Preached January 5–19, 2014
I was asked a question on this topic, and I want to take some time to deal with it. I did not really see that much into it until I began to look into it and found there are a lot of scriptures that tie in with this time I want to look at: the seventy five days of Daniel, that is after the twelve hundred and sixty. So we want to look into it and see just what God has plans for in that. This comes from Daniel 12. I do not want to enter this subject as something to kill time on, or for just supposition, supposing it could be that way. No, we do not want to enter the word of God as something that could be, or maybe it might be, or something of that nature. But we have something to stand on as we look into the word of God. God good. He has been good to us for another year and we are expecting things this year. There are peace talks in Israel, but we know it is not going to succeed. No matter how the peace talks work out, God is going to throw a monkey wrench into their workings. It is not going to be pleasant to some people when it is all over. But unto Israel, they are going to see the mighty hand of God, as Isaiah 52 says, God is going to bare His arm. Whenever He bears His arm, then you better look out. It is a world map He is looking at this time. Though the whole world turns against Israel, God will stand for them and they will be triumphant through His working. We appreciate God’s grace and His word, and whatever He sees fit to do for us. You may wonder just what could come out of a message like this, but I only look at the things that I feel is beneficial to the saints of God. Why look into something after the church is gone? These were written for our instructions. The book of Revelation, much of it, is after the church is gone, I mean the Bride, let me put it that way. After the Bride is gone, but there is nobody else that is going to understand it but Bride people. As I have said before, Bro. Jackson and Bro. Branham both said it was God’s love letter to the Bride. It was put there for understanding and there is nobody else that is going to understand it. It is not up to the Haggee’s and that bunch of prophecy preachers to understand it, not even for the Branham people to understand. I shouldn’t say that maybe, but I will, because they put so much interest into the man that they have forgotten what he preached. They have forgot the word He stood for. There were so many times He would hold up his Bible and say, stick with the word. That is what has happened at Faith Assembly, we have stayed true to the word. Even though it has caused controversy, we keep pushing on. We have taken hold of the plow and are going to keep plowing until the Lord comes. We are not going to look back. He said anybody that takes hold of the plow and looks back, they are not fit for the kingdom of God. We thank Him for His word and His blessings. The first part of this has to do with the resurrection. That is the part I want to deal with this morning. We are showing Jesus here, coming out of the tomb, He was the first of the resurrection. The Bride will be resurrected and others that are alive will be changed. But there are going to be more Bride people resurrected than there will be live people. Because the Bride goes all the way back to the first age, beyond that to the apostles and those. The first age started about 54. It goes back to the apostles and that Jewish remnant that accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. That was who was in Jerusalem the day when Pentecost came, it was Jews from all over the world that were there, Jews and proselytes. When it talks about sixteen different dialects of people, these were all Jews that had been scattered and came to Jerusalem to worship at that time of the year. These were not Gentiles, except the proselytes. So Medes and Persians, all of that, that was Jews from those countries that had come to worship the Lord at Pentecost. That is who God dealt with at the beginning, Jews. Because He said it begins in Jerusalem, then Judaea, which was the way it was to go. Then Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. We find the Jewish leadership at that time wanted to stay in Jerusalem, even though they had been commissioned. God had to bring judgment upon them. At first it was individuals. Then it became more than that, because whenever it all began, Stephen was the first one that was stoned. Then we find a little later on that James was killed. This is what caused them to spread out. After the death of Stephen, Phillip when to Samaria, which was maybe a year after Jesus was resurrected. But then they all settled again in Jerusalem. Whenever they did, then James was killed. That causes them to spread out to other parts of the earth. We find that Peter goes down to Joppa, which is still Jewish territory. But from there he goes to Caesarea, which is named after Caesar. There he meets with this man who is a Gentile, Cornelius. From there on the gospel spread, because the ones that went with Peter said, now we know the Holy Ghost has fallen on the Gentiles. This was several years later. Before that, they did not believe that it could happen to Gentiles, because they were uncircumcised. They were still looking at the Law. By looking at the Law, they were missing the call of God and God had to send persecution to get them to listen, to spread out. Hardly any of the apostles were ever killed in Israel, they were killed in other parts of the world, even Thomas was killed in India. We find the gospel spread and others were killed far away from Jerusalem.
