The Contender: Jude 3: Earnestly Contend For The Faith
Rev. James Allen
Rev. James C. Allen

Preached June 19-21, 2018

In the last edition, Bro. Allen left ended by looking at the four beasts of Daniel 7, and how the spirit of the fourth beast was cast into the lake of fire at the return of Christ in Revelation 19:20. We are picking up where he left off.

I am continuing with this subject. I know some of it may not seem to be related to the subject I am on, but I want to show how these things are related to the times we live in.

The Wicked of Today

We are living in a time when the devil is rampant. He is getting the mood of people ready to accept whatever he would dish out to them. Only the saints of God will be able to escape it, and that is not many. I do not want to think about it too much, but God knows what people deserve. Because they do deserve it. There are good people, and there are rotten people. Nothing is going to help them escape what is coming, because there must be a change in their lives that comes from the heavenly Father. People are not willing to accept that because it means too much to them. God has already prepared a place for them; it is just a time to come. As I said, I do not like to think about the consequences of what is going to be in the hereafter for people that have rejected Christ. They have made themselves gods of many sorts. They may not bow down to worship them as some have in Biblical times, but it is the same old thing. Whatever drives them becomes their god. Take these theologians and priests that we see in denominational churches:  eighty six percent of the preachers in America feel that if they preached what God would have them to preach, then they would lose their congregation, so they compromise for that purpose. The Bible says there will be few that will be saved, but they are not willing to take that few. They like the crowds. I saw churches organizing classes to help their people get out of debt. They surveyed fifty different organizations of churches that had at least fifteen thousand members. They found that thirty five percent that had already taken part in the classes. It is good to be out of debt, but they are looking to gain from them because they said “Get out of debt and then you can put more into helping people.” That means giving the church money. That is the aim of the church world today. The preachers have big plans for people that never do come about, but then they are always changing, their congregation is always changing from time to time because people grow weary of all this change and all the stuff they are promised but it never comes true. They turn against it after awhile. Then there will be somebody else that will come in and replace what they stopped liking with something new, and then it will happen all over again. That is the reason why they have different services in order to cater to everyone, because they do not want to lose one that is giving them money. They are like politicians: they are in it for the money. Many of them have big sports cars, airplanes, things of that nature. When Monday morning comes, they are out on the golf course somewhere with somebody that has money to put into their coffers. They spend all their time with the rich to keep their attention. I am not speaking against golf, it is not my purpose to do that.  It is what they are looking at. The pleasures of this life are more important than anything else. But for the believer the Christian life is going to be more important. But they cannot see that. We are just a bunch of fools or idiots in their eyes. There is no consequences to living the way they do. They live in sin and say they are living a Christian life. They are changing the Bible to accept the homosexuals. They have taken out the scriptures against it, and they replace it with something more favorable. We are living in the days of Lot. We are living in the days of Noah. When you look at the days of Lot and Sodom, it does not even mention marriage. It is just living together. The churches are full of people just living together without commitment to marriage. They have four or five children and they have been together eighteen or twenty years, and they have no intention to marry. Marriage vows are more important than what people think they are.

Spirits Given To The Burning Flame

Beast like a lion

I want to turn to Daniel 7. I have gone over this in the last message, but I want to put other scriptures with it. “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.” Visions come whenever people are awake, and dreams come when people are asleep. This was so important that it counted as a vision and a dream also. Daniel is seeing is the future. He is seeing his time and the future ages to come. “Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.” Which would be the Mediterranean Sea. The four winds is talking about something coming against something else in a clash that was coming and it all hinged around the Middle East and about the great sea. “And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.” They are all different. But they all have one purpose. Each one goes a little further in fulfilling that purpose. “The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.” He is speaking here of Babylon, which in his last days, he had been called of God to do God’s purpose. That was to take the Jews captive, especially the Judaean Jews, because the ten northern tribes were already gone. Daniel is seeing this at this time, because this all begins to happen after Babylon has taken the Jews away. This happened to Nebuchadnezzar after that, so this is why Daniel is seeing this. This is where Daniel and all of the Jews were taken into prison and made eunuchs for King Nebuchadnezzar. Whenever that happened, then we find that God was on the scene to help those Jews, from Daniel on down to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. God is recognized that Nebuchadnezzar, in the end, would have a change of heart. Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold, down to the shoulders. You take the gold; it is easier to manage. It is easier to mold. That is the reason why it is mentioned in this way and why it starts out like this. Nebuchadnezzar came to recognize God later in his life.  

Beast like a bear

“And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.” This is the Medo-Persian Empire, and there are three great kings in it. So, you see there the three ribs and so on.

Beast like a leopard

“After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.” This third is the Greek Empire led by Alexander the Great. Each one of them is incorporating more land than the one before. Babylon was entirely in the Middle East. You find the Medo-Persian Empire reached all the way into India. That is where all the trouble is today: Iran. They changed the name from Persia to Iran in 1936. That is a recent thing that they did. The leopard was the Greeks, and they were speedy. Alexander was quick in what he did. He died at thirty-two years of age and had already conquered all the known world. He had conquered everything up to that time that could be conquered. Greece, Egypt, the Middle East all the way to the edge of India. We are going to look at that as we go along. “The beast had also four heads and dominion were given to it.” The Greek empire was divided into four part, which Antiochus Epiphanes ended up the ruler of one of those parts. He was in that beast. He was a cruel man that reigned around 170 B.C. That was when the Maccabees overthrew the rule of the Greeks, because of the hand of God that was upon them. The rebellion started out with their dad. They did not believe in fighting on Saturday, which was the Sabbath, so many times they were over run because they would not fight on Saturday. Then when Judah Maccabee took over, he saw what was happening and started to fight on the Sabbath in order to win.

