Preached on May 17, 2020 – am

     I have new scriptures here that I will look to. Some of the older ones I have, I am going to use them also. Last week I was talking about Revelation 19 and 20, Daniel 7, and Daniel 11. I have Daniel 9 also up here. They list the books of the Bible as major and minor. I would have to say that Daniel is not a minor prophet, because God dealt with him in ways that had not been done before. The visions and all that he had from the Lord, that lasted through time, while the children of Israel were in bondage in the Babylonian Empire, we find Daniel was one that stood out as far as telling time. The Bible, especially Revelation, is a book of numbers. All the different things that are said in sequence, on two different occasions, one of the angels of the vials opened up the subject, Revelation 17, then another place that opened up the vision. That would be Revelation 21. Today we are looking at times and seasons, everything as we go along, because God used numbers to be able to speak to the prophets. I am not talking about the book of Numbers. But He used numbers to be able to tell time. Much of the Old Testament is telling the time they are living in. If you look at the Jewish calendar, it will show fifty-seven hundred and seventy some years, thereabout. But I heard a Jewish rabbi one time explain that. He said the reason for that is that during the capture of the children of Israel in Babylon in all, that time was not counted. They did not count time at that time. So it left an empty space in there. Otherwise it would be as our calendar is, almost. Did you know that in the beginning of America that the New Year started in March and April? Just like the Jewish calendar. That was when the New Year was because it was the spring of the year. That is when life comes from, in the spring. That is when life came forth as far as the church is concerned, in the spring of the year when Jesus rose from the dead. All this was a plan, all this was a pattern, all this was in numbers. God does everything His own way. But He uses His own illustrations. In our Bible is an illustration of this day we are living in. 2004 ½ was the ending of the two days. Now we are living almost twenty years beyond that, sixteen years beyond that time. We see how the scripture worked in that time to show us something about how the third way would really be. It would be when the third day was, it said in the third day. So this is where the revelation come from that the Lord gave me concerning the time, we are living in. Because in the third day does not mean at the beginning of it. We know that now. As I said, we are sixteen years beyond that, it will be this June, sixteen years beyond that. So if we used prophetic time, we would be on up close to seventeen years. As we look at that, God does everything in sequence. He has a pattern, and the pattern has always fit. Just like the crucifixion. We find in the book of Daniel, the time was exactly when Christ was crucified, from the chart we have on the wall here. Then we have the time started for the last days, the two days, started then. There is a reason for it to start at that time. We find the sky darkened when Jesus was crucified. Bro. Jackson said the scientists went back in time and it was really the 3^rd day of April, 33 A.D.  So God has fixed us a chart. Whenever He has worked it all out, then there is something that is going to happen for the church, where she is going to know that she will soon leave here. We are just waiting to see what will happen in Israel, what is going to blow up over there to cause the last days to really begin. Whenever that happens, then that that is the beginning of a revival for Israel. Then we have a short time before the rapture will take place. Because they have to build the temple back, which will not take long. I know it took seven years before. But they did not have the equipment that is available now in order to do so. It tells you how it will be built in the book of Isaiah, I believe it is chapter 60. As we look at these different things, then we know our time is near, the time we are going to be dressed and be ready for the coming of the Lord. It us important at the time that we really know the Lord and that we are not living just for ourselves. A lot of those things we have enjoyed, that was not really something for enjoyment, just something to kill time for us, is now beginning to be taken away. I know the world is worried about sports opening up. I have not lost a meal over it. But they are worried about it because there is a lot of money in it. Especially in the horse racing. They missed the Kentucky derby this year. These things really bother some people. They are disturbed about the things that they once had a privilege to do and see. Now they are worried because these things are taken away. But to us, it is a good thing in a certain way. Because really the thing about sports is something the world enjoys. They cannot go to the big stadiums, and the sponsors are losing money. They are talking about cutting the players pay. Of course they have a fit about that, but the thing about it is that they were overpaid anyway. They did not live as we live. Look at Hollywood and all of them. Look at the houses they live in. They have their reward here on earth. Many of the preachers, some of them opened up too soon, so some of those preachers have died because they could not wait to get back for their collection plates. This is the way it is in the hour. That was a big salary to some of them. They have a big education, they like to be called Doctor, all of those things. They have their P.H.D. and all, but it does not amount to a hill of beans now. They do not have any congregation. If they do, then they are causing havoc in their congregation, because so many people are getting the plague that is going around, because they have opened up and not obeyed the laws. But some of the laws have kept the society from being able to work, or anything else. That is not right. Whenever people have a job, they can make it safe if they choose to do so. Many of them do not. They have opened up some of the bars, people go in and drink, they wear no masks. I guess they think the whiskey they are taking into their body will cure all their ills and keep this thing away. Because they are putting something inside their body that is alcoholic. But it does not work that way. This is a plague that has come upon this nation just like plagues come upon the world. A certain party does not want you to mention that it came from China, but that is where it came from. It should be investigated. They should have to pay for it. I know they are not going to open up their billfold and pay for it, but there are other ways that the can pay for it. If we just build the stuff on our own, that is payment against them. I thank God for being with us at this time. Everything right now is for Israel and for the saints of God. This is where it is at. There are a lot of things against Netanyahu. Gantz was trying to be Prime Minister. Do you know how he is going to get in? He is the owner of fifteen Palestinian seats. Fifteen in his group, to bring him up to sixty. Right now they say that if there was an election, that Netanyahu would get seventy-two, instead of the sixty-one that is needed. Something changed Israel’s mind. They said at the time that they were expecting another election that would put Netanyahu in for a year and half. If there was another election Netanyahu would have gotten sixty-four seats at that time. So God is getting ready to do something in the middle east. This is not just a happening. This is a plague because it has gone all over the world. There are a hundred and eighty-six countries affected by this now. I heard the president say that yesterday. China is the one that has caused it all. I think they are losing support in some of the European countries now, because before it is over with, they are going to have to lose all their support from European countries. I had the television on the other day, this one preacher was preaching on the Daniel 7.  