JESUS WAS NOT JUST KILLING TIME WHEN HE SPOKE WHAT WE READ IN THE 24TH AND 25TH CHAPTERS OF MATTHEW. WE WILL SEE AS WE CONTINUE ON IN THIS MESSAGE, THAT WE ARE LIVING IN THE ERA OF TIME WHEN THOSE THINGS ARE BEFORE OUR VERY EYES. THAT IS WHY WE TITLED THIS MESSAGE AS WE DID.
In the 24th chapter of Matthew, starting with the 1st verse, there is something there that we have all read many times. I have read it so many times myself, but it never before stood out to me so vividly as it has in the past two weeks. The entire chapter of Matthew 24, everything He said, and on into the 25th chapter, the biggest part of it covers this last one hundred years of time. The first few verses of the 24th chapter, starting with verse 1, all took place back there in that first century of Christendom, but I am going to show you, that all down through time, the Dark Ages and so forth, Jesus never said one thing that would indicate He was pointing to the Dark Ages. He brings it to the last period of time. The 12th chapter of Daniel belongs right in here also (chart): Nowhere else. The last part of the 25th chapter where Jesus is seen sitting on His throne and gathering all nations before Him, belongs here, (chart) at the end of the 70th week of Daniel. All that does pertain to the last one hundred years, brings us right up to this hour. There is nothing said there, concerning all this time through here. It took John the Revelator, as we refer to him, to bring that into the picture. The apostle Paul wrote fourteen of the epistles of the New Testament, but all his epistles were concerning God selecting and calling out a Church which is going to be the Bride of Christ. There is only one judgment that takes place in heaven, and that is referred to as the judgment seat of Christ, concerning rewards for the redeemed Bride. All these other things that point to some kind of judgment, are not things that take place in heaven, because He does not throw tares out of heaven: they never get there. He does not throw the evil servants out of heaven. He does not throw the unprofitable servant out of heaven. He does not reject the foolish virgins and throw them out of heaven. All those things fit down here and take place right here on earth. Having said that, let us go to the 1st verse of the 24th chapter. Jesus and His disciples have been in the temple area, not in the building. They did not go into the temple building itself. A lot of people have the idea that the temple was some enormous building: It was not. Only the priests went in there at certain times of the year. The believers went into the temple court area. That is where they gathered. “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to show Him the buildings of the temple.” This goes to show the old Jewish idea, which is still a carrying over of the Law. What a beautiful place for the house of God to be: that is the way they looked at it. Herod had beautified it. That was not the original temple building that Haggai and Zechariah and those others built when the Jews came back out of Babylonian captivity. There is no doubt this temple and the court were beautiful to look upon, but let us notice what Jesus said at that time. “And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? (He is reminding them, take a good look at of it once again.) verily I say unto you, (That was to the disciples right then.) There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Jesus then leaves that area and goes down across the valley of Kidron and climbs the slopes to the Mt. of Olives. He sits down and is looking back at this city. “And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? (They were asking, When will all these stones come down, and also how are we supposed to know the time of your returning?) and what shall be the sign of thy coming, (That is the second question. The third one is, ) and the end of the world?” Not the planet, but the end of the world, social, political era. They asked those three questions, so let us notice how He answered them. You have to look at each verse, or question and His answer to it. If we read this like most of the religious world does, they can take any verse and throw it anywhere, well that could happen there, or it might happen here. That is a very loose way to look at the word of God. “And Jesus answered and said unto them, (This is a warning.) Take heed that no man deceive you.” (Number one. That is applicable for all time.) For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” When we look at church history, by the time we come to the close of the first century of Christendom, already the Christian world had been filled and even overrun with imitators, or imposters. All you have to do is read the writings of the anti-Nicene fathers to see that. Many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. Look what Paul was compelled to write when he wrote the letter to the Galatian Assembly. Jesus is speaking to his disciples and says this, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: (That was going on.) see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, (wars, international trouble and all such) but the end is not yet. (That was applicable for that period of time coming on down through that dispensation. However He did say, The end is not yet. When you come to verse 7, He speaks specifically.) For nation shall rise against nation, (If you have never studied history, you could say, Well that could happen any time. No! This does not come in place until we come to the twentieth century. Sure there were national wars, but there was never such a war that multiple of nations became involved. I am not talking about uncivilized nations. I am talking about civilized, industrialized and modern nations. Nation shall rise against nation,) and kingdom against kingdom: (This is speaking of the kind of disturbances that begin to disrupt the whole social picture of the world.) and there shall be famines, (You critics in the educated world, may God have mercy upon you as you say, Well there has always been famines. Yes, but not as numerous as has been in the last one hundred years.) and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” A few weeks ago, I read the percentage of nations involved in WW2. What an eye opener it was. It scattered all the way through Europe, to Asia, to the far Orient. America was involved on both sides of the planet. In this twentieth century of time, there has been over two thousand earthquakes registered. Notice in verse 8, what He said. This proves beyond the shadow of a doubt, this is not applicable back here in ancient time somewhere: It comes right here, (chart.) Right where we are. “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” It says in Daniel, There will be a time of trouble such as there never was before. Right? Well you are looking right at the present era of time, as God wraps it up. Notice verse 9, “Then (From when He spoke this, He put it in the future, THEN,) shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, (This is what happened to the Jewish people. He is speaking to Jewish disciples.) and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” Six million Jews were slaughtered, but of course we are not saying all six million were killed because of their faith. I have met a lot of Jews in my trips to the Holy Land: that have told me personally, I do not know whether there is a God or not. They only look at the things the Jewish race has had to suffer. They cannot go back and read Deuteronomy; and put the picture together. All they ever want to read is the Torah. Deuteronomy is in the Torah; and Deuteronomy contains the promise of how God said He would scatter the Jewish race to the ends of the earth, to chastise them, but somehow they do not make the connection to recognize God. Well Jesus says here, and this is not back in the first, second, or third century, not even in the Dark Ages. This is looking down then, when it is to become a time of sorrows. Let us take a good look at this verse. “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” We live in America, the land of the free and home of the brave, but the devil has been allowed to come into the intellectual community of America, and they have stripped it of its old religious convictions and belief in Jesus Christ, and of its belief that God is the Supreme Ruler of the universe. The leadership of America has perpetrated the idea, We are going to show the world how a multiracial society can be established on earth, and show how we can all love one another without looking at cultural backgrounds. They have had to make laws that forbid anyone to speak against any certain race, because we are all brothers. Listen Brothers and Sisters of the faith of Jesus Christ: Let me tell you this, Until such time that the grace of God comes into a life and delivers that person from the bondage of mans society, we are not brothers, so do not kid yourself: That is total ignorance, spiritually speaking, to believe like that. The unbelieving society of the world get a great comfort from such endeavors, but those who walk according to a revelation of the word of God should know for sure, that all such talk about a multicultural brotherhood living in peace upon earth is inspired by Satan. It is not going to happen.
