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"HE IS NEAR, AT THE DOOR
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"Here's Johnny" |
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INTRODUCTION
As we suggested in our last article, we are in an "IN-BETWEEN TIME," and it's anyone's guess how long this period will last. It's a twilight time full of indistinct shapes and blurry shadows; of swirling phantasms and spinning apparitions whose frightful identities can only be guessed at. BUT OF THIS WE CAN BE SURE: ONE OF THESE SHADOWS, ONE OF THESE SPECTERS, IS THE ANTICHRIST, so that we can now say with some confidence,
"He is near, at the door ... Here comes Anti-christ."
But we must be very careful; we must tread very lightly: The light we have here is very, very dim and the apparitions we are dealing with are very, very indistinct. We don't want to trip and fall in the twilight that engulfs us.
REVELATION 13:1
There are, however, some flickering lamps left to us that throw some light on the shapes and shadows that are swirling around us. Revelation 13:1 is one such lamp; the verse reads:
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, AND SAW A BEAST RISE UP OUT OF THE SEA, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." (Revelation 13:1)
That this is a picture of both the Antichrist and the kingdom of antichrist (seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns), all Bible expositors agree. We are interested here, however, only in the light this verse throws onto the Beast as a PERSON.
The verse says that the BEAST (i.e., antichrist) will "rise up out of the sea." Naturally enough, the key to any understanding of this verse is to discern what the Scriptures mean by the term, "SEA" - and we can begin to understand what this word means when we examine the way it is used in Isaiah 60:1-5, a prophetic passage of Scripture dealing with the conversion of the gentiles; the verse reads as follows:
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
"For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
"Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
"Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because THE ABUNDANCE OF THE SEA SHALL BE CONVERTED UNTO THEE, THE FORCES OF THE GENTILES SHALL COME UNTO THEE." (Isaiah 60:1-5)
Here, the word "sea" is clearly equated with "mankind" (i.e., the "forces of the gentiles") or "the people," and if that's its meaning here, we can feel fairly sure that that's its meaning in Revelation 13:1.
NOTE: This is called "typology," and its use in the parables of the New Testament is ubiquitous; it is used as a device to "convey" truth to some while "hiding" it from others. The Bible explains:
"And the disciples came, and said unto him (i.e., Jesus), Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
"He answered and said unto them, BECAUSE IT IS GIVEN UNTO YOU TO KNOW THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT TO THEM IT IS NOT GIVEN.
"For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
"Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
"And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, BY HEARING YE SHALL HEAR, AND SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND SEEING YE SHALL SEE, AND SHALL NOT PERCEIVE " (Matthew 13:10-14)
Darby agrees insofar as our analysis of the word "sea" is concerned; he writes in vol. 5 of his Synopsis of the Books of the Bible (pg. 540) that the word "sea," when used in the context expressed in Revelation 13:1, means "A MASS OF PEOPLE."
THE VOLK
Unfortunately, however, this expression (i.e., "people" or "mass of people") is not capable of conveying all the meaning contained in Revelation 13:1. When one speaks of a "mass of people" in English, one thinks of a huge seething, writhing lump of INDIVIDUAL human beings who possess no single purpose and no single identity; a chaos of individuals, as it were. But the Germans do possess a word capable of conveying the full intent of Revelation 13:1. The word is "VOLK" - and its heavy use in the lexicon of Hitler's Third Reich lends a certain dreadful hue to both the expression itself and the shadows and specters that swirl and whirl around this expression.
The Germans conceive of the "VOLK" not as a menagerie of single, isolated human beings, but as ONE coherent whole, possessing ONE purpose and ONE life; indeed, one can even speak of ONE soul. IT IS OUT OF SUCH A "VOLK" - THE KIND THAT HITLER AND HIS FOLLOWERS CONCEIVED OF - THAT THE ANTICHRIST WILL EMERGE. This is very important to bear in mind.
REVELATION 13:7-15
And there is more - a second lamp, as it were - that sheds additional light on the shadows before us; we speak here specifically of Revelation 13:7-15; the passage reads as follows:
"And it was given unto him [i.e., the antichrist) to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
"If any man have an ear, let him hear.
"He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
"And I beheld another beast (i.e., the "false prophet) coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
"And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
"And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; SAYING TO THEM THAT DWELL ON THE EARTH, THAT THEY SHOULD MAKE AN IMAGE TO THE BEAST, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." (Revelation 13:7-15)
THIS IMAGE IS MORE
THAN A MERE IDOL
This is one of the most prescient passages of Scripture in the entire Bible, but here we are most concerned with verse fourteen; specifically, (1) the BEAST and (2) the IMAGE OF THE BEAST, and how they relate to one another.
