Preached May 4 PM &
April 30 AM

 

 

 

May 4, 2023
PM Service

I will continue with my messages on The Millennium. I have added more scriptures. I was thinking today, all the Old Testament prophets speak of the Millennium, and events beyond it. In the New Testament the apostles do not speak as much about the Millennium. They do speak a great deal about the end time, but as far as the Millennium is concerned, there is not a whole lot said by the apostles. In the Old Testament, the prophets mainly speak of what the Millennial time will be for Israel. The Jewish apostles will rule in Israel because the scripture says the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. But there are a few times when the prophets talk about the world rulership of the Bride during the Millennium. There are snippets [small parts] in different places such as Zechariah and Zephaniah, and much is spoken in Isaiah about the Bride. But the book of Revelation really brings out the Millennial rule of the Bride. So, you can see that there is a great deal to be covered about the Millennium and about the time just beyond the rapture leading up to the Millennium. We know the rapture is for the Bride, and she will be in Heaven for almost seven years and then return to rule throughout the world. We have covered that in the first part of Revelation Chapter 20. To summarize, there are things written in the Old Testament that not only speak of Israel in the Millennium but also speak of the Bride as world rulers during that time.

The Bride Will Be Taught During the Marriage Supper

Let me go to Revelation 20 for a refresher. Verse 1, “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, 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.” Now he goes into the Bride in Verse 4. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: (It will not be a simple and easy time of the Bride just sitting on thrones acting like royalty. They are going to be very busy with ruling the people, because they will have to teach the nations to obey the rules of the law that go forth from Jerusalem. That is what it means by “judgment was given unto them.” That is Bride people. I am stressing that they are the Bride! The Bride is a part of Christ; not just in name only, but she has a true realization of who she is and who she is married to. I want us to understand that there is a difference between the Bride and the foolish virgins, and to understand why she is called Bride. She is not just Bride at the marriage supper; she is Bride for a thousand years. Therefore, she would be more of a Queen getting her direction from the King. Jesus Christ will be the King. That is why it is important that we know certain things before the rapture takes place. Because we are going to rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years. We all know that. The important part is that we are going to know His thoughts on how to rule and reign. The marriage supper is a time of learning.

Getting to Know
The Bridegroom

Let me add something here. In Revelation Chapter 3, Verses 20 through 22, he is speaking there of Bride people of the last day [the end time]. Because He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” That means He is outside the church world, standing at the door [of the heart of every individual] knocking. Then He says, “if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” This is all taking place right now. It will not happen only after the rapture takes place; it is happening here and now. We are learning more of Him, more of His ways. Just like a young man and a young woman, before they ever get married, they should be learning about each other. They are not only getting acquainted, but they are realizing what their obligations will be as husband and wife. Of course, in recent times many people just get married without anything being settled between them. A marriage should never take place without both parties knowing each other and knowing how to work together to make whatever decisions are necessary. They each must know how to do their best to make the marriage enjoyable. That is why, as the Bride of Christ, we are settled in who we are, because we want the Christian life to be an enjoyable thing. Not saying something like, “Oh, it is church night. Do I have to do this again? Do I have to read my Bible? Do I have to pray?” This is our time of getting acquainted with the Bridegroom. To know just what He wants, just what He expects. Because it is much more than just being a Christian, it is about knowing His ways. That is why there is a courtship. Hollywood does not believe in courtship. They just marry, and it does not mean anything beyond that ceremony, because the bride never takes on the name of the groom. If she does not take on his name, then God does not approve the marriage. In the beginning Eve took on the name of Adam. When you take on the name of the groom, then you are also taking on his likeness. He is not your boss, but he is your partner. In this life a husband-and-wife relationship should be the closest relationship that there is. It is important that couples learn to live together and have a family together. Nothing else should come between that family bond. I am talking about these things because I see the importance of Christ being the Bridegroom and us being the Bride. It goes even farther in Revelation Chapter 19, Verse 7. He calls us His wife. They are a bride and a groom, when they first get married, but then the relationship goes on as husband and wife. We should thank God because He has made us to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Be Ye Separate