I listened to him a few minutes. He had the three horns there in the mouth of the bear, he had them in China. One of them was Hong Kong, one was China, and another one there. We know that kingdom never did go that far. The kingdom of the beast never went much beyond Iran. It is something how people come up with ideas. If there had not been a revelation, I might have come up with some of these things too. But a revelation makes a difference in it all. We are privileged to have that revelation today within us, showing us just how the word of God is written, the book of Daniel, the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel is a book, go to the thirty-four chapters, which is the condemned nation of Israel, every once in a while, you have a bright spot in there, but it is a condemned nation. Then when you come to the 34^th chapter, then he begins to bring it out. But it really comes out in the 36^th and 37^th chapters, Israel being back in their land again. I will go to Ezekiel in a minute, but just to think how fortunate we are to know these things. They have been given to us for a purpose of being able to know the times and seasons and get ourselves right before the Lord. This is what we are doing. It is not something that we are trying to be popular in the world about it. If you tell the world about it, they will shame you, they will try to. But really, no saint of God should ever be ashamed because of the truth that God has given us. We are living in the last day. I mean that, we are living in the last days, it is not going to be long until God is going to open up His word right before us. It is getting closer, and closer, and closer to when that time will come. Let us go to Ezekiel at this time, 37^th chapter. We know the 38^th and 39^th chapters are coming to us. But there are things that have to be fulfilled first. Most of the preachers will tell you that the 38^th and 39^th chapters are the tribulation. It has nothing to do with the tribulation. Because we see that for seven years, they are getting rid of all the armament. For seven months they are getting rid of the bodies. Seven years they are getting rid of all that junk that God has brought to the ground there in the mountains of Israel, it says. In Ezekiel 37, verses 21 thru 28, “And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen.” This is what He has been doing. I know Bro. Branham preached about this, he mentioned 1947 as being the time that Israel was made a nation. That really is the time that Israel was made a nation, but they did not accept it at that time. It was 1948 whenever they did come to fruition for this to be fulfilled. But they had been given the promise of the land in 1947, but Israel was afraid to go to war with these nations, because they had just a skimpy little army. Israel, when they went to war, they had one tank in 1948. Only one tank, that tank is in a museum over there now. We saw it when we first went over there in 1974. They showed us that tank. They showed what the Egyptians had. Israel only had a little bit of stuff. But Israel run out of anything to fire, they had no weapons of any kind except a few guns. So they got a notion to put powder in a barrel with nails. They blew those up, it scared the Egyptians and other armies that were with them, it scared them, they thought Israel had the atomic bomb. It was a keg of nails. A keg of nails can come in handy sometimes if you have the right powder. “And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.” I know it speaks in the book of Zechariah about Israel coming together, we find in the 9^th chapter that Judah has been visited by God first, Judah and the house of David. But we find here as we read this, that the two nations, really in the land of Israel today they are not divided into two nations. There is that liberal part just like it is here. There is that liberal part then there is the conservative part. The conservative part is mostly in Judaea. It is mostly among young people. What I mean by young people is young childbearing mothers and fathers in their twenties and thirties, where God is dealing with them. They are building houses and things. You do not read so much about it now, but the army was coming in and tearing down their houses they had just built. They would come in and tear it down, then the next day those Jewish people were building it back again. It kept on that way until you do not hear of it anymore, especially now that Israel is where they are in time. Because they are able to build in places, they were not able to build before. That has a lot to do with Netanyahu and the decisions he has made. President Trump has been a man that has been a help to Israel, because he opened up the way for Jerusalem to become the capital of Israel. Some have already said that if the Democrats go back into power, they will change that back again to Tel Aviv. But I do not believe it is going to happen because they had done put the embassy there in Jerusalem. It has all been because President Trump backed it. All the other president for forty some years, or actually seventy years, they all promised something like that, but none of them would go through with it. Now that President Trump has gone through with it, this has opened up a door for them to be able to have their capital in their capital city. Jerusalem has always been the capital of Israel ever since David made it to be that way. But when you come on down to the time that Israel became a nation in 1948, it never was allowed to have the capital in Jerusalem until 2017. We find that is the period of time that God made it to be. I want to read something about that in a minute. “Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.” This is the revival that is coming to Israel. This revival will happen as the temple is being built. They are going to begin their animal worship when the temple is beginning to be built, but the main part of it is going to happen in the first part of the week, the first half of the week. Because those two prophets are there for Israel to repent of all their doings. “And David my servant shall be king over them; (That is not talking about the literal David. That is talking about Jesus, because He is the son of David. That is scriptural-wise. I know He is not the son of David as far as physical, but in kingship, in the line of kingship because He came from