman that John saw clothed with the sun, are Christians.
 
But why say, "a man child," in the singular number? Because the Lord always, in this book, has used the singular, when any number of persons were to do the same work, or to engage in the same thing. Do you want the /186/ proof of it? Are Christians to rule the nations? Jesus was to do that, was he not? Hear, then [chap 29]:
 
"But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not known this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden: but that which ye have already, hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches."
 
Here we have the declaration of Jesus that the faithful Christian is to rule the nations with a rod of iron. And he speaks of them in the plural, first, and then says, in the singular, "He that overcometh." He means all the Christians, when he says "he," in the singular; language could not be plainer. And he says that these faithful Christians are to rule the nations with a rod of iron.
 
"But they are dead." O yes; those that were born then are dead; but it matters not, the spirit is the same; it is the same work, done by the brethren, measured by the same reed, though they may live at the end of the Christian dispensation; so Christians do the work, it is enough.
 
But, then, why did David say that Jesus was to rule the nations with a rod of iron? Because he will do it, but not in person. My friend, in Lawrence county, built a fine house last summer that cost $15,000. He did not do one stroke of the work; still, they all say he built the house. He paid for the materials, hired the hands, and superintended the work; gave the instructions as to how it was to be built, told the number of rooms and their size; and the neighbors all say he built the house. And he did, in /187/ one sense--by the workmen he employed. That is all. God created every thing that is visible to human eyes. Who would say the Almighty did not create all things? He did it by his Son, Jesus Christ; but it is none the less the work of God.
 
But that is not all. The Lord God of heaven brought Israel out of Egypt, but not in person; he did it by the hand of Moses. Is it less the work of God, when he sent Moses and empowered him to do the work, and gave him instructions how to act all along the journey?
 
The Lord Jesus explains what David said. He says to the faithful Christians that keep his works unto the end, he will give power over the nations, and they shall rule them with a rod of iron, and as the vessel of the potter shall they dash them in pieces. My Father has given me that privilege, and I will do it through my faithful followers. It is Jesus ruling then, and reigning when the saints do, for he is doing it by and through them. That ought to settle a little quibbling and misunderstanding among the brotherhood, when some say the saints will reign, and others, that Jesus will reign in person. Jesus says he will reign through his faithful disciples; and I will not dispute his word.
 
John saw the woman--the Church--as she at first stood, in all her beauty and loveliness. She brought forth just such Christians as are yet to rule the world--to rule the nations; the same kind, of the same spirit. But the great red dragon, that had seven heads and ten horns, stood before the woman--stood before the Church, as soon as it was organized. And while Christians are being born again--turning to the Lord--that red dragon stood to kill them, to exterminate them, and blot out every one from the face of the earth. What is this seven-headed, tenhorned monster, whose long tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven? If you know what power did fight against /188/ the Church, against the Christians, at the first, you hare the truth of the matter. And there was no power on earth, or beneath the skies, that could do it but pagan Rome; for the whole earth was in the arms of that mighty empire. There was no power on earth to withstand the Church when it was organized, but pagan Rome. That ought to settle it.
 
But that is not enough, some may think. May be that was not so. But then the Lord has said that this dragon stands for an empire or kingdom, as the beast does. It was a red one, and Rome was red, red with blood, a red horse, called in one of John's visions. But here he says it had seven heads and ten horns; and in the seventeenth chapter he calls our attention to this very same red, or scarlet-colored, dragon or beast, and says he had seven heads and ten horns, and carried upon himself, or on his back, Mystery Babylon the Great. And then the angel said to John, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell you what the vision is, what the horns are, and what the red beast is. hind he said, the seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sitteth; five are fallen, and one is, and the other has not come yet. One stands, and the other is not grown up yet. Some commentaries say these seven mountains upon which the woman sat, were the seven hills upon which the city of Rome was built. I felt ashamed to read it. Of the seven hills, did five ever fall down? Was only one of them standing in John's day? Had one of them to come up yet? There is no sense in that. "And these are seven kings" (or forms of government). Five of the kingly forms of this red dragon are fallen; one is, (in existence now) and the other form has not come yet. That is the Bible, almost verbatim et literatim.
 
