A MILLENIAL DUTY

 

In his revelatory vision, John saw a woman clothed with the sun about to give birth to a child (Revelation 12:1,2). This woman represented the ecclesiastical Church of Jesus Christ as we know it today. The child represented the kingdom of Christ that will be established when He returns. This kingdom will have ecclesiastical and political power over all the people of the earth. This is called theocracy.

And this is what we should note most of all. John says the dragon ‘stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to DEVOUR her child as soon as it was born’ (12:4). This suggests only one thing. Satan is watching and waiting for Christ’s return as eagerly as we are but with a different motive.

He seeks to destroy the Kingdom of our Christ and therefore foil the Millenial plans. The days this chapter of Revelation speaks of are the last days prior to Christ’s coming and the vengeance that the devil will unleash on us, His followers, to destroy Christ’s power.

I once asked a scriptorian friend why Lucifer is called ‘a son of the morning’ (D&C 76:26; Isaiah 14:12; 2 Nephi 24:12). He answered that most likely Lucifer was one of the first spirit children of God, born in the morning, as in the very beginning.

 

He also said something highly interesting. He said that Lucifer might even have been second born, Christ being the first, and that He sought to usurp Jehovah’s throne and inheritance of the firstborn, much like we see throughout earthly history where the second born seeks to overthrow his brother for the crown. This theory could be supported by Satan’s last-minute push to dethrone ‘the Lamb who sits upon His throne’ at the end of the Millenium (D&C 88:111-115).  

 

We of the last hour before midnight, have a great duty to pave the way for the Millenial reign. Satan is persistent, constant and consistent. Here are the tools he uses to derail us:

 

HIS THREE DOCTRINES:

No punishment for sin

Nothing after death

He does not exist

 

HIS LIES THROUGH RATIONALISATION:

Just once won’t hurt

No one will know

Everybody is doing it

 

HIS VALUE SYSTEM:

Selfishness

Self-indulgence

Immediate gratification

 

HIS SALES TECHNIQUES:

Pacifying

Flattering

Lulling

 

HIS GOAL:

To steal our spiritual identity

To kill our faith in God

To destroy our commitment to Christ

 

In the words of Terri Savelle Foy: Satan might be marching with his armies to steal, kill and destroy but he does not have the power on his best day to take you out on your worst day....the only power he has is what you give him.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Parting the Veil by John McNaughton)

A THIEF OF GLORY

 

The similitude that comes to mind when we think of Satan is a snake but John the Revelator describes Satan more aptly from his vision. What could be more deadly and more powerful than a snake? A dragon. The dragon that John saw was red, a colour that represents fury. And how well he painted the scene of the dragon who drew with ‘his tail the third part of the stars of heaven’! (Revelation 12:4).

The Book of Revelation calls Satan ‘an accuser’ who accused us of our sins to the Father, day and night (Revelation 12:10). I can only imagine the glee with which he relentlessly and craftily complained about us, claiming that we were beyond redemption and would all be lost if the Father did not accept his plan. No mercy and no genuine concern for our welfare. But then the Saviour stepped forward and offered both and hope was born. But ‘the accuser’ picked up another tactic and sought to destroy our faith in Christ without ceasing. A war ensued….”the same kind that prevails on earth; the only kind Satan and spirit beings can wage – a war of words, a tumult of opinions, a conflict of ideologies; a war between truth and error, between light and darkness…”(Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:518).

This is how we won the war in heaven. When the Saviour stepped forward to take responsibility for us He sealed His fate as our Redeemer. So sure was the foundation of His commitment that the Atonement in mortality was really just a formality. So iron clad was His destiny as our Saviour that it became our reality long before the earth was made. The scriptures confirm that ‘the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world’ meaning the power of the Atonement was already in place in pre-mortal world enabling all God’s children, from the beginning, to be born innocent (Revelation 13:8, 1 Peter 1:18-20; Mosiah 3:13; 4:7; D&C 93:38). Because the Atonement was such a surety, it was as if it had already happened and consequently we could draw upon its’ blessings and power before we were even born. It is this power and our testimonies by which we defeated Lucifer and his followers in the war in heaven (see the New Testament Institute Manual commentary on Revelation 12:11; 13:8, By Blood and Testimony)

