WE ENDED THE FEBRUARY ISSUE DEALING WITH THE 144,000 SERVANTS OF GOD PREACHING THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL TO THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD IN THE LAST HALF OF THE 70TH WEEK OF DANIEL, SO WE WILL JUST PICK UP RIGHT THERE AND CONTINUE ON.
The 144,000 servants of God will go into all nations, each to his own, preaching the last good news this world will ever hear. That is God’s way of dealing with the heart of young people especially, warning them against the spirit that had flooded their generation with anti God preaching of every sort; and telling them this world is not going to last another generation of time, and that they need to turn their attention to the true God and what He is doing in their generation. Let me say this very carefully: I am not a person who will walk down the street, pointing at people who do not meet my approval and saying, Just look at that! That is wrong! Somebody ought to get them straightened out! No saints, I do not do that. I see enough just walking by, so when I pass that kind I am going to walk right on by, saying nothing. I will remember what I saw walking toward me though, like, here comes a nice looking young girl, healthy looking, but she has been tattooed from the ankle right on up her leg, around her arm, around her neck and all such. I would not want to let anything like that come into my house. I have read of some of the ridiculous things that take place in these rock and roll camps. It is a shame. Fifty or sixty years ago, those things would never have happened, but after they started this rotten teaching in our schools of today, the door was opened to all those spirits that have come right out of hell and climbed up through the curriculum of our intellectual systems. That takes my mind back to the tract I saw, coming home after the war, in January 1946. It was a communist tract, “How We Will Destroy America From Within.” First, we will get into your institutions of learning and demoralize your young people. Then we will set the races against one another. We will divide the nation’s political systems, and then we will attack the American home. Then we will have brought America to her most serious hour ever. Well saints, we are living under those conditions right now. Very few in the overall society of our day will permit men like me to preach. If you preach like we do, you will never have a very large crowd. I am not looking for a crowd though: I am just looking for the ones that God has called: those who love truth. That is why I say, Little eagles, There is a carcase being prepared in chosen places in this hour, but we are not going to force feed you: You are expected to come to the table with an appetite for what is being prepared. We are going to cut it in little pieces where you can swallow it, understand what it really means and digest it. Eagles are not like hogs: I have fed hogs; and I know they all try to get into the trough at the same time, pushing and shoving. God’s little eagles are patient, they wait on one another, knowing there is something for everyone. As for the 144,000 servants of God, I have been asked, Bro. Jackson, is the 144,000 killed? No. Why do you say that? Because there is no place in the word that says they are: Furthermore they have a job to do. Keep this in mind: Even though certain things may sound like all, everywhere, this or that, God has a certain way He applies certain things that are to be brought about. I will say this, Whatever nation these immigrant Jews came from, all those young men there in the 14th chapter are referred to as virgins. Does that mean they are not married? It has nothing to do with that: It means they have not been proselyted by any of these denominations that are all around us. God has kept them free from that by the leadership of His own Spirit. Therefore once they have been subjected to the ministry of the two prophets, shown in Revelation 11, they are prepared to preach what is referred to as the everlasting gospel, as they go back into the nations at the end of the first half of that week of Daniel. They will warn the rest of the world of that which is ahead, saying to them, (Rev 14:7) “ Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” Thousands of young people throughout the world, even those in college at the time, when that week of Daniel goes forth and they have heard what God has done in the Middle East, do not tell me there will not be a lot of young people thinking differently than what they do today. They are going to begin to think, There has to be something to this: There is a God after all: I am not going to keep believing this junk I have been taught, after what I have seen and heard. Why? Because God has purposed, that out of this hour of time we live in, there is going to be some young people that will pass through this great tribulation time by the divine will and grace of God; and they are going to make up the number of those of the nations that Jesus comes to rule and reign over. Dope addicts and all those who make a living by robbing and stealing and corrupting themselves, will be slain and eventually cast into the lake of fire. Most of them will have already cooked their brains before then, so God is sure not going to allow anything like that to pass over into the Millennium to repopulate the earth. Let me say to all young people who hear this, You do not need a high like that gang gets from their drugs of different kinds: You first need a genuine experience with the Holy Ghost. Then He will give you a high that is far greater than anything the natural man of the world can experience; and that kind of high will not fry your brain. When you are under the power of the Spirit of God you will say, Oh Lord, I have never felt like this before. Lord, if I could die like this, just take me on home to glory. When you come out of an experience like that, you will still have your equilibrium, your brain will still function the way God created it to function and all your physical faculties will still be in order. The big difference after that, is, you will have a totally different outlook towards the things of the Spirit of God. You will no longer have to look to the natural world for fellowship and entertainment: You will find everything your heart desires right among the fellowship of the saints of God. Oh how blessed we are!
A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN
I want to take a few minutes at this time, to speak of Bro. William Branham, a man we believe to have been a prophet of God to this Laodicean Age. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard him say what I am about to point out. He would open his Bible to the 12th chapter of Revelation, where John saw a great wonder in heaven, “A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child.” He would read that scripture and say, That is the Bride of Christ, crowned with the gospel of the twelve apostles. That is one statement he would make, but another time he would read verse 6, “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days, and say, That is Israel fleeing for her life. Saints: We everyone know it cannot be both of those things. Furthermore the Church I belong to is not going to have to flee to the wilderness to hide from the antichrist for 3 ½ years. Are you listening to me? I said, The Church I belong to is not having to go into the wilderness to hide. Why do I know that? Because the bride Church will have taken her flight with Jesus before then. The rapture is for the bride Church and that takes place just inside the beginning of the week of Daniel. During the first half of that week this woman, (seen fleeing into the wilderness in the middle of the week) is prepared for that journey by the two prophets that will prophesy in the first half of the week. She is given two wings of an eagle: which points to the message of the two prophets that tell her exactly what to do and when to do it. She will know exactly where to go. Therefore Revelation 12, is a picture of Israel in her first advent, only up to verse 5. That covers her beginning and brings it through the era of the advent and birth of Christ. Then they were after Him, they crucified Him, and then He was caught up unto God after His resurrection. Between verse 5, and verse 6, is the entire Grace Age that you and I are living in. When you read verse 6, that brings it right back to the Jews of this hour just ahead, when they will have to flee from the wrath of the antichrist and his evil forces in the middle of that week. Here, (pointing to chart in the first half of the week) is where they are gathered to hear the message of the two prophets (two witnesses with a prophetic message to the nation). Out of the generation of Jews that will hear them, there is going to be this whole multitude that make up the woman element; men, women, boys and girls of all ages. They receive their message, learn of the Messiah that was crucified, and hear from those two prophets why and when they have to flee from there to the place prepared for them. Why must they flee? Because the antichrist is going to try to exterminate, totally annihilate the Jewish race. Why? Because they were the ones that God gave His Holy Word to: The devil did not and does not like that. That is why it was said to those under the altar in chapter 6, verse 11, “That they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled,” as white robes were given to them. Let me bring this into a time factor over here, to show you, that once this woman in the 12th chapter, flees into the wilderness for her preservation, you come on down to verse 11, and what do you see? You see Gentile foolish virgins and other Jewish people being martyred because of their faith in God. Over here, (on chart, at the end of the week of Daniel) you see the foolish virgins that go into the great tribulation, and the Jews also, that were not a part of the woman element, nor of the 144,000, going into that week to face the wrath of the antichrist forces. They take heed to the everlasting gospel preached by 144,000 servants of God, so those who are faced with it, will submit to martyrdom rather than take the (666) mark of the beast and face damnation. The devil, through the antichrist forces, is after them wherever they are.
