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Latter Rain Chart
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INTRODUCTION: CLOSELY EXAMINING LUKE 1:17, MATTHEW 17:10-13, ONE DISCOVERS JOHN THE BAPTIST FULFILLS THE FIRST PHASE OF MALACHI 4:5-6, WHO WILL FULFILL B-PART? WHAT IS MEANT BY ‘TURNING THE HEARTS OF CHILDREN TO THE FATHERS’? WHAT WAS THE MEANING OF THE ANGEL’S STATEMENT IN 1933 WHEN HE INSTRUCTED BRO. WILLIAM BRANHAM” AS JOHN THE BAPTIST FORERUN MY FIRST COMING YOUR MESSAGE WILL FORERUN MY SECOND COMING. WHAT WAS THE MESSAGE, DIVINE HEALING? HIMSELF? OR WAS IT GATHERING REVELATION OF THE WORD THAT HAD BEEN RESTORED THROUGH THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION TO TAKE AND PLACE TOGETHER IN ITS PROPER SETTING AND MAKE IT THE ONE MESSAGE IDENTICAL TO THAT OF THE APOSTLES?
Time has arrived that we should begin analyzing something of which we have heard much about in our hour. We call it “A message” and due to the condition of things going on which is disturbing many people I felt it compulsory to present a message which we shall subtitle WHAT IS THAT MESSAGE? How many would
agree with me that if there is a message it must be located somewhere within this Bible? There just isn’t another textbook in circulation from which you could get it. History reveals every conceivable attempt has been tried to destroy its precious truth, even to burning it. The Dark Ages witnessed Catholicism’s vicious attempt at destroying the Bible, telling the people they didn’t and couldn’t understand it. Yet, we must remember everything which God intended for mankind to know and understand still remains somewhere within this book. Still further, God will instruct man as to where in the Word it is located, won’t he? Because of the vital importance of this message, we shall attempt to make all our statements clear. Together let us enter into what I feel is the very beginning of a message (if there is a message). I only phrase it in this manner because of what is going on in the spiritual realm. For myself, there is no doubt, I know there is a message; furthermore, I shudder to think where each of us would be today had God not sent a message. I only state it in this message. I only state it in this manner because of what is going on and because of things that may sooner or later affect your own understanding as to what God has done in this hour, so once and for all with the scriptures let us settle in our minds exactly (1) what God has done, (2) if there is a message, what is it, (3) now that we have received the message what can we look forward to as we approach the end. Here I have no reference to the end as to how it is going to wind up, no. How God purposes to finish out the end of all things still remains strictly a mystery locked inside himself; however, if we know and recognize that something has been taught and explained in this religious world and through his grace have grasped it, receiving a clear understanding of what it is, insomuch that we felt it necessary to have adjusted our life by that teaching or message in which we are attempting, irregardless to what the end may be, we will be ready for it once the time arrives. If the devil can disturb you by placing within your mind a warped attitude of thinking toward the true revelation of the message which causes you to deviate from that which has already been delivered and explained. Then you, beloved, will certainly not be ready for the end which is coming up shortly. Using a familiar passage of scripture, II Cor. 5:17, we begin to lay our groundwork for a foundation to “What is the message.” “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation: To wit, (meaning to witness, to preach, propagate, proclaim, teach or instruct) that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation”. Let us examine more closely what Paul is saying as we begin the scriptural basis for our message. If this was a vindicated message delivered in our day and time we must discover on what scriptural basis of the gospel of Christ did it come and what it is. Turning back to another familiar scripture Malachi 4, let us familiarize and acquaint ourselves with the actual wording. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great (great deals with the first advent) and dreadful (dreadful deals with the second advent) day of the Lord; And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, (John the Baptist fulfilled this portion, the first advent of Christ) and the heart of the children to their fathers (this portion of the 2 scripture deals with the second advent and we are in it) lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6. Where are we to apply this last phase which has been fully explained in the message mentioned above, turning the hearts of the children to the fathers? Apply it where it belongs, in our day and time of course, that is exactly when it has been fulfilled. Remember, if B part of Malachi 4:5-6 is that certain portion of scripture which is applicable for our day, then the message would of necessity have to be something which dealt with turning our hearts back to whatever our fathers represents here in this verse, would it not?
Friends, this could not have reference to my natural grandfathers, but are my spiritual fathers who are none other than Peter, Paul, James, John, etc. We hope to show these men are the spiritual apostolic fathers of the church for this grace age. The message of this hour was for that purpose to turn your hearts back to the true teaching of what they had originally taught; therefore, you can now better understand why we used II Cor. 5:17- 19 as our pivot point. Paul, one of these spiritual fathers, begins by saying “God hath committed or given unto us (them, that early ministry) the ministry of reconciliation. Notice this ministry was not given to the great denominations or organizations which were born much later through the Reformation Period, nor was it given to the Roman Catholic Church which received its birth after Nicea 325 A.D. But unto them, the apostles of Christ, was granted that ministry of reconciling lost mankind back to God, instructing man through the preaching of revealed truth how he may get back into a fellowship or relationship with God; back in fellowship where man could be on speaking terms with God. When you have reconciled something back that means you have reinstated it to a condition or position from which it has fallen and recall as sinners none are on speaking terms with the Almighty, as sinners you two could never get along. Furthermore, as a sinner you were completely unaware of the route to God (Romans 3:10-12) your totally depraved condition had blocked any possibility of knowing the true way of God. However, once God through his love and grace extends mercy unto us and we accept his offer he places us back on speaking terms with himself, where together we may have fellowship. Being now reconciled back unto him as we commune with him through that shed blood of the Lamb we have become his adopted children and may now know his will. Being fully aware of this marvelous grace so freely given to the repentant sinner why then should it be of a necessity that long before the Grace Age appeared (an age when men could personally know him as saviour and redeemer) should such a statement as Malachi 4:5-6 appear within the chronological order of his Holy word by his Holy prophets stating definitely it would be of a necessity to send that spirit of Elijah, not at the closing of the first church age, not at the closing of the Dark Ages as the Reformation bursted into bloom but when? At the closing of the Grace Age! Why did God foresee that it would be of necessity to send that spirit once again to do what was prophesied it would do? Had not God been fully aware or had foreseen the beginning to the end, certainly he would never have had any cause to place this statement in his word. Furthermore, without some reason to do so, he would have been dubious to place such a statement in the word simply figuring somewhere I might need this spirit, but really wasn’t sure. No sir, God does not operate in that manner. He knew all along why he must send that spirit of Elijah. So because of that foreknowledge (ability to see perfectly the beginning to the end of all matters) he could without reserve or fear place this in his word, stating that at that certain specific period of time he would be compelled by his love to once again send that spirit of Elijah, for what purpose? To turn the hearts of someone’s thinking.
Turning hearts in Malachi 4:5-6 doesn’t mean to imply what happens from the results of sending that spirit would affect the literal organ of a heart, not in the least, but turning hearts refers to the spiritual heartbeat of that which vibrates life to your soul and what that heart is to the natural life as it pumps life to your physical being likewise in your soul that very source of true life, what is it? It is that revelatory factor that is planted in your soul keeping you alive spiritually, for without its function there is no spiritual life. Beloved, it takes that spirit of God within your soul to place that spiritual heartbeat precisely in line with the Word. Are you aware that all natural hearts basically are the same, having the same shape, etc? True, some hearts are larger than others concerning their activity, yet basically all hearts function exactly alike. God so designed the heart that each 3 artery, each vein comes out of the heart exactly the same location. Hearts where the artery or veins do go out some other location mean only one thing. Somewhere there is a malfunction in that heart. It certainly isn’t normal.
Each heart being the same in shape, same in design and functioning with the same motivation only signifies beloved that our gospel must also be understood exactly the same way. If so, it will beat the same sending that pure revelation of the word quickening in your soul (heart), positively causing everyone to speak the same thing and feelings and motives toward that blessed Word will be the same. Why? Because that same invigorating spiritual life within your soul would truly be the same as everyone else who is walking in the revelation of truth. Therefore, the statement in Malachi, to turn the hearts back, shows this message was designed to get into every believer’s heart and make the proper adjustment with the Word causing each one to speak and function the same insomuch if it were possible to actually remove the heart and lift it up where all could observe it we would discover what had happened in Malachi 4:5-6 was totally responsible for everyone in that hour believing alike and see that Word the same origin, the same revelated light of truth. Since these hearts are going to require some major adjustments (at that hour the hearts to be adjusted are not yet born), God, being fully aware that somewhere someone was going to get his program of grace off course, knew that it would be of necessity that this spirit of Elijah be sent in order that something be accomplished. Seeing this and being completely aware of this tragedy, had God not done something for each of us in this last day truth or message we would either still be out in the world or shut up in some carnal religious system heading straight for destruction, completely unaware that somewhere in past history things had gotten off course. Ignorant ourselves to the fact of what had really happened, we were convinced we were in his will doing what we were. Recall, while in thee carnal system we sincerely thought we were pleasing our God and doing his perfect will. Religiously speaking, each group had a different heartbeat toward the gospel as we embraced our own religious philosophy, accepting into our hearts inherited teachings of lies, me believing one way (heartbeat one way) perhaps you another. Whichever group you belonged to supported a different way of thinking; therefore, your heartbeat toward the Word was somewhat different from the next fellow’s.
Notice, these various individuals were predestined to hear the last day message of truth causing them to be the bride of Christ (or part of the true revelated church, Matt. 16:18), once they fully accepted the invitation of God through the message. Everyone must confess that at the time the invitation came to them their heartbeats toward the truth were by no means anywhere near the same, were they? However, once this message finishes its work within each heart getting all the heart adjustments back in proper perspective with the true word, according to Mal. 4:5-6 (B part) all the Predestinated hearts of the children will then be turned back into the original (teaching) or fathers of this grace age who in turn themselves were the children of the previous age of law which closed out giving way for the grace covenant to be introduced to Israel.
Beloved, we must realize the seriousness of Malachi’s prophecy. Are you aware there is only one message that can cause every heart to beat identically the same in respect to every Bible teaching or doctrine of the New Testament as taught by the apostolic fathers and it could only be accomplished by no other than the office work of this spirit of Elijah which God had promised to send at the close of the grace age to restore the hearts of the children back to those original teachings of the fathers? Think of it, every Protestant denomination and organization daughter including the mother of harlots, Rev. 17:5 herself (Roman Catholic Church) failed to do this very thing though they sincerely tried before going completely into error. Each group’s one hearts desire through every conceivable means possible was make the believers heart beat as one spiritually toward their message which they themselves felt was the original teachings of the apostles who did teach the true teachings Christ (God in the flesh) himself. 2 Cor. 5:19. However, as the scripture stated, this message delivered by the spirit to Elijah would accomplish what it had been sent to do; take hearts of children and turn them back to the fathers, hearts that had previously been beating contrary to the Word. This message would cause hearts to beat 4 the same toward the word. Our thinking, our actions, our motives which were every one different now because of this message begins to take on a new form and come in line with the fathers teachings. Yes, in our thinking we were all different. In fact, our entire structure and makeup was different because each of us carried our own motivation; therefore, it would have been totally impossible for God to have accepted out of all this conglomeration a Bride church for Himself whose heartbeat was in so many various ways toward his truth before that message came. Recall in his word how plain spoken he was when he stated what kind of church he would present unto himself, Eph. 5:17? One in which certainly there would be none of these former things of Babylon’s confusion found which was responsible for the heartbeat being so contrary to the Word itself. If he recorded for us in advance how there would not be any of these things found in Ephesians 5:27, surely him knowing how the truth would be substituted with error, he must have had something in mind which would correct certain individual’s thinking; therefore, bringing something beautiful out of that chaotic, religious mess which was responsible for such irregular heartbeats toward the Word so that at the end of the age there would be a people restored having their hearts affected and adjusted all the same, making all their hearts beat the same toward the Word thus fulfilling Ephesians 5:27.
At this point allow me to make two vital statements (1) It took the fulfilling of Malachi 4:5-6 to constitute or fulfill exactly what God prophesied would be done to change hearts entangled in error, (2) It must always be kept in the forefront of our minds that Malachi 4:5-6 is not the message brought by the messenger, it is only the means God used to deliver his message (his Word). Once the eternal God had delivered his Word to fulfill B part of Malachi 4:5-6 then does it become a time factor. I am aware across the earth at large many people though sincere in their motives, have become dull of proper thinking, that is thinking and believing Malachi 4:5-6 has become the sole essence of their teaching. These have forgotten what it was he, according to the prophecy of Malachi was actually pointing or restoring us back to.
What did he restore us back to? (1) Certainly not some denominational teaching. (2) Not unto himself, he was not the message only the messenger. If we were restored, what were we restored to? The hearts of children were turned back to something. What? The fathers (teaching). It is true you cannot see the message of Malachi 4:5-6 without seeing or accepting the object or instrument by which the message was brought forth any more beloved than you can by revelation see the apostolic gospel today without seeing who preached and proclaimed it. Furthermore, there will always be a deep love for that one who brought you more light in which to walk. So you could no more accept a message delivered to you from the hand of a Western Union messenger unless you were first convinced the individual delivering the message was actually from Western Union. Though once you accept him to be a bonafide messenger you do not mistake him for the message he delivered do you? Certainly not. I repeat, the messenger was not the message, but only that which carried the message. Likewise, you could no more accept the message delivered by him who held the office of Malachi 4:5-6 (B part) to be authentic and scriptural or as a message actually coming from the Father above designed to straighten out individuals thinking and getting their hearts in tune with the Word unless you can receive him as a Prophet messenger with God given credentials. Therefore, let us always bear in mind Malachi 4:5-6 was not the message delivered only the messenger who brought the message to turn the hearts of the children. True, you cannot separate the image from that which has been delivered, but to see the image without seeing what has been delivered and preached (that message turning hearts) only leaves one to talk and converse about the image without the true objective.
Examining this message delivered by Malachi 4:5-6 more closely we discover two major purposes (1) to show forth that somewhere and somehow a true message from the original Fathers of the apostolic days had gotten off course, yet, it did not leave us standing there empty. (2) This message instructed us how to get back in tune with all the Word of revelated truth.
5 If this message which is to be delivered by the spirit of Elijah turning hearts around in their thinking is so important, where did it originate? What or where is its original beginning? Recall, it was a message of purpose. The message was to turn hearts of children to fathers and the fathers were the early apostolic leaders; therefore, the origination of Elijah’s message would then have had to be right out of the early church or apostolic period. That, beloved, is why you were referred to II Cor. 5:19-20. My intention is not trying to project something which might sound as though we had gone to seed on this one thing for I am aware that it is possible for someone to go to seed on one thing yet I would like to do down on record as saying, the structure of this message covers everything. Doctrinally, spiritually, morally or whatever else you may say. Because this message covers the entire structure of God’s word.
Temporarily, we must change our line of thought to begin showing why the spirit office of Elijah must be called in to bring such a message at the end of the age. Recall, this first ministry of reconciliation referred to in II Cor. 5:19-20 which stated that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, was according to Paul the theme of the gospel which spread rapidly throughout the heathen, Roman Empire. It was none other than the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ which God entrusted unto the apostolic age to proclaim and preach to a lost and dying world. That God was in Christ reconciling that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Here was it’s origination. To begin this message from any other angle would only cause us to miss its original beginning. Bear in mind, the world in that hour was stooped in paganism and every Gentile nation carried his own idea of gods, although we are fully aware there was no life or salvation in his god or gods although the heathen thought so. Here was only one God which could produce the source of Eternal life and the apostles were teaching about him that God was none other than Jehovah, the true and living Lord God worshipped by Israel. Gentiles were void and destitute of this knowledge and for anyone to come among them teaching about some new religion which instructed them they shouldn’t drink, they shouldn’t do this or that and that without being personally acquainted with the God of this new religion they had no Eternal life.
To believe in any religion or teaching you first must get acquainted with the God of that particular religion. Take for instance Buddha teaching a certain philosophy of life as he made his converts acquainted with the god of his theory. It is impossible to acquaint a man with a religious theory without acquainting him with the god of that religion. That god is the sole object of that worship in that theory or philosophy. So the whole purpose in any religious theory is to acquaint you with the god of that particular teaching, likewise, with the origination of the gospel of Christ. This gospel fully instructed lost mankind about the true and living God who he was, etc. He was none other than the one true and living God of Israel and that it was he who was manifested in a fleshly form, but for what purpose? To bear the sins and reproaches of mankind upon himself, to suffer and die at Calvary’s cross giving his life a ransom in our place, dying in our stead that through it all he might reconcile us back and put us back on talking terms with the one and only true Eternal God.
Recall, it was Paul (one of those Apostolic Fathers) in II Cor. 5:20 declaring this first ministry of reconciliation and started out by witnessing that God was in Christ reconciling the world back unto himself. I hope you would not think for a moment it is us humans doing the reconciling, Oh no. We have neither the power nor the authority to do the actual reconciliation. That early ministry only pointed to and represented him who was actually doing the reconciling, therefore the true biblical ministry serves only as the authority or reserves the right to tell others through teaching and preaching what God is seeking to do. Don’t ever think it begins with us, it does not, it begins with God and furthermore it ends with him Heb. 12:2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of the faith.) Since they were to be reconciled back to this God of whom they personally had never heard about, it would be imperative that they receive certain teaching concerning him. Without teaching, we would not know what or who he is, then somewhere in the Holy Scriptures carries the answer to all these unanswered questions about him.
6 Beloved, it is basically important that we know whether he is a person or a spirit, whether he is 3 persons, 3 spirits, 2 persons or half dozen, just who and what is he? Is he approachable? Can I literally touch him, shake his hand and say good morning? Somehow we must become acquainted with him as to what He is (in His makeup). To know and understand what He is in his makeup one must first find out what he is: one, two or three. Once beloved we start into that you can go from scripture to scripture, for if it was God, as the scripture stated, who was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and John the Baptist being the Prophet fulfilling A part of Malachi 4:5-6 (Luke 1:17) plainly stated no man hath seen God at anytime, when prophets and saints of old declared they had seen, heard and felt his presence, what meaneth the prophet John to declare no man hath seen God at anytime (John 1:18). John means no man hath ever seen God in the actual object of his visible being because he further clarifies his statement when he announced by revelation, God is Spirit. Wonderful, now we see God is Spirit and naturally our next thought is how many spirits of God are there? According to Paul, he was One Spirit, Ephesians 4:4. That makes him omnipresent, present everywhere yet with the visible naked eye no one can see him. With the natural hands he can not be touched and yet as Spirit he can be felt by human beings. How? Only if he so chooses to manifest Himself in that capacity. However, remember you are not acquainted with him on that basis, you are acquainted with Him on the basis that He is spirit. Jesus further verified this in John 4 when he announced God was Spirit and seeks such to worship Him in Spirit and Truth. You wouldn’t go around looking under rocks or knocking on doors asking God, are you in there? As Spirit, he is everywhere. As Spirit, you as a human can actually entertain Him in your heart, in your life or in your daily walk.