The fourth beast

“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: (Stamped the residue, which is the kingdoms that were been before it. It stamped the residue with the feet of it. Feet is important because that is where the miry clay and iron is at, the toughness of it.) and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Which would go to Daniel 11, and you see that as you are looking in scripture, you see the dreadfulness of it, and you see that in Revelation 13 when we look into that. “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” The books were opened for these, which goes to Revelation 20. That is the books of the deeds of what has been done from the end all the way back to the time of Noah, even the angels which sinned before the Ice Age come into effect. The books were opened, as it said in Revelation 20. “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” This will happen at the beginning of the Millennium, during the first thirty-day period of time. This will happen. The beast did not have a natural body, it was a spirit. It is the spirit on people, which answers to the devil that caused all this. The fallen angels behind this beast will be placed into the burning lake of fire, which will already be present at the start of the Millennium. The fire is already here in the heart of the earth. “As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” The spirit behind the fourth beast was destroyed, but the spirit behind the first three were not.

Let us go to Revelation 13.  “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: (See? Here is that spirit when it rises again in the last days.) and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” The dragon, which is the devil, gave him his seat and great authority, which goes back to Daniel 11. “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” This happened when the pope was placed in prison in 1808 by Napoleon and he was stripped of all his power. That was the deadly wound. He was placed in prison and died as a pauper. They thought the power of the papacy was dead. I remember in America when you did not see all these great buildings and everything that the Catholic church has built in the last several years. All these towns did not have a Catholic church. Now they do. It is all over. It has elevated into different stages as the deadly wound was healed back in 1945. Now that spirit is arising again, it is a return of what was in Daniel. “I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after thebeast.” After the beast, the beast is not the pope. The beast is the governmental system. It includes the European countries.  This beast system will fully revive in the last half of the week of Daniel, not in the first half, but in the last half. It is building in the first half. It takes time. They cannot exercise authority that they want to exercise,  because the two prophets are holding it back, so they are left dangling until the time that these two prophets are off the scene. “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” You see by the middle of the week; the European system has now turned into a war machine. The United States is out of the picture by then. “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.” See? It is a no-care thing. That is why you see, as you go through Revelation, you see in the 16th chapter, you see them all standing there as Armageddon has already taken place. What do they do? They go ahead and go against the Bride and Christ, as he comes back with the sword in His mouth. There is not something sticking out of His mouth, it is His word. His word will take care of them, His word will kill them. “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, (That is the tribulation saints, both Jews and Gentiles.) and to overcome them: (Jim Baker and all of them are going to be here. Of course, he has enough food stored up for everybody. Do you think they are not going to confiscate some food? They are not going to sit on Easy Street. It was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them…) and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” It is going to take patience; it is going to take faith for those that are living in that hour. They give their lives unto death, because they have faith, faith that God is going to raise them again from the dead, because of the patience they have in that hour. You see a people in that hour that are giving themselves over unto God completely. They missed what God had prepared as a way of escape for them. They missed it, but they find grace in the eyes of the Lord.

The Palmerworm, Locust, Cankerworm & Caterpillar

I want to go to Joel 1. This is something Bro. Jackson went over years ago. “The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?” Something is coming. Just what you are fixing to see? Joel is prophesying here in 800 BC, which is two hundred and fifty years before Daniel and before Nebuchadnezzar. “Hear this, ye old men, and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.” See? It is going on, from generation to generation. He is giving them a forecast of how many generations it will be, a foreknowledge of what will happen. Here he tells what is going to happen. “That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.” What is he talking about? This goes back to Daniel. These are the little creeping things that sucked all the strength out of Israel. He is telling them: “Hear this, look at this, see what I am talking about.” The palmerworm represents Babylon, the lion beast. Then you have the locust which represents Medo-Persia, the bear beast. Then you have the cankerworm which represents the Greek Empire, and the leopard beast. Then the caterpillar, which has taken all the rest of it out, which represents the final beast. So, this is what he is talking about. Listen to what he said, “Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.” God is talking about His word being cut off from them. “For a nation is come up upon my land, (See what he says: a nation is come up upon my land….) strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, (the very first beast was a lion beast, under Nebuchadnezzar,) and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.” Babylon took Israel out of the land, the southern tribes. The others were already gone whenever that happened. This is representing each beast that he has talked about in Daniel 7. “He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: (If you bark a tree, that takes the life out of it, because the life goes right up through the sides of the tree into the bark. This is where the life comes from. I remember we had a dog one time, and we had a beautiful tree, and he stripped all the bark off that tree. That tree died the next year. That is what Joel is talking about. He hath laid my vine waste and barked my fig tree…) he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.” If you take the bark off, it leaves just the white inside showing. Every year a tree grows a new layer of bark. That is the reason why you have so many rings in a tree, because of the bark of the tree. But if you take that bark layer off, the tree dies. That is what he is saying here. They have killed his fig tree. We are going to see a solution to this. “Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord’s ministers, mourn.” As Israel began to slip, some saw what was happening and mourned. Those few priests that still believed in God did. It was Jeremiah, you have the Lamentations of Jeremiah, where he wept because of what had happened to his land and to his people. God is married to that land. God was married unto Israel. You find in Hosea that He gives her a bill of divorcement because of her lewd walk that she had made before Him. “Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The meat offering and drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests, the Lord’s ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; (This is all the people’s doing.) for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, (He goes back to the vine. The vine is dried up….) and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, (Now he is talking about the land.) are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.”

