THE SALUTATION
Revelation 2:12b "These thing saith He Which hath the sharp sword with the two edges."
The message to the third church age is about to come forth. The third scene of this unfolding drama of "Christ in the midst of His church" is about to be revealed. With trumpet-like voice, the Spirit presents the Matchless One, "He Which hath the sharp sword with the two edges!" How vastly different is this presentation from the time when Pilate introduced the Lamb of God, clothed in mocking robes of purple, smitten and thorn crowned, saying, "Behold your King!" Now, regal robed and crowned with glory stands the risen Lord, 'Christ, the power of God.'
In these words, 'He Which hath the sharp sword with two edges' lies another revelation of Godhead. In the Ephesian Age, you will recall, He was set forth as the Unchanging God. In the Smyrnaean Age we saw Him as the ONE TRUE God and beside Him there was no other. Now in this Pergamean Age there is a further revelation of His Godhead, set forth by His association with the sharp two edged sword, which is the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Ephesians 6:17 "And take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God." Revelation 19:13 & 15a, "And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His Name is called the Word of God. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp two-edged sword." John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Same (Word) was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." I John 5:7, "For there are three that bear record in Heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are ONE."
Now we can see His association with the Word. HE IS THE WORD. That is Who He is. THE WORD IN HIS NAME.
In John 1:1 where it says "In the beginning was the Word," the root from which we get our translation for 'Word' is 'Logos' which means 'the thought or concept.' It has the double meaning of 'thought' and 'speech.' Now a 'thought expressed'is a 'word', 'or words.' Isn't that wonderful and beautiful? John says the concept of God was expressed in Jesus. And Paul says the very same thing in Hebrews 1:1-3, "God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, (Logos) Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." God became expressed in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the Express Image of God. Again in John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us." The very substance of God was made flesh and dwelt amongst us. The great Spirit-God unto Which no man could approach, Which no man had seen or could behold was now tabernacled in flesh and dwelt among men, expressing the fullness of God to men. John 1:18, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, Which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." God, Who on occasions would manifest His presence by the cloud or pillar of fire that struck fear in the hearts of men; this God, Whose heart characteristics were made known only by revelation of words through the prophets, now became Emmanuel (God with us) declaring Himself. The word, 'declare,' is taken from the Greek root which we often interpret as exegesis, which means to thoroughly explain and make clear. That is what the Living WORD, Jesus, did. He brought God to us, for He was God. He revealed God to us with such perfect clarity that John could say about Him in I John 1:1-3 "That Which was from the beginning, Which we have heard, (Logos means speech) Which we have seen with our eyes, Which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of Life; (For the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that Eternal Life, Which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That Which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." When God was truly revealed, He was manifested in the flesh. "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father."
Now back in Hebrews 1:1-3 we made note that Jesus was the express image of God. He was God expressing Himself in man to man. But there is something else to note in these verses, especially verses one and two. "God Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son." I want you to notice here in the margin of your Bible you will see a correction. The word, 'by' is not a correct translation. It should be 'IN.' Not 'by.' It then reads correctly, "God spake in times past unto the fathers IN the prophets by means of the Word". I Samuel 3:21b, "For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the Word of the Lord." That brings out I John 5:7 perfectly, "The Spirit and Word are ONE." Jesus revealed the Father. The Word revealed the Father. Jesus was the Living Word. Praise God, today He is still that Living Word.
When Jesus was upon earth He said, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." John. 14:10. Here it is most evidently set forth that the perfect manifestation of God in the Son was by the indwelling Spirit manifesting in Word and works. That is exactly what we have been teaching all along. When the bride will get back to being a Word bride, she will produce the very works that Jesus produced. The Word is God. The Spirit is God. They are all ONE. One cannot work apart from the other. If one truly has the Spirit of God, he will have the Word of God. That is how it was with the prophets. They had the indwelling Spirit of God and the Word came to them. That is how it was with Jesus. In Him was the Spirit without measure and the Word came to Him. (Jesus both began to do and TEACH. My doctrine is not My own, but the Father's That sent Me. Acts 1:1, John. 7:16.)
