Preached on September 11, 2022 – am

 As we look at our nation this morning, America is not responsible for the way the world is, but America is responsible for what goes on here. It was twenty-one years ago today when the United States was attacked by hijacked airplanes that flew into the towers, hit the Pentagon, and crashed in a field there in Pennsylvania. I know many in America are anxious about what might happen on the anniversary.

 

It was also two years ago today that my wife passed away. Time has passed so quickly; it seems like it was just yesterday. Many have lost loved ones since that time. I always remember each of you and pray that the will of the Lord be done for you. That God will strengthen you. We thank the Lord for the privilege to be here this morning. We not only want to make good use of this privilege, but to do something in which the Lord will be satisfied. I want to explain things, I do not want to leave things hanging. I believe the scripture is to be understood, and there are a people that will understand. Never be afraid to ask questions concerning something that I may have preached. Do not be afraid to ask questions because I will do my best to answer them in a scriptural way.

Bro. Branham Fulfilled
his Ministry

I know I have gone back and forth from my subject, but I will continue with the Millennium and the eternal age this morning. I have added several scriptures in Revelation including Revelation 21:9-27. As I look at that scripture, I know that it is speaking of the Millenium. I was researching some things, and I heard about a man that lived in the time of Bro. Branham. He was talking about the book of Revelation and said that the church leaves in the third Chapter of Revelation and is not heard from any more until Revelation 19. We know that did not happen; that statement is not true. It is just the idea of a man. John was taken up at the beginning of the fourth Chapter as a representation of the rapture taking place after the seven church ages are completed in Chapter 3. As you see, the twenty-four elders are in seats around the throne and the four beasts are before the throne in Chapters 4 and 5. But we have been taught that in the order of fulfillment, Chapter 6, Verses 1 through 11, and also, in parts of Chapter 8, and Chapter 10 the Bride Church is still here on earth. But somebody will think they are quoting something, and they do not even know the scriptures because they do not go by them anymore. To hear some of those men that were close to Bro. Branham, who say Bro. Branham was Jesus Christ in the flesh. What a crazy, mixed-up bunch of people to think anything of that nature. Bro. Branham was the prophet to the age, but he was not Jesus Christ. But he represented Jesus Christ, just as the Bride will represent Jesus Christ before she leaves here. There are still people out there that believe that Bro. Branham is going to raise from the dead before the end and have that tent ministry that he mentioned. We know that is not the truth. I remember when men approached Bro. Jackson with that question. He said, ‘Bro. Branham will raise again but it will be in the resurrection.’ If you make any more of what he was than what God called him to be, then that is an antichrist spirit. We know that he did his job well, fulfilling the plan of God for his ministry.

The Scripture Is To Inform

I want to bring out something about where the Gentiles really fit into this. In Revelation 21, Verse 2, we see the city coming down. That city is Gentile Bride people. The city itself is the cube, but then there are the gates, the foundation, and the walls, which are Jewish people. Many of them have gone on, but there are some alive today that will be a part of the gates and wall. I want to go into these things this morning and see where we can fit them into the scripture. I talked with Bro. David yesterday and gave him five new scriptures in Revelation for today but after I hung up, five more scriptures came to me, and I had them added this morning. These five almost fell into my lap because I was not looking for anything else. It is these scriptures that I want to deal with. I had already thought of Revelation 21, but these other scriptures I had not thought about. Matthew 19, Acts 15, going on into Isaiah 42 and 49, then Ephesians 2:19-22. I want to deal with these things this morning in a rightful way. I never want to leave people out on a limb, thinking that they have a mixed-up picture. The scripture is not to deceive people, the scripture is to inform people. This is what we believe in doing, and this is what we are doing in this hour of time. To bring forth something that is fitting for the hour and time. You may ask me, why are you dividing this out? It is because of something that Jesus said in Matthew 19. (We will get to that later.) I went over this last week, as you read down through the first eight verses of Revelation Chapter 21, you have one verse there, the second verse, which deals with the Bride. Verse 1, then Verses 3 through 8 are talking about after the Millennium is over. John is talking about a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, which will be into the eternal age. (Jesus even prayed that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven). You still have situations in the Millennium where everything is not completely correct. It is for the Bride and those Jewish apostles to take care of those situations that come. They will come about because you have people that are born in that Millennium age. I am not talking about the sheep people of Matthew 25 causing problems. They will go into the Millennium as natural sheep people with eternal life and will come out as sheep people at the end of the age. God does not have sheep and then make them goats. He does not have goats and then makes them sheep. It is either sheep or goats. But the sheep people do have children in the Millennium. There will be several generations of natural people born in the Millennium, and many of them will rebel against the rule of Jesus Christ and His Bride and against the rule of the twelve apostles.