Once it had been revealed by one of those apostolic fathers, Apostle Paul, that God was in Christ we must understand in what capacity God was in Christ. Would that statement imply God had literally vacuumed or drained the universe of all his Spirit and solely placed all of himself in one small vessel of clay where he no longer would remain to be that omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent Spirit? Of course not. It only implies that God so chose to place his life and attributes in that earthly vessel of clay and in that vessel called Christ he was fully manifested, his life, his nature, his love, a full expression of all his attributes and once God accomplished that he set Christ before humanity saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased (to dwell in) Matt. 3:17. Often we have explained God in Christ in this manner. Take for instance the vast Pacific Ocean, dip a glass of water out of the Pacific Ocean, what will you have in your glass? The Pacific Ocean of course. In bulk form? Of course not, but whatever minerals lay in that ocean are right in the glass, salt, etc. The only difference is you don’t have the bulk of the Pacific Ocean in your glass, likewise was God in Christ (the vessel). Notice, one God has stated this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. You never hear of him working outside the office of that Sonship. Watch the Spirit of God as he channels himself through that vessel of flesh called Christ Jesus, the Lord; therefore, the flesh man (sonship office of God) could say it is not I that doeth the work (of this flesh) I only do what the Father shows or tells me to do. Here was a vessel so yielded, so dedicated, so submissive to the Father’s will that the Spirit Father could say to it, do this or do that and it would only do that and no more. His words were so wisely and masterfully spoken that he was able to say, the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life. Did he mean to imply every word and statement he ever spoke from his lips was life? Does this imply Christ could never have a conversation with his disciples concerning a beautiful flower or a horse while walking along the road without it being words of eternal life? Could he not say to his disciples, what a beautiful flower or isn’t that a fine looking animal? Are we to build eternal life off these types of conversations which he might have with his disciples? Not necessarily unless he was using that as an object to draw attention to a certain thing he was trying to instruct them so notice I am not saying Christ was never permitted to carry on any natural conversation. What I am saying is for him to have said, the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life, shows when speaking these words of life that it was not the will of the flesh causing him to speak, but it was the will of the Father the Spirit that was directing these words because in these words lay the will and purpose of God and the promise of eternal life. Yes, we can see as we leave the four gospels and turn to the book of Acts that from the revelation of Christ’s 7 words a powerful revelated church was born. At first, it only consisted of approximately 120 with the revelation of who and what God was yet before the day was over, 3,000 others shared in this revelation. With the revelation that God is one Spirit, Ephesians 4:4, creator of the universe and this same God was manifested in human form which bore the name Jesus who was Lord and Christ: this revelation now aflame in their soul sparked by the Holy Ghost in his visitation in the upper room this little band of believers began preaching. Christ was alive in their life. From the very beginning at Pentecost when salvation teaching spread from the lips of the apostles their revelation was God in Christ reconciling the world back unto himself. Follow that teaching as the 120 pass through the streets of Jerusalem fresh with an upper room experience with the Father. This flame of truth lit the darkened souls of 3,000 in their first meeting and 5,000 a few days later. From house to house they taught the revelation, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. At Pentecost the disciples had been accused of finding new wine. Peter defends their strange actions by preaching the message referring them to the prophecy of Joel saying, before your eyes you are seeing that prophecy in the process of fulfillment. Three thousand Jews were quickly convicted in their hearts and brought to an understanding of what God was doing. Men and brethren, what must we do? Peter’s answer, repent and be baptized everyone of your, Acts 2:38.
Some today would strongly argue saying, I don’t believe it necessary to be covered over with water, sprinkling would be just as effective. Yet this apostolic father said baptize, immerse, cover over. Furthermore, he said do it in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Others would say, show me anywhere in the Bible where it says be immersed. Since Nicea 325 A.D. strong theories of sprinkling and dipping a little water on the forehead in the name of the father, son and holy ghost have been most acceptable to the multitudes. No apostle of Christ taught that. See how badly your heart thinking needs to be turned back to that of the apostolic fathers and not in line with some denominational teaching somewhere. In the original Greek Baptisto or baptism means immersion, however once you turn to Romans 6:3-4, “Being buried” buried means (1) to be put under, (2) covered over. How very strange that some people are capable of taking off from one verse of scripture doing 90 miles an hour by a one-way street in the wrong direction ignoring all other scriptures which are warning signs to them, caution, one-way, one-way, but headlong, onward they go. That one verse of scripture being buried with him in baptism should be sufficient to any honest hearted person not to mention Acts 2:38 which plainly states “Repent and be baptized,” meaning to immerse, to put under or to be covered over. Beloved, in burying anything you always put it under all the way, and cover it over, hiding it away. Therefore, when Paul stated our sins are buried with him in baptism it refers to the sins which we have committed in this flesh, it doesn’t refer to the sin such as the original nature of sinning that can only be atoned for by the blood. The blood offering atones for that original sin (unbelief) which gave us an inherited nature to do those sins in the flesh. The watery grave washes the flesh (the body) or washes the sins, the deeds, those acts which we have committed in the body; therefore, blood makes an atonement for that inherited nature which we received, passed down through the genetic line. Peter said “Repent, be baptized in the name (of the 2nd person of the trinity?), not on your life, for Christ wasn’t the second person of the trinity nor was he the first person of the trinity, he was the fully manifested son of God. God was in Christ (II Cor. 5:19). Paul taught the Colossians that it pleased the Father that in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwell bodily, Col. 2:9, saying he (Christ) was the image of the invisible body, the image meaning the object, the tangible object an expression of an invisible God which no man up to this time had ever seen because he was spirit. Once this spirit God chose to manifest himself in flesh people could at last see his image. Because his tangible object stood here on earth, John was able to give this exuberant testimony: “We beheld his glory as the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and truth. We touched him (shook his hands) we handled him (word of life) not in a book form but handled, touched, saw, communicated and fellowshipped with the Word of life which was none other than God’s thoughts manifested in a human form. However (I John 1:1-2) he was the Word, the mind and the will of God living as a man motivated by the very eternal life of God. Therefore, when Peter stated something never to have been uttered in this world before, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for 8 the remission of your sins (remission of your sins) we discover that 3,000 precious souls had no argument with that and that day saw them added to the revelated church. Matt. 16:18 and Acts 2:41-47.
With the 3,000 converts received at Pentecost, salvation is now on its way. The Grace Age is in full swing. It is a salvation acceptable only to the sinner (which we all are). Reconciliation as Paul taught it in II Cor. 5:19- 20 is now in full operation; the gospel is being proclaimed far and wide acquainting sinners with this God who seeks to bring him back unto himself and places him (the sinner) on speaking terms through Jesus Christ who was God’s gateway to humanity. Christ still remains the only gateway to humanity. Christ still remains the only gateway to God for us. There is only one mediator between God and man that man is who? Some preacher, some church or religious leader, no, never. That mediator is Christ according to Paul (I Tim. 2:5) and if we accept Christ according to the scriptures as the only gateway we also as Peter said “(you) shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”, Acts 2:38. That gift, promise or assurance of eternal life is God’s own life being imparted unto our spirits granting to our spirit a feeling or assurance that we have been reconciled back with him as we are assured that original sin (and sins) have been atoned for through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and having accepted his death we according to Acts 2:38 were buried with him in the likeness of his death that we might be raised with him in the likeness of eternal life. Having followed these simple steps the Spirit of God now comes in placing a seal upon us as an accepted work that we have obeyed God in this manner. (Acts 2:38).
Now that the Holy Ghost is within us, what is the major purpose? Watch, he become our guide and teacher of all truth (John 16:13-14) to teach us how to live, to instruct us how to walk daily with God that we remain in that beautiful fellowship with him, as II Peter 3:18 says, “Whereby we grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Are we to understand from this verse that salvation is only a growth into much knowledge? No, sir! Salvation is an absolute, complete (new) birth, as much as natural birth is in bringing forth of natural life at birth, yet never forget that baby must be fed, it must grow in the natural, even as we in our spiritual growth. Babies born into this world physically must eat, likewise being born into the family of God is a complete spiritual birth which also requires some eating causing that spiritual man inside to grow up in grace, otherwise we would simply remain here for a short time as a small infant who was never fed and would soon pass away which, by the way, does happen to many people.
Once we begin growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ we become better acquainted with this one God who was manifested in Christ. Growing in grace through the revelation of the Spirit begins to take us still deeper into his grace as he unfolds his plan and his purpose in doing all this. Unfolding that plan, it now becomes more clear why Jesus could make that profound statement in John 6:44. “No man can come to me except the father draw him.”
Christ was saying, no man can truthfully accept me as his personal saviour except or until the Father gives him an individual, personal revelation that first he is a sinner and needs me. From a mental standpoint as historical acknowledgment of what we as Gentiles have been taught, we know he is the saviour of the world, but until it becomes a reality or a revelation to me it remains only a mental knowledge; however, once that becomes real through a revelation it begins to vibrate my thinking, my whole outlook about things becomes changed and then realize beyond any doubt we have no eternal life unless we come God’s provided way. No, it is not you suddenly deciding to join the church of your choice saying I will change my way and turn over a new leaf, stop lying and cheating and begin paying my bills; I’ll even empty the beer out of the icebox. Why? You aren’t a Christian. You might just as well join a lodge you would get about as far with God. You are only dressing yourself up in some age old philosophy of thinking. In the first place, you don’t even realize you are a sinner. Any sinner until he is saved is lost regardless what he does. He is in a worse predicament than a soggy matchstick bobbing around in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and remember not one human being can ever 9 come to Christ except the Father draw him, Jesus said. But thank God even more of his will was revealed as Christ continued. “And all that the Father gives me will come to me.” They will, that is positive. Note, Christ never said, all that the Father give to me will probably come or I think they will come, no, they will come to me. And all that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out, but I will raise him up again in the last day.
Here we are seeing predestination and security of the believer as it was in his plan or from God’s point of view. Before time began, God knew you, saw you and desired you to have a place in his great program. Yes, God could have saved you, wound you up and set you in motion causing you to run and react as a robot, but he didn’t want that. A robot can only do what it is instructed. Never could it show forth any love on its part because it possesses no free will of its own. God wanted you to have a free will then he wanted your free will to be set in cooperation with his divine plan for your life. Beloved, I’m not living for God just because I have to. Isn’t it a shame when people merely go to church because they think they have too? They don’t want to go to hell so they force themselves to go to church. You are going there anyway if you don’t get a deep love in your heart for God. A person is in bad condition spiritually when the house of God means no more to them than that. Poor soul, you are on your way to the pit and no one can help or change your course. Nonsense, you don’t approach the dinner table with such an attitude, do you? You know better. No, you think of human life far more basic and important than merely that kind of attitude for eating, how much more should we consider the plan of God?
Remember, even though it was his own plan and he counseled with no one concerning it, yet it was your free will which determined the direction of many things which are in this plan. Always remember before anything was in existence God knew all about your free will, which route it would take, how strong and fervent it would be in accepting or opposing him, etc., and what you would do with the call of God. Therefore, Jesus beautifully capped it when he said, “And all that will come to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37-39) Notice, beloved, these who were seen coming to him will also connect or link with Matthew 24:13 and other scriptures where throughout the seven church periods these people are those seen enduring to the end who upon their own free will of choice would truly choose to walk with him. According to Jesus’ own statement, in no wise would these be cast out. Who were these? They were all the individuals of the grace age which the Father had given him before the foundation of the world. It was these for whom his blood truly atoned; however, you must understand God made his salvation program applicable to the entire world. God knew the world wouldn’t accept it; therefore, his invitation was to whosoever will let him come, knowing all along who would and would not come. Only a few out of the worlds multitude would come to fulfill Matthew 7:14. Those first apostles and fivefold ministry taught their converts that through foreknowledge God could observe everyone down through time, causing him to be able to say within himself, this one will be here and that one won’t, etc. As Bro. William Branham often stated that God, through that foreknowledge knew how many times a gnat would blink his eye in his lifetime. Because of that foreknowledge he was able to write his book. Knowing who would be lost and who would be saved he therefore chose the way to reconcile us back to himself (in Christ).
Who in the beginning taught such a teaching as this? Jesus our Lord instructed his chosen apostles who carried the message to the elect (the church) how this great omniscient mind of God which knew all things desired to be so instructed in their own life. The one thing the apostles knew that the denominations did not know coming out of the Dark Ages was that all truth is interlocking and formed the great salvation. That is the apostles did not teach these truths as separate doctrines which could stand alone but were merely the structural work of the true faith; therefore, when a believer in Apostolic days accepted the truth he never argued with it as denominational Christians have done saying I will accept this but I will not have that. How could he? It was all one interlocking revelation that had been revealed by the Holy Spirit consisting of many truths in one salvation, so into the faith structure or makeup of the true believer was planted into his heart all these glorious interlocking new apostolic teachings of Christ and not as a multitude of separate doctrines that he might reject 10 any amount he so chose and still declare he had the great salvation preached by the apostles. This is what denominations have done to the truth of God’s word. Protestantism and not apostolic fathers are responsible for the idea that lurks in the minds of people today; I don’t have to accept that part of the truth, I have my church. Truths as taught by the apostles interlocked into one continual revelation flooding the believers soul with light and life. Altogether and not separately, they showed forth the great program of God’s love and protection for those who through their own free will would come to him. Those apostles, teachers and writers of the early church period saw and taught these great truths which were placed into the framework of the true church exactly alike. Although they did not use the same wording nor the same personality to express it their pure revelation from God on his great program of love toward us was identically the same and apostolic ministers declared all the revelation in the same light of understanding. We today in this hour find such a thing hard to grasp that all the apostolic truths could be one continual interlinking revelation and since every truth has its own place in the great salvation, it could never stand alone and be considered salvation in the apostolic days as it has the last 450 years of denominationalism, for instance a young believer who has accepted Christ with a real hunger in his heart for more of God. His denomination has taught him to trust Jesus Christ (to them the 2nd person), God reveals to him predestination although his church does not teach this. He must then go elsewhere to get this. God now moves on him to receive the fulness of the Spirit. Yes, the revelation of it is in the earth today, but the poor soul must go from the ranks of one group into another to receive it. God now moves upon him to accept His name in water baptism. Again, he must leave his fellowship to find this teaching and the story continues until one cries out, oh God, is there not a message somewhere in the earth where your complete revelation of the apostolic word is taught, where one minister can instruct me in the entire plan of your salvation, without me having to go everywhere to find a part here and a part there? Is that you my friend? Then cheer up for God has restored such a message ministry as your heart cries for back into the earth today. The scripture teaches there will be a church that will embrace all the divine program of God’s Word; however, before that church could be presented to Christ the spirit of Elijah must fill his office work in turning the hearts of the children to the fathers.
Peter’s epistle speaking to newborn babes in Christ said that after this great revelated faith had come our way we were to add certain things to it, II Pet. 1:5-8, virtue, knowledge, patience, temperance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. If these qualities which you are to cultivate abide in you, qualities you cultivate through God by his word you will never be unfruitful. Note, the Spirit freely gives you the revelation (faith) Acts 2:38 which is to be a product of your life, but you must do the adding of those other qualities. By your obedience you do the cultivating; living daily and bringing your will under submission to God. You cut out the weeds, you break up the hard fallow ground of your hearts so those qualities can grow. You do these things, it develops character, and is pleasing to God. It makes your nature and character what God wants and will provide you with a strong backbone to make a stand before God as a fruitful christian. God wants us to bear fruit does he not? Fruit in this sense means what? Not merely our good work, although that’s part of it, the good works on our part are only our acts in serving him; however, those particular fruits are an expression of an indwelling nature which is seeking to express itself out of our inner being, revealing that revelated life of Jesus Christ living within us. If these qualities be in you, Peter said, it makes you neither barren nor unfruitful in the divine nature of God, therefore it is said by Peter you shall never fall. Here beloved is shown how God takes the believer or elect who truly is in him by the revelation of his word. It places you on your toes in understanding the will of God in your life. Peter concludes the matter by saying, make your calling an election sure.
The scripture says make your election and calling sure, yet some people enjoy getting on the band wagon trying to live off of someone else’s experience to get a free ride to glory. They seem to feel all God does is save them, set them in motion by winding them up where they go along for about 6 months then the process is to be repeated. These individuals remind me much of a little toy car I received as a present when I was a lad. 11 Remember those toys that you used to have to wind up in order to get them to run? The old wight system of a fly wheel was used inside the toy car. Once that fly wheel really gets to turning, provided it doesn’t miss a stroke, it will get faster and faster. Similar to such a system is the way some people evidently think salvation operates; to them we’re saved and somehow wound up or fired up and away we go. Oh, brother everything is fine until the momentum dies out and like the little toy there we sit (in the middle of the floor) waiting for someone to come along, wind us up or give us another shove. You’ve seen those little toys you must shove and shove to get the fly wheel humming and across the floor it would travel for a short period, yet once the momentum of the little wheel is gone, the vehicle is as dead as it was before it started, but hear me, God does not have a fly wheel in us he places in our soul a fervent faith through grace and what he did at Calvary, not a fly wheel to be wound ever so often. Jehovah seeks to feed into our souls a revelation which keeps our spiritual lives always on the move and as we yield ourselves to God allowing his spirit to work in us and instruct us, that is what keeps us going. Always remember, this scriptural truths which unfolded God’s plan for man as taught by his apostles incorporated the great salvation which altogether revealed how God had securely placed them in Christ, but to take anyone or two f these major truths and keep them apart from all the other revelated truths as taught by the apostles could not in itself or by itself be salvation as denominations had taught. That in itself would be very little security for the believer. Yes, I can see in God’s plan there is truly a marvelous security for the believer or elect but not merely for someone who is only in the doctrine. These truths, when all kept together according to the apostles revelation, made known more fully the plan of God for us. Placing all these truths together as they should be, I can see the predestinated plan of God furnished by his great foreknowledge and once these truths (referred to as predestination, security of believer, sanctification, baptism of holy Spirit, etc.) are fed into our minds by his Spirit it furnishes us with a greater understanding of his matchless overall plan for us, giving the true believer something to lay hold upon once Satan comes along.
