We talked about the seven churches and angels in the first chapter of Revelation and then the 12 elders in the fourth chapter.
Now, we’ve come to the three angels and three messages in the fourteenth chapter.
The first message is, “God wins!” The second message is, “Satan loses!”
And the third message is, “We win or lose depending on which side we choose!”
And if there’is a fourth message, it would be, “Evil always overplays it’s hand!”
While we were at the lake a couple of weeks ago, I tried to catch up on my “Death Valley Days” based on true stories of the old west. Season 3, Episode 2 was about a gold camp in Columbia, Calif.
Their crooked district attorney, Mr. Pike, had created a petition and gathered 11,000 names to have Columbia declared the capital of the new state of California putting him in a position to become the next governor. But remember that fourth lesson, “Evil always overplays its hand!”
It seemed to work well until the most honest man in the area walked into town and admitted he’d killed a man who tried to rob him. The sheriff and everybody else believed it was selfdefense, but, “Evil always overplays its hand!”
What better way to impress the legislature than to prosecute and convict Jim Hardwicke for murder, and as Jim was being led to the gallows, his lawyer, who’d never lost a case, rode into town with a pardon from the governor.
He had taken Mr. Sikes petition and replaced the cover sheet with a letter demanding a pardon for Jim Hardwicke and took it to the governor. It worked, and that’s why Sacramento and not Columbia is the capital of California!
And now for the rest of the story: Mr. Pike had his eye on the beautiful schoolteacher in Columbia, but she was Jim Hardwicke’s fiancé.
In other words, he overplayed his hand with a false conviction and that’s really why Sacramento and not Columbia is the capital of California.
So, remember this, “Evil always overplays its hand!” because it’s never satisfied. But good, regardless of the circumstances, simply does what’s right.
“This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus.”
— Revelation 14: 12
Charles “Buddy” Whatley is a retired United Methodist pastor serving Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville, Ga. With wife, Mary Ella, they are missionaries to the Navajo Reservation.