 

Back at the end of the 1260 days (the last half of the 70^th week of Daniel) Armageddon takes place. Then after Armageddon is over and the European nations (the beast) have defeated the kings of the East, they will think that they have the upper hand over heaven. (Also, around that time, we find that the false prophet proclaims that he is God (see Daniel 11 and Revelation 13)). But Jesus returns with His Bride on white horses and extinguishes that army! Then the spirits of the beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire until they are dealt with again at that great judgment at the end of the Millennium.

 

After Armageddon there is an extra seventy-five days added to the 1260 days. When you read in the last verses of Daniel 12, he is talking about that extra thirty days and the extra forty-five days. The thirty and the forty-five days, which totals seventy-five days, will put you into the beginning of the Millennium. Judgment will happen to the earth in those thirty days then the sheep and goat people are judged in the forty-five days. We know that the devil is bound for a thousand years at the beginning of the Millennium.

The Eternal Age

Let me read Revelation 21, Verse 1, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: (That is the eternal age.) for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away: and there was no more sea.” I went over that last Sunday. There will be no more oceans. There will be bodies of water like lakes, but the oceans will go back to where they were before the flood when the heavens (called ‘the fountains of the deep’ in Genesis) were opened. Now after Verse 2, which we will get to later, John goes back to the subject of Verse 1, which is after the last judgment has taken place, when death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. Verse 3, “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, (It says, ‘the tabernacle of God.’ As I went over the scriptures in Romans, Chapter 8 last week. In the eternal age Jesus Christ becomes our elder brother when the kingdom will go back to God who created it. Jesus Christ rules during the Millennium, because of what He has done. He has established a people to recognize what the Old Testament was all about and to bring them into a relationship with Himself, to where they can be taught. It takes the Holy Ghost to teach. The ministry cannot teach without the Holy Ghost. He is the teacher. We are the instructors, but He is the teacher. Without Him we can do nothing. I must place it that way.) “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, (He is contrasting the tabernacle of the Old Testament with the tabernacle of the New Testament and beyond. In the Old Testament the tabernacle was where the presence of God came down as a cloud by day and a fire by night. Now He is our tabernacle in a new way. We are in a personal relationship with Him. In that eternal age there will be nothing there but eternal life. We know that hell and all things in the lake of fire will not be eternal. After a time, they will be completely consumed and done away with, as it has been explained to us.) and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” That is talking about the kingdom going back to God after the Millennium is over. Verse 4, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; (This would be the tears of those natural people that they have cried during the Millennium because of things that the rebellious people (some of them their own family and friends) did that had to be corrected. And because of the fear of a war that they thought they would have to face when Satan was loosed and was able to deceive many to go up against Jerusalem. But God extinguishes them without a war.) and there shall be no more death, (No more death, at the end of the great white throne judgment, when that is over, there shall be no more death.) neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: (All of those things that still occurred in the Millennium are over now.) for the former things are passed away.” Of course, we know that there is much more pain to be suffered from now until the end of the 70^th week, than there will be in the Millennium, but there will still be pain. Verse 5, “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. (When God says, ‘It is done.’ It is over, you just as well say ‘Amen.’) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” That is the tree of life in the eternal age. The eternal age will go back to what it should have been before the fall. The tree of life was there in the garden, but it was never partaken of. But it will be partaken of in the eternal age by the natural people. The tree of life will be that which will give life to those little ones who will be born with eternal life during that eternal age. Verse 7, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” As I said earlier, that connects with the eighth chapter of Romans. John concluded his description of the eternal age with the seventh verse.

Recap of The Great White Throne Judgment

Now Verse 8 refers back to the final judgment in Revelation Chapter 20, verses 10 through 15: “But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Where The Gentiles Fit In

Let us go back to Revelation 21, Verse 2, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, (That is the Bride, she has already been there, he sees her coming down out of heaven, because she is finished with the marriage supper. The marriage supper is over, and she is coming back to do what she has been instructed to do. She has just received her instructions during that seven-year period before the Millennium starts.) Verse 2 again, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

 

Now I will go to Verse 9, “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, (These are plagues, which happen in the last half of the week.) and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” This is very important. I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife. “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” Verse 11, “Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” Verses 2, 9, 10, and 11 that I have just gone over are talking about the Gentile Bride people. I will read further.