Five of the forms of government of pagan Rome had fallen when John was in Patmos. I know it from history. /189/ The kingly form established by Romulus and Remus had its day, and went down. That was the starting head of pagan Rome; but that form died, and then they had consuls, who governed with kingly power. That lasted a while, and went down. And then they had dictators, that ruled with kingly power; and that form of Roman government lasted a while, and went down. And then they tad their Decemvirs, that lasted a while, and then that form of kingly power went down. And then they had their military tribunes, that lasted a while, and then went down. First kings, then consuls, then dictators, then Decemvirs, then military tribunes. These five forms of pagan Rome had their day, and have gone down. Five heads, or starting points, have fallen; one form of the red dragon is now in existence. There is no man on earth but must know, if he is a historian at all, that pagan Rome was the then ruling power.
 
One of the heads now is. Of course, then, it was the imperial form of pagan Rome, for the emperors were reigning in John's day. That was the sixth form of Rome. Then another form came in soon after, and lasted a little while. The Constantine age, or what was called Christian Rome in its pagan form; that lasted only a short time. And then there was another form of Rome--the eighth form, to come; that was to take the place of all these seven, and grew up out of them.
 
It seems to me that the red dragon, five of whose seven heads were dead, and one alive and reigning, was pagan Rome, for no other government was alive and reigning when John saw the Vision, but pagan Rome; and pagan Rome did unsheath its sword and put Christians to death
 
the man child, the strong servants of the Lord, as soon as they were born again. It tried to put down the Church in that way, but failed, for they were caught up to God and his throne. There is a good deal of literal- /190/ ness about this. This great red dragon did take the natural lives of Christians--not of all of them, but some of them. He fought, John says in the very next verse, through his angels, and Michael fought through his angels, and the dragon prevailed not. He did not kill all the angels; and those that he did kill were only taken to where the Lord was, and joined with the general army on the ether side of the Jordan of Death. The death of one produced a hundred more; and Christianity on earth kept rising, and the old dragon, pagan Rome, could not stop it by killing the Lord's people. One martyr caused a hundred more to confess the Savior; and Christianity kept on rising, rising, all the time that pagan Rome was trying to put it down.
 
John says, "there was war in heaven." This war was between the angels of the old red dragon and the angels of Michael, or the Christians. "And they loved not their lives unto the death." History tells us of the truth of it. John foretold it. That was the Church as it first started out, and the very first battle it had was with the red dragon--with pagan Rome.
 
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." The Church conquered pagan Rome; the Christians whipped the old Deceiver that was fighting through pagan Rome. The gospel triumphed over idolatry, as every man knows that has read history.
 
"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." Ah! it was the brethren of the Lord, the man child, that war was made against. The accuser of our brethren is cast down. And they overcame him by the /191/ 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 inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. Pagan Rome was enraged at being cast down as a religious organization--at not being looked on by the people as being worthy of their attention, religiously. Pagan Roman idolatry went down, and the shout went up, "The kingdom of our God is prevailing!" It triumphed over Rome in its pagan form; put down idolatry, and made wonderful advances.
 
Not only this, but they said the kingdom of Christ is come. Listen, because this is in dispute. They said, "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ." That was in the days of the fight with pagan Rome, the kingdom of God had come, and was at work and fighting then. And some men stand up and say that the kingdom of our God and the power of Christ are not yet established on earth, and will not be until the second coming of Christ in person.
 