Blessed is he that cometh to the 1335th day
In the 12th chapter of Daniel, I want to read the whole thing, but I am going to deal with the last part of it because there are things in this that will let you know that this is the time of revelation. This is the time it is to be understood what he is speaking about. Why was the seventy-five days put in there if there was nothing to it, or if it wasn’t to be understood. We find it was to be understood. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: (Now this is coming up soon in the future, what he is talking about in the 1st verse, then he goes back into other ages.) and there shall be a time of trouble, (that will be the tribulation, a time of trouble…) such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” In the book, the book of Life. “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Now this is a thousand years later, this resurrection. But the other resurrection will be at the end of the tribulation time. We will prove that to anyone that wants to hear. “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: (Seal it until the time of the end. That is why I say it is to be understood. He repeats this again.) many shall run to and fro, (that is happening now, all these people stuck in airports. They are stuck in the Kennedy Airport now, because one of the planes came in and slid off the runway because of the snow that has happened there. Many shall run to and fro…) and knowledge shall be increased.” If you have these phones that people can do a little bit of everything with now, I do not know anything about it, sometimes I do not even know how to answer mine. Sometimes you push a button and do not get anybody, you get a little screen that comes up telling you something else. I have missed phone calls like that. I am sorry if you called me and did not get an answer. I did not mean to. The phone will not cooperate with me. It is the phone’s fault, not mine. I meant good by it. You might think I am just dumb, well that is right. I am not savvy about all this stuff. If you have a phone today, next year your phone may be outdated. “Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.” That is the Jordan River, because this is dealing with Israel. “And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” That is none other than Jesus Christ in angelic form, that is the middle of the week. “And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, (Take in Revelation, He holds up His right hand only. But in this setting He is holding up both hands, which is symbolizing that it is getting close to the end here.) and sware by him that liveth for ever (Him that liveth forever, that is Jehovah.) that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; (which is three and one half years. This is where He is standing upon the river, showing that there are three-and-one-half years left.) and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” He repeats what He has said already, closed up until the time of the end. “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; (This is speaking of the middle of the week.) but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Who is the wise? This is not speaking of the denominational world. When you get to the middle of the week when all this stuff begins to turn around, then the mark of the beast is forced, then we find these people are not going to understand what is going on. The foolish virgins have missed it, and the Jewish remnant have missed it, but they never understood up to this time what was happening. So it is left up to Bride people to understand. There is a lot of responsibility upon the Bride people in this hour, especially upon the ministry. If you go to the 4th chapter of Ephesians, it is a responsibility to be a servant of God. You find that in the 12th and 13th verses, and on down. “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, (That will be the middle of the week, which is Daniel 9:27. Because you come to the middle of the week, the Jews have been offering sacrifices upon the altar in Jerusalem, but when you come to the middle of the week, that is going to be cut off. They no longer will be able to sacrifice because the man of sin at that time, he has already exalted himself to the point that he is going to be able to shove these things down peoples throats, because they have received that mark. From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away…) and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, (the abomination that maketh desolate, no longer can they offer a sacrifice, because he has placed himself in the temple, showing himself that he is God. Do not ever think that back in the days of Rome, when Rome ruled the earth, those emperors showed people they were God. Because they acted in a way that you could worship nothing else, you only worshipped what they placed before you. The abomination that maketh desolate set up….) there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” That is thirty days longer. See? He goes back to the middle of the week and starts the countdown. He has an extra thirty days. There is a lot that goes on in that thirty days. “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” Which makes seventy-five days over. This thirteen hundred and thirty-five days goes back to the middle of the week also. That is just a part of it. There are forty-five days added on. “But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” Here he has stretched the time out for another seventy-five days more than what has ever been repeated. The prophecy is longer than any other prophecy because God has given it to him. Take the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation, it is a visitation of God. Because most of the book of Daniel is a prophecy, just the same as the book of Revelation is a prophecy. The only thing about Revelation, it goes into more detail in certain aspects than Daniel does, because you have more dealing with the different subjects, as they come up, during the time of the end. Here this establishes that there is an extra seventy-five days which are days after the tribulation has ended.
Immediately After The Tribulation
I want to go to Matthew 24 now. Verses 27 and 28 is speaking of Bride people. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” That is for Bride people. Lightning if reflecting a quick time, which for the Bride it will be quick. Because the resurrection takes place before any tribulation ever comes, at the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel. I do not know how far it will go into it, but it will go into it. Because the understanding of 2nd Thessalonians shows you that that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed. He will not be revealed until the beginning of the week of Daniel. Whatever comes between now and then is supposition. We suppose this pope to be the one, that is supposition, we do not know. But whenever that weeks starts, whoever is in there is going to be the one that will be there until the end. We will know who he is then, when the week starts. “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” Wheresoever the food supply is, the carcase, which is fresh meat, fresh revelation. As Bro. Bud has said, flesh revelation. But this other part is what I want to deal with, the other verses. “Immediately (Of course there is controversy in that thirty days. But it says immediately. The tribulation is over, and east has met west. Then you have immediately the judgment of God coming. But there is something else that happens here that I want to get into, because there is another part in this. Immediately…) after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, (Immediately! This happens first, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light…) and the stars shall fall from heaven, (This goes along with the sixth seal. This goes along with the seventh trumpet and the seventh vial. This is God’s judgment upon this earth. The stars shall fall from heaven…) and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” That is going to be a terrible, terrible time. “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” That is the power of judgment, of great glory. The earth will be in a vulnerable position at this time. This is the verse that I have not connected with, with that, but something happens here. This is why I say there are two parts of this. This part has to do with the great multitude and with the foolish virgins. “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, (The trumpet is for the raising of the dead. There is a trumpet that sounds whenever Bride people are resurrected. But the Bride is with Him, but He sends the angels. He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet…) and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” That is surrounding the earth. This resurrection happens at the time that God’s judgment happens. You see Revelation 7, you have the great multitude, and then in Revelation 15, you have the sea of glass, which is the Jewish remnant that have gone through the tribulation, and Gentile foolish virgins. They are standing on the sea of glass. See? God is going to resurrect these people before His great judgment hits the earth. This is something I hadn’t seen. Let us go back to Matthew 20. I am not going to read the whole chapter. 