Good morning, once again, and it's good to see you.
A few weeks ago, we were talking about the harvest.
We looked at the harvest passage, and we compared that with what we see in the heavens.
So today, we're going to look at that again, a little bit, in a different light, and you'll see some of that again,
but we're going to focus on one part in particular,
and I titled today's talk,
Cast into the Furnace of Fire.
Jesus gave us the parable of the wheat and the tares, and this is about the harvest.
And it's about the harvest of the wheat, and we find that in Matthew chapter 13, where he gives the parable.
And then a little bit later, he explains more about it.
We'll read some of those verses.
Jesus said, let both grow together.
You know this story.
It's about the wheat, and then somebody planted the tares in the fields, and then the servants came and said, there are tares in the field.
Should we pull them out?
And the field owner said, no, no.
Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares,
and then bind them in bundles.
Bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.
So, first the tares are gathered in bundles, and then the wheat is gathered into the barn.
The enemy that sowed them, the tares, is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the world.
So, now, if we're in the end of the world, which I believe we are, we should see this time of the harvest being fulfilled.
And we've talked about that, as I said before.
And the reapers are the angels.
Now, what are angels in the context of the heavens?
They are often the comets, because of the cloudy tail behind.
And so, when we look at the sign of the Son of Man, which is formed from the comets,
we have the two main comets that we talk frequently about,
Comet E3 and Comet K2.
And then there's this additional comet that is especially relevant in terms of the harvest.
That's Comet S4.
These are just the abbreviations of their full scientific name.
But we just go by those initials.
So, what we see here is this other comet is coming through, and it passes through the river.
And then it makes a little dip into another constellation there, the constellation of the Sculptor, and comes up through the furnace.
And this time frame, where I have the marker there, that is today.
So, right now, that comet is entering into the furnace, and it continues all the way until May 27th,
when it crosses into the sign of the Son of Man.
That is the very end of the sign of the Son of Man.
So, looking at the text, again, of the parable, Jesus said, As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire,
so shall it be in the end of this world.
So, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire.
And we see that in the oven of this time.
So, that connects this time with this part of the parable of the harvest.
The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, the comets, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend.
So, again, burning the tares, and them which do iniquity.
Of course, what we see in the heavens are symbols, the angels, the comets, and in reality, we have the people, the wicked and the righteous.
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire.
So, it specifically mentions a furnace of fire.
And there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
So, here, again, we have this time of the furnace, and if you look closely at that, you will see that it's actually a chemical furnace.
It was identified as the alchemist's furnace, which is a person who, in ancient times, they wanted to turn everything to gold.
And the alchemist was one who would experiment in trying to turn different elements
into gold so that they could produce more gold rather than having to mine it.
So, I just point that out because it relates to the present time.
There are some who today will take advantage of technology and the advances in technology, especially biotechnology,
and manipulate it to produce gold or profits,
as it would be in today's context.
So, we see that a lot in the pharmaceutical industry, for example,
that has gotten a big boost in the last few years as their products have been promoted by governments all around the world.
Essentially, they're doing the same thing as what the ancient alchemists did, manipulating God's creation to produce a profit.
They wanted to get gold.
So, this time, however, that we are entering and looking in this direction, coming from that side,
we're entering into this time of the furnace.
What exactly does that mean?
Well, we have some hints, like I mentioned.
It could be related to more pharmaceutical concoctions being pushed on the population.
That is a very likely possibility.
But in general, when we're put into a furnace that is a symbol for affliction, for trials, for difficult circumstances, tribulation.
So, that's also something that can be expected for this time,
and that agrees also with what we see in the sign of the Son of Man for this same period of time.
Looking at the harvest passage in Revelation chapter 14, in the end, it talks about, ".
.
and the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth."
So, talking about the grapes, the wicked, representing the wicked.
".
.
and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
And We see that winepress illustrated in the Horologium of the sign of the Son of Man, because it has the same shape, essentially,
as the ancient winepress.
So, we see that correspondence in the symbolism.
And when we look at it in the sign, this comet crosses on February 20th, it crosses this pendulum.