When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, He said, “You must be born again.” That was not a shallow statement. What happens when you do have a new birth, you are not only taking on the name of Jesus Christ, but you have taken on His nature, because you are buried with Him in baptism. Why are there scriptures that call Israel “her” in many places in the Old Testament? Because Israel was the Bride of God in the Old Testament. Many times, He scolds her for her actions and so on. You will find that in different Old Testament scriptures where it calls Israel “her.” We know Israel was represented by Abraham, but the relationship of God with Israel was to be separate from all the rest of the world, which is a pattern of Christ and the Bride. We are to be separated from the rest of the world. If we are not, then we are not fully dedicated to being the body of Christ. When you take on Christ in a watery grave, you have taken on a relationship, just like a marriage ceremony. Because you have taken on His name in water baptism. We do not say, you are baptized in the name of Mohammad, or in the name of the Dali Lama, or any of these other creatures who are nothing. (I saw something about the Dali Lama on the news recently which was shameful. He is just an ornery old man.) They all have nothing in their beliefs. The Hindu think you will get eternal life if you belong to the Hindu religion. They say it is like the entire life of a tree. It may take as long as it takes for every leaf, each representing one year, to fall from that tree for you to get eternal life. That could be thousands and thousands of years. But in some way, all the religions are looking for eternal life. Many believe that one day Mohammad will return on a white horse to the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. We know differently from that. They say that he ascended from there, but he never was in Jerusalem. We know that Jesus Christ is the only one that ever died for sin, and the only one that rose again! All the rest of them died, but they gave no path of salvation.

 

The First Resurrection

Let us go back to Revelation 20, Verse 4, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: (That is Bride. Now he goes ahead to talk about the foolish virgins.) 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 all happens at the end of the tribulation. The Bride is already in Heaven. She has been there nearly seven years. I cannot say it is a full seven years. Because the Bride will probably be here a short time after the seventieth week starts to see a little of the ministry of the two prophets. But the second group in Verse 4 will reign with Christ, but not to the extent of the Bride. Of course they are going to have their part, but it will never reach the same level as the Bride. Verse 5, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. (They will be raised at the end of the Millennium to die the second death when final judgment comes). This is the first resurrection.” The first resurrection is completed at the end of the tribulation. Verse 6, “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, (That would be the foolish virgins. They will not rule to the extent of the Bride, but they will be servants. That is what a priest was in the Old Testament. He was a servant; he served the people.) and shall reign with him a thousand years.” It does not say anything about them sitting on thrones and judging as I read at the beginning of Verse 4. We will look into that further as we go on in this subject.

Guard What God
Has Given You

I want to go back to the Old Testament now. I have scriptures that I want to go over. As I went over in Micah [in the last issue], you can find where the Millennium and the Millennial rule are mentioned in many places in the scriptures. Another place is Habakkuk 2:14, “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The earth is going to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, even though all the people do not adhere to it. This knowledge is for a special people in the Millennium. God knows who will receive it and who will not. Many years ago, before I knew the truth about this message, all that I knew was that the Millennium would last a thousand years and everybody was going to be there except for the wicked, and everybody would have the same position. But when Bro. Jackson brought out revelations about the Bride and her duties, then I began to learn something. As far as I am concerned, we have had the best teachers. Bro. Branham brought us to a truth; Bro. Jackson began to open up that truth. As he did, then we began to learn about our rulership in the time to come. In Revelation 19:7 where it says, “…His wife hath made herself ready,” that means at the start she was not ready. But we are now seeing the Bride doing something for her own wellbeing. Because it is up to us to guard what God has given us. Otherwise, the devil would try to slip in and do things to put a monkey wrench in [hinder] the work of God. To make ourselves ready we must obey the scripture. They asked Jesus, what must we do to do the work of God? Jesus said [in John 6:29], believe on Him whom He hath sent (speaking of Himself). That is still true in this day, we are learning of Him. Everything concerning the sacrifices in the Old Testament was pointing forward.

 

We find Abraham believed God and that is a very important thing. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Paul went over that in Galatians, in Hebrews, and in other places. He told of the relationship that Abraham had with God as he had read in Genesis (just as we can read today). God made a promise to Abraham, called him the father of many nations, speaking of the Jewish people, and of the Bride people. We find that Paul recognized that truth. [In Galatians 3:16] He says, “not… seeds” (plural) but “thy seed (singular) which is Christ.” We are the seed of Abraham by faith. Faith is believing what God said. It is simple, we believe what God said because we believe His Word. We know that we have received Light. It says in the book of Zechariah [Chapter 14], that there would be a day come where it would be neither day nor night, but in the evening time it shall be light. That ‘evening time’ had its beginning with the message of Bro. Branham, and now we are living at the end of the ‘evening time.’  That is why God has been so good to the Bride. He has been so good to a people that were not expecting to make it, but by the grace of God they are here. Because of the glory of God (as I read the scripture in Habakkuk, “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”) we can say that our ‘sea’ is completely covered!