The name ‘Lucifer’ means ‘light bearer’. He was so great once, ‘he was in authority in the presence of God’ (D&C 76:25). So great was he that we wept when he was lost (76:26). We too are great with enormous potential but we can find ourselves lost too under his influence. His fury will not spare one soul. He will use every tactic and every tool to steal our spiritual identity, to kill our faith in God and to destroy our commitment to Christ (John 10:10) . We of the last days cannot allow this to happen. We will not allow the red dragon to win. We already know the outcome. The only question remaining is who will be among the survivors. The war has not ended. In the words of Elder McConkie: “……..the battle lines are still drawn. It is now on earth as it was then in heaven; every man must choose which general he will follow” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:518).

These are the tools Satan uses that are so prevalent in our society:

HIS THREE DOCTRINES:

No punishment for sin

Nothing after death

He does not exist

HIS LIES THROUGH RATIONALISATION:

Just once won't hurt

No one will know

Everybody is doing it

HIS VALUE SYSTEM:

Selifshness

Self-indulgence

Immediate gratification

HIS SALES TECHNIQUES:

Pacifying

Flattering 

Lulling 

Like a thief in the night,

He seeks to steal, kill and destroy.

He is the collector of ruined lives,

The Master of ravaged souls.

 

He is the Son of the Morning,

His pride yielded irreversible cost

In the beginning we sorely wept

When his soul was forever lost.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: AI generated by NightCafe Creator)

ARRAYED IN WHITE

 

The sheer contemplation of eternity overwhelms me. What in pre-mortality was a concept so plain to my understanding, now begs to unravel the mystery that plagues me. The treasures in the Book of Revelation just keep giving. Nowhere in the holy writ do I get a glimpse into eternity like I do in this book. The picture this book gives us of the throne of God the Father surrounded by His exalted children, arrayed in white apparel, praising Him because their robes had been washed in the blood of the Lamb is beyond breathtaking. It was explained to John that these so arrayed ‘came out of great tribulation’ and that they ‘shall hunger no more….for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes’ (Revelation 7:9-17). When you put this into the context of our exaltation being His work, you can understand how His exalted children also become His glory (Moses 1:39).

And here is another glimpse into our eternity. John saw animals and people not only praising God the Father but worshipping Him ‘forever’ (Revelation 4:8-11). This truth stands: we will continue to worship Heavenly Father in the eternities to come because He will ALWAYS be our God. It gives you a clearer picture of how we glorify God through the lives that we live, because that glory lives on.  (see New Testament Institute Manual for clarification of these quoted scriptures and Neal A. Maxwell’s “From Whom All Blessings Flow”, Ensign, May 1997, p 12).

The most supernal glimpse into the splendor of eternity would have to be John’s vision of the book of life with the seven seals revealing the history of this earth. And here is the tenderness of it….John says he ‘wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon’ (5:4). Why did John weep? Because the book contained the history of every living soul upon this earth and souls matter, they matter very much. And then hope…..John was told not to weep because the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, who was slain and had redeemed us was worthy to open the book (5:5,9). And John heard ‘every creature in heaven and on earth, and under the earth saying: Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever’ (5:13). Imagine the spiritual energy, the rapture, the ecstasy of this moment in the celestial realm. This glimpse would be overwhelming to a mere mortal. But it was a moment of love to John who sat alone at Patmos and who would live through all the tribulations of this world until the last day when the King of Kings comes again and greets him exclaiming: John, my Beloved!

If you want to ‘think celestial’ like President Nelson advised, study the Book of Revelation.