And then we continue, there's a solar eclipse right in the middle of this time period between February 20th and May 27th.
And there's seven weeks on the one side, like we talked about in our last presentation, and seven weeks on this side.
So, it's perfectly in the middle, symmetrical with that April 8th solar eclipse.
We'll talk a little bit more about that.
This comes from the symbolism from Revelation 19.
And in verse 13, he says it's about Jesus coming, and he, Jesus, was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood.
Now, what does that symbolism represent?
Treading the winepress.
So, we're in that context, his vesture dipped in blood.
In the old days, when they would tread the winepress with their feet, today there are some groups who will do that as a fun thing to do,
to trample the grapes.
And they usually, to prevent their clothes getting stained, they wear shorts or something along those lines.
But in the old days, they were still very modest, and they would just allow their clothes to be stained with the grapes.
And so, that's what this is representing.
It's somebody who has been treading out the winepress, and therefore, on the bottom of his garments, it is stained with blood,
what the grape juice represents.
And his name is called the Word of God.
And then it continues a little bit later in verse 15:.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.
And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
So, here we have a few symbols, a sharp sword, an iron rod, and the winepress, all represented here in the Horologium.
In the pendulum of the Horologium, it represents that sword that it describes as coming out of his mouth.
It's also the iron rod, and as we saw, it is the winepress.
Now, I want to focus specifically on the sword, because it says, in Hebrews, we learn about the Word of God.
Remember, it said his name is the Word of God, and that is connected with the sword.
Hebrews says, for the Word of God is quick, that means living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Now, that's an interesting expression.
It sounds, perhaps, just poetic, that it's very keen to get right to the core of an issue, discerning between the minute details.
But, when we look at the sign of the Son of Man, and we understand that the sword is represented by the pendulum of the horologium,
then it begins to make a lot more sense why these particular things are mentioned.
There's the sword, and piercing, it says, piercing to the dividing asunder, separating between soul and spirit.
Yeah, remember when we talked about the body, the soul, and the spirit?
We saw those three represented right here, with the body in the middle, separated from the soul, and the spirit with the dove.
So, here we see the sword, extended from the horologium pendulum, is exactly fitting the passage, dividing between the soul and the spirit.
But, it goes on, and it says, and of the joints and marrow.
So, talking about the bones, that's part of what?
That's the body, and where does it actually pierce through?
It is that constellation that represents the body.
It's the sculptor's chisel.
That's like how God formed the body, and the word of God coming out of his mouth, out of the horologium, pierces,
even separating the soul and the spirit,
and of the joints and the marrow.
And, further, is a discerner of the thoughts.
Remember, that's the thoughts of the mind that's in the spirit, represented by the dove, and the intents of the heart?
Exactly.
The heart is represented by that part down below.
We've talked about those things in previous weeks, so I'm not going to cover that again.
But, just so you can see how, when we read the Bible, in comparison with the heavens, it gives it a whole new perspective.
Looking also at the book of Joel, chapter 3, I have several passages that we will connect with this time, as we see it in the sign.
Here, in Joel, chapter 3, Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
So, this time of judgment, and that's also what the horologium represents,
also the discerning between the heart and the thoughts of the mind.
That's an act of judgment.
Discernment is necessary for judgment.
So, we see that also represented, pointing to that same time.
And it continues, Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
So, again, we're in that context of the harvest in this passage as well.
Come, get you down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, the wine fats, for their wickedness is great.
So, again, this passage talking about the harvest of the grapes.
And there is the kind of sickle that you would use to cut the clusters of the grapes.
Multitudes, multitudes.
The same passage continuing on.
In the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
So, we see also this deciding that is necessary at this time.
Yeah, okay, right.
That's a good point.
The river is always flowing where there is a valley.
Continuing, the sun and the moon shall be darkened.
Like the solar eclipse that we saw there.
And the stars shall withdraw their shining.
The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem.
And the heavens and the earth shall shake.
But the Lord will be the hope of his people.
And the strength of the children of Israel.
So, here we see a contrast being made.
Because until now, everything has just been doom and gloom and treading the grapes and the blood and not so nice.
But he says the Lord will be the hope of his people.