the tribe of Judah. Paul makes that clear. Here he is the King David, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. His kingdom will not only set over that, but it will also set over the whole world. It says the law will go forth from Jerusalem. We know as the law goes forth from Jerusalem, that will include the whole world because this is the capital where Jesus will be. He is not the leader of the whole world while the Millennium is going on. Whenever He takes over the kingdom, that is why it mentions in the 5^th chapter of Revelation, whenever they are looking for somebody to open the scroll, then we see it says, behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed to open it. That Lion of the tribe of Judah is Jesus, He takes His kingdom from that. We find that to be so. David my servant shall be king over them…) and they shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.” Not only observe them, but they are going to do them. This is coming. But we have several things to happen before that comes. We have the building of the temple which starts in chapter 41 of Ezekiel, the 40^th chapter is the beginning of it. We find this is really a precursor of what is really going to happen. “And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: (It is talking about the Millennium, forever is a time period.) and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.” Again, forever is a period of time. We know then when the Millennium is over, then the Eternal Age comes in. Jesus becomes our elder brother. He will still be the one to delegate unto the children what they will have. We will never be back as being natural people. This will not happen. Because the Bible says we will be as the angels of heaven. We will never have a mortal body. What I mean by a mortal body, is somebody that has to eat three times a day, has to have the sun for light, the moon for them to sleep. This will not be necessary with the Bride of Jesus Christ, which will no longer be Bride because the kingdom goes back to God that made it. We are living in a critical time now. You see that around us, this plague, all that is going on. We are living in a critical time, but all this is going to pass. We are going to inherit something. “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.” The sanctuary, when you go back to the Old Testament, it was the sanctuary, but it moved into the temple, which became the sanctuary. My tabernacle, it says the same thing there. One is sanctuary, one is tabernacle. “My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” Sanctuary forever, for a time. I want to go from there back to Isaiah 45. We have something here that has been really manifest three different times. “Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, (His anointed. Does this mean that Cyrus was a believer? No. But He has anointed him for a purpose. Because it did not come right then. There was nobody on the earth named Cyrus at that time. Maybe I could say there might have been somebody named Cyrus, but it did not this description. Because this has been mentioned. I have said this has happened three times and it was all for Israel’s sake that it happened. Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, why would He call him His anointed? It was because he put out an order. Cyrus put out an order for them to back and build the temple. I remember different coins that people have given me concerning Trump and Cyrus. These were minted in Israel. They were not minted in the United States. There may be some copies of them, but these were minted in Israel, the first ones that came out. It shows the face of Trump and the face of Cyrus. Let me read on here to get a little background of this. Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus…) Whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut.” Israel is in bondage at this time. Just like Jerusalem is in bondage, they have been in bondage. You can build here, but you cannot do this. You can have your capital in Tel Aviv, but you cannot have it in Jerusalem. All these things were fixed up for a time. “I will go before thee, (still talking about the leader) and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” Call thee by thy name, which would be Cyrus. “For Jacob my servant’s sake, (See? It is for Jacob, His servant’s sake.) and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.” Did you get that? Though thou hast not known me. He called a man that did not even know God, to do a job for Him. “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.” God keeps emphasizing that there is no other God besides Him. It was Cyrus that came to His mind to send Israel back to rebuild the temple. Nebuchadnezzar had torn it down. They had gotten all the gold and everything, but Cyrus demanded that Ezra and they go back and build the temple. No cost was really set, you do it and we will take care of it. Israel today, they are counting on Trump to say, go ahead and build the temple. Because they feel like he is fulfilling Cyrus, because of what he has done. It said, though thou doest not know me. The pope said Trump was not a Christian. Notice the pope has not been invited to America since Trump has been in office. I know when you look at the life of Trump, it has not been the best life. Neither was David’s life the best life, but God chose him. Because he was willing to repent. “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” How does it mean, He creates evil? Does God create the evil that is going on? No. But if a nation does not walk in the presence of God, He will let some evil disease come on them. This is where we find ourselves this morning in America. Because they have allowed all this stuff. There are things coming out now about the former government, what low-down tricks they had done. June 26, 2016, just before the Obama left office, he lit up the White House with the rainbow colors. He pushed these things. People accepted it. They made a great to-do over it. Now we find that lifestyle, people that live that lifestyle, are victims. They dirty the name of Christian, Jesus Christ. China has torn down churches. China is taking the crosses off churches; their government is doing that. China brought forth the disease that has killed many people in the United States. Yet there are people in certain parties that do not want to hear that. They talk about over two hundred children, only months old, on up into the nineteen-year age, there are over two hundred that have this disease. They make a big deal out of it. It is a big deal for someone who has a child like that, but a certain religious organization went to one of these clinics where they abort babies and there were barrels of babies in dumpsters. I wonder who cried over them. They had a life. These doctors who abort babies are murderers. You cannot make anything else out of it. They are murderers. That was a life, that was not just a fetus. Do you know the reason they call it a fetus? Because they thought that sounded better than a baby, just a piece of unwanted flesh. So they put them in barrels outside their abortion clinics. I heard that Cuomo in New York, talking about children that had this virus, he was so bothered, but then he took people