8th verse, “So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, (What I want to do in this is express that there are not two resurrections, one for foolish virgins and one for the great multitude. Because the resurrection immediately after the tribulation of those days, He shall send His angels and shall gather his elect from around this world. You are not going to have foolish virgins in every nation. Bro. Jackson said that, he said there would be no foolish virgins in China. That is not saying there will not be sheep people. But we will deal with that later on. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward…) Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.” Why does He say it that way? That is reward, give them their hire. From the first, even unto the last. Why is He giving the last the rewards first? It is because of their saying who is sheep and who is goats. Do you get it? This is speaking of rewards. “And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, (Now we know that nobody is murmuring in heaven, but this is a parable and an illustration.) These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.” Which shows the period of time of the tribulation, which only lasts a short time compared to what some of these went through, which was three and one half years. Saying, these last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. See? As I said before, these are coming for reward, but He rewards the last first, because of the mission they had. “But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.” See? He is saying here that it is equal pay. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, (Not in resurrection, but in reward. Every one of them receive a penny. There is no difference in their reward. It says here, do not get a mind thinking that this is something of controversy when it gets to heaven. It is a parable of illustration. So the last shall be first…) and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” Let us go to the book of Mark, 13th chapter, 24th verse. “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, (winds is trouble) from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.” So we have the people on the sea of glass that receive their reward first, because they have a job to do. In other words, they are put out front of all the rest because there is but one resurrection of these. You do not keep having people come up, come up, come up at different times. But we do see in Revelation 14 something, we will go to that. Verses 14-15, I have been over this. “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” This is before the end of the seventieth week. Their mission is over. What is the purpose of them staying any longer after they have done their work, because the tribulation is ended. When the tribulation has ended, then these are called up and you see them before the throne. You do not see the foolish virgins there. You do not see the great multitude there. Who do you see? The twenty-four elders and the beast, the fourth beast is what you see there. Their mission is over, so there is no need of them going through that time of the end. But whenever that time comes, when the twelve hundred and sixty days is over, then you have immediately after that, you have the resurrection, as well as God’s judgment. I do not know if this is making sense to you or not. Let me go to Isaiah 24:1-2. “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; (God is not making any difference in His judgment, whether they be wealthy, whether they be poor. That poor man that is laying under a bridge some place, he has rejected God the same way that the mighty have. That is a day without pity. It shall be as with the people, so with the priest….) as with the servant, so with his master; (God is not making a difference in judgment. It says, behold, the Lord hath made the earth empty.) as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.” We look many times whenever Jesus was here, when the woman poured the oil upon His head. She was criticized by some of the disciples, especially Judas, because she had made this waste. Jesus said to the disciples and to the people, you have the poor with you always, but you have not me always. “The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.” What does it mean there, the earth falls and does not rise again? That is talking about mankind. When you talk about the earth, you are talking about the inhabitants of the earth. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars of heaven shall fall. Then shall He send His angels, not Bride people, to gather His elect for the resurrection. That is what He is talking about, the resurrection, to gather His elect. After all, many of those tribulation people have died recently, before that time has come. So you can see if it were a quarrel, what the quarrel would be, they have only labored one hour, and they receive every man a penny, as well as we who have born the heat and burden of the day. And they enter into it right at the last hours of time, but it is not an easy road. They are standing on the sea of glass where they have gone through great struggle. That is what this is talking about, great struggle to be accounted worthy to be in that number. After all, they rejected the message. I am not saying they stood out here and boasted against it or anything, but they had the opportunity. Because the opportunity was given in Matthew 25 when you see ten virgins together. It does not mean they ever associated, but it means they had the same opportunity. If you look at the 1st chapter of Romans, you will see where God has spoken to everyone on the earth at some time, especially in the day and hour in which we live, where they have opportunity. This message, it said, would be published, in the book of Mark, this message would be published throughout the earth. How is it that somebody in England, or somebody in Africa found it? By The Contender, or by the internet. By the grace of God, somebody got hold of our website and found out what they had been missing, because it had never been told to them. Even though it was kept from them, they got a hold of it. They are so grateful for the things they hear. May God bless them for it.
I want you to understand that what was said in the 12th chapter of Daniel, it would be seen in the last days. The book is closed, he said, until the last days. He repeats that twice in the book of Daniel. I know I am accused of spending weeks studying on things, on researching and things like that, which is not true. I do very little research. But I do study from the Bible. I feel that we have had a lot of research in times past. I know Bro. Branham researched things. Bro. Jackson researched things, and I am so glad they did, because it keeps me from having to research very much. I know whenever I preached concerning the popes a couple years ago, that I did do a lot of research on those. When I preached on the Maccabees, I did a lot of research on that, from the encyclopedia, which to me is a good thing to look into. But that is not what I normally do. We are moving along here, getting close to some of the things I feel that have been preached, to begin to open up. But if you have rejected it, you will never see it, you will just go ahead and criticize it. Because God will seal your mind with a hot iron if you refuse to go any further. It has been said there are revelations to come, but where are they. Is God just going to wait until all at once and say here is the seven thunders? No, He is not going to do that, He is going to lead up to that time. Then whenever that time comes, people are not going to be so surprised whenever they do come. Because it will come, not from the educated field, but it will come from members of the ministry that people haven’t recognized. I know most of the ministers that preach now, you never did hear them ten years ago, the ones that preach here at Faith Assembly. Of course Bro. Bud and me, but because the others are gone, the ones that were here then that stood in the pulpit are gone. God raised up others, others that seem to want to get it together. That is the only way you can be, is to get it together. Because without unity, as Bro. Jackson preached, without unity there will be no rapture, but there is going to be a rapture and there will be a bunch of preachers, and whenever I say a bunch, I am not talking about oodles of them, but there are going to be some preachers that are seeing eye to eye. Once in awhile I will get a letter from Africa or some place like that, you see preachers, a lot of the letters or e-mails that I get from preachers, they are begging. That is what they always seem to want, build them a church, or something. Whenever I say that, I am not saying anything evil about doing that, but what are people after in this hour? Are they after the gospel, which the gospel is good news. But I am saying a lot of these people see us on the internet and they want help, and you never know what it is for. In the years gone by, Faith Assembly has been burned by preachers that wanted the loaves and fishes without really wanting the deep meat of the word of God. God knows all about that, and He knows them.