And of course, this is the sign of the Son of Man.
And that's where we see these things depicted.
Where we see the hope and the strength revealed.
In 1 Peter, he says:.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
And of course, as we saw before, the end of this is May 27th.
And that's a special anniversary.
What anniversary?
It's the anniversary of Jesus' resurrection.
We know that from understanding the biblical calendar.
And it was May 27th in A.
D.
31 when Jesus rose from the dead.
And therefore, it's a very significant time when we see that depicted in the heavens again on that same date.
That's the anniversary of the resurrection of Christ.
So it points to our hope.
That's the end time also, at least almost.
There's the resurrection.
And then the following day is when the comet actually crosses the line of the pendulum one more time.
And then that represents the travel of the saints with Jesus.
Continuing, he says, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
So again, the inheritance.
What is our inheritance?
The heavenly Canaan.
Thank you.
And we've seen before how there are 12 constellations that make up the sign of the Son of Man.
The comets cross through 12 different constellations.
And those represent the 12 tribes of Israel and also the city of God.
The inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time.
So God's people are ready to be revealed in the last time.
That's this time now that we are in.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.
So again, referring to this time of heaviness that we are coming into, manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith,
trial being tried in the fire,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth.
Though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
So we see how he's describing the time leading up to the appearing of Jesus Christ.
In the context that we see illustrated in the heavens.
Looking at a passage in Isaiah, when thou passest through the waters, here we have the waters,
I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee.
When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
So again, we have, though it is a difficult time and it's a fiery trial that will try our faith, like Peter says, nevertheless,
we will not be burned.
What is good, the faith, the pure gold, that will resist and we won't be harmed, but we will be purified.
This is a promise that was known to Daniel and his friends, and we'll come back to that.
I just wanted to point that out, but speaking of the refining in Malachi, he says, behold,
I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me.
What is a messenger?
An angel.
Okay, keep that in mind.
And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger, the angel of the covenant, whom ye delight in.
Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
So the messenger or angel of the covenant, who is the angel of the covenant?
Let's continue reading, but who may abide the day of his coming?
So the messenger of the covenant is coming, but who may abide the day of his coming?
And who shall stand when he appears?
This is a question that we see repeated in different forms throughout the scripture, and especially in the sixth seal.
We see the same thing.
Who shall be able to stand in the time of the wrath of the lamb?
For he, that is the messenger of the covenant, is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap.
So the soap to clean the garments or the refiner's fire to purify the silver or the gold just like in a furnace,
as they would do it in a furnace.
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.
And he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
So this is the purpose of that process of cleansing, that trial to purify the faith, just like Peter said,
that your faith may be tried and purified.
That's the purpose that is stated.
And the offering in righteousness is also represented here in the sign by the symbol of the baptism,
this place where Jesus was baptized and the dove rested on him.
And that baptism in the sign, it represents our baptism into his sacrifice, into Christ's sacrifice.
And that is the offering made unto the Lord in righteousness.
That's what God is waiting for.
That's when the people of God shall be revealed like we read in the other passage.
Well, certainly in the literal sense.
In the heavens, which one is the angel of the covenant?
We talked once before about the covenant.
And in the Bible, the covenant started out small and it grew in the time of the creation with Adam and Eve.
We connected that with the beginning and then with Noah in the waters, then with Moses, rather with Abraham,
and then Moses both together there,
and then at the top with David over the kingdom of Israel at each phase getting bigger and bigger.
And then you can't see it here in my picture, but in Orion by the throne of God, the covenant again renewed with Jesus himself.
And finally, at the end,
the covenant of peace with the whole universe as God's family has grown
from Adam and Eve in the beginning all the way through until the end.
So I would say, since that's following the path of Comet K2, it would make sense, at least in a symbolic way,
that in the sign that the angel of the covenant would be represented by the Comet K2.
K2 is associated with the constellation of Orion because that's where it goes to, whereas E3 goes the other direction to the Horologium.
The covenant, of course, is embodied in the Ten Commandments,
and we've seen how those are each represented in the symbolism of those constellations.