that had it and put them in nursing homes. Over a third of the people that have died have been in nursing homes. I know what they have done. Some of the nursing homes in this area, without naming a name, have done the same thing. It even gave that disease to my wife; I know about it. Then what do they do? They turn around and say, you cannot sue a nursing home. Somewhere Faith Assembly and people around the world are being attacked by this. Some have lost jobs. People that are rich people are in food lines now because they were not looking ahead. Then they found the shelves empty when they went to the grocery. Everybody is looking for a bail out. The saints of God will be taken care of. David said, I never saw a saint of God to beg bread. “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? Or thy work, He hath no hands?” The thing that they made for idols had no voice. “Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? Or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?” To question life. Young people in this hour, they question life. People are made to have to live in houses with their children, child abuse has gone up. Mothers and fathers now are facing living together, husband and wife are faced to live together, and divorce has gone up. These are curses that come with the time. But God is our refuge. The day and time we are living in, we have a refuge. You cannot just depend on the government for everything. As I there had been three times that thing had surfaced about Cyrus, President Truman became president, Roosevelt would never have done it. He would never declare Israel to be a nation, because when that Exodus ship went by New York, he turned it out and would not let it in the harbor. It made those Jews to have to go out into the ocean, because nobody would accept them. There they died. Roosevelt had blood on his hands because he did not want the war to stop. Truman became president, it was not no time until the war was over. Roosevelt’s wife was like Hillary Clinton, she believed in witches. Hillary Clinton practiced witchcraft in the White House. They had their seances. When Obama was inaugurated president, he had his hand on two bibles, the Bible and the Koran, the Koran was on top of the Bible.  I have seen the picture. The first thing that was done when Trump took over, he got the prayer rugs and things they had in the White House, he put them out. Everything was cleaned. How can a nation survive with such evil things? Talking about Truman, whenever he declared Israel to be a nation in 1948, he said, I am Cyrus. He did something that Roosevelt would never have done. President Trump, there is a reason for his name. He did something that all the way back, from Nixon and on, that would never have been done. They promised it, they lied. Every six months this came up and they lied. They said they would do it, but they did not. They called President Truman a name, which I will not repeat. But he did not take anything off of people. He declared this to be the biggest thing in his presidency. I am looking at something, I lived during those times. I am looking at something now that is happening in our day, that God has used a man just like Cyrus. Maybe I should not say it, but it was because he had guts to do something for the nation of Israel. I know they have a peace plan out there for Israel, but it will not ever be honored. They put stuff in there they knew the Palestinians would not take. Brothers and sisters, we are living right here at the corner of things. It seems in Israel that they are getting an answer for this virus. They are beginning to open up again, which they had everything closed down. They are beginning to open up again now. They are claiming at a certain place, Oxford, may be some cure for this. But everything takes a long time. If they go to Israel, they will probably find a cure. This is an exciting time. I may have put out a dreary picture for you, but this is an exciting time. This is a time for getting ready to leave here. There is an old song, I depend on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Today if we are depending upon that, we have hope. If we are not, we have no hope. I am going to close at this time. Closing Prayer

Preached on May 24, 2020 – am

I have new scriptures this morning. I will be ministering on some of them this morning and tonight. We are standing in a time that we have never seen before. This is the day the Lord has made, and we will be happy and rejoice in it. I feel His presence this morning, it is good to know the Lord, to know He is real. The visitation of the Lord is real. His spirit is real. I praise Him for that, for the realness of His love He shows to us. I know with God all things are possible. In New York, one fourth of the cases that have died is because the governor ordered people from the hospitals into these nursing homes. Somebody is accountable for murder. I do not care what they think about it, New York and other places, the governor and mayor will be held responsible on the day of judgment for what they have done, and in any other places that have done the same thing, will be held responsible. It would be like Bro. Jackson said, if you put a rattlesnake in with a baby, what do you expect? This is more or less what has happened. Not only there, but in many states. Now they are facing a time of reopening. The mayor of New York has said people can go to the beach, but they cannot get in the water. I better not say any more about that, because I do not want people looking down on me for making statements that may not be wise. I do not think so, but it may be. But I am looking at a time this morning which has happened before, especially in Israel. Whenever Israel had done wrong, New York should have thought of that when they put those gates of Baal up there. And when they opened up the White House and put things in it, the Clintons and what they brought into it, Obama and what he brought into it. It was a disgrace. You might ask, are you taking up for the Republicans? I think George W. Bush could have been a better president than what he was. He went into a war when he let the ones that caused the war to go back home after the bombing. Sixty-four went back to Saudi Arabia during the night, after the bombing. It came from Saudi Arabia, the bombers. So today there are many scars upon this nation. I know some have not liked what I have said concerning Trump, I know that. But he was a man for the hour. Just like it was in the Old Testament, just like it was with Cyrus. He was calling off the names the other day of the people that had done great service for the country, he called off one man’s name, I do not remember who he was, he said when he came out, he held up his Bible and I knew he was the man I needed. The Bible he was sworn in on came from two elderly sisters. His mother was acquainted with these two sisters. They gave the Bible to Trumps mother. His mother gave it to him and that was the Bible he was sworn in with. It was around a hundred years old. Am I saying he is a righteous man? No. We are going to look at some things this morning and see that there are others that was not righteous, just as Cyrus. As I read from the 45^th chapter of Isaiah last week, it