I want to get back to my subject. Let us go back to Daniel 12. I kind of get excited when I get into the scripture, whenever God is leading. To me, it is a great thing in this hour to be able to see what God is doing. What He is doing is in His word. I can’t reach over here and pull this in, or pull that in, things that are not really true or not really real, just suppositions. Suppositions are not the word of God. I suppose it could be so, I suppose that could be right, no, it can’t be that way. It has to be line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. That is what makes the story. Some people will say that Jesus said not one dot or tittle shall pass away until the Law is fulfilled. Well, the Law was fulfilled. Jesus fulfilled that Law. He knew He was born under the Law that He might redeem them that are under the Law. His death opened up the door to a Gentile people. It was awhile before they really realized that. We think about all those different nationalities of people that were there on the day of Pentecost, but they were Jews from all the nations where they had been scattered, plus there were proselytes. Proselytes that accepted the Jewish religion. They followed that, which the Law allowed for that. Where it talks about the Medes and Persians and all, that was Jews from those countries that came to worship at Pentecost. They went back to their countries after Pentecost was over. Some of them did, some of them never did, because they saw what God was doing. They were the ones asking the questions, men and brethren, because those home folk Jews, oh they are just drunk, they had too much wine this morning. Peter straightened that out, these are not drunk as you suppose. He did not say they are not drunk, because the spirit of God will make you drunk. It will make you stagger sometimes, it will make you fall down, it will take your feet out from under you. I am not saying this was happening them, but really what was happening was they were speaking in other languages. But those home folk Jews did not know what was going on. They said these are just drunk. But when others heard them speaking to them in their own language, they said, these Galilean Jews, how is this coming to pass, these are Galilean Jews that had never learned languages, except Galilee, the Jewish language. They weren’t educated in all dialects as preachers are today. They feel like you have to speak so many languages before you can ever be heard. That is not true. They have to have a doctor’s degree, they have to have it all. 12th chapter of Daniel “And at that time shall Michael stand up, (What time is he talking about? The middle of the week. That is where he stands up for Israel, the 12th chapter of Revelation.) the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, (which is the tribulation time) such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” You have the Jewish people at that time being delivered. Of course the woman of Revelation 12 and also the 144,000, because they listened to the two prophets. Without listening to those two prophets they will not be delivered. “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, (that is talking about the time when Jesus comes back, not for the Bride, but at the end of the week) some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Which will be at the end of the Millennium. “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” This is talking about our day and hour. Running to and fro, running into outer space. Now they are talking about it, junk in space, they are worried about it. There are so many things up there. Just a chip of paint can hit an object and blow it to smithereens because it is going so fast, one chip of paint. Even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. “Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said (to these two talking, to this one in the river. One said….) to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, (Which was standing, which was Jordan, because this is the setting here. This is for the Jewish people, and this is the middle of the week. Which was upon the waters of the river…) How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand (which is not holding back any longer. Remember Jesus had His right hand held up in the 10th chapter of Revelation, only one hand. The other hand had a scroll in it. His left hand…) unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” When he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, this is talking about the pope, which is the middle of the week. “And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” “See? He says it again, they are sealed until the time of the end. Nobody is going to understand these things but Bride people. There is so much revelation that does not apply to the Bride, but the Bride is the only one who is going to understand it. The foolish virgins are not going to understand it, they are going to live it. He is letting us in on something to know, as Bro. Branham and Bro. Jackson said, Revelation is God’s love letter to the Bride. “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” How can you shut us out from understanding? If we be the wise, then we are going to understand. We are going to know what one scripture is from another. “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” That gives us the extra thirty days, which we are dealing with. “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” Which all together makes it up to an extra seventy-five days. “But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”
Who Do The 144,000 Preach To?