 

The Bride Hid From
The Tribulation

I want to go from there into Zephaniah Chapter 1, Verse 7. “Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.” We are those guests. We were not a part of Israel. We were not Jewish people, but we are guests to a marriage supper that has not yet taken place. I remember Bro. Jackson going over Verse 12. Let us go there, “And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, (In other words, He is searching very thoroughly like you would with a flashlight today.)  and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.” This is happening now. Jerusalem is the city that the world hates. The president of the United States (Biden) snubs Netanyahu, he will not invite him to the White House. Some of the Republicans went to Israel and are going to have him come to visit Congress, but as far as the president, he thinks he is too big to talk with Netanyahu. Now let us go to Zephaniah, Chapter 2, starting in Verse 1, “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.” He mentions the anger of the Lord twice, but Verse 3 is a promise that the Assemblies of God and all the denominations of the world do not recognize. “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, (That is speaking of Bride people.) which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” That is the truth. The “day of the Lord’s anger” will be the tribulation time. God is going to hide the Bride of Jesus during that time because she is going to escape it. Thank God for that. It is not us that are worthy, but it is Him that is worthy! I will go now to Chapter 3, beginning with Verse 8. This scripture concerns the tribulation and the Millennium. “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” That is in the tribulation.

A Pure Language in
The Millennium

Now let us see what He is saying in Verse 9, “For then will I turn to the people a pure language, (This will be in the Millennium. Everybody will be able to understand each other. The Bride is not going to rule around the world without being understood. At one time [see Genesis 11] everybody spoke the same language. Black, white, yellow, all colors, understood the same language. But because they were not going to separate themselves, they all wanted to live in one place, God fixed it to where they could not understand each other. That is why we have over nine hundred languages in the world today.) that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.” Speaking of Jerusalem. Verse 12, “I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.” All the natural sheep people that go into the Millennium will not be rich. There will be poor people. There will be ordinary people who are not highly educated, nor have great knowledge or lofty positions on earth. God is not looking at that. God is looking at something that He admires in people. There may be some of the top people who make it as sheep people, but they will be at the bottom in the Millennium. Paul goes into this in Philippians and First Corinthians, when he talks about his education and what he learned, he does not count it to be very much. Back to Zephaniah 3:13, “The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.” That will be a wonderful place. We sing a song, “Won’t it be wonderful there, having no burdens to bear? Joyously singing with heart-bells all ringing, O, won’t it be wonderful there?” That is the expectation of the Bride of Christ. God has a Bride people in this hour that He is elevating, not in mind, but in a place to know more about Him than they know about the world. The world passes away and so does the deeds of men. Sure, there will be people who will be smart in the Millennium. There will be people who know how to operate different equipment and things, because the earth will be a training place. God is not going to get rid of every scientist. God is not going to get rid of every one that knows how to invent something, because all things will be invented for His glory and honor. This earth will not be some big movie house. There probably will be entertainment for young children and safe places to play. The scripture says, they will play in the streets of Jerusalem [Zechariah 8]. But it is not going to be like it is now. Man has gone entertainment wild. He is always watching sports of all different kinds. There is some sport going on every month of the year and many overlap. Basketball is still going on and baseball season has already started. Baseball season goes into the football season. Then other sports are played the year round. It is nonstop with man. The movie theaters show vulgar movies. There are thousands of clubs, joints, and bars where people commit all this evil stuff. But these things will all end. God has something for everyone. Everybody in that Millennium will be important because God has saved the best for last. Let us read from Zephaniah 3, Verse 11 again, “In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”