BELIEVERS WILL NOT BE DECEIVED
On Fox news this morning, they were talking about a college in North Carolina, and told how many hundreds of students are registered, and they are going to be compelled to read one certain book: That book is the Koran. Brothers and Sisters: Until a person has been born again by the Spirit of God and had his, or her sin put under the blood of Jesus Christ, that person remains to be a sinner by birth. (Rom 3:23, says), “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” They can all be killers, mean as the devil, ornery, good for nothing, regardless of race. I do not justify white, black, brown, or whatever color in anything. All you have to do is look at the past, the history of societies in the nations. They lived like the devil, unless they were under the leadership of the Spirit of God. There is no such thing as putting chickens, pigs, and calves all in the same building and expect them to get along well and be nice and healthy. Any farmer will tell you a different story. Each nation, from the tower of Babel, was scattered by the hand of God. He set the bounds of their habitation. They developed their own culture. Then some intellectual type idiot comes along and tries to change the culture of sinners, cultures that have been cultivated through centuries of time. I heard the other day, that some silly woman thought the phrase “under God” ought to be taken out of the pledge of allegiance to our flag, because after all, it could be “under Buddha,” or “under Shinto,” or “under Mohammad,” and so forth. That is what God fearing America has become. What did Jesus say? (Mat 24:10) “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” (Mark 13:12) “The brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.” Where is the loyalty that one could expect? I know one thing, I know what I have read, and I am not stupid. I have read a lot of history. I could take you down through some pages of history that would make your blood boil. Jesus Christ did not come to this world to make every nation love one another. He deals with individuals: not nations. He said He came, not to bring peace, but a sword, and a man’s foes will be those of his own household, his own father, or father-in-law, his own mother-in-law and so forth. Meaning, if you were a Jew and you forsook Judaism to accept Jesus Christ, you father would disinherit you. Many have been faced with that down through the centuries of time. That rotten Catholic religion has gone all over the world, sowing its seed of ignorance. Never, has any of those Catholic dominated nations prospered. Most of those societies grew up to be crooks and dope addicts, illegal in this and that, knowing nothing about the God that will judge them. I do not point my finger at the Spanish individual or anyone else, but their religion has had a lot to do with the way they have conducted themselves in ignorance and shameful conduct. Politicians get so wrapped up in what they can do, they do not even consider the consequences of their actions. They think they can do a lot more than they can, because God will not let them do everything they may plan to do. Beyond that, He is going to tear their nest all to pieces one of these days. Then shall they betray one another. You have never seen the American society as disrupted and corrupted as it is in this day and hour. There are people that will sell you down the drain at the bat of an eye right now, if some character comes along and offers them enough money. Those that are not Christians are easy prey for slick talkers with a bankroll. Why? Because they do not believe God or in anything that would make a difference. They live like the devil and have no shame; and they want America to be a free place for them to do as they please. Then they have the nerve to say, “God bless America,” when it will gain them a little favor with the right people. God has truly blessed America, but He is also going to shake America real good before this is all over with. When our political leadership gets the idea that they can tell the rest of the world how to live, what they can or cannot do, we are liable to end up with our houses on fire, our beds torn to pieces, our economy in ruins, with America crying for help, because we never woke up and realized how God established America in the first place. This used to be a God fearing nation, under the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ. This modern bunch of politicians in our nation today, are all just like snakes in the grass and outright crooks. You cannot trust one out of your sight. I have to speak according to what the Bible says, and even though they do not want to defend it, I will. Then shall they betray one another. Does that sound like our day and hour? I assure you, it does. If you live next door to an atheist, and you let it be known that you are a Christian, how long do you think you can get by, being kind and nice to him? The love of many shall wax cold. They blaspheme the name of He who died to pay the sin debt for all mankind; and even forbid you to mention His name in a public gathering, yet there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. Mohammad was a false prophet to the Arab world. They are cousins to Israel. That old hatred has always been there and will remain so until God changes the order of things. It is bred into their human makeup. If you think you are going to educate them out of that kind of attitude, you had better think again. You are not going to, because they all think what they believe is right. A sovereign move of God will change the attitude of some, but it will take the coming of Jesus Christ to cut off the sinners of this world and usher in true peace. Then, not back in the Dark Ages, then, America, the last Christian nation on the face of God’s green earth, has sold out to the devil, from every institution, and every department of politics and God is no longer in the picture. The devil rules you, perverts you and you think everything is OK. Your money is your god, but your god shall soon fail you. Your science is your learning, but it can only take you so far. Then shall many be offended, and shall betray, or sell out one another, and hate one another. Here we go again, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” When I look back to the 1940’s, coming into the 1950’s, as God raised up Bro. William Branham with an unusual ministry of healing, to eventually bring forth a message that would show us how we need to get back to the Bible, and get out of our old traditions, it brings many things to my mind. If you are old enough to remember the overall picture of America back then, you know a revival broke out. Billy Graham was a young man when he started out: he said he wanted to be the greatest known evangelist in the world. He became that, but only in his latter years to compromise. Oral Roberts, A.A. Allen, W. V. Grant, as well as several others have had their hour of attention, and many of them were clowns. How many know what I am talking about? Nevertheless God sent a revival through those years. He gave people a chance to repent of their sins. There has not been another time like it since way back then. They went to their churches, then they cooled off and began to die out and slide backward. That is exactly why today, you cannot preach about how people dress. They come into those charismatic meeting places looking like they would rather be on the golf course. They are not poor people: they are just blind, ignorant and unlearned, spiritually speaking, but not poor. “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” That is not talking about those in the middle ages, that is for right now. Bro. Jackson: Is it O.K. if a woman wants to wear pants? What do you want to wear them for? Well, I see others wear them. Are they sisters in the Lord? No. They are blind, ignorant women and young girls; so you need to be careful who you pattern your life after. I see them every day, but I assure you, they are not Holy Ghost filled women, ready to be raptured in the Bride of Jesus Christ. But Bro. Jackson, I don’t understand that. It is because you do not want to. Any woman that claims to be a dedicated Christian, that is always looking around, thinking she looks nice dressed in pants, is deceived; and if you want to follow such a pattern, it is because you have it in you also, to cultivate a wrong motive: That is why you want to look like her. I know a preacher, who, when you see him in town, he is wearing shorts. How would you like to see me wearing shorts, if we meet up at the Wal-Mart some day? Some of you would come close to having a heart attack: I know you would. I have been dressing like I now dress, for over fifty years, and I am not going to change to please anyone.
WE MUST GET THE PICTURE RIGHT
Well we are on Matthew 24, for today: not two thousand years ago, but for right now, and for this generation. He that shall endure unto the end, (I aim to do that.) the same shall be saved. Now I like this one, “And this gospel (It started with Bro. William Branham, and we are continuing on.) of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world (Yes, it is going out there.) for a witness (not that the world is going to be saved, but as a witness) unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” It is getting very close. Let us go to verse 15, and only the Lord knows how many times this verse is misunderstood. As Jesus was saying these words to the disciples back then, notice how He said them. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand (or existing) in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand.” Bro. Jackson, isn’t that pointing to the end time? This one is not. You have got to rightly understand what He is talking about. Notice now, He is speaking to those Jewish disciples back then, that had followed Him in His ministry. “Then let them which be in Judaea (you that live in the country side) flee into the mountains.” This is not a picture of the last days, nor of tribulation that takes place here. (chart-in last half of the 70th week of Daniel.) In this period of time (the great tribulation) the woman (spiritual Israel) flees and leaves there completely, (to a place prepared for her) and that does not take place back here in the first century: it will be in this very generation we live in. “Let him which is on the housetop (he is a carpenter, putting a new roof on.) not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field (a farmer) return back to take his clothes.” All this is based on when you see the abomination that maketh desolate. To interpret that, it means a time of excessive hatred, seeking to deprive Jerusalem of its inhabitants. “And woe unto them that are with child, (This is not for our day: it was for back then.) and to them that give suck in those days! (Those with small children.) But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day: For then (This happened two thousand years ago in 69 A.D.) shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world (Notice how this is worded) to this time, (in 69 A.D.when that was going to take place) no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.” I have two sources of history, Josephus the Jewish historian and also another book called Ancient History, written by a man by the name of Bloss. It is over a hundred years old. Both historians wrote about the Roman armies, under the leadership of Vespasian, who got word from Rome to go to Jerusalem and put down the insurrection, (because at that time the Jews at Jerusalem were divided into three categories. Already they were having revolts in the city. The orders from the emperor at Rome were to Vespasian, Go to Jerusalem and put down the revolt, that was all. I want you to listen carefully, what Jesus said to the disciples, Then, when you see abomination that maketh desolate, standing, or existing in the holy place or holy area, then you get out of here. Don’t stop to take anything out of your house. When that siege started, all histories declare that when the Romans finally approached the city of Jerusalem, they came through from the north and the eastern side, they took control of every village. Many Jews from that city would flee to Jerusalem, many would flee to the next one, and on and on Vespasian’s army would move. Many of the Jews that had been living in the northern areas had all come to hide behind the walls of Jerusalem, so the city was over crowded, with thousands of Jews in the city. By the time they got there, the word had already spread, Vespasian is on the way, and they are laying ravage every village and city. All the disciples that had followed Jesus were gone. They were out of there. Where did they go, Bro. Jackson? Over to Saudi Arabia. That is why, when we pick up the history of Christendom, Christendom was spread by those disciples because they went to Saudi Arabia. History wise, when we come to the second century, true Christians lived in Saudi Arabia. Not one Holy Ghost Christian that had listened to Jesus that day, perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. When the gates of the city were finally shut and the great siege was on, (I do not remember how many months this siege lasted.) but there was no way for any food to be brought in and there was no way for anyone to escape. Just remember what was said. I remember what Titus said, when the siege was finally over and the city of Jerusalem, (the inhabitants that were left alive) finally fell to defeat on August 10, 69 A.D. He made a complete circle around the walled city. In the valley of Kidron, all through that siege, Jews that had been killed on the walls while fighting the Romans, or Jews that had died from starvation or otherwise, their bodies were pitched over the wall into the valley of Kidron. The words of Titus were, This truly was an act of their own God. That is what Titus said. Titus was the son of Vespasin who had been called back to Rome to be the next Emperor. This is what that verse actually means, Except those days be shortened, there would be no Jewish flesh saved alive. That pertained to 69 A.D., when that great siege finally ended. When we pick up in verse 23, we are approaching our day, or our era of time. “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.” That truly brings us to our era of time. Bro. William Branham came on the scene, fulfilled his calling and then departed, leaving a message for all to partake of. He had a wonderful ministry, and the religious church world got to see it manifested. It was not long, but you would be surprised at the number of people that were attracted to his ministry; and to his message. Then some began to get the idea, or supposedly the revelation, that he was more than who he really was. You would hear, Do you know who I think he really is? I think he is really Christ. Pretty soon, that was being talked all around.