TRIBULATION SAINTS OVERCOMING SATAN
When the evil forces of the antichrist are hot on their trail, notice what verse 11, says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, (Who is that? The Gentile foolish virgins.) and by the word of their testimony; (That is the Jews who hold to their testimony of faith in God.) and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Where do we see them next? Those martyred saints are seen in (Rev 15:2) heaven, standing on a sea of glass mingled with fire. Notice, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Brothers and Sisters: That week is getting very close to being ushered in. Political and domestic problems are going to necessitate it. Just look at Wall Street, how unsteady it is. I do not study, nor worry about Wall Street, but you know we have two hundred and sixty some million people in America; and a large number of them do. Right now, Wall Street stocks have hit a low. I heard it said the other day, That it is the lowest it has been in ever so many years. We must keep in mind, that when Wall Street does hit a low, and cannot seem to rise out of it, this begins to shake the overall economic systems throughout the whole world. With all the domestic problems, the political picture, and the economic problems, this throws an element of people of the world, who have lived for so long just for material things they can claim, into a state of mind where they are going to start screaming and jumping out of upstairs windows. Yes, the devil is going to be turned loose within a carnal realm of domestic people, and they are going to put together some kind of system that is going to guarantee security monetary wise, but it is not really security: it is just a fake thing. With all the other things that are going to be going on in the Middle East, carnal man is going to use carnal means to try to put together an era of false prosperity, peace, tranquility and so forth, because that is all the carnal man of the earth looks for. America, for the last twenty five or thirty years, has lived the highest they have ever lived. We therefore have an element of our society in America, that think about little else other than security, monetary wise. We have a standard of living that far exceeds every other nation upon the earth, as pertaining to the general society. We have lived that way for so long, we now think it is supposed to go on like this for ever and ever. I have to say though, God has allowed America to have such prosperity as this, but when we lose sight of God and begin to trust in the monetary system, then God knows exactly how to take it out of our hands. Do not tell me the devil cannot put together a period of false security just a little in front of us, which will help stabilize the carnal minds of the world. That is why this woman has to be prepared. When she is turned loose, I am not going to tell you where she is going to right now: I will save that for the next message, but I want to show you how the word agrees with every scripture, to show you the devil is going after those foolish virgins and also after every Jew he can get his hands on. He is going to get his hands on a lot of Jews, but this woman element of Jewish people that were in the land and heard the prophets, will know there is a place in this earth that they can flee to and be kept safe. Listen carefully, The Assemblies of God, and others like them, say that place is ancient Petra. How foolish! I have been there twice; and I can tell you for sure, I would rather be down home in Harrison County than over there in that place. You would certainly not be able to hide from anyone and be kept safe down in there. First of all it is only about eighty miles from Jerusalem as the crow flies. Their enemies could take a half dozen helicopters over there and blow them all to pieces. In ancient times, that was a pretty safe stronghold, but modern day inventions have changed the picture. That is why I say, Do not tell me so many hundred thousand Jews are going to flee to Petra and be kept safe, when the antichrist and his forces are going to be in Jerusalem with all the modern weapons his army will have at their disposal. The army of the antichrist is going to have all the modern, up-to-date weaponry with them right there, that could blow Petra to pieces in very short order. That is why you have to understand, that the woman (spiritual Israel) is going to flee into a place somewhere, that the antichrist forces cannot get to her. Listen to the 17th verse. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, (notice) which keep the commandments of God, (spiritual Jews) and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” That is the foolish virgins. They will not give up for any reason. Let us follow that thought on over into the 14th chapter, where the 144,000 servants of God have already been preaching and time is moving toward the end of that period. I am looking at the 12th verse, so remember the words of the apostle Paul, “That in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” (Revelation 14:12) “Here is the patience of the saints: (meaning in this period of time, here is the patience of the saints,) here are they that keep the commandments of God, (That is the Jews.) and the faith of Jesus.” That is the foolish virgins. But now we see another group over in the 15th chapter. The great conflict is all over; and there is a reason why we see this group like this. In the 2nd verse, it says, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass (Notice where they are.) mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. (Notice who they are; and remember this, There has never been a time in history, where refusing to take the mark of the beast and the number of his name made the difference between gaining the victory or not gaining the victory, but it says here, that these did.) And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, (That will be Jews: they are the only ones that know it.) and the song of the Lamb.” If you cannot read that and identify this group, what will it take to convince you? To me, that proves beyond any shadow of doubt, that this other group having the song of the Lamb, is the foolish virgins who go into that week. The Jews who have been enlightened here, (in the first 3 ½ years of that week of years) when the two prophets are killed, away they go, and the devil is after them, but he cannot get to them, because they are protected. Well what about all those who were not enlightened by the ministry of the two prophets, those who are still scattered among the nations? That is where the 144,000 servants of God who were sealed with the Spirit of God under the ministry of the two prophets, comes into the picture, because they go into the nations of the earth preaching the everlasting gospel. By the time they get over here during this period of time, here is where the patience of the saints is really brought to a test. Remember, the foolish virgins have already had their experience with Jesus Christ: They just failed to invest their faith in anything that would have prepared them to be in the bride. Well the 70th week of Daniel runs it course: The outcome is determined; and there they stand, on the sea of glass, not before the throne, and not under the altar. They appear totally different than the group in Revelation 7:9. This sets them apart as those who came through the great tribulation in the last half of that week of Daniel.
CLEARING UP MISUNDERSTANDING
I always have people contacting me because they have misunderstood something we have dealt with, so that is why I am compelled to keep going over certain things in a message, hoping to get all minds cleared up. I have a little book here, written by men that went to the archives of old Rome, after getting permission to study some of the things that are written in history, things that involved and affected Rome, what society was like, all about the Roman games, the gladiators and all such like. I have marked a little part I want to read later on in the message, but right now I want to say, America, you are walking right down the same road old Rome walked a few years after the advent of Christ. I will read it into the message at some point where it fits in. At this time though, if you have your bibles, turn with me to Matthew 13. I want us to look at something there; and then we will go back to the book of Revelation. We are more or less along the same line we have been for the last four services, but there are so many small details involved, we do not want to leave anything undone. There has been a little confusion and controversy concerning the foolish virgins, especially over the fact of what they did have, and what did they not have, and it has left some people with questions that need to be answered. Any confusion and misunderstanding along this line, I take the responsibility for it. You say, Why would you do that, Bro. Jackson? Because I want to see the body of Christ in unity, and there cannot be unity in the midst of questions and confusion. I do not like to see people gamble with the word of God. You might not go out here to a honky tonk and gamble, but there is something in the carnal realm, that causes people to play around with things they have heard or think they have heard. Sometimes we think, This is right and that is wrong, so my subtitle is, “Putting the Pieces Together.” I pray that God will give me the right words to say and enablement to say them in the right way, that you can understand what I am trying my best to get you to see. We are living in the last one hundred years of time. No one can doubt that. The religious world has propagated a lot of things that are totally wrong; and because of their spiritual blindness, they will have nothing to do with the things you and I believe even though the scriptures vindicate what we are standing for. I have to ask the question, Why can they not see the truth that is so clearly opened to those who desire the truth? Look at all the seminaries they have built; and all the hours they have studied theology, and none of that can ever do them a dime’s worth of good. They learn how to stand, how to use the exact wording that portrays their education and how to compromise to please all their followers, but I ask you, Where is the Spirit of God in all of this? Oh yes: they learn what is written, where it is found, what Greek or Hebrew words each thing was translated from, but they are void of the Spirit of revelation. Did not Jesus say, (John 16:13) “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come?”Was He just speaking a lot of words that had no significance? No. He was speaking to those who have ears to hear. Those who go to their Seminaries to learn how to preach the gospel, come out of those places with just a little sketch of the gospel; and besides that, there is a lot more to preaching the word of God, than just concentrating on what is written in the four gospels. The apostle Paul wrote 14 Epistles of the New Testament; and except for having a revelation concerning the translation, (which we call the rapture of the Church) he had very little to say about the advent of the physical, bodily return of Jesus to rule and reign on earth. In (1 Th 5:2) he wrote, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” He was an apostle: He held a line on the true revelation of the word of God, but you do not get everything you need from