Two extreme sides have been produced in the church world from God’s one glorious truth of security for his believer. (1) You are saved only as long as you do right (apostolic salvation is by grace through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast, Eph. 2:8-9). (2) Others misunderstand the doctrine of the security of the believer in saying I am saved and can do anything; I will always be saved, God said so. Usually they quote John 6:37, 10:27-30 for the basis of their statement. No, you are mistaken! God never told you anything like this. He was speaking only to his elect of all ages who would never think of using the grace of God as an excuse for sin. People with that attitude undoubtedly have never known the grace of God and are only familiar with the carnal teaching of the church world. Sure, many took it to the extreme in both directions, yet we can’t blame the apostles with those two extreme positions for it was never intended that salvation be in the doctrine of this one thing alone. This revelation only revealed how securely God would hold his hand upon the elect. Error is responsible for the extreme position, not the revelation restored back through John Calvin. As the restored truth came forth back during the reformation, it was the extreme Armenian teaching responsible for the error of that truth. The Bible plainly declares that we are to live a holy and clean life. If God demands a fruitful nature to come forth from inside our vessel then he is also going to demand that which carried that fruitful nature to also be presented unto him as a vessel set apart for the glory of God, Rom. 12:1-2.
How does one glorify God in his body? Many scriptures have been left by those apostolic fathers showing all believers how to present and conduct themselves in this world. To mention one, be not conformed to (the things of) the world, but be ye transformed meaning turn away from the things of worldly living and unto a godly life. That is the way we are to present our bodies. With the other scriptures showing how we are to present ourselves it goes to show if a holy nature dwells within it will seek an outlet to express itself to the outside. These teachings of holy, righteous living were taught by the apostles and early ministry while they continued to teach the predestinated plan of God which encompassed the security of the true believer or elect. Paul, even one who was born out of due season, taught by revelation identically the same revelation to the early gentile christians. (Galations 1:23).
Although pagan Rome killed out some forty thousand believers in less than 300 years, this masterful revelation of God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself continued to spread without too great an opposition up until approximately the Third Century, shortly before the Nicea Council (called by the Roman Emperor Constantine) which produced the birth of a carnal church that would bring the believers into a Dark Age period and be responsible for murdering 68 million who would not agree with their teachings. Passing from the apostolic age called Ephesus 55 A.D. – 170 A.D., down through the next two periods: Smyrna 170-312 A.D. and Pergamos 312-606 A.D., we come into the darkest period of world history referred to as the Dark Ages, a period of time referred to by the Lord Jesus in the fourth parable of Matthew 13:33 as a woman took and hid leaven in three measures of meal which coincides perfectly with the Fourth Church Age, Thyatira 606-1520 when Jezebel so ruled the religious world. Rev. 2:20, Satan through this ruling church whose powerful foundation was built at Nicea 325 A.D. was responsible for taking all the apostolic true bread of life and substituting a false bread which he fed the world for a thousand years.
That which the Apostle Paul had clearly declared to the gentiles they had been reconciled back unto, II Cor. 5:19, do you not know that was the first truth at which Satan struck? Satan was steadily on the rise after the death of the faithful ministers who had set personally at the feet of the apostles. Polycarp and Irenius were men in such number. Satan could only rise as erroneous teachings triumphed over truth. For 300years the Godhead had remained a mystery to the carnal mind yet many scholars had attempted to explain it though not as the apostles had instructed their converts. One such teacher who had made a tremendous dent into the religious world and had sent missionaries out to spread his teaching was a man by the name of Arius. His doctrine which was referred to as Arianism still taught that God was in Christ but that Christ was totally divine. Making Jesus totally divine left no room for his human side at all, that part which was man. Friends, it is impossible to test the divine, you can only test the human side of Christ. But to Arius this side of Christ was also divine and this was the scarecrow satan used to frighten all religious groups into coming together at Nicea where he could establish the trinity doctrine stating God was three distinct persons and creating of a church from these doctrines with a beast nature who devoured during the Dark Ages 68 million people. It was on a conference table 325 A.D. that a perverted revelation of God who was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself was made into three separate persons. The Apostles taught God as one Spirit was in Christ. Ephesians 4:4-5. The race to destroy all other apostolic teachings by this church with the beast nature born on a conference table at Nicea was on. Next, they were to strike at holy living (causing followers to do penance paying for wrong living). Now that holy living has been brought to a halt, no more true revelation will be received so satan in turn begins feeding them his own revelation. Slowly, the true understanding of the divine revelated will of God which included his truths such as predestination, security of the believer, sanctification, baptism of Holy Ghost, scriptural mode of water baptism, etc., became lost among the carnal creeds of men. Having now drifted far into the dark ages, true (revelation) faith in God, as to who he is, is lost. Those basic truths involving true salvation are now lost. God having withdrawn the fullness of his great spirit, history records in that dark age period (500 to 1,500 A.D.) people were no longer acquainted with the true baptism of the Holy Ghost which provided enough backbone for those apostolic christians to face the lions dens and slaughter pits of pagan Rome. Even when boycotted, it seems those early christians could live just as victorious for God in a jail as they could at home. However, in this modern age, everything is push button, high speed controlled automobiles, planes, etc. Every modern convenience is available to man, yet there isn’t enough get up and go to hardly make it. Truth, it makes me stop and think when I recall how Bro. William Branham said it will be so few. Yet, don’t set numbers. Christ himself said so few would find it. Matthew 7:14. When the pressure really comes multitudes will say I just can’t take it. I just can’t take it. Brother, if we can’t take it now what are we going to do if time would tarry 4 or so more years? Recall, once God’s spirit began withdrawing after all holy ghost revelation had been rejected for creeds of this carnal church during that dark hour which had completely lost sight of God that poor believer could not longer stand with that real assurance as to what he was in God the 13 church now had him doing penance for his sins and etc. since he was no longer able to know or hear of the deep experience of those early christian’s who received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Going into some of the darkest of the dark ages (10th through the 14th centuries) when the devil begins grinding away with his old creeds, into the church comes mass, penance, etc. Important positions were even created in the church and sold to the highest bidder along with every other money making ritual Satan could think to invent. Every kind of ritual was being pumped into that persons thinking including infant baptism for salvation, even creed supposing to be the apostles creed yet they never had one. How could they since it was created long after their death. Beloved, you can rest assured the apostles would never make up a creed contrary to the word of God. If they ever had a creed it would have been Acts 2:38, certainly not, we believe in the holy trinity, we believe in the communion of saints. What that false church should say is we believe in the communion of the dead, since they don’t believe you can be a saint until after you are dead. Show me in the word where they ever said a thing such as what’s in that apostle’s creed. They were the ones who made that part of the New Testament, if there was such a thing as the apostle’s creed you would read it and see it in the structure of that which had already been written. So it was when they entered into the darkest of the Dark Ages every basic teaching of scriptural truths had long ago vanished, every basic teaching that early church had was gone. The last thing to be completely lost or wiped out was their faith in God. My Bible teaches that we are saved by grace through (revealed) faith, but these poor people had long ago forgotten that. All revelatory capacity had been shoved aside. Remember, revealed faith is not something you read in a book (not even the Bible) and say, Lord, I believe you. No, no. It is true you can read John 3:16 how God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life, you might read that and sincerely believe it in your mind yet until the Spirit brings it and quickens it to you it means nothing, then inside us something happens. Oh my, he gave his life for me. Yes, God revelates that to you and now your faith is set in motion to believe and accept that. Oh, how pitiful and to think about 1,000 years before this Nicea was called, a trinity doctrine was formed and forced on all believers of that hour and now look at that same group perhaps 1,000 years later and now every spark of faith in God had been wiped out. As they have lost all their faith in God, the final doctrine of that system began to teach was there is no salvation outside the Roman Catholic Church. People stood in fear of being excommunicated from the only source of salvation (their church). The apostles taught salvation was in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the church says no salvation outside the church. Where was faith in God? It was not to be found. For hundreds of years souls belonging to the Roman church were nothing more than prisoners to that system. Breaking ranks with that church meant excommunication. The individual was taught his soul would spend an endless eternity in a hell. Souls were taught not the true apostolic doctrine of Christ but that the head of that church has the power to excommunicate and pronounce all kinds of penalties such fear pressured the people, keeping them in line with whatever doctrine the church might decide to invent. On and on, deeper and deeper into demonistic darkness this system plunged dragging the souls of Europe with it. Think of it seriously. Ow is God going to get a church out of that kind of teaching which had drifted far, far from what the early one taught? What can he do? Since the final thing Satan hammered away at in the minds of the people during the Dark Ages was faith in God then right on the end of that came his masterpiece the infallibility of the pope. With this, Satan has now chronologically reset all of his carnal doctrines in the place of every trace of apostolic truth and successfully built a mighty platform for his church structure to rule the world (started at Nicea and led to this). Now that all Satan’s gospel is successfully planted into his church, it has been substituted for Christ’s gospel though deceptively it goes under Christ’s name. Last of all Satan has made the head of the church infallible. Can you not see the whip that he would crack over the people of Europe? They have lost every trace of faith, they have even lost their approach to God as well as any knowledge of what kind of God he is, one, two or three. They have lost the true mode of baptism (Nicea took care of that). They have lost the true way to approach God (by revelation); therefore, the way to approach God had to first be restored if man could ever find his way back to the fulness of that apostolic revelated gospel. FIRST RESTORED TRUTH 1500 A.D. 14 Around 1515 A.D., God makes his move to restore his first truth. A monk climbing stairs to kiss the feet of a dead statute in search of salvation heard the void of God, his name was Martin Luther. The voice said, Martin Luther, the just shall live by faith. God took Luther and dealt Satan and his system such a deadly blow or wound it has taken the head of the beast over 450 years to ever begin to recover. Luther stood with this revelation burning in his heart in the face of dangerous perils and ridicule yet countless thousands of Germans rallied around him with a hearty amen. Haven been slaves to this system for so long not only thousands upon thousands of Germans but people from all over Europe began to rally behind Luther’s Reformation. For so long they had eagerly awaited for someone to arise and open an escape door to let them out. Faith in God did the trick. Think of it, one simple revelated lost truth of the apostle’s teaching restored turned the tide and in 1520 the Reformation was on. (Notice just as Satan had finally placed all his major doctrines into his church, God removes one from his ranks and upsets his apple cart and the beast of Revelation received a spiritual deadly wound on his 7th and 8th head (which is the same) with his military wound to follow later. Did he die? No. Revelation said he recovered and all the world wondered after him (Rev. 13:3.).
It is very important that we note during the first part of the Reformation (200 years) nothing is stressed concerning holy living. Some still drank their beer, many still lived according to certain ways of the world, but at least one thing has happened their faith in God has been restored. Armed with this restored truth at least they can tell the Pope to jump in the creek for now they know salvation is not in his teaching but in the Bible which is now being turned off on a new invention called the printing press. Recall, for centuries the peoples of Europe have been shut up in this darkened system and with no word of God to comfort them naturally when they departed spiritual Babylon they automatically carried out many ancient carnal creeds to which they had been accustomed yet within their thinking God had managed to get certain ones on the outside of the gates of Rome where he would be able to reveal to them more of his will.
Later, John Calvin came forth with another lost truth taught by the early church called the security of the believer. Notice, having a growing revelation of faith in God gives one something to seriously to think about, doesn’t it? Hunger for spiritual truth drives leaders of this Reformation into digging and searching in this new found field of faith, discovered by Luther. Through faith God revealed to Calvin a special nugget as he was digging in the field (of faith), security of the believer and not long after that John Knox another eager man of great hunger dug out predestination. More and more God was widening the field of faith as men continued to dig for lost truth (treasures). Digging for treasure and valuable things is the very expression of Jesus in parables five and six in Matt. 13 where in parable form he is explaining how in the fifth and sixth church age man would be busy digging among rubbish of false doctrines and coming up with precious truths such as gold and pearl (Matthew 13:45-46). Although God has widened the field of faith in which men are still digging none have yet come up with anything dealing with a holy, clean life although more and more truth is rediscovered. No Reformation leader has said throw away your beer, clean up your lives, stop your worldly living, etc. Recall, at this point they knew no better but God will bring them out into the light of all things before he finished his program. Not until after 1700 is God ready to restore his lost truth on holy living. Already God has given them much to think about.
Time has now come for John Wesley and the birth of Methodism which would carry his restored truth to enter God’s program. Wesley, an Englishman, went deeper into the grace of God than any other Reformation leader and came up with a Pearl when he stated “we not only believe the just shall live by faith but according to what God has revealed to us, without peace and holiness no man shall see the Lord.” So, from England came John Wesley who began teaching and emphasizing holiness of life through sanctification of the spirit. This was taught to every individual who believed the gospel having accepted Jesus Christ as his personal saviour, saying you can only be accepted in the congregation of the righteous now on the proof of the manner of your life. How you actually live now becomes important in the hour of the Reformation. Believers must live a holy and clean 15 life, sanctified unto the Lord, set apart for the Glory of God. Recall the period of time before (Sardis Rev. 3:1). A person could sit in the congregation as a legal member and do things which under the Philadelphia or Methodist Age he was not permitted to do as Wesley’s teaching taught sanctification and holy living. According to the old Methodist discipline you must now throw away your beer, tobacco, gambling and other such things. Wesley taught these things did not belong to a person professing holiness in the Lord. He had taken the church or believers further outside the gates of Babylon than any other Reformation leader of this hour. Notice, as God is bringing his people out deeper into the river of his word he is washing and cleansing their lives. Men and women were required to dress right, talk right and live right in order that they should come out alright.
Slowly but steadily the believer is moving up the line to the full apostolic doctrine. As the dawn of the 20th Century approached, God was ready to restore his spirit in a fuller measure by restoration of his gifts, yet remember up until this hour everyone remained Trinitarians, another doctrine Rome was responsible for in 325 A.D. The hour in his restoration program had reached the door when his gifts of the spirit were to be restored to his body, accompanied by the mighty manifestations of power. Around the 20th Century, people began receiving experiences in the spirit that they had not previously been accustomed to. For the first time in perhaps over 1500 years men will once again walk in the spirit and not simply walk in a mental understanding of what is taking place. God begins restoring the baptism or outpouring of the Holy Ghost of gentile believers as never before. Other things having been restored. But emphasis is now placed on divine healing, speaking in tongues, prophesying, etc. These spiritual manifestations are nothing more than attributes of God’s power now freely being expressed in his church.
This is the sad picture as God had restored much truth and much light over the past few hundred years of the Reformation, because of denominational teaching concerning their own particular part of the restored truth, each one got so wrapped up in what they had they failed to keep their hearts open to the spirit of God for still more truth to come therefore no organized group accepted all the revelation that had previously been introduced by the Spirit through the Reformation or that which was to follow. For example, Wesley’s group who, for some reason, leaned strictly to the Armenian line of teaching could not accept Calvin’s revelation of the security of the believer. Yet, both Calvin and Wesley’s teachings were scriptural. Then what about Knox’s revelation, predestination, how many groups embraced his truth? Only his own, yet every group should have. Although these apostolic truths were now restored, because of denominational walls people are still not able to embrace the full and complete revelation that has been graciously restored since the day of Luther, although it is true most all Reformation groups that eventually turned into dead denominations. Rev. 3:1 accept Luther’s revelation of the just shall live by faith yet some of the other vital teachings which were taught in the Apostolic faith, restored by the same Spirit, they would have nothing to do with, therefore I would like to insert something here for those who have an ear to hear the Spirit, you may already see why it be of a necessity that God would send that spirit of Elijah completing the verses of Malachi 4:5-6 upon the gentiles to restore a people who had already previously received a part of the apostolic gospel. We must embrace all of the truths. Although God has been kind enough to restore a certain portion of his truth up until the hour of Wesley, around 1700 and restoration of the gifts of the spirit in 1900, who had been the receiver? Everyone goes to church and rejoices over what he has received personally which has come from his own denomination. Yet there are people in those groups crying for a deeper walk. These are always the ones that God is able to interest in more of his truth or his next move which must always be given outside the ranks of denominational religion. The spirit of Elijah must come and gather up all these revelated truths preached by the early fathers and present them to the children of some hour and say walk ye therein if you desire to be in the Bride of Christ. Each movement that had experienced any part of the grace of God, though only receiving a small portion of this great program, received a fantastic growth. Up until the 20th Century one man could be pointed out as being responsible or instrumental in receiving and pushing certain restored truths, yet as the Holy Ghost is being poured out upon 16 Trinitarian denominational people at the turn of the century no one individual can be singled out of a mass of people as being responsible for the major outpouring of the spirit upon his people. It is only the Holy Ghost visitation himself. No individual could say, let all begin to seek God, time has come to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the spirit. True, many sincere, dedicated, hungry hearted men of the Wesleyan movement were instrumental but no certain one can be given credit for this part of restored truth. No one man received the initial revelation that the time had come for the outpouring of the spirit on the church, God simply created a deeper hunger in the hearts of those who sought him, mainly from the ranks of those who believed Wesley’s doctrine of sanctification and filled it. Around the turn of the 20th century a lull had settled over the church and people who began to feel it sought God for more of him. All over the world little groups of people banded together and began to pray as never before as this hunger increased in their life (they who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled (Matt. 5:6). God in his own sovereign way began to drop a manifestation of his spirit in speaking in tongues and other gifts upon the people. Naturally, these receiving these experiences though, this is the same thing that happened at Pentecost. It is absolutely a fact, it was the same thing that happened at Pentecost yet we must ask ourselves, in what measure was it (like Pentecost)? Recall, what fell on the day of Pentecost was also a revelatory Spirit enlightening the people and teaching the people something, but during these early years of the 20th century thousands upon thousands of hungry hearted denominational people were brought into this newfound experience of speaking in tongues, etc. These people walked with God, dedicating their lives afresh and anew unto him as they walked amongst great persecution and ridicule to spread this truth among other denominations. Odds were against this group, for around 1913 the hour had arrived for God to begin testing their initial evidence doctrine which had declared tongues to be the initial evidence of the Holy Ghost, saying tongues is the only way anyone may know they have the Holy Ghost. Out of this Holy Ghost camp, around 1913 God presented a revelation to test this doctrine. Recall, until this hour all people were of a trinitarian belief but now is about to explode a revelation that will divide the religious world into two camps: those who believe that God is a trinity of three persons and those who discover that God, this one Spirit was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.