We had a sermon about that once before, but continuing in Malachi, he says,
Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord,
as in the days of old,
as and as in former years.
So the offering made in righteousness after this purifying process begins, then that can be a pleasant thing for the Lord,
the offerings being pleasant and not a stench in his nostrils as he has described it in other places.
And I will come near to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers,
against the false swearers.
You see some of this in the commandments, false swearing or bearing false witness, ninth commandment.
The adulterers in the seventh commandment, the sorcerers, maybe that's not directly one of the commandments,
but we see that very relevant in our day today.
Because the sorcerers in the Greek, the word for sorcery is pharmakia,
same word that we have our pharmacies from and the pharmaceutical industry that produces their special potions.
So several things here, and he continues, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, so they rob,
they steal the eighth commandment,
the widow and the fatherless and that turn aside the stranger from his right and fear not me,
saith the Lord of hosts.
So these are those whom he will be a swift witness against.
And then he continues, for I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
So again, showing the contrast between God's true people represented by Israel, the sons of Jacob,
and those who don't repent against whom he comes as a swift witness.
Yeah, that's a very good point.
Thank you for bringing that out.
It's, we experience the same time in different ways, but the righteous and the wicked both go through that time.
We're not raptured beforehand as many believe,
but the Bible draws this contrast between how the wicked experience it and how the righteous experience it,
refining to the one and destructive to the other.
As it is often when, and just to repeat what you said, in Daniel's time with his three friends being cast into the fiery furnace.
We'll talk about that a little bit later, but those who cast them in were themselves killed because they had made the furnace so hot,
and yet those who were cast in were preserved.
And here we go.
Here's the story of Daniel and his three friends in the fiery furnace, and the story, I don't have all of it here for the sake of time,
but Nebuchadnezzar had made an image of gold and demanded that everybody would bow down to that image of gold.
And, of course, there were at least a few Jews, Daniel and his friends of note were his friends, who refused to bow down to that.
And so they were called before the king, Nebuchadnezzar, and then he, with them in front of him, he wants to see this himself.
And so he calls them and says, all right, now, if you be ready, at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, the flute, harp, sackbut,
psaltery,
and bilsamer,
all kinds of music,
you fall down and worship the image which I have made.
Well, notice the image.
But if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace,
and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
So he's being rather defiant toward God in this passage, but notice that this is in the context of an image,
and so that also gives an idea of what we can expect at this time.
An image, because in Revelation, it's talking about the image to the beast that's given life and enforces worship to the image of the beast.
So these are things that are likely to be prominent themes in this time.
Okay, I hadn't seen that.
I was just wanting to point out the sculpture there as the image, but yes,
there is the upside-down fish representing a dead class of people,
good,
and in contrast with the fish of God's people or those who are in the fish.
Yes, yeah, exactly.
That's this turning point corresponding with the time of the heating up of the furnace.
And now Daniel, or rather his friends, are standing before the king,
so it also shows that more intense time because they're not just among the people,
but they're brought before the king.
They're put in a special trial.
But they answered, if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace.
They knew the promise that we read before, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
So they knew that they will be delivered whether through death or life.
That's not the problem.
But they knew also that he was able to deliver them even physically from the flames of the furnace.
And so also God is able to deliver his people from whatever trials we may have to endure.
It was still a trial for Daniel's friends.
They still had to stand up before an angry king, and that wouldn't be a very pleasant experience to have to endure.
But by faith, they did so.
And they answered him and said, but if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods.
So after he defied their gods, now they are defying, or after he defied their god, they are defying his gods.
Nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
So we have to have that resolve to stand for the right beforehand.
Otherwise, when we're put in that situation, we will not have the strength we need.
Now, I want to take a few minutes to look at the sign in the context of our time.
And we mentioned specifically how God said his people would be revealed.
So in this time, we should see with the refining of this time in the furnace, we should see the revealing of God's people,
and that God wants to bring his people together.
So I wanted to show you a clip from a video,
and I'll stop it at different points and point out how here is somebody that God is communicating with,
apparently,
will give the benefit of the doubt,
at least.
Because you'll see how in many different ways it points to this sign in heaven.