I want to go to Joel 2:21-27, “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.” This is what He is doing now. Jerusalem is finally recognized by the United States as being the capital of Israel. This is happening now in our time. Only six nations have been willing to do that. So, you see that as he is talking here. “Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice for the Lord will do great things.” This is a promise to Israel, the Lord is going to do great things for them. Just wait, just watch, and see. “Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, (Here it goes again.) the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.” He is talking about Israel here, talking about the great army that Ezekiel sees in chapter 36. This is like the dead bones coming together, which they are coming together now. “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, (See? He is bringing in Zion again, because he said Zion mourned in the 1st chapter.) and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, (He gave them the former rain moderately, but listen to what He is going to do.) and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.” In other words, He is going to give them double. He is going to make it where it will be livable, all the land is going to be livable. If you go into the mountains of Judaea, you see nothing but rocks and dirt. That is all you see in the mountains there, in the mountains where Jesus went to be tried. “And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.” See, He is restoring them back. “And I will restore to you the years (the years of the locust, He will restore to them the years of the locust, which he spoke about the locusts and all those things. But he is kind of going back to where it all ended here. I will restore to you the years…) that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.” My! God is saying, I am going to restore all of that to you. My great army. It was His army, even though it was of the devil, it was with God’s permission. The devil does a lot of things, but it is by God’s permission, because of the wickedness of mankind. “I will restore to you the years the locust has eaten, the cankerworm, the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, (They are going to know it, it is not going to be missed.) and that I am the Lord your God, (See? God is pressing himself back into the picture, to where they have to recognize Him, and that is the hand of God at work among them. Because there is going to be a miraculous war that is going to happen. Whenever that miraculous war comes about, then you find that Israel is recognizing Him because of the mighty things that are being done that their war machine could not do. Even back whenever the Six Day War happened, they saw airplanes that were not even in their armed forces, that were fighting for them. I wonder who that could have been! I wonder if Michael was there somewhere! He is going to come again! He is God’s great general for the house of Israel, He is going to come again!) “Ye shall eat plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God that has dealt wonderfully with you. My people shall never be ashamed and ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your Godand none else: (There will not be another doubt, there will not be another god set up. There will never be another grove. They will never worship on a hillside anymore. God is going to get the glory.) and my people shall never be ashamed.” The people of Israel are what He is talking about. The people of Israel will never be ashamed. In the Holocaust so many of them hid their identity, many of them said they were Catholic in order to escape what was coming. They did not have the marks upon their arms as the other Jews did. When we were in Norway a few years ago, we went to the place where there was an outpost of Jewish people, a man and woman. The man was in his early eighties, he still had the numbers on his arm from being in the concentration camps. We are seeing something happen. It is going to bring about something for Israel. It is going to bring about something for the Bride. I do not want to miss it. I want to be there.