Our exaltation would never be possible without the condescension of Christ. The birth was the beginning of the end. Without the birth, there would be no salvation, no exaltation, no glory. The glory begins with the lowliest of all births amongst animals of this earth and lambs in the field witnessing the greatest act of humility in the arrival of the King. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION

 

I want to tell you about a book of love. This book is reluctantly read and studied and largely unappreciated yet this book is one of the most important amongst holy writ. This book is The Book of Revelation and this is why it is a book of love……

 Some two thousand years ago, during the bleakest period of Church history, there was on the island of Patmos an exile, a prophet and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, the last apostle alive;  Peter having been crucified, Paul beheaded, Bartholemew skinned alive, Thomas and Matthew run through with spears. By the time of Patmos, the history of the Church included ‘the lining of Nero's colonnade with crucified Christians’ (Student Manual, The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p 449). The Apostle that survived it all and would never taste of death was called by Jesus ‘the son of thunder’ (Mark 3:17). In his own writings he referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved and as the ‘other disciple’ (John 13:23; 21:20; 20:2-8). We know him as John The Beloved…..he who lives as ‘a flaming fire and a ministering angel’ and sorrows for the sins of the world….(D&C 7:5,6)

More than six centuries before John was even born, the Lord revealed to Nephi many of the things we now have in the Book of Revelation but forbade him to write them down because they were reserved for John (1 Nephi 14:19-28). And so to that rocky island prison, on a particular Sunday came the glorified, exalted Christ to the apostle whom He also called 'The Beloved' (Revelation 1:13-18; D&C 7:1; 3 Nephi 28:4-6). 

In the revelation John was given on that occasion, all the sinful and evil history of this world was revealed to him but completed with the glorious hope of Christ's return who would reign in peace, harmony and love for a thousand years. What comfort that must have been to John who, like the 3 Nephites, would sorrow for the sins of the world during his sojourn in this dismal telestial world (3 Nephi 28:9). This is a story of love...love for one cherished disciple and love for all those who accept and follow Christ and have a hope of eternal life through the virtue of his atoning blood.

When the Saviour appeared to John, it was as if He was saying to him: "You will be here a long time and you need to know everything that will happen while you are here but be comforted John, my Beloved, because I am coming back and when I come I will 'wipe away all tears....and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain...." (Revelation 21:4). Is this not love?

I long to see the paths he wanders

To and fro the length of the earth;

I wish to wipe his brow

At the end of the day

To uphold the magnitude of his holy work.

Let me hold him close

And soothe his heavy heart

As the time for final gathering nears,

And let me gather in my cupped hands

The hallowed drops of The Beloved’s tears.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Second Coming by Danny Hahlbohm)

A BOOK OF LOVE

 

 

I want to tell you about a book of love. This book is reluctantly read and studied and largely unappreciated yet this book is one of the most important amongst holy writ. This book is The Book of Revelation and this is why it is a book of love:

 

Some two thousand years ago, during the bleakest period of Church history, there was on the island of Patmos an exile, a prophet and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, the last apostle alive;  Peter having been crucified, Paul beheaded, Bartholemew skinned alive, Thomas and Matthew run through with spears. By the time of Patmos, the history of the Church included the lining of Nero's colonnade with crucified Christians and the savagery of the mobs screaming for blood in the Coliseum and the Circus Maximus." (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p 449). The Apostle that survived it all and would never taste of death was called by Jesus a ‘son of thunder’ (Mark 3:17); in his own writings he referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved and as the ‘other disciple’ (John 13:23; 21:20; 20:2-8). We know him as John The Beloved…..he who lives as ‘a flaming fire and a ministering angel’ and sorrows for the sins of the world….(D&C 7:5,6)

 

More than six centuries before John was even born, the Lord revealed to Nephi many of the things we now have in the Book of Revelation but forbade him to write them down because they were reserved for John (1 Nephi 14:19-28). And so to that rocky island prison, on a particular Sunday came the glorified, exalted Christ to the apostle whom He called 'The Beloved'.  Some fifty or sixty years before He had hung in agony on the cross and had been laid in the dark recesses of a borrowed tomb. Now he stood in blinding, blazing glory before John saying: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1:18). 

 

In the revelation John was given on that auspicious occasion, all the sins and evils of this earth for thousands of years were revealed to him but completed with the glorious hope of Christ's return who would reign in peace, harmony and love for a thousand years. What comfort that must have been to John who, like the 3 Nephites, would sorrow for the sins of the world during his sojourn in this dismal telestial world (3 Nephi 28:9). This is a story of love...love for one cherished disciple and love for all those who accept and follow Christ and have a hope of eternal life through the virtue of his atoning blood. While the Book of Revelation briefly covers the entire history of the earth, its' main focus is on the last days and Christ's triumphant return. This makes The Book of Revelation a book of love through the medium of hope. It's main purpose is not history but prophecy. This is evident in the fact that the Book covers the history of the earth's 6 thousand years only briefly whereas it expounds on the period of the Millenium in lengthy detail. This is of great value to us because it assures us that the forces of great evil which are gaining momentum in our day will one day be destroyed and come to an end. 

