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The Revelation of Jesus Christ theme of all divine revelation; and He it is who opens and closes doors for service for His messengers of the cross. "Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it," we hear Him say (Rev. 3:8 ). It is only a little more than one hundred years ago that the great mis sionary movement began with William Carey. Before that, the heathen nations were without a missionary among them. When people were concerned about them, the elders of the church argued, "When God wants to convert the heathen, He will do it without any assistance from you." During the last hundred years, however, we have seen a great move ment in the way of missionary endeavor, and missionary societies like the China Inland Mission, the Africa Inland Mission, and many others are the fruit of the going forth of Carey. God said, "I have set before thee an open door," and today the heathen are asking for more missionaries than the church has supplied. "The fields are white unto harvest" in very truth. Following these words of promise, the Lord sounds a warning to false teachers, then adds some of the most re assuring words to be found in all the Scriptures: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." I believe our Lord here has reference to the great tribu lation period, from which the church will be delivered. "Thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." The feeble few, walking in the pathway of separation, keeping His Word, and not denying His name, will be caught up with the Lord, and thus escape the "hour of temptation, which shall come." As we read on in this closing book of the Bible, we learn something of the sorrow and anguish and suffering that will come upon the earth during the dark tribulation period. And as we read, we thank our God that He will take us to be with Himself before these things begin to come to pass. Then turning back to His message to the church at Phila delphi?, w_e fin~ yet a~other promise of His sure return to usher m m11len01al blessing, even unto all eternity:
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