A Beast and the Vial Angels

I will go into Revelation 15 next. I am looking at this for the last hour of time. There are other scriptures that go along with this, which I want to get into. The 15th chapter is a time is set in the last half of the week of Daniel. There is nothing in the chapter related to the Bride, it is all for the Jews and for the foolish virgins of that time. We look at the 2nd and 3rd verses of that chapter as being the saints that are die in that time. “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.” This lets us know this is entirely for the last half of the week. It has nothing to do with the first half of the week. This is when they begin to kill the believers of that time, the Gentile foolish virgins and the Jewish saints. There will be many Jews that will be killed, as it says in Zechariah 14:2. There it talks about where the city will be rifled, and the women will be ravished. That will come during that last half of the week of Daniel. “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: (Now this brings you all the way down to the end of the last half of the week. In the first verse these angels have not poured out their vial yet, so it is the start of the last half. But by the time you get into that second verse, then you have ended the seven vials and all the martyred saints are in heaven. The vials are the wrath of God. I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire…) and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, (See? It is at the end, they have victory.) and over his image, (The image is the church world, which will be the denominational world, all of them, which goes into Revelation 17. But we find here them that had gotten victory over the beast and over his image….) and over his mark, (which goes into the 13th chapter. The mark will happen in the middle of the week, from there on.) and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” They are resurrected, the time of their trial is already passed, and they are now standing on the sea of glass. Standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God: they are now playing their tune before God. This is a great thing for the Gentile foolish virgins and the Jews that outlast whatever the devil has placed upon them. We go through our trials and tests now and we think it is something awful. But if you take the last half of the week when the devil, according to Revelation 12, is loosed to come down to earth, then it is going to be truly hell on earth. What happens in the beginning of sorrows? Great earthquakes and things of that nature that Jesus speaks about. Whenever He speaks about this tribulation though, it is the worst of all. “And they sing the song of Moses (which identifies them as Jews, they sing the song of Moses…) the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, (The song of the Lamb speaks of their redemption. They have been redeemed through the process of the last three and half years they have had to go through. It is going to be like another Holocaust.) saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” See? That is their song they are singing here after they have been raised from the dead. It brings them into the time after the thirty days starts. “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” In other words, the judgments he is talking about here is the last day after the tribulation is over, the judgments of God are manifest here. “And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.” This is giving way unto the foolish virgins and Jews to be a part of that kingdom age. The Bride is already in heaven enjoying the presence of God, learning of Him. That is going to be the marriage supper. That was before the week ended and these souls are on the sea of glass. The supper is not some big feast that is made, but it is an introduction, because nobody is going to need to eat. Whenever you are resurrected, you will never need to eat. But God will give you that privilege to do so, as Bro. Jackson said, He will give you that privilege to do so, but you will not have to eat. Jesus ate to show that He has raised from the dead. That was the reason why. He ate fish and honeycomb to show His he was real. We are going to be identical in looks as we are here, at a younger age. There will not be any flaws in us. Nobody will be wearing glasses; nobody will be wearing false teeth or anything of that nature. It is all going to be changed. Jesus said every hair of your head is numbered. If He knows every hair of your head, He is going to give you a full head of hair again. “And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And seven angels came out of the temple, (Now it goes back to the middle of the week again. We skip back and forth here in this, because that is the way it is written. The angels came out at the middle of the week with the vials. Revelation is wrote that way, it jumps back and forth. It showed the end of the picture in verse two, and now it goes back to show what led up to that. He is giving you an outline of what is going to happen to the foolish virgins and Jewish saints in that hour. The seven angels came out of the temple…) having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.” Seven angels come out of the temple, having the seven last plagues. They have not started pouring out the plagues yet, they have just come out of the temple area with that message and authority. “And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels (I wonder which beast this would be? The four living beasts, the lion, the calf, the face of the man, and the flying eagle, each represent the bride of Christ through the ages. It is one of them that gave the angels their vials. It would have to be the last beast, because the saints in that age have lived through it and the revelation has come to them. The revelation of this has not come to any others. The revelation came in the time of the eagle beast. The last beast is the flying eagle, which more emphasis is put upon that one than any of the rest of them, because they have been able to see more, from the time of Bro. Branham right on up to the time we are living in. We have been able to see more, not because we are a smart bunch of people, not because we have been educated into this, as the revelation began to come forth in Bro. Branham’s ministry in 1958. Then in 1963 the first six seals were opened. The seals have not all been fulfilled yet, but we understand what they mean. We find the fifth seal is partially fulfilled during the Holocaust there in Poland and Germany, as we look back at that. But it will happen again, to their brethren and fellow servants. The fourth seal is also only partially fulfilled, it will go into the week of Daniel when the beast takes over. Then the sixth seal will not happen until the end of the tribulation. The seventh seal is still a mystery. Let me read this again. “The seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, having their breasts girded with golden girdles.” One of the four beasts came to them, only one, because those saints know more than the rest of them do. The other beasts do their part, all they know to do, they do their part. But the revelation had not come to them, because as we read in the book of Daniel, he told him the book was closed and it would not be understood until the end of time. Then it tells him he would stand in his place at that time. One of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels….) seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.” It was one of the four beasts that handed it to the angels that came out of the throne. In the middle of the week the Bride has got to be in heaven. She must be there. The scripture, if you read it and get a revelation of it, it speaks to you. The word of God speaks. God speaks because He is the one that is fulfilling what is going to happen, because it is all His authority. It takes seven angels to fulfill His will here, as we go on. “And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, (No man was able to enter into the temple, that is the throne area of God, until what? No man was able to enter into the temple….) till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.” So the presence of God is so great that the smoke of the altar had so filled the temple, no one could enter. That is his presence of God there to show what is going to happen here in the last hours of time. Till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