Remember now, John the Baptist was both the prophet and the messenger of his day. He was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. When he was baptizing in Jordan the Word of God (Jesus) came to him. The Word always comes to the truly Spirit-filled. That is the evidence of being filled with the Holy Ghost. That is what Jesus said would be that evidence. He said, "And I will pray the Father and He will send you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive." Now we know what Truth is. "Thy Word is Truth." John 17:17b. Again in John 8:43, "Why do ye not understand My speech? even because ye cannot hear My Word." Did you notice that Jesus said that the world could not receive the Holy Ghost? Well, in this verse I just read, neither could they receive the Word. Why? Because the Spirit and the Word are one, and if you have the Holy Spirit as the prophets, the Word would come to you. You would receive it. In John 14:26, "But the Comforter, Which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall TEACH you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Here again we find the Word coming because of the Spirit of God. Again in John 16:13 "Howbeit when He the Spirit of Truth (Word) is come, He will guide you into all truth, (Thy Word is truth), and He shall not speak of Himself: but whatsoever He shall hear (Word of God), that shall He speak (Word): and He will show you things to come." (Spirit bringing the Word of Prophecy). I want you to note very carefully that Jesus did not say that the evidence of being baptized with the Holy Ghost was speaking in tongues, interpreting, prophesying, or shouting and dancing. He said the evidence would be that you would be in the TRUTH; you would be in the Word of God for your age. Evidence has to do with receiving that Word.
In I Corinthians 14:37, "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." Now see that. The proof of the indwelling Spirit was to acknowledge and FOLLOW what God's prophet gave for his age as he set the church in order. Paul had to say to those who claimed another revelation, (verse 36) "What, came the Word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?" The evidence of a Spirit-filled Christian believer is not to produce the truth (Word), but to receive the truth (Word), and to believe and obey it.
Have you noticed in Revelation 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, - And let him that heareth say, Come." See, the bride speaks the same Word as does the Spirit. She is a Word bride proving she has the Spirit. In every church age we hear these words, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." The Spirit gives the Word. If you have the Spirit you will hear the Word for your age, as those true Christians took the Word for their age.
Did you get that last thought? I repeat, every church age ends with the same admonition. "He that hath an ear, let him (an individual) hear what the Spirit saith to the churches." The Spirit gives the Word. He has the truth for each age. Each age has had its own elect, and that elect group always 'heard the word,' and received it, proving they had the Seed in them. John 8:47, "And he that is of God heareth God's Words. Ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." They refused the Word (Jesus) and His Words for their days, but the true seed received the Word because they were of God. "And ALL Thy children shall be taught of God." (Holy Spirit) Isaiah 54:13. Jesus said the same thing in John 6:45. Being ONE WITH THE WORD proves whether you are of God and Spiritfilled. No other criterion.
But what are tongues and interpretation and the other gifts? They are manifestations. That is what the Word teaches. Read it in I Corinthians 12:7, "But the MANIFESTATION of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." Then Paul names those manifestations.
Now comes this very good question I know that you are all anxious to ask. Why isn't the manifestation an evidence of being baptized with the Holy Ghost, because you surely could not manifest the Holy Ghost unless you truly were Spirit-filled? Now I wish I could say that is right, because I don't like to hurt people or walk on their doctrine; but I wouldn't be a true servant of God if I didn't tell you the whole counsel of God. That is right, is it not? Just let us take a little look at Balaam. He was religious, he worshipped God. He understood the proper method of sacrificing and approaching unto God, but he was not a True Seed prophet for he took the wages of unrighteousness, and worst of all he led the people of God into sins of fornication and idolatry. Yet who would dare to deny that the Spirit of God manifested through him in one of the most beautiful portions of absolutely accurate prophecy the world has ever seen? But he never had the Holy Ghost. Now then, what do you think of Caiaphas, the high priest? The Bible says that he prophesied the kind of death the Lord should die. We all know there is no record of him being a Spirit-filled and Spirit-led man like dear old Simeon or that sweet saint called Anna. Yet he had a genuine manifestation of the Holy Ghost. We can't deny that. So where is manifestation as an evidence? It isn't there. If you are truly filled with the Spirit of God you will have the evidence of the WORD in your life.
Let's show you how deeply I feel and understand this truth by a revelation God gave me. Now before I tell it, I want to say this. Many of you people believe me to be a prophet. I don't say that I am. You said it. But we both know that the visions God gives me NEVER FAIL. NOT ONCE. If anyone can prove a vision ever failed I want to know about it. Now that you follow me this far here is my story.