the New Testament alone, if you desire to understand the entire plan of God for the ages. It takes the Old Testament to shed light on much of what we read in the New Testament. Nevertheless let us go to the 2nd Epistle of Peter, where we find Peter speaking about, not the secret appearing, which is when Jesus comes for the Bride Church, but about the physical return at the end of the 70th week of Daniel, when He comes back with His Bride and all the armies of heaven to set up His Kingdom on earth. In his 2nd Epistle, Peter speaks of the scoffers of the last days, telling how they will conduct themselves. Then he spoke so specifically that, that day will come as a thief in the night. He is not talking about the rapture. He is talking about that event of His physical return, wherein the heavens being on fire, so that is not the rapture: that is the physical return of our Lord. It may sound like a contradiction with Revelation 1:7, which says, “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him,” but what you have to remember, is that to the wicked, evil vessels of humanity still on earth at that time, when heaven opens up and Jesus starts His descent to earth with the armies of heaven, that part will be as sudden as a thief in the night to them, but then God allows that scene to hold there while the earth rotates; and therefore every eye does see Him coming. That is when the armies of the earth gather together to fight against Him. That is when He slays the remnant of them with the sword of His mouth. You find that in (Revelation 19:19) “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.” Jesus is coming in glory to rule and reign. Matthew is the only one of those that followed Jesus that took all seven of the parables and wrote them in the order they were spoken. You might say, What about Luke? Luke maybe touched two or three. Mark the same way. You have to remember, Luke was not a disciple at the time the parables were spoken: neither was Mark. John, who was a disciple, wrote very little about the parables in his writings. We have to begin to understand, There are things in the Bible, which God ordained to be spoken and written in a certain way. When we look at these parables in Matthew 13, Jesus spoke them before there was even a gospel recorded by any of them. Even before the Pentecostal advent, He was telling the disciples that the kingdom of heaven which is to be, will be represented in these seven major settings. The apostle Paul never said a thing about seven church ages, and neither did the apostle Peter say anything about the seven church ages, but the apostle John, stuck out there on the Isle of Patmos, (where he was put to shut him up, or at least to get him away from the general society) saw the whole picture of things for the hour that you and I live in. All of this tells me, It is not every man’s calling to indulge in certain things of the overall gospel. I ask that you please understand what I said, in the right way. Here Jesus is, telling things that none of the apostles in the first era of Christendom even talked about. Then John, in 96 AD, wrote of the entire picture. Those seven churches of Asia, is what Jesus picked up and started talking with him about. Why? Because those seven churches of Asia, set a type and a model of what the whole period of the kingdom of heaven would be broken up into, and be dealt with in different intervals of time. Let us listen to this seventh parable.(Verse 47, of Matthew 13) “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, (We are just talking in terms of what applied to the last one hundred years. This is the Laodicean age. This is the age of the five wise and five foolish virgins. This is the age that the seventh parable comes into fulfillment.) that was cast into the sea, (The net is the gospel and the sea is the mass of humanity.) and gathered of every kind.” If you look back to the ending of the 1940’s and through the 1950’s and into the 1960’s, America and even the world had one of the longest lasting periods of gospel preaching by different men that has ever been witnessed, both by denominational evangelism as well as Pentecost, and from the mass of humanity through that period, many family lives were affected. There did come a time when God called a halt to that extended move and society began entering into a descent from the effects of it. “Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, And gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.” I remember when many of these evangelists that used to push their trucks and tents up and down the highways of America, crisscrossing the nation, finally brought all that to a halt. Some of the men went right back to the same occupation they had before they entered into this expansive campaign. One man I knew, and went to Evansville, Indiana to be in his meetings, Gayle Jackson by name, used to be listed in the Voice of Healing publication. I saw him pray for deaf mutes in that meeting, people that Bro. William Branham had also prayed for without any known results. (Let me say before going on),When he moved his tent into Evansville, the Church of Christ in that area rose up against divine healing and began to preach against it on the radio. That met with disapproval in Gayle Jackson, so he just poured his heart into those meetings. We happened to be there on Saturday night when he made a challenge to that anti-healing bunch. I will never forget that service, the crowd that was there and what took place. People were everywhere they could get, trying to hear him. Many of them were leaning on the front of their cars. Service time came and he did not even get to preach, because conviction fell on that mass of people and they began to run in and toward the platform screaming. He simply said to the helpers, Take them back into the prayer tent and pray with them until they pray through. As he continued on, I saw him pray for five deaf mutes; and out of those five, three of them could both speak and hear after prayer. I just thought, There are some things God does, just simply to manifest and move forth His own plan, and we mortals are only instruments in His hands: We have no control over those things. Some might ask, What happened to Gayle Jackson? Evidently when he began to see this big thing of evangelism was coming to an end: The next thing I heard about him, he had gone back to the undertaker business. Velmar Gardener was also known through the voice of healing. He bought stock in Ramada Inn. Then you heard no more of him after the time of that particular harvest was over. They could no longer run the roads with their trucks and tents and take up their big offerings. The profit had gone out of that.
WHERE ARE WE, IN THIS AGE OF PREACHING?
As most of you know, We are now living in the time represented in this seventh parable. You will not see any more of what we have been describing to you. The main sorting process is behind us now. Even though the evangelistic minded people of the world still say, Oh the world is going to have the largest revival ever: I say to you, The only thing you will see God doing from here on, is putting the Bride Church together and getting it ready to take out of here. What about this part of that verse? “And gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.” Many of those people that walked down the aisles in those days, crying and screaming for help, wound up going right back into the world. The moment of conviction passed and they returned to their former ways. “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: (That is the end judgment for them: It is not as immediate as it sounds.) there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (He was speaking this to His present tense disciples at that hour of time.) Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? (He is not only referring to the parable He just related to them: He is speaking this of the other six also. Have ye understood?) They say unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then said He unto them, (Listen to this part, this is for you and me. You never find Paul talking about any of this, nor Peter, nor John, nor any of the others.) Therefore every scribe (This is a figurative word.) which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven (That pertains to the period of time referred to as the kingdom of heaven.) is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.” Why did He say a scribe? As far as I am concerned, a scribe does not live in a better house than the average person, so why did He liken him unto a man that brings out of his treasure this and that? If you look at it in the carnal sense, you do not see the picture. Bringing the thought to the age, that scribe had to be a particular type of office that was given to this seventh age, precisely right on time. That scribe was none other than William Marrion Branham. No, he did not record scriptures as the scribes of old did, but we have to apply it to reality. Keep in mind, The word is only figurative of an office, because in the Old Testament period, scribes were the only men authorized to rewrite the scrolls, the Torah. Not every Tom, Dick, and Harry could be trusted to handle the word of God and preserve its integrity: Only chosen ones were trusted to that task. They had to be perfectly precise in every word and thought: Every dot had to be in the right place. Therefore Jesus was actually saying there would be a scribe come, in a precise time, that would begin to set things in order. In so doing, he would bring out of his treasure, his revelation, his calling, his office, things new and old, new revelations for the Bride Church. You might not believe that, but if you do not, you join the ranks of the Baptists, the Presbyterians and all the others that speak evil of that which they do not understand. That is why they never touch the parables: they have no revelation of what they pertain to. This scribe brings out of his treasure, things new, (new revelation) and things old. He begins to show you and me the old things that have been lost to the Church through time, and how to bring them out of the word of God and put them back in proper perspective. I say, Thank God for a man like that. Regardless of what all the rest think of him, we know he brought a message to this earth that marked a precise time factor for this generation. Since that time God has been dealing with some wise Christian people, while the rest of the crowd have gone their merry way. With this thought in mind, let us go to the 7th chapter of Revelation. As we have been studying that scribe’s office, what was brought forth that was new? The revelation of the seals contained in the 6th chapter of Revelation, is something new. He brought forth the revelation of the first six, an absolutely clear revelation of what those six pertain to. You know it; and I know it, but there are more that do not accept it, than there are of those who do. He only touched on the seventh: He was not given a clear picture of it. We are sure it will have instructions for the bride when it is opened, so we just wait for that hour when those instructions are needed. We are just thankful to God for allowing us to see clearly, what the first six seals revealed when opened; and for allowing us to know what to look for in the very near future. The world is facing things just ahead, that the general society will not understand, but thanks