God Will Rejoice
Over All His People

Now He is encouraging them. Verse 14, “Sing, O daughter of Zion; (This will be in the Millennium.) shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.” The Jewish people do not have much to sing about now except for Yehudah Glick. He likes to sing and blow his shofar. He gets arrested, but he goes back the next day and does the same thing. He is wearing those Waqf security people out. Now he has threats upon his life. But it does not seem to worry him. In 2014 he was shot four times in the chest from just inches away, but it did not hit any vital organs. Verse 15, “The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.” This is a promise to Israel in the Millennium. Much that has gone on against Israel has been their own fault because they did not listen to God. God warned them in the scriptures (such as Deuteronomy 28) just what would happen if they did not obey the Lord and it all came to pass. God promises reach a long way. He does not just forget them after a while. Much of Israel has been out of the land for many years. There are still more that will come back because scripture says, the place is too narrow for them, there is not enough room. They will get their land back, all the way up to the Euphrates River, all the way down to the Nile, the river Egypt. Israel is going to be a place of commerce for the entire Middle East. From Assyria to Egypt. Israel will be a blessing in the midst of them. Verse 16, “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” God loves singing and I love singing. God loves it when His people have something to rejoice about because God loves rejoicing. He put it in the heart and the voice of mankind to be able to sing songs of praise unto Him. I thank God that He did that because it lifts a service to see people put all their heart into songs of worship. Everybody sings differently. It does not matter if you are loud or soft as long as it comes from the heart. God rejoices in singing. God rejoices in Joy when it is of the Lord. We just completed April meetings where people were blessed. They had testimonies before they left, and some after they left, about what God meant to them and what the meetings meant to them. These meetings are important to the Bride of Jesus Christ. It helps us get acquainted spiritually with one another, to know the hearts of our Brothers and Sisters. We can see things of this world melt away. Heartaches are gone; sorrows are gone. Even though there are things that linger, you can feel burdens are being lifted from the midst of us. Because we are getting ready to go to a special place. A place where we have never been, but a place that we are learning more and more about. We are learning more about our Bridegroom. It would be foolish for a young man and young woman to marry not knowing each other. Such as these mail-order brides that they just pick out on the internet. Neither person knows what they are getting into, and it often does not turn out good. There are old men who show a picture of somebody else to get some teenage girl interested in ‘him.’ Then the girl runs off to meet him and gets murdered. Verse 17 again, “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” Imagine God singing! We want to get acquainted with Him and with Jesus Christ as somebody real, not a memory. God is not a memory to the Children of God, He is real. That is what He wants to be. He wants us to enclose Him in our being. Not just as individuals, but as a body. I know there are thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold Christians, but there is not one of those categories that God loves more than another. He has joy in each one. He knows the capability of each one to reach that category that He has placed them in and not be lower or higher. But they are still grain bearers. He is referring to a head of wheat being thirty, sixty or a hundred. In a field of grain each stalk can produce a different number of grains. The hundred will be a hundred grains, sixty will be sixty grains, thirty will be thirty grains. But when you harvest it, you do not look for just the hundred or the thirty, you just put them all together. They become one. I am no better than you are. You are my brothers and sisters. I care about you. I am not looking at someone and saying, “Oh, he is just thirty, he is sixty, he is a hundred.” I am looking at you as a brother and sister that God has called, given a new birth experience, and given strength to serve Him. Verse 18, “I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: (He will take away the ones that afflict.) and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.” He is talking about the Jewish people. In every nation where they have been shamed, God will take away that reproach and He will reward them instead. In another scripture [Micah 7], God says that He will bury their sins in the deepness of the sea. That is talking about Israel. We are buried in a watery grave, but God takes their sins and puts them in the sea of forgetfulness. Verse 20, “At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord.” God has planned something great to do with the Israeli nation.