HOW DECEPTIVE SPIRITS WORK
In 1958, when we were building our house, a certain brother who I had helped move into this area so they could go to the tabernacle, came down home one particular day, and was helping me sand the walls where we had plastered the seams. He started talking about Bro. William Branham, and finally came up with a question, Bro. Jackson, do you think we would know Jesus Christ today, if He was to come among us in this hour of time? I said, Well, I believe once we got to hear Him preach, I believe it would be God who would give us the revelation of who He was. Then he said, Well what I really mean is, let us just say, if He wore clothes just like you and I, would we know who He was? I said, well I believe we would eventually know Him. Then he said, Bro. Jackson, what I am really trying to say is, Have you ever thought about who William Branham really is? I thought, Now I know where you are coming from. I said, He was God’s seventh church age messenger, anointed with the Spirit that Elijah was anointed with, fulfilling the later part of Malachi 4:5-6, but anything beyond that, my answer is, No. Then he shut up. As I said, That was in 1958. Shortly after that, Bro. William Branham, a humble man, went to California for meetings. There was a bunch out of Canada following him. Behind the scenes, they were beginning to put out medallions like, William Branham is our Messiah. From there he went to Canada. There, is where he heard about the medallions being passed out to certain individuals in those meetings. That is when Bro. William Branham felt so bad over it, he stopped the meeting and came home early. Word reached us by telephone that Bro. William Branham was going to be at the tabernacle on Sunday morning. We went early. I say this to defend his name and his image, but I have to expose the hypocrisy of so called good intentioned people. When that little man came to the platform he was crying. He was broken hearted. He said, I would rather go down as a quitter, than to go out being looked upon as a false Christ or an anti-Christ. That is when he preached the bruised serpent message. We knew in our hearts who he was exposing. They were those who had hunted with him, they had fished with him and followed him wherever he went. That Sunday afternoon we drove past his house, where he lived there in Jeffersonville. There were all their cars sitting in the driveway. That night he came to the platform and said, Those brothers came back and apologized to me. Well yes, but that apology did not last very long. Keep in mind saints, those things are all coming to pass, because they are the words of Jesus. Did He not say, Then shall appear false christs and false prophets. Since the 1950’s, America has had plenty of them. I can remember, that from the last of the 1950’s and on into the early 1960’s, this one had the biggest tent, this one had the biggest meetings, but all of a sudden something happened: It just looked like God had pulled the curtain on all of it. I sat under Gail Jackson’s ministry. He was the son-in-law of a funeral director. The last I heard, he had gone back to the funeral business, back to burying the dead. That speaks loudly, burying the dead. Another one I know, invested money in a chain of motels. You never heard of them ministering any more in the religious field. You will have to say though, They everyone served a purpose in the overall picture. How? They helped fulfill the word of God, because it is written, That they shall deceive the very elect if it were possible. As for myself, I am so glad and so thankful, that the little man they were all trying to imitate and out run, even out do, left us something to think on, pray about and hold on to. I am so glad I had the opportunity to hear that man preach many of those messages he left here. Notice here, how Jesus takes special occasion to give you and me a warning for this day and hour we are living in. “Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; (Here comes that secret catching away.) go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” There is no such thing as Jesus coming to a secret place where all the Bride are gathered together and just sitting there waiting for Him to come. That is why He warns us in this manner. This has been going on for quite some time now. Verse 27, (Only the Bride of Jesus Christ will understand this verse. That is the truth.) “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; (Before I read the rest of this verse let me say, It is not referring to the visible return of Christ, with Him sitting on a white horse: No, This is how He will appear when He comes for His Bride, the true Church, because the Church is going to be a global thing, made up of people from around the globe. When He comes on a white horse His bride will be with Him, so let us get this thing out of our heads, that He is going to come in the Mojave Desert somewhere to a select bunch of bureaucrats. That is what I call them, religious politicians. They could hardly wait to get around where he was: They just had to be there, but I ask You, What good did it do them? God blinded their eyes and gave them a wrong picture. If we are to be a people that will make up the true Bride of Christ, then we must let the Holy Spirit take every word and fertilize it in our hearts and minds, that we may be able to understand each verse of scripture that is meaningful to us, what it is applicable to, like, as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth unto the west,) so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” That is when He comes for His Bride. Keep in mind, The world will not see that: not even the realm of religion out here in the world, but the bride only. Notice though, that is tied to verse 28, and I like this. You know what it says in Revelation 19, what John saw right here in the first part of this chapter: he saw the Bride of Christ, and where was she? In heaven. What was said about her? She hath, past tense, made herself ready. Where did she do that? Down here on earth, before the rapture took place. That is going to let us look from this period, to this period right here, (chart). All through that period, God had been dealing in the lives of the true Church, working in the hearts of what really amounts to only a few people. The church world of religion thinks we are crazy to talk like this, but I assure you, I am not crazy: I am just as happy as I can be. I hope none of you think I have gone crazy, just because I know what I am talking about and I am happy about what God has done in my life. As we look at these verses, the 27th and 28th verses, we want to be sure we know where to apply them. This is not applicable anywhere back through there (chart.) It is applicable for the Bride of Christ right here at the end time. Therefore when we are looking for Him in the rapture, we are not going to be getting in our air conditioned cars and heading for the desert. Neither are we going to be assembling somewhere, where somebody has an old WW2 cargo plane waiting to haul us away, after Bro. William Branham has had his private resurrection. Those fellows are planning on hauling him around from place to place for him to raise the dead in Christ. What a mess. I would not want to get aboard that old plane for any reason whatsoever, after it has sat there for thirty some years. When I leave this world to meet my Lord in the rapture, I am not going to need an airplane. That is not where my faith is anchored. Brothers and sisters: Just remember this, when the rapture does come, it is going to be a visible appearance of Christ in the heavens to those He is coming for. Did not the apostle Paul say in 1st Thessalonians 4, We will rise to meet Him in the air? Not in the desert or the secret place. I do not even care what the revelation is, that those other fellows have, wherever they got it: I know it will never get any of them off the ground to meet Jesus in the air. This verse 28, lets us know what prepares us for the rapture. Verse 28 simply says, “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” I know that sounds carnal, but when you know Jesus said that, your revelation will let you know who He is referring to as eagles. He is talking about all of us who believe the scriptures and follow the revelation given us by the Spirit of God. Since He is talking about us, what did He mean, Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together? That is a figure of speech meaning, where God gives the true revelation of His word, to produce unity and bring this thing to a finalized state, there will the little eaglets (true believers) be. Let us look at these little eaglets. They hatched out in the wild, here they come flying and squealing. They all pounce on the fresh killed carcase. At first they peck at one another. In the natural that is the way you would see a bunch of eagles on a fresh killed carcase. Do you follow me? But we are not that kind of undisciplined people. We come with a disciplined nature, eager and hungry to feed upon what the Spirit of God is feeding, which is referred to as the carcase. That carcase is going to be dissected and handed out in a way that displays sincerity and reality, and displays the obedience and respect we all have for divine revelation. I will never forget, as I allow my mind to go back to 1963, when all week long Bro. William Branham stood there and preached those messages on the seals, and said the things he did, and how each thing he said made those seals sound so simple. You could not help but realize God was on the scene. He was using a little vessel of clay in such a simple way, to illustrate and to portray the meaning of those seals, what they meant and where they applied. To me, that was a beginning, but not the ending of what all is talked about here in these scriptures.
THE SCENE CHANGES
Let us now go to verse 29, where the thought changes somewhat. It is almost like a repeat of what we read back there, where we read about the abomination that maketh desolate. Notice, He says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days (He is pointing way down through time to where we are right now, right here, (chart-just before the week starts). Immediately after the tribulation of those days, you separate that from verses 27 and 28, which is all taking place right in here. How many can see that? It does not take place over here or over there, it takes place right in here for the Bride of Christ, ( chart, just before the 70th week starts). Immediately after the tribulation of those days…) shall the sun be darkened, (That did not happen back here in verses 15, 16, 17 or 18. How many can see that? Neither did history record it as being like that.) and the moon shall not give her light, (Neither was that seen back in verses 15, 16, 17 and 18, but it is just ahead, as that week of years closes out.) and the stars shall fall from heaven, (So here is a sign that is literally pointing to the physical, visible coming of Christ. Let us see how it climaxes.) and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” I believe you can all see how you have to separate this one from verses 15, 16, 17 and 18. That ought to be simple enough for anyone to understand: should it not? “And then shall appear the sign (This is not applicable to verse 27. That is how He appears to His Bride, to take her away, but when we get to this one it is a different picture, and then shall appear the sign…) of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, (Oh my! Now they are made to see this. They did not see that other: It was just for the bride. They do see this; and Oh! My! What a sight!) and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” You take that right to the last part of the 19th chapter of Revelation, where you see Jesus coming to earth sitting on a white horse, and all the armies of heaven also, waiting to make their descent to earth. Then shall appear the sign, and it is going to hang there while the earth makes one revolution, because notice what follows. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, Oh God! I didn’t know it would be like this. I wish I had believed in you, Lord: Is it too late? Yes, it is too late. I like this one, when the heavens roll back, as it says in Revelation 19, that he saw the heavens depart as a scroll, meaning, God pulled the curtain back and said, (so to speak) Take a look at that, you ungodly, demon possessed society that have had such a good time making fun of those who did believe my word. These politicians and educators of our day, those who want to get God out of the picture, there is an hour coming when they will weep, wail, howl and cry, But we thought so and so. “And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet.” As the old cavalry bugle blows, and here came the men to mount their horses and get in line, so will the world see all of this taking place in like manner. I am not being silly: this great army coming with Jesus includes you and me, clothed in fine linen. You might say, Clothed in fine linen, where do you get that? The first part of the 19th chapter, is where I get it. Let us read it. (Rev 19:7-9) “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”She is up here, but where does she get the fine linen garments? Down here, when she was going to feed on the carcase Jesus referred to. That is exactly right. When that carcase was lying there fresh, that is when the eagles would eat of it: Buzzards clean up what is left in the road, later, after the eagles have eaten the fresh meat, speaking in the natural sense. In the case of bride saints (eagles) eating from the carcase, that pertains to feeding upon fresh revelation in this era of time. God did not open a deep freezer, where this had been frozen for the past thousands of years. It is fresh. He shall send forth his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, and I can see the Bride of Christ coming from the winds of heaven. Let me say this though, Do not ever think that when the rapture takes place according to verse 27, and Ephesians 4 and 1st Corinthians 15, and we rise to meet Him in the air, that we are going to be brought up there like an army, and be standing at attention while all this is going on. Forget that thought. You are going to be enjoying the beauty of the spirit world. Think of all the saints, the Old Testament ones also, that will be there. Then when that sixth seal is applicable, and Jesus is ready to make his descent to earth, I can see, as that trumpet is blown up there, all the immortal saints clothed in fine linen will be rallying to come and take their places. This thing is not going to be some instantaneous flash, like a lot of people think. When Jesus comes back with the armies of heaven, after that great tribulation hour of time has run its course, My Bible says every eye shall see Him, and (Rom 14:11) says, “It is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” The rocks will fall, islands will flee away, and mortal man that has never prepared himself to meet God will flee to the rocks in the mountains to hide. (Rev 6:15) “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” When the spirit world tells the godless world, We are soon to make our entrance and take charge, what a wonderful day and hour that is going to be. He will gather His elect, His Bride, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Where are we going to be prepared for that? Down here, wherever the carcase is, and the carcase is the revealed word. Ever since 1963, there has been times the Spirit of God has come down among His people, and has revealed truth concerning issues of His word, all of which has been lying right there in the Bible for centuries. We have grown up to have our traditional ideas about everything, but after awhile, when God wants us to know the truth, He takes us out of that prison of tradition and lets us see a true picture. Those who are hungering and thirsting for truth will rejoice, while others will just go on along in their same old religious traditions, still thinking that what was good enough for Grandma and Grandpa is good enough for me, because I do not want to become fanatical about this.