The City Is Protected by Jewish People

Verse 12 begins to talk about Jewish people, “And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, (These are all Jews.) and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” This is the gates, and this is the walls, the guard of the city. In the Old Testament, there were always gates, which were kept closed until they needed to be opened. Then there were walls to protect everything. The walls are a protection. We will go into the writings of Paul shortly that show the Jewish apostles and Old Testament prophets were the foundation and protection of the Bride. “On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.” The gates represent the twelve tribes of Israel, their names are on them. “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” These were Jews that were converted, the early Jewish apostles. The Bride is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone. Verse 15, “And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.” See? He is measuring each part individually, dividing these out, showing the difference between the city (Bride) and the protection (Jewish saints). “And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed twelve thousand furlongs. (This represents a measure that will reach around the world. I know some have said the city will come and just set down over the earth. The way they have it would block out everything. They think there are streets of pure gold. But the ‘gold street’ is a representation of what our faith is. Verse 16 again, “And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.” That is a cube. Bro. Jackson even mentioned that it was a cube. A cube is no longer a cube if you try to add to it or take anything from it. This is the city; this is the Bride. But the Bride has to have protection. The apostles and the Jewish prophets of the Old Testament protect us. That is where Paul got his message, as he brought it out. Verse 18, “And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.” Pure gold like unto glass. That is your faith. That is what the church is going to have when she leaves here. She is going to have what it is going to take: a pure faith, and a pure life (the best that we can attain while on this earth). Verses 19 and 20 describe the precious stones that make up the foundations of the wall (the twelve apostles). The city, as I said before, was built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. In Verse 21 it goes back to the twelve gates which represent the twelve tribes of Israel (Jews) protecting the city (Bride). “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” Again, the street of the city. Verse 22, “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” As I went into the early verses of this chapter, we see God as being the one that is going to make a new heaven and a new earth. This earth is going to be cleaned. All the judgments that happen during that thirty-day period are going to destroy many things. God brings judgment on this earth, but He also brings judgment on human beings to get rid of all the trash and different things. He is going to get rid of it once and for all. He is going to burn it. But now in this you are looking at Bride again. Verse 22 again, “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” He adds the Lamb back in now because this is the Millennium when Jesus Christ is reigning. You see in the part concerning the eternal age, God is the one spoken of because Jesus and the Bride are no longer reigning then. “And the city (He is talking about the city now. I am trying to bring out that there are also different parts such as the walls, the gates, and the foundations. But here we find, “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, (That is Bride people.) to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” There will be no night for the Bride. You might ask, how are you going to sleep? Well, just talk to God about that, because I do not think we are going to be sleeping too much. There will not be any ‘all-night singings’ going on, there will be singing all the time. There is no night there, for the Bride. There will still be day and night all the way through the eternal age for the natural people. There will still be day and night, but it will not affect the Bride of Jesus Christ, nor those that make up the wall, gates, foundations, or anything thereof. Verse 24, “And the nations of them which are saved (Talking about the nations that exist in the Millennium. There will be nations just like there are now, but without sin. They are going to be ruled with a righteous rule.) shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.” I was talking about a cube earlier, that nothing can enter it. That cube is perfection. What he is talking about here, is the nations of them that are saved, are going to live by the rules of the Bride of Jesus Christ. The Bride will be over the entire world at that time, not just a little bit here or a little bit there, it is going to be the whole earth. I want to read that verse again. “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: (God and the Lamb are the light of the Bride, and the Bride is the light of that Millennial city. We are talking about the Millennium here.) And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. Verse 25, “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.” This is not talking about an earthly city, or earthly gates, or earthly walls. We are talking about people that have lived a life found worthy to earn that position. “And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.” At the beginning of the Millennium the Bride will have to force certain national leaders to follow the rules. That is when the Bride will be judges. The scriptures say, ‘Know ye not that we shall judge angels, how much more the things of life.’ The kings and priests will be the top judges, but all the other brothers and the sisters will be a part of that too. Verse 27, “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