Now I will go to some questions I have been asked. Revelation 14, then Revelation 19 and 20, then Matthew 24, as well as Mark 13. The ministry of the 144,000 is most of the 14th chapter, because they are the ones giving warning. If you look at it at the very beginning of it, they are going throughout the earth. Revelation 14, 4th verse, “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. 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. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Bro. Jackson said this is the ministry of the 144,000. Then this is the message, the 6th verse, which they go to, then the 7th verse is their message. “Saying with a loud voice, (In other words, the loud voice is a loud expression. It does not mean they will be out here yelling. But the loud voice is God’s expression. This is it! This is the time! This is the middle of the week! Saying with a loud voice…) Fear God, and give glory to him; (See? They are talking not only to foolish virgins and Jews, they are talking to the remnant of people that will make up the sheep people, because of the tone of their message. Fear God. In other words, do not get into this thing that there is no God. Fear God, respect God.) for the hour of his judgment is come: (This message is something that rings out all through the twelve hundred and sixty days, or three and one half years.) and worship him that made heaven, and earth, (See? A lot of this has to be to the sheep people, because the foolish virgins and Jews are already sealed away. When Jesus comes off the throne in the 8th chapter, 1st verse, there is no more salvation unto the Gentile people, as far as salvation. But then you have the sheep people, they must be warned. Also, you will find the foolish virgins are warned also, and the Jews warned. This message is a warning message. Worship Him that made heaven and earth…) and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” It is not a message of salvation, it is a warning message. Fear Him, respect Him. Then the 8th verse says, Babylon is fallen. That is just to show you that this takes place during the last half of the week, before the week is over, according to Revelation 17. “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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 (which goes along with the last verses of this chapter) 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: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: (which is a period of time) and they have no rest day nor night, (Remember, in eternity there is no time, but then there is still time in torment. Because time is going to end for them. This shows that. They have no rest day nor night…) who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Which is Jews and Gentiles. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: (talking of Jews and foolish virgins) Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”
Are Foolish Virgins Resurrected when the 144,000 are Raptured?
Now I get to the next question. Does the foolish virgins and Jewish remnant, are they raised at the same time that the 144,000 are raptured? No. One is on this side of Christ’s coming, and the other is on the other side. Here is the ones that are raptured, the 144,000, I am criticized for it but that is alright. “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.” This is where He is sitting, waiting, sitting on the cloud waiting, but He has not received instructions as yet. Because He do not know yet, He knows what He is waiting on, but He do not know the time. So what happens? “And another angel came out of the temple, (the temple in heaven, which is God’s throne,) crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” What does it say about that? Being the firstfruits unto God. “And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” It says over and over in the first verses of that, that they were before the throne, the 144,000. This takes care of the 144,000 because their ministry is over. Whenever their ministry is over, which has lasted that twelve hundred and sixty days or three-and-one-half-years, whenever their ministry is over and they have finished, they will be raptured. That is this side of the judgment, or Christ coming back with His Bride. We have a picture here, ending of the tribulation, beginning of the seventy-five days. The tribulation ends when Christ comes back with His Bride. The 144,000 are gone on this side. Well, where does the others go? We will see. “And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.” But his is a different mission. “And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.” It says nothing about grapes in the first one. “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.” That is Armageddon. Armageddon ends with Christ’s return “And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” This is a distance of what the blood will come out. That do not mean that there is going to be a stream all the way for that length of time, but there will be puddles of it. It means it will run, but there will be puddles that will be this deep. Then that ends Armageddon. I want to go to 19 and 20. So the 144,000 are taken out before the Week of Daniel ends, because their mission is over. If these are to repopulate the earth, how come they are all men? Because the woman of Revelation 12 is not all women, that is men, women, and children. Chapter 19, verse 11, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” That is Bride people. “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: (That is His Word.) and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” Which was the last part of the 14th chapter. “And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God.” That would be in that thirty-day period of time mentioned in Daniel. Because Armageddon is over. When the three and one half years is over, the thirty days kick in immediately. “That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 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.” How foolish. “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, (that is miracles of war) with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Which is already going on, which is in the heart of the earth. Then he goes back and ties this in with the rest of this other that I just read, here we find what happens to the ones that die. “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Now we go into six verses of this chapter. “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” This is the end of the three hundred and sixty days, or the three and one half years. “And cast him into the bottomless pit, (which means the heart of the earth. If you go so far, you just hang there, because there is no gravity there to take you either way.) Cast him into the bottomless pit…) and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, (Who is sitting on these thrones? The Bride. I saw thrones…) and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: (Unto the Bride people, judgment was given unto them. Then he goes ahead to the foolish virgins and the Jewish remnant.) and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, 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.” The resurrection of these comes immediately after the tribulation. They are on this side, but it is immediately on this side, you have the 144,000 up here, you have these down here. The reason I know that is that the devil is, for one thousand years, he is bound, then for one thousand years the foolish virgins and them are resurrected at the same time, which includes the great multitude. Listen to how it reads. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, “But the rest of the dead (if the great multitude is in the ground, then they do not live until the thousand years is over. They are all raised at the same time. Well, that do not sound like Matthew 20 where it says that everyone received a penny. This is their rewards. Chapter 20, the last shall be first, not in resurrection. The last shall be first, and the first shall be last. But it said they all receive, everyone, a penny. That is the reward. They are on equal footing, but the resurrected foolish virgins and them receive theirs first, because they are the ones that determine who is sheep and goats. Do you understand? They are the ones that determine who are sheep and goats. But you have them all coming at one time together to receive, and they are told to wait because theirs is last. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead….) lived not again (If there is a great multitude in the ground, they do not live again until the thousand years is over. I am not trying to confuse, but the rest of the dead lived not again….) until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” This ends the first resurrection. He said, this is the first resurrection, it ends it. It goes ahead to say, “Blessed and holy is he 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.” These are priests of God, they are not ruling and reigning as Bride people. In other words, they have their part to do as priests and so on, but Bride people are kings and priests over the whole thing. Jesus delegates the power to the people. Is this too hard for you to understand? Think about it, put it on the shelf, let it be something you turn over in your mind, but read the word of God to make sure.