to the grace of God, we who love truth will understand what is taking place; especially when Israel makes her move to repossess her promised land. Now having said that, let us take a look at where we are in time at this point. We have some drawings here, that we point to for those who can see them. For those who cannot, we will try to clarify as we proceed. Back in the 1963 meetings, Bro. William Branham brought forth the revelation of that fifth seal, and we were made to understand at that time, and certainly not anywhere else back through church history, what it really pertained to. Only here at the end time, would true saints be given the revelation of that which had already been recorded in the framework of history. That was the beginning of the carcase that we read about in Matthew 24:28. As to where the saints would be gathered, Jesus said, Where the carcase is, there will the eagles be. To the denominational world, that sounds completely carnal. It sounds like we are a bunch of cannibals. Eagles will only feast on fresh meat, bride saints are the eagles; and revelation of God’s word is the fresh meat we feast upon, but denominational Christendom understands very little along those lines. They do not realize what Jesus was implying when He used that figurative language, simply because God hid these precious things from the educated who must understand everything with their human mind. Spiritual truths are spiritually discerned. The apostle Paul made that absolutely clear in his first Epistle to the Corinthian Assembly. Notice, as we read a few verses from chapter 2, starting in verse 9. This lets us see why the carnal minded man, including many professing Christians, think people like us who understand God’s word are just plain crazy. “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save (or except) the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but (or except by the revelation of) the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I want to try to show you that this seventh parable which spoke of a scribe, does not pertain to just one man. Please do not think like that. I want you to understand, that once God would establish that office in one setting, He would follow it up by bringing other men upon the scene to fulfill that office for bride saints around this world. Why? Simply because, if God took that scribe from our midst, how would that carcase continue to be fresh meat for later generations that come on? There has to be fresh meat right on out to the end. Let me remind you once again: this is figurative language: we are not speaking of a fresh killed animal in the literal sense, but of fresh revelation from the word of God. We have young people sitting here, that were not even born when Bro. William Branham was taken from us, so where will they get fresh meat if that office is not extended? What kind of carcase are they going to be privileged to eat on? Think of it. I say this, God thinks just as much of them as he did you and me back in 1963. I am thankful for what I saw and heard, but I have to look at them and realize they have a right to eat fresh meat also. I have to say to you every one, When that seventh parable was set in motion, it will be staying in effect all the way through the rest of this age; and there will be men that will literally fulfill the office of that scribe Jesus spoke of. If anyone thinks they will all be here in America, you can forget that, because there are bride people around this world that will be ministered to and fed fresh meat. God loves the saints in the jungles of Africa just as much as He does you and me. Therefore I want to try and draw a picture for you, that will help you understand. When Jesus spoke these parables, think of it, that was quite a few months before He spoke what is recorded in Matthew 24 and 25: Yet everything He did speak of, He spoke of it and put everything in a continuous flow. You can read some of it in Luke’s writing: maybe concerning a parable here or there, as well as Mark’s, but if you want to see it in its precise order, read from Matthew, because Matthew stood right there and heard all of it; and he wrote it in the order he heard it. That is why I say, These things are important. Then think, after Jesus was gone, there was never another parable spoken in that fashion. Paul comes along and writes the epistles. Also look at Peter, what he wrote, but none of the other writers ever spoke specifically about the last days to any degree. Not until we get to what John recorded in the book of Revelation. Paul was the last of the apostles of Christ, except for John; and he had been beheaded in 66 A.D.; That left alive, only John, of the original apostles, and he was stuck out there on an old island, to keep him away from anyone he might have any influence on, and look what God showed him. You can put a man in prison, but there is not a hole big enough nor deep enough to keep him away from the Spirit of God. John’s enemies probably thought he was too old and senile, ever to cause them any more trouble, but I ask you, Was he? He wrote what God showed him; and wrote it in such a fashion that no amount of education has ever been sufficient to give any man an understanding of what was written. A lot of what you would have to call educated fools, have tried to read and understand the book of Revelation, but never has any one of them ever understood one thing about it. Yet in your and my day, God has caused it to become alive in our understanding, but it has not been because of our education: It has been because of our spiritual perception, regardless of our educational background. That is what I like about it the way God looks upon His children: He can enable every one of them to understand His word, from the least to the greatest, regardless of age or education. We have many young people in this hour of time, that have a revelation of all this we are talking about. I like that: It confounds the wise and prudent of this world.
FOUR ANGELS – STANDING ON THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH
We are going to begin reading, at the beginning of the 7th chapter of Revelation; which opens up right here at the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel. “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” That starts the supposed-to-be seven year covenant that the antichrist breaks after 3 ½ years. On the chart we are using, we show the rapture of the Bride of Christ taking place just inside the beginning of that week; so from there on throughout the rest of the week, she is in heaven. From the book of Revelation alone, we have got four pictorial settings, all out of one man’s writings. The fifth seal, Rev. 6:9 says, the souls under the altar were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. They had been martyred. That sounds like those portrayed there are the only Jews that can be saved, meaning, only those which are martyred, does it not? Well when we come to the 7th chapter, and start reading there, we find that John is brought abruptly, right to that point. He saw the four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, angels which were designated to hurt the earth and the sea, so on and so forth, but then all of a sudden, he saw an angel flying from the east proclaiming, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” What does that angelic being represent? That is the angel of the gospel you and I have been privileged to have preached to us in our period of time. When that angel knows that God has dealt with the last Gentile He will ever deal with for salvation, that is when the angel is ready to leave the Gentile domain and head for Israel, to start dealing with them again. This starts that 70th week in motion. That means this, so listen carefully: The revelation of that fourth seal, which you could start almost anywhere you want to, as long as you are sure you bring the starting of it into this Laodicean Age. What was that fourth seal? It was, and is the beast in heaven that has the face of an eagle: saying, Come and see, (Rev 6:7) “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see,” and there went forth that gray horse rider. That is the spirit of antichrist on the earth in this age: not black and not white, but a mixture of both, giving a gray appearance, and his purpose is to counteract the Spirit of God in this Age of Laodicea: not among the Jews, but among us Gentiles. The Gentile world is filled with religious people: not all true Christians, but very religious. They (except for true bride saints) are vulnerable vessels for antichrist deception. We see it all around us every day. Think of it, how privileged we are, to be living under the watchful eye of that eagle beast in heaven. I am glad we do live in that eagle hour, because the eagle flies higher than the lion did; and it is his job to watch over God’s people, to alert and to inform those on earth that have an ear to hear, those that are definitely going to be the Bride of Christ. When you read in the 19th chapter of Revelation, you do not read anything about so many being martyred. I say that for a specific reason, just to show you how, that by merely reading the words of scriptures we can be thrown helter skelter, just simply by the sounding of certain words. I want you to notice, that we are still living under the affect of that fourth seal, because it is that eagle spirit that counteracts that ride of the antichrist on the gray horse. You can see it in the denominational world, can you not? The fourth seal continues right on past the time when Bro. William Branham was alive and brought forth the revelation of what those souls under the altar were; and notice their position, they are under the altar: not before the throne; and neither are they seen standing on a sea of glass. They were under the altar. It is important to remember that. When they were crying, they still did not have white robes, but their spirits were there. Can you see that? I have to say it is important, that we understand this book of Revelation was not written for saints of the Dark Ages to understand. It was written for saints of this very hour we live in. God does not intend to leave us here as little nincompoops: He has purposed for us to understand that which is written. I realize some of you educated preachers may not like my words, but they serve my purpose and if you take issue with them, you are just educated trouble makers. I have had my day of sitting at the feet of your kind; and what did it ever amount to? Everything I heard, I still have in my library, which was basically all about the salvation part of the scriptures. I am not knocking that: it is just the fact that denominational preachers knew very little about the prophetic picture in the scriptures, which was put there for the true believers, to enable them to look ahead and get ready for the coming advent of Jesus Christ our Lord. I emphatically emphasize the fact to you, that we are living under the affect of that fourth seal, nothing else. It is under that fourth seal, that the eagle comes down in that office for the first fulfillment of a scribe feeding fresh meat to the little eaglets: Through the prophet to this age, God began to take the wraps off of fresh meat, which is that carcase Jesus spoke of. That is because we are going to eat fresh meat from that time until we go out of this world in the rapture.
WHO ARE THOSE UNDER THE ALTAR?