OBSERVING A FIG TREE
We now come to a verse that many people have ignored, so let us take notice of it, because it applies while we are still down here preparing ourselves. (Verse 32) “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.” I am of the generation that saw this fig tree (Israel) begin to take on this recognition. I can remember when our histories did not have a thing about the Jews, as though everyone had almost forgoten about them. However through those war years, from 1939 to 1945 when six million Jews had been butchered, and thousands of others had been detained in detention camps throughout Europe, attention was turned to them. Finally, when the United Nations was compelled to do something and began to ask, What will we do with these displaced Jews? It was our president that said, Let us get them a spot in the land of Palestine. I wish he had said, Let us give back to them, the land that was theirs to begin with: it might have turned out differently. Nevertheless it will turn out like that anyway. Therefore I say to you; and especially to you young people, that for more than fifty long years we have seen that tender branch sprouting. Now it has grown into a pretty good sized limb. She is going to get ready to bear fruit. “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Brothers and sisters: Keep in mind, that as I started out, the things He said in verses 1,2,3,4,5 and 6, what would happen, that was to that generation of disciples back then. Not one of them perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. Think of it. Then He points down to the end of time, what all would take place in our particular hour, and He is giving you and I an ample opportunity to learn a few things. When you see all these things, it is near, even at the door. This generation, not that one back then, but this generation, not the one in the middle ages, No. This generation (that saw the fig tree coming back to life, so to speak, shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. A lot of people read it like this, Well the Bible says heaven and earth is going to pass away. That is not what it meant. It is comparing, how it would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one of my words (the words of Jesus) to fail. You must ask yourself, How can He say that right here, and here we are over here, (chart) and we see the Millennium coming into the picture before much longer, and that is right here on the same planet. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, (He is talking about the rapture, His coming back for His Bride church.) no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. (Now He gives us a comparison to the world.) But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” When you read Genesis 5, 6 and 7, you get a picture of what this earth will have become by then, violence and perversion everywhere. How can you tame that?
When God saw that man had gone as far as he had, back in Genesis 6, polygamy was a practice even among the sons of God, which was Seth’s line. What a perverted hour that was! God said, It repents me that I have even made man, seeing he has corrupted the earth with his ways. Did He mean they were growing too much wheat, baking too much bread? No. Their sexual lifestyle had become turned wrong side out. In America, politicians and educators have sold America out to the devil to do likewise. People in the religious world that say we are wrong, to say that the serpent was used by the devil to entice Eve to a sexual relationship, are missing the mark completely. They say, that what we teach is of the devil. How ironic, if I may use such an expression! They would rather believe our teaching is of the devil, than to learn the truth about the fall of man. I will say in reply to that, The devil has sure blinded their eyes to facts, because they are the very kind that perpetrate or at least support our school systems in that which they have done in America. Yes. I say to you who have taken such an attitude, You have buried Christendom, helped do away with any influence it ever had on society. There is not a thing in America today that is any more perverted than the intimate relationship between man and woman and it all came about in this twentieth century. You know it is the truth. I say to you that want to fuss, argue and deny the truth, You can deny all you want to about what Eve and the serpent did, but I challenge you, Explain to me why the educators were so intent on spoiling the American marital lifestyle? We never heard about AIDS until this perverted lifestyle became so accepted. I heard on the News last night, that this disease has come to such a point that even the drugs they are using will not be able to curb the spread of it. I have to say, Maybe if they had not gone so crazy with their loose lifestyle, God would not have let the devil turn such a thing loose on the world. To all you that would climb a wall in protest and say, Bro. Jackson, I wouldn’t preach that if I were you, I say, Well I am going to preach it anyway, because this permissiveness has ruined America’s lifestyle, ruined our homes, ruined our society as a whole and given our youth over to the devil. Do not ever think America is not going to pay for it: she is for sure. From here on down as we read, this is another social picture that is running parallel with what we have been looking at, and it is for this very hour of time. Because the guard is let down and society is so corrupted, judgment is ahead. It tells in (Mat 24:38) how things were before the flood. “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,” Bro. Jackson, is there anything wrong with that? What He is referring to is a loose and undisciplined society where anything goes. He gives us a preview of what the moral picture will be like: that they will be giving in marriage, so on and so forth. This takes place all the time; and six months after some of these marriages, they are filing for divorce. Marrying and giving in marriage, building houses, eating, read how Luke records it. It every bit points to our day.
VIRTUE OF FAITHFULNESS
This next verse brings out another point that applies to eagles in that little place where they go to eat on the carcase. All the time that is going on, notice what this verse 43 says. “But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” For what purpose? For the rapture. Until the rapture takes place, let us take a look at this carcase we are to feast upon. Who is administering this meat? God’s called out ministry. Notice, “Who then (That is not back here, (chart.) It is right down here. Who then, not Ashcroft, not Bush, not Chenney, but God’s true servants. Who then…) is a faithful and wise servant, (Faithful. Does that mean he is a good athlete, basketball player, football player? No. First, he is a man born again by the Spirit of God. He loves God. The Holy Ghost talks to him, and he has been set apart for a specific work of God. He is a faithful and wise servant,) whom his Lord hath made ruler (He has already appointed him. This does not pertain to just one man.) over his household, to give them meat (Who is them? That is the body of Christ, the true Church, which is to be His bride, coming here to eat on that meat.) in due season?” In proper time, not six months early or six months late, right on time. Come and get it, it is hot, right on the table. I see something in this. I enjoy looking at it. “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That He shall make him ruler over all His goods.” Naturally that does not mean one lone man is going to fall heir to everything the Lord has. That is not the point. The point is, He is illustrating and stressing the difference between a faithful servant and one who is not faithful, or to be more specific, one who is self appointed to a ministry, but is not under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Now we are going to take a look at that tare servant. That is what he actually is. As I said earlier, The tares got in among the true body of believers by the work of the devil in the closing part of the first age of Christendom, and has stayed there, generation after generation. The tares are not separated until we get down here at the end time. It is during this process that they are separated, so notice, “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming.” That means there were some, (and I know some that will not like this) that no sooner was Bro. William Branham gone from the scene, because he had said certain things, that began to calculate and set times, 1972, 1977, on and on. Those kinds of negative tare ideas have plagued the Branham followers for the last thirty some years. Remember though, somewhere in the mind of that kind, by the way they had calculated, they just decide that the Lord has decided not to come when He was supposed to. That tare servant gets a wrong attitude. What does he do? It does not seem to scare Bro. Bud: he just keeps right on preaching. It does not seem to scare Bro. Allen: he just keeps right on preaching, so that evil, tare servant begins to smite his fellow servants, plural. At one time they had all been in the boat together, just as Judas was one of the twelve. How many can see the picture? They begin to smite, do everything they can to tear down the ministry of those who are faithful servants, because they know they are ruined. Sooner or later the pull of the world will begin to have its affect on that kind of man and he is anything but faithful. “The Lord of that servant shall come in a day (Listen carefully, this is not talking about His coming for the rapture, it means He comes where they are eating this meat, and here is where the Lord begins to do some final separation. The lord of that servant shall come in a day…) when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, (He is not up in heaven, He is down here.) and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.” Here they go with the worldly people. Do not come and ask me, Bro. Jackson, do you think he is going to be saved? The answer is, No. Do not even bother to ask me a question like that: Such a man has ruined every opportunity he ever had, because he was a tare in the first place. What did Jesus say in the second parable, when He was asked the question about separating them? He said, Leave them alone, let them grow together. He will hang right in there, right on down to the final hour. Then the Lord will send forth his angels to do the separating. Those angelic beings, which you will not see, while the congregation of righteous people are coming together to eat and feast on that fresh meat, to get their garments ready, that is when those angels begin to move among those tares, and separate them from the true Church. Whatever the percentage is, they will all be separated from the others. “And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” What a sad day that is going to be. I will never forget a few years back, in the city of Louisville, there was a man that came across America, who was supposed to have been a prophet. He had everything all figured down to the very hour that the Lord was coming, the end of the world was going to be a certain day. The followers of that was in the city of Louisville passing out tracts. I have one in my files at home. I believe the day was to be in October, the Lord was coming and the end of the world would be then. All those people were so eager to stand on street corners and pass out these tracts that the Lord was coming on such and such an hour, this was supposed to have been the message of a prophet. I think he was an Oriental. Well that day came, and now you wonder where all those sincere hearts that stood in the sun and labored are today. My point is, while the Bride is being brought in, gaining an understanding of every verse of scripture in the Bible that is applicable in preparing you and me, and shaping us and clothing us for that wonderful event of His coming, these tares are being gathered for their destruction.