In The Regeneration

I want to go to the Book of Matthew, Chapter 19, Verses 27-30. This is a part of what we are looking at in Revelation 21. I began to see something yesterday as I studied. These scriptures came to me, and I spent some time looking them all up. But that is all right, I enjoyed it. Jesus is talking to the disciples. He has made it look so stringent that they have questions in their minds, ‘Could anyone be saved?’ Peter is asking the question. Verse 27, “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” As we look at this, Jesus is explaining the part of Revelation that I just went over. “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration (He is talking about the Millennium. It will take those one thousand years to regenerate a new heaven and a new earth for the eternal age. Regeneration is mentioned one other time, referring to the regeneration of the soul (Titus 3:5). However, here He is talking about the regeneration of the earth. You will see that as we look at this.) …Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, (comma) 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 Jewish apostles will not be judging the world, they will be judging the twelve tribes of Israel. This will be their portion that God gives them. I will go into that a little more later. Verse 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, (Jesus is talking about ‘for His name’s sake.’) shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” He is talking only to His disciples. He is saying, ‘everyone [of you] that have forsaken.’ He is not talking about the world over. He is talking about disciples because some of them had wives, some of them had children. (We know Peter had a wife because he had a mother-in-law.) I am sure the disciples took care of their families. They did not just leave them to starve, but they had to be away from them a great deal. They forsook their fishing boats, they forsook their comfortable homes, to live under the stars many times. That is where Jesus lived. That is where He was the last night that He was upon this earth – in the garden. He went there often to sleep under those old olive trees that we have seen. A man once said to Jesus that he would follow Him. Jesus said, ‘The foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.’ Jesus did not have a home. He did while growing up, but when He left for His ministry, He no longer had a home. He was dependent upon people to give Him a place to sleep, or He slept under the stars. This is what He is saying to the disciples. This is what really happened. “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.” Verse 30, “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” Why would He say that? He is talking about rulership. We know that these disciples and other early Jews who received the Holy Ghost will rule in their Jewish realm during the Millennium. But the Bride that makes up that city will come from the worldwide Gentile realm from the ones in the house of Cornelius until the end.

A Theocracy To Rule
in The Millennium

Let me go to Acts Chapter 15, starting in Verse 13. “And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:” If you read the book of James, you will see that he wrote his letter to the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. It is not unto the Gentile Bride. But we find he had some great instructions for the Bride. He was writing his letter to the twelve tribes of Israel which are scattered abroad, as he said. It is the apostles and those that mostly stayed with the Jewish people. We know God called Peter to go unto the Gentiles, but then the Jewish law lingered with the apostles. You can see this in what James is talking about. “And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, men and brethren, hearken unto me. Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” A people for His name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, taken out of the Gentiles to be His Bride. It was the ministry of Paul that really brought the Gentile Bride into focus. Paul wrote more letters to Gentiles than all the apostles put together. Verse 15, “And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, (which is the Jews,) which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, (His name, the name of Jesus Christ. All this other stuff, the titles: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, forget it! It has nothing to do with the message. Nothing to do with the message, nothing! You might say, you are taking a lot upon yourself. I am taking scriptures. I am not taking anything on myself, I am just delivering to you the Word that is right here before you in black and white. From Verse 17 again, “That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” James gave a great message there. Then they tell Paul and Barnabas, ‘Go to the Gentiles and we will stay with the Jews.’ This is what Jesus told the apostles in Matthew 19, that they would be rulers over the twelve tribes of Israel. That will be in the Holy Land, it will not be the world over. But the Bride of Jesus Christ will be world rulers. It will be a theocracy (Ed. Definition: A government ruled by priests in the name of God.) God Himself guiding them, and Jesus Christ. It will not be a Senate and a Congress trying to make up their minds. No. There will be judges, priests, and other positions that make up the Bride who will be over the people of the earth.

Builded Together

Let me go from there to Ephesians Chapter 2, Verse 19, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, (He is talking to the Ephesian people, who are Gentiles. They were considered strangers and foreigners before salvation. That is what we were, strangers and foreigners from the grace of God.) but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.” That is what I talked about earlier. Verse 21, “In whom all the building (The Bride, the building.) fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.” It grows, it is not complete at first, it grows just like a baby. It grows unto a holy temple in the Lord. Once there is that ‘cap’ (the roof) on the building, then everything is sheltered where the rest of it can be worked on. I hope we are working on it every day. Verse 22, “In whom ye also are builded together (We are builded together, not apart, together.) for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” For God’s habitation, His dwelling place. They talk about Habitat for Humanity homes; this is a habitat for the Bride of Christ. Again, “In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”  There is no other way.