Saints: What I am about to say to you is very important: Please listen closely. When Bro. William Branham brought forth the revelation of the fifth seal, it was presented as though those under the altar were just the Jews of the holocaust. Brothers and sisters: We ought not be so narrow minded; to allow ourselves to think that God would be so unjust. I have read of the suffering of the Jews in the thirteenth century, when that Catholic system went forth with the Spanish Inquisition, which lasted over a hundred years, when not only true Christians were brought in and executed, some just torn to pieces, but likewise, many Jews were treated the same way. They would tie them in a chair with their hands and feet behind them, pull their head back, stick a bottle of water in their throat, and then drench them, which made them drink water or else breathe it and drown themselves. They kept it up until they would fill up, then they would take them loose and jump on them. That was torture, if there has ever been torture. That old Catholic spirit believed in that kind of rotten treatment. Therefore I ask you, Be sure you do not exclude them, when you think of those Jews under the altar, because, Jews from the very beginning of the gospel era on to the day we got that revelation, suffered such treatment. We used to say, Oh no, they could not possibly be saved because they did not believe in Jesus Christ. All you have to do, is notice what was said to those under the altar: They were martyred for the testimony they held. They believed in Jehovah according to what they knew from the word of God in the Old Testament, the Torah. Do we have to hammer on that any more, in order for you to see the mercy of God in action? We should not have to. If you say, Those under the altar were all martyred, so no Jews between those periods, no matter how faithful they had lived, will be saved if they died a natural death: they have to go to hell. I say, Shame on you. Yes. Shame on you: Where is the grace of God in your attitude? You make God unjust, with that kind of thinking. If that dirty thief that hung on the cross with Jesus, could be granted spiritual life just moments before the breath of human life went out of him, how in the name of common sense can you not see God granting life to others who lived for Him according to what they knew? I want you to pay attention, as we read these verses. Jesus is hanging on a cross between two thieves; (between two thieves according to other scriptures) and notice what this says. Luke 23:39 “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, (Jesus) saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. (Luke 23:43) And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. That was what some always referred to as death bed salvation. Will he have any rewards? He is granted life: he will not be found in the lake of fire with the unrepentant thief that died on the other side of Jesus. The thief that was granted eternal life had seen enough and heard enough; and God honored him. He was a thief; and he received what he had coming to him in the natural. He was not martyred: He was executed. Was he killed because of his faith? No. He was executed because he was a thief. He simply said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He who was hanging on the cross between heaven and hell, while He was still alive, said to that thief, “To day thou shalt be with me in paradise.” That ought to cause every one under the sound of my voice to think seriously; how they treat the grace of almighty God. I have to say, When those under the altar cried out to God, suddenly angels came and stood around them and began to clothe them with white robes. Bro. Jackson: what was that white robe made of? It is a life giving portion of the Holy Ghost, sufficient for life, but different from the attire of the bride saints. I say that with a loud voice, because that is the only life there is in this universe. Wake up Saints! It had to be a sufficient portion of the Holy Ghost to grant them life. I am not angry: I am not mean, but I know what I am talking about, so I want to shout it loud enough to get the attention of everyone. That is one picture: Now John comes to this hour, and he heard the angel that was flying from the east, headed for Israel, saying, (Rev 7:3) “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” One day soon, you and I will have taken our last bite off that carcase Jesus spoke of, and you see nothing but a few little pieces left here and there, then you will know your hour of getting out of here is soon at hand. Then that angel is going to leave our midst and head for Israel. He has another job to do and he alone knows what he is doing, and when to do it, where, and why. He is going to fly straight to Israel, and say to the four angels that have been holding back the winds of destruction, Hold the winds a little longer. Meaning, Let us not have any nuclear wars yet. We do not want any poisoned gas thrown around yet, until we, (We, who? Those two witnesses, anointed by the Spirit of God.) Have finished our God-given task. Down on earth, there are two Jewish men with the anointing of Moses and Elijah, just waiting for that angel to come along and speak to them. What will they do? Notice how long they are to hold back these forces, “Until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” Notice, it says servants of our God in their forehead. He began to hear the number that were sealed, of this tribe, of that tribe, of this tribe, of that tribe. By the time he got through, John was standing over here, and heard, past tense, the number of them that were sealed 144,000. Bro. Jackson: Don’t you think there will be some women in that group? You women preachers, that is one crowd you will not have a foothold in. Well it said they were virgins? That simply means their spirit has not been defiled by hand-you-down, denominational doctrines: They have not been converted by denominational Missionaries: It has nothing at all to do with male or female gender. Bro. Jackson; you make it so hard. I do not: I am trying to show you what God looks at, by saying this as simply as I can, so you who love truth can go home and think about it. John was standing right here ( somewhere inside the first half of that week of Daniel) and witnessed how, by the ministry of the two prophets (two witnesses) described in chapter 11, God enlightens them concerning Jesus Christ and what is just ahead for mortal society in general. Now they are prepared to preach the everlasting gospel to the nations in the 2nd half of that week. After that, he saw another scene that was taking place in heaven. He saw a great multitude that had come out of every nation, every kindred, every tongue, every tribe, standing before the throne of God, already clothed in white robes: They did not have to have angels come around and clothe them with the white robes. Furthermore, They were not under the altar, like the ones in the fifth seal: This is a great multitude standing before the throne. Let us be sure we get that point: it is essential to a proper understanding of this entire scene.
IDENTIFYING THE DIFFERENT GROUPS OF SAINTS OF GOD
In ( Rev. 6:9) you can read this, “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for (What?) the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.” Nothing is said about the blood of the Lamb (Jesus Christ), but when you read this account in Revelation 7, you find that they have a different testimony. The question was asked, (to John, Rev 7:13) “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are (already) arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? Notice, (Rev 7:14) “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, (Not THE great tribulation of the last half of the week.) and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” I pray you everyone see the difference. They were standing before the throne, already clothed. They had something already, that did not have to be given at that time. That tells me, that this is not only saints that fall into the same category of the foolish virgins of Matthew 25, that have died through this Christian Era of time by natural death, but also some that have been killed, like in Russia, China, and other places as well. Do not tell me all of them had to be martyred in order to stand there like that, because I have a surprise for you after awhile. The tribulation here, speaks of great tribulation they have come out of throughout all times, from the beginning of Christianity right on through. The only exception is, THOSE SLAUGHTERED IN THE GREAT TRIBULATION OF THE LAST HALF OF THE 70TH WEEK OF DANIEL, ARE SEEN STANDING ON A SEA OF GLASS, in the 15th chapter of Revelation. We must keep in mind, that those first Christians that started out in the upper room in Jerusalem were all Jews: A hundred and twenty. How many of them lived to get out of the first age? None of them. They were martyred. Those of the Apostolic Era, all who received the Holy Ghost and received a revelation and walked accordingly, will stand with the bride of Christ. Those who received life that only comes from the Spirit of God, but were martyred or died by some other means, even a natural death before they had lived long enough to qualify as bride saints, are everyone in that great multitude of Revelation 7:9. There are no bride saints in that group: They are seen in another setting. John saw all of this, and he wrote it all, but he did not write it in the exact order of literal fulfillment. The bride is seen in the 19th chapter of Revelation. John wrote it this way, (Rev. 19:6 “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (They are arrayed in the finest material, not just in white robes, as the multitude in chapter 7. John heard a voice coming out of the throne; and in this next verse he wrote what that voice said to him, after he had heard these others.) Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Those seen in the multitude of Revelation 7:9, did not live long enough to cultivate a righteous life and take on the stature of the bride saints, but they all have life: They are certainly not going to be judged with the wicked and ungodly vessels of humanity. One thing I do want to emphasize, is the fact that all of those in that multitude, came out of the same generations of mankind that the bride came out of, right on through two thousand years of time, right on up to the point where the great tribulation saints of that week are set apart in another setting; seen standing on a sea of glass. Let me say again though, Even though they came out of the same generations the bride came out of, the bride is not in this crowd. Bride saints are those that received the Holy Ghost; and have a revelation; and they have been allowed to live long enough to develop their life into something fruitful. That is what separates the wise from the foolish, according to those scriptures in Matthew, as we think of the two categories. Of course the term wise and foolish virgins, actually only apply to those of this last one hundred years, but all those, all the way back through time, fall into one of the two categories, because, according to the words of Jesus that is what God looks at. I realize some people do not understand what I mean by fruitful: That is why I used the example of the thief on the cross beside Jesus. Let us just take another look at that thief on the cross. That day, he went to be with Jesus in paradise, so I ask you, How many think he was bearing all the fruit of the Spirit? All he had was the grace of God that granted him life. Do you follow me? That is why Jesus spoke in another parable, Some shall bear an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. That pertains to fruit of the Spirit. It is the expression of a divine nature, if you question what it really is. If for some reason or other, a precious soul has gone all through life and only in their final days of livelihood did they begin to come to the knowledge, (I have wasted my life away, I have never made an effort to acknowledge God), there is still a chance for life, if they turn to the Lord: That is why I brought my father-in-law into the message last Sunday night. He was a good man in every human way. He treated me like his own son. I never preached to him; and I say to you who do harass your loved ones, Stop preaching to them, live your own life for God as an example to them; and leave their salvation in the hands of God. But Bro. Jackson, I do live it before them. Then just stop being an aggravation: stop agitating them. As for our folks, we would ask them once in awhile, if they would want to go with us to one of Bro. William Branham’s meetings. They were always ready to get in the car and go. We took them, brought them home, but never jumped on them and asked, Well what did you think of that? We just left them to think on what they had seen and heard. Then when my father-in-law heard that Bro. William Branham had passed away, it was not long after that, that he himself became ill and unable to go about as he had always done before. Then one morning when I went down to feed his cattle and give him his shot, he pulled my arm, and with tears in his eyes, he said, Junior, I want you to bring the wife and children down tonight, I have something to say to them: I am not going to be with you much longer: I am going where your dad and Bro. William Branham are. Do not bother to argue with me, about whether he was saved or not: If you have a mind to argue about that, just feel free to leave. Do you understand what I mean? I would not waste five minutes arguing with you about whether one like that received life by the mercy and grace of God. My point is this, Even though that scripture sounds like all those in that group have been tortured and brutally murdered (martyred) for their faith, I must ask you, What about those believers who by their lives on earth fall into the realm of those that are identified as foolish virgins, that died a natural death? You have to look beyond the actual writing in a situation like this, to the grace of God: realizing He is not just looking for a reason to cast people into hell. Are you listening to me? When God gives us a revelation on some particular subject or event, He does not have to explain every little detail of every situation that revelation pertains to: He expects wise virgins to apply His righteous principles, having confidence in the integrity of His Word and character. This portrays these as having been martyred, this portrays these as having been martyred, over here in Revelation 15, these that are seen in the 15th chapter, standing on the sea of glass, that is the foolish virgins that did go through this last half of the week, and were killed, along with some Jews, and they are seen standing there on that sea of glass. Let me say this, When I come back to this Bride, let us get it straight: This picture started with a hundred and twenty Jews on the day of Pentecost, in that 1st century of the AD era. Will you agree that it did? You read in the book of Acts, that James was the first apostle martyred. Then Stephen came next: they stoned him to death. Paul stood right there holding the garments of those who threw the stones at Stephen. When you pick up the history, all through the book of Acts, persecution, martyrdom and torture are seen. Through the first three centuries, the gospel written by Paul was primarily to get a Church grounded upon God’s word, (a Bride for Jesus). We have to understand this, Some of those people that were converted to Christianity (saved by the shed blood of Jesus the Christ) did not live but a very short time after that; and did not have time to learn anything about investing talents and preparing themselves as the bride is ordained to do. Are you listening to me? If you cannot see this, you need to go back and study some history: The history books are full of it. Some of them were martyred and some died a natural death. Is it not strange, that it does not say a thing here in the book of Revelation, chapter 19, about how many of them were martyred? You just see the Bride of Christ, a great number, arrayed in fine linen clean and white. I happen to know by the record of the book of Acts, and the histories that have followed, that this whole thing started with the gospel preached for that hour of time. Therefore some of them had to die a natural death, because they were not all martyred. Yet as time moved on, many of those that are in the Bride, did die a martyr’s death. We all know that. That is the way we have to look at it. The very minute you begin to even think that you and I can interfere with who God saves, how He saved them, and under what conditions, we are trying to run God’s business. That is why I said this morning, Jesus said certain things in advance in the parables; and then came along, in Matthew 24 and 25, and said other things that would be applicable in our day. Then He said no more about it. Paul never picked up on this subject, and neither did Peter, but here is John on the Isle of Patmos, putting a picture together for you and me, way over here in the last days of this dispensation. If you do not know the history of what went on back through time, then you better just leave it alone. Why? Because the Bible only gives you what took place in the first period, the beginning, the starting of this thing. Then what we read in Revelation is how it ends, and the picture that we get has to be by revelation. Let me say this, All through the Grace Age, which terminates right here at the starting of the week, salvation to the Gentiles, which actually started with the Jews, has been under four seals. You can read what Bro. William Branham said about it, but I had sense enough to know when I heard it, that those four seals cover the salvation of people that God will be dealing with all through the remaining time, and it all terminates right there (when the week has started). That fifth seal, when we come to this hour, looks back to all the Jews, after God left the Jews and came to the Gentiles, and it goes to show you God’s grace, that wherever that Jewish people were scattered to, there was always that element, a small element, that when there were true Christians martyred, those Jews were usually brought in and martyred also. Right here, is one story I will mention: They had already turned the animals loose and they had martyred some people during the daylight hours, but late in the day they had brought others to be executed. The caretakers of the animals had already put them away, but the officials said, These must be executed today also. They turned a bear and a leopard loose to do the job, but to show the grace of God, there stood some Jews out there in the arena, tied to a stake: They turned the animals out of their dungeon, they came rushing out into the arena, the bear was in the lead. Then, here came the leopard. That bear turned and slapped that leopard and knocked it backwards. It ran back into the dungeon: then the bear went back also. That was God’s way of saying, I run the show. I like little stories like that. Even if they are about dumb animals, I like it because God created them; and He can put an impression in their mind that causes them to fulfill His purpose. Just think of that bear: It took one look at those poor people standing out there and simply lost his appetite. Here came that leopard, bouncing like you have seen them do, but when that bear hauled off and hit it, that sent it whining, back into the dungeon where it was kept. I like that.
ONLY ONE FORM OF LIFE
Let me say, That fourth seal terminates everything for salvation among us Gentiles. Listen carefully now. The Bride is completed right there. (Pointing to Chart at the beginning of the week) No more foolish virgins will be saved after that point. Jesus is off of the mercy seat, so salvation as we have known it is completed. Do you understand that? They that are foolish virgins at that point, and remain alive when the Bride is gone, they have heard and believed the gospel according to what was preached to them through this period, so that is why they are called virgins: They just did not grow any from there. There will not be any more added to that number after the bride is gone. You might say, But Bro. Jackson, if they do not have the Holy Ghost, how can they be saved? It is as I have said before: They have a life giving portion of the Holy Ghost, because that is the only kind of life there is. They just do not go beyond that point and invest what they received, so that they can have that measure that gives them divine revelation and access to a full manifestation of the supernatural: There is only one form of life, and that is of the Holy Spirit; which in reality is the Spirit of the Creator. We have to go back, back to whatever they heard back in here, that made them wise or foolish, because even the foolish heard the gospel of repentance and the cleansing that comes by the blood of Jesus Christ, and they submitted themselves to God to clean them up, sanctify them, but for some reason or other they just cut short any further growth. The Holy Spirit was never allowed to enter their life in a way to have dominance in leading them, so as to begin to teach them. That is why we see them remaining basically where they started out, just floating along, I am a Methodist, I am a Baptist, I am a Presbyterian, a Pentecostal this or that; and they are all in the same shape. Why? Because they are not open to the present, restored truth of the word of God, nor do they have any interest in the things John heard, but did not write, while sitting out there on the Isle of Patmos. It seems like you cannot convert them from that mentality, no matter what you try to show them. Well Praise God! I am interested in what those seven thunders are going to utter one day soon, when God anoints them to reveal to the true Bride of Christ, the rest of what John heard but did not write. God had a purpose in holding back that part until the exact time the bride will need to hear it: He did not want every person who claims to be called to preach, to have access to those precious things that are just for the true bride. They are the only ones that will have ears to hear what the seven thunders of Revelation 10:3-4, will utter. Notice how this is recorded in the Bible, (Rev 10:3) “And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. (Denominational people have no concept of how important that is going to be for the Bride Church: That is for her final preparation, just before the rapture takes place. Those who do not hear those thunders, will not be fully prepared for the Lord’s return.) (Rev 10:4) And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: (says John) and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.” The same Spirit that was upon John, will be on those seven thunders (seven men) at the proper time, and they will speak forth those things John was not permitted to