 

When the Saviour appeared to John, it was as if He was saying to him: "You will be here a long time and you need to know everything that will happen while you are here but  be comforted John, my beloved, because I am coming back and when I come I will 'wipe away all tears....and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain...." (Revelation 21:4). Is this not love?

 

 

I have had experiences in my life that have left me bleeding and convinced that love means pain. These experiences have come from different people and different periods of my life: from childhood abandonment, to divorce, to bitter disappointments from a wayward child.  One thing though I know for sure. The Saviour of the world will never break my heart. His love is constant and pure and if I am here when He comes again, He will dry all my tears and encircle me in the arms of His love. 

 

 

I long to see the paths he wanders

To and fro the length of the earth;

I wish to wipe his brow

At the end of the day

To uphold the magnitude of his holy work.

Let me hold him close

And soothe his heavy heart

As the time for final gathering nears,

And let me gather in my cupped hands

The hallowed drops of The Beloved’s tears.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Parting the Veil (The Second Coming) by Jon McNaughton)

A BETTER WORLD

"Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. Moroni spoke of it in the Book of Mormon as "hope for a better world". For emotional health and spiritual stamina, everyone needs to be able to look forward to some respite, to something pleasant and renewing and hopeful, whether that blessing be near at hand or still some distance ahead. It is enough just to know we can get there, that however measured or far away, there is the promise of 'good things to come'. My declaration is that this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need. There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the 'light that is endless, that can never be darkened'. It is the very Son of God Himself."
- Holland, Jeffrey R., "An High Priest of Good Things to Come", October 1999

Imagine if this world was perfect. If there were no calamities, wickedness or turmoil....Imagine if this telestial life was an easy ride; one of constant happiness and devoid of strife. Would we, as disciples of Christ, be yearning for our Celestial home which is our ultimate destination? Would we be yearning for Christ to come back to make resurrection and eternal life possible? Some say that there have been bad times on this earth since year one and what we are experiencing now is not new. That is true but never before have calamities and scourges come with such intensity, frequency and speed. There will soon come a time when there will not be a period of respite; when we will long for peace, rest and freedom from oppression of every kind; when we will know beyond a shadow of doubt that He is our only hope, our Deliverer, our God. It will be a time when we will say, in the words of John the Beloved: Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20)

- Cathryne Allen, Did Not Our Hearts Burn When He Opened To Us The Scriptures?

published 2021 by amazon.com

THE BELOVED

Have you ever wished to have a title added to your name? Have you ever wished to have a title added to your name that would describe your relationship with God? Abraham had 'a friend of God' attached to his name. What spiritual title would you like to be known by?  Sally, the disciple of Christ? Mary, the seeker of truth? Richard, the upholder of faith? Simon, the warrior of God?
My favourite book of the four Gospels in the New Testament is the Gospel of John, 'the disciple whom Jesus loved', as he referred to himself in his book. Jesus called him 'the son of thunder' (Mark 3:17) but he was and is best known as John The Beloved. I have a secret desire (I guess not so secret anymore) to meet John The Beloved because I think I could more intensely feel the Saviour's love just by simply being in his presence.  When I refer to John I simply refer to him as The Beloved. I am in awe of his name. Imagine having The Beloved tagged onto your name because it is so obvious to everyone that the Saviour loves you so much. This is the title that I want.