The Saints Shall Take The Kingdom
I have one more scripture concerning this, which is Daniel 7th chapter, starting with verse 15. “I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, (which would have been an angel) and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, (or kingdoms) which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High (which are Bride) shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” That is a period of time which would be the Millennium. “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.” Which is talking about the pope of Rome. This all happened, these three horns happened in 1000 to 1200, in that era of time. “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; (that was through time) Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (Bride saints) Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall treat it down, and brake it in pieces. (Which is prophetic.) And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. (The same thing.) And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” All earthly kingdoms shall observe and obey Him, along with His Bride people. Think about it, whenever you think about something, think about what you are getting ready to enter into. It is not a cheap little donut factory. Obama has said that being president of the United States was too small for him. One Bride saint, we might say it this way, the least of the Bride saints will take the kingdom away from a man of that caliber. Of course there will not be any of that in the Millennium. Do you think there will be any rainbow coalition? The only rainbow you are going to see is the one around the throne or in heaven. That is the only rainbow you will see, a rainbow around the throne, which is showing God’s presence. “Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.” In other words, he did not understand it, it wasn’t for his time. Jesus will know when to come back because God will instruct Him. That is where He said, I do not know the day nor the hour, neither do the angels know. The angel that comes and instructs Him that it is time to put in the sickle, that angel do not know it now. He comes right out of the temple to instruct Him, to say it is time. I know these things may sometimes seem a little farfetched, but I believe it is important for us to understand these things.
We appreciate the beautiful days the Lord has given us. The scripture says, let us be glad and rejoice in it. People have different ways of rejoicing, but it is still the same God. I would say that when David was upon this earth that he was a person that used much of his talent not only to lift the Lord up, but he was very excited in the Lord’s word, because you see when he did get excited. To be able to finish the Psalms as he did, saying let everything that has breath praise the Lord, that was a great time in his life, as he closed the songs that he sang. He sang songs of despair, but he sang songs of joy. When he was running from Saul, whenever he had time to sit down and write a psalm, many times it was in sorrow because he did not want to be a partaker of taking the Lord’s anointed off this earth. But he had the opportunity. He really wasn’t seeking blood. We know he made his mistakes, but God still found him a man after His heart. Sometimes we look at mistakes and let them defeat us. But David did the only thing that a person can when he makes a mistake, that it to cry out to God and ask for forgiveness and to restore the joy of our salvation. Not to just restore salvation, but to restore the joy of it, that we may be able to praise the Lord and lift Him up. I have been getting a lot of good comments on this topic, and I appreciate that. Sometimes the service gets very quiet. You wonder if people are really getting what you are saying, which you want each one to. I remember Bro. Branham preaching some of the deep things he did preach, at the time he was preaching. Sis. Branham said on time, “Bill they can’t get that, it is too deep for them.” He said, “they have got to. They have got to get it.” As Paul said, the scriptures were written for our learning and for our edification. Maybe some do not like the way I interpret things, but I have my hillbilly way of saying things. Do not look for anything else out of my mouth but hillbilly talk. That is just what I am. I could have learned big words. I saw those Methodist preachers when I was in the Methodist Church, sometimes I would want to bow my head because of the words they would use, but they did not know what they were saying anyway. There was one near Burkesville one time. He preached such big words that people had to go to the dictionary to find out what he was saying. That is not edifying. I want to use language that people can understand.
Who Are The Great Multitude?
I have another question I want to answer. Who are the great multitude? I want to get into that part of it here, I made some statements about it earlier, about the resurrection. I want to just look at that. I will go to the 7th chapter, I will refer back to some of the things I said this morning concerning the great multitude of the 7th chapter of Revelation. In the first part of this chapter, he is going into the twelve tribes of Israel to get the 144,000 out of each tribe. All the tribes are mentioned there, except the tribe of Dan. The tribe of Dan is not mentioned because they were the first to go astray. They were the furthest from Jerusalem. The feeling was that they felt it was just too far to go to Jerusalem. We have people today, churches all around, almost on every block. But the ones that are not satisfied with that will drive the distance and others will just sit at home and watch the Internet, that are long distances away. People have questioned them, why do you do that? I know some have been asked the question, why do not you go to a church nearer? They gave the explanation, they can’t get what they need from those churches. The denominational world cannot feed a Bride person. They have nothing to feed them with. It is kind of like feeding straw to an eagle. The eagle will not eat straw, it eats fresh meat. They have no appetite for anything like that. Because they were made different. Eagles in this hour, God’s eagles, are made different. You are not serpent seed. Serpents can eat anything, bugs, each other, whatever, it do not make any difference. I speak of serpents as an overall thing. But we know there is one out there that is the real serpent. It says even after the Millennium is over, dust shall be their meat, which means they will still get their bugs and such out of the dirt, out of the ground. They will never be restored back to what they were before the fall. That is one thing that will never happen. But God would not let His plan be defeated. So He left the serpent alive. The only thing He did was take away his ability to stand upright, and his ability to think as he did before. So He changed the serpent to another creature. But he will still be living in the Eternal Age to do what he is supposed to do, take care of the bugs, roaches and things like that. We find God has a people that will never partake of those things because the world just does not taste good. I see a lot of distasteful things in the hour we are living in, that I have no desire to eat of. I have no desire to eat of serpent’s meat, only that which is fit for Bride people. Because it says in the 19th chapter of Revelation, the Bride, or His wife, hath