And this is somebody that is completely unassociated with our ministry, doesn't know anything about us, as far as I know.
And therefore, you'll see how God is the one who is bringing people's attention, in a way, to this sign.
So I'm going to play it.
It's a few minutes long, about five minutes or so.
And I will stop it when there are key points.
February 8th, 2024.
This is what the Lord said.
I am he, he who was and who is and who is to come, he who is called the light, he who is not overcome by the darkness,
he who is called the way,
the truth,
for there is no truth apart from me.
Listen to me and heed my words while there is yet time, O man, O peoples, O nations.
The time will come when you shall see the Lord standing on the Mount of Olives, for every eye shall see him.
So first of all, you notice that he is talking about Jesus in the context of time.
He who is, who was, and who is to come in the context of time.
And so that itself is pointing to the two witnesses, the clock in the Horologium directly and also the clock in Orion,
as we have studied it.
And then he mentions this about the landing on the Mount of Olives.
And this is illustrated in the time as we understand it from our studies.
This is another comet, the first one that led us to the Horologium.
And on June 4th, which is after the coming of Jesus, that is when we expect the city to land on the Mount of Olives in simplified terms.
And the city we see represented in this illustration by the net that catches the Lord's fish.
That's what this represents, the reticulum.
It's a network, just like the network of the fishing, a fisherman's net.
And where the comet is at that point, it forms a pyramid with the four stars of that.
And so that's just a little illustration of how it is shown in the sign,
the time when or a confirmation of the time when the city lands on the Mount of Olives after the millennium.
And every knee shall bow before him.
Prepare yourselves, O people, O nations, for the day, the great day of the Lord, is coming swiftly upon you.
Make ready, O daughter of Zion, for your king is coming to you.
His appearance is like the sun.
For who has beheld his glory?
Who among you could stand?
Only he who has washed his robe in the blood of the Lamb.
Washed his robe in the blood of the Lamb.
We see that illustrated very succinctly in the river, because that river is the one that flows from the side of Orion,
representing Jesus and his wound on the cross,
his side wound,
where out flowed water and blood.
And so the river represents that washing, that's the water aspect, in the blood of the Lamb, both water and blood, the river represents.
And so it represents the washing in the water or in the blood of the Lamb.
For he shall not be ashamed at the coming of the Lord.
He shall come upon you like lightning and with terrible thunder.
And the whole earth shall tremble before him.
His day shall be a day of woe and terror for many.
Corresponding to this time of trial, a time of woe and terror for many.
For when he comes, he comes for judgment and a sword is in his hand.
Turn to me, O you peoples of the earth, for the great day of the Lord is coming upon you.
Turn to him and be saved while there is yet time for you.
For time soon shall be no more.
That is a reference to Revelation chapter 10, where the angel raises his hand and swears the oath that time shall be no longer,
says time shall be no more.
And there's also at the end of chapter 10, Revelation chapter 10, he says, the angel speaks to John and says,
you must prophesy again to many nations and peoples in tongues.
And he's also used that same language there pointing to Revelation 10.
And that's where we see in that prophesying again is where we see the revealing of God's people who are to prophesy again,
to prophesy the time,
that time is no more.
The oath of the angel, time shall be no longer.
For he who is called faithful and true has declared this message unto you.
Wise is the man who heeds this word.
Listen to me, O you sleepers, sleeping in the house of the Lord.
Wake up for the day is upon you.
I would have you sleep no more.
Awake, awake, O sleepers, sleeping in the house of the Lord.
So this emphasis on sleeping and the house of the Lord, that brings our attention to the virgins in the parable of Jesus.
There's the wise and the foolish, and all of them were sleeping in the house of the Lord,
which we have seen is represented in this part of the sign as well.
And the lamp of the wise is represented, let me turn the sign over, and I have this covering it,
but right here we have the flame of the lamp,
and that is where the Horologium is located.
And so we see that the light of the wise virgins is the light of time that needs to be proclaimed at this time in history.
Do you not know?
Have you not seen?
Have you not heard?
The day is upon you where no man can sleep.
Rise up, O peoples of the Lord.
Shake off your dust, for the day is here.