write at that time; and only the true bride will have ears to hear. You an verify that, by reading on down through that chapter until you finish verse 11, and find what was said to John. We know John is not going to come back from the dead to fulfill verse 11, so it has to be by those who have that same anointing. “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” The prophet to this age, that ministered under that Elijah anointing, brought forth things that had never been written in the Bible, when he was anointed to open the first six seals of Revelation, chapter 6, and declare the revelation of their application, and where each one fit into this grace age: so likewise, those seven thunders will speak, when they are anointed to do so; and the bride will receive her final revelation and instructions before she is taken up. As for the denominational people of this world, those who refuse to accept any more than what the founders of their particular movements had revealed to them, they will still be in that state of belief when the rapture takes place and they will not be taken: They are virgins by virtue of believing and accepting the grace of God in their state of repentance, but failing to move on with God into a fruitful life of receiving revelation of His word beyond that of their beginning and living accordingly, keeps them out of the ranks of the Bride Church that feeds upon fresh revelation (eagle food).With that in mind, my point is this, Nobody will be saved among the Gentiles any more, when that 4th seal terminates. As for the fifth seal, it not only covers those Jews from way back in time, but also reaches forward to those that will be slain just like they were, over here in this hour of the great tribulation just ahead. Listen carefully now, The foolish virgins that are left to go through this same period, and these Jews that do not know anything yet, (except for the woman element which we will cover) will seal their testimony of faith in God through accepting martyrdom. This applies only to those who are faced with martyrdom, and has nothing to do with those of like kind that die a natural death. The one bunch referred to as the woman, are in a different category altogether. They represent a mass of the Jewish society of Israel, men, women, boys and girls, that receive the message of the two witnesses in the first half of that week. Why are they different? They have heard something that preserves them, so when the middle of that week comes and they see the antichrist coming upon the scene, and the two prophets killed, they know it is time to leave there. That woman that has heard the message of the two prophets and received it, knows what they have instructed her to do. That is why it says she has received wings of an eagle, and she knows exactly where to go, because they have told her. You can go to ( Exo. 19:3-4) and see why their deliverance by the message of the two prophets is referred to as eagles’ wings, because that is the same terminology God used concerning the deliverance of their ancestors from Egypt. “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; (verse 4) Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. They will go to the place the prophets tell them about, a place where they will be safe from the antichrist forces, and where there will be a people who will feed them during all that time. (Rev. 12:6) “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” I have heard preachers say that those Jews are going to go to Petra. Shame on anyone who talks like that in this day and hour. That thought came from the middle ages. Just as I said the other night, I have been there twice: I know what that place is like. I heard someone ask a Baptist fellow, According to the terrain, how are they going to get food to that number during all that time? He replied, Well God is able to do it. Sure God is able, but the Bible does not say that. It says THEY feed her. Who is they? It is certainly not Him. (GOD) Let us read it right: The THEY, is the people of that area of the world where the woman element of Jews are transported to. If you sit back in your denominational circles and hatch out these ideas, you are going to end up like an old hen that has never been with a rooster, yet lays 16 eggs and sits on them. Nineteen days later, there ought to begin to be a little movement. Twenty days, it is getting closer. Twenty one days, you still do not see nor hear a thing. Twenty two days, twenty three days and she sits right there. She keeps on sitting; and then one day the gas builds up in those eggs and explodes. They did not hatch at all; They just exploded. The old hen just had a dirty, rotten mess of egg yolks all over her. I have seen them come off of those nests covered with rotten eggs, simply because they had never been fertilized with a rooster. She was left to go around the barn lot like that, and every other chicken knew her plight. The feathers come off, and she looks like she has walked through a green briar patch. I think I have established my point, so let me get back to my message. Every foolish virgin from the Gentiles that does pass through this period, to be killed over here, are all saved during this period under the fourth seal: They will not become foolish virgins in that week. Remember also, those Jews that were seen under the altar crying out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” When white robes were given to every one of them it was said, “that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” The revelation was, that they were slain under Hitler’s purge, (the holocaust) and millions were, but they are not the only ones represented in that number, because there were others that had been killed the same way, all the way back to the very beginning, coming on up to that hour, and then it speaks specifically of those that will be slain over here, (chart-in the last half of the week.) as they were. Now watch, There, is the Bride. I have already said enough to let you know, that through the ages of time, through a great percentage of the two thousand years of Christianity, if you study all of history closely, you would probably find that more of the bride saints were martyred, than there were of those that died some other way. When you start reading the history of the Crusader period, do you know what caused the Crusaders to rise up like they did? When Mohammad the Great came out of Saudi Arabia, back in the seventh century, which really is called the eighth century, he had already butchered all the Christians in Saudi Arabia. He then came into Egypt, determined to destroy every Christian in Egypt, but for some reason, God, by His grace, saw to it that a few Christians in Egypt found a way to escape that sword. All across Libya, Tunisia, Algiers and Morocco, he slaughtered them by the thousands. Europe heard about all of that; and in the later part of the eighth century, here comes those Morocco and Islamic armies across the Straits of Gibraltar to invade Spain. That is what caused the pope to begin to send the word throughout Europe, Let us form a crusade and go get them. Read the histories: it is all in there. You are covering a period of over a hundred years. It was bloodshed for the Christians. Leaving Egypt, and coming on into Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, Christianity never did get to return. None of those Muslims will allow a Christian there. I am saying that to try and show you, that in that Bride of Christ, there have been multitudes that died for the faith, because that rotten spirit did not want them to be around. At the same time, we have to realize there were other areas where similar situations were not going on, so there were those that died a natural death, and they are still in that same crowd. Those who gained the stature to be in the bride are seen in heaven, but the rest that believed, regardless of how they died, are in that crowd of Revelation 7:9. That is why I say this morning, It is very strange, you see these martyred, you see these martyred, and even though you see them martyred, it is not mentioned here. You can go back into the Bible, and also history, and you find the great numbers that have been martyred. Therefore if there have been numbers martyred all through here, you have to accept the fact that some, in the same generations died a natural death. Not everyone was martyred. To me, that shows the grace of God. He is running this thing His way. Let us not try to run it for Him.
JUDGING THE NATIONS
Let me say a few words about those seen standing on a sea of glass in the 15th chapter. The two verses we will read, identifies them as those that went through the great tribulation in the last half of that week of Daniel. Notice, (Rev. 15:2-3) “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. (3) And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, (Jews) and the song of the Lamb, (Gentile foolish virgins) saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. In no other time of great tribulation, have saints had to gain the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, except in the last half of that week, when the forces of the antichrist are determined to rid the earth of all who believe in God. Now I want you to pay close attention to what I am going to say. You remember the setting in Matthew 25:31, and on down through so many verses, what Jesus will do first, when He sits upon the throne of His glory, so let us read some of it at this time. “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: (32) And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: (33) And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.” You all know the story, how He selected some to pass over into the Millennium to repopulate the earth; and the others were sentenced to the lake of fire: We have covered that many times, even though that is not the exact words He uses. Here is what I want to point out right now though, the difference between these here and those in chapter 7, wearing white robes. Jesus will raise up this element first, to give witness for or against all those He is separating (like a shepherd separating his sheep from the goats) and judging. Here is the criteria, based upon how they treated His brethren during that 3 ½ years that has just expired. Notice what was said, (We are speaking as though it is already past, but its literal fulfillment will take place When Jesus returns to earth to set up His kingdom, where He will rule for one thousand years. That is when the earth will be repopulated with mortal subjects, with the sheep-like people set apart here, and the woman element of Jewish people that flee into the wilderness for preservation during the last half of that week.) Mat 25:34, “Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (Listen to this.) Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? (Now you hear His answer.) Mat 25:40, And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (God certainly takes note of how His people are treated in this world.) Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (We will not read the rest of those verses, because they cover the same things He said to the sheep people, about ministering to His brethren, but this bunch went the other way and their reward is damnation. Verse 46, says this), And these (the goat side) shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” They will remain in their present bodies and go back into the nations to repopulate the earth.