made herself ready, in time past. He has already past the time of getting ready, because it says, His wife hath, hath, made herself ready. That is the hour we are living in, to make ourselves ready for that soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the marriage supper is over, as in the 19th chapter of Revelation, when it talks about His Bride hath made herself ready, that means that she is ready to rule and reign. What she hasn’t got here at this time, she will finish it up at the marriage supper of the Lamb. You are not going to the marriage supper of the Lamb unprepared. You are not going to go there, where is my fork and spoon? Where is my knife? No. You are going to go there with an ambition to be partaker. It has been quite awhile now that I have understood the marriage supper of the Lamb is not for sitting there, eating to our fill. I am not going to say there is nothing going to be provided. But it is a learning process. Because Jesus said in the 3rd chapter of Revelation, to him that will open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me. People used to do that. They used to be invited into a house, even strangers were invited in. They were given tea or coffee, something of that nature, a little piece of cake or something. They would sit down and have a talk. The talk was getting acquainted. That is a time of getting acquainted with our brothers and sisters that have done gone on, all the way back to the early church. With the knowledge that God will give His Bride, seven years will be a long enough time to get acquainted. As the Bible says, the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth. Of course that is in the Millennium. It shall cover the earth as the waters that cover the sea. There is a lot to look forward to. I will read now, starting with the 9th verse. “After this I beheld, (or looked) and, lo, a great multitude, (As he is viewing this, he is seeing a great multitude. A number which he could not number. It was just a sea of people he was looking at.) which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, (Listen to what he is saying. All nations, whatever tongue they are, which would be at this time when the Bride, or in the 8th chapter of Revelation, which I mentioned this morning, when that seventh seal is made up, the great multitude is finished. There is no more great multitude.) and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, (remember that, clothed in white robes) and palms in their hands.” Palms is a symbol of peace. They are in tranquility now. You will see that happen in Revelation 21 when God wipes away all tears from their eyes. “And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God.” This is the angels when they see this, because the angels have something to do in time. Because this is changing their outlook. Do you think they are not busy now? The angels? They know what is going on. They know what is happening in the world. This changes their whole circumstance. “Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.” This is the angels. “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they?” This one elder asked that. That is one of the twenty four, which is the Jewish elders and apostles. “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.” In other words, they are as angels. Do you think this cold weather is bothering angels? Do you think the heat of summer bothers angels? “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Which relates to Revelation 21. The great multitude as been through time, not in the first age, Bro. Jackson said that. But it was later on whenever things began to spread out and truth is taking a downfall. You see that even in Revelation 2, the verses there to the Ephesian church. You see the church beginning to get cold. The church is instructed because they have lost their first love, their first desire for the word of God. If you look at the other churches here as it is mentioned, only two of them at that time, and I am talking about that time which will represent time to come also. But only two of them really measure up. That is the second church age, then the sixth church age, the Philadelphian church age which is an open door, brotherly love. This is coming out of the Dark Ages. But we find here as we look into Revelation 3, the first verses, listen how it reads. This would be the Lutheran age. Verse 1, “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” You see here the fallen nature of what the church has become, because when Luther came with a message, most of the people that followed Luther were rebels. Even Bro. Branham said it was amazing how he could protest the Catholic church, but how he could live through all the muddle that was going on. There are very few that are going to be Bride people, but even those that are not Bride people, but have changed their life, said they will walk with me in white. There is no mention here of the robe of the Bride. This is more of what you see in Revelation 7. Because they do have white robes. “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” This is in the first age where this is recognized. Do not just look at that and say, well that is Marin Luther’s age, because he is speaking of the first church age in that area of time, which the church age started in 54 A.D. By the time you get to 100, there are people already baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. You go on through time, as you go through time to the second, third, fourth centuries, you have people that are beginning to doubt the message because of the ministry and the priesthood. The priesthood started at an early age. Even before the first church age was over, the priesthood was already forbidding to marry. Let us go back to the third church age. Verse 12 of chapter 2, “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: (This is before one hundred years has gone. I know the age it is speaking of, the third church age, but he is relating something going on now at that time, in 96 A.D. He is relating something that is happening now. That is why I say that everybody that walks in white is not Bride people. They have had an experience with God. They have felt the presence of God, but they have not measured up to their calling. Paul talks about this in the 3rd chapter of 1st Corinthians, about peoples works being burned, but they shall be saved. Do you think that type person is going to be a Bride person? If their works are burned, they will not be Bride people. I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is, and that is in the church. I desire the day that we can come in here in Faith Assembly and Satan has to stay outside. It is going to happen.) and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. (My!) But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, (This has already entered the church before 96 A.D.) who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.” These things are already going on in the early church. You find that in 1st Corinthians 5th chapter. “So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” What is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans? It is the ministry ruling over the congregation. That is the starting of the priesthood. “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” In other words, it is the birth. We are the ones to know down deep that God has dealt in our lives.
What is the difference between the Bride of Christ and the Great Multitude?