A Light of The Gentiles

Now I will go to Isaiah Chapter 42. This chapter begins as a prophecy about the Lord Jesus. Verse 1, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.” Jesus was not a street preacher; He went into the synagogue. I am not speaking against street preachers; at one time they had a work to do. There were people put out of churches that the street preachers would preach to. I remember a story I was told about a man down in Burkesville. He had a wife and two sons. He would go out to preach and when he came home, they would not let him in. Many times, he had to sleep in the barn or wherever he could find a place, but he kept preaching. There was a little church down there that he preached in. He would get so happy preaching; he would say, ‘This place is not big enough for me,’ and he would go outside and preach through the windows. There were people back in the early 1900’s that really did hold up the truth. The Church was moving out of the Philadelphia age into the Laodicean age at that time. There were men that did have a true ministry. Verse 2 again, “He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:” He is talking about the life that God gave. Verse 6, “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;” Paul preached the Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. “To open the blind eyes, (That is talking about the Gentiles being blinded to truth.) to bring out the prisoners from the prison, (The Gentile world was in prison. We had no hope before Jesus Christ. But then God called Paul to be a witness to the Gentile people. He was the only one who could have done what he did. That is the way God designed it. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told them to preach unto Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, then to the uttermost parts of the earth. This all started with Peter. He introduced salvation unto the Gentiles. But God had to convince him. In Acts Chapter 10, He made him fall into a trance. Peter had to see that vision to accept that the Gentiles were a part of God’s work in the last days. In Romans Paul said, ‘I magnify my office as the apostle of the Gentiles.’) Verse 7 is speaking of that, “To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” Paul spread the news throughout the known world at that time, through Asia, and through Europe, then into Rome at the end. He wrote many of his letters from there in the last six years of his life. He did write Romans and both letters to the Corinthians before that, but most of the smaller letters Paul wrote while he was in prison in Rome. The ministry of Paul brought the Gentile people out of a spiritual prison house. It opened their blind eyes to where they could receive the gospel. But then the majority of the Jews rejected it and were blinded. God would not work with Jews and Gentiles at the same time.

 

I pray that this has brought something to light for you, that you will be blessed by it in some way. May the Lord bless you. Prayer.

September 15, 2022
PM Service

A Brother from Illinois called me with a question. While we were talking, he mentioned a law the State of Illinois just passed that allows convicted second degree murderers and rapists to be released. Also, people who have assaulted policemen can be released. Many places do not want a police force. This is the first state to pass such a law, but you know when something like that starts it spreads. Something needs to happen in this country to get some of the politicians out of office. Maybe then some of these things will settle down in a better way. We have a government that does not care for people. They only care for themselves and what power and fame they can get. When a politician goes into office not having anything, then comes out with millions of dollars, something is wrong. I know I can get in trouble for saying things like that. If you voted for Trump, then you are on their list. That is a shame. But God be praised! He knows all about it and He is going to take care of His own. I believe that.

Dust Shall Be
The Serpent’s Meat

I will go to Isaiah 65 to answer his question. Maybe I can say some things that will help. Verse 17, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”  He is talking about going into the eternal age there. This goes along with Revelation 21 where it says, ‘I saw a new heaven and a new earth… and there was no more sea.’ In Isaiah it does not mention ‘no more sea’ but that is all that is left out. Then Isaiah goes back into the Millennium age in Verses 18 through 24, “But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”  This is the work of Millennial people. “They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” In other words, in the Millennium, there is no need for long prayer services. God will hear and respond immediately because He knows their hearts. But here is the verse I want to look at. Verse 25 is in the eternal age, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.” We know that the serpent began as an upright creature in the book of Genesis. This is not talking about the entire snake family. The serpent became one individual species of the snake family. We have snakes, but we have a serpent which did his dirty work back in the beginning. The question was asked me, ‘To what extent is he going to be when the eternal age comes?’ This verse tells us what the serpent will be. It is the one and only serpent that was in the garden. But now he is without arms and without legs. He will continue to crawl on his belly. He is going to be with the other snake species as he has been since Genesis 3:14. When we look at the serpent in the beginning, we know the seed of the serpent has come through the ages of time and they are still living today. I was talking with someone who heard that scientists claim to have found DNA from the prehistoric animal kingdom before the Ice Age that will match humans today. If that is true, it would have to come through the serpent. Bro. Branham was asked about that. He said the scientists are looking for the missing link between the Neanderthal ‘Man’ of that prehistoric time and humans today. Bro. Branham said if they only knew the scripture they would find the missing link in the original serpent. He was a carryover from that time before the ice age. When Bro. Branham was talking about the serpent, he said, ‘Off came his legs, off came his arms. That is the way he remained.’ There is one specific serpent out there that is different from all the rest of the snakes. When you come to the eternal age, he will no longer carry that gene which he had, because all the curses will be taken away. When the Millennium is over, the curse will be gone, but the serpent species will still be what it says here; he will still crawl upon his belly. He will be one of the creatures that will eat the bugs, lizards, mice, and things of that nature because you will still have them in the eternal age. That is going to be his meat, this is what it is talking about. But the curse that was brought upon man by what happened in the garden will completely go away. It will not be any more after that. This is how I answered my brother. I had never really thought too much about that scripture in Isaiah 65 before, but by the understanding that God gives us, we have an answer.