2nd Half of the Week of Daniel: The Seven Last Plagues

The Seven Last Plagues, image licensed by Revelation Illustrated

Now the plagues begin in the 16th chapter, “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” So here this beast hands them their vials, or plagues, which is the vial. He hands them that, for them to fulfill the last half of the week. “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.” This is the very first plague. What does this relate to? You go back and find it in the scripture. It is in Revelation 9. This is an element of the wicked people on earth. You see that. “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.” God’s plagues are increasing with every vial. Each one of them has a time limit, to pour out his vial, then another one comes even stronger, and stronger as time goes on. There is the second, now comes the third. “And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.” This kind of looks like Moses and Elijah, but it is not. It is the vials that are poured out in the last half of the week. “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” See? The two prophets are already killed.In other words, He is paying them back with these plagues, for what they are doing to the servants of God, and what they are doing to that Jewish saints the Gentile foolish virgins. “And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.” They are glorifying God as this voice comes out from the altar. They are glorifying God for what He is doing. It is justice, that is what it is, a pay-back for what has happened unto those poor people in that time. “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scotched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.” See? There is no change. You see in Revelation 9:3, they have given themselves over unto the beast. Let us read that. “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; (See? This is hell itself. He opened the bottomless pit…..) and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.” In other words, God’s plague. “And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.” What is he talking about here? Prophecy preachers liken this to helicopters and a little bit of everything, but he is talking about something coming up out of the pit of hell. This pit is open, as we look at it. “And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” This shows again that it is the last half of the week. “And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” What is he saying? Though they are wounded and look like they are dying, God is going to cause them to live. He is going to cause them to suffer because of what they have done unto the people of God, the Jews and the Gentiles. He is going to cause them live and suffer. “In those days men shall seek death and shall not find it and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.” Let us go back to Revelation 16, and to the fourth vial. “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God.” God is going to send a heat spell to them, and He is going to force them to live right on through that. There are going to be forced to face what has happened to them. God is going to send a great heat wave. Think about how hot it feels in the summer, that will be more like 120° or 130° (45° or 55° Celsius). It is not going to cool down very soon either. Now the fifth vial. “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; (The seat of the European system and the papacy.) and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.” They kept right on living wickedly. Now we go to the sixth one. “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; (Which happens in the 7th chapter, that is where the angels are.) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.” It is either going to be some of these rafts that can go across water, or from that great heat it is going to be dried up, one way or another.

Unclean Spirits

Image Credit: Wikimedia Foundation

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles.” It will not be miracles of healing, it will be diplomatic miracles and war miracles. It will be looked at as a miracle that he was able to prepare all the nations for Armageddon.  The whole European system, all the way into Iran, into the area which the Medo-Persian Empire went, this will be the beast system at that time. There are going to be ten horns in that beast system, which will be European nations. I know some of them are saying, well there are twenty-seven nations in the European Union. That makes no difference, it makes no difference if there are forty. The original ten are still there as in the beginning of prophecy. They have been there since these things first happened under the beast system back in ancient times, whenever Rome took over. It never leaves Rome, it never does. Let us go to Revelation 17:8. “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, (The beast, the spirit, this is what is judged in the last day. It said the false prophet and the beast were cast into the lake of fire. That is the spirits of those beast systems and the spirit that ignites the pope in that time. This is what it is talking about. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not, that happened in 1806, as I went over in the last message. And shall ascend out of the bottomless pit….) and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, (They will wonder after that beast.) when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” It never stopped living, it just lost its power for a time, but the spirit laid there. The spirit of that system laid there dormant. It said it was and is not, yet it is. He is giving you an introduction to it there. I remember Bro. Jackson going over some of this at one time. He said “If you do not understand these things, ask God to give you an answer to some of this.” That afternoon, Sunday afternoon, I read this 9th verse. “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” Rome. It is the city in the world which has seven hills, or seven mountains that it sits on. When I began to look at that in 1961, as I began to understand the truth, I remember going to the library and looking up some of this stuff. It said that Rome is known as the city of seven hills. It never changes, though some of these people like Jim Baker change it. They are saying now that it is New York City. New York City is going to be wiped off the map one of these days, but it will never be on account of the commerce, on account of Wall Street. They say that is Babylon. New York has nothing to do with Babylon, nothing. Do not be fooled by what you hear. It said here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth. That makes is unmistakable Let’s go back to Revelation 16:13, “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” The dragon, which is the devil. The beast, which is the European system. And the false prophet is the pope. When Trump became president, the pope spoke up and said Trump is not a Christian. Trump got back in his face and said, I am a Christian. So do not try to argue with Trump because he will tell it like it is. They said there was nobody that could have talked to Hillary Clinton like he did, and get away with it, but him. “For they are the spirits of devils, (These three spirits that come out of these three mouths, it is devil inspired. Inspired to go into the hearts of these people. They are the spirits of devils….) working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth (The earth he is talking about there is the part of the world where the Pope will have power. That is what he is talking about. I know there are people here and in fellowship with us from Europe, but I am not speaking about Christians in Europe. I am not speaking about you. I am talking about people that have given themselves over unto a reprobate mind. They are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth…) and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” He is talking about all nations he will gather together for battle against the eastern countries as they come together.

End of the Week of Daniel: Seventh Vial, Seventh Trumpet, Sixth Seal

“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, (These verses near the end of the week of Daniel.  Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments….) lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” This is the final battle of mankind. As it is accomplished, then the end comes. Then you have the seventh vial, which lasts for a thirty-day period of time, after the middle of the week is over. Jesus said it would be immediately after the tribulation. Daniel records the extra thirty days. This last vial happens at that time. This is the seventh vial. This is under the sixth seal. It is also the seventh trumpet. We will see what the seventh says. “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.” God is finished with wicked mankind. God is ready to pour out the last things that will happen to mankind, which I read in Isaiah 24. “And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” This may be the time that California goes under, because what happens here, it knocks off the little islands in the sea and so on like that. It knocks them over, because they are like a spindle that has come up from different sources that has bubbled up to the top of the earth. “And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon (Rome, the Vatican, the seat of that system of confusion. Babylon…) came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”.