We know antichrist to be the Beast; but who or what is the "IMAGE OF THE BEAST" - an image that has "life" and can "speak." This is certainly no "statue" nor "idol" in the common sense of that word. Statues and idols do not have life in them; neither can they speak. Nor can we be talking about some kind of "high-tech" computer, because - while some very advanced computers can mimic life - they do not possess life as such.
But the Bible very clearly says that this image possesses life. So, then, what are we talking about here?
REDEEMERS OF MANKIND
Let's go back to Revelation 13:1: The Scripture indicates that the Beast (or antichrist) will arise out of "the people," but not a menagerie of people, but a "VOLK" - a people who are united together possessing, as it were, one soul and one purpose; a people transfixed - as the German people were - by a vision of themselves as the "REDEEMERS" of mankind; a super-human brotherhood; a "Manifest Sons of God" company destined to liberate mankind and set it on the road to God. THIS IS PRECISELY HOW THE GERMAN PEOPLE THOUGHT OF THEMSELVES, AND IT IS OUT OF THE "MASS" OF GERMAN PEOPLE THAT HITLER EMERGED.
The Germans, of course, no longer possess such an image of themselves; they were disabused of that thought by their MASSIVE defeat at the hands of the allies during World War II. And insofar as the French - and, indeed, the entire "European race," as it were - they have all long ago given up on such thinking, having been possessed for many years now by a debilitating skepticism of themselves that is ENORMOUSLY emasculating. The fact is, they are hardly able to defend their identity against the Muslims and North Africans in their midst. Like the Dutch, they have been reduced to embracing a kind of cultural pluralism that cannot help but enervate themselves as a people. NO! - THERE'S NO "VOLK" TO BE FOUND IN EUROPE ANYMORE.
THERE IS, HOWEVER, A PLACE
There is, however, a "VOLK" left on this planet, a people who are clearly transfixed by their own "EXCEPTIONALISM." We speak here, of course, of the American people who embrace themselves with a self-love that borders on being narcissistic. It's a constituency that has been for the past twenty years centered around the so-called right-wing of the Republican Party, but one that is now threatening to break out of the narrow constraints imposed upon it by the Republican Party and is moving to diffuse itself into the general population.
And one should be clear here: we speak here of a growing "right-wing" POPULISM in the country that has acted not so much as a limitation on the Republican Party as the Republican Party has acted as a limitation on it. I repeat: IT'S NOT SO MUCH THE FACT THAT THIS POPULISM HAS CONSTRAINED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AS THE ELITE MEDIA WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE, AS IT IS THAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS CONSTRAINED THIS POPULISM - which is the exact opposite of what the elite media would have you believe.
THIS IS THE OMINOUS MESSAGE THAT HAS BEEN DELIVERED TO "THE PEOPLE" BY THE RECENT DEFEAT OF THE IMMIGRATION BILL championed by the country's elites, and not just those found in the Republican Party, but those in the Democratic Party as well.
WHAT THE DEFEAT OF THE
IMMIGRATION BILL PROVED
The fact is, the Immigration Bill was defeated by a right-wing populism of such ENORMOUS power that it was able to swamp the combined might of the elites in both parties - something that has not occurred since a left-wing populism swept FDR into power on the heels of the Great Depression in 1932.
And you should understand something here: we are talking about a POPULISM that owes nothing to the elites; a populism willing to challenge the so-called "wisdom" of their "betters," grab them by the scruff of their necks, and slap them about their head and shoulders. THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT OCCURRED IN THE DEFEAT OF THE IMMIGRATION BILL.
The defeat of the Immigration Bill was a "grass-roots" phenomenon emanating out of an aroused citizenry that was fearful not just that the proposed Immigration Bill threatened to inundate them economically, but culturally as well. They saw it as a device that could not help but doom the America they loved and treasured forever - the America that was celebrated not just in such TV serials as "Mayberry" and "Leave It to Beaver," but the America of "MANIFEST DESTINY," Ronald Reagan's "CITY ON A HILL" and the America of John Wayne and Gary Cooper - an America that they believed was threatened, as Jean Raspail has written by " third-world hordes that threatened to inundate it." [Please see our last article, "The In-Between Time."]
"I DON'T THINK THE MESSAGE
COULD BE ANY CLEARER"
So shrill was the cry against the new Immigration Bill that just prior to last week's vote, many senators reported that their offices were jammed with thousands and thousands of phone calls from constituents decrying the legislation. The groundswell - which grew to such a volume that it temporarily jammed the Capitol phone system - led many senators who might have supported the measure as a result of elite pressure, decided to vote against it.