The Apple of His Eye

Let us go from there to Zechariah Chapter 2, starting with Verse 1 and reading the whole chapter. “I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.” He is looking to measure something. He is going to measure Jerusalem. A measuring line at that time was probably a specific length of string or rope. “Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.” You find that in Chapter 11 of Revelation. Now Zechariah 2:3, “And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein.” Jerusalem will be different than it is now. Of course, cattle will not be running the streets, but there will be many animals there for sacrifice. People will come from Saudi Arabia and from various parts of the world to sacrifice cattle there. I have not heard any news lately about the red heifers that they moved from Texas to Israel. It may be a little bit longer, but everything of that nature is coming to a point. Do not ever get tired of hearing that we are nearing the coming of the Lord, because we are. The coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not let anyone put any other notion in your mind besides that. Verse 4 again, “And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein.” Israel has a wall over three hundred miles long. It goes right through Jerusalem today, separating the Arabs and the Jews. On the Jewish side it is very beautiful, but on the Arab side it is just a mess. They have put all kinds of writings and graffiti on it because they did not want the wall. But it has worked. Look at our southern border. Mr. Trump was fixing it to where illegals would not be able to walk across. Now in just a few days, on May the tenth [2023], the current administration is going to completely open the border. We already have seven thousand (that they can count) coming across illegally every day. There are people from China, Afghanistan, all these places, they are coming across our border with Mexico. Why would they come here? Certainly not to do any good. Some of them cover their faces so they cannot be recognized. Mr. Biden says he will fix everything. He is going to send fifteen hundred government service people down there to fill out paperwork. He is going to create another ‘Czar’ position for Kamala Harris to take care of artificial intelligence. What craziness! Verse 5, “For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations (Speaking of Gentile people.) shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.” I will stop there and go further the next time. Prayer.    

May 7, 2023
AM Service

It is good to be here and see all of you this morning. It is a privilege to be among the people of God and see all the ones that come from different places. Just yesterday across the river in Louisville, Kentucky, they held a horse race, The Kentucky Derby, which lasted for two minutes. Many people prepared for months for that two-minute race. That was their anticipation and expectation. Now they will be planning for next year and they do not even know what next year will bring. But we know that time is getting short and that we must prepare as they would prepare for a race. They never know who the winner will be, but we know we are going to be winners. There is no doubt about it, the saints of God will be able to shine in this time and be a part of that Great Kingdom that God has spoken of throughout His Word. He has revealed in the Book of Revelation, as well as in other parts of the Bible, what it will be like. Of course, the church world wants nothing to do with revelation. They want people to think that everything will continue to go on just like it is now because they have already lost their way. At one time, the Baptists and many of the Methodists talked about the coming of the Lord. I can remember being in those old revivals back in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s when they preached messages that were specifically concerning the coming of the Lord. They put fear in you because you believed it. But now the denominations do not want to hear it because it is something that will mess up their plans. I do not see how people can have any plans in the time we are living in. The United States government is planning to spend fifty trillion dollars to get their green energy plan going. They say that we will have no pollution. What is that going to do for India, China, and all the Third World countries? Even if they could get all the pollution out of this country, then it will spread from these other places. But they are not going to get everything out; it is just a farce. They think they have an answer for everything. These officials want to get rid of foods that are good for you, but it has been discovered that they are eating those things which they have spoken against. They speak against using fuel for energy, yet they fly around everywhere in their private jets. They are a bunch of hypocrites, and the church world has become the same. They really do not believe in the coming of the Lord. If they do not believe in that, they do not believe in anything. We believe in the coming of the Lord. It has not dampened our spirits whatsoever that He has not returned yet, because we know He is coming back. He said He would, and we believe He will. We believe that He is going to gather a Bride. Out of the many billions of people, He will have a few Bride people. It happened in the days of Noah. It happened in the days of Christ. We read where Paul mentions that there were above five hundred that were able to see Jesus go away, but all were not in the upper room. There were only one hundred and twenty up there because the others had to do other things. Some may have had little babies to take care of and things like that, so they could not be there. The scripture tells us that Mary was there because she was going to have to receive the same thing as everybody else. Of course, the Catholic Church wants to make her a saint, not realizing there are saints here on this earth. They do not have live saints, all theirs are dead, and that is who they pray to. They just as well pray to a stick of wood. Even though they were good people that have gone on, you do not pray to them. You think about them, you care that they have been an influence in your life, but you do not pray to them. There is only one that you pray to: our Father. You pray to Him in the Name of Jesus Christ. Because He died but rose again. And because of that He is going to take a people to Himself. The scripture says, that where He is, there you may be also [John 14]. Sometimes those verses are read when somebody dies, but they have a deeper meaning than that.