Now what is the difference between Bride people and the great multitude? I know Bro. Jackson said that the great multitude were some of those that went into the areas to die after they saw the Bride people give their lives. When they saw how their faces shined, you see much of that in Fox’s Book of Martyrs, how their faces shined whenever they gave their lives. But then others marched right out of the stands into the arenas to give their life. This is truth. But what are you going to do with those others that did not quite measure up? Because of understanding? Because they had no live ministry to teach them? Let me give you an illustration, I saw two young men years ago on television that talked about how they were persecuted in Russia under the KGB. They hated scripture. These two young men, their grandfather found one chapter in the book of John and gave his life to God. One chapter in the book of John, he gave his life to God and the Kremlin found out something about the life he was living and came into his house. They took the mattresses apart, they cut the potatoes open. Whatever they could, they got, and destroyed it, seeing if they could find scripture in that house. When they couldn’t find it, they took the old man out in his pajamas, in zero weather. A few days later they brought him back and sat him on the steps of the house, frozen to death. People like that are going to walk in white. Bro. Jackson illustrated something, whenever they took over China, Mao Zedong He killed sixty-eight million Christian people. I am not saying every one of them were Christians, but he killed sixty-eight million. Some of the people were Christians and they could not deny Christ, so he cut their tongues off. Bro. Jackson said, “Do you think they do not have a reward?” They will not be Bride, but they will be people that will fit into the great multitude. To go into a further illustration, I have heard Bro. Bud talk about his mother, that she lived the Christian life, all that she knew. She never did understand it all. Bro. Jackson even talked about his parents, and Sis. Jackson’s parents in this manner. His dad received the Lord before he died. His father-in-law received the Lord and told Bro. Jackson and gathered the family around. He told them, in a few days I am going to be going where you dad is, talking about Bro. Jackson’s dad, and Bro. Branham are. He said, do you think they will make up the Bride? I am just saying what he said, do you think they will make up the Bride? But he said, somewhere they will be in that great multitude. I can look at different people here. Bro. Steve’s dad, as far as walking with God through all the years, I am talking in the whole, not pointing out anybody, maybe they did not live for God through the years, but somewhere they recognized something. These are people that whenever the time comes, they wanted to be right. Because somebody has been an influence to them. I mentioned Bro. Steve’s dad because he came around to me when I worked at Ford. He even told Sis. Windell, if you want to learn something of the Lord, go to Faith Assembly.
What is the difference between the Foolish Virgins and the Great Multitude?
They never rejected truth like the foolish virgins did. The foolish virgins had an experience with God, but they had no appetite for truth. I have read these illustrations here from the Bible, in each age of time there were a few Bride people, but then you have the others that will fit into the great multitude because they did not have a chance to learn to rule and reign. When the Dark Ages came, the Catholic church put everything in Latin because they knew if people read the Bible and could understand it, then they would have trouble on their hands. That is why this nation has been recognized up until recently as a Christian nation. By recently, I mean I remember the 1950’s. Even on country music channels, they would recognize this nation as a nation cut out of the wilderness and being a Christian nation. But Obama said it is not. I guess he is pretty much right. But somewhere it has to be brought back to its knees. Somewhere in time down the road, then there is going to be judgment happen to this country. I do not know what form, but it is not going to be pretty when it is over. I just read these illustrations here. Take the second church age or the second church here, and the sixth church, you read about them and you see a different picture, because the people were living up to a standard. I am not going to say all those old Baptists and Methodists of years ago, and those Pentecostals, I am not going to say that all of them are lost. But you come down to now and into the time of tribulation, you are going to find that mostly what is recognized is foolish virgins. They did not see to come out of the denominations, they felt that they were being fed. But one day they are going to recognize different. Really the foolish virgins started more or less in the 1960’s. But still you had the lingering element of the great multitude, because they did not linger into the disappointing of truth. They were not the critics, the great multitude, they sat on the sidelines and watched. I hope what I have said here concerning different ones as I have mentioned, I hope this hurts no one because it is an illustration of who can be in that great multitude. But people that have received the Bride message has no chance of falling out and being in the foolish virgins. That is hard. Because you have to recognize truth. I want to go back to Matthew 20 and read that again to get the difference here, which fits in with what I had to say this morning. “For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, (which is Christ himself) which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. (Actually that would be God.) And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.” Remember, he did not tell them what they were going to receive, but he did make sure he told the first one. Every one of them would receive a penny. “Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, (which took care of his money) Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.” That is what I was going over this morning. That is reward. He called them all together. “But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.” This is an illustration. This is a parable. There will never be these questions asked. “But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?” You have the great multitude and you have the foolish virgins right here, which would have been those through the heat of the day. The foolish virgins are the ones last, that receive the penny, as well as the Jewish remnant. “Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, (First because they are called together first, to receive their reward so that they might be able to judge who will go into the Millennium as Jewish people and also as sheep people. So the last shall be first…) And the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” I went into Revelation this morning to explain that, the 19th and 20th chapters. Let me go to the 20th chapter. “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having a key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.” Some have asked who this angel is. It is just a great angel, somebody with authority. What he does, he has a big chain in his hand, he comes over with a key in his hand and turns it and puts a chain around the devil and throws him into the sink hole. No. He is chained that he may not do any evil any more. The chain is not literal. The key is not literal, he is thrown into the abyss. There he lingers for one thousand years to be brought up again. “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Then you come back at the very beginning of the Millennium, which Satan is bound for a thousand years at the same time that the foolish virgins and great multitude are raised, the same identical time. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: (Bride saints) and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, 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.” This is showing here the last shall be first. “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” Or it completes the first resurrection. “Blessed and holy is he 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.” This finishes the resurrection of the just. No more resurrection of any one to life, this ends it. The only other resurrection you will have is of the unjust, the lost. I hope that what I have said tonight will be enlightening. I am not trying to pull wool over anybody’s eyes. I have done my best to answer these questions.
Continued in the next issue…