Indeed, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) said.
"I don't think the message could be any clearer than this dramatic vote."
THE ELITES: TRYING TO
EXPLAIN THEIR DEFEAT AWAY
Naturally enough, the elites have done everything in their power to mask the enormity of their defeat: Theyve blamed it on President Bush's unpopularity, right-wing radio talk show hosts, and - most astonishing of all - the belief that the Left combined with the Right to defeat the bill because the bill wasn't liberal enough.
The fact is, however, no one on the Left deserted the bill because it wasn't "liberal enough." If that's what they thought, they still held their noses and voted for it. The truth is, all the opposition to the bill came from "traditionalists" - and many of these so-called "traditionalists" turned out to be Democrats.
Still, the elites keep on trying to "explain away" their defeat; but - in the end - it's just not possible to do so. The fact is, there is little that can be done in this direction.
A WATERSHED MOMENT
Jonah Goldberg, the editor of National Review, commenting on the enormity of the elite's defeat, writes:
"Historians may well look back on last week's defeat of the immigration bill as a WATERSHED MOMENT.
"It was, for good or ill, a milestone in America's transformation into a [Volkish] country Indeed, ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING ASPECTS OF THE RECENT IMMIGRATION BILL WAS HOW ITS OPPONENTS MANAGED TO WIN DESPITE HAVING THE DECK STACKED AGAINST THEM.
"Any reference to cultural objections to mass immigration from Mexico was automatically deemed reactionary and bigoted by proponents of the bill in the news media and on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, supporters of legalizing some 12 million illegal immigrants were free to use the cultural card as much as they liked. We are a nation of immigrants, we were told constantly. Immigrants make American society better.
"Anyone who disagreed with this was automatically lumped in with the forces of bigotry and hate. Referring to opponents of the bill, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said, 'We've been down this road before. No Catholics, no Jews, Irish, need not apply. That's not the America I want'."
Goldberg says that the current that has been flowing in the direction of a "politically correct" America that possesses no cultural identity of its own - an America that has stripped itself of its "Euro-centric, Christian roots" - has now reversed itself and is running very strongly in the opposite direction, AND THERE IS NOTHING THAT THE WALL STREET CROWD IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY CAN DO TO DAM IT UP. OBVIOUSLY, THEY'VE LOST CONTROL OF EVENTS.
A VOLKISH POPULISM THAT IS
SPREADING
TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Moreover, the POPULISM unleashed by the right-wing of the Republican Party over "national identity" has spread to the Democratic Party as well. Carl Hulse of the New York Times explains:
"In narrowly winning her seat last year, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri ran hard against what she saw as a flawed approach in Congress to dealing with illegal immigration. McCaskill, a Democratic newcomer, said she is not about to change her view now [Two] of her compatriots in opposition are Sens. Jim Webb of Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana.
"All three of them are breaking with [the Democratic] leadership and most of their Democratic colleagues on the legislation, whose fate in the Senate could be determined today - after a day of votes on amendments left the outcome up in the air Wednesday
"Unlike some veteran liberal Democrats who say the measure would be too harsh on illegal immigrants many freshmen [Democrats] are lined up against it for much the same reason as its Republican opponents: that it would not do enough to stop the flow of illegal immigrants across the border Sen. Tester (D, Montana) said opposition to the bill comes from Montana residents of all political stripes, from liberals to conservatives to libertarians. 'This is a clearer signal than we get on the war on Iraq'."
"The stance of [these freshman Democrats] indicates how powerful the issue can be for those lawmakers who most recently faced the voters on the polarizing subject of what to do about illegal immigration and the millions of undocumented residents already in the country In the Senate, new members have traditionally been expected to hew close to the party line as they learn the ropes and establish themselves."
"TRADITIONAL WISDOM"
GOES UP IN SMOKE
The traditional wisdom of America's mainline media is that those who oppose the "moderates" (i.e., the elites) on the issue of unfettered immigration will pay a heavy price in the years to come. For example, Karoun Demirjian, writing in the Washington Post, says -
"Immigration will likely play a prominent role in the 2008 campaign as congressional and presidential candidates posture on the issue and try to woo Hispanic voters, a group Democratic pollster Doug Schoen believes will largely swing to Democrats."
Schoen, mimicking the traditional wisdom of the "chattering class," goes on to say:
'The group that is going to vote on this issue are the Hispanics. Republicans are against immigration -- that's a very popular position inside the party, but not outside the party. So while it might win you a primary, it won't win you an election'."
But by what measure does Schoen believe that immigration is a "popular position inside the party, but not outside the party." That may be the position that Democratic liberals have taken, but it is not supported by most polls which show that eighty percent of voters were against the Immigration Bill.