Around 1913-14 trinitarian Pentecostals everywhere were busy spreading their newfound Holy Ghost revelation when suddenly various ones began to be awakened to the fact that Act 2:38 was the correct mode of apostolic baptism. This mighty revelatory spirit received sometime around 1906 was speaking to them saying, will you take my name; will you be baptized in my name? So sovereign was the inner voice of the revelatory spirit they had receiving many turned to the scriptures to search as to the true application of water baptism of the early church. Why? If the early church were trinitarians as they all were, why did the apostles not baptize according to the trinity mode of baptism which since around 325 A.D. churches had done. At last light sprang on one God, one faith and one baptism, etc. Ephesians 4:4-6. Living clean before the Lord with hearts open for leadership had led to the rediscovery that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not three persons. The two revelations are inseparable, no one can believe in one God and be baptized into the trinity teaching as does the Catholic Church (unless you be a Roman believer), yet if you be an apostolic Bible believer, you can’t. 1913-14 were severe testing years for the Pentecostal people for here stood a Bible apostolic rediscovered truth and only a few short years before this the Pentecostals had accepted an initial evidence doctrine stating the only way to know you had received the Holy Spirit was by speaking in tongues. God wasted no time in testing their doctrine. Had tongues been the initial evidence as they believed then all the Pentecostal groups should have received the new revelation instead of branding it as being from the devil though reading it from the Bible. This starling revelation led to the fact that Jesus was not the second person of the trinity but he was none other than God himself manifested in flesh according to II Cor. 5:19. The revelation was pure but as always Satan wasted no time to enter the picture and muddy the water where he could hinder as many as possible from entering the revelation as the one God people were being forced to leave the fellowship of the trinity believers who held on to the antique hand-me-down idea of Nicea (God was three separate and distinct persons). With Pentecost divided into two fields, trinity and oneness, began a battle where even today no armistice has been 17 signed. Though both groups speak in tongues and both declare it is the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit, it should be an eye opener to someone. From the trinity side came your Assemblies, Pentecostal Holiness, Pentecostal Church of God, Free Pentecostals and multitudes of other Pentecostal trinity groups who embraced the old Nicea hand-me-down antique doctrine. With the revelation of one God came the oneness group. Jesus Name groups of every description sprang out being rejected by their former brethren. The entire Holy Ghost move being so young and then being caught up in the gap of this thinking, the oneness feared their revelation would be snuffed out. Many returned to the trinity side after being forced from fellowship while others held on and God was with them. From tents, brush arbors and rented buildings the Jesus Name revelation of the one God manifested in the flesh man named Jesus Christ and baptism in his name as the correct way, was shouted and echoed through the land. Acts 2:38. Satan wasted no time in blocking the great growth of this revelation by inserting extreme positions and ideas which frightened away on looking trinitarian people. Soon it was pushed to the dangerous position of Jesus Only, other extremes became Pentecostal Adventism, still others spiritualized Communion saying we take it no more. Both sides testified to having the Holy Ghost yet can you imagine the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Truth teaching such error? Today as men look with disgust upon this religious mess of all groups, that Satan has successfully muddied the water by throwing extreme positions around restored truths and building denominational walls about it keeping it separated from other revealed truth that had come into the world since the Dark Ages through the Reformation are now saying, disgustedly what is the use, I’ll simply pull out of it all, go home and live and do the best I can and you do what you want to. Beloved, God’s word will not back up such a position as that anymore than it will back up harlot systems position of religion. Have you noticed through the Word there is no promise of hope from God that he would ever send a revival and straighten out one of these great harlot systems of Babylon confusion. No, as a matter of fact he plainly shows this shall all form up the one world church and later become the image of the beast, but thank God he promised over 2,600 years ago that he would send something that would straighten out some individuals thinking (who are in these groups) and from what was done would turn the hearts of the children of that age back to the fathers (or teachings of the early fathers).
Look friends, the Dark Ages stamped out all the revelation by destroying believers who would walk therein until by the 10th and 11th century the world has gone into total darkness. Around the 15th century, God began his Reformation program which lasted approximately 450 years at which time in a small measure here and there God revealed back his apostolic program for the endtime people to walk in. Although Catholicism hating the truth did everything in its power to stamp it out, and they succeeded, yet look at what Protestantism did. Protestantism harlot daughters that cried for the relief from anguish burdens of traditions imposed upon them by this system did as bad as their mother of religion in the fact they, having the privilege to accept all of this God given truth, simply ignored, rejected turned up their nose and branded as false everything that God revealed which their own particular movement had not accepted thereby placing a period at the end of their creed declared there is no more revelation from the Spirit. (To prove they will do worse than the mother of harlots look at what they become during the tribulation period when they make an image to the beast saying no man can buy or sell except he have that mark in his forehead or in his right hand. No, God has not promised to save one of these movements out of their dilemma; however, he has promised the Spirit of Elijah would rescue a people who walk in the restored message fully, who shall be his bride people while the other part move headlong heady and high minded into the tribulation forming the image of the beast. People who are set in their ways can no more be turned than you could instruct a hound dog that by moving his front feet he would fly. The ministry of the spirit of Elijah is, as always, a restoring spirit. I ask you one simple question, What did the late William Marrion Branham of Jeffersonville, Indiana, who multitudes believe to be the Prophet Messenger of this Laodicean Age, Revelation 3:14, 10:7 and the fulfillment of Malachi 4:5-6 not do that the spirit of Elijah restoring the hearts of the children to the fathers should have done? That is precisely what he did as we shall show his message delivered was to restore only a people bound in organized religious ideas. Since this article deals exclusively with him bringing a restoring message and in order to pull the emphasis back into the proper 18 setting of the people’s mind as to what this man was actually sent to do. We do not intend to discuss his gifted miracle ministry through which six people were raised from the dead and tens of thousands were healed of incurable diseases around the world through his spoken word and visions; we are not going to comment about angels which constantly visited him nor are we going to dwell upon his Godly life which was so Christlike and powerful in the Holy Spirit that even years before he came into the fulness of his office he was noted around the world of having the greatest prophetic gift ministry of discernment and knowing the secrets of the hearts this world had ever seen since the days of Jesus Christ himself. We are not going to speak upon the unusual vindicated photographs wherein cameras were able by the permission of the Holy Spirit to catch the presence of the Lord in the various pictures taken with him; we are not even going to speak upon those who were not able to stay in line with the true revelated message he delivered because of seeing the greatness of God’s power in his own humble Christlike life thinking him to be something more than what he actually was; we are not going to elaborate upon the baptism service in June 1933 where he was baptizing 500 in the name of Jesus Christ when the Holy Spirit came down in the presence of many frightened and startled people announcing his commission saying, “as John the Baptist was sent to forerun my first coming, your message shall forerun my second coming”.
The baptism we will not discuss. The commission we shall. The angel of the Lord in 1933 in the presence of multitudes instructed Bro. William Branham his message would forerun the second coming of Christ. Seeing there is only one faith, Ephesians 4:4, one message in the New Testament Bible which is the true Apostolic one God salvation, what then is that message of his to be? Many confuse this calling with the fact they felt his unusual gift ministry was to be carried to the world to heal the sick. True, God sent his ministry to heal the sick and forerun a healing wave which swept the religious world for approximately ten years when other men, seeing the power of God in his life, feeling they too could do the same, went to the field to begin casting out devils and healing the sick also. For approximately ten years, 1946-1956, this mighty continuous healing, miracle salvation Holy Ghost revival swept great throngs of denominational organized religious people out of their particular movements as they witnessed far greater things in tents and auditoriums across the land; however, as this ministry of healing and miracles in great mass throngs began to subside while others in the healing ministry restored to trickery and deceit only to be finally pushed completely out of the true program of God, God’s prophet messenger whom he had sent to fulfill Malachi 4:5-6, being now well known, gathered together all those who wanted to continue on with God walking in the deeper truths of the Lord began to preach to them more and more of the pure unadulterated Word of God as it was revealed to him.
Studying carefully the teachings of the apostles of Jesus Christ you will soon discover that the message of William Branham was identical to that of the apostles for as he often stated I fear for any minister who preaches any gospel contrary to that of the apostles since God declared if even an angel from heaven come preaching any other gospel let him be accursed, Galatians 1:6-8. Beloved, it was impossible to sit in a congregation where this man preached and ministered, who had been sent to forerun Jesus’ second coming with a message fulfilling Malachi 4:5-6, preaching unto a people whose faith had been influenced by every kind of teaching of religious systems without seeing in every message proclaimed that God was speaking unto every listening heart that their faith must be turned back toward God through the route of the revelation of his word. Yes, it was more than simply some faith we must have, he told us it would have to be a faith that pleased God. According to this prophet we must embrace the overall understanding of God’s Word. Recall the apostolic truth had been restored by the Holy Spirit over the past 450 years, but who was walking in the full apostolic gospel of Christ? Who was even walking in one-half or three-fourths of the apostolic gospel or even one-fourth? Not one group of people anywhere on earth embraced that full message of truth although God had restored it. What had happened? As Luther received the just shall live by faith, people swarmed around that (restored truth) revelation, later to only build an organization cutting it off from the rest of the religious world. Calvin came 19 with security of the believer, a people swarmed around this and the same procedure was followed; it too was cut off from the others. Later God revealed predestination and it was swallowed up through the same procedure. Sanctification by the Holy Spirit and clean holy living was Wesley’s revelation. It also was a part of the apostolic gospel which later became Methodism through the same procedure. The restoration of the gifts of the spirit, what previous denomination embraced them? A short time later when one God revelation and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ was revealed before it like all the other, had false teaching attached to its purity. Notice none of this was brand new revelation for it had been taught in the days of the apostles and believed for over 300 years. True, it was restored truth or new revelation to the individual groups only, though not in the sense that it had never been taught before, for it had. For 300 years, people had lived and obeyed the apostolic gospel before Satan used his scarecrow Arianism to draw the Council of Nicea together. Later we shall show where this prophet did bring forth some fresh revelation to the bride, fresh revelation that had not been delivered since the days of John on the Isle of Patmos. John’s revelation on the Isle of Patmos was the last fresh revelation until this century, but first let us briefly examine the message he brought to turn hearts of the children to the fathers. Examining this message we find it is the identical message preached by the early church. Will this message produce the same kind of church? This endtime restored church according to the prophet must be a church full of the real spiritual gifts of God. According to this prophet, God will never speak to the church until it comes back to the articles and principles that Christ laid down and it is not dominated by some emotional or some denomination to pull it this or that way. It will have to come back to believing in miracles, believing in signs, believing in the Holy Ghost, baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ and all these things will have to come back to that or God will never speak to them. According to the prophet fulfilling Malachi 4:5-6 in a message entitled The Name of Jesus, Page 40 he stated, until the church gets back in this position God will not even speak to them.
Note the uniqueness of the man’s ministry. It was fulfilling an Old Testament prophet office (or prophecy). Amos declared the Word of the Lord comes to the prophets, not in the sense of five fold ministry prophet as declared in the New Testament. No man has ever come from the Gentile ranks of religion who could reach back into all carnal organized religious groups over the past 450 years and lift from it the pure revelation of Knox, Calvin, Wesley, Pentecost and Jesus Name, taking all that true restored revelation without error, without fanaticism, without any extreme position and placing all of these truths which had already been restored, placing them into one message that could never be organized or denominated. Beloved, this should show why the spirit of Elijah had to come at the close of the grace age after, not before or in between. His work was taking all the restored truths and placing them in one message, making them interlock to show forth the great plan of God and say, Church walk ye therein, that is Thus saith the Lord. In other words, he took these restored truths and placed them back in their proper perspective position and authority, however, if you do not have the real true genuine Holy Ghost, that revelatory spirit in your soul, you will never be able to see this. That prophet took all of these restored truths coming down through Protestantism, placed or fitted them right back in the revealed Word or message as they should be and zeroed our faith right in toward God through the revelation of that Word. Must say without the real, genuine Holy Ghost no one could ever see what he was actually doing. You would only sit there and follow him with a mental attitude for awhile; however, sooner or later something would be said (which God would permit) that would only tend to feed some seducing spirit lurking in the souls of people just waiting its opportunity to express itself and away into error it would go. Why think it strange God would use a man to restore the hearts of the children to the fathers who in that office could take all the restored truths, place them in one message and say, Look, your forefathers preached this too, they believed it and taught it; you must not only believe that part which you have received through your own particular movement restored through some Reformation leader, but you must embrace the full apostolic truth, so after he took all the pure revelation which is life from around the carnal teachings and extreme positions, placed them in one setting and said if you would have eternal life, eat ye all of it. (All the restored revelation) Why think it strange God would use a man after all, were not the Reformation leaders men also who brought these truths in 20 the Reformation to begin with.
For the very first time since the days of the Apostle John on the isle of Patmos do we see new revelation actually being given to the body of Christ, that is new revelation that at no time in the history of the gentile church had ever been given until 1963 when that prophet by divine revelation broke into the Seven Seals under the direction of the Holy Spirit. No, Bro. William Branham did not restore the just shall live by faith, Luther did that. He did not restore the security of the believer, Calvin did that. He did not restore predestination, Knox did that. He did not restore a holy life by sanctification through the Spirit, Wesley did that. He did not restore the gifts of the Spirit, the revelation of one God or Jesus name water baptism, but what he did no other man had done, he took all these truths which came mostly from trinity groups and placed them properly within a one God message saying, Children if you would be obedient to God, you must walk in all these restored truths which have been despised through the many years because every one of them came out of the apostles gospel which is the great salvation for which Christ died. So, again I ask you, what did this man not do that the spirit of Elijah would do once he appeared to turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers? Truly, William Branham brought the message to turn the hearts at the endtime back to the fathers, thus fulfilling Malachi 4:5-6. Beloved, this is the only message in the earth today that carries life because all those revealed truths were life. If you will come in line with it, it alone can restore your heart back completely in line with all the teachings of the apostolic fathers!
INTRODUCTION: MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD, WHEN, WHERE AND HOW HAS BEEN A TOPIC MUCH DISCUSSED BY HOLY GHOST BELIEVERS THROUGHOUT THIS TWENTIETH CENTURY. WILL SOME MIRACULOUS END-TIME REVIVAL, ACCOMPANIED BY POWERFUL DEMONSTRATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, PRODUCE THESE SONS, AS TAUGHT BY CERTAIN TEACHERS? THE 144,000 OF REVELATION 7 AND 14. ARE THESE THOSE MANIFESTED SONS? IF NOT, WHO DOES THE SCRIPTURE PROCLAIM TO BE THESE MANIFESTED SONS? WHAT ROLE DOES ADOPTION, THE HOLY SPIRIT, RESURRECTION, TRANSLATION PLAY IN THIS MAGNIFICENT ROLE OF GOD IN PRODUCING THESE SONS?
Before approaching this timely subject on MANIFESTED SONS and the route chosen in manifesting them, let us briefly examine another kind of manifested sons. These manifested sons of “god”, which require no new birth, no special training are of a quite different nature, nevertheless they are here and are being manifest more and more. The very fact that these sons are here in manifestation proves God’s MANIFESTATION OF SONS is just around the corner. Of which sons are these that we speak?
First, let us establish what a wicked person is. One does not have to be a gangster, a Hitler or a Stalin to be a wicked person. The scriptural breakdown is far simpler. All persons who know not Christ in the free pardon of sin in the revelation of His word is classified wicked. Proverbs declare that even the plowing of the wicked is sin, establishing that every step made by the sinner is made in sin because they are sinners or wicked. Not one thing could be done to change the status unless repenting and accepting Christ, as God says, “there is none righteous, no not one.” (Romans 3:10-12) The individual may be a prize citizen; their civic awards may be many; mates may consider them ideal companions, but unless the individual knows Christ as Lord and Saviour, God will forever classify them as wicked, evil, unregenerated sinners, undone, without hope and belonging to Satan’s family and considered as one of his evil children, however, God classifies His own born again children as righteous.
True, Satan’s sons are responsible for the mounting tension and unrest that is in the world today. The sons of wickedness as they are manifested will make this final generation the generation that God must judge for its wickedness, seeing that the wickedness of the days of Noah and Lot will be dumped into this last generation. (Luke 17:26-30) Perhaps this explains why rebellion, lawlessness, riots, pot, dope, booze, pornography, sex education, mate swapping, homosexuality, nudity, fornication and adultery have become household words in this society, and is fast becoming as an accepted part of the American way of life, as has “Apple Pie.”
The three “R’s”, to past generation, were reading, ‘riting and rithmetic, TODAY THEY HAVE BECOME RIOTING, REBELLION AND RESTLESSNESS. If this present condition continues, says Dr. Whitt N. Schultz, we will have REGRET, RIOT AND RUIN. For this moral and social breakdown one can thank the manifested sons of the evil one, who through special educational programs have struck deep at the things of righteousness for which the Bible stands. Through these special educational programs this generation is being taught they may indulge in things frowned upon and classified as wicked by previous generations. This manifested society of evil cries, AWAY WITH RESTRICTIONS OF LIFE, DOWN WITH MORALITY AND DECENCY: DOWN WITH OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEMS AND THE AMERICAN PATRIOTISM: AWAY WITH THAT BOOK CALLED THE BIBLE WHICH HAS PUT RESTRAINT AND CURBED THE EVIL APPETITE DESIRES AND CRAVINGS OF MAN’S LOWER NATURE. Satan encourages his sons to feed these evil, lustful desires and cravings because “the Bible is old fashioned and out of date.”
How is Satan producing this madness of manifestations in his sons and daughters? Evil has become the accepted way of life, while righteousness and morality is despised. Evil has taken a holiday for which this generation will be required to pick up the check of this expensive vacation. Science announces through their recent invention of the living gene that we stand on the very threshold of producing human beings from laboratories, thus dissolving God’s original route of birth and controlling the population explosion. A University of Wisconsin team of scientists say that genes can be made completely with simple organic chemicals. The gene is the basic unit of heredity that controls all life processes. According to noted biologist Dr. James D. Watson, who recently before the House Science Subcommittee told them that within a year a scientist would conceive a baby in a test tube and successfully place it inside a woman who will bear the child.