End of The Millennium: No More Sea

I am going into Revelation chapter 21 next. This is something familiar. We have been looking at the wrath of God at the end of the tribulation. At the end of God’s wrath there will be spirits that will be cast into the lake of fire, which we have already went over.  But before that time comes, there is a wedding that will take place. That is what we are going to look at next. We see there is a Bride awaiting her final wedding preparations, to be able to be the Bride of Christ in that marriage supper. It said, His wife hath made herself ready. Whenever it changes from bride to wife, that means it is complete. It is a complete body. There are different parts in chapter 21, which I will leave out here, but I will get to it in my next message. That is why I will leave some of the verses out. I will read the first two verses, then skip to the 9th verse. This is talking to the Bride.  The rest of it, from verse 3 to verse 8, is the time of the great white throne judgement. As you look at the 8th verse, it tells about the second death, which is from Revelation chapter 20. That is the part I will look at in the next message. I will read these first two verses now. As I looked at these verses recently, I seen some different things that I had not seen before. I want you to understand just what John is talking about, because as we look at the Bride, we are also looking at Israel. Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker was God. The Old Testament was building up to a place where that city would begin. It started at Pentecost, which is where you begin the last days, as it is recorded in the Bible. Whenever Jesus raised from the dead, then the others that came forth too. That was the beginning of the first resurrection. The first resurrection covers all the dead who are raised from the time of Jesus all the way unto the time when the saints are raised at the return of Christ. In other words, there is not another resurrection of the righteous after that.  That is the first resurrection. Then there will be a second resurrection at the end of the Millennium, which will be a resurrection of the wicked of all ages, that have done foolishly, from Cain in the beginning to those who rebel against God at the end of Millennium. That is the resurrection of the wicked, so they can stand to be judged. As we go into this, let us see. “And I saw a new heaven (This new heaven he is speaking about will be the new heaven when the Millennium is over, because by that time the world has changed. I saw a new heaven….) and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” This plainly lets us see this is after the Millennium There is no more sea. It is the end when it says there is no more sea. The oceans appeared after the great flood in the days of Noah. When the flood came then the fountains of the deep opened, which would be outer space. The flood is what caused this to happen. But God, through the time of the Millennium, will take this water back up to be a canopy that will regulate the weather during that time. There will still be winter and summer. There has always been that ever since there has been creatures upon this earth: winter and summer, day and night. You still will have day and night as it is explained in the 8th chapter of Genesis. There will be springtime and harvest, winter and summer, as long as the world stand. God will continue to have seasons on the earth, otherwise everything would be arid everywhere if it was not for the different climates you have. Some countries do not have that difference in seasons. In Manila Philippines, there is only a small change in temperature from summer to winter. It is also like that in South Africa. When we were there, they said the only way you could tell winter from summer was because in the springtime flowers began to bloom. In the Millennium God will put the vapor back into the heavens. It says no more sea, that does not mean there will not be bodies of water. But there will be no more vast oceans like there are now. Under the oceans in some places, there were cities at one time. Archeologists have found those cities.[1] But now it is all covered up.

Now the 2nd verse, “And I John saw the holy city, (which is the Bride of Jesus Christ) new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” We have a picture here; this is where it is coming down here. This is just a replica. This is the body of Christ. This is not a city as we would think it to be. It is foursquare, which means perfection. Perfect proportions. Perfection has come. It says, the Bride hath made herself ready in the 19th chapter. Who made herself ready? She did. The blood of Jesus Christ covered your original sin. Then baptism took away the things that you had done in your flesh, it takes that away. But then there are things we have to overcome after that. There are things, thoughts and desires, and things of that nature that we must conquer, from that time on until perfection comes. Perfection will be here before the Bride leaves. It will be perfect because it says so. The Bride hath made herself ready. This is what I want you to see.

Start of the Millennium: New Jerusalem Coming Down

Word Bride of Jesus Christ Revelation 19:7
Word Bride

Verse 9, “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials (It goes back to the vials. This lets us see when the New Jerusalem comes down, after the last vial. This would be the last vial angel, from the end of Revelation chapter 16. That last vial angel pours out his vial upon the earth, which is plagues. So, here this is the seventh vial angel. He is the last one to sound before the coming of the Lord. He is the one who is introducing the beginning of the Bride. That is his introduction there. You might ask, why do you say it is the last one? Because this is the last one that had anything to do with the earth. God is not going to go back to the first one in the way that I am seeing it. I am saying that, in the way that I see it, because it said one of the angels. I am not going to change what I think about it, but I will let you think about it yourself. There came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials…) full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, (See? The plagues are over, it is finished whenever he is talking to him here.) saying, Come hither, I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” You might question why I would say it is the last vial angel. This scene of New Jerusalem coming down happens right at the time of when this last plague would be going on. He is showing the Bride’s return to earth. This is another reason I say it this way. He is going to show him the Bride, which is made up in chapter 19. I keep referring to that because it said His Bride hath made herself ready.