The very real fact of the matter is, HISPANIC DEFECTIONS AWAY FROM THE NEW POPULISM WILL PROBABLY BE MORE THAN MADE UP BY WHITES ANGERED THAT THEIR CULTURE IS UNDER ATTACK, AND BY THE FACT THAT THE ELITES DON'T GIVE A WHIT ABOUT IT.
THE PROBLEM FOR THE NEW POPULISM
The problem for the new "VOLKISH" populism is that it doesn't really have an institutional home. The Republican elites who presently control the Republican Party don't want anything to do with it; and most Democrats won't touch it with a ten foot pole - despite its growing popularity in blue-collar sections of the Democratic Party constituency.
And that's where we are today, caught somewhere between the elites' ECONOMIC agenda, and the growing "VOLKISH" populism of whites desperate to hold on to their culture - a POPULISM that the elites no longer seem able to stamp out by playing the RACE card against it, as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), President Bush, Harry Reid (D-NV) and others found out to their chagrin. It's as Jonah Goldberg explained: "ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING ASPECTS OF THE RECENT IMMIGRATION BILL WAS HOW ITS OPPONENTS MANAGED TO WIN DESPITE HAVING THE DECK STACKED AGAINST THEM" - objections that relied heavily on labeling those who championed the older "Euro-Centric," Christian culture as "BIGOTS."
Given this reality, one of two things are bound to occur in the not too distant future:
The first is that the new "VOLKISH" populism will eventually seize control of the Republican Party,
The second is, those who advocate the new populism will form their own political party - and don't think that this has not occurred before in the history of the Republic, as some would have you believe. It has! It occurred when the old Federalist Party of Washington and Adams was shunted aside in favor of the new Republican Party - a populist party of small farmers and other "little people" that took what was then considered the very anti-elitist position of advocating against the expansion of slavery, a position that eventually led to the Civil War.
AND
It's anyone's guess how this will play itself out; but that this new "VOLKISH" populism will eventually win seems sure. The cultural currents that gave rise to the defeat of the Immigration Bill can no longer be contained by the machinations of the elites. One way or another, the new populism will prevail.
SOME MIGHT OBJECT
Some might object, of course, citing the resurgence of the Democratic Party insofar as the War in Iraq is concerned. But I rather suspect that what most Americans object to with regard to the Iraqi War is not so much that we are in there "spreading democracy," but rather that the Bush Administration is pursuing its war policies there with one hand tied behind its back. AMERICANS WANT TO WIN - AND THEY WON'T TOLERATE HALF-MEASURES WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING WAR. Their position is, either make all-out war or get out.
And the fact that all-out war is coming is a very prescient reality; there's simply no way that it can be avoided, and the Democrats are in the process of committing political suicide in thinking otherwise. Moreover, when it comes, it will be MURDEROUS one, the growing HATRED of most Americans for all things ISLAMIC fairly guarantees this result: The Muslims of the Middle East will be treated as an "ENEMY ABSOLUTE" - an enemy that should be treated in the same manner the German and Japanese populations were treated during the Second World War; the way Attila the Hun treated the citizens of Samarkan when he killed off every man, woman and child of that city after they refused to submit to his will; the way General Tecumseh Sherman treated the citizens of Atlanta during the Civil War.
THIS IS, OF COURSE, EXACTLY WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS THAT AMERICA WILL DO TO THE MUSLIMS OF THE MIDDLE EAST - SLAUGHTER THEM UP TO FIVE-SIXTHS OF THEIR POPULATION - which plainly suggests the ultimate victory of the new "VOLKISH" populism in the United States, for only those under the influence of such thinking could possible pursue such a HOMICIDAL policy. [Please see Chapter XV, "The Gog/Magog War."]
WHAT GROWING NUMBERS OF
AMERICANS ARE LOOKING FOR
Clearly, what growing numbers of Americans are looking for is a leader who will reflect their passions, their culture, their ideas - not one who will reflect the passions of the ultra-rich, nor the desires of the multi-culturalists, people who possess NO cultural passion, NO single, coherent religious beliefs. They're tired of being told what they should believe, tired of being told that they are bigots if they object to their country being over-run by "brown-skinned" people waving Mexican flags and damning them for being intolerant racists if they object to being inundated by what they consider to be a "foreign culture."
The battle over immigration has given white, "Euro-centric," Christian Americans something they consider to be LEGITIMATE handle to hold onto insofar as their battle with those who are denigrating their culture and preventing them from re-establishing America as a "VOLKISH" state based on a shared vision of America as God's "REDEEMER NATION." That is, after all, the identity of the nation that most Americans have embraced for most of the nation's history - an identity that Senator Beveridge once said differentiated America from all the other nations on earth.
