voice. Following the Battle of Armageddon the Lord Jesus Christ judges the world and sets up His millennial reign for the thousand years. All the redeemed will reign with him. In the 20th chapter of Revelation, we read that when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed to go out to de ceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth. He will gather them together. The num ber of the enemy is as "the sand of the sea." The end of this huge uprising will be as fire comes down from Cod out of heaven to devour them. So, at the Battle of Armaged don, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks the word and the armies of the anti-Christ fall over as dead men. This takes place at the end of the Tribulation. At the end of the Mil lennium, fire comes down from God out of heaven to devour the forces of Satan. There is a thousand year's difference in time between these two great and significant battles. Q. Santa Cruz, Calif. "In the par able of the 10 virgins, are the five without oil out of the Great Trib ulation?" A. First of all, keep in mind that the Church, made up of all believ ers in the Lord Jesus Christ, will not be in any part of the Great Tribulation. This calls for a proper interpretation of our Lord's dis course from the Mount of Olives in Matthew 24 and 25. As we study the parable of the 10 virgins, we can see that there are certain prin ciples of watchfulness, prepared ness and faithfulness which per tains to our day as well. The "five wise and five foolish" come out of the Great Tribulation. They are of Israel which is an important point. Page 27
God's side of redemption. What about man's side? Don't these Scriptures refer to God's physical law of man's free will? Does salva tion now make man an automatic robot? Is not Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever?'' A. Man has a free will in only a certain sense. In fact, before the fall, Adam was the only one who had a completely free will. We do know that we have certain choices or options. Salvation does not cre ate man into a machine. He is more man when he is saved. Now he is what Cod wants him to be. God is sovereign. This world is not going to be run just according to anybody's ideas. This will never happen. The Lord has control. Scripture says, "He worketh all things after the good counsel of his w ill." Within the framework of that divine purpose, He allows us to say "yes" or "no" to the Lord Jesus Christ. The portion in Peter's epistle and in the letter to the Hebrews, illustrates what happens to those who merely make a pro fession of faith but have not ac tually possessed the Saviour in their heart of hearts. Q. Seattle, Wash. "Will the Battle of Armageddon be fought before or after the Millennium?" A. This is referred to in the 16th and 19th chapters of Revelation. It takes place on that great day of God Almighty. This conflagration is not fought between armies of nations here upon the earth as such. The armies of the anti-Christ will be gathered together but Jesus Christ comes from heaven. So, it is not a battle in the ordinary sense of the word. The redeemed will follow the Lord. Christ speaks and it is all over, so powerful is His
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