Would you have me spit you out of my mouth?
O you lukewarm, remember the things you did at first.
So now this is interesting.
First, he mentions being spit out, being lukewarm, and that's a how the churches, the body of Christ,
because this is the sign of the Son of Man,
and in his body is the church.
We have the seven churches represented here in the sign, and they're in the opposite order as they are in Revelation.
In Revelation it starts with Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
But here in the sign, following the direction of the comets, Comet K2 is coming this way, Comet E3 is going that way.
So it's actually going in the opposite direction, starting with Laodicea and going back to Ephesus, and of Ephesus, Jesus said,
you have lost your first love,
and that's what he's saying in the message.
Remember your first love.
Remember where you have fallen.
That's what Jesus was telling the church of Ephesus.
So he's going in the direction that we see in the sign, not as it is in the Revelation.
Remember the zeal you felt when it began.
Remember your first love, and return to me.
Return to you, you backsliders, you prodigals.
Return to me, because Ephesus, Jesus said, had lost their first love, and so now coming back to not just to Ephesus,
but to where Ephesus came from.
Ephesus had lost their first love, and so if you take that one step further,
the next constellation here is the Horologium at the mouth of the fish right there.
So after Ephesus comes the first love.
That's the first love that is the light of the wise virgins.
Return to me and do the things you did at first.
I the Lord, he who took on flesh and dwelt among you, he who is called the Nazarene, he who was born of the virgin womb,
he who was crucified for your sin,
that an entrance might be made for you,
he who was buried in a tomb.
He who was crucified.
We've seen how the Horologium, that was one of the first things we recognized, was that it points to three o'clock.
And that's exactly the hour of Jesus' death on the cross, and so in the Horologium, we see represented the cross of Jesus.
He who died, and he says, to make an entrance for you, and that's exactly what we see.
This is the entrance into the sheepfold of the Lord.
He who was risen on the third day, and of course, died, buried, and risen, fulfilled the sign of Jonah, the sign who is risen,
he who appeared,
he who ascended,
he who is coming soon.
It is he who speaks to you, wise is the man who listens to me.
Amen.
So, he even mentions the sign of Jonah in this context that otherwise seems a bit out of place in his message.
But when we understand these things in the light of the heavens, and the sign of the Son of Man, it brings it all together.
And so I believe God is giving messages like this to different people to ultimately
bring the attention of his people to the sign of the Son of Man,
so that every one of his people can come into his sheepfol.
Because he has one sheepfold.
One last passage I'd like to look at in Isaiah chapter 33.
He says, now will I rise, saith the Lord, now will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself.
So, looking at Orion, and this time going through the legs, he's standing up.
He's rising, being exalted, lifting himself up, and the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up,
shall they be burned in the fire.
So, looking then on this side of the sign, at the time of the furnace, have a standing up, and then the time of the furnace,
when the wicked shall be as thorns cut up and burned in the fire,
like the tears in Jesus's parable.
Hear ye that are far off what I have done, and ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
And this is a point that I want to emphasize, because we teach about these things week after week after week.
But very few people actually do this.
Very few actually acknowledge the Lord's might.
Instead, though they may watch a video or something and see these things,
then they go on and they're content with their wonderful confirmations of seeing
a special number in a license plate or something along those lines.
Instead of acknowledging God's power, His might, and what the Creator has done in the heavens,
in showing how these things all come together and confirm what the Bible is saying,
and give additional information as well.
This is much more than what God's people generally understand.
And yet, when they see it, they don't acknowledge His might.
And He calls His people, hear ye that are far off what I have done, and ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
It's important that we speak it, that we confess, wow, this is what the Lord is doing.
These things are out of any man's control.
We observe, we look at the comets with the telescopes.
We personally don't, but the different astronomers give us the informatio.
And with that information,
we then connect it and see what the Lord is revealing in the context of the
timing for the things that happen and that are written in the Bible.
And we need to acknowledge that this is the Lord.
If we don't acknowledge it, then we lose the blessing, for one, because there's a blessing when we acknowledge what the Lord is doing,
but we say it with our mouths.