GOD HELP US
But God help us if this is the direction that the people are trending now - and clearly it is! In desiring a leader that will reflect their "VOLKISH" ideals, the American people are walking down the same path taken by the German people seventy years ago. HITLER WAS "THEIR" MAN! - and so now we begin to understand what the Bible means when it says that the "Beast" will "RISE UP OUT OF THE SEA."
The relationship that existed between Hitler and the German people; between the Fuhrer (Hitler) and the Volk (the German people) IS EXACTLY THE RELATIONSHIP THAT WILL EXIST BETWEEN THE "COMING PRINCE" AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. He was their Fuhrer (leader) and they were his Volk (his reflection). They mirrored one another. They reflected one another.
THE FUHRER PRINZIP
Naturally enough, many people are probably aghast by our use of these words (Fuhrer and Volk) - words that are clearly linked to the HORROR of the Third Reich. But one should bear in mind that in its original meaning, the word Fuhrer was a word that conveyed a most marvelous and wonderful image which no comparable word in the English language is capable of conveying.
Fuhrer means "leader" - but it means much more than just that. It conveys the thought of a man willing to lay down his life for the welfare of his men; a person who enjoys their absolute trust and confidence because of his inner virtue, character, selflessness and love towards those who follow him; a man capable of eliciting his men's willing obedience not necessarily because they have to obey, but because they want to obey in order to please him.
He is their "elder brother," their "Father Confessor" who loves and honors them more than life itself; who puts their welfare ahead of his own; who would never ask them to do something that he was unwilling to do; a man who will willingly lay down his own comforts and share their misery; a man who would never think of bedding down in the comfort of a house when his men have to sleep outside in the cold. Clearly, then, all this precludes an elitist from taking on this title for himself.
A German officer was never given the title of Fuhrer by the state; he had to earn that title from the men whom he led. Indeed - and contrary to the thinking of many in the United States - the German Officer Code looked on those officers who had to resort to the use of brute force and naked threats to lead as failures.
The Fuhrer is identified with no special clique (for example, the rich; the intellectuals), no private faction, no exclusive circle; he is a "MAN OF THE PEOPLE." He identifies with the people. Their goals are his goals, and HIS GOALS ARE THEIR GOALS. He reflects "the people," and "THE PEOPLE" REFLECT HIM. There is a symbiosis between Fuhrer and Volk - and so now at last we begin to understand what verse fourteen of Revelation thirteen means when it speaks of "the people" making an "image of the Beast:" THEY HAVE BECOME HIS PERFECT REFLECTION. His purposes are their purposes; his appetites are their appetites; his cravings have become their cravings.
WE ARE CLOSE - VERY CLOSE
The revolt by the American people against the new Immigration Bill is a reflection THAT AT LAST "THE PEOPLE" IN THE UNITED STATES ARE BEGINNING TO ASSERT THEMSELVES OVER AND AGAINST THE ELITES, OVER AND AGAINST "SPECIAL INTERESTS," OVER AND AGAINST THOSE WHO DENIGRATE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE'S CONCEPT OF THEMSELVES AS EXCEPTIONAL - AS A "REDEEMER PEOPLE," AND AMERICA AS A "SHINING CITY ON A HILL."
In exerting themselves as a "SPECIAL PEOPLE," they are doing nothing more than what the German people did seventy years ago. THEY HAVE BEGUN THEIR SEARCH IN EARNEST FOR A LEADER THAT WILL REFLECT THEIR IDEAS AND THEIR GOALS - AND IN DOING SO, THEY ARE LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THEIR MESSIAH, and so now we can say with some assurance that -
"He is near, at the door ... Here comes Anti-christ."
God bless you all,
S.R.
Shearer
Antipas
Ministries
P.S. WE CONTINUE TO NEED YOUR FINANCIAL HELP, even though we are no longer in Canada. The needs of the ministry are very great at this time, especially as we are in the process of transitioning the ministry out of North America to Germany, an effort that has taken a great deal of time and money - but an effort that is very close to fruition. But, again, we need your help if we are to "pull this off" and secure the safety of the ministry.
So I say to you, if the spiritual treasures that we have ministered unto you have profited you, then please respond with your material treasures. As Paul said under similar circumstances so many years ago:
"IF WE HAVE SOWN UNTO YOU SPIRITUAL THINGS, IS IT A GREAT THING IF WE SHALL REAP YOUR CARNAL (MATERIAL) THINGS?" (1 Cor. 9:11)