I see love permeating all of John's writings. Let me give you one example. Matthew and Mark wrote briefly of Christ's visit to the town of Bethany before His death. They both said that He was in the house of Simon, the leper, and 'a woman' came and anointed him with precious oil (Matt 26:6,7; Mark 14:3). Luke doesn't even mention the incident. John however, gives us a much clearer view and why it was important for it to be recorded properly. John records that six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany (John 12:1-3).  Why Bethany? Because in Bethany lived Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. This is where Jesus was loved, comforted, accepted and believed so Bethany was his place of refuge. The Passover was imminent and it heralded the beginning of the end.  Imagine with what heavy heart Jesus came to Lazarus' house for the last time. And imagine what solace He felt as the woman who anointed Him was, according to John, not just any woman but Mary, who sat at His feet and hungered for His words of eternal life. It makes sense that Mary would be the woman who would anoint Him for his burial (John 12:7). Mary anointed not only his feet but his head also (Mark 14:3), 'an act of reverential homage rarely rendered even to kings' (James Talmage, "Jesus The Christ").  Mary spared no expense for the one she loved for she anointed Him with the costly ointment of spikenard. Lazarus' family was wealthy and well known to all the Jews in Jerusalem, especially to the Jewish Council who sought to kill him because Christ raised him from the dead which caused  many of the Jews to believe on Him (John 12:10-11). And did Lazarus withdraw his hospitality and shun Jesus because his life was in jeopardy? No. We can only surmise it was because he loved Him.  So you see He was in a house of love before He began His journey to His death. John wrote this. He made special mention of it because I believe it was important to him to record that even though Christ was despised, bruised and rejected, He was also loved.

None of the other gospels speak of the discourse on love that Jesus delivered at the Last Supper but The Beloved's does. His account of the Last Supper begins with Chapter 13:1 in which he says 'He loved His own which were in the world and He loved them unto the end'. His account of the discourse of love which is related to the Sacrament and our remembrance of Him mentions love 22 times. John records the Saviour giving an amazing promise to all who subject themselves to the cleansing power of the sacrament and who are motivated through their love for Him to obey His commandments. The promise is that they can enjoy the literal companionship of the Father and the Son in this life (John 14:23). This is an amazing promise the Saviour made to those who love Him and keep His commandments. None of the other gospels record such an important promise, only John; the disciple who outran Peter to the sepulchre with a pounding heart harbouring hope against hope that the rumours were true, that He whom He loved, lived again (John 20:2-4); the disciple who loved Christ above all those that were given Him, loved Him so much that he desired to spend however long it took to stay on earth to bring souls unto Him (D&C 7:1-3). This is John the Beloved, who sat on the island of Patmos, alone, dejected and abandoned, but yet commissioned to write another book of love, the book of Revelation.

More than six centuries before John was even born, the Lord revealed to Nephi many of the things in the Book of Revelation but forbade him to write them down because they were reserved for John (1 Nephi 14:19-28). Could it be that John needed this revelation for himself more than even we needed it?  To me, it is as if the Saviour was saying to him: "You will be here a long time and you need to know everything that will happen while you are here but  be comforted John because I am coming back and when I come I will 'wipe away all tears....and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain...." (Revelation 21:4). Can you imagine seeing in a vision the sins and evils of this earth for thousands of years and than be given such hope of Christ's return who would reign in peace and harmony and love for a thousand years? What comfort that must have been to John who, like the 3 Nephites, would sorrow for the sins of the world during his sojourn in this dismal telestial world (3 Nephi 28:9). This is a story of love...love for one cherished disciple and love for all those who accept and follow Christ and have a hope of eternal life through the virtue of his atoning blood. While the Book of Revelation briefly covers the entire history of the earth, its' main focus is on the last days and Christ's triumphant return. It's whole purpose is to give us, who live here and now, hope of a better life, of Millenial peace, of triumph over evil. Why give us this hope? Because the evil in these last days that we are living with surpasses the evil of all the previous dispensations. It is this evil that He is coming to conquer and it is our tears He is coming to wipe.

I have had experiences in my life that have left me bleeding and convinced that love means pain. These experiences have come from different people and different periods of my life. From childhood abandonment to bitter disappointments from a wayward child. I know there are many, many people in the world who have loved and lost and have cried bitter tears because of it. One thing though I know for sure. The Saviour of the world will never break my heart. His love is constant and pure and If I remain faithful He will be there at the end of my journey ready to encircle me in the arms of His love. And maybe He will even call me 'The Beloved'.