It gives faith to us, because faith comes by hearing, and when we confess with our mouth, then the faith is strengthened.
The sinners in Zion are afraid.
Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites, the terrors in the church.
Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
Here again, we see that theme, who shall be able to stand?
Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
Who can endure this time of the furnace, the devouring fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Now, it's interesting.
Who were those who were not touched by the fire?
Daniel's friends, rather, godly people, and there was the fire that caught Moses' attention, because it wasn't burning the bush.
Moses also was a godly person, so the everlasting burnings, the fires that don't consume, they don't consume the righteous,
and that's the answer that he gives us in Isaiah 33.
Those who shall dwell with everlasting burnings, he that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly,
he that despiseth the gain of oppressions,
that shaketh his hands from holding of brides,
that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood,
and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil,
he shall dwell on high.
His place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks.
Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure.
And here we see again, you know, we have the bread of Orion, we have the waters of the Eridanus, and he shall dwell on high in the heavens,
putting those things in our minds.
Place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks, a lot like the, you know, if you expand a great rock, it's like a mountain,
and the mountains are,
or the constellations are represented by mountains sometimes in the Bible.
So we see also a relationship there.
And then he concludes, thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty, they shall behold the land that is very far off.
So that is the promise that is given to those who repent, and they turn away from their evil ways, and they seek to do right,
to align their lives with God's law,
shunning the evil in the world,
and embracing that which is good,
as we read.
So in this time, we see the contrast between the wicked, who are exposed to the same fire as the righteous, but to the wicked,
God is a consuming fire.
He consumes them.
He consumes the faults in our character, and leaves just the shining gold.
But for the righteous, they are not consumed.
In the same fire, they endure, they dwell with the everlasting burnings.
And that's a point that I think is very misunderstood.
I don't want to open a can of worms, but there are many,
very many in the church who believe that those who dwell in the everlasting fire are the wicked,
and they dwell in the flames,
and they're tortured in the fire forever and ever and ever.
But Isaiah makes it clear that God is a consuming fire.
A consuming fire is one that burns up what it consumes, what is being burned, and then is done.
The fire that goes on and burns forever, those who dwell in that fire, those are the righteous.
It's the righteous who dwell with the Lord in the midst of the fire, and are not burned.
They dwell with the Lord in the fiery furnace, and they are safe because he is with them.
So that's just a side point that I think is sadly very misunderstood among God's people today.
But the overall message today is that we are entering this time when God is, in a sense, casting us into the whole world,
being cast into the furnace of fire.
And the details of what that looks like, we have glimpses of in the Bible from the different stories that relate to this experience.
But we can see, most importantly, that when we repent from our wrong, and we turn to the Lord and serve him wholly with our hearts,
then we will endure through the trials and the temptations of this time.
But if not, then God is a consuming fire, and we will be consumed in this time.
And so with that, let's stand and have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for your mercy toward your people, toward those who repent and turn to you.
And you are calling your people to repentance for this time.
Many are expecting things that are not going to happen, things that they have staked their hopes on, and perhaps even their faith.
And I pray, Lord, that you will sustain your people through the trials that they will endure because of false beliefs,
through the trials that they will endure because of misapplying scripture,
or simply because of their circumstances.
But Lord, you will be with your people.
And though we be cast into a fiery furnace like Daniel's friends, you will be with us,
and all that will be burned will be the ropes that bind us.
And so we thank you for the hope that you give in the time of trouble, and we ask that as things develop in this time,
that you will be near to your people.
And that your people will seek nearness to you and repent from all that is not in harmony
with your word as it is revealed in the Bible and confirmed in the heavens.
We thank you, Father, for all that you do.
You are the creator that designed all of these things, who knew the end from the beginning,
and it's amazing and marvelous in our eyes to see how you have orchestrated all of these things.
And we acknowledge your might, and I pray that everyone hearing this video will do the same, will acknowledge the might of the Lord.
This is his work.
This is your work, and we are grateful for it.
We pray these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who was wounded for our sin,
that we can have the repentance we need to see you in glory.
We love you, and we look forward to that time when we may see you face to face.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Thank you, and look forward to seeing you all next week.