New Jerusalem Coming Down – image licensed by Revelation Illustrated

“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, (Carried him away, he is looking at it from a distance, he is not there. He is seeing a vision of the city as he is standing there, just as you are sitting here. He is standing there, looking at this object.  He is shown something which looks like our picture because he does not yet understand that it is talking about the Bride. This was wrote two thousand years ago. He does not quite understand that, but God gave him an object to look at, just as He did to Ezekiel, as He did to Daniel, and others. But John is going to be told more. I want you to understand that. Let me read that again so you can see. He carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain….) and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” He is looking at this cube. He is seeing this coming down, but he is not yet fully understanding what it is, but he is seeing it. This is new to him. Did you ever have a dream and did not understand it at first? Or did you ever have a vision and did not understand it at first? But he is given a view of what is coming down. “Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” What is he seeing there? Her light, he said. What is her light? It explains it here, like unto a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Like unto a jasper stone, that would be Christ. That is her light. It tells you on down in there. Connect it together as you look at it, this will show you the picture. “And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” This is Jacob’s sons, his twelve sons, who are the patriarchs. Now what are we going to read? I will give you a little glimpse of it, what are we going to read? Everything that is mentioned is talking about Israel, but it is what is inside it. You have walls that go around it, which is made up of Israel. You have the twelve foundations made up of the apostles. Take the gates are named for the twelve tribes of Israel. See? That is where it all started. God brought salvation through the Jewish race. Some have said that Jesus was not a Jew. It said He came to his own and his own received Him not, but to as many as would receive Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. God placed Jesus in Mary’s womb, which Mary had nothing to do with it. There was no relationship with any man. She did not know when it happened, or anything. But it was God. You see in the 12th chapter of Revelation, the nation is carrying a child. Let us look at that. Sometimes I just have to look at these things as they come to me. “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, (The moon reflects the light of the sun. The law reflected the light that would come. The law was under her feet, and the sun is now clothing her. The light of the Son of God, that she has received, clothes her. I will go just a little further.) and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: (Which would be the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.) 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 head. 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, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” You see there the beginning of that, as we look at it. Go back to the 21st chapter of Revelation. “And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east three gates; (Now this is guarding the city. It is the word of God, is what it is. It is God’s guard to that city. The city is inside of the walls. You talk about the wall and you talk about the gates, which is outside it. But inside you have the Bride of Christ, that has come forth from all these other tribes and everything. But you go on down now a little further. On the east three gates…) On the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, (the wall of the city had twelve foundations) and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” See? He is showing what Jesus spoke in Matthew? What did Jesus say to His disciples when they asked Him, “What will we get for following you?” He said, “You will sit on twelve thrones judging the children of Israel.” The twelve apostles are a part of the Bride, but their ministry is not a worldwide ministry at that time, because they are set to guide Israel during the time of the Millennium. They are not going to be traveling here and there. I am not going to see Peter to check and see what I am to do, or you, no.  The knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth as the water covers the sea. The great waters that cover the ocean is what the knowledge of the Lord will be. We will not need to know, because the moment that something is needed, the understanding will come to the Bride. He does not necessarily have to put it out there ten days ahead of time. That is what is so important. Your thinking will immediately connect with the throne of God. That is why this message is so important to get our lives straight. Straighten things out, get it working for the glory of God. This is as easy as I can put it to where you can understand it, that we are to meet God’s criteria, you might say, to find grace in the eyes of the Lord. Let us go on. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The Wall of the City