We Must Follow On
To Know Jesus Christ

A scientist asked Bro. Branham one time, ‘Do you all think that heaven and earth were created in six days?’ He said to Bro. Branham, ‘This all could be millions of years old.’ Bro. Branham said, ‘If it was a billion years old, what difference would it make.’ He knew the creation had to be more than six days. He knew there had to be an ice age before that. When Bro. Jackson taught this in Russia and different places, it made a lot of sense to them. Many of the Russian people came to him for prayer after he finished speaking about the prehistoric age. I think at one time there were seven hundred people that wanted him to lay hands on them and pray for them. But we find, if you do not follow on with truth, then you lose it. Russia today has lost what they had at that time. America is fast losing what she has had. We live in a difficult age and a difficult time. As far as the gospel is concerned, they would just as soon wish that we did not exist. That is the truth. They want a ‘no-God thing.’ They do not want anything to do with Jesus Christ. I saw on the news that they brought the Queen of England out in a parade the other day. The priest that spoke about her prayed in the name of Jesus Christ. He spoke about Jesus Christ and that the queen trusted in Jesus Christ. I thought, ‘That is pretty good.’ You would not hear that from any priest speaking to our politicians in America today.

 

I will read more from Isaiah. Chapter 66, Verse 1, “Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, (We read in Revelation that there will be no temple in that spiritual Millennial City (The Bride) because God and the Lamb will be the temple therein. Here God is just asking them, ‘What kind of building can you build for me?’ He goes ahead to tell…) and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” He looks to the Gentiles for a Bride for His Son before He looks back to the Jews. He is speaking of the time that we are living in. We are the people that honor His Word above everything else. We do that whenever we have services. He is the One who we are talking about. Even though we may go into other things of scripture, He is still the revelation that we are looking at.

Inherited Blessings of
The Bride

I want to go into the book of Revelation. You might say, well you have been over this before. I want to go over it again in a different relationship. Chapter 8, Verse 1, “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” As I said, we have been over that. The silence had to be in heaven. The silence was not upon the earth because we see in Verse 3, “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” He is talking about Bride people there; ‘all saints’ refers to the Bride. “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” As we look at these verses, they have to indicate something in relationship to the Bride on earth at that time. She must be the one inheriting the blessings from this. So, we see that this is going to happen just before the rapture takes place.

How Chapter 8 and
Chapter 10 Intertwine

When you go into Chapter 10, you are looking at what is going to happen when Jesus (in angelic form) comes back to bring His people into an even closer relationship that they will be able to understand the things which the seven thunders will bring forth that will soon be coming to pass. I will go to Chapter 10, Verse 1, “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.” This speaks of Jesus Christ in angelic form. “And he had in his hand a little book open: (Which was opened in Verse 1 of Chapter 8. That is the introduction to the opening of the seal, then Chapter 8, Verses 3 through 5 go into the prayers of the saints and what really happens just before they leave this earth. Much of Chapter 10 will go right along with Chapter 8, Verses 1, and 3 through 5. Chapter 10, Verses 1 through 6, fill in what Chapter 8 did not bring out. We will look at that. Verse 2 again, “And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,” This is an international setting. The Bride will be international because there were many people from many countries that died in years gone by that were Bride people. The apostles took the message into different parts of the world because Jesus charged them. He told them in the book of Acts, to go into Jerusalem, Judaea, and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth, which was to the Gentiles. We are the recipients of that commission because God was looking at the Gentiles even in the Old Testament. Verse 3, “And he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.” It is not known what they uttered, but they said something to inform the Bride that it was soon to be their time to leave. “And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: (He heard what they uttered, but it was taken from him. Yes, he understood what they said and was about to write, but it was taken from his mind. God is not going to let anybody hold that inside them. You know how we humans “spill the beans” or let something slip. Even if we do our best not to let it out, we sometimes cannot keep a secret. We might say things, so God just took it from him.) and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.” In other words, close your mind, close your mouth to it. Verse 5, “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer.” Now this is the end of the part that goes with the first part of Chapter 8. The end of Verse 6, ‘…time no longer’, is talking of the end of Grace for Gentile people. This closes out the intercession of Christ for the Bride people, and all Gentile people. The rest of Chapter 10 is dealing with Jewish people, except for Verse 7.