said he did not know the Lord. I do not know the relationship with Trump and the Lord, I know he has a lot of things in his life, but he is a man for the hour. God had warned Israel, and warned Israel, and warned Israel, over and over and over. Then it came down to Judah after the ten northern tribes had already gone, already taken into Assyria. It was Judah and Simon that was left. Whenever it came down to the time for them to be taken away, it was the king’s fault, king after king after king. Josiah was the only righteous king that was left. The Bible talked about him, that there was no king like him before, that done all the things he did to get Israel back in line with the things of God. God has His hand on certain people. They are not the most famous, they are not the most popular. But after his dad died, he was eight years old, and they made him king. I wonder how that crown fit on him. It probably slipped down over his ears. But he was still king. By the time he was eighteen years old, he began to realize his position in life. He began to realize his contact with God. He was still a young man, a boy you could say. But he knew God. He was going to be last in line to ever see Israel prosper. Just because he was righteous did not mean that his son was righteous, he was not. After seeing all that God had done through his dad, he failed God and went back into the ways of old Israel, Ahab, and those of the years before. Because through time, Judah had gotten acquainted with some of the kings of Israel that were not too good, such as Ahab. But God had a plan to keep the fire burning in the David line and his family tree. God had a way of keeping that going, even when they got to Babylon. I have something here to read this morning from the book of Daniel, 1^st chapter. When I began to read this chapter and the 2^nd chapter the other day, I felt the presence of the Lord. Because you see the same pattern of things that went on then, that is going on now. You see the same situation. What was going on back then, is going on in America today. God is going to prove His people before we leave here. We are the light of the world. Somewhere that light is going to shine before we leave here. I realize we are not all of it, we have brothers and sisters around this nation and around this world. We are going to get this thing right before we leave here. It is going to take some digging to get our hope straightened up with the Lord. We cannot play around with God. What am I trying to say? Am I trying to make something strict for people that they cannot follow? No. All I am saying is be yourself in the Lord. If we will be ourselves in the Lord, then He is going to take care of our needs. No other place than the body of Christ has this promise of what is going to happen. We are going to leave this world one of these days, either by the grave or by the rapture. Those in the grave will come forth first, but we will immediately meet them in the air. There is no promise of a ministry after the dead in Christ rise first, there is no promise of a ministry. This has been mentioned to me. It just says we will meet them in the air, because as they are going up, we are going to go up too. Whenever this world lets go, we will not be staying around to try to minister to the world, because the ministry is over whenever we go. We go from this presence to His presence. What a great promise we have here. Let us look into this chapter, 1^st chapter of Daniel. “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.” This is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. “And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.” This is a disgrace, but it was Israel’s fault. A nation as this nation today, has walked away from God. I am 83 years old. I remember WW2. I was born the year the persecution started against Israel by Hitler. I was born the month of the flood here in the Ohio River. If you look at the pictures, you will see that they look ancient. I hate to mention this, but as Bro. Jackson said, you were left here for a witness, that is what he said. Because you got to see some of the ministry of Bro. Branham. I do not know of another ministry of truth this morning that is standing in the pulpit that can say these things. Because God has left me alive for a purpose, not to make me something, but as a witness. Daniel was a young man when he was captured, maybe in the upper teens. He lived through seventy years to be able to see Cyrus come in. He lived three years after that, as the scripture gives it, I do not know how much was beyond that. So he is ninety years old or more by the time Daniel 12 comes about. He started out as a young man, but he went on to be an old man. He still humbled himself before God. He knew at the very beginning of what happened, God gave him knowledge to write a book, there is no other book like it except the of Revelation. Because of the visitation of God. It is not long like the book of Revelation, but much of it is in there. God do not let him see everything, but He let him write everything. He gives him an understanding of things because he loved God. He loved God more than he loved his own life. Daniel was never married; he was unable to bring children into the world. They fixed him that way, of course they did the other three Hebrew children the same way, because they were going to be around the king’s women. I do not think I need to explain that any further than that. Verse 3, “And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes.” This is where Daniel fit in, also the three Hebrew children. It said children, so they had not grown out of their teens. “Children in whom was no blemish, (They looked them over to make sure none of them were blind, none of them had any defects in their body, no cripples, nothing. Nebuchadnezzar wanted the best. Children in whom was no blemish…) but well favoured, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.” Daniel became a very educated person, educated in science, educated in learning, educated in the Chaldean language. “And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: (He was going to give them the best, a portion of it. The same meat he ate and the same wine he drank.) so nourishing them three years, (He was going to give them three years of learning. He was going to give them a doctor’s education, a doctorate.) that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.” These are the names from here on that they go by, after this is over. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” He has got in favor with the rest of them. “Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.” God is setting up something because he is around all this mess and all, but he has gained favor with the prince of the eunuchs. We cannot just be obstinate whenever we are around people of the world. This was who Daniel was around. He is around a king, he is around princes that do not know God, none of them know God. Yet Daniel knows God. There are only three others standing with him, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He does not have a church congregation. He does not have the Judaistic Jews with him. There is more of them in this because it is a learning of the Israeli people here. God brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. “And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? (Of your own people.) then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. Then said Daniel to Melzar whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.” He is asking that they eat not the king’s meat, because I am sure the meat, he had was not kosher with the Jews. There as probably a lot of pork and everything else that was in that. So what Daniel is doing, he is putting out an offer there. He does not know how it is going to turn out, but he is believing God. Sometimes we have to believe God in our circumstances no matter what they look like. Because God is real in all our circumstances. He knows what we have need of. We are reading about a man, but we are reading about a man that loves God. I am looking at a people this morning, others out there that love God. There are enough of us this morning, Christians, that this world is still standing because the Bible said that you are the light of the world, but it also says that you are the salt of the earth. A salt is a saver, a preserver.  I remember when my dad used to kill hogs, he would salt the meat down and it kept through the winter. It saved that meat. Of course they have other means now, that they do not have to put all that salt in there. It sure left the ham salty. But we are a people that, as Daniel did, we know God. The main thing is that God knows us. I am not looking upon a bunch of sinners this morning. I am not looking upon people who have no faults, but I am looking upon a people that know God, know where they stand. In all our trials and tests we are going through right now; we are the most blessed people in the whole world. I appreciate the Lord, that He has let us live in this hour, even though it looks bleak to the world. We know what it is, God is getting ready to do something. He is getting ready to do something to this nation. Not as the preachers talk this morning, they are trying to save the world. They are trying to save their ministry; they are trying to save their outlets. I am not speaking evil of the man, but just like Jim Baker, he has pushed himself until he has had a stroke. They are up so high, and they have to stay there, they cannot go down. I could have a stroke, I realize that. I could have a heart attack and die, I realize that. But it is not because I am pushing some kind of agenda that we have to meet up with certain criteria that the world is looking at. We are not trying to do that. We are not trying to equal something or be the ones to stand out. No. We have a ministry that is being seen around the world, but it is not being pushed. The Bible said, whosoever will, let him come. Jesus said, he that comes, I will in no wise cast out. So this morning I am looking at the most blessed people in this world. You are it, and you are it, and you, I am looking at the camera now. You are it out there. You may not feel important this morning, but you are not supposed to feel important. You are just supposed to feel the love of God. He will do the rest. You are important. One of these days, I am looking at a group of people here, and you are looking at me out there, you are going to rule the world. Do not ever say, God cannot use me, I am not doing anything. You are doing what you are supposed to be doing if you are doing the will of God. God did not set us here to be on some kind of billboard, something to where we would be stars. We will be that later. Not that we feel worthy, but we know He is worthy. He is the one that died for us. We did not die for ourselves. He died for us. Do not ever forget that.  In verse 12 he said, prove thy servants ten days, give us pulse to eat and water to drink. I do not know for sure just what pulse is made out of, but I know it is some kind of soup like substance. “Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: (look at them) and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.” This is a trial; this is a test. But it is a test to prove God. It is a test of obedience toward the hand of God. This morning we are proving, we will wear our masks, we will make our distance six feet apart, families I mean. We can do that. We can gather a hundred or so together because it has not been long until we could not have but ten. Supposedly by the 4^th of July the whole congregation can come together. We can last, we can wait it out. Because our Christian faith does not rest on days, months, or years. It rests on the Lord Jesus Christ. I hate that my brothers and sisters cannot be here every service. But I remember a few weeks ago that I was preaching with nobody in these seats, maybe five or six. I do not mean nobody, but you could hardly spot a person. We are doing alright. I know that some people are having problems with health. I pray for you. I mention your names. God knew your name before I mentioned it. I do not know where everybody lives but God knows where you live. He proved that under the ministry of Bro. Branham. Now He is proving us. Are we going to come back when we all come back as a congregation? Are we going to come back better? We should. This should be a lesson to us. God is so good. He is, He is so good. He said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I saw a little baby here this morning, the grandmother was letting him bounce around. The last time I saw that baby, he was only a baby. Now he is a bigger baby. These babies are growing up. They may not remember me. It is good to be real this morning, we do not have to put on a false face. I know sometimes it may look like it with these masks we are wearing. I do not believe there is anybody in here this morning that has this disease. I do not believe there is anybody that does. But we are being careful. I believe we are learning a lesson. We can live through this. If you go to some of the stores now, nobody is wearing them hardly. They opened up Florida, New York said now we have Florida now. That Republican governor has opened up Florida. Now the thing has decreased and gone down. God is good. He really is. He is proving us this morning. He has been proving us through this time. It just happened all of a sudden. It had to be the hand of God. It just stopped everything all at once. On Friday Trump was talking about the houses of worship. That is what his subject was about, the houses of worship. He said, I am leaving it up to these governors to open up these houses of worship. If you do not open them up, I will. He said, you have all these businesses opened up where people are going, beaches and stuff, but they cannot go to church. Sometimes it takes somebody with gumption about them, that they are not run over. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. “So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.” I am going to give you ten days. That is not long. We are going to see if there is a difference in ten days. It was Daniel that gave that time. “And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.” That is talking of those other Jews. It said children, they were not very old. But Daniel is going to be there for seventy some years before he dies. God gave him and the apostle John about the same time to live. In their old days, the great revelation began to come unto them from the hand of the Lord. I am not typing anything, do not get me wrong. At the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children that did eat the portion of the king’s meat. “Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.” Sometimes in our lives we just need to prove God to be real. If you feel low this morning or if you feel down, just humble yourself before the Lord and go before Him, tell Him your problem. He knows, He will listen. “As far these four children, (See? They are not old people, they are children. They are not eight or nine years old, but they are teenagers. I know I not necessarily saying anything about young people here, but I know when people get eighteen or nineteen years of age, they do not like to be called children. But so many of them act like babies. They go to college and get a big education, then go back home and live with mom and dad. They did not go to college to get the right thing; they just went to college for a good time. I remember years ago there was a young man and young woman, they were engaged to be married. He was working, she went to Florida for spring break. He saw her climb on the back of a motorcycle with one of these men, what he does? He said, the wedding is off. Many of them went to these beaches and came back with the disease. One young person, him and his sister, their mom and dad said, do not go to this place for spring break. They went anyway. Mom and dad were pleading. When they got back their mom and dad would not let them in the house. We told you not to do that, now you are not going to come back and bring some kind of disease on us. They were right by doing that. When you were eighteen or nineteen years old, would you like for your mom and dad to say, come on and eat now. These four did not mind being called children. As for the four children…) God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” He already knew that. Whenever Nebuchadnezzar has a dream, in the 2^nd chapter, Daniel was already acquainted with God. It did not just happen on him all at once. It did not just happen to Joseph all at once. He had these dreams and saw different things, even his dad rebuked him when he saw the grain field come and bow at his feet. God is taking notice of us this morning. What would our life be without Him? I ask you, what would it be without Him? But what is it with Him? That is the question this morning, what is our life with Him? We sang the song which come from the Bible, joy unspeakable and full of glory. I found the joy that no tongue can tell. As for the four children, God gave them knowledge, skill in all learning, and wisdom. Daniel had understanding in all dreams and visions. “Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.” Now then is the test. This is not midterm, no, this is graduation. This is whether you get to wear the little cap with the fringe on it, or not.  Or this is the time when the king is going to say, thumbs down, you know what that means. He brought in a lot of smart intelligent people. They all were looking for promotion. Some of them had ate the king’s meat and they drank the wine. This was their enjoyment. Look at those four sissies over there, they cannot even take a drink. I remember Bro. Jackson talking about when he was in the army. They kept teasing him about drinking. One day they kept on and on, he took a beer, that was when he was a sinner. Do you know why people are sinners? Because they sin. I am not speaking against Bro. Jackson. He took a drink of it. They asked him, what does it taste like? He said, my mother’s dish water. “And the king communed with them; (He is going to talk with them and see what they have learned.) and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.” Three years in the making, now it was graduation. One of these days we are going to have the graduation. The graduation ceremony is going to last for seven years. That is to see who is fit for the marriage supper. We will not be throwing our cap and gown then. We will be putting on a crown, a crown of life. Because we will know who gave it to us. We will know who took our faults, our sins, and hung them on the tree. That is why He was there, that is why God used Him, to hang our sins on the tree. Without that we have nothing. His shed blood which He gave freely. The king communed with them. He was going to talk with them and find out just how much they know. He is soon going to find out they know more than he does. He had a graduation ceremony all planned out. Does not the Bible say, if you are taken before the court, do not even think ahead of what you are going to say, do not make any plans. It said God will give you the answer right then. The king communed with them. None were like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king, what does it mean, they stood before the king? They stood in his presence. One of these days when our trials are over, we are going to stand before the King. It is not going to be Nebuchadnezzar either. It is going to be God’s Son. We will stand there as Bride, we are not standing there as someone unlearned, ignorant to what the will of the Lord is. “And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.” He brought them all in. He brought all the astrologers, the soothsayers, he brought all those people in that were supposed to know so much. These four children were smarter, more intelligent than them all. Why? Because they obeyed God. We have our trials and tests. Obedience is better than sacrifice. People have sacrificed through the years. Take the Catholic Church, they sacrificed through the years and what has it brought them?  You see what it will bring them in Revelation 17. A mother of harlots. We have a better position than that. “And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.” Which was seventy years. It goes on to tell that later on in the book of Daniel. What God has done; he has let him live through those seventy years of time in a kingdom that knew not God. But every one of those kings knew that Daniel was a man of God. Remember Darius in the 4^th chapter, how he had to put Daniel in the lion’s den. Because he had made an agreement with a bunch of crooked politicians, that is what they were. They caught him by surprise. But he knew enough about Daniel to know that he was a servant of God. Why else would he have gone that morning, after staying awake all night, why would he have gone and opened up that big rock that he had put his signet on. He called out, Daniel, is the God you serve able to deliver you from the mouth of the lions? Daniel replied, O king, live forever, just as calm. I saw a picture in a Bible when I was a little boy, it showed Daniel laying there on a lion, sleeping all night. You can lay on your troubles. They just heap up, heap up, and heap up. But do not be discouraged. Do not be despondent. God is going to deliver you. Thank the Lord. I love the Lord.  I know you love the Lord. Do you tell Him that you love Him? Closing Prayer

Preached on May 24, 2020 – pm

     I am going back to Daniel tonight, chapter 2. Before I go into that, I want to read something I was talking about. This was sent to me by a brother.