“And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.” Now he is measuring the city, the wall and the gates. All of them are being measured. Why? Because everything is going into perfection. The Jewish nation, which God raised up through Abraham, was pointing as close as you can to Bride people. Because Abraham found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God spoke to him and told him, I will give you this land, because it is God’s to give, but He never gave land to another person other than Abraham. We know that this country we live in was appointed of God, but there was no one certain person that was to be over that. Abraham is the whole hope of the children of Israel because “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Which is talking about Christ. Paul explained it this way, not in seeds as many, but  in seed as one. Let us go on here. “And the city lieth foursquare, (Now we are talking about the Bride. We were talking about the Bride in these other places, but this is what represents the Bride. The city lieth foursquare….) and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. (One furlong is about five hundred and eighty-two feet. That is a lot of miles. He is measuring it, which is representative of it going worldwide. The Bride of Jesus Christ is going to be worldwide.) “And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.” I have thought of that a lot of times, but I never did feel I had the answer to it, and I do not know that I do now, but I feel I do have an inkling of it. I preached that the 144,000 that would preach the everlasting gospel would be raptured. I know people did not want to believe that, but let us read that in Revelation 14. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” Where is he hearing this? I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder. I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. “And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, (The 144,000 are before the throne in heaven) and before the four beasts, (Where are the four beasts at? In heaven. They are the ones that made up the Bride.) and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; (That means the denominational world) for they are virgins. (They are virgin men, which means they never had relationship with the denominational world.) These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. (In that last half of the week. Where is His name written? It is in the foreheads.) These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” How much plainer does it need to be? They have been taken to heaven in this verse. They are not on earth anymore. Let’s go back to Revelation 21:16, “And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.” The length and breadth and height are equal, so that makes it a cube. A cube is perfect, you cannot add to it, if you do then it is not a cube anymore. That is the Bride that we are talking about. You might say, well I cannot be that. Do not let the devil fool you, do not let him talk to you that way. Some of these people talk to the devil about as much as they talk to God. Everything they hear from God is right and everything you have heard is wrong. Why does anybody want to talk to the devil all day? It said, rebuke him. Get behind me Satan. Jesus gave the authority to do so. “And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.” This is where I feel that this is including the 144,000, because I do not see anything else to match up with it. “The building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.” See? The building of the wall of it was of jasper, which would be outside, which would be a pure stone, jasper. But the inside is pure gold, like unto clear glass. Like unto clear glass, so what you see here is gold that is like clear glass, because it is the Bride. You can see through it. We should be able to see through one another. I am not talking about peeping some place or getting off in the corner looking at something. We should be able to be an open book. Here I am, I do not have any quarrels with anybody. I do not have any grudges. These are things that must be laid aside. God has given us the opportunity to do so. “And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. (See? This is the twelve apostles.) The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” Now you are not going to be walking on streets of gold. There is no revelation to that. God is giving him a future picture of something that is most precious. That is His Bride. See? You are guarded all the way around by the patriarchs coming through the ministry of the prophets and all. This is where Peter, James, John, and all of them got their message from. It was from the old prophets. You can see a real important statement that Paul would make and trace it right back to Isaiah. It is not anything new, but it works. It works at all times. It worked in Isaiah’s time, it worked in Paul’s time, and it works in our time, the same message. Because they spoke it, they did not understand what they were saying, but they spoke it. They just spoke as the spirit of God gave them utterance. But whenever the Apostles came along, what are they doing? They are speaking with the Holy Ghost experience inside them. It is different. The message is not different, the message is true because it is God all the way. But the understanding is better. It becomes a reality in the lives of people. Then it comes on down to our time, as we get the revelation. Much of our revelation comes out of the Old Testament. And we have understanding which Peter, and Paul and John and those, they did not know. I am not trying to fool anybody by that, but it is the truth. Because we are living in that hour when God is opening up the understanding. What did God say to Daniel in  chapter 12? He said, close up the book, it will not be understood until the time of the end. He gave him the message, that was important that there was a foreshadow of the things that were to come, but he told him only the saints at the end would understand it. He gave him so much there in that book that was never explained by any apostle either. Jesus went into it in the last days of His ministry, He went into it, but the apostles, they never fully understood.  They did not even speak of a lot of it. They knew about the endtime because Peter talked about how the elements would melt with fervent heat. But they did not have the book of Revelation. In the book of Revelation is the explanation of many things that they did not understand. If it was not for us, then who was it for? That is the reason the denominations are so mixed up on the book of Revelation. They say it is too hard to understand. Yeah, because it is not given to them to understand. But we are that people, and I do not say this bragging, it may seem that way. You can take it any way you want to if you hear this message. I am not bragging about this, but it is a revelation from God that I have to express to you as we go along. I do not say this to brag, but because I want to share this truth, and I want you to understand how precious it is. This is a hard thing for me to say this, that it is an expression of God. The things that are happening now, I just do not use the word of God and say, thus saith the Lord, all the time, I cannot do that. But God is speaking in this hour, He is speaking to His ministry, telling them the things that are going to perfect us. If it was not for this, then we could live any way we want to, but we see Revelation 19, it says she has made herself ready.  People have been wondering, I know it is hard sometimes, people have been wondering about gifts. They have spoken about it, because they felt an urge inside them to be able to speak forth one of the gifts of 1st Corinthians 12. Sometimes it takes time, because you do not want to be wrong. Just like the ministry, you do not want to be wrong, you put it off. I know that happens a lot. You put it off until a certain time that it is either do or burst. Isaiah said, it is fire shut up in my bones. My! Whenever it gets to be that hot, then you have to spew it. I will get back to what I was reading here. In the 21st verse he tells about the gates. “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: (It does not need a temple. The whole city is a temple.) for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” Why would he say that? You do not need the Law anymore. The Law is no longer needed. That temple area was a place for Israel to come to, to recognize that. Whenever they began to fall off, whenever they began to go back, what happened? They became people that followed false gods. But because they were given instructions, God began to pull away, pull away, and pull away, to where there was nothing there. But this city is of Bride people. We are talking of Bride people. The Bride people are the temple. That is the reason why I said it is surrounded by Old Testament saints, then by the apostles and so on. “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” In other words, day and night is not going to make any difference. Your glorified body will be able to see in the darkness the same as in the light. You are going to have perfect eyesight; you can throw away the eyeglasses. “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: (In the light of what? In the light of the Bride. As I said before, then the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth as waters do the sea.) and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.” In other words, it’s God’s Bride, His canopy over the nations of people that are human beings in the flesh. You are still human, but you are not in the flesh, as they will be, they are still natural, you are spiritual. Your body is changed. You are going to look like you did when you were younger. As God saved your soul and changed your inner man, He is going to change your body too. We will be like Jesus. When Jesus raised, they still recognized Him. It was not just a bunch of cloud-like people walking around. “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.” The gates are swinging open, which is not a natural gate. It is the knowledge of the Lord because God is sitting in Jerusalem, the knowledge of the Lord shall come forth, as it said from Jerusalem, to fill the earth. But it is that holy Jerusalem. There is not going to be a two-way phone system that God is going to have to use. The gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. “And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.” In other words, the knowledge of the Lord, which is given unto the Bride, it is all one. His wife is on nearly equal footing with himself. Because we have weathered the storm. “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abominations, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” OnlyBride people will walk in that city. All things that defile, all things that cause problems will be gone. It will be gone in our life before we leave here. We are not going to walk around and say, “I am perfect.” No. It will show. We will not be hiding under the cover, reading something we should not, looking at something we should not. No. The cover is lifted.

…continued in the next edition.


[1]https://allthatsinteresting.com/sunken-cities