But while pagan Rome prevailed not to put down Christianity, there was one thing done: Pagan Rome could not stop the gospel--could not deceive the nations longer in its grosser form when the gospel met it in a hand to hand fight. But the woman went into the wilderness. The Lord have mercy on us! The Church got lost in a wilderness of humanism; went off and was not measured with the measuring reed for 1260 years; went off into error, went off into superstition, went away and was not governed by the Word of the Lord for 1260 years. John said the woman took two wings of a great eagle; after the Church had conquered pagan Rome, it mounted up upon the wings of the great Roman Empire, and Rome bore her off into the wilderness of humanism. She went /192/ off into the wilderness of the dark ages. It pains m' heart to think of it Paganism could not deceive men while the Church stood in her purity; but when the penny merchants commenced the dreadful work of taking the Word of the Lord from the people, then the Church took the wings of the Roman Empire, and went off into the errors of the dark ages; for 1260 years the woman was in the wilderness. The Lord save us from trying to go back to trace up a line of succession from the apostles until now, to prove that we are the true Church of Christ, because the Church was lost as an organization--not measured by the Bible for 1260 years. John tells of it in the eleventh chapter. "The court that is without the temple, leave out and measure it not, for it is given to the Gentiles;" and the holy city, or the temple, the Church of the living God, is to be trod under foot for 1260 years. There were Christians, but they were not in an organization measured by the Bible. They are the Lord's people, but they are in Babylon, in its smoke. The Church on earth was prevailed against; but of the whole family of the Lord, the largest portion were before the throne--the Christians that gave up their lives. Death does not destroy the subjects of Christ's family; the King himself has conquered death. While some foolish men think if there is no organization on earth, there is, therefore, no church, no kingdom; the Lord tells us that the whole family in heaven, which passed over the Jordan of death, are his people. The Lord's family is in two parts--one part on earth, and the other part in heaven; so that if the part on earth is put down, there is a kingdom, or Church, in heaven. Men need not be so afraid to say the Church was lost to human vision as an organization. It was true in the dark ages. But when it is measured again, then it will stand in all its beauty, just as it did when John first saw it. /193/
 
"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." Pagan Rome poured out its doctrine and its followers, to drown out the Church--did all it could to swallow the cause of Christ. The woman is gone off on the wings of Rome, into the errors of humanism, and the old dragon did try to swallow up and drown her if possible.
 
But the political powers of earth helped the woman, and shielded the followers of Christ. But while it protected and raised them up, it bore them off into the wilderness of error and humanism. It is literally true, and John wrote the history beforehand.
 
"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." There it tells who the manchild was. Those that were left after the woman fled into the wilderness, the old dragon still hunted up and tried to kill. They died, isolated and alone, scattered, in the dark ages, in Mystery Babylon.
 
No writer of the nineteenth century could give the history of the Church better than John did when he was in the Isle of Patmos, 1700 years ago.
 
The measuring reed is in our hands again, and soon we will measure up, and then the Church will again stand clothed with the sun; and every little chamber, every congregation all over the land, will be of one dimension. Then the world will again be under the Church's feet. Then the crown of twelve stars will be owned as the foundation, the starting point of the Church built on Jesus--the chief corner-stone. We will not date back to Luther for a starting point; we will not date back to Campbell for a starting /194/ point; not to Wesley for a starting point, but go back to the twelve stars, and say they are the crown on the Church's head; they are our directors; their writings our infallible rule, as given by inspiration, and the one we measure by; and when this time comes, the shout will go up, "The kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of the Lord Jesus Christ."
 
But we have a great many more things to notice in the sound of the sixth angel's trumpet. One word more in reference to Church identity. We said we need not trace up a line of successors from the apostles until now. We can have the same Church that John saw in all its beauty, measured by the same rule it was measured by then. A gentleman said to me some time since, when traveling on the railroad, "I reckon, sir, you can remember when the Church of which you are a member was first organized." Said I, "No, sir; I can not remember; it has been too long since." "Oh," said he, " I think you are old enough to remember when the Church to which you belong was first organized. How long has it been?" I said, "It has been something over eighteen hundred years." Said he, "Eighteen hundred years! Where was it organized?" "Oh," said I; "at Jerusalem, about the day of Pentecost, or soon after." He replied, "You need not talk that way. Show your line of successors." Said I, "Our King is alive. He was dead once before the Church was organized, but he has never died since. We have one living King, and his living laws are in force yet. If the Jews in your city were to get together and build a synagogue, and build an altar, and offer offerings precisely according to the directions given in Leviticus, would you say it was a new religion?" "No sir; I would say it was old Judaism." "I thought so. If the Mahommedans were to come and start a Mahommedan Church, according to the Koran, in some district in the United States, it would not be a new thing, would it?" /195/ "No; it would be the old Mahommedanism." That is the rule by which we work. Our King has never died since his Church was organized; his laws have been in force all the time; and if we go according to his Word, and do what he has required, we will come into his everlasting kingdom. His subjects can go to him with the same rule at any time. It is the same King, the same laws, and the same kingdom. God grant we may realize it, is my sincere prayer.