Many years ago when I first came across the Pentecostal people, I was in one of their camp meetings where there was much manifestations of tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy. Two preachers in particular were engaged in this kind of speaking more that any of the other brethren. I thoroughly enjoyed the services and was truly interested in the various manifestations, for they had a ring of reality to them. It was my earnest desire to learn all that I could about these gifts, so I decided to talk to the two men about them. Through the gift of God resident in me, I sought to know the spirit in the first man, whether he was truly of God or not. After a brief conversation with that sweet, humble brother, I knew that he was a genuine, solid Christian. He was real. The next young man was not at all like the first one. He was boastful and proud, and as I spoke to him a vision moved across my eyes and I saw that he was married to a blonde lady but was living with a brunette and had two children by her. If ever there was a hypocrite, he was one.
Now let me tell you, I was shocked. How could I not be? Here were two men, one of which was a real believer and the other was a sinful impersonator. YET BOTH WERE MANIFESTING GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. I was troubled by this confusion. I left the meeting to seek God for the answer. I went alone to a secret place and there with my Bible I prayed and waited on God for the answer. Not knowing just what portion of Scripture to read I casually opened the Bible to some place in Matthew. I read for awhile and then laid the Bible down. In a moment a wind blew into the room and turned the pages of the Bible to Hebrews, chapter six. I read it through and was particularly impressed by those strange verses, Hebrews 6:4-9, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance: seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But beloved we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak."
I closed the Bible, laid it down, and meditated awhile and prayed some more. I still had no answer. I again opened the Bible aimlessly but did not read. Suddenly the wind blew into the room again, and once more the pages turned to Hebrews 6 and remained there as the wind ceased. I read those words over again, and when I did, then came the Spirit of God into the room and I beheld a vision. I saw in the vision a man dressed in the purest white who went forth into a freshly plowed field and sowed grain. It was a bright day, and the sowing was done in the morning. But late at night after the sower in white had gone, a man in black came and stealthily sowed some more seed amongst that which the man in white had sown. The days went by - the sun and rain blessed the ground; and one day there appeared the grain. How fine it was. But a day later appeared the tares.
The wheat and tares grew together. They partook of the same nourishment out of the same soil. They drank in the same sun and rain.
Then one day the skies turned to brass, and the plants all began to droop and to die. I heard the wheat lift their heads and cry to God for rain. The tares also lifted up their voices and pleaded for rain. Then the skies darkened and the rain came, and again the wheat, now full of strength lifted up their voices and cried in adoration, "Praise the Lord". And to my wonderment I heard the revived tares also look up and say, "Hallelujah!".
Then I knew the truth of the camp meeting and the vision. The parable of the Sower and the Seed, the sixth chapter of Hebrews, and the evident manifestation of Spiritual gifts in a mixed audience - all became wonderfully clear. The sower in white was the Lord. The sower in black was the devil. The world was the field. The seeds were people, elect and reprobates. Both partook of the same nourishment, water and sun. Both prayed. Both received help from God, for He maketh His sun and rain to fall on both good and evil. And though they both had the same wonderful blessing and both had the same wonderful manifestations, THERE WAS STILL THAT ONE GREAT DIFFERENCE, THEY WERE OF DIFFERENT SEED.
Here also was the answer to Matthew 7:21-23 "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father Which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? and in Thy Name have cast out devils? and in Thy Name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Jesus does not deny that they did the mighty works that only the Holy Ghost can accomplish by way of men. But He did deny ever knowing them. These weren't backsliders. These were wicked, unregenerate, reprobates. These were the seed of Satan.
And there it is. You CAN'T claim that manifestation is the evidence of being Spirit-born, Spirit-filled. No sir. I will admit that true manifestation is the evidence of the Holy Spirit doing mighty acts, but it is NOT the evidence of the individual being Spirit-filled, even though that individual has an abundance of those manifestations.
The evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost today is just the same as it was back in the day of our Lord. It is receiving the Word of truth for the day in which you live. Jesus never did stress the importance of the Works as He did the Word. He knew that if the people got the WORD the works would follow. That is Bible.