In every field of science, Satan has progressed knowledge into human, carnal minds. Today trips to the moon are no longer dreams. Satan’s knowledge does not come cheap, $40 billion in our country alone was spent before one footprint settled in the dust of the moon. Approximately $400 million was recently spent in one flight (Apollo 14). Satan does make one pay through the nose to gain great accomplishments. Crime and lawlessness is considered rising NINE times faster than the growth of U.S. population. “If present trend continues, says noted crime lawyer Edward B. Williams, in five years there will be a total breakdown in the criminal justice system in urban American.” A thief committing a crime today has five chances to one he will not be caught. The dignity that policemen held in the public’s eye fifty or one hundred years ago is no longer present today, instead today he is looked upon as a “pig” and assaulted on every hand. During the first two months of 1970, according to J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director, police were assaulted at the rate of 41 each day. Over the last 13 years, 557 policemen were killed in the line of duty. January and February of 1970, saw nine policemen dead and 2,394 badly injured in 57 major cities. Criminals, during 1968, killed 64 policemen, while in 1969, they killed a total of 73. Others were slain and hundreds were mauled by revolutionists. One of the policemen’s worst enemy is the Black Panthers who openly called for the killing of cops and from raids on Black Panther headquarters it proved they are capable of doing it. Recently in Boulder, Colorado, a time bomb exploded in a police station; it was the fourth bomb explosion within three days. All police stations were locked and guarded. A short time ago a N.Y. City patrolman was cut in ribbons by three machete wielding assailants. One policeman lying helplessly wounded on the street, was shot to death by a Panther. (Are the police becoming victims of conspiracy?) It was recently announced from Italy that Washington had ordered ten (10) bullet proof automobiles from a certain Italian manufacturer, these are for political figures.
The year 1970 will go down in history as a year of violence and terror aimed at police and all law enforcement officers. Cities, large and small, are witnessing terrorists operations which are growing increasingly bolder. Attacks on policemen in New York City alone are running approximately 300 on monthly rate. In Chicago seven policemen had been killed in the first half of 1970 and at least 750 injured by assaults. There has been killings and attempted killings on police in Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia. By September 1970, sixty policemen had already been killed. Police have been lured to their deaths by answering phony requests for help. Others were ambushed while on patrol. Federal judges are being guarded because of so many threats to kidnap them.
The Treasury Department reported that more than 4,500 bombings occurred throughout the nation between January 1969 and April 1970. The number of bombings in 1970 compared to 1969 had doubled. California cities alone reported 20 bombings per week throughout the summer of 1970. Thefts of weapons from military bases, national guard units and private gun factories by militants, both black and whites, are on the rise. Stolen arms include rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers, and could amount to as many as 10,000 weapons, said the Defense Department. There have also been many thefts of dynamite for use in bombings of police stations and booby-trap plots against officers who are sworn to protect citizens of this country. Unless something is done to reverse the present trend, this country is going to be faced with a civil war within 5-10 years, says high ranking officials of the Justice Department. WHAT WILL THE SUMMER OF 1971 HOLD?
Are you happily married? Perhaps the couple living on either side of you appear happily married, but statistics show that one of the three families are going to be broken in a divorce for today one out of three marriages end in divorce. Ten years ago the average was one in four. In 1970, 1,500,000 American couples were divorced. In two years divorce in U. S. increased 25%.
There is a crisis in morality in this country at large. Old time standards of right and wrong are being challenged. The new morality holds that there are no absolutes. The ten commandments are thrown aside and God’s moral laws are regarded as not for this day and age. Mate swapping has grown to such a large extent that now clubs have been formed. The U.S. News of June 29, cites a survey conducted by the magazine “Psychology Today”, announcing the attitude among its readers, most averaging 30 years of age and with college backgrounds. Three fourths called themselves sexual liberals, 41% of the husbands and 22% of wives declared they were definitely interested in swapping mates. 5% declared they had tried it, while 80% thought that extra-marital sex was all right and 36% of wives had carried out the thought. This is marital infidelity and adultery. It is hard to believe, but in California and some other areas there are school with trained personnel who are able to assist those desiring to take part in mate swapping and become a member of one of these clubs but are not advanced enough to make this step. The purpose of the school is to erase feelings of wrong, timidness, awkwardness and to cause their students to be expert mate swappers with no conviction of wrongdoing.
Questions are being asked such as; what are we coming to and what will the next generation be? Romans 1:18-32, describes the condition of the world in and before the days of the flood when it says three times, “God gave them up”, (1) to uncleanliness, (2) to vile affections, (3) to reprobate mind. We believe we are living in the days of Lot and Noe which are to be repeated in the end-time, Luke 17:26-30. Now we can see how far the flight from Puritianism has gone since the 1920’s. Recently a hippie convention was held in a western state where 6,000 attended and nudity was common among them. Marijuana has become big business among the youth. Heroin is making addicts of increasing numbers of youth, some only 10-12 years of age. In the summer of 1969, 400,000 young people attended a rock festival, listening to rock music and indulging in drugs. The youth are announcing to the world what they call “a time of new understanding”, which is helped along by drugs and love (spelled LUST). The truth is, they wallow in immorality. It has been stated by shocked onlookers that Sodom and Gomorrah had nothing on these groups. God knows how far it will go.
Sometime in late 1969, New York City acquired a new liberalized abortion law. Already in their hospitals 1,000 abortions have been performed. Doctors predict 100,000 will be performed in the year following July, 1970. Since the Bible teaches life begins with conception, no doubt that will be 100,000 murders. A greater part of these abortions are performed on unwed mothers! Within a couple of years every high school and college in America will be addicted by heroin, according to two leading magazines. 40%-60% of elementary students will be frequent users of marijuana and hard drugs. New York City reported in 1969, 224 deaths due to overdose of drugs by teenagers and young children. The heroin habit cost youth no less than $10 per day. The war on drugs continues, however it appears we are losing the battle. Everyone was concerned with the four students killed on the campus of Kent State College, but no one paid any attention to the fact that during the same week seventeen youngsters in New York alone died from overdose of drugs. The Vietnam War casualties totaled 43,000 lives, yet during the same period 140,000 drug associated deaths took place in America. Dr. Robert Baird, appearing before a Senate Subcommittee, made this prediction, “unless decisive steps are taken we are going to have a problem five years from now that we cannot handle.” Dr. Baird estimated about 83,000 men in the armed forces use heroin or opium, and a minimum of 600,000 smoke marijuana. This committee was told from 30%-80% of military personnel are involved in drug use. Baird said although admirals and generals don’t want to believe such a problem exists, it is so big it is cutting down on the fighting efficiency of our men. This is a state of emergency and should be declared so by Congress, declared Dr. Baird.
Before Perry Pilon, an 18 year old drug addict, committed suicide he left the following not to help someone who he might warn to stay away from drugs. In one year he had used all types of drugs. “If someone offers you drugs, be more a man than I was, please learn from my mistake. They will offer it to you free, then start making you pay for it. Drugs played a big part in ruining my life. Always remember, he said, Drugs have their small moments of happiness, but for every moment lies a century of sadness never to be removed.” When it is understood many dope addicts need from $45-$250 per day to supply their needs, we can see why there are so many thefts. One California policeman estimated 20% of juvenile shoplifting is due to drug addicts who need money to pay for their drugs. As has been stated, drugs cost youth approximately $10 per day, therefore they must steal to supply this need. Youngsters on drugs never have enough money, says Dr. Rabinovitch of Hawthorne Center.
Theft – Theft across America by youth has almost become an epidemic. According to FBI investigations juvenile arrests for serious crimes climbed 78% in eight years (between 1960-68), while the juvenile population only increased 25%. In 1968 youthful offenders accounted for 61% of all automobile thefts, 54% of larcenies, 55% of burglaries, 33% of robberies. The biggest increase was in shoplifting, referred to as the white collar crime in today’s youth, which since 1960 has soared 134%. The National Retail Merchants Association estimates store thefts at three billion dollars per year. Youngsters are responsible for one-half of that. Security experts say girl shoplifters outnumber boys twenty to one.
Satan has done masterfully in all fields of wickedness, but perhaps none as great as the progress he is making through his World Council of Churches in uniting all religions. The WCC represents 235 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and Old Catholic churches in 90 countries. Their one theme, which is being stressed more than ever, is Christian unity and through it the unity of all mankind. Certain Protestant groups have even dropped the term “protestant” in order to speed the unity of all religions. What will happen once all religions are finally united? The Bible says in Revelations 13, that the image of the beast will be formed (emerging from this union) and cause a mark to be placed upon mankind where he can neither buy nor sell without it and all who take it, scripture says, have sealed their eternal destiny. Church leaders have been guilty of giving assistance to this toboggan sled of morals. Certain church leaders are today speaking favorably of a sex revolution. The Bible says in I Corinthians 6:18, “avoid sexual looseness like a plague.” (Phillips Trans.) No religious group can rationalize immorality and survive as a church, even Billy Graham recently said, “the next step will be church supervised brothels very similar to the temple prostitutes of ancient Corinth.”
Some five years ago in San Francisco the first church of Satan was established where the members pay literal homage to Satan. Today that church boasts a membership of 15,000.
The General Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1970 spoke favorable of the liberalizing of abortion laws. Nationwide there is an estimated 100-200 church organizations which accept known homosexuals into their membership. The United Church of Christ publishes a magazine for young people called Colloquy. The March 1970 issue featured nude bathers on its cover and it was reproduced in a full page photograph on the inside, while still an article on another page carried a paragraph which read, “at Woodstock Rock Festival there was a great deal of nudity, it was accepted as quite natural.” No one was shocked and no one was arrested for indecent exposure. This article went on to say, why can’t this be a general practice in the world? Other articles suggested pre-marital sex as a beautiful thing.
All is not well in Satan’s infested polluted kingdom, for according to science through man’s ambition and eagerness to press ahead in conquering every known field, he has polluted his environment and stands on the threshold of a dying planet which he himself has almost killed. Man is sure to loose the battle against pollution predicted University of Toronto scientists. Unless we stop increasing pollution by the mid 1970’s, we have only 15-30 more years to live. From another report, this time Dr. John Hanlon, Assistant Surgeon General, says there is a great deal of evidence that the various kinds of pollutions; air, water & food, cause killing diseases! In a speech before the American Medical Association, Hanlon warned each year the pollution of our air, water and land becomes worse. Pollution is killing us and it is almost too late to do anything about it!
Through Satan’s manifested sons he has successfully succeeded in polluting man’s mind, the gospel of Christ and now turns his attention against man’s environment (water, air). Scientists declare if they had a workable plan to clean up pollution it would cost over $60 billion (over a 5 year period.) However, all is not lost, PRAISE GOD, there is a workable plan. One which shall not only release man from his corrupt and polluted environment, but also release the animal kingdom from their environment. The Bible declares how God will take fallen man and through two phases of ADOPTION without cost of money shall accomplish a work which all creation will rejoice to see.
ROMANS 8:14, EPHESIANS 1:4-5
You will see how these topics blend together as we progress into the message. I am sure we all have some concept of what natural adoption is, but what about spiritual adoption? For some reason Paul used this word adoption quite frequently, especially in Galatians, Romans and Ephesians. Using this term so frequently indicates Paul must have been trying to impart a true thought on the word showing some way God was doing something in redeeming us back unto himself.
We all realize that the fact we were born into this world through a natural physical birth makes us a child of God by natural creation. Understand my words, I did not say being born into the world made you a spiritual creation in relation to the new birth, did I? CERTAINLY NOT! You are a child of God only by natural creation, yet we realize according to the scriptures our coming into this world through the natural process has causes us to inherit a fallen nature through the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Because of that disobedience it caused each one of us to be subject to the fall, therefore, the scripture declares we are all born in sin, shaped in iniquity, coming into the world speaking lies. (Romans 3:10-18, Psalms 51:5) What a pathetic state for a human being to enter the world, nevertheless, that is the route we came! There is no good in us, none at all. Think of it, because of that Adamic birth there is not one of us who seek after God according to revelation. (Romans 3:11) We everyone one went astray going our own way, (Isaiah 53:6), forming our own concept of who and what God is and what He wants and away we went building our own unstable philosophy and ideas, and we have the audacity to think God should accept it. Well, beloved, that is not so. God has a way that He expects humanity to approach and worship Him, to live, serve and glorify Him and without that strait way, (not straight way), (Matthew 7:13-14), we absolutely cannot do anything to please God.
The Bible teaches that through one man’s disobedience all were made sinners, but thank God the Bible also teaches that through the obedience of one shall many be made righteous, (righteous strictly in the spiritual sense). (Romans 5:19)
Through the transgression and fall of Adam and Eve in the garden all of us were born then in the process from the tree of knowledge. Born into this world through the natural process caused us to inherit the fallen Adamic nature; within us are fallen depraved attributes, which are absolutely foreign to God. We possessed absolutely no spiritual knowledge of how to serve Him in the revelation of His word, (Romans 3:10-12). Spiritually we had nothing! Carnally we possessed all our mental and natural facilities and senses but none of us could see God in His own spirit, God must be drawn to him giving him His revelation (of faith) the one and only true meaning of the process whereby He desires to be worshiped and served. (Hebrews 11:6)
Beloved, if we can see that the fall of Adam made each of us a fallen creature, though in the creative sense we are a created child of God, yet fallen creatures, and in that state God could not have fellowship with any of us, but looks upon us as one who is foreign to His grace and truth or as a helpless orphan child thrown to the mercy of the world, seeing us as though we were orphans living only for the sole purpose of existence, being kicked to and fro by the evils of this world.
Our righteousness in God’s eyes is compared to dirty, filthy rags, (Isaiah 64:6). Spiritually speaking, we were in worse condition than any poverty stricken individual born down in the ghettos or slums. If something somewhere isn’t done for our hopeless condition, we wouldn’t end up as well off as the poor kid on the street. Later we will return to discuss this more thoroughly.
Shall we read some scriptures in Romans for the basis or foundation of our thought? Christians especially enjoy reading this 8th chapter of Romans because it points out and verifies many things in connection with being a child or son of God. For instance, Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the spirit of God are the sons (or children) of God.” That verse means exactly what it says, ‘for as many as are led by the spirit of God’. What do we mean, led by the spirit of God? In being led by the spirit of God we must understand one thing. First, Jesus said no man can (ever) come to me except the father draw him and all that the father gives me will come to me. (John 6:37) Regardless what anyone says, that is predestination and eternal security all wrapped up in one verse. Predestination, “they will come.” Remember, scripturally no sinner can approach God unless somewhere he is drawn by the spirit of the true God. (John 6:44) He may have a mental concept that he is a sinner; he can even formulate that in his mind; he may even have a mental concept that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, but until he personally has come face to face with the reality and the ultimatum, I AM A SINNER, I AM LOST AND I NEED GOD. Until he feels that in his soul that individual may even join the church, he may make friends with the preacher, he could go through all kinds of sacrifices, but it is not going to benefit him because it is always something that he does in respect to the natural man’s understanding. (Hebrews 11:6) However, once he receives a revelation from God that he is lost and regardless how honest and upright he has attempted to live, if there isn’t that revelation, I’M LOST, when the Bible declares that through the disobedience of one many have sinned and have come short of the glory of God, (Romans 5:19), why he would always remain much like an old crab-apple tree.
Crab-apple trees can’t help bearing crab-apples, that is their nature. You would never get a Roman Beauty, Stamine’s Winesap or Golden Delicious from a crab-apple tree. However, you can take the bud from the Roman Beauty and graft it into the crab-apple tree and once the Roman Beauty begins blooming, clip everything else off then you will begin to have Roman Beauty apples from the crab-apple tree. Notice, first you must change the nature of the tree by grafting something else onto it. That is why for us it demands a complete new birth, and that new birth is God’s only means of bringing us into His redeemed family relationship whereby the scripture could say, “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God (which was grafted into us, (James 1:21), grafted into that old human stump of humanity), they are the sons of God.” The Spirit of the Word was engrafted into the human life and nature to make it produce the fruits of the Spirit, (Galatians 5:22-23) and not the works of the flesh, (Galatians 5:19-21).
First, we are led by that spirit to conviction and repentance. Second, to accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour. Third, to the watery grave and then on into the in filling of the Holy Ghost which now brings Eternal life on the inside of us, beginning immediately to illuminate our soul, instructing and teaching us what God’s will is for this inner man. Yes, only they who are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God. We must even be led into that hidden place in Christ. Many people are of the opinion and hold the attitude once they receive the Holy Ghost they can simply sit back, merely go to church on Sunday and pay their dues and do the little insignificant things and THAT IS ALL REQUIRED! Have you ever seen a baby brought into this world and treated any such way? It would starve to death! What do you do! You pamper and feed it, bathe and take care of it, for the day you neglect that baby something terrible is going to happen.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.” Here Paul refers back to the spirit of law, because the law (or bondage) said thou shalt not do this or that because if you do there is a penalty added. Under the law, which was bondage, because of the sinful in-dwelling nature of man the law was compelling, therefore man could not do certain things. Also there was that constant dreaded fear within the law that once you did do something the penalty was automatically applied to you, but through grace, Paul teaches we have not received again the spirit of bondage to fear, (no sir, this is a different spirit from that) but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father, meaning he is my God. The Spirit Himself (now on the inside) beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Yes, under grace we have received a different Spirit than under law.
Remember this scripture has no reference to the Spirit of God being on the outside of us pulling us toward salvation, convicting us of our sins; showing us we need Christ. Oh, no! In this verse, Romans 8:14, the Spirit is on the inside of the person bearing witness that they are born-again children of God. Beloved, He bears witness with our spirit inside by revelation that we have been brought into relationship with the Eternal God! He bears witness we are children of God and if children then heirs, WE ARE HEIRS!
Children born of natural parenthood automatically are in alignment of heirship of whatsoever their father has in the sense of possession, likewise through the spiritual birth we became heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, if so we be with him that we may also be glorified together, Romans 8:17. Note, here Paul pauses briefly from his subject of adoption into the family of God and begins to project far out into the future concerning the fact that though this adoption has already taken place without us, yet out in the future the blessings of all that we are going to fall heir to, will absolutely overwhelm the present fact of the route we had to come through in order to receive this glory (our inheritance), (Romans 8:18). When he says I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are nothing to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (future). Beloved, make no mistake about it though many may differ with me about this glory which shall be revealed in us, it positively will not take place until after our bodies have been changed!! Linking that up with another verse of scripture in II Thessalonians, where Paul, speaking of the coming of Christ says (1:7-10) “When he is revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and them that have pleasure in unrighteousness, when he comes to be glorified in his saints.” WHEN HE WHAT? COMES TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS! (II Thessalonians 1:10)
Therefore, let us not permit ourselves to be carried away by modern 20th century theories and place this glory in something or other that is found on this side of the rapture as so many have been guilty of doing. Paul wants to lead up to something concerning this thing called adoption and glory. Here Paul, the gentile apostle, stated, (Romans 8) (18) “For I reckon that the sufferings here of the present time are nothing to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.” Now watch what he says! (19) “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestations of the sons of God.” Notice again this wording. Paul is saying, somewhere there is going to be a great and glorious manifestation, creation is waiting for it to happen! The word MANIFEST means to reveal, to make known or to put on public display. Therefore, by revelation Paul is saying that the entire cry of creation is waiting in a state of great expectancy, waiting for what? Waiting for the hour when the manifested sons of God will come forth! DOING WHAT? Manifesting their authority and position in Christ, and notice what Paul says this authority which the sons of God have been elevated unto will do! REDEEM THIS FALLEN CREATION! To accomplish this scripture teaches you will have to have a glorified body, so beware of these teachings concerning the manifestations of the sons of God and their work before they receive new bodies!