Established In The Truth

Jesus knew why He was here and why He went away. It may be that even John the Baptist did not completely know the purposes of the ministry of Jesus, but he did say, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” He was speaking of the Lamb of God which was to be slain to take away our sin. When we trust in Him and His death and resurrection, that is the new birth experience that we have in Him. Young people, it is very important that you get established in truth, and that you are deeply acquainted with the Lord. We do not want to just let that slip by. I am not evangelizing, but I am saying that it is important that we have an experience with the Lord and that we know who He is. Because He is coming back. No matter how many times you hear it, no matter how many times people say, “Well, I have heard that all my life.” One of these days it is going to happen. We do not know when, but we know it is soon. The Jewish nation is preparing to celebrate their seventy-fifth anniversary on May 14, [2023]. The next day, May 15, 1948, they went to war. I would rather look forward to that event than I would to twenty horses running around a track [like yesterday]. No telling how much money people spent on that horse race. People that could not afford to bet a lot of money on it did so, thinking they were going to better themselves. Now this morning they are probably drunk or hungover, having lost most of their money they put on some horses. I like to see horses run; it is a beautiful thing to watch. I had forgotten about the race but turned it on just as they were lining up. Not every horse got there. Everybody that is claiming to come to the Lord will not be there. Everybody that says that Jesus is their Savior is not going to be there. But there are a special people that will be there. Those mentioned in Matthew 24 and 25 are special and always will be special. We do not have to make ourselves look like the world or try to be a part of the world. We are a different people. We do not have to wear something new every Sunday. Most of my clothes have been worn, and worn, and worn. I go from black to blue, then from blue to black. I have many ties that have been given to me, and I wear them whenever I can. But nothing of this nature is going to save you. No matter how much people think about you, that is not going to save you. It is what is in your heart.

 

I have three scriptures in the New Testament, and a couple of scriptures in the Old Testament that I will try to get to. Sometimes Jesus speaks in such terms that if we do not watch, we will miss the thought. Just like the prayer that I will read from Matthew Chapter 6. This prayer has more in it than just praying over our food: “…Give us this day our daily bread.” That is a part of it, but it is more than that. It is very important that we pray over our food no matter where we are. We do not have to make a big scene over it because we are not praying to people. Some preachers have stood up in restaurants and said such things as, “I am ready to pray over my food, all of you bow your heads.” That is not gospel; that is stupidity. Jesus went to eat with Pharisees, and He went to eat with tax collectors, but He did not make a big show of praying over His food. When they said something about what He and His disciples were doing (they claimed his disciples did not wash their hands) He rebuked the Pharisees. If you listen to any messages of Bro. Jackson, you will find that he speaks of times when he was out working the crops in the fields where there was no water. He would have a sandwich, or something that had been prepared for him that he ate without washing his hands. When I was a boy, they used to say that you have to eat so much dirt in your life to get acquainted with your surroundings. I believe in cleanliness; I believe in clean food. But at times there are other circumstances. I wonder where the ‘five thousand’ washed their hands?

The Importance Of Prayer

The Bible is very much alive in our daily life. It is not something that we read in the morning, then put it away for the rest of the day. It is something that stays with us. It has a lingering effect. The world does not want it, but we love the Word of the Lord. First, let us go to Matthew Chapter 6, Verse 8, “Be not ye therefore like unto them: (He is talking about the Pharisees and all the other hypocrites.) for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: (He is not putting forth a long prayer. I have a reason for saying that, which you will see later. There are times when we need to spend more time in prayer. I try to spend a good amount of time in the morning when I wake up, but I know it is not possible for everybody. I remember years ago, a person bragging about how much time they spent praying to the Lord every morning. After they had finished, Bro. Jackson got up to speak and he said, “It may be that you only have five minutes in the morning. You use that time to pray unto the Lord.” It is not the amount of time you spend praying, but it is the purpose that we have in that time. Everyone cannot spend two hours praying but God knows your heart. It would be impossible for a young mother to spend that much time when she has a baby crying, who is needing nourishment. I remember Bro. Branham went to a place shortly before he died and a woman had a newborn baby that started crying and she got so embarrassed because her baby was crying. He sensed that and said to her, “Sister, that baby is not able to talk yet, but when it cries it needs something.” He was not talking about a five-year-old. When a five-year-old whimpers all the time they need to be corrected. They need to be told to stop it.