Now Jesus knew that there was going to be a terrible drift away from the Word in the Pergamean Age which was as yet two hundred years off from the Patmos vision. He knew that drift would cause them to go into the Dark Ages. He knew that the way man originally got away from God was by first leaving the Word. If you leave the Word, you have left God. Thus He is presenting Himself to the church at Pergamos, and indeed to all churches of all ages, "I am the Word. If you want Deity in your midst, then welcome and receive the Word. Don't ever let anyone or anything get between you and that Word. This which I am giving you (the Word) is a revelation of Myself. I AM THE WORD. Remember that!"
I wonder if we are sufficiently impressed with the Word in our midst. Let me give you a thought here. How do we pray? We pray in Jesus Name don't we? Every prayer is in His Name or there isn't any answer. Yet in I John 5:14, we are told, "This is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." Now we ask, "What is the will of God?" There is only ONE WAY to know His will and that is by the WORD OF GOD. Lamentations 3:37, "Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not?" There it is. If it isn't in the Word you can't have it. So we can't ask unless it's in the Word, and we can't petition or ask unless it is in His Name. There it is again. JESUS (the Name) is the WORD (will). You can't separate God and the Word. They are ONE.
Now then, this Word He has left behind on the printed page is a part of Him when you accept it by faith into a Spirit-filled life. He said that His Word was life. John 6:63b. But that is exactly what He is: John 14:6, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Romans 8:9b "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His." There it is, He is Spirit and He is Life. That is exactly what the Word is; that is exactly what Jesus is. He is the Word. So when a Spirit-born, Spirit-filled man in faith takes that Word into his heart and places it upon his lips, why that is the same as Deity speaking. Every mountain has to go. Satan cannot stand before that man.
If the church, way back there in that third age had only held on to the revelation of the living Word in their midst, the power of God would not have faded as it did in those Dark Ages. And right today, when the church returns to the Word in faith, we can say without doubt that the glory of God and the wonderful acts of God will be in her midst again.
One night as I was seeking the Lord, the Holy Spirit told me to pick up my pen and write. As I grasped the pen to write, His Spirit gave me a message for the church. I want to bring it to you... It has to do with the Word and the bride.
"Here is what I am trying to say to you. The law of reproduction is that each specie brings forth after its own kind, even according to Genesis. 1:11, "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, and the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." Whatever life was in the seed came forth into a plant and thence into fruit. The very same law applies to the church today. Whatever seed started the church will come forth and be like the original seed because it is the same seed. In these last days the true Bride Church (Christ's seed) will come to the Headstone, and she will be the super church, a super race, as she nears Him. They in the bride will be so much like Him that they will even be in His very image. This is in order to be united with Him. They will be one. They will be the very manifestation of the Word of the living God. Denominations cannot produce this (wrong seed). They will produce their creeds and their dogmas, mixed with the Word. This mongrelizing brings forth a hybrid product.
The first son (Adam) was the spoken seed-Word of God. He was given a bride to reproduce himself. That is why the bride was given to him, to reproduce himself; to produce another son of God. But she fell. She fell by hybridization. She caused him to die.
The second Son (Jesus), also a spoken Seed-Word of God was given a bride like as was Adam. But before He could marry her, she also had fallen. She, like Adam's wife, was put to the test whether she would believe the Word of God and live, or doubt the Word and die. She doubted. She left the Word. She died.
From a little group of the true seed of the Word, God will present Christ with a beloved bride. She is a virgin of His Word. She is a virgin because she knows no man-made creeds or dogmas. By and through the members of the bride will be fulfilled all that was promised of God to be made manifest in the virgin.
The word of promise came to the virgin Mary. But that Word of promise was He, Himself, to be made manifest. God was made manifest. He, Himself, acted at that time and fulfilled His own Word of promise in the virgin. It was an angel that had brought her the message. But the angel's message was the Word of God. Isaiah 9:6. He fulfilled at that time all that was written of Him because she accepted His Word to her.
The members of the virgin bride will love Him, and they will have His potentials, for He is their head, and all power belongs to Him. They are subject to Him as the members of our bodies are subject to our heads.