THE TRUE BRIDE WILL NOT BE DECEIVED
Again I want to draw your attention to the chart we are using, to refresh your memory on what the different lines represent. This blue line represents the Bride saints that start from the very beginning of what happened on the day of Pentecost, when those disciples received the Holy Ghost, there in that upper room in Jerusalem, and carries right straight on through to the rapture, right here. They are the ones that are seen in Revelation 19, coming back to earth with Jesus, at the end of the week of Daniel, all on white horses. They are raptured somewhere right in here, just as the 70th week of Daniel is ushered in. They are seen in heaven, the great multitude, they are referred to as the Bride of Christ. It says they have made themselves ready. They make themselves ready down here, as they feast on the revealed word of God. It was granted that she (the bride saints) should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. Therefore, at this period of time, that is where those in the blue line leave the scene. John saw them in heaven. Next, we come to the green line, which is the time line, starting back in Eden and running right straight on through to the end. It goes on through a thousand years of the Millennium. This black line represents death, from the time Cain slew Abel, right on through until all the dead are raised at the Great White Throne Judgment. That is where Cain is represented, along with all the others that have not partaken of the salvation of the Lord. The red line is where Abel is represented. We realize also, up until the time of Christ, hell was divided into two holding areas. You see that in the parable Jesus spoke about the rich man and the beggar. When Jesus rose from the dead two thousand years ago, He conquered that part of hell that contained the righteous and moved paradise to heaven. That is when there was a resurrection of all the Old Testament saints, represented in the red line, that went up with Him back then. The red line continues on though, because it represents all the righteous that are not a part of the bride. Coming on through the plan of God for the Grace Age, we will look further into all of this. These are they that we will see, as we go into our message. There is one thing I do not want to be repeating constantly, but at the same time, I do not want to leave anyone in the dark about any particular passage of scripture. Matthew 24, is the only place we read about the two events referred to as tribulation or the abomination that maketh desolate. As we brought out earlier, from verse 15, down through 22, that was fulfilled in the days of the early Church. To make it more clear, that is why Jesus says, Pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. Woe unto them that be with child, or give suck in those days. I have read the history of the sufferings and sorrows in the time period that covered. When the city of Jerusalem was besieged, some even had to roast their newborn babies to survive. It was a time of tribulation, but notice, the sun was not darkened in that experience, and neither did the moon withdraw its light, nor were the powers of heaven shaken then. That separates this tribulation from the tribulation in the last 3 ½ years of the week of Daniel. I hope that is clear to everyone. When we come on over and Jesus begins to show the disciples the rest, He is not showing those back there, He is telling us that you and I are the generation that sees that other event in our era of time. The bride saints will not be here when this last time of great tribulation actually takes place, but the raptured element of the bride will all understand that it is just ahead for all who are not taken up in the rapture. We can see that this modern concept of the rapture is so ridiculous, it actually causes much confusion and many questions among those who do not have a revelation of the scriptures. Many who believe there will be a rapture of the bride Church are led astray by those who present such a picture of it as some we have come across through the years. I have even seen artists sketches, how that pilots will be at the controls of airplanes, the pilot is taken in the rapture and the plane is left to crash. Trains likewise. I hardly think it is going to be like that: God is giving us every opportunity to realize how we are to prepare ourselves for that event, (the rapture). He is not coming in a secret place, but to those that are ready, the world over, it will be a visible thing to them only. That is why verse 27 is worded like that. Verse 28 backs that up, because it is what is done in verse 28, in the time factor right in here (chart) that gets the Bride ready for verse 27. That is what we have to understand. Notice in verse 29, Jesus leaves that period altogether, and from there, jumps all the way over here, (to the end of the week of Daniel). Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened. You find that in Revelation, in the sixth seal, where you read almost the same thing word for word. Do not get the two periods of tribulation, persecution, and such, mixed up. We finished up this morning, trying to show you that the Bride is down here, right where she is to be made ready, where she is to be perfected, where she is to be enlightened, and how she is to be instructed only from the revealed word of God, by the God ordained ministry of that hour, and that there will be no tradition left in it. Tradition is all thrown aside. You cannot live on tradition, assumptions or guesswork. You must live on the revealed word of God. Along this line, we see how the spirit of the wise servant, as compared to the evil servant, was dealt with at the Master’s coming. Again, as we said earlier, that is not a condition that takes place in heaven. That takes place down here, while we are preparing ourselves for the rapture. With that in mind, we can see that the Lord will come in a day when that evil servant is not aware of, or when he is not looking for Him. That does not mean He is coming for the rapture: He is coming in a divine revelation, right where that character is, right where the turmoil and problems he is creating is taking place, but He comes in a way as to separate that character from the element of people that are the true, separated Bride. Keep in mind though, that when Jesus interpreted this parable to the servants back then, concerning the second parable, they (the servants) saw and recognized the tares. (Mat 13:27) “ So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?” They then asked the question, Shall we go out and pluck them up? He said, let them grow together until the harvest. We are living in the final time frame of God’s spiritual harvest of the firstfruits of the crop. That is what the Bride of Jesus Christ is. I realize there are a lot of religious people in the world today that would say, if they heard me say this, You talk like you are the only ones. Well, I will say in reply to you, I wish I could open your eyes and get you out of your darkness of traditional thinking. I will bring in a few things that will show you what I mean by that. It shows us right here, that when the Lord comes, He comes when that evil servant (tare) is not aware, or looking for him. While the words said, looks like the Lord speaks audibly, keep in mind that those words are only to convey to you an action on the part of the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind also, that in none of these parables has Jesus been here in person to fulfill them. Keep that in mind also, that John the Baptist, when they came to him, asking, Are you that prophet? Are you the Christ? Are you this or that? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. They asked him why he baptized. He said, There is one among you, when He appears, He will indeed baptize you with Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in His hand. I say tonight, Jesus has not been on earth doing the baptizing in the Holy Ghost. You know that. He is in His mediatorial position. Therefore when it comes time for the separation of the crop down here, He is not going to be here in the flesh. It is how He comes by divine revelation through His word, to create conditions and circumstances that will deal with it accordingly, that we have to be aware of. These words are only said to show you the transaction: that when the time has come for that negative thing to be separated, the Holy Ghost will see to it. All of that evil influence has to be done away with. With this in mind, just know that this does not complete the time picture, because verse 28, showing where the eagles are, lets you carry that right straight on through. Every one of these other things will transpire, but that verse is going to be in the center. While the eagles are eating in the various places where they are gathered, to eat of that eagle food, there is where God will create the condition to separate that evil servant type. That is what we have to see. I want to take you back a few years, to show you that this time frame picture had to start somewhere. It had to have a beginning. That is why I take you back to 1963. What happened back in 1963? After the great revival that God had visited Canada, America, and the world at large with, I am thankful I lived to see the effects of some of it, because I was saved in that period. It was not until we come to the year 1963, that God set a mark in time, because He had a little man on earth who was His prophet, His mouthpiece to direct those who were truly seeking to walk with God, back to the written word. Regardless of what the evangelists of today say about him, if you hear me talk about this man, I want you to know this, I will defend that man’s image and calling, because I sat under his ministry for thirteen years and I know what he stood for. Do not think for one minute, that I have not seen a lot of these other Hollywood evangelists, imitators, entertainers, or what have you, but God used them nevertheless. As for Brother Branham, in 1963 when God dealt with him like He did, He came back here to this little city of Jeffersonville, Indiana, which is hardly known throughout the nation, and in a little building called The Branham Tabernacle, for one week he dealt with the subject in the book of Revelation, concerning the breaking of the seals. To whoever may be listening, For one solid week, in simplicity, he explained what the breaking of the first six seals signified. I will say to you also, The little picture he explained to us fits exactly into Church history. He brought the revelation of the breaking of six seals. When he brought the revelation of that fourth seal, the Lord Himself, was still sitting on the throne of mercy, and when the time came for Him to break that fourth seal, the fourth beast, which had the face of the eagle, said, Come and see. That goes to show, from that time on, when that seal was applicable to a generation of time, when the understanding of that drops to the earth, there will be an element of earthly Christian people down here to receive it. They will be hungry, yearning to know where we are in time, and how close we are to the coming of the Lord. When we are made to see that, we become that little group of eagles, those that correspond to that eagle beast, the spirit of that eagle, which is a prophetic spirit, an all seeing spirit. It looks ahead. You cannot trap it; and neither can you deceive it. That goes to show you that the end time, living element of people that make up the true Bride of Christ will be living under the effects of that fourth seal right straight on through until she is raptured out of this world. That means, in that time frame, there is going to be somewhere, a place where those eagles are gathered, and the revelation of the word of God will be fresh manna, like the killing of a carcase. All of that is symbolic language. We are not cannibals, but it is symbolizing how God will make known to those Bride eagles, the truth of His word, what it really means, as well as what it does not mean. Tradition is out of the picture. I sat there during those nights and I know what was said. To show you something started then, that would start the time frame for a generation of people who eventually would make up the true Bride, we have many examples. Somewhere along the line, as they are born or as they would hear about it, those predestinated bride saints would want to come and learn what was said. Did you know, not one denomination, not one of the preachers has dared to take the book of Revelation, the 6th chapter, and deal with it to give to their congregation a picture as to what it might mean or what it might symbolize. Yet for one entire week Bro. William Branham gave an element of living saints a picture and understanding of what six of those seals pertained to. On Sunday night, when he had preached what he felt like saying about the seventh seal, he ended up with the conclusion that it was not broken, but that when it is, it will bring into fulfillment the sounding of those seven thunders in Revelation 10, because they will bring a revelation of the proximity of the coming of Christ, the Bridegroom, for His church.