 

I want you to know the importance of prayer. The importance is how we use our prayer life, what we put into it is what we will get out of it. Jesus is saying a few words. He did not make a long prayer for his disciples. Listen to what He says in Verse 9, “After this manner (He is not telling them to say exactly the same words, but to have the same motive that He has when He prays.) therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” In other words, He is giving praise to the Father. He is praying to the One who put Him here for a purpose. He knows what He is saying. He is saying words that is for inspiration to others, because He is teaching His disciples how to pray. He did not tell them to go home and say the same words that I am saying. I love these words, but you must know what you are praying about. “…Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” The next verse is talking about the Millennium. That is my subject. Verse 10, “Thy kingdom come. (The kingdom that He is talking about is not here yet, but He is praying for the Kingdom of God to come because He knows that in that kingdom there will be a different type of rulership.) Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” We know that has never happened. It must be that He is looking ahead to the Millennium and on to the eternal age. He is not mincing words. He is letting them know (and He is letting us know, always keep that in mind) that there is a kingdom coming. He is speaking two thousand years ago about a coming kingdom. There was no reason not to say something about the coming of the Lord back then, and there is certainly no reason not to say something now. Jesus said that He did not know when that time would come, it was all in the hands of the Father. But in Matthew 24 He spoke of things that would happen before that time would come. Verse 10 again, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Then He goes ahead to talk about the present time of the disciples, and our present time here on this earth. Verse 11, “Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, (Or our sins. In the book of Luke it says, “And forgive us our sins.”) as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: (He is telling us to pray about getting ourselves under control. You might say, “I thought salvation did that?” Salvation is something that is ongoing. It does not just happen and is done instantly. It is a growing process. If you are going to be in the Bride of Christ, you have to grow. We must remember that.) For thine is the kingdom, (That is what we are looking for.) and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

God Never Changes

Verse 14, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” You do not hold grudges, you do not try to make people feel guilty when they have done something wrong that they have confessed. Because we did not come into this world as righteous people. The understanding of the scripture is ongoing. We must grow. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, until we get to the time that we bear the nine fruits of the spirit. If somebody comes to me and asks me to forgive them, I am going to forgive them, and then I am going to forget it. I have had that happen. A person came to me and said, “Forgive me, I had unkind thoughts about you.” I did not know, but they confess that they did. Do you think that I am going to go through the next week thinking about that? I am not, because I am going to lay that aside. That is not going to bother me, even though I did not know about it. In one way we are individuals, but we are a body in another way also. You are a part of me, and I am a part of you. We preachers are a part of the ministry; the ministry is a part of you. We are not somebody sitting up here on a pedestal trying to get people to look at this flesh. The flesh will fail you, but God never fails. His Word is spoken in truth, that truth He goes by. It does not change. God does not change; He is very much the same.

The Regeneration Is
The Millennium

I want to go to Matthew 19:27-30. “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, (They had laid their jobs aside because the Lord called them to do a Work. He was going to keep them away from the fishing pole, and from the fishing hole, which they had enjoyed.

 

People have jobs they hate. You will notice when you are around them, that is all they talk about. I had two to four main jobs in my life. I worked at Fisher Body in Cincinnati, Ohio for three years. It was hot, hard work. Every morning as we were sitting around waiting to start work, this one man would talk against our boss. I never will forget, he was a little fellow from Tennessee named Ernie Hudson. I was not a Christian at that time, but I never did join in conversation where people were cursing. I did not believe in it, not even then. But one morning when ‘Little Tennessee Ernie Hudson’ was talking against the boss, he came in quietly behind him. The boss nor anyone else said anything, just let him go ahead and talk. He heard every word of it. It was funny to me because we had to hear that every morning before work started.

 

But Peter had a job, and I believe he loved it. He did not always catch fish, but it did not keep him from trying. Here he is, not complaining, but he is asking a question. Verse 27, “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” Jesus knows that he is asking about what they will have in the kingdom. Jesus had just been talking about things of that nature. “And Jesus said unto them, (Not just Peter.) Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, (Here on earth.) in the regeneration (The regeneration is The Millennium, when the world is made new. Because the world is going to be regenerated. The lives of people will be regenerated because they have been changed. We are going to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. It will be the quickest clothes change you have ever had in your life. It will be so fast, it will be as quick as the twinkle of an eye, that is quick!) when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