As long as man dwells in this mortal flesh he will always be subject to an evil force. I care not how super-duper he may try to make himself believe or appear through some new revelation, he is only like a man standing in the middle of a highway trying to lift himself in a tub. Yet, Praise God, there is coming a day according to the scriptures when this vile corrupt body, which is always subject to evil powers, (I Corinthians 10:12) will undergo a change and be changed into the glorious image of Jesus Christ and not until then could man ever redeem anything fallen!
Christ himself could not even appear in the office of kingship in the millennium reign until His mortal body had been changed. HEAR WHAT I MEAN? Potentially Christ was already king, however, literally He never could step into that office until somewhere His physical body, which was given Him at His birth and which He walked in upon the earth, under-went a change, a change into that perfect, glorified body in which He was raised from the dead. Now that body would coincide with that perfect man which God foreordained in His mind as His pattern. That body which Christ first appeared in bore our sins and iniquities, (Isaiah 53:3-11). In that body Christ has come down to our level, allowing Himself to be tempted and tested in every measure as you and I yet knowing no sin. (I Peter 2:22) No guile was ever found in Him. In that body He was spit upon, despised, disgraced and humiliated, yet Hebrews stated He endured all this for the joy that was set before Him, Hebrews 12:2.
Notice, this joy set before Him was not on this side of the cross or grave, but He could see far beyond the cross. Again I repeat, if Jesus would tarry His coming, this glory which is waiting for you will only come beyond the grave, not on this side! That particular glory which is waiting for the saints of God is not now present in anyone of us and shall not be seen until first the dead in Christ has risen from the grave. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD? God has this one thing so lined out perfectly in His Word that no person, no, not even if we were only five minutes away from the rapture, could possibly jump ahead of God’s plan and receive this glory. Once God states something in His Word, such as the dead in Christ must rise first, don’t ever try to do something outside of that. You cannot change that making it run backwards, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE, it just won’t do it. The dead in Christ must arise first before anyone will have this glory and become manifested Sons of the living God!
According to Romans 8:22, the whole creation is groaning and travailing, waiting with expectancy for the manifestation of the sons of God. WHEN WILL THAT MANIFESTATION OF THOSE SONS TAKE PLACE? God has a special preordained plan and season for that deliverance. Back to Romans 8:20, The creature was made subject to vanity (meaning, God subjected man and animal life to this environmental condition of decay and futility), “not willingly”, not because we chose it that way. Oh no, neither you nor I had one thing to do with it. None of us willed or desired it to be this way. Not one of us (animal life included) had anything to do with our even being here in this life. Long ago you were nothing more than a gene in your father’s loins waiting to be introduced into this world. No, you did not ask to come by the route you came; you never asked to enter this world bearing the effects of a fallen depraved nature as you did which was handed down through heredity from your ancestors. God himself suffered it to be that in so doing He would accomplish His will and purpose. The scripture says, not willingly but by reason of Him who has subjected the same hope, meaning there was this hope that all creation (including everything) would one day be set free, that is, delivered from bondage and corruption, slavery and decay and share in that glorious freedom enjoyed by the children of God, however, remember they cannot enjoy their freedom until redeemed man through the change of his natural body has enjoyed his glorious liberty. God’s order of redemption is first MAN, second THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, third NATURE ITSELF.
Paul is showing in Romans 8:21, that natural creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption (death and decay) unto the glorious liberty of the freedom of God; showing first man himself shall be set free from this bondage through the resurrection of rapture of church where the hope for the balance of creation is soon to follow. Here is the first thing taking place through the glorious redemptive work of the manifested sons of God, which verse 19 testifies creation is waiting for. Once God sets in motion the process for that season of redeeming the entire creation, His whole creation restored back unto Himself, notice what will happen according to verse 22 for Paul says, “For we know that the whole creation (animal life, nature) groaneth and travaileth together until now.” “UNTIL NOW” does not refer to our day, it refers to Paul’s day as he is writing to the church. Almost nineteen hundred years have passed since then and things have gotten much worse, haven’t they? Sin and sickness are worse; evil is one every hand, yet out of it all God has somewhere promised He would redeem the entire thing and notice, there is a process used to accomplish all this!
Romans 8:23 clarifies who Paul spake of in verse 22 by saying not only they, but we ourselves, we christians groan and travail waiting for our deliverance who have the first fruits of the Spirit. Later we shall discuss what the first-fruits of the Spirit is and its relationship to adoption in respect to the glory that shall be revealed in us, and how it affects the manifestations of the sons of God.
Romans 8:24, “For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, for what a man seeth why does he yet hope for, but if we hope for that which we see not, then we with patience wait for it.” Therefore having received the Spirit (first phase of ADOPTION) Paul says, we wait patiently for the second phase of ADOPTION, the adoption of the body to become manifested sons of God. (Here Paul ends his thought on works of manifested sons).
(FIRST PHASE OF ADOPTION – ROMANS 8:15-16)
It must be remembered God will not redeem or change the physical, natural body until first He had done something to alter the course or change the inner spirit man dwelling within that corrupt body. If the inner man, which is made in the image of God, is never changed to know or love God, never living for Him and being a true son talking and walking in harmony and fellowship with God, what advantage would there be to change his vile, sinful body that could exist eternally only to continue going a million miles farther away from God? The first thing in God’s plan of redemption is, something must be done to get that inner man straightened out. To accomplish this required the new birth. Yes, the inner man must be born again (John 3:3) or he can never enter or see the kingdom of God. He must be reinstated into a relationship and fellowship with God and nothing short of the new birth would accomplish this. (I Peter 1:18-20)
(23) “Not only they, Paul said, but ourselves also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the ADOPTION.” What adoption does Paul speak of here? We recall in verse 15, how God has given unto us the first-fruits of the spirit of ADOPTION whereby we call Abba, Father, but here for the second time Paul, in verse 23 again speaks of ADOPTION. What could it mean? This time the adoption is the redemption of the human body and not the spirit. We now have two thoughts concerning ADOPTION with which to deal. Realizing now there are two positions in this entire process of ADOPTION (spirit and body) one placing you in the family (Romans 8:15) while the other places you in line for your position as to what your inheritance is as an heir, which is determined much upon how we have lived for God while here upon earth.
Twice also within the life of Christ do we hear a voice speaking unto Him from above. Recall, first was when a voice spoke to him saying, “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM (WELL) PLEASED TO DWELL IN!” (Matthew 3:16-17) The second time the voice said, “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, HEAR YE HIM.” (Matthew 17:5) It was all of the same process. The first time was when the Spirit came on Him, representing Romans 8:15, in the believer and next in Matthew 17. The disciples saw Him in that glorified, manifested body representing Romans 8:23, in the full adoption of the believer when He receives His new glorified body.
Turning to Ephesians we come upon a passage written long before the one written in Romans 8, where Paul, by revelation, was investigating the mind of God. He finds out where everything starts from. Long before any of it begins to unfold in the earth; long before it begins to have its affect on things. Paul states in Ephesians 1:4-5, (4) “According as he has chosen us in him” (we had been chosen in Christ) WHEN? Perhaps ages before there ever was a star, a moon or anything; long before there was anything to fly through space, the great eternal Spirit of this universe (God) was. This Spirit later to be called God once there would be something created to offer worship. (God meaning object of worship) According to scripture, Ephesians 1:1, God counseled with Himself, meaning before anything ever was, God thought or meditated. Everything brought into existence was born in a thought. I want a universe filled with stars; I want a universe called Earth; On earth I want an animal kingdom; I want a Son – a man! These were His thoughts which later brought His word into existence when He said, “Let there be” and it was! I want such and such! (Psalms 33:6-9)
That Eternal Spirit meditated, in other words, He counseled with Himself. No, beloved, there was not three persons sitting there on a chair discussing this among themselves, otherwise the scriptures would have to read ‘counseled with themselves and not himself!’ It doesn’t read that way. Such an understanding is a product of carnal man’s religious thoughts who cannot conceive of one God accomplishing all this by Himself. HE COUNSELED WITH HIMSELF, according to the counsel of His own will. (Ephesians 1:9-11)
When a man decides to build himself a house where does the first process begin? In his own mind of course. There he can see exactly how he wants the house constructed, whether it be of brick, wood or stone and contains 5 or 6 rooms and their locations. Already in his mind he sees it and now it is put onto blueprints so those appointed to actually build the house can go into action and know exactly from the blueprints what was in the mind of the one for whom they are building the house. Later you may see several men working on the house, but it is not their house, John Doe is building the house and these men are only helping or assisting him. Therefore, we can better understand Genesis 1:26-27, when God says, “let us make man in our own image and our own likeness.”
WHO IS US? He is speaking of those who are assisting Him in His work, right? The Trinitarians will immediately declare the word speaks of more than one (person) God. Oh no, because verse 27 destroys that theory. Notice, “and in the image of God created he (not they) him, male and female created he them.” When the actual creation is performed, the word diverts back to the singular HIMSELF and the masculine term. God created man in his own image! True, God had to be speaking in conjunction with something that was going to assist or help Him in the whole process of creation, so who is He addressing? He was speaking to none other than those who always assist him, HIS ANGELIC FAMILY! In Job 38:4, 7, God asked Job, (4) “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (7) “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (sons of God were the angels.)
Many christians have absolutely failed to recognize the part in God’s program played by the angels or the part they are to play in God’s program. Many think simply because they are spirits they have no actual part in God’s program however, according to scripture, this is not true! Angels have been delegated with great authority to carry out the will of God. Notice the various capacities in which they serve God. Angels served as messengers, protectors, helpers, controller of nature and warriors. Genesis 3:4, Hebrews 1:7, 14, Joshua 5:14, Judges 13:3, Daniel 9:21, Revelation Chapters 2 & 3 (ministering angels to seven church age messengers), Revelation 7:1, Revelation 8, Revelation 12:7, Hebrews 1:6, to name only a few.
According to Paul’s revelation, God has counseled with Himself and on the basis of what had been seen Paul received the revelation that God chose us in Him (in Christ the anointed word) back when there was nothing, before the foundation of the world, before the world ever had an existence or any description of a beginning, back when only a thought existed in God’s mind, there we were chosen that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, Ephesians 1:4-5.
To clearer paraphrase it, let us say John Doe is building a house. In his mind he already sees it completed; he knows exactly how he wants the yard landscaped, etc.. He knows all this because it is his house. It has been drawn up according to his own concept, so naturally that is the way it is going to be. In his mind he sees how it looks, simply requires time for it all to come into manifestation. Beloved, that is the same way it was with God. In reality, before man was ever created or went astray God had plans to redeem back His fallen creation to Himself through His Word made flesh, His only begotten son, Jesus Christ.
Notice, it is through His only created manifested son (the first Adam) that God commissioned with authority to rule over the earth, saying subdue and replenish it, dress it, and take care of it. However, we all are all familiar with the sad story of that first created son’s failure in his great commission. It was never carried out! Instead he brought a fall and curse upon the entire human race. Therefore, still by the same token has God, during the millennium purposes to redeem this fallen creation back to Himself. First, by redeeming fallen man through His (second Adam) Word made flesh, then somewhere later allowing fallen man to become manifested Sons of God and redeem all the creation back unto the Eternal God to fulfill Paul’s revelation in Romans 8:21-22.
No, that doesn’t give sinners a second change, is that understood? Before the earth was, before Eden was, God already had seen in his mind all this disappointment brought on by the first Adam because of that, therefore, he predestinated us unto the ADOPTION of children or sons by Jesus Christ, the manifested Word. Predestinated simply means before the world was destined, God saw the end, also God was fully aware of all that would transpire from beginning to end, (pre – is before, destination – is the end). God, who is sovereign is omnipresent, omniscient, knowing all that will transpire because God doesn’t live in time. Everything that lives and exists had to first exist in His mind. Since it existed first in Him, naturally He knows all that goes on here. Seeing all that would be, He knew exactly how to choose to set things in motion to fulfill the plan according to what He had already counseled with His own self to be, that we would be adopted sons, adopted back to himself through Jesus Christ the manifested Word. Yes, according to the good pleasure of His own will.
Watch for a moment the process of natural adoption. Watching this process will give somewhat a better understanding of spiritual adoption. For example, there was a man who saw an orphan lad, half-naked, dirty clothes, half starved and sick, out running the streets. This little fellow has become a victim of society, a victim of circumstances who can’t seem to help himself. He has just been tossed to and fro, from pillar to post becoming an outcast to society, having no certain dwelling place. This poor child has no certain outlook on life. With him tomorrow is just another dreary day of existence with no certain outlook for anything better. What hope is there for such a child? The only hope he can muster is somewhere, there will be a break for him in life. However, that break would have to come through the medium of someone else. Unless someone shows mercy and compassion on him willing to help him out of his pitiful condition, this child might continue to live out of the filthy garbage can in the dirty alley, sleeping in the rain, in the gutter on and on, the child is only existing.
Spiritually speaking, beloved, that is the identical way we were until Jesus Christ found us. I care not how nice your natural home is, how soft your bed was or how many T-bone steaks you ate, until you knew Jesus Christ you weren’t anything, only a miserable vagrant. Your soul was just as wretched, destitute and naked in the sight of God and the little righteousness you possessed, God had compared that to filthy rags. No question about it, you were in just a destitute a state as any natural orphan kid might be. In the natural realm you may have succeeded, but in the spiritual realm you were an orphan, a pauper with no hope. What hope was there? You were away from God with no real knowledge how to reach Him. Someone also was going to need to show some mercy on you.
One day this despondent downcast orphan lad is walking aimless along the street. How long had it been since he had heard a kind voice speak to him? Everywhere he goes people say, “GET OUT OF HERE, GET AWAY FROM HERE YOU DIRTY LITTLE RAT.” All his life that is the way he had been treated, BUT one day a strange thing happened, he heard a voice with a different ring, not a scolding, screaming voice. Across the street stood a man who had been observing the treatment of that lad. He saw the poor bewildered child with his head drooped, waling away crying because of his rejection and treatment. For some reason that man had compassion on the lad. Walking over he placed his land gently on the boy’s shoulder, saying “Sonny, what is wrong?” The kind man observed the skinny frame from lack of food and the filthy rags he wore. He asked again, “Sonny, what is wrong?” No doubt the lad realized the difference in the tone of his voice, how long it had been since he had heard a kind voice! Still he probably wondered what this man wanted, possibly some hard task to be done for little pay. To his surprise this kind man only says, “I would like very much to help you, would you like to come with me?” Finally the lad understands the good intentions of the kind man and slowly the hard feelings he has built up concerning the treatment he has had begins to fade. That is the way it is in the world, Satan beats you round every mulberry bush, giving you such a hard way to go. He lets you go through life tossed about until you become so hard-hearted, when you do hear the tender voice of God, many times you don’t even recognize it to be His voice, in kindness and mercy beckoning you to come to him, COME AND GO WITH ME.
At last the little fellow decides to leave with the man. I can see the man taking him home, compassion and a deep heart’s desire has prompted the man to want to do something for the lad. Looking upon him was not enjoyment, seeing all that dirt and filthiness, the man asks if he would like to have a nice, warm bath. No doubt the only bath he had ever had was what he received standing in the rain. The lad is still skeptical, but is led to the bathroom where the tub is filled and soap and towel given him. All this is so new he hardly knows what to do or say. Well, salvation was new to you also. Sure it was wonderful to get cleansed in the glorious cleansing agent of Jesus Christ. Brother, when the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses your soul from all the filth of the world it makes you feel completely different, doesn’t it? It was like getting into a tub full of nice warm soapy water. When you have been toiling hard all day in a dusty field that warm water soon loosens up the muscles, cleans out the pores, getting all that dirt off makes you feel like a new person, doesn’t it? While the little boy was taking his bath the kind man had purchased him new clothing and the old rags went into the trash can. Remember one important thing, although this man had been extremely nice to the lad he still was not his child, yet this man had something in mind. The lad was given the new suit of clothes, something he had never had before, He had only had things taken from trash cans which had been thrown away.
That is exactly the way the devil does! Let me use that for a moment. Satan will take you to some old church system somewhere and dress you up in all kinds of old dilapidated rituals, old hand-me-downs, aged, wrinkled and completely out of date with the grace of God. It is only some leftover rags of the past age and you walk all over God’s creation in those old dirty self-righteous rags of Babylon only one day to discover spiritually you are just as naked as a bird. In the eyes of God you are worse than a vagabond.
Standing there all dressed up in his new suite this child is amazed how wonderful he now felt. What a difference from the rags he had previously worn. Inside his spirit has began to perk up. Slowly his suspicious nature and attitude begins to change toward this man who had never asked him to do one wrong thing but only showed him kindness. All he had been asked to do was to come home with him, take a warm bath to wash away all the dirt and put on these new clothes. Now he is placed at a table where a good meal awaits. There before him is a plate and silverware. How different is this environment from the alleys and garbage cans he has been accustomed to. Certainly there was no need for silverware to eat an apple core or old banana or something fished from the garbage. I have to say, beloved, it is pitiful today to think of the hippies who come from well-do-do parents who are absolutely willing to turn to the alleys to eat out of tin cans. Your daily newspapers continuously carry such stories of young people who are willing to live in such an environment. For some reason Satan has warped their mind into thinking they are going to change this world and make it a better place for some kind of a super duper generation of people which they hope to produce, IT’S NOT SO!
Here sits this orphan boy in his new suit enjoying a nice hot meal. The little fellow sits there with such delight as he has never known before. Just the way you begin to feel beloved, when the grace of God comes to you and cleanses you from your sins, places a new robe of righteousness about you and gives you the Holy Ghost. Then what does he do? He sits you down and begins feeding you out of the wonderful things of Gods Word. AMEN! In the natural what has this man done? In one step he showed mercy and compassion in bringing the child into a new and better environment.