REVEALING ERROR
I have to tell you something at this time, because I know what Bro Branham said and I know when he said it, in his teaching on the seals. Many people do not realize that Dr. Lee Vail, who had been given permission to edit the Church Age tapes from December 1960, when Bro. William Branham preached on that, did something that has caused a lot of confusion. All down through the time even beyond the preaching of the seals, he was editing the tapes on the Church Ages. What I am saying is this, He had not finished the editing when the seals were preached, so the manuscripts were still open. Dr. Lee Vail sat there and heard what Bro. William Branham said, so I say to wherever hears this, what Bro. William Branham said when he preached the seals, that the seventh seal was not opened, is exactly what he meant: He did not change his mind. He only said, that when it is opened seven thunders will utter their voices. Now here, is what I want you to pay special attention to. When the Church Ages Book was finally published, (Remember, the Church Ages messages were preached over three years prior to the Seals messages.) Dr. Lee Vail has looked to that point, and he brings it back and puts it in the Church Ages Book, saying, (about Bro. William Branham) and this man will do two things: Number one, he will turn the heart of the children to the fathers, (That is true: His ministry did that.) and then he will bring forth the revelation of the seven thunders, which is the revelation of the seven seals, and this is what it will take to turn the heart of the children back to the fathers. (That is not true.) Do you know what that does in the minds of a lot of people? It blocks their mind, and keeps them from looking any further for anything else. That is why, when I said what I did, Perry Green asked me, Bro. Jackson, why did you say that? I said, Perry, I sat there while he preached those messages and I know what he said: I know when he said it, and I know what he meant, and that is not what he said in the Church Ages Messages. The Bible was not written like that; and neither should this which is taught from what is written in the Bible be treated like that. Dr. Lee Vail had him say things three years in advance of when he actually preached them, putting those remarks in the Church Ages Book. That is why I have said, The Church Ages book, edited by Lee Vail, park it on a shelf somewhere, because, though it has truth in it, it also has a lot of Dr. Lee Vail in it, because he injected his own ideas into those messages. When you get the actual books which were printed right from the taped messages Bro. William Branham preached, you will discover that when he preached on the seven church ages, they were altogether different than what you read in the supposed-to-be edited version by Lee Vail. Nevertheless, this comes right back to the gospel of St. John, when John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire, (Notice the other words John the Baptist said.) whose fan, (Did you get that?) whose fan is in His hand, (Mat. 3:12) “Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.” What kind of floor? Threshing floor. That is where He is gathering grain, to separate the chaff, the dust, the tares and everything else from it. That is why I have said for the past number of years, God allowed Bro. William Branham to say a few things to give carnal minds something to play with. That is why many times there were dual statements made, one pointing in this direction, the other pointing in that direction. As I sat there I said, Lord, that man is your prophet messenger to the age, and he is the only man this side of the Reformation that ever spoke in dual terms like that, but I know you have allowed it: in fact you have wanted it to be this way, because it is those dual statements that will be one element of the fan in the hand of Jesus. Let me just illustrate it like this, One time, I was hunting with Bro. William Branham and he said to me, Bro. Junie, there are only three and one half years left of Daniel’s seventy weeks. At that time, I had never made any study, so I did not think much about it. It went on until 1962 in the month of October, when he took a week to preach on the seventy weeks of Daniel. I sat there through every bit of it. You have heard him say, that on a particular day when he went out to get in the car, his wife said to him, Billy, they will never get it: it is too deep. He said, They have to, because we are too near. He emphasized over and over through that week of preaching, that there are yet seven years left of that seventy weeks of years. Then in March and April 1963 he came out and said there are only three and one half years left to Israel. Saints: Anyone who knows anything at all should know there is either three and one half or seven left. They cannot possibly both be right. I will challenge any doctor of divinity who would want to disagree with my statement. First of all though, if you do not know your history, do not even bother to come around. There are yet seven years left of the seventy weeks of Daniel. That is very plain, yet to you that want to play around with the three and one half years I say, Go ahead and take it. I guarantee you though, you will never wind up on the word of God, and neither will you be on God’s threshing floor, neither will you be where the eagles are gathered together. You will be gone already. I am not angry, just disgusted, because I know what I am talking about. I will defend something for a righteous cause, but carnality, there is no place for it. That time frame, where the eagles are gathered, is not just a one year event. It started back here, (chart-thirty some years ago). There have been periods through here, that God has opened up portions of His word and let it become more plain to the Bride of Christ, as they grow in number, as well as in the stature of the Lord, as time progresses around the world, so that all may know what you and I know. The finalizing of this period manifests itself as we move closer to the time that there is to be a rapture take place.
WORKINGS OF THE HOLY GHOST
Go with me now, to the 25th chapter of Matthew. I pray God will help me have the wisdom to say the things He would have me say, and say them the right way. “Then.” That is a future tense word. We brought that in last Sunday. That is why we titled this message, The Last 100 Years-Plus, because this time of the foolish and wise virgins actually started back at the beginning of the century. Azusa Street had the great revival from 1903 to 1906. It really did not start there, because the dropping of the Holy Ghost took place in 1901, January 1st in Topeka Kansas. A man by the name of Rev. Parham had a congregation of Methodists. They had been fasting for a move of God that would convict and deal with sinners. All of a sudden the Holy Spirit began to drop, and they would speak in tongues, which they referred to as the evidence of the Holy Spirit, but in reality, speaking in tongues is not necessarily evidence that one has received the Holy Ghost, It is not a proof: It is a manifestation, but not a proof. It was Bro. Parham with his group, that left there and worked their way down through Texas. The group that accompanied him gave testimonies in the various meetings. The gifts were working in their lives. That is when Bro. Seymour, a Nazarene, a black man, heard about them. He went to the meeting and become overjoyed in hearing what was said. He began to thirst for that same experience. When Bro. Seymour left that meeting in Texas, he had already been invited to come to Los Angeles California to a Nazarene Church and preach a revival. He went there just to preach what he had seen and heard from these Topeka Kansas people. I have read the entire story. When he told about this in the Nazarene Church, they rebelled against it. He and some of those people left there and obtained an old run down warehouse, where they used boxes and such for seats. That is where the Holy Ghost fell upon them, and for the next three years it was heralded around the world. The age of Laodicea was on. Now, having said that, let us get back to the scripture we were about to read. “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, (As I said last Sunday, This age opened up with one of the greatest displays of what God had done in the last two hundred years, but it seemed as though the denominational people just closed their ears and went to sleep. Ten virgins, is only a symbolic number He used to make a point. He could have used a hundred, or a thousand, but He just used the number ten.) which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.” Keep in mind, He said this before the Grace Age had even started, that down here somewhere in time it would be this way. He then said this, “They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” In other words, they had the baptism to manifest the fire and the light, and the supernatural Spirit of God. “While the bridegroom tarried, (Even back in the teens, after that great revival, many of those people thought they were living right on the verge of the coming of Jesus Christ. Songs were written about the soon coming of Christ. Here we are in 2002, almost one hundred years later, and we are looking forward to the coming of Christ. Therefore according to that, we can say the bridegroom has tarried.) they all slumbered and slept.” I will say this, I spent time in the army, and I know that when you get a hundred and eighty seven men sleeping in the same barracks, on double bunks, you can sure hear a lot of strange noises in the night. They can slumber and sleep, they grown and grunt, they snore, and once in awhile have a nightmare, so you can look at this, that they all slumbered and slept. “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; (How many times I heard Bro. William Branham say, The coming of the Lord is right at hand, I cannot number.) go ye out to meet him. (Which means, get ready, so as we look at verse 7, please keep in mind, I am looking at that period of the 1950’s and on into the 1960’s, when that great move of God hit America and so many people talked about it. That awakened Christendom.) Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” This kind of communication does not actually take place, but this helps us know what conditions precede the coming of the Lord. These are only words to show you how the two elements will begin to react. Many times, I went to Bro. William Branham’s meetings and there were Holy Ghost preachers there, as well as Baptists, Methodists, and all the rest. There would be a message in tongues, and then an interpretation, and you could not help but wonder, What does all those denominational people think about this? There was no visible reason why they did not see the same things the others saw. Then when they sat there and saw the power of God, how that gift was manifested to their benefit, it was an awakening hour. They should have seen the supernatural power of God, and at least realized what God wanted the Church to be like: not just an old starchy, ecclesiastical denomination, living on the virtues of the past, but only some saw that. Well it sounds like the foolish began to beg the wise, Give us of your oil, but those actual words will never be heard. “But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” I can say tonight, When we came to a time after the Church Ages was preached, and on into 1961 and 1962, then began to appear the little tracts telling of experiences of some. It could happen with a Jew, or it could happen with a Presbyterian or anyone. Somewhere, one of them, in a basement, had experienced speaking in tongues. I have to bring this in, to show you the kind of manifestations that were experienced at first, and how they were kept in the basements and private places, and not in the open arenas. The question began to go forth, What is this? Bro. William Branham would say, That is the foolish, going out to get oil. By the time we came to 1963 and 1964, this experience started coming up out of the basement and into the established systems. Methodist churches started opening up and letting those fellows come in to preach on what they referred to as a phenomena. You could sit there and say, I don’t see why they didn’t learn something. It was because they have a foolish attitude. In all those meetings, never was there a divine revelation that would awaken them spiritually and turn their hearts back to the scriptures of prophecy. They were just glad to be a tongue talking Methodist, a Baptist, or Presbyterian. I have read tracts written by them. I am old enough to know what happened. In Canada, in Louisiana, with Catholic women on the platforms and all such, teaching an element of people how to speak in tongues, they were made to think, Oh, we have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They had something, but they did not have any revelation whatsoever. Why? Because of their satisfaction in just being able to speak in tongues and dance. Every other move of the Spirit in time past, always carried a revelation. This one did not. When I look back to the year 1963, when that little man who was a mouthpiece for God, with such simple ways of explaining these seals, if those people coming out of those places where they were supposed to have talked in tongues and such, had really received the fullness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they would have gone out searching, feeling, There is something out there somewhere that I need. You just do not get a baptism of the Spirit of a supernatural God, and find that it leaves your brain blank. When these revelations that Bro. William Branham brought out about the six seals, were printed, Billy Graham wrote a book and his subject was, “The Four Horsemen.” I had already heard this little man talk about what these four horsemen were, so I knew he (Billy Graham)was following a cold trail. His revelation was, that they are yet to ride, over in the great tribulation period. We had already found out that the white horse rider was the spirit of antichrist, riding in that first age of Christendom, way back here (chart-after the old guards of the Christian faith had left the scene). Then the red horse, which portrays a time of martyrdom and bloodshed, began to stand out. After that, the black horse rider which represents what Catholicism did to the Christian faith during that long Dark Age period, which was a period of time when Satan’s church, representing death and hell had the preeminence. Then comes the gray horse, coming in after the Reformation began to bear fruit. I am glad to know that all four have already been manifested, and to know that the gray horse rider is still galloping over the horizon of the religious world today, spreading his charismatic message. That is why I say, Knowing the truth, guards against being deceived by a lot of sweet talk.