The Seventh Angel Messenger

Now there is something else here as we read on. God interjects Verse 7 ‘late’ in the order of time. It is not related to the rest of Chapter 10, Verses 8 through 11. But it has to do with the message that we have heard in our day. Verse 7, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, (That will be the message of Bro. William Branham when he began to speak on doctrine. That would be primarily concerning the later 1950’s, into the 1960’s. He is that seventh angel messenger.) the mystery of God should be finished, (Bro. Jackson went over that, this goes along with Revelation Chapter 6, the first four seals for the Gentiles and the fifth for the Jews.) as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” He declared unto Isaiah and other Old Testament prophets, that there would be salvation for the repentant Gentiles. So, the mystery of God was revealed in the fifth seal. That He did not cut off eternal life to the spiritual Jews while giving the Gentiles an opportunity to know the truth. Even Paul speaks of this in Romans Chapters 8 through 11.

The Two Jewish Prophets

Now in Revelation 10:8 the little book is still open, and there is a reason for that. I want to go into that reason because there is something for us to see. The book did not close when the Gentiles were finished, so the book is still open. Starting with Verse 8, this has to do with the two prophets, “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.” Go take the little book from him, because it is going to be for someone else, which is the Jewish people. “And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” If you read Ezekiel Chapters 2 and 3, you will see the same thing. Ezekiel eats a ‘roll (scroll) of a book’ and it is sweet as honey in his mouth, but he goes in bitterness to speak the message of the book to the house of Israel. Here John represents the two Jewish prophets. His stomach is sick because of the message they must carry unto the Jews. Verse 9 again, “And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” The message was sweet, but when the two prophets realize what the Jewish nation will have to go through because they sold out to the beast, then they are sickened. Verse 10, “And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.” Now he is told why it is bitter. “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” That includes the message of the 144,000.

 

Chapter 11, Verses 1 and 2 show that the temple is built by then, but the court is not complete. “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: (A reed is a measuring stick about six large cubits, which equals about ten feet.) and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, (the temple is built) and the altar, (the altar will be there too) and them that worship therein.” The Jews cannot worship in the temple of God until they are purified. That requires the red heifer. [Ed. Bro. Allen will look at the red heifer in detail in the next issue, (The Millennium Reign, Part 21, 9-18-22am).] Verse 2, “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” That forty and two months is the last half of the seventieth week. The next verses that I will read go back to the first half of the seventieth week.

The Spirits of
Moses and Elijah

Verse 3, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” They are going to wear clothing that will represent the message they have. Sackcloth is not comfortable to wear because it is a rough garment. They know that they will have to wear that while they prophesy. “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: (This is all in the first half of the week.) and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: (‘Fire proceedeth out of their mouth,’ and ‘That it rain not…’ That is the spirit of Elijah.) and have power over waters to turn them to blood, (That is the spirit of Moses.) and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.” This all happens in Israel because the Jews have sold out to the beast. Verse 7, “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.”

The Winds of War Held Back

I want to go to Revelation Chapter 7, the first three verses. This is all related to the time of the two prophets. Verse 1, “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” The two prophets have a message that will tell the Jewish people something. These four angels are there to hold back evil until they can deliver their message. Because God is not through with the Jewish people. When these two prophets come on the scene, they will take over Israel to bring about a change to the hearts of the Jews. The 144,000 plus the woman of Revelation 12, plus Jewish people that will be killed during the tribulation that will all be changed by their ministry. Verse 1 again, “After these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, (You might say the wars. Winds here mean wars.) that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” The work of these angels goes out further than Israel. They are to hold the east and west apart, for a specific purpose. Here is the purpose. “And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” The ‘servants of our God in their foreheads,’ speaks of the 144,000, who are converted under the message of the two prophets.

A Little Season

This all ties in with the fifth seal in Chapter 6. Let us read that from Verse 9, “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.” The testimony they held was that they believed in God and the Old Testament. God spared them from hell because of that belief. Verse 10, “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost that not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, (People have tried to figure out how long the little season is. But the answer is right here in the next few words.) until their fellow-servants also (The two prophets.) and their brethren, (Those Jews in the land of Israel that do not make it out and are killed during the tribulation.) that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” The little season is speaking from the time after the Holocaust until the end of the tribulation concerning specific Jewish people who will be killed. This is not talking about the 144,000, nor the woman of Rev. 12 who has fled into the wilderness. A little season with us is like seconds with God. I will read Verse 11 again to let you see. “And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” Every one of them that received white robes are Jews throughout time (including the Holocaust) who were slain for the word of God and for their testimony. As I read the three verses in Chapter 7, the winds of war are held back until the two prophets prophesy what they receive from the Lord unto those Jewish people.