That man could permit the child to remain there indefinitely, however, the child could never be a legal heir until something happened. Do you know what would need to transpire before the child could become a legal heir? He is not a legal heir because he has no physical contact of life with the man, does he? However, later the man learns to love the child so much, he sees every potential lying in that child, something can be made of him. He decides to adopt him! Adopting a child is serious business. He must appear before the legal authorities to notify any heir or person who might have legal hold on this child to see if they would allow him to be adopted. He could have some relative who would refuse this request. In the spiritual sense it is the devil. Of course the man would first ask the child if he would like to be his son. This was something hard to understand for he could not remember a mother or father, but only being pushed from one place to another. Sitting down the man explains the process of adoption how the legal authorities examine all information and facts and then issue their decision. Once that child becomes adopted his old family name is dropped. For example, Smith, his old name, would be taken. All legal papers identify him as being an Adams.
Receiving the family name is as far as anyone can go into natural adoption. Never could there be any physical tie such as the man placing his own spirit in the lad, he can only give him his name. These ties according to law are sufficient enough to make him a legal heir. Once he becomes legally adopted as a son into that family it is sufficient to place the child in line for heirship and inheritance, isn’t it? However, never could there be any spirit transmitted from the father to the adopted son, only the fathers name could be applied to the son’s life causing the sons on this basis to become legal heir to everything that the father has, but PRAISE GOD, when God adopted us He was able to go a step farther, wasn’t he? Adoption with Him was much closer and personal once He saved us bringing us into His relationship, cleansed us through His blood, bringing us through the watery grave (water baptism), washed our bodies up from the sins that had been committed and gave us the Holy Ghost which was His own life imparted unto us (Acts 2:38), that made the adoption so much more personal. It was as though we had actually become, in reality, His son.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached and 3000 interested, inquisitive, devout Jews responded by asking, “Men and brethren what must we do”, to become heirs of this? To be adopted into God’s family? Peter simply told them to repent and take unto themselves God’s family name of heaven and earth.
But what is the family name of heaven and earth? (Ephesians 3:14-15) Paul instructed the Ephesians this family name was none other than the name of Jesus. Jesus is the family name of heaven and earth, right? Certainly, that is God’s family name. CHRIST TESTIFIED. He came in his Father’s name. (John 5:34) Beloved, you can’t be adopted even in a natural family until you take on that family name. “Repent everyone of you, turn from your evil ways (Leave the alleys and garbage cans) and be baptized; take a bath in the watery grave but by all means do it in the family name and according to Peter you will not only receive the family name, but as an added bonus over a natural adoption, you shall receive the Spirit of the family, which is the Holy Ghost who also is the spirit of adoption. God’s very own life, giving to you a full-fledged life cycle with the father Himself. Now you have the father’s life implanted in you, the one thing natural adoption could never provide. You are now of the real family itself, not simply because of the name, but you have received the spirit of the father Himself into your life. Oh, my! Just think, in spiritual adoption we have the spirit of the father dwelling in us because we took on His family name, Jesus. He has also given us of His spirit. The eternal father can look upon us and say, This is my son, while in turn we can look up and say this is my father. Through natural adoption the orphan boy also can say, yes, he is my father, however, he can only say this from an adopted standpoint because he only carries the family name. Certainly he could never say it from a more personal standpoint because he carries the spirit of the father in his bosom, but in this heavenly adoption we have the spirit of our daddy in us.
Through this heavenly adoption, or receiving of his spirit, are we able according to Paul to cry, “Abba Father, he is my God”. (Mon. Trans. In which we cry out, my father, my dear father) or in plain old country language we are saying, THAT IS MY DADDY! Beloved, that is not debasing God. He is my daddy because I have His life in me. We now have our daddy’s spirit in us. It is none other than the spirit of adoption that places us in the family or body. (For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body) (I Corinthians 12:13). Being placed into the family by His spirit simply means we are born into the family of God. We have not only the family’s name, but also the family’s spirit.
Notice three things concerning this spirit of adoption in us, (Romans 8:9&14, Colossians 1:27). (1) “Without the Spirit of Christ we are none of His (2) They that are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God, (3) Christ in you, your hope of glory.” Through the Apostle Paul’s stimulating revelation we have learned how God has chosen and adopted us through Christ that we might have access to this heirship or inheritance which deals with our position as manifested sons of God. We will study more of this later, however, much must transpire before we will see any manifested sons of God at this point.
Again through Paul’s revelation recorded in Romans 8, God had chosen and purposed that He is going to redeem all this fallen creation by His manifested sons. Let us turn back into Genesis and refresh our memory upon God’s natural creation. God started out with only one son and one daughter. The first Adam and Eve were placed in the garden and commissioned to replenish the earth, dress it, be fruitful and multiply, Genesis 1:28. Notice the entire commission and promise of God lay invested there in those two, so because of what happened in the garden every child born unto their union after the fall was born into this world without eternal life, God life as His original plan had called for (from the tree of Life). Genesis 6:1-2. Eventually as men began to multiply on the face of the earth (Cain’s life crossing over into the Sons of God line, Genesis 6:1-6). As Cain’s line also began to be crossed over into the family tree of the sons of God line through the human genes, they began to lust, steal, lie, thinking all manner of evil imaginations etc., until the father we proceed down through the history of humanity past Genesis 6:1-2, the more corrupt the earth became through the evilness of man, man in his plurality has multiplied on the face of the earth and corrupted the face of the earth with his evil until God sent judgment through a flood. Did this correct everything, it did not! Sin and disobedience all started with one man and one woman. If the fall of the first Adam and one woman has brought this whole thing down through 6000 years without that commission of the first Adam being fulfilled, is it forever lost? Will man born of the first Adam ever rise back up to that exalted place in this life?
Watch something here in God’s mind shown in Paul’s revelation concerning that long awaited commission. Christ, who was the second Adam, who is none other than the Lord of Glory Himself, was made a quickening spirit solely for one purpose, to give life back to something which had been lost through the natural creation process. Notice just as the first Adam was given a help-mate to reproduce himself manifested sons and daughters by which to re-populate and rule this world, thus fulfilling that great commission had there been no son, so also shall the second Adam be given a helpmate (bride church) to undo this terrible curse and fulfill the commission.
Because of that first couple’s weakness they transgressed in the garden and brought all humanity, along with the animal world, from its present state. But watch something, all is not lost, just postponed. Without that great commission ever being fulfilled, God, through the second process to redeem that entire lost creation, brings forth Christ the Second Adam into the human race (the word was born of woman). Notice, this Adam is also given a helpmate (the revelated church) to help undo what Adam and Eve had done, where that great commission issued to man could be carried out at last. You must understand, it will not be carried out until after the completion of the first resurrection and rapture of the Bride church. This is why Christ Himself could not take up that kingship of his spoken of so much throughout the Old Testament to fully manifest in this earth all that redemption did include. Beloved, redemption not only includes the redemption of your soul, but it also includes the redemption of our body, secondly it includes the redemption of the entire earth, thirdly it includes the redemption of the animal kingdom, which also fell under that terrible curse.
The first act of Christ’s redemptive work was the adoption of the soul or Spirit of people who would later be changed into a glorious image like unto Him once their bodies had undergone that change from the corruptible unto that immortal body. These found worthy, these over comers who make that change are found in all seven church ages of grace and will constitute His true bride church. These became his helpmates in the millennium where the work of the manifested sons of God shall be performed. This is given to her at the end of the prolonged period during which He has spent adopting us into the family through Jesus Christ, and once His helpmate has fully come forth, just as Eve was brought forth from Adam’s side and presented to Adam, so shall that little bride church be fully brought forth (bodily redemption from the ground) and presented to Him (Ephesians 5:27) through God’s redemptive process after every predestinated seed, whether man or woman has heard this call for adoption into the heavenly family.
Beloved, that little wife or helpmate, that little heavenly family will be raised up, He came forth in an immortal body, ascended on high and sat down on the right hand of authority and power where that name of Jesus, the family name of heaven and earth was given to subject every demon in hell and everything else unto that redemptive name of Jesus, Amen! One day, according to Paul’s glorious revelation, He will present that little wife to Himself (Ephesians 5:27). Having done this, the millennium is ready to begin and then the manifested sons of God will step forth upon this earth in their new glorified bodies and begin to release and undo everything that has been going through this 6000 years. In only a thousand year period shall all this be undone but beloved, to attempt it now would be like trying to stand in a washtub and lift yourself. You think today you are going to change a lion from his fallen nature? The Bible plainly teaches in that day God will take away that enmity between man and beast, but don’t try it now regardless how much Holy Ghost you think you have or how much faith you think you possess. It is not for this hour, this is the hour He is completing his Bride or helpmate for that age.
Once that second Adam has stepped forth and portrayed Himself as that Great Eternal King in immortality who shall never more die; when He comes on the scene with all heavens authority invested in Him and that little Bride wife steps up by His side also robed in immortal flesh, robed in that same glory that He is shrouded in, invested with that same kingly authority that He is invested with, OH, PRAISE GOD, for one thousand years this earth will begin to feel the affects of the rule of righteousness and Godliness, where that devil through fallen man has corrupted the earth for 6000 years, all that will begin to be reversed and changed and creation also will begin to feel the change that has been brought about through that little family of God’s adopted children who inherited His glory for just such a purpose. The purpose of it was all in the plan of God that he might reconcile this thing back to Himself.
Beloved, never stand guilty of trying to split the one body of Christ, the true church of the living God into two of three separate categories. This cannot be done! The one true church will always remain that one inseparable body of Christ. (Colossians 1:18) This same body of Christ is also referred to as the Church of Christ or the Church of God. This is what God calls church, however, when thinking in terms of what the world calls church, yes, Christ will definitely take the Bible (true revelated body) out of the church that is in the world because the carnal worldly church has no part in the bride of Christ.
Referring to the true bride church in Matthew 16, where Jesus praised Peter for knowing Him by the revelation of the Spirit, Jesus said, “Upon this rock” (rock of revelation revealed by the Spirit) “I’ll build my church,” He never intended to change His mind and later build His church off something else such as carnal teaching, etc. Paul, the gentile apostle, never changed his speech either, therefore, that one true church of the living God still as always remains composed or is made up of every true born again believer from the day of Pentecost down to this present hour.
It is the adopted family of God who has received the Spirit of adoption who shall be the bride of Christ and nothing short of a new birth can place you into that family or bride church. Watch something here, take a natural child born into this world, he is very small in weight, isn’t he? Medical science says that new born baby will not know how to use his mentality or senses for sometime. Yes, that only goes to demonstrate once we christians first give our hearts to God neither do we have enough of a spiritual mind to know how to act, therefore, Paul says for a while we also need to have the bottle nipple between our lips and feed on the milk of the Word. (I Peter 2:2) That milk of the Word will give us our bearings, but how is it with some people, let them give their heart to God one minute and a week later they are ready to tell the world and the church what to do. They absolutely get an egotistical self-righteousness attitude that they know what the Word of God says, and beloved, their ideas are as carnal as can be. The most any of them should do is to instruct sinners how to be saved, but to try to straighten a church out or try to tell the world what to do, NO SIR! You don’t see a baby telling his daddy and mother what to do. If you did you could rest assured his poor mother and dad doesn’t know any more than the baby does.
Beloved, we must accept the fact there is much spiritual growth in this thing of serving the true living God. Yes, the spirit of ADOPTION places us into the family of God as newborn babies (I Peter 2:2) not full grown sons! It is going to take much leading and guiding by the spirit. How well we have listened and obeyed our guide and teacher the Holy Spirit will determine whether or not we have developed enough to merit the second phase of ADOPTION when it takes place!
Always remember, the only thing that God ever intended His true revelated church to do on this side of the resurrection or rapture is to live the exampleship and to help change men’s souls and lives telling them about the strait way (Matthew 7;13-14, Acts 2:38) helping get as many into the family of the living God who are willing to come on God’s terms for ADOPTION. Yes, helping to change man’s nature is our only job during this grace age, however, one of these days according to the scriptures once this age draws to a final close as the body of Christ through the ages will have constituted all the growth it was predestinated it should have, the last person will have been added to the body. According to what was revealed to Paul, God will then be ready to change the order of events, gathering all that He has produced in Christ; dead and living, of his adopted sons through those seven church ages and shortly begin to change the conditions that prevail in the world stemming from the fall. Watch closely how this is to be accomplished!
“And not only they,” (they, referring to verse 22, that creation which groaneth, travaileth and pained together until now) but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit”; we who have the first phase of this spirit of ADOPTION in our bosom bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. This fulfills Paul’s statement in I Corinthians 12, “Knowing this that no man can call Jesus the Christ except it be by the Holy Ghost,” (Matthew 16:17-18). He is not your Lord or Saviour; He is not even your real Christ unless you truly have Christ as the spirit of ADOPTION dwelling inside of you. (Romans 8:9) Paul continues, “even we (christians) ourselves groan within ourselves waiting” (waiting for what) Paul says the adoption. What adoption is this? It is the redemption of our body. So this second phase of adoption will then be manifested by the redemption of the body. Now we are clearly aware that the atonement of Christ has already purchased the second phase of adoption as well as the first phase, however, the human body must wait to be changed (it’s adoption) into immortality to receive all benefits. Scriptures verify this straight through. Clearer version of Romans 8:23, “Even we (Christians) groan inwardly as we eagerly wait our full adoption as sons,” the redemption of our body which is to be the next thing or second phase of ADOPTION.
Now it is clear why Paul repeatedly spoke of the word ADOPTION. He was distinguishing between the two phases of adoption of Spirit and body in this great relationship in ADOPTION. Already we have tried to bring out ADOPTION from the natural standpoint using a poor orphan child , bringing him into a new family relation, giving him the family name in order to become a legal heir to all the family’s possession. In a natural adoption we showed how the child could never receive the life or spirit of the family in the sense that God recognizes us. As vagabond orphans having no home, unaware who our father really was, our natures were not to serve the true and living God, only the god of this world. Seeing us in this pitiful fallen state God in His love and mercy had compassion upon us and chose to adopt us into His family. Yes, He give us of His spirit which was none other than the spirit of adoption (spirit of sonship or consciousness of adopted sons states other translations). Romans 8:15, completes phase one of our legal, spiritual adoption into the heavenly family (waiting for the redemption of the body, phase two, fulfilling then the complete translation of redemption, the full adoption or full sonship, (Colossians 1:12-14).
Romans 8:23, is going to show where this first state of receiving the spirit of adoption leads us. According to scripture, at some time or other our adoption must take on a second phase in response to our relationship to our heavenly father, causing us to become full-fledged manifested sons of God. Paul stated back in verse 22, the whole creation was groaning and travailing (as in child birth) together until now. Oh, how much creation has groaned also in the past 1900 years waiting for something to help them! Every creature in this entire creation sighs, moans and throbs with pain, because somehow it is fully aware something has happened causing it to live and exist under such conditions. Always bear this in mind, outside the return of the Lord Jesus to this earth is accomplish all that the thousand years reign is designated in God’s mind to produce and accomplish, there is absolutely no hope for the animal kingdom to be rescued out of its condition. There is no hope for this world politically, militarily, economically or any other way that man can do to change the course brought on by the effects of that curse. Absolutely no hope can be offered outside the Lord Jesus returning to this earth to set up a kingdom which will set in motion and fulfill all that this revelation of the manifestation of the sons of God is designated to accomplish.
We are aware of the various teachings coming down through the Twentieth Century concerning what this manifestation of the sons of God is. Some even heavily stress the 144,000 in Revelations 7 and 14 is that over-coming group taken out of the church who shall be those manifested sons of God, that not only shows ignorance to the truth, and that they are unable to distinguish between Jews and Gentiles, but also shows you how easily scriptures can be twisted to teach such perversions of the world. Paul, the apostle in Romans, is showing that true church of the living God in operation and it is not the 144,000. Here Paul shows forth the true purpose of the manifested body of the sons of God. (Romans 8:22-23)
Paul alone appears to be the master teacher concerning this truth on ADOPTION, so let us turn over to another epistle of his and receive a further insight into ADOPTION, (Galatians 4:1). “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all.” Here Paul shows how the adopted children of this age of grace will in no wise differ from the servant type people until something happens. What? The children of Israel were under the law of bondage, yet by the law they also were children of God. However, they were treated or looked upon as a servant people (poorer in relation to God than the children of God who were heirs of this grace dispensation and its inheritance; poorer only in the sense they would not obtain or be crowned with the authority that shall be invested in the sons of this grace age.) Christians of this dispensation under the great plan of redemption shall be far richer once they do come into their inheritance. However, as long as they remain simply adopted children and not full manifested sons of God they are no different from that of the servant.
Children under this grace dispensation have been chosen to fulfill the highest calling of God in Christ Jesus which any person during any age could ever attain. This people of the grace age will be found worthy to be wed to the Lord Jesus becoming His wife or helpmate. So, when inheritance time comes the grace age Christians will differ considerably from those within the law age or servants in the fact these under grace shall be manifested sons of God. Paul is saying, regardless of which age they will be found in those who measured up to His requirements for that age are all His children, however none shall be children in the same sense of authority as invested in His children of this age of grace. These one day shall be manifested sons. That day, as already stated, shall be the thousand year reign. Verse 2, “But is under tutors and governors (children of the law era), until the time appointed of the father.” See, all that Old Testament ritual served as types and shadows (Hebrews 10:1). “Even as we (referring to himself along with other Israelites) when we were children, were in bondage to the elements of the world (Romans 8:15) (meaning the law) but when the fullness of time had come God sent forth his sons made of a woman, made under the law (subject to the law) to redeem them that were under the law that we in this age of Grace might receive the adoption of sons” MIGHT RECEIVE WHAT? THE ADOPTION OF SONS, AMEN!! (Galatians 4:5)
So we can easily see this adoption is going to lead the children of the grace age into a far superior position than could have ever been thought possible. No wonder Paul was so impressed in I Corinthians 2:9 to write, “For eye hath not seen or ear hath not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man (during any age) the wonderful things that God has prepared for them that love him.” (Especially for Grace Age Saints) And again thundering with joy, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present world (that which we now endure) are nothing to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us” (shall burst upon us), or as still another translation read, Bear no comparison with the splendor as yet unrevealed which is in store for us. WHEN? In that hour when God’s little adopted family has fully taken on their second phase of adopted grace relationship and in the millennium shall be placed on display. “And because ye are sons God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying Abba, Father,” (Galatians 4:6-7)
We spoke earlier of the two great events in the sons of God earthly experience which bring about their manifestation in the millennium. Let us also look into the two special great events in the life of He who came to be the example (I Peter 2:21). As has previously been stated there were two moments or highlights even in the earthly life of Christ, the only begotten Son, similar to these of the adopted Sons. Both times being when the father, the Great Eternal Spirit, spoke in behalf of His favorite, the Son, that human vessel fulfilling the sonship office, which certainly deserves more of our attention. Once in the Jordan River being baptized by John where He is ready as the son of God to be manifested to Israel. There He was ready to step into the office work as prophet, which would later lead to the sacrificial atonement work of Himself being the lamb of God. At the river Jordan the voice spoke and said, THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED. Some translations render, IN WHOM I AM PLEASED TO DWELL IN. What did the statement actually mean, seeing He had some 30 years before been born the son of God through the virgin Mary of Nazareth to fulfill Galatians 4:4?