Notice the harmony of the Father and the Son. Jesus never did anything until it was first showed Him by the Father. John 5:19. This harmony is now to exist between the Groom and His bride. He shows her His Word of life. She receives it. She never doubts it. Therefore, nothing can harm her, not even death. For if the seed be planted, the water will raise it up again. Here is the secret of this. The Word is in the bride (as it was in Mary). The bride has the mind of Christ for she knows what He wants done with the Word. She performs the command of the Word in His name for she has "thus saith the Lord." Then the Word is quickened by the Spirit and it comes to pass. Like a seed that is planted and watered, it comes to full harvest, serving its purpose.
Those in the bride do only His will. No one can make them do otherwise. They have 'thus saith the Lord' or they keep still. They know that it has to be God in them doing the works, fulfilling His own Word. He did not complete all His work while in His earthly ministry so now He works in and through the bride.
She knows that, for it was not yet time for Him to do certain things that He must now do. But He will now fulfill through the bride that work which He left for this specific time.
Now let us stand like Joshua and Caleb. Our promised land is coming in sight even as theirs did. Now Joshua means "Jehova-Savior", and he represents the end-time leader that will come to the church even as Paul came as the original leader. Caleb represents those that stayed true with Joshua. Remember, God had started Israel as a virgin with His Word. But they wanted something different. So did the last day church. Notice how God did not move Israel, or let her go into the promised land until it was His own appointed time. Now the people might have put pressure on Joshua, the leader, and said, "The land is ours, let's go and take it. Joshua, you are all through, you must have lost your commission, you don't have the power you used to have. You used to hear from God and know the will of God, and act quickly. Something is wrong with you." But Joshua was a God-sent prophet and he knew the promises of God, so he waited for them. He waited for a clear cut decision from God and when the time came to move, God placed the full leadership in Joshua's hands because he had stayed with the Word. God could trust Joshua but not the others. So it will repeat in this end day. The same problem, the same pressures.
Take the example we see in Moses. This mighty anointed prophet of God had a peculiar birth, being born at the right time for the deliverance of Abraham's seed from Egypt. He never stayed in Egypt to argue Scripture with them, nor fuss at the priests. He went to the wilderness until the people were ready to receive him. God called Moses to the wilderness. The waiting was not on Moses' part but because of the people who were not ready to receive him. Moses thought the people would understand but they did not.
Then there is Elijah to whom the Word of the Lord came. When he got through preaching the truth and that group back there that is the forerunner of the American Jezebel group would not receive the Word, God called him off the field and plagued that generation for rejecting the prophet and the message that God had given. God called him to the wilderness and he would not come out even for the king. Those who tried to persuade him to do so, died. But God spoke to His faithful prophet by vision. Out of hiding he came and brought back the Word to Israel.
Then came John the Baptist, Christ's faithful forerunner, the mighty prophet for his day. He did not go to his father's school, nor the school of the Pharisees - he went to no denomination, but out to the wilderness called there by God. There he stayed until the Lord sent him out with the message, crying, 'The Messiah is at hand.'
Now let us take a Scriptural warning here. Was it not in the days of Moses whom God had vindicated that Korah rose up and withstood that mighty prophet? He disputed with Moses and claimed that he had as much from God to lead the people and that others shared in the Divine revelation as well as did Moses. He denied the authority of Moses. Now the people back there, after they had heard the true Word and were well acquainted with the fact that a true prophet was vindicated of God, I say those people fell for Korah and his gainsayings. Korah was not a Scriptural prophet but the people in great numbers with their leaders went for him. How like the evangelists today with their golden calf schemes like Korah's. They look good to the people as Korah looked good then. They have blood on their foreheads, oil on their hands and balls of fire on the platform. They allow women preachers, let women cut their hair, wear slacks and shorts, and by-pass the Word of God for their own creeds and dogmas. That shows what kind of seed is in them. But not all the people turned on Moses and left the Word of God. No. The elect stayed with him. The same is happening again today. Many are leaving the Word but some are staying with it. But remember the parable of the wheat and tares. The tares have to be bundled for burning. These apostate churches are getting bound closer and closer together, ready for the fires of God's judgment. But the wheat is going to be gathered to the Master.
Now I want you to be very careful here and see this. God has promised that at the end time Malachi 4 is going to be fulfilled. It has to be for it is the Spirit-quickened Word of God spoken by the prophet Malachi. Jesus referred to it. It is just before Christ comes the second time. By the time Jesus comes all Scripture must be fulfilled. The Gentile dispensation will be in its last church age when that messenger of Malachi comes. He will be right with the Word. He will take the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation. He will start at the serpent's seed and carry on to the messenger in the latter rain. But he will be rejected by the denominations.