The Twelve Apostles
Will Rule In Jerusalem

He is talking to the twelve disciples at that time, but He knew it did not apply to one of them. But He is including the future one who will be put in because he mentions the twelve tribes. He knew there was one that had not yet been named an apostle, which is Matthias. Matthias may or may not have been there, nevertheless he does not know anything about what is going to happen soon. I do not know if he was there, but I do know that he was a follower of Jesus since the baptism of John [Acts 1:15 -26]. Verse 28 again, “…That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The throne of His glory is the Millennium. He is not glorified now. He is by us, but not by the world. They care nothing for Him. This setting is similar to what the Bride is going to be in the Millennium on a worldwide scale. The twelve apostles will be in Jerusalem ruling over Israel. One apostle for each tribe. If they are judging, then there must be someone and something to judge. The Bride will not be ruling in Israel, that is up to the twelve apostles. There must be things that the Bride is supposed to do to make the kingdom something that God will be proud of. Even now we are learning the ways of God. As the Bible says in Second Peter 2:18, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” We are learning how to live and how to present ourselves. I have gone over Revelation 3:20-22 before. Jesus says that it will be on an individual basis. He says that He is standing at the door and knocking, whosoever will, let him or her open the door, and I will come in and sup with them, and they with me. That is exactly what He is doing now to every one that has an open door [heart]. If there is something that you are not liking about a ministry, or something they are doing, then examine it by the Word. Do not say, “Well, this is just the way I am.” God is not going to accept you or me just the way we are. We must be changed.

The Bride Will Rule Throughout The Earth

“…when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” A judge is someone who has authority. Twice in the book of Revelation it says that we shall be “kings and priests,” that is authority. The Bride will rule throughout this earth. That is not just a little minor thing that is going to happen. It is going to happen in a major sense because the world is going to need to be judged. And it will be the Bride that will do the judging. He did not call us to just ‘sit on a cloud eating cotton candy.’ But that is the picture the world has painted. They think that after all this is over, they will sit out here on a cloud somewhere and relax. The Bible says that we will be as the angels of heaven, and there are angels who are very hard at work. You read in Daniel Chapter 10 that the angel that comes to him says that the prayers of Daniel were heard from the beginning, but the angel could not come for twenty-one days because he was helping certain kings by fighting against the prince [demon of Satan] of the kingdom of Persia, and the angel Michael came and helped him. Michael will be there for the children of Israel when their war starts. The angels have authority, and they delegate things to people, even to ministries. They have a part in placing the nine gifts in the hearts of certain ones to fulfill something for God. Each gift is given by authority, and we must never use any of them by force. We are not forcing people to believe, but we are asking.

 

Let us go back to Matthew 19:29, “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” Did you catch the thought? There is a statement in that verse that tells you, if you live your life for God, then you are going to be better off (even in the natural). Let me read it again, “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, (Notice this part:) shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” In other words, if somebody has something, God bless them. I did not ever think I would leave Casey County, Kentucky, but I have been around this world with Bro. Steve and Sis. Elsie. I have not regretted one trip that I have taken. There have been times when it was for only one person. Maybe the fruit of it will be for more people later. I know when we went to Australia, there was one man that received something. Now there are more people watching from Australia. Did you know there are people watching from Israel? Who knew that this ministry that God has raised up would ever have the effect that it has? Brothers and sisters, let me say this to you, wherever you are, wherever you come from, you are as important as we are! For this message to go out over the internet as it has is wonderful. I do not know of another message that has gone all over this world as this one has. I am not bragging about it from my standpoint. It is not me; it is God. He is the One who gets the glory! I want Him to
get the glory out of it all. I believe we have something to say, to edify the body of Christ, wherever it would be. There are places in this world where there are fifteen to twenty internet connections in just a small area. Some of these are not just individual people, some are groups of people. We did not advertise. This is the work of God, it is not mine. Many are listening to find Truth.

 

You can see here what I am talking about, look at all the places where people are online.

 

Firing of Tucker Carlson

Bro. David Nickell sent me a video clip about Tucker Carlson, the conservative political commentator from Fox News, being fired. The night he was fired, he told everybody they should pray ten minutes a day for our future. He was fired for that and for exposing many other things.

 

(At this point in his sermon Bro. Allen plays a video clip of Jonathan Cahn speaking. See: fachurch.org, Bro. Allen’s Archive Index, 5-8-2023, The Millennium, Part 4, @ 1:15:20).

To be continued in next issue…