Here, Beloved, Christ is called upon to do a specific job as the Son of God. (1) He was anointed of the Holy Ghost and went about doing good. (2) He did nothing except what the father showed him. (3) The scripture says that He was made perfect through the things which He suffered. (4) Christ was tempted and tried in every wise as you and I yet He knew no sin, and through it all He walked as much like man as any man could possibly walk. What was it? He was the son of God put on public display as an example showing how God wants His adopted children to walk and live on earth. First, in order for Christ to be that example in flesh He must know what you and I face and encounter, so bravely facing it He overcame that He might become the first overcomer to be the victorious one, and because He only did what the Spirit (Father) showed him, it greatly pleased the Father. During all his 3½ years of ministry He continually pleased the Father. Here was the one He could place His attributes in. Remember, when you are adopted into the family of God you too get anointed with the Holy Ghost. That Holy Ghost will teach and guide you; He will instruct and illuminate you. Oh, how much is left up to us as to what kind of a son we are going to be! Many people receive the Holy Ghost; they get saved then sit down and never learn what it is to be a real Christian or really live a life of example ship! So much of the time their speech is much like it was before. Their temper remains about the same as before. Could we say the Father would be pleased to dwell in that kind of vessel?
Again we notice another time in Christ’s life something happened. There came a day when Jesus was speaking to a multitude and said, “Verily I say unto you there are some of you here that will not see death until you have seen the Son of Man coming in the power and the glory of his fathers kingdom.” About a week later He, with Peter, James and John, went up into a mountain and there the scripture says he was transfigured before their eyes, representing the second phase of our adoption. WHAT WAS HAPPENING? The great Eternal Spirit was shrouding Him with His millennium glory, with majesty, with His honor in the presence of these three disciples to be later testified, allowing them to see Him how He will look once He returns in the millennium as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Certainly that was not the way He looked while upon earth in His prophet office, but this is the way He will look once He comes in Revelation 19 to fulfill the great kingship of the Great Eternal Father.
Notice Matthew 17:2, “his face did shine as the noonday sun and his raiment was white as the light.” Following this great spectacular sight of millennium glory preview the three heard a voice saying, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.” (Matthew 17:5) What is the meaning of this vision? It showed that there had been a mighty delegation of authority invested in Him because now the Spirit is leading Him to Calvary where He is to die and pay the great sin debt. Scripture teaches, beloved, that Jesus saw the cross coming up long before it actually happened. “For the joy that was set before him (oh, yes, that is the beautiful part of it) he could see that joy which lay beyond the cross.” He could see His bride (helpmeet) which one day would be given to Him, whom He would purchase through His suffering and death. (Ephesians 5:25-27) Possibly it might not have been so encouraging could He not have seen the great kingly authority given to Him to set here one day upon this earth to rule and reign with his helpmeet to restore righteousness and peace to the earth in order to fulfill all that Paul, by revelation, saw in Romans 8:22-23, when the whole creation which groaneth and travaileth in pain, would be redeemed by the manifested sons of God.
Understand this statement, NO BODY, ABSOLUTELY NOBODY is going to redeem this mess, changing things to make it a better world in which to live, getting things ready for Christ’s return. THAT IS ABSURD! Christ and His wife (manifested sons) will do that themselves and He doesn’t need any outside help. Some think and teach that a great endtime revival is going to bring about the manifestation of the sons of God and accomplish this. FORGET IT! It will never happen in this age! Men shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived, Christ and His glorified Bride will return to earth to accomplish this task for which all creation is waiting. He took upon Himself the sufferings of the cross despising the shame which He could also see, He could see the pain, the agony of it all, but brother He looked beyond the cross, beyond the tomb, beyond hell, He looked far beyond all of that and saw the day His little wife would be given to Him. He could see the day the kingdoms of this earth would be given to Him. There was his joy set before him. (Hebrews 12:2) Remember, immediately upon being baptized by John, the voice having declared Him as His beloved son in whom He was well pleased, Christ was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where He endured heavy bombardment of the evil forces while fasting for forty days, during which time Satan was permitted to tempt the very Son of God, the flesh part, tempted Him on every basis of what He was going to fulfill. (Hebrews 2:18) Satan, knowing the flesh was hungry said, if you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Christ on earth was a miracle worker, wasn’t He? Christ was going to take the power of God and transfer many things, was He not? Not for Himself, but for lost undone humanity who had been trapped by the fall. Satan was allowed to tempt Him on everything He was going to fulfill in scripture. The devil said, if you be the Son of God do this. That is much the same manner Satan gets hold of us sometimes, we are a child of God, we have that spirit of adoption, the Holy Ghost; we know we have been given the power of God yet, often times we are just like little babies trying to walk in the Spirit of God. We should realize if God permitted Satan to tempt and try us. If God permitted His own son to be tempted forty days in the wilderness, don’t you think for a moment Satan is not going to be allowed to test you to see whether you are sure you are a son of God or not. If thou be the Son of God do such and such. Scripture says God tries every son, none are exempted. Here was the Son of God who was ordained for redemption and you are a product of what He became.
Coming back now to our second phase of redemption or adoption which transpires only as our corrupt bodies receive their change. Paul’s revelation showed us “the dead in Christ shall rise first”, therefore, their adoption of the body appears before the living bride’s awaiting rapture. It matters not how close to that hour we come, even to the point of reaching out and touching it, it will be impossible to touch that second phase of adoption until after the dead in Christ comes forth and have received theirs, that is the order. (I Thessalonians 4:16-17) Let’s get this straight, those resurrected dead in Christ, though they come forth first putting on bodily immortality (incorruption), ready at last to become manifested sons of God, they are not going to run off and leave us. No Sir, the dead in Christ shall rise, we do know once this happens some time later (we know not just when) (Matthew 27:52-53) in a moment in the twinkling of an eye we shall be changed. When those dead rise we know it is at hand. I said if it was possible that we can get so close that we can touch, it can’t occur until the dead ones first rise. Therefore, that kills the theory a great revival will produce these manifested sons of God, only the resurrection and the catching away of the living bride (rapture) shall accomplish this! Paul said their bodies were sown in corruption but will be raised in incorruption. (I Corinthians 15:42-57)
So this body we walk in, if we remain alive, altogether we shall touch the second phase up to that very ordained moment. The same shall be said of us, this was sown in mortality, it will be reaped in immortality. WHEN? One here and one there? NO SIR! All at the same moment at the twinkling of an eye! This living bride’s body will be changed. Immediately the living touch the second phase of adoption together. It was not a gradual process! It was not that some of the living touch that place before others. Together we will touch it because now the redemption or adoption of the body has received its full atoned benefit. Once that body of the living redeemed has been changed we shall be gathered together, both the living and the dead, in the air and as His bride we shall be presented unto Him who is our all in all to be wed, therefore, becoming His helpmeet for the millennium.
In connection with this, Ephesians 1:5 reveals this was all planned in the mind of God long before the world ever began. (Romans 8:29-30) Always remember if we who have started in the revelation of His Word remain faithful and true unto Him, and are fortunate enough to be in that high bride calling (Philippians 3:13-14) to be manifested sons of God, and help lift that terrible curse placed on creation during the millennium it will only be because you were already in the mind of God before ever there was a star, moon or anything else. We were in His thoughts, He had predestinated us unto Himself in the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ Himself, and to the good pleasure of His own will. Note, He did all this all by Himself (Ephesians 1:11). He never asked help from some second or third person asking them what they thought about it. There are some things He just does to the good pleasure of His will.
Some people ask, did He know what Adam and Eve were going to do? He certainly did, and then some will go so far as to say well, why did He make us then? That is none of our business. God does a few things according to His own good pleasure, therefore, in Romans Paul asked the question, “shall he that is formed saw unto he that formed him, why hast thou made me thus?” After all if He loved me enough to take my place, the just dying for the unjust, the least I can do is give myself completely to Him. Beloved, the whole thing boils down to this, that God might have a family of adopted children born of Eternal Life (His life, life as was originally planned in the garden before the guidance of the tree of knowledge was sought and children were born in death) who will love Him out of pure love and devotion to Him for something that He has done for them. He chose His adopted children in Christ before the foundation of the world that we might be the adopted sons of His. Paul writing unto those of the first-fruits said in Ephesians 1:13-14, “In whom ye trusted after you heard the word of truth (means the good news of salvation), in whom also after ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Sprit of Promise.” Then over in Ephesians 4:30, he told how long they were sealed, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” However, according to some evangelical teachings you are only sealed from revival to revival, from church meeting to church meeting, that is like saying a baby lives only from meal to meal. My goodness, I would hate to think as I approached the dinner table that my children were on the verge of collapsing and expiring because they only existed from meal to meal! Granted, if they don’t get some food once in a while along the way they would cease to exist, however, concerning the inner man the Bible says the seal of the Holy Ghost is something placed in us to give us an assurance that we are His and He is ours.
Notice, “ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14) Williams translations says the holy Spirit is “the first installment of our inheritance.” Recall, adoption takes place under two installments or two phases (spirit and body). Bear in mind, in reality, complete adoption of sons of God does not occur until Phase Two is brought into effect, redemption of the body. True, we were fully purchased at Calvary and we received the spirit of adoption immediately, which was our seal God placed on us to show His ownership. Giving us of His Spirit was at this time the first initial down payment placed upon us which was sufficient to hold everything until the day of redemption, Ephesians 4:30, or the day He picks up His purchase, when at that time we would be changed, bodies redeemed. This down payment showing already purchased ownership was to let Satan know he had no claim on us, but I am thankful in reality we were not placed on lay-a-way until second phase or second payment transaction was completed. At that time we will not have to depend merely upon having the spirit as the earnest or down payment on our inheritance to show ownership, we until then be like Him. (I John 3:2)
With the transaction of adoption now completed we are ready to receive our inheritance. Paul shows we receive the Holy Ghost now even though the second phase of adoption is not yet complete, although in God’s mind it certainly is. (See Romans 8:29-30) The Spirit was only the down payment on our adoption to become manifested Sons of God. The Spirit is sufficient until that day of redemption when He fully completes our adoption (resurrection or rapture). Someday this Spirit on the inside of us is going to lead us unto the next blessing wherein is the final transaction in reality. There the redemption of the purchased possession, which is the body, goes into effect as the millennium witnesses the manifestation of the full-fledged sons of God in action. Beloved, we do not mean to imply that through the grace age we have not been sons of God, we certainly have, Romans 8:14. But, only adopted sons in the first phase waiting for the final transaction of phase two where, at the translation, we shall become manifested sons of God.
Note carefully, turning to Christ in this grace age has merely placed us in the mystical body of Christ, but at the resurrection or rapture it will no longer be in the mystical body, but in the literal kingdom itself, having not only His Spirit but possessing also a glorified body likened unto His resurrected body that He shall be in for the kingdom office, kingship, where also these full-fledged adopted manifested sons of God shall appear reigning with Him in full authority, fulfilling the scripture in Revelations 5:10, 1:6, “for he has made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth.”
Once we can see what this adoption and its effectiveness is in its second phase and seeing how it becomes applicable only when this body is changed into the glorious image of the body of Christ Himself, then and only then could any person ever have enough power to step out and say to the animal kingdom, PEACE. Time has come for animals to lie down and relax because there is no more adversary present to keep the animal kingdom as it is. Entering into revelation one is better able to see what this adoption really brings one into. While it is true, John throughout Revelations never once uses the term adoption, nevertheless, Christ Himself made John, that aged Apostle, some wonderful promises which deal with overcoming believers and their position after the resurrection or catching away of the living. Revelation 2:26-29 speaks of the Thyatira Church, the church which portrayed the church during the Dark Ages. If Christ chose to speak this promise to the people of a church which was a local church who would represent and set the pattern of what the people of God would be in the Dark Ages, then how much more should we not realize what He would do for us in this hour!
Thyatira Church is the church representing the Dark Ages, Revelation 2:26-29. Christ had just finished rebuking the church for allowing the prophetess Jezebel to influence that era, but unto the over-comers of that period he said, (26) “And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.” WHO WILL RULE? THE OVER-COMER!! And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. Observe please this reward was not spoken of in the first, second or third ages, only in the 4th age. “To him will I give power over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.” According to Revelations 19, God will rule the nations with a rod of iron. Why does He promise this to the over-comer under the fourth age? BECAUSE THE OVER-COMER WILL BE A PART IN THE BRIDE OF CHRIST! Recall, that bride will be made up of every over-comer throughout all seven church ages and that over-comer is a son of God who was adopted into the family of God, and when his body is changed into the glorious image of Christ’s body at the second phase of adoption, he will then be a manifested son of God. His glorified body proves that he made the journey successfully and he shall rule them (nations) with a rod of iron and as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; as even I (personal) received of my Father. Christ received of the Great Eternal Spirit Father the authority to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, didn’t He? Therefore, He is actually saying to him that overcometh, I will share this kingly authority with him because he is one of the sons of God! “And I will give him the morning star and he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the churches.” Already Christ has told the over-comer of the dark ages He would give him power over the nations, a promise that could only be demonstrated as Christ actually becomes King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Furthermore, notice carefully, our promise He gives to us of this Laodicean Age. “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.” (Revelation 3:21) See how both promises dovetail? To the man in the Dark Ages who overcomes I will give power over the nations. To have power over the nations he is going to have to be delegated with that authority, because Christ alone will rule the nations with a rod of iron but here His over-comer, which is part of God’s adopted sonship, is placed in his kingdom. In Matthew 17, we saw what Christ looked like as He presented a preview of millennium glory before those three disciples and John, one of these disciples, said we would be like Him (I John 3:2). Soon after Jesus died and arose from the dead He announced “all power and authority in heaven and earth is given unto me.” (Matthew 28:18) He could not immediately take up His kingly (authority) crown and build the kingship, because first He was to fulfill His high priest office work interceding for those on earth during seven stages of His grace age, who would become his bride and reign with him as manifested sons with all power and glory for one thousand years in glorified bodies likened unto His, (Matthew 17:2, I John 3:2). Christ was the first over-comer, overcoming hell, death and the grave, furthermore, He overcame every temptation to become the captain of our salvation, Hebrews 5:5-10, saying Come and follow me. So, here in Revelation 2:26-28, Revelation 3:21, we find this over-comer saying to him that overcometh, I will give power over the nations. Remember, that only comes under the kingly rule and to the ones of us in this hour He says, “to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.” Naturally, everyone is not going to run over somewhere and actually sit down in a single throne, that is figurative meaning his throne is the position of kingly authority, if we are faithful to him He will lift us up and place us in His kingly authority likewise, so actually the promise to the Dark Ages is the promise to this one too. They are one and the self-same. It portrays the same type of placing, therefore, ADOPTION in the second phase is when God takes His children, gives them a glorified body and then reveals them in creation. There they are, the kings and priests for the millennium age, and Christ will come and rule the nations for one thousand years.
We see the present world in all its turmoil, in all its political confusion when every man is absolutely raking his brain for an answer of today’s pressing problems, beloved, there is one outlet and one hope, THAT HOPE IS CHRIST. Please do not think me a fanatic when I say there isn’t one thing that the little bride of Christ at this time can do to change the present status of world conditions. The only thing you can do is to get yourself lined up with this word. Robe and clothe yourself in His revelation and prepare to meet Him, because this political situation will only continue to worsen. The military situation will continue to worsen until the last land war, Armageddon, will be fought. No doubt the world has witnessed the last types of wars that will ever be fought with the sole purpose of winning. Everything is a rotten mess, men are put out to be shot down and butchered, because a group of crooked politicians are back somewhere dictating the out-come, either for money or for political gain. God has the whole thing in His hand, He is maneuvering it, He is shaping it just the way He wants, and when I say this do not think that I am saying for the christians to sit down and not be interested in the human soul, that is not what I said at all. No sir, but you are not going to change the course of things in this world. You might be successful in helping to change the course of an individual’s live, but you will never change the course of this world, which is heading straight on course and shall collide with God’s judgement, because the Gentiles rejected His plan of adoption. The moment you put your hand out to change the course of this world it may change the course of your destination; it may prove whether you will make it or not, so I am saying this, let us get our self in the word of God. Let us find out what His will is and find out how to walk and live like a Christian, because brother and sister, He is coming for a people that is made like Him. I am interested in human beings, don’t ever get me wrong, but I realize so many times people can get so occupied, they can get so busy they absolutely end up trying to take it out of God’s hands altogether and run it themselves.
I have heard so many say, God wants us to be co-workers. That is true, providing we listen to Him once in a while, but have you ever noticed some people, once God becomes a co-worker he sits in a corner and they try running it. No, Jesus the Son of God did nothing except what the father showed Him! He had no program of His own. He said, I do nothing in myself. That is why, beloved, some time He could heal a multitude then other times He would go through a multitude and only touch one. He was solely an individual who wanted the will of the father done. That is the quality God is looking and searching for in us. If Jesus were to step forth in this generation and do as He did over 1900 years ago people would declare, He is a respecter of persons. Why, I would do it this way some would say. Sure the people would do it that way because they are not God. God says as the heavens are high above the earth so are my ways above your ways. (Isaiah 55:8-9) Well, like everyone else I too am looking for the manifestations of the sons of God, but I know when that time arrives they will be of a proper age, and there will be a condition and state that the sons of God will be in which will coincide perfectly and it will fit this world’s needs.
Beloved, we are journeying toward the end. Every kind of teaching will arise and some of them will sound good and some will have just enough human imagination tied in with them to take a human mind and completely mislead it.