REVELATION PREVAILS
Let me at this time bring in a personal experience. Bro. William Branham had already preached on the fourth horse rider, and was going to get into the fifth seal next. Some people from Chicago came down for the meetings, and came out to our home the next day. That night, when he was going to preach on the fifth seal, sitting in our living room, one of the sisters asked me, Bro. Jackson, do you think a Jew can be saved, since the early age of Pentecost when the gospel came to them, even though they have never accepted Jesus Christ? Do you think it is possible, that any of them could be saved? My reply was, No. Just like that I answered, No. That is the way the carnal mind looks at it, because the blood of Jesus Christ had not been applied to them, and the Holy Ghost had not been given to them, so I thought, How in the world could they be saved? Little did I realize at that moment, what we would hear that night when we went to the meeting. I sat there listening, that little man came out and opened his Bible to the 6th chapter of Revelation, and said, Tonight I want to deal with the fifth seal. He began to read. I was sitting there ever so eager, wondering what we were going to hear. When he came out with what the fifth seal represented I was shocked: That pertains to many of those Jews that were slain in Hitler’s holocaust, he said. He explained it like this, Notice, they were here under the altar, crying. They were saying, How long O Lord, holy and true, wilt thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Before anything else was said, angelic beings came with white robes and put on them. They were clothed with the white robes, and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet a little season, until your fellow brethren and servants should be killed as you were. A little season. From there to here, which cannot be more than seventy years. How many of you understand me? I tell you Saints: that hit me between the eyes, when I realized they had been martyred because of the faith they had in the word of God, not in the blood of Christ. I will say this tonight, Oh religious world, where are you tonight? Why do you not want to know some of these things that can be known? What has gone wrong? You might say it is irrelevant. I say it is very important. Back in 1963, is when God started that time frame, He was going to start pulling His elect out of the systems. Young people, many of you were not even born at that time. Thank God you were born into homes that had already been affected by this revelation of truth. God let you be brought up in this time frame to learn and begin to see what has been going on down through time. While the Charismatics were going to their meetings, Oh my, we are already in verse 10, so listen carefully to this, “And while they (which were the foolish virgins) went to buy, the bridegroom came; (Did this mean Jesus actually came for the rapture? Absolutely not. He came in a divine revelation through His word, to that element of people that had been awakened.) and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage.” It is marriage preparatory, because right there is where she is made ready, because this is where and when she takes her bath in the word of God, according to God’s word. In Ephesians 6, it says He will present to Himself a glorious Church, having neither spot, wrinkle, or blemish. How will He do it? He says He will wash us thoroughly with the washing of the water of the word. Where? Not in the denomination, but in this time frame right here, (chart) those who have been set free from denominational traditions to follow truth. If you are not hungry, you will not be in it. You may as well stay at home and watch your ball games. When you go to work Monday morning, tell Joe what the score was and who did what, because it is very evident you never heard anything about the Lord. Now then, when the bridegroom came into this verse, that puts us exactly where verse 28 speaks of, right where the carcase is. How many are following my thought? It is also where verses 50 and 51, come into fulfillment, when the Lord comes in and sees that evil servant, which is a tare. God will not let him sit among the Bride always. Since 1963, there has been a considerable number of years pass by. Have we been translated out of here to there? No. We have been caught up in a message of truth, that the foolish virgins are shut out of. That is why I say, It makes me feel so glad that I have brothers and sisters to shake hands with, knowing we are looking at the same thing. I am not looking for a halo of light around my head. I am just waiting for the hour when the voice of my Savior says, Well done, enter into the joy of the Lord. Hallelujah! I will be so glad to be there. “Afterward came also the other virgins,” When you see that, right straight on through to verse 13, this lets us know we need not get our eyes on them, because we are not going to help them. I will say this, If one actually comes and sits down and begins to ask questions, I will do my utmost to explain what we know. Then, if I see that person shaking their head, I just don’t understand, I simply cannot see that: I will probably realize what we are dealing with. You will see them two times, then they will miss three times. Then you see them one time, and they miss five times. After awhile you do not see them anymore. It lets me know the door of divine revelation was already shut to such a person or persons. We are getting closer to this, (chart, where God will be dealing exclusively with the bride Church). That is one little picture that deals with one little picture of conditions among people, and we are still down here during that time. We are getting close to the end though, so keep alert. We are soon going to hear those thunders sound their voices.
UNDERSTANDING THE TALENTS PARABLE
Let us now go into this next parable. (Mat. 25:14) Again Jesus said, “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man (or individual) according to his several ability; and straighway took his journey. (He left the scene.) Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.” Now verse 19 brings us right in the same category where verse 10 is, where 24 is, where verse 50 is, and 25, and also verse 28, right in that time frame. This particular culling does not take place in heaven. Therefore you have to see how it is worded. “After a long time,” keep in mind, saints, that the kingdom of heaven era started two thousand years ago, when the Holy Ghost was poured out upon those gathered in that upper room in Jerusalem. The Lord was not there in person distributing His goods. How many understand that? The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4, Now He that descended is the same one that ascended. When He ascended up on high, He gave gifts unto men. When did He do that? After He got up there, so that has been a work of the Holy Spirit here on earth, while Jesus has been in His mediatory office in heaven. As for these talents, did He call one to be a farmer, another a carpenter and so forth? No. The goods or gifts of Jesus was the callings of the ministry and the gifts of the Spirit. How many catch the point? What good would the gifts of the Spirit be without these gifted ministries? How many follow me? It takes that kind of ministry here on earth where the carcase is, in order for the rest to receive what the Lord has for His Bride Church. We are not just coming together and waiting to see the Lord come into our midst speaking supernaturally to every individual. That is not the picture at all. He has separated us from the religious, denominational church world. He did it by His grace, and by the leading of His Spirit, allowing each of us to see something spiritually, that tells us, You cannot journey on down the path of life with all that mass of religious confusion. Sure, many of them are good moral people, and they mean well, but we soon realize this, that if they do not have a burning desire in their heart’s, to want to know a little more about the depth of God’s word, then there is something wrong. Not with you: but with them. We have to realize, He distributed these gifts and talents two thousand years ago, but as each generation came on the scene, we know exactly what happened. By the time the Church passed through three centuries of early Christendom, many of the gifts of the Spirit began to diminish, or deteriorate in the body of the believing people. Strange doctrines began to gnaw their way in and eat away the true doctrines the Church was founded upon. The trinity concept of the Godhead became accepted, as the false teachers taught a three person God. A triune baptism became the norm. By the time you come to 500 A.D., the Roman Catholic system was shutting the book (the Bible) to the worshipers. For a thousand years, the Catholic congregations knew nothing about the supernatural power of God, nor of God revealing anything to them. All of that was taken away from the people. All they knew was what their leaders told them. It remained that way until the Reformation broke out. What was the purpose of the Reformation? It was God’s way of gradually restoring the true revelation of His word back to the Church. Each truth was confirmed with a measure of His Spirit. God’s aim in the end, was, by doing this through the centuries ahead, He would eventually bring the Church back to its original likeness. The work is wrapping up and His redeemed Church is about ready to take her flight. When we look to the 19th verse, that brings us to the hour you and I are living in. Listen, “After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, (This is not looking at those that lived in the Dark Ages, nor in Calvin’s hour, nor Knox’s hour, Luther’s hour, or Wesley’s hour: It pertains to this very hour. He comes, how? By divine revelation.) and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” It was the same, with the one that had the two: he brings two more, showing that whatever it was in the line of a gift or the ministry, it has been multiplied by his faithfulness. That was influential in helping build the body of Christ. He did not give all of us money to go out play the Stock Market: He gave each one something to contribute to His body, that it be able to stand in His place here on earth until He returns. How many realize that? Look at verse 24. “Then he which had received the one talent came and said, (I am going to read and I want each of you to pay attention, because I am looking at predestination and eternal security. God does not do anything contrary to His word. He that received the one talent, God never gave anything to anyone, more than they needed, but only what He knew that person had the potential to use in the right way. He distributed talents, leaving it up to the person receiving them to do with it what he would. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Listen to how he talked back to the Lord.) Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed.” These words are not even used in this time frame: they are only used here to convey to you, how the Holy Ghost looks us over. It is how we let our minds cultivate what we are looking at, as to how we wind up in the end of this picture. Listen carefully to what was said. “And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.” I look back to 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997, a period when there were people among us that were supposed to have received something from the Lord. All of you can look back to that time when the Spirit of God came sweeping through our midst: There were people lying on the floor under the power of God, speaking in tongues, and some even prophesying. They ran up and down these isles and all over the place, and some were hauled home, while still under the power of the Spirit of God. You know exactly what I am talking about. There were no words spoken, but I ask you, How do you think the Holy Ghost looked upon those individuals that received those experiences? He gives no one more than is needed, but He gives each one the potential that he or she can do something with, if they have the character, the outlook, the hunger, and the insight to know what to do and where to start. The end result of this is, Those who do as the last one in the parable did, are not predestined Bride of Christ seed at all. That person is a tare: just as that evil servant was, back here in that parable. Notice what the Lord says here, “His lord answered and said unto him, (This is very plain.) Thou wicked and slothful servant.” That does not mean he is from the town’s booze joint: That expression points to his spiritual motivation, how he looks upon that which is important to the Lord. Through the years, I have watched some, and at first you would think they were ready to set the world on fire with their enthusiasm. They were ready to be in the forefront of everything going on, but it seems like something always holds them back, and regardless of who they were, and how sincere they might have looked, every last one of them made their exit. Where is that speaking in tongues, dancing and shouting tonight? I ask a simple question, Where is it tonight? You would have thought they never would have turned back from where they were back then. How many understand what I am saying? They were not all teenagers either. You have to wonder what happened. I did nothing to discourage any genuine believer. I did nothing to drive anyone away, if they were truly seeking the Lord. Why did they leave? They have gone back to the world. Why? They are tares. Don’t tell me I have no right to judge them! I am not judging anyone: They are judged by the WORD OF GOD. You could have poured truth on them until their clothes were saturated with it, so to speak, but none of it went any deeper than the outer flesh, the good feeling they were enjoying. It had no stimulating affect on their spirit. It only affects the emotions for a little short period and then worldly attractions draw them away. I hate to talk like this, but remember, the Lord is no respecter of persons. He knows all the tares, even when they are enjoying everything the true seed are enjoying. He knows how we have acted. He knows how we look at, and how we treat His word. He knows when we are putting on a show and He allows anyone to do that for so long; and then truth causes them to depart on their own, without anyone throwing them out physically. When the rapture does come, those evil servants will not be among us. Neither will the lazy characters that cannot live the life of a Holy Ghost filled child of God. Those who are only in it for a show, or for a temporary thrill, will not stay around until then. It literally means this, When God brings us all to the final hour of preparing ourselves spiritually, He has brought us through the conditions of verse 27 and verse 28, and we are waiting for our final instructions. Every one of those verses that speak of how the Lord came on the scene to deal with that respective incident, when all that is fulfilled, I have to say to you, He has washed us, He has cleansed us, we have a picture in our heart and mind of what it is all about, what has been going on and we will know why. Why are we different than what those out there in the religious world are? Why do they not see what we see? Because the foolish cannot see what we see. If they could, they would not be among the foolish. Bride saints soon learn proper conduct in spiritual matters, as well as in outward appearances. We just simply do not try to identify with every worldly style that comes along.
