Page 63 - The Mark of the Beast

Weeping and death and mourning and crying and pain are “the first things.” The
creation has been subjected to such pain and futility until the sons of God should come to
maturity. Apart from this suffering the overcomers in Christ could not be perfected and
brought to the fulness of the stature of Christ. It is impossible for man to be perfected
through pleasure. Wisdom is not learned, nor holiness attained, by giving oneself to
pleasure. These things are only won through many trials, temptations and pains. Solomon
spoke of the superiority of sorrow over pleasure in this life.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because
that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart. Sorrow is better than
laughter, for when a face is sad a heart may be happy. The mind of the wise is in the
house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.

Sorrow is appointed unto the saints in this age, but this sorrow will eventually give
way to great joy. The sorrow we must know is not a meaningless sorrow, but it has a great
aim in mind. The title of this chapter bears a double meaning. There will be an end of
suffering one day as John wrote when he said that the first things will one day have passed
away. There is also an end of suffering in the sense that there is a goal and final object to
which it points. Yahshua hinted at this “end,” or goal, of suffering with His following words.

John 16:20-22
Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice;
you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor
she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she
no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a man has been born into
the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart
will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

When speaking of the suffering and sorrow of the saints Yahshua used the illustration
of a woman being in labor. There is great pain in labor, but it precedes great joy. The joy is
such that the former pain is not even remembered, and so it will also be with the saints. At
this time we will know sorrow, but we must keep the end in sight. This present sorrow is for
the purpose of bringing forth a man into the world. It is for the purpose of producing a full
stature man child after the image and likeness of God.
Even as God revealed in the first book of the Bible His desire for the man and woman
to rule over the beast nature, He also revealed to them that they would have sorrow, but
that this sorrow would lead to the birthing of a man who would bear the image of the divine.
All of these things are signified in the very first words of Scripture.
After Adam and Eve sinned, Yahweh spoke to them and told them what the world
would be like until man should be redeemed and come to a full reflection of His divine
nature. To the woman He spoke the following.

Genesis 3:16
To the woman He said:
"I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;