He has to be for that is history repeating itself from the time of Ahab. Israel's history under Ahab is happening right here in America where the prophet of Malachi appears. As Israel left Egypt to worship in freedom, pushed out the natives, raised up a nation with great leaders like David etc., and then put an Ahab on the throne with a Jezebel behind him to direct, so have we done the very same in America. Our forefathers left for this land to worship and live in freedom. They pushed back the natives and took over the land. Mighty men like Washington and Lincoln were raised up but after awhile other men of such poor caliber succeeded these worthy men that soon an Ahab was set in the presidential chair with a Jezebel behind him to direct him. It is at such a time as this that the messenger of Malachi must come. Then in the latter rain will come a Mount Carmel showdown. Watch this carefully now to see it in the Word. John was the forerunner of Malachi 3. He planted the former rain and was rejected by the organizations of his day. Jesus came and had a Mount Transfiguration show down. The second forerunner of Christ will sow for the latter rain. Jesus will be the showdown between the denominations and creeds, for He will come to back up His Word and take His bride in the rapture. The first showdown was Mount Carmel; the second was the Mount Transfiguration, and the third will be Mount Zion.
The strange behaviour of Moses, Elijah, and John withdrawing from the people into seclusion left many confused. They did not realize that it was because their messages had been rejected. But the seed had been sown, the planting was over. Judgment was next. They had served their purpose as a sign to the people, so judgment was next.
I believe according to Revelation 13:16 that the bride will have to stop preaching for the beast is demanding the mark in the hand or forehead if permission to preach be granted. Denominations will take the mark, or be forced to quit preaching. Then the Lamb will come for His bride and judge the great harlot.
Now remember that Moses was born for a certain work, but he could not do that work until he had received the gifts which would enable him to do the work. He had to go out in the desert and wait there; God had an appointed time. There was to be a certain Pharaoh on the throne, and the people had to be crying for the bread of life, before God could send him back. This is true for our day.
But what do we have in this our day? Multitudes are working signs until we have a generation of sign seekers that know little or nothing about the Word, or a true move of the Spirit of God. If they see blood, oil and fire they are happy; it matters not what is in the Word. They will support any sign, even un-scriptural ones. But God has warned us about that. He said in Matthew 24 that in the last days the two spirits would be so close together that only the very elect could tell them apart, for they alone would not be deceived.
How can you tell the spirits apart? Just give them the Word test. If they don't speak that Word, they are of the evil one. As the evil one deceived the first two brides, he will try to deceive the bride of this last day, by trying to get her to hybridize herself through creeds, or just plainly turning from the Word to any sign that suits her. But God never placed signs ahead of the Word. Signs follow the Word, as when Elijah told the woman to bake a cake for him first, according to the Word of the Lord. When she did as the Word said, the proper sign came. Come to the Word first and then watch the miracle. The seed Word is energized by the Spirit.
How can any messenger sent from God believe only a part of the Word and deny some of it? The true prophet of God in this last day will proclaim the whole Word. Denominations will hate him. His words may be as harsh as John the Baptist who called them vipers. But the predestinated will hear and be ready for the rapture. The Royal Seed of Abraham, with like faith as Abraham's will hold to the Word with him, for they are predestinated together.
The last day messenger will appear in God's appointed time. It is the end time now as all know, for Israel is in the homeland. Any time now he will come according to Malachi. When we see him, he will be dedicated to the Word. He will be indicated (pointed out in the Word. Revelation 10:7.) and God will vindicate his ministry. He will preach the truth as did Elijah and be ready for the Mount Zion showdown.
Many will misunderstand him because they have been taught Scripture in a certain way which they consider truth. When he comes against that, they will not believe. Even some true ministers will misunderstand the messenger because so much has been called God's truth by deceivers.
But this prophet will come, and as the forerunner to the first coming cried, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world," even so will he no doubt cry out, "Behold the Lamb of God coming in glory." He will do this, for even as John was the messenger of truth to the elect, so is this one the last messenger to the elect and Word-born bride." 7ch021.htm
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