WOMAN WITH MOON UNDER HER FEET
I ask God to help me present this next setting in a way that all can understand, because there has been much misunderstanding about it through the years. When we come to the 12th chapter of Revelation, and read what John saw in the spirit, it is referred to as a great wonder in heaven. “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” This is a picture of the spirit of the Roman Empire in the very day that this little nation of Israel has come, prophetic wise, to the hour that there was going to be a special child born in their midst. It took place two thousand years ago. The woman did not know it. This is the spirit of Satan in the Roman Empire signified in this beastly description. “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” That dirty devil, through that ecclesiastical Jewish people, which was so determined that the Torah was all they needed, did not allow the very Son of God to teach them what they could have learned from the other prophets if they had not been so stubborn and ritualistic. The religious scribes and Pharisees were so taken up with Moses and the Torah, they could not see that the woman as a whole, had already conceived by the prophecies, and that one day God would bring forth their Messiah, whom they would not recognize. “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: (Look at Anna coming out of the temple, coming along the line, coming up to Mary, looking at that child, and then prophesying what that child was destined for.) and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne: (That means, after He was crucified and rose the third day, He was seen among many brethren over the space of forty days, then He was taken up, caught up unto God and to His throne. He has been there for the last nineteen hundred and some years, interceding for you and me. Between verses 5 and 6, is the entire Grace Age that you and I have been talking about all down through here. Almost two thousand years of time passes between the fulfillment of what is written in those two verses. Having said that, we know verse 6, picks us up right here at the end time; when grace for Gentiles has reached its conclusion. Israel has been brought back into her promised land, heard the two witnesses; and the particular element of them that we have been talking about, is getting ready to fulfill verse 6.) And the woman fled into the wilderness.” This is only an element of the Jewish people back in the land in that hour, that actually make up what is referred to as the woman. Not just any Jew, nor every Jew, but only those who heard the message of the two prophets and believed it. It is through their ministry, that God culls out this particular element to be preserved throughout the last half of that week. There are a lot of the poor Jewish people back in the land today, only because they are of Jewish heritage. They could not care less about God or what is written in the scriptures concerning them. They do not even want you to talk to them about God re-gathering the nation and restoring it back to its biblical setting. They have their own ideas and do not want anyone to talk to them like that. I would just have to say, Well then, what right do you have to this land, if you refuse to acknowledge what gives Abraham’s seed the right to be here? You claim to be seed of Abraham, so I ask you, By what right do you claim to be a Jew? If you are not going to want to uphold the same faith and understanding he had, what good is it going to do you? That kind, may very well wish they had never seen that land, before very much longer. Remember this saints: That antichrist system is going to make havoc out of them. I have an article, which states that right now in Europe, and in the Arabian world, especially in their schools and movies, there is a hatred spirit being built up among them to hate the Jews. That spirit is breaking out all over Europe. The devil wants to get rid of that element of people completely. His idea is, if I can get rid of those people, then there is no people that can claim that land and claim to be receivers of the promises written in the prophecies concerning them. Satan knows his time is short, so he is doing everything he possibly can, to demoralize the Jewish race. He is doing what he considers a good job of it, because we see anti Semitism more and more as we get close to the end. As we stated, verse 6 ends this whole period of coming back, being restored, the two prophets sealing the 144,000 young men in their foreheads; and the woman element being prepared to flee from the wrath of the antichrist forces in the middle of the week. I think we have pretty well covered all of this, so let us move on to say a little more about the fifth seal, which points to that element of Jews that are going to be killed through this tribulation period just ahead. They are that element of Jews seen in heaven, standing on the sea of glass. How many can see that? There is a reason I am saying it like this. It puts them equally with the others, but it does not put them necessarily in this other crowd. They are Jews killed by the antichrist through this period of time over here, and when they are seen next, they are standing on the sea of glass. Likewise the foolish virgins that are killed over here, through the same period of great tribulation, are not in the group of Revelation 7:9, but are also standing over here on this sea of glass. Why? Because of the way and time they were martyred. They are separate from the others for a reason, to bear witness when Jesus judges the nations, as we have explained already. Bro. Jackson; you confuse me. Do not look at this that way: If you are still confused, it is because you cut off the flow of further revelation. As long as we are still in these mortal bodies, we have to keep our mind and spirit open for God to add to, that which we have already. He did not give any of us the full picture 30 or 40 years ago: He lets our hunger for truth move us into position to receive a little more as time progresses. That is what we are experiencing, the finer details of the profile we had years ago. Do not fight it: Just open your eyes and ears and allow the Holy Spirit to bear witness with your spirit as we go into a better understanding of what we already know. That should not confuse anyone. They will have white robes just like these; and also just like the others we show in the red line, but keep in mind, When Jesus comes back riding a white horse and His great army with Him, where does John show that army coming from? In Revelation 19, John sees all of this great sight coming from heaven. When? At the end of the great tribulation, when Jesus makes His Literal appearance to set up His kingdom. Right here, (pointing to chart) that is where and when they will be seen. They are all riding white horses. When you get to Revelation 20, the Bride is seen sitting on thrones, plural. Right? Judgment is given to them, the right to execute and pass sentence. Then the resurrection starts. Keep in mind, back here at the crucifixion of Christ when He rose from the dead, there was also a part of the first resurrection of saints of God that are represented in the red line. They were the Old Testament saints. Therefore the red line has to continue. I think we have said enough this morning to let you know, whether it is Jew or Gentile, if they are going to have a white robe, they will go into that category of dead. But it is the Bride that go into this blue line. Therefore they go up according to Paul’s revelation, (1st Thessalonians 4), and also 1st Corinthians 15. That takes the entire Bride. Paul said nothing else about what all the resurrection constituted, but he sees the Bride going. Then John, way on over here in 96 AD, sees all the rest of what we have been talking about. He sees the bride on thrones, when Jesus has taken His throne, and He starts the resurrection. Who are the first ones to come up? These right here, standing on the sea of glass. That is why they are separated from that other group. They have been butchered, slaughtered in every imaginable way, put in prisons, starved and everything else during that 3 ½ years. Look in Matthew 25, and notice all that Jesus mentioned in that parable related to the time when the Son of Man has come and sits on the throne of His glory. He has gathered all the nations before Him, all the mortals that have survived during the past 3 ½ years. As we said, He will separate them as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. He will start saying this, I was naked, and you clothed me, in prison and you visited me, I was hungry, you fed me, so on and so forth. Then the sheep-like people will say to Him, Lord, when did we see you like this? His answer was, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Now saints, this is important, so please pay attention to how I say it, because here before Him, is that group both Jew and Gentile, standing in the forefront to be judged. They are the ones that He is judging, the mortal people, on the merits of how they have behaved themselves during that great tribulation hour of the last half of the 70th week of Daniel. They will either receive life or death in this judgment: There are no other choices. They represent a people that were alive all through here, and these seen on the sea of glass are brought forth to bear witness, either for or against, according to the treatment they received at the hands of these being judged. This has nothing to do with any of these others represented in the red line: This only pertains to those of the time just elapsed. Therefore when that is all finished, it just automatically feeds into all of this other, because, when that is all concluded it says, This is the first resurrection. What do we have then? The bride that was resurrected back here, just as the 70th week of Daniel got underway, has come back to earth with Jesus; and is sitting upon thrones from which she will judge the nations of people throughout the Millennium along with Jesus, who is now King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the King and she is His Queen (the bride Church); and all the saints from the red line have been resurrected when the separation of the sheep and goats was finished, including all those saints that met death in some other way, other than martyrdom, even though you may not find that written in the scriptures to your satisfaction, you still have to realize God is just, extending mercy and grace to all who will receive it, so all that is left in the ground so-to-speak, is the damned of all ages. They will stay there until the great white throne judgment; which takes place after the one thousand year reign of King Jesus and His Bride is completed. We will read a few verses from Revelation, chapter 20, to complete this picture for you. Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they (the bride) sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, (This is all inclusive, including the saints of all the centuries of time, which were still in the graves until then, but here comes another bunch.) and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he (or all those both male and female) that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” The first resurrection is accomplished in three phases, because the Old Testament saints were raised when Jesus was raised from the dead, the bride was raised in the beginning of that week; and all the other saints of the red line on our chart are raised after the 3 ½ years of tribulation are completed. God has a precise order for everything to be completed in and He will not vary from that order. He is unchangeable: That is why we can have complete confidence in his WORD, and trust Him to do as His Word says He will do.
I know a lot of you will have questions about some of this, so tonight, we will read and answer the questions you turn in by then. I will pray that the Lord will enable me to answer your questions to your satisfaction. I do not want anyone to be confused when we get this message completed.