     “Having dictated last year the vaccines Christians must put in their bodies, Maine governor Janet Mills, wants to dictate which churches will be able to attend. (This is Maine’s governor. I will say this, it seems there in Michigan and other places that these women are in charge, they are really taking it upon themselves to make their authority known, whether it be in the Senate or the House, or whether it be governors. I do not know why people put people like that in office.) Governor Mills prohibits all church gatherings, including drive-in churches. She now says churches will not be able to reopen until she is satisfied with the metrics, but she will not say what the metrics mean. So there is no way to know when Governor Mills will be satisfied. Even after the metrics are reached, churches will have to apply to reopen and will be chosen based on a checklist of requirements developed by the state. As of this writing, that checklist has not been released by the state of Maine. Churches that fully comply with Governor Mills demands, whenever they are released and are approved by her, will be given a badge to display outside their churches, indicating that the churches have completed and are approved by the governor. The very idea of the governor approved churches flies in the face of both the first amendment and the principals of the guidance of the law and authority.” What it is saying there, she is going to decide which churches can meet and which churches cannot meet. There have to be churches that meet her criteria to be able to meet. I feel that she is going to be running into some big problems there, because people are going to get tired of some sissy lawmaker trying to make herself some big queen or authority of some kind. I know if it was in the state of Indiana, I believe that people would already be tired of it. Maine is a liberal state, I realize that. But everybody there is not. There had to be a liberal state in order to appoint a governor like that. Somebody is going to run into some problems, and it is not going to be long. I will say something else right now. It may make somebody feel bad, but these swabs they put up your nose, they are using them as a contact tracer. What do I mean by that? They are able to trace who you have come in contact with and who you have spread this virus to, or about to spread it to. One person, a few days ago before I knew about this, had the virus and they contacted at least fifty people about it. How did they know that? They are putting something on these swabs that people do not know about. I had even said something about, maybe to make sure there was nothing wrong with me, and I do not know of anything that is, but I will not do it now. I am not telling anybody not to do it. But I am not going to do it. They have cameras up and down the streets now. They are watching people with them. They know who you are, because they are tracing you as you go up and down the street. They have your car license number and everything else. Brothers and sisters, we thought we were living in the home of the brave and the land of the free. Our freedom is slowly being taken away. Somebody is going to push the wrong button one of these days. Whenever they do, it will be like Bro. Jackson said, Katy-bar-the-door. Because the red-blooded American is not going to stand for all this garbage. They are doing a lot that people have to be faced with. I know it is not very popular for me to say these things, but I am glad for the governor of Indiana. I am not looking to righteous people as far as the Bible is concerned, but the Bible did not look at righteous people as far as man was concerned. God was able to use men that way. I know there are people in Israel who expect Trump to give the order to start building the temple. I know they are looking at that, but I am not saying that he will. But they are. The coin you see with his face and Cyrus, was minted in Israel, the first ones were. Because they believe he is fulfilling that. You know what I read about Cyrus the other day. He did not know God, but he did know something. I am reading from the 2^nd chapter of Daniel about a man that did not know God either, but he was God’s servant. He called him His servant. He called Cyrus His servant. It was because they could acknowledge God when it came right down to it whenever it was forced upon them. Many times God forced people to look at Him and acknowledge Him even though they were not righteous people. I am looking at that tonight in this chapter, about a king that God used. He was a brutal man. He took the Jewish people out of their nation. He killed some, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, who was king in Israel for the tribe of Judah. But God will do many things sometimes to teach us a lesson. Just as he was teaching Israel a lesson, but God was not through with them. God is not through with us tonight. He is watching our every move. He knows every little crook and cranny in everyone that is His. There are different ones that are not capable of making decisions for themselves, but God knows them. God knows where they are at. He knows what condition they are in. He never gives up on them. We always believe in God doing something for somebody that cannot do for themselves. Sometimes our brothers and sisters have a hard time. But whenever you get to that hard time, you do not let up. You keep pushing, knowing that there is an answer when we come to the end of the road. Tonight we are not at the end of the road, but we know there are answers. We have a book of answers. We do not have a book of questions; we have a book of answers if we know the Author. The Author of the book is the one that had it written. God did not write a page in this book, but He had men that believed in Him. He had prophets, though they were sawn asunder, yet they were true. He had apostles, as the apostles Paul and Peter. Peter was crucified upside down. Paul had his head cut off, but it did not stop the word of God they had in their hearts. Sometimes it is like the Bible talks about the clay being shaped into a vessel. You start out, all you have is clay. But then a skilled worker, which the ministry must be skilled in the word of the Lord, a skilled worker must be able to take their hands, because it is a hands-on job. We are not standing in a corner some place, as the priests in the Catholic Church used to do. I do not know what they do now. But they build a platform where they can stand, so they did not have to have contact with the people, except on Friday night when they would have people confess their sins to them so they could hold that against them. That is what it was all about. Just like the tracking device they have now. What deception there is tonight in the way America is going. There are a few voices that know about it, there are a few voices that are speaking out about it. But mostly it is not in the ministry, except for the Bride of Christ. There are a few out there that will say something, but mostly it is a quiet thing because they do not want to rock the boat. But sometimes this word is worth rocking the boat for because we have something that will rock it. We have six limbs of the armed forces now, I did not use to think but there were three, army, air force and marine, that is what I thought. The sixth one now that they have just ordered is the star wars thing that Trump has put in. Russia and China thought they had something on us because they had rockets up there that would fly five times faster than the speed of sound. The United States has gone above them now under the leadership of Trump. They have a rocket that will go seventeen times faster than what the speed of sound is. God is wrapping things up. Bro. Jackson used to have this saying, if you do not think this is right, stick around. It has proved it over and over and over again, the things he said concerning the time we are living in. I could live to be a hundred and never be as wise as that man. But I am a chip off the block, a little chip. God has given us something the world does not have. Like the song says, the world cannot take it away. Let us read from our scripture. “And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, (This is the world for you. Let’s get these soothsayers, these magicians, we are going to look at the crystal ball. Nebuchadnezzar did not know any better, but he was God’s servant. He was God called, yet he does not know God.) and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, (which was the language of that time, Aramaic.) O king, live for ever: (This is what everybody said, O king, live for ever.) tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” They just do not get it, do they? He said he dreamed a dream and cannot remember it. They said, tell us the dream. “The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.” That would worry some people if something like that came about in America. Like Belshazzar, the handwriting on the wall, it is here today. “But if ye show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it.” They just do not get it. “The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.” He is putting out something very hard here. This is not easy. All these people all the time, from the 1^st chapter, from the time those three children, as it says, from the time they began to eat the pulse instead of the king’s meat, they are gaining in strength. By the time it is over when they stood before the king, they were ten times smarter than any of the Chaldeans.

To be continued next issue.…