TRENDS OF THIS HOUR OF TIME
I turned on the TV the other night, and I do not remember what station it was, but it showed a platform with all those people sitting there, and they everyone looked like something from Hollywood. I thought to myself, I would not be caught sitting among that crowd for anything in this world. The women were painted up in every possible way, but they were all singing in the spirit, with tears running down their faces. I just thought, Oh Lord, when I think how people have been fed to the lions, people who did not have themselves painted up with lipstick and eye shadow, and now that bunch sits there as models of Christendom, pretending to be the Bride of Christ, What a shame! What a sham! A camera moved down the line, there sat young women wearing shorts, cut off jeans, looking just exactly like what you see in the world of ungodliness all around you. I thought to myself, They are living in the greatest material age that has ever been, yet to them it is more honorable to be half nude than to wear clothing of decency. I can remember a time when no professing Christian would even think of dressing like that. Naturally I am talking about the 1940’s and 1950’s, because coming into the 1960’s, all over this globe, teenagers were buying those western jeans. Then young and old alike began to follow the trend. Why? Because that is a symbol of the last element of human society, in the last great nation that exists on the face of this earth. Did you know, the jeans designed by Levi, are made of that strong fiber because those cowboys back in the late 1800’s had to wear leather chaps when they turned a horse loose to cut a steer out of a herd, and sometimes he had to take them close to a thorny bush, so if they did not have something to protect their legs, they were going to come out with their legs bleeding. Levi took care of that by making those jeans out of sailcloth material. It was not long then, until the world over, cowboy jeans became a symbol of that last element of western society. I have been in Europe, and you see them wear the western jeans. That is why you have to pay such a fabulous price for them now. Where you were once able to buy them for $9.98 a pair, they soon went to $29.98, then $39.98, because they became an image of something. Now they cut the legs off and make shorts out of them. I have to say tonight, You have to have a heart and mind capable of understanding the spirit behind all these worldly trends, in order not to be caught up in the same thing. No matter what they are doing, what they are saying, how they are acting, I am not going to walk down the street, slap them on the back and say, Hey, don’t you know you are dressed immoral? I will walk right on by them: How that worldly crowd dress is none of my business. They might be standing at the cash register when I am paying for something, I might glance at them, but I am not their judge. Brothers and sisters, I want you to know, that by the time God gets through with all of us, He will have us refined: He will have taken everything out from us that will not measure up to the standard of spiritual decency, because He will present to Himself, not a bunch of smart aleck know-it-all’s, but a people who know their God, know they were redeemed with a great price, and love their Savior with all their heart, because He purchased them with His own blood. He gave us His life, that we might have His life in us to mold and made us in His own image. I just have to say, Lord, Thank you for purchasing and perfecting us. Thank you, for making this word alive in us. The unprofitable servants leave the scene to return no more. How many can see that? They really are tares, so they cannot be harvested with the pure seed crop. The tare spirit in this hour, spends all his time finding fault: That Jackson, that Thompson, that Allen, who do they think they are? With an attitude like that, they are not about to sit under such a ministry, so away they go. That ends with verse 30.
THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY
When we go to verse 31,Notice what it jumps to, all the way from here (chart-from where we are now, to the end of the week) to right over here. (Mat. 25:31-32) “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” When He comes to fulfill that, His Bride will be with Him. I want to be there. I am not asking to be in the front row. Lord, anywhere, just to be with you. And all the holy angels with Him, what a sight! The throne of His glory is the seat of King David, and before Him shall He gather all the nations. That will be all the mortal people that are left alive, that have come through the week of Daniel. Many will be martyred, but all those that are still alive, stand before Him to be separated as described, and Millennial subjects will be chosen. They will repopulate the earth. He is also going to resurrect all those martyred saints. That is when He is going to start that judgment of the nations. I want to back up to here and say something else in regards to the foolish virgins. The wise virgins are really what makes up the true Bride that leaves here in the rapture, those of the blue line, clothed in fine linen. That leaves those that are looked upon as foolish virgins, to go through the week of Daniel: many of which are going to be killed, martyred. It has been said in this pulpit, (I want all of you to look me in the eye.) that these foolish virgins that have come down through that time, the only way they will have life is to be martyred. That is not true. I say again, That is just not true! I say this with respect for the truth. Those that came from this, over into this time, and lived way on down through here, and then died a natural death, if they were loyal and faithful to the truth they lived and died with, they will be represented in that red line on our chart. Thus saith the Lord! If you do not like it, feel free to hit the road. God will not change His mind. They were made virgins by the grace of God. The fact that they did not measure up to the caliber of the bride, does not condemn them to burn in hell. If they kept that faith, and died with it, even in natural death, that puts them right there, because many with the same faith as those that are martyred, will die a natural death without being faced with martyrdom. Do not bother to argue with me about that: I know what I am talking about, because it is Thus saith the Lord. God is still running this thing.
A TRUE TESTIMONY
Thinking on these things, I go back to the year 1951. My wife had an aunt in her sixties. She took a terrible sickness and died. She was in the hospital for several days before she died, so the doctor pronounced her to be dead. They were getting ready to call the undertaker to come get her, when all of a sudden her vital organs started functioning again. She came back to life. It was a tremendous shock. In two days time she was out of the hospital. She had been a Methodist all her life. One day after that I saw her and she said to me, I want to tell you something. She said, Heaven is the most beautiful place you could ever see. Her mother had passed away when she was a small girl, and she was left with brothers and sisters which she helped raise. While she was dead, she was taken into heaven: she met her mother. Her mother came to her and she recognized her. Her mother started talking with her. They carried on a conversation. She said, I felt so overjoyed to see how heaven looked, and to see my mother, and to see all the other people, I didn’t want to come back. Yet after my mother talked to me a little while she said, You must go back, for your husband needs you a little longer. She was a Methodist, and did not have the light of understanding you and I have today. She lived maybe two or three years longer and then God took her. Do not dare tell me that precious soul did not have something when she went into the grave. Though she might not be in the category you and I are in, she is at least going to be with those in that red line. She died a natural death, was not martyred, but I say to all of you around the world, Do not forget the thief that hung on the cross. That day, when Jesus hung there, there was an angry thief on one side, and the other one on His other side. That one with his loud mouth looked across at this one on the other side and said, Why don’t you say something? He was a thief; and he was not martyred because of his faith. He was executed because of his crimes. He was a Jew, but had no merits to his favor. They were executing him because of what he had been in life. Yet when he was challenged to say something, I can see him look over to the face of Jesus, after looking at that bunch of hypocrites that had condemned him to die and said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. What did Jesus say? Listen, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Let us not belittle the grace of God. That man had not been baptized or in any way seemed to care about spiritual things: Yet he was given life. He did not lived long enough after asking Jesus that, to show any fruit as a believer, so if God could save that man, then do not tell me these that would be considered as foolish virgins coming up through here, and coming on down through time, that have lived a life of faith in God, are not given life. I will say this, Back in the 1950’s, the 1960’s, and 1970’s, I have seen some denominational saints that put a lot of other people of our day to shame. I know that once they pass into this time (chart) they will have to be martyred when faced with it, but until that time, some are going to die a natural death. I have to say, they are going to come up with all those others in that red line, clothed in white robes. They are robes of eternal life. Come back again next Sunday and we will continue on with this subject.