The 144,000 Sealed

We go from there to Chapter 14. Here are the results of the message of those two prophets. Verse 1, “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” They are sealed (as it says in Chapter 7) by the Father’s name written in their foreheads. In other words, they have received a revelation of the Spirit of God. They receive the Holy Ghost from what they hear in the message of the two prophets. This is after the Bride has already gone to her reward. Verse 2, “And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” The voice was in heaven, not on earth. This is all going on in heaven because there is something that is happening that even the angels are rejoicing over. Does not the Bible say that the angels rejoice over one sinner that repenteth? Here is a rejoicing going on in heaven because of what has just happened on earth. The Bride is there rejoicing and the Jewish element, those twenty-four elders, they are there. You see them falling before the throne in heaven back in Revelation Chapter 4. Again, Verse 2, “And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” There will be a lot of noise up there, but it will not bother your eardrums. A harp is a stringed instrument. Those harpers will be having a good time. I recently came across a quote from a board member at the Branham Tabernacle years ago. He said there should never be a guitar played in a church, only the piano or organ. There will be a lot of instruments playing and voices singing and it will sound wonderful. Verse 3, “And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, (Now these are the 144,000. They are in heaven at this time, and they are full of joy because things have happened to make this be a joyful place.) and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” The 144,000 were redeemed from the earth. You will see this as we read on. But at the beginning of Verse 4 they are on earth, “These are they which were not defiled with women; (Not defiled by the great whore and her harlots and so on in Revelation 17 (the denominational world.)) for they are virgins. (Virgins in the sense that they have never been influenced by a denominational system or anything like that.) These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. (This is while they are on earth because they have a message to preach. When they preach that message, then they are following the Lamb. This goes back to the last verse of Revelation 10, and on into Chapter 11. The message of the two prophets got to them and they now understand that Jesus was the Christ. You read in Zechariah Chapters 12 and 13 that they realize who they had pierced. The two prophets are first to understand that Jesus is the Christ, and they preach it in the first half of the week. I know it has been taught to the two prophets about Jesus Christ, but some people worry about Jonathan Cahn talking of a trinity. The thing about it is, one day his eyes will be opened, and it is not up to us to do that. When he sees Jesus Christ, he is going to know who He was. God is going to be represented there with Jesus, but there is not going to be a trinity of persons there. God is a spirit, and always will be a spirit. The Holy Ghost never was a person, and never will be a person.) These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.”  This shows you again that they are in heaven. Christ is the firstfruits. The 144,000 become a part of the firstfruits. They are not Bride. These will never be Bride because they had another mission here on this earth. Verse 5, “And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” Now here is their message on earth. They have different messages here in this chapter. Verse 6, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Did Revelation 10 not say the same thing? Chapter 10, Verse 11, “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” Their message is, ‘Stay away from the beast!’ Chapter 14, Verse 7, “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” In other words, get away from this Godless thing. By that time, they are going to know that the pope has turned into a beastlike creature. Then you see it is all about to wind up. They are getting ready to leave this earth because we find here in Verse 8, “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, (This happens just before the end. The ten European nations hate the whore as you see in Revelation Chapter 17.) that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” This is still their message. Verse 9, “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” This torment goes all the way into the great white throne judgment. Verse 11, “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: (‘For ever and ever’ is a period of time, not eternity.) and they have no rest day nor night, (There will be day and night in that pit of hell. Time will still go on for them until they are completely consumed. But for us living in eternity, there will be no time! Our sister sings, ‘Ten thousand years we will just be started.’ But really there are no years to eternity. Those words are just expressing that ten thousand years will just be an instant.) who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” These are Jews and Gentiles.

The 144,000 Raptured

Listen to what it says in Verse 13, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; (Death is their rest. Finally, it is over, and they have rest because death has come to them. Sometimes, even death is better than living, whenever you must live in the things that they will have to live in.) and their works do follow them.” Now right here is the climax to the 144,000. Verse 14, “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.” A sickle is something to reap with. I remember as a boy, seeing men cut wheat with a sickle. “And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” The 144,000 are ‘reaped’, that means that they are raptured.

Armageddon

From Verse 17 until the end of the chapter is not the same reaping. I will go ahead and read that so you will know the difference. “And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; (The angels here are judgment angels. The ‘one’ sitting on the white cloud in Verses 14 through 16 is Christ.) and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle; and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.” See? This is a different reaping. It does not mention grapes in the first reaping, but it does here. Verse 19, “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.” That is Armageddon. “And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” That is a long way.

 

As I have gone into this, I hope that explains some things to you. I hope it has made sense to you. May the Lord bless you. I appreciate you and I appreciate the Lord, He is almighty. Let us pray.

To be continued in next issue…