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The Mighty Angel In Revelation 10:1
We have been looking at the subject: From Malachi to Rapture, and we’ve had quite some subtopics under this subject. This morning, we are considering another subtopic: The Mighty Angel in Revelation 10:1. What is His Position, when will He appear, and what is His purpose of appearance?
Text: Revelation 10:1-6, Daniel 10:13, Luke 1:19, Judges 13:21-22, Revelation 1:13-17, Daniel 12:7, Revelation 19:18, Revelation 6:15, 2Thessalonains 1:7, Luke 1:52, 2Kings 5:1, Judges 3:17, Revelation 6:9-11, Revelation 6:12.
Angel means Messenger, and we have two kinds of angels -the Cherubim and the Seraphim. However, God Himself do appear as an Angel. When the glad tiding of the birthing of a baby came to Manoah and his wife, the bible records that it was the angel of the Lord, and when Manoah realized this, he exclaimed that they have seen God. Thus, with this, and many other scriptures, we know that God use to manifest Himself as an Angel.
21 But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
The Description
Just like God manifested Himself in the body of Jesus Christ, and in him dwell the fullness of the Godhead. Jesus was not born God but was made both Lord and Christ. When He was to appear to Moses, He appeared as a Pillar of Fire, He appeared to the three Hebrews and came as the fourth man in the fire. God at sundry times and in divers manner have appeared to our fathers in various ways. The angel in Revelation 10:1 is Jesus Christ in angelic form. Let’s look at His description in Revelation 1:13,
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Of course, His mandate and purpose in Revelation 1:13 is different from Revelation 10:1, but we see the similarity in their description.
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
In the book of Daniel, we see Daniel asked a question from the Angel that appeared to Him, and a reply was given to him precisely
6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
Long after Daniel, in the Revelation, a reply came to John in a different way:
And he swore by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer,
If we look closely, we will also see the similarity in the description of this angel, and the matter was about the three and half years of the one week left for the Jews. In the first three and half years of the one week, God has programmed that He will send them messengers in the spirit of Moses and Elijah who would preach and seal the servants of God, and the next three and half years is for the Great Tribulation. In Daniel, the precise time was given to Daniel -time, times, and half; but in Revelation, He says, there should be time no longer. Amen.
More so, the word “mighty” was used in His description, and this does not mean that He was huge. It rather speaks of His position -who He is. He is Jesus Christ; He occupies a greater position than any and every angel -the head of principalities and powers. There is a way the Bible describe huge people or referring to their size. The bible would call them giants or fat. We see this in Judges 3:17, 2Samuel 21:20.
17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.
20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
Gideon was called a mighty man of valor, not because he was huge. We have mighty angels, mighty men, who are called mighty because of the position they occupied and who they are.
Everything about this Mighty Angel stand for something, and we cannot say that there’s nothing about Him that we don’t need. Everything has meaning and we need them all. The book of Revelation is a book of symbol, written in codes, and we can only decode them by the Spirit of the Lord.
The Little Book
2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
This Mighty Angel -Jesus Christ was seen with a little book. There is an explanation that this book was small because the one who held it was huge. This is not true. The book is little because it is the seventh seal. The Bible scripted the seven seals, but this little book is not the seven seals, but the seventh. It is not the size of this Mighty Angel that rendered the book little.
When John was commanded to come up hither, he was permitted to see Christ breaking each seals up to the sixth. The first four seals deal with the four horses -the strategies upon which the devil attack and antagonize the word of God in the seven church ages. The fifth seal deals with the souls under the altar -the Jews that were killed for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
These souls crying were killed in the days of Hitler when the Jews were massacred because of their faith. They were given white robes which stands for salvation. At their seeking of vengeance, they were told to rest a little until their fellow brethren and servants who would be killed as they were would be fulfilled. These are the foolish virgins who, at their hearing of God’s word refused to be converted, despite their believing. They did not take the full light of God available to them to work out their salvation and make their election sure.
Friends, it’s not an easy road, and sacrifices demand that you feel its impact, however, if it is for your soul, it is worth doing, because the sufferings of this present times are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in the overcomers, but you must overcome, channel your diligence to that angle. Because, if in the time of grace, you are unable to overcome, how do you think you will when persecution like never before comes? Jesus Christ gave a parable of ten virgins; parts were wise, and others were foolish. Those in the foolish category are the ones who would be killed like these souls crying.
The word of God must have effect in your life, that is the demand of the word of God. No one is asking you not to go to school, or enjoy all that life presents to you, but in all you do, live Christ. Let the word of God be a lamb to your feet and a light to your path. If grace is presented to you, then you should make it to paradise through grace -otherwise, you are a foolish virgin. Pay the price now.
The overcomers of the ages would be clothed in fine linen, while the foolish who would pay with their blood because of their foolishness would be given a white robe -they sure will not be in the same position, it’s your choice to make.
The book of Revelation as said earlier is in symbols, thus, their fulfillment is not in accordance with the verses as they are arranged. Considering this, six seals were broken out of the seven, and when this Mighty Angel came up on scene with this little seal, it then shows that the seventh seal is broken.
At the sounding of the Mighty Angel, seven thunders uttered their voices. The seven thunders ministry is not for the dead saints, but those that would be alive. Also, what the seven thunders uttered wasn’t written in the Bible, it is the work of the Spirit in the life of the living bride that would bring about their transformation. Everything you need to know about your salvation and perfection would be preached from the Bible, except the seven thunders.
The sounding of this Mighty Angel would take place in the heavenly realm, and the effect of this Voice would produce seven thunders on earth that would bring transformation. We would then realize from here that Revelation 10 would fulfill first before Revelation 6 and 7.
God can only send the seven thunders to the living saints because the fivefold ministry has wrought the perfecting work of grace in the life of the saints. The unity of the saints would consummate at the seven thunders.
2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
Setting His right feet upon the sea and His left upon the earth tells us that He is the Lord of the earth -coming to claim His property. The earth is the Lord’s and all that dwell therein. This tells us more that this Mighty Angel is the Lord Jesus Christ.
We will continue from this in our next episode. Shalom in the name of Jesus Christ.
WHAT IS THE HOPE OF OUR CALLING?
There is no one at a course or running a race that does not have expectations -there has to be a purpose that prompted you, and there has to be a motivation that keeps you going. From the spiritual perspective, you need to have the revelation of your walk with God to run this race effectively and reach the goal at the end. All we want to do in this subject is answer the question, why? Why are we Christians, why are we going to heaven, why are we engaging in all spiritual exercises, what is the hope of our calling? Grasping this would help you make your calling and election sure, then, help you answer anyone who asks you about the hope you have in Christ. In fact, without this understanding, there’s no guarantee for your success in this Christian race. So, let me implore you to hear by the Spirit and the Word as you read through.
The Pre-Historic World
Before the beginning of recreation, there existed a pre-historic world. God, the Eternal Spirit was Elohim -existing all alone and by Himself. He, not being God (because there was no one to worship Him) decided to create this world that is without a detailed record. Genesis 1:1 only gave us an understanding that “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. But we understand by the Spirit of the Word through other scriptures that it was the world of angels, who were in a garden of precious stones, with great and gigantic animals -the dinosaurs and many more. This world (which spanned eons of years was headed by Lucifer). The Bible gave us the description of this Archangel in Ezekiel 28:11-14
Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
There is no other angel in the Bible that his adornment and makeup were spoken about, in fact, we could say Lucifer was a special angel. God made him thus.
For Elohim to become God, He had to create those who would worship Him, and that made Him create the pre-historic world -for He was all alone in eternity. Thus, if the angels and every creature that had the makeup to worship were to fulfill their purpose, then, worship was all God was demanding from them. But of course, worship goes beyond singing. Every being in its rightful purpose of creature worships -this means that when you maintain your position and work according to how the Creator made you, you worship Him. Worship occurs when the fishes remain swimming in the seas and not trying to live like birds, flying. Worship takes place when the fowls of the air are flying according to their formation and not trying to swim like the creatures of the water bodies. God has got His laws by which everything is created, and operating accordingly depicts your obedience to these laws in place, hence, worship. Lucifer had his position, every other angel had their position, the animals had their position, and more so, God had His position. Perverting and thwarting these eternal patterns counter worship. Isaiah made an exclamation about this great angel and reveal to us what he conceived in his heart against the purpose of God. Isaiah 14:12-14.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weakens the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Was his beauty deceiving him or what was he trying to do? Whatever it is, pride and ambition rose up in him and he began to imagine evil. Evil? Where did he get that from? He was a messenger of God, delivering God’s message to other angels, and carrying out His plans on the earth -their Eden. Where did he learn evil from? We can say today when we fall into certain temptations that the devil deceived us, but who deceived Lucifer? Take note that this angel was perfect in creation, and the name Lucifer means “light bearer”. He was not the Light but was bearing that Light -representing God to other angels, as he receives from God. So, where did he learn evil from?
If you agree that there is no other being that co-existed with the Eternal Spirit in eternity and that HE(God) is the Creator of everything including Lucifer who later became Satan, then, you are one way closer to understanding the above bone of contention.
Who hath wrought and done it,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am he. Isaiah 41:4
Fear ye not, neither be afraid:
have not I told thee from that time,
and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses.
Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. Isaiah 44:8
The Two Laws
It would be pleasant to say here that in eternity, what existed with God was His mind (thoughts), which had not yet been spoken out. LOGOS is an expression of the thought of God. This then means that as long as His thoughts had not been expressed while of course in eternity, we don’t have LOGOS -because it was the expression of those thoughts that brought the LOGOS.
Thus, in the thoughts of God, there were two fundamental laws that existed therein: the LAW OF LIFE and the LAW OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. Death doesn’t exist in God, because He is eternal, but there was a second law that could breed death, and that was why God had to step into time, to do away with this second law, such that He would only be known by just the law of life. So, He had an intention. In Genesis, God told Adam, there are two trees (which spiritually connotes LAWS), he was commanded to eat of the tree of LIFE, and not to meddle with the knowledge of good and evil -for that will only produce death. If this law was in the garden, and all things came from God, then, this law existed in God’s mind from eternity. We could prove this by scriptures. Because He wanted to separate this knowledge from Himself -removing “self” from Himself (an exercise that every child of God is called to do), He manifested the WORD to destroy this. The fusion of good and evil produces death, thus God manifested the WORD (LOGOS, CHRIST) to separate LIGHT from DARKNESS, He could not deal with this in eternity, else, death would be eternal. So, He had to deal with it in time, and the last enemy that would be destroyed is death. How and where did evil come from? Isaiah 45:5-7
I am the Lord, and there is none else,
there is no God beside me:
I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west,
that there is none beside me.
I am the Lord, and there is none else.
I form the light, and create darkness:
I make peace, and create evil:
I the Lord do all these things.
If we believe this bible, then we can know that God in an attempt to do away with the knowledge of good and evil subjected this Archangel to vanity, because someone must inherit it. Evil was deposited in Lucifer and he began to pride himself even above God. We saw a case of God wanting to show Himself as a man of war and he hardened the heart of Pharaoh, just so He could have the opportunity to show how great He is in strength, God created an enemy for Himself. The ambition and pride of Lucifer were what killed him. He was perfect in all his ways until iniquity was found in him.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise, they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. Ezekiel 28:15-19
God created Lucifer and deposited in him the seed of good and evil, and when he carried it out, he became the devil (the doer of evil). He revolted against the authority of God and caused the war in heaven, having gotten to himself one-third of the angels in his rebellion. Revelation 12:7
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Realize that God didn’t take all the powers of Lucifer from him when he rebelled, he still had them. This tells you that no one can defeat the devil, he had known God, he was once His Archangel, bore the light, and he had his powers still. At some point, God told Daniel to be careful because the devil was wiser than him. the war that occurred was what rendered the then earth without form, darkness filling it and void; God had to freeze the earth because of the chaos that this angel had caused. All of these are not outside of God’s plan, nothing meets Him accidentally. He froze the world, then began recreation, this time to create man as the lord of it.
Let There Be Light
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:2-4
This chaotic assault was resolved by God at the entrance of His WORD. The entrance of HIS WORD gives LIGHT. God spoke illumination to that situation because He is the LORD, He must prevail. LET THERE BE LIGHT! That LIGHT was not the sunlight. It was the revelation of LOGOS spoken into recreation.
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossian 1:16-17
This is not Jesus. Jesus did not preexist before he was born to Mary. What had been with God, that is actually God-Revealed is Christ (WORD, LOGOS). Jesus became Christ after his baptism, He wasn’t born as Christ. Thus, this Light in Genesis 1:3 is the revelation of God -LOGOS (CHRIST -prevailing over every situation). God began to call forth the things He had created back into existence, but this time in smaller versions. He created man in His image and after His likeness and put him in his garden -the garden of vegetation (different from the garden of Lucifer which was a garden of precious stones). He made Adam the lord of the earth and made him realize these two laws existed because they exist likewise in the garden. The devil is spirit, and so is God; both spirits seek to be worshiped, depending on which law you operate. Because God made man, man should worship Him, definitely, the purpose that God had in Himself before time began must prevail eventually. He has written the script, and everything is just playing out the way He scripted them. However, the devil seeking attention would also not fold his arms and watch man serve God without no hindrance. So, he came likewise for man.
God Penetrating
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Genesis 2:18
The Bible is full of the devil’s miscalculations -when he thinks he’s destroying the plan of God, he’s actually helping in its fulfillment. God is intrinsically loaded with attributes and qualities that He loves to demonstrate. He is Healer, He is God, He is Provider, He is Redeemer, and many more. But God had a problem -Adam was perfect, he doesn’t need healing, he doesn’t need deliverance, and he was not a sinner so he doesn’t need a savior. How then will God fulfill His purpose?
God wants to have a family, cultured by His WORD so that they would worship Him acceptably. But Adam was alone, perfect enough to block God from passing through time, fulfilling His mission before returning to eternity. So, God thought, it is not good for this man to be alone, let me make him a help meet. Then God put Adam to deep sleep (death), and made a woman out of him.
After a while, the devil came through the serpent. (Note that at the initial stage of the serpent, he wasn’t a reptile, it was after the fall that God caused him to be a reptile). The serpent was the being Satan could use to communicate his desires to humans. A subtle form of interrogation began, the devil craftily dislocating the word of God questioning the woman’s faith…has God said…?
The devil knows that God wants a pure family that would be just like Him (having no knowledge of good and evil, but life), thus trying to penetrate into the human race to destroy this purpose. The woman being deceived fell into transgression, the serpent beguiled her, and she gave in to him, committing fornication with him. That was the fruit they ate. After partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil which is a perverted knowledge, it birthed fornication between the woman and the serpent. Perhaps the devil won?
Sorrowfully, the woman came to Adam telling him what had happened, and to think that Adam was already thinking of redemption for his wife as she was speaking is such an outstanding quality. He willingly fell for the woman so that he could redeem her. Adam was sure that God would not cast him out. Had he not fallen with his wife, the woman would not be redeemed. The fall of Adam made him lose the title deed God gave to him. He lost the authority and the devil became the prince of this world. A contrary seed had been sown that would mature over time.
Interestingly, the devil still didn’t seem to win, God is still the LORD. It was all His plan. He made a promise right in that phenomenon;
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
This scripture should tell you that the serpent had a seed and the woman had a seed who are both humans. When Cain and Abel came on the scene, while there was no precedence of killing, you should wonder who told Cain that someone can die. The seed of perverted knowledge that had been sown would produce death eventually. Cain rose up one day and killed his brother. Cain was of that wicked one. The spiritual seed of the woman is Jesus Christ, through whom the restitution of all things would come through. Through the fall of man, God could come through and demonstrate His attributes to man, He could reveal Himself as the healer, redeemer, savior, helper, and all. While the devil thought he was fighting the hope of God, he was rather playing a vital role.
Because of Jesus, we have the right and power to come against Satan and all his works. For without the blood, there would be no flesh saved into that kingdom.
Our Hope
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
God is perfected in three -the first Eden of Lucifer faded off after he fell and became the devil. He came again for the second Eden and he is the prince of this world, but God always commands light to shine out of the darkness. The seed of the woman who is Jesus Christ came about two thousand years ago, the second Adam with a more excellent sacrifice -which had the power to pay for our ransom and purchase us from the ruling system of darkness. With His blood, He reconciled us to God, and gave us the earnest of our salvation -even the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to the end that we can become partakers of His divine nature, and joint heirs with Him in the regeneration of all things.
Friends, another Eden is coming, where Jesus would be the lord of sin, there is no sin that can operate there, and nothing unclean would enter, it is reserved for righteousness, and for the righteous. That is when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. This is the intent of God -to have abundant life and perfectly do away with anything that offends (the knowledge of good and evil), that is why He is preparing us for that kingdom. That is how hope, that if we can work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and make our election sure to overcome every spirit of our age, a place in Christ has been reserved for us.
He promised to come back for us, and the living saints at the culmination of the age are in expectation of the rapture. Christ is taking His bride up, to do a great physical and spiritual overhauling of this present world, and renew it for the kingdom to come.
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
What then? Knowing that nothing unclean will enter into that kingdom, we ought to do away with everything God did away with and embrace what He embraced. He manifested His only son to destroy the works of darkness so that we can be translated into His marvelous light. A glorious hope awaits all who take Jesus Christ as their Lord and King. For if we suffer with Him, we will reign with Him. It’s not a scam, we have not believed cunningly devised fables. God is harvesting by His Word those who would be the kingdom’s heirs.
When you have this revelation, then you will pass your time on earth as a pilgrim, and live in expectation of the better kingdom to come.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:1-4
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: Hebrews 12:28
Shalom
THE TARES, THE WHEAT AND THE CHAFF
Just like the psalmist professes in Psalms 119:105 he says – “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” the word here simply means revelation, it is the revelation of the word of God that will lighten up our path, when you don’t have the true revelation of the word of God you’ll walk in darkness, and this is what we see setting in into the message of the hour, we have people who lack the true revelation of the word of God propagate different false doctrines and that’s we who have this light should walk in the light and be sure we have believed the message right. If you do not believe right, you’ll believe anything brought to you as the message of the hour, and that is why we are looking into the subject The Tares, The Wheat, and The Chaff. How did they come by? And who are they? Who are to gather them respectively? – continue the read as we journey to answer these questions.
Text: Matthew 13:24, Matthew 22:2, Revelation 2:2, Acts 15:1, II Timothy 2:15 -19, Act 15:18, Jeremiah 23:29, Matthew 4:12, Ephesians 4:11, Acts 5:35, Jude 1:3-5
The 13 chapter of Matthew has 7 parables in it that described the kingdom of heaven, and the Prophet William Marion Branham typed it with the conditions of the seven church ages in this gentile dispensation, which I believe you know we are in the era of grace. critically looking into these parables, we’ll see that they match each dispensation exactly.
Division of the parables:
- Matthew 13:3 Parable 1
- Matthew 13:24 Parable 2
- Matthew 13:31 Parable 3
- Matthew 13:33 Parable 4
- Matthew 13:44 Parable 5
- Matthew 13:45 Parable 6
- Matthew 13:47 parable 7
The kingdom of heaven in this passage is not talking about paradise, rather it is talking about a period of time (Dispensation) here on earth, and Jesus is making us understand the 7 different conditions that will take place here on earth. Taking a review of the second condition in Matthew 13:24-30:
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
A good seed was sown to the land of the gentiles and this is as a result of the rejection of the gospel by the Jews, the Lord turned to the gentile world calling both the good and the bad by his word. This seed was sown in the first church age by the apostle Paul who was the first messenger to the gentiles. The devil who was after the church tried in the first age to sow tares but didn’t succeed until the second church age which we saw it described in Matthew 13:24. The question to ask next should be who are the good seed (Wheat)? Who are the tares? Who are the reapers? Matthew 13:38 gives the answers which we’ll be highlighting below:
- The good seed are the children of the kingdom sown by God
- The tares are the children of the wicked one sown by the devil
- The reapers of these seeds are the angels (Messengers)
Angels in this context are the messengers (Good and Bad) sent to these two different groups (The Wheat and the tares) to gather what they were ordained for before the foundation of the world – Where do you belong? Wheat or a tare? Are you able to differentiate an angel sent to gather the wheat and vice versa? – if God has sown his own seed and also the devil you’ll agree with me that both sources must have their own harvesters, you are either harvested by the messenger of God or the messenger of the devil, and you can’t be in between.
The first church age was the sowing time and the conditions of that age in terms of faith were the standard for the gentiles and that is why God didn’t allow the devil to creep in with his own seeds, they were fought out of the true Church of God (Act 15:1 – End) because they were people with revelation, they were people who had encounter God and can’t be driven by any kind of doctrine. Brethren until our belief is accompanied by an encounter and revelation we’ll not know the value of the faith you believe, it is not a new thing that people rise up with false doctrine we just have to stand for the truth if actually we have the revelation of the truth. Not until the death of the apostles the devil could not find his way to the church to sow his own seeds and that is why he had a chance for his mission in Matthew 13:25 – But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. Men in this context are the Apostolic fathers who laid the foundation of the faith which we hold on to now.
Now God who gave the dispensation of the gentile knew there was going to be mixed up at some point, and he allowed it because he had a purpose for the end time (The time of Harvest), nothing can catch God unaware, and that is where the devil missed it. God who allotted time to adopt the gentile had a well-structured plan of salvation that no man can alter, this is to encourage us that what God has planned for your life cannot be altered by any demon because he’s God overall (Amen). For a clearer understanding, the seven dispensations of the gentiles are further divided into 3 stages which are:
- The sowing time (The first Church Age)
- The growing time (The Second to Sixth Church Age)
- The Harvest time (The seventh Church Age
The growing time was a period where God was sending reformers to reveal a part of his revelation to his seeds as the wheat and tares grow together. This stage continued until the time of harvest when God will not patch things up, and brethren we are currently at the harvest time where God is gathering his wheat and the denominational churches are busy gathering the tares.
The 7th Parable (Matthew 13:47)
Jesus in the seventh parable was talking about a fisherman, comparing the kingdom of heaven to a fisherman who cast his net into the sea and caught different things, and minds you the sole pursuit of a fisherman is to catch only fishes. Very quickly let’s give a breakdown of the verses:
- The net in this context is a type of message given to Prophet William Marrion Branham in this last dispensation, which he threw out to the world and it caught different kinds of things (people with other belief systems, mindsets, motives, etc) and drew them to the shore for sorting.
The sorting process is purposeful to sieve the chaffs from the wheat by the faith (Revelation) of our Lord Jesus Christ. The chaffs here are those who are in the message of the hour, claiming to have seen the light of the Message, indeed they were caught out of the sea by the net, but they are not fish, the sole interest of the fisherman is good fishes. There is a reason why God sent his message in this last age and that reason is to gather his children into his barn and that is why if you are not part of the body of Christ you’ll find your way out of the barn of the lord, cos if indeed you came from God, you’ll surely end up with God.
This process of sorting is the toughest because it requires some rigorous hitting and smashing off the chaffs from the wheat, so it can be consumable, and this is what we are currently going through in the last age by the word of God. The word of God is a tool for smashing and hitting all kind of chaffs that entangles themselves among us, so we can be consumable. So, where you are standing after the been hit by the word of God determines who you are, probably you are a tare, wheat, or chaff, we have to belong somewhere.
So, Brethren if we claim to be wheat, I have a rhetorical question for you which I want you to answer as you read along – Are you growing? It’s your knowledge of God that can uphold you when the wind of doctrine blows at you. Let us know what God has rightly given us and rest upon it.
Shalom Brethren.
CRITICALLY LOOKING AT MALACHI 4:5,6
Previously, we’ve dealt with the subject, “From Malachi to Rapture”, and because this is the message by which God is restoring His own back to Himself, there’s a need for us to again, critically consider this subject. The essence is to know what has been freely given to us, enough to establish ourselves in it so that we will not be tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine. Several people are renouncing the faith this time, saying lots of things. We should, therefore, not be ignorant of the Devil’s devices.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1Corinthians 2:11-14
Of course, there are prophecies that must be fulfilled at this end time of which Malachi 4:6b is just one. Jesus told us about the end, Paul in his epistles spoke about some things, likewise John. People will deny the faith, perilous times will come (which is come already), and so on. But for us who have entered in with Christ to the Holy of Holies, we have our food -the pure revelation of Jesus Christ, fresh and duly in its season, we should not be troubled about the seemingly evil prophecies that are promised for our time, but rather do our diligence to make sure we go pass religion, to enter within the veil with our bridegroom. The blood of Jesus Christ was shed to bring perfect restoration, the fellowship that men under the Old Covenant could not enjoy; the blood is not there for you to just get cleansed, then return to filthiness, and then come cry again for the blood to avail for you -that’s the character of people who are at the outer court.
The temple of Moses has three sections: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy place.
Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. Hebrews 9:1-6
Respectively, these three sections stand for the process of salvation of a believer and the church as a body:
- The OUTER COURT for JUSTIFICATION
- The HOLY PLACE for SANCTIFICATION and
- The MOST HOLY PLACE for the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There is a veil that separates the Most Holy from the Holy Place, and it is to this end that Jesus shed His blood, so that by the grace that has been freely made available to us, we can diligently make our calling and election sure. The outer court (Justification) is the first stage of salvation where a person believes God after hearing the gospel of salvation. This is good but not complete, however, several people are not willing to take any step further from here, perhaps because they don’t know what has been freely given to them, or that’s the only gospel they have heard so far (this we will talk about soon). There is no covering at the outer court, thus the light anyone here operates by is the sunlight, which means when the sun goes off, he goes off. When Christ began His restoration work of His children out of the Jezebel system of Roman Catholic, this was the message He gave to Martin Luther – “THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH”. When he caught this revelation, he began to protest against the Roman Catholic system, and as many as God would help came out of her to embrace the word of God for that time. That was the first stage, but not the final.
The Holy Place has a covering, seven golden lampstands, and an altar of incense just before the veil. This is a process of sanctification for those who have been justified. At this stage, the word of God is the pure water that washes you, giving you a new spirit and preparing you for the Holy Spirit. This is also good, but not the final. John Wesley was made to discover this goodly and costly pearl, and he proclaimed the word – “Without Holiness, No Man Shall See God”. Christ was gradually taking His church from glory to glory. This also will not suffice, because real intimacy between the bride and her groom takes place in the secret room -within the veil. We cannot be desiring intimacy with Christ remaining in the Holy Place. Pentecost was the nature of the church Christ established at first, and at the very least, every true bride of Christ must be Pentecostal in nature.
The Most Holy place is the secret chamber of Christ where true beholding takes place -such beholding that transforms us into the very image we see, moving from glory to glory. The only light here is the Shekinah glory of God, feeding on the fresh manner that is renewed by the presence of the Lord in the Ark of Testimony. This is where the Bride delights to be, shut in with their Bridegroom. To achieve this, Christ sent His word which is our discussion today -the message of the seventh church-age messenger. This is the message that restores us back to the word of God. It is in the Most Holy that Christ fills His own with His Holy Spirit -this is what was freely given to us, and this should be the aim of every redeemed of the Lord. It is within this veil that we see such beauty that is incomparable.
The Three Sets of Churches
Because of the rigidity of men who would not follow the progressive revelation of God, the full work of salvation wasn’t wrought in many. They denominated on Justification and refused to grow, others denominated on Sanctification and refused to grow, so much that in this last age dispensation, we have three sets of churches: The Orthodox, the Pentecostal, and the Elected ones. The Orthodox denomination preaches the message of repentance, and they are good at it, this is the seed that Billy Graham sowed. Nothing is wrong with preaching repentance except that that is not the full gospel, it is the justification stage. We have the Methodists, Anglicans, and Baptists in this group who remain on the subject of repentance and would not grow to become a perfect building that Christ can indwell. (Not the people but the system).
The Pentecostal or the Evangelical are those who are satisfied with gifts, and the gospel of prosperity, healing, speaking in tongues, and so on. They are not bothered about the revelation of God’s word and doctrine. This is the seed that Oral Robert sowed, and we have them everywhere today. Friends, you cannot go by rapture feeding on a prosperity gospel, not even by a healing gospel. Jesus Christ is the word of God and you can only become partakers of His divine nature by His pure word. The devil can impersonate gifts, but he bows for the revelation of the word of God. Settling with this also is not maturity still. Here’s what the Bible says in Hebrews 6:1-2.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
There is a call to perfection that God is inviting us all to, and this is the position that the elects have embraced. This is the third group, they preach repentance, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and all the revelation of the word of God, undilutedly, thus becoming partakers of His divine nature. This is the seed that God used William Marrion Branham to sow, and the work of perfecting is still going on under the message of this seventh messenger.
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2Peter 1:3-4
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Ephesians 4:11-14.
It is in this Most Holy that God will meet with anyone who would go in the rapture. The ministry of the bride is to take people from the Holy place to the Most Holy. That was the instruction God gave to Moses in Exodus 25:21-22
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Understanding all of this, then we will know that whoever rises against the message which is the only hope God has on earth to restore His people back to Himself is nothing but a scoffer, of which the Bible had once prophesied about in 2Peter 3:1-3;
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
But let’s go into the scriptures and see for ourselves our God had determined to reconcile His people to Himself, both Jews and Gentiles. This is the prophecy of Malachi.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
The Reconciliation
First, it would be carnality to believe that the reconciliation Malachi is prophesying here is between the Jewish fathers and their children. Because it is not possible for fathers and children to be having rifts and God would then threaten them with a curse to smite them. Malachi’s prophecy is not a family settlement between literal fathers and children. There are versions of the bible that completely went off the genuine meaning of this scripture. Let’s see a few of them;
“He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” NIV
“He will lead children and parents to love each other more, so that when I come, I won’t bring destruction to the land.” CEV
“He will bring fathers and children together again; otherwise I would have to come and destroy your country.” GNT
It is only by the Spirit of God that you can know the mind of God, and only spiritual people can discern spiritual things. All these versions and several others subjected the scripture to family settlement, but we need to first understand that from the onset, both the Jewish fathers and their children have been estranged from God, departing from His law and ordinances, none of them is right with God, so there is no way God could do such reconciliation.
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth:
for the Lord hath spoken,
I have nourished and brought up children,
and they have rebelled against me.
The ox knoweth his owner,
and the ass his master’s crib:
but Israel doth not know,
my people doth not consider.
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity,
a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters:
they have forsaken the Lord,
they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger,
they are gone away backward.
Why should ye be stricken any more?
ye will revolt more and more:
the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it;
but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores:
they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
Your country is desolate,
your cities are burned with fire:
your land, strangers devour it in your presence,
and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. Isaiah 1:2-7
Come, and let us return unto the Lord:
for he hath torn, and he will heal us;
he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
After two days will he revive us:
in the third day he will raise us up,
and we shall live in his sight. Hosea 6:1-2
The reconciliation God is doing is to Himself. He is reconciling His people to Himself. When Paul met with Onesimus who happened to be the servant of Philemon, Paul did not first reconcile Onesimus to Philemon, but to God. That is when there can be a reconciliation between Philemon and his servant, Onesimus -because both Philemon and Onesimus are now God’s, they can be reconciled to themselves. If God is reconciling children to their father, that does not in any way mean they are reconciled to God. In fact, of what use is God sending the spirit of Elijah if reconciliation is between families?
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. Galatians 3:22
Therefore, the reconciliation God is interested in is the reconciliation back to Himself, and He is doing that by His word. The healing power of God is in His word.
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, 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. 2Corinthians 5:18-19
To fully understand Malachi’s prophecy, we have to separate it into two;
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall (a) turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and (b) the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
The Heart of the Fathers to the Children
Having established that this is not a family settlement, we also need to establish that this work is not going to take place at the same time. the first part tells us that the heart of the fathers will be turned to the children, after which there is a conjunction “and” which spanned thousands of years apart before the second fulfillment. God is not an author of confusion, before God will turn the heart of the fathers to the children, it shows that the children are believing the right thing. This then means, it is not possible for God to go meet the fathers and turn their hearts to the faith of the children and then at the same time go to the children and turn their hearts to the faith of their fathers -this also is insanity.
That means, that in the first part, the children have been reconciled to God, and have believed the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ (because reconciliation is through Jesus Christ), then He is beckoning on the fathers to believe the faith that their children have embraced. Jesus came first to the Jews, and selected amongst them twelve disciples -these are the children who believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, while their fathers were in Judaism, keeping the law of Moses. But before the coming of Jesus, there had to be a forerunner, who would make ready the people to see and recognize the grace of God to follow Him. This Elijah is John the Baptist, who practically fulfilled the first part of Malachi’s prophecy. Amen.
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17.
God through Jesus Christ would be establishing a new covenant with Israel, bringing them out of the shadow of the good things to come into the good thing. For perfect reconciliation could not come by the shedding of animal’s blood, thus God sent His only begotten son so that whosoever believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life. This is why the faith of the fathers needed to be turned to their children. These are not the children of the biological Jewish fathers, no, they have been reconciled to God and have become God’s children. John did not turn the heart of the fathers to “their” children, but to “the” children.
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:23-28
Jesus, at a time, cast out a demon and these religious Jews claimed He was using the power of Beelzebub, let’s see what Jesus said to them;
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. Matthew 12:24-27
Jesus confirmed here that the disciples are the children, whose faith the fathers should embrace.
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. John 1:45-48
Nathanael once belonged to the fathers, believing in the law of Moses, but when Jesus met him and he believed, he fell to the group of the children. John the Baptist pointed men to Jesus Christ, when some of his disciples heard him, they followed Jesus.
The Heart of the Children to their Fathers
In the review, From Malachi to Rapture, we did explain this well. In summary, this second is what God has sent His Prophet, William Branham to fulfill. The message Jesus Christ brought still remains the message through which God is reconciling us to Himself. This message is the present truth, there is no other. That is why Jude asked us to contend for it. Meanwhile, down the church ages, the devil rose against this message and threw the church away from the foundation of Christ, leavening the feast of God. This happened with the Nicolaitan system which gradually became a stronghold through which the system of Rome founded itself to seduce God’s people to accept wrong doctrines and creeds. And although Martin Luther and others broke away when God enlightened them, they only reformed, they could not restore the church back to the word of God. take not that it wasn’t the word of God that was lost, but we were lost, so God is not restoring the word back to us, but restoring us back to His word, back to the faith of these apostles of Christ. Thus, the heart of the children to their fathers (their apostolic fathers). It is in this that we are one in Christ both Jews and Gentiles.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; Ephesians 2:14-20
The seventh messenger to the Gentile church age came in the power and spirit of Elijah to restore us back to the foundation of Christ, and when His voice shall begin to sound, the mystery of God (to engraft the Gentile in) will be finished. Right now, under the fivefold ministry, this voice is sounding, perfecting the church, taking her above the elementary things to perfection. God, having a better hope for us, that after the fivefold ministry is done with her ministry, He would come as the Mighty Angel to claim His bride, placing his feet on the sea and on the earth, and causing the seven thunders to perfect His bride for the rapture. This is our hope and comfort.
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippian 3:20-21
Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1Thessalonians 4:18
FROM MALACHI TO RAPTURE
The gospel is not in words only, but also the demonstration of powers. If all you have is the word, you don’t have the complete gospel yet, if you have the power and the word is lacking, you don’t have the gospel also, but if you have the word and the power, then you have the gospel. For the true bride of Christ, they have the word, and the power and they are being perfected into the very image of Christ as they behold Him in the mirror of His Word. The word of God, therefore, is the dividing line, the separating tool between the bride and churchgoers.
Text: Jeremiah 7:25-26, Malachi 3:1-3, Malachi 4:5-6, Luke 4:21, 1Timothy 3:16, Matthew 17:10, Matthew 13:10-11, Isaiah 40:3, 1Corinthians 1:25-29, Matthew 11:10, John 1:6-10, Luke1:13
Should God do anything at any time, it was needed and they would have a pivotal role to play in His purposes. He sent the prophet Moses to the children of Israel whilst in Egypt, and from that time, He never ceased sending His children messengers to put them in His consciousness. The problem however is that the people He’s sending to can sometimes be too rigid to comprehend God’s instruction.
Lastly in the Old Testament, God sent Malachi the prophet, and He gave prophecies that are vital to the New Testament believers, we can say that, to us, Malachi was a major prophet. Let’s consider some of His prophecies.
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
It will interest you to know that Malachi is always speaking of two prophets at the same time, and sometimes, has twofold fulfillment. If we should consider carefully the scripture above, the first “messenger” that would prepare the way before “me” are two different people. The “messenger” is the office of John the Baptist, who prepared the way before Jesus Christ at His first coming. The “me” is Jesus Christ.
He also spoke about “the Lord coming into His Temple” which could signify twofold fulfillment: when Jesus Christ entered the synagogue and read a portion of the book of Isaiah, and said unto them that, “this day, this scripture is fulfilled before you”, that was a part of “the Lord coming into His Temple” and also, when He received the baptism of the Holy Spirit at river Jordan, that was another fulfillment of the same prophecy. This prophecy is very important to the New Testament Believers.
In Malachi 4:5-6, there was another important prophecy to the Gentile that Malachi gave;
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
There are two ministries and fulfillment in this text: there are two Elijahs, the first Elijah would turn the heart of the Jewish fathers to the apostolic children (of Jesus Christ), and the second Elijah would turn the heart of the children to their apostolic fathers. The word “and” is the conjunction that separated these two events, which are far apart in fulfillment. The first would come at Christ’s first coming, the second would come at Christ’s second coming. This first Elijah was the one Malachi spoke of in Malachi 3:1, who would prepare the way before the Lord. He was John the Baptist. We should be able to bring perspective to this scripture with Jesus’ answer in Matthew 17:10:
10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
The disciples had an experience when Jesus was transfigured and they saw Moses and Elijah. Then they were forced to ask Jesus after the experience why the scribes said that Elias must first come. Jesus also spoke of two Elijahs here. Jesus spoke about a future Elijah who would restore all things. The word “shall” makes it obvious that “this Elijah” is in the future. Meanwhile, He answered their question by emphatically saying “That Elijah (which you ask me about) has come already but he wasn’t known.
John’s Prophesy and Ministry
John did come in the spirit of Elijah but his ministry was to prepare the way before Jesus Christ, he never restored anything. He only preached for 6 months. He was the bridge between the Old Testament and the Old Testament. His ministry was prophesied in Isaiah 40
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
When the angel was explaining the ministry of John to his father, he made it clear that his ministry was the first part of Malachi’s prophesy in Malachi 4:5-6 -to turn the heart of the fathers to the children. This means that the Elijahs in that scripture is two, John the Baptist, with the ministry of preparation to turn the heart of the fathers to the children; and another man who shall come in the spirit and power of Elias, to restore all things -to restore the heart of the end time children to the faith of the apostolic fathers.
DID JOHN FULFILL HIS COMMISSION?
As said, before the first coming of the Messiah, there would be a forerunner who would come in the power and spirit of Elijah, this Elijah’s ministry is to prepare the way for the Lord. He is to point the people to the Messiah. Taking note of what this office holds, did John really fulfilled this ministry or not?
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
Remarkably, between the Old Testament and the New Testament is a space of 400 years (that’s about 4 generations of human beings), and various waves might have blown, people claiming to be what they are not. Several people and books were written but God would not allow them to be written with His sacred books because neither were they His inbreathe nor are they proven. However, events are made clear by prophecies, whoever would fulfill this long-spoken prophecy of Malachi must fit exactly into the prophecy.
John came almost at the end of the 400 years gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and there was no way he could have read about the prophecy of Malachi because he went into the wilderness at the age of 9 according to history. He also did not preach the law of Moses, rather He was pointing to Messiah –“Behold the lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world”. This was the record that John bore.
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. -John 1
John, without doubt, was the fulfillment of the first part of Malachi’s prophecy in Malachi 4:5-6. That was why when he saw his disciples leaving and going to Christ, he wasn’t angry -it was the fulfillment of his ministry.
35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
John did not go into the temple of Solomon because a greater temple is coming, which his ministry was to forerun. God, preparing a body for Himself, would dwell among men, to redeem them and pay the price of salvation. The temple would then change from a structural temple that Solomon built to the tabernacle, Jesus.
John was the only one that saw the Spirit descending upon Jesus from heaven, he was also the only one that heard the Voice that spoke to Jesus after his baptism. That was how God wanted to do His work, it doesn’t matter whether or not people believe it, He will vindicate His words in a simple way. Those who are destined for it would believe it.
Although God would use the spirit of Elijah five times, the Jews would receive Elijah four times: the first was Elijah the Tishbite, and when Elijah died, Elisha came forth in the same spirit of Elijah (2King 2:1). After this, Jews received John the Baptist, that Malachi prophesied. (We have taken the time to explain that). After the rapture, God will send His Two Witnesses to the Jews, who would come in the spirit of Moses and Elijah. Revelation 11 detailed this.
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
WILL THE TWO WITNESSES RESTORE THE HEART OF THE JEWISH CHILDREN TO THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS?
No, the two witnesses will not restore the Jewish children to the apostolic faith, rather they will preach Jesus Christ to them. The Jews did not derail from the doctrine of One God to trinity, they would not have female Priests or High Priests, and they would not have female Prophets.
The Gentiles are the ones that deviated from the true doctrines of God to believe the dogmas of the Nicolaitanes, Jezebel, and other creeds of the great whore. Thus, the second Elijah in Malachi 4:5-6 would be to the Gentiles.
THE SECOND ELIJAH OF MALACHI 4:5-6
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
We have successfully been able to divide that scriptural into its fulfilling part; part A was John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the heart of the fathers to the heart of the children. The fathers in this first part are the Jews. Romans 9 proved that.
2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
The children in this first part are the disciples of Jesus Christ -the New Testament believers.
Now, we need to establish who the second Elijah is. First, let’s establish who are the fathers in this part B because they are different from the fathers of the first part. It is not possible for one Elijah to meet the fathers and turn their faith to the faith of the children, and at the same time meet the children and turn their faith to the faith of the fathers. To say it as it is, it is not possible for one Elijah to turn the Old Testament Jews to the faith of Jesus Christ, and then turn the faith of the disciples of Christ to believe the law of Moses. God was doing away with the shadow of the “good things to come” into the real thing, thus, what God is doing now cannot intermeddle with the shadow. The New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
…and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
The second part started with the word “and” which holds thousands of years apart between the fulfillment of the first Elijah to the second. That “and” holds the time of the seven church ages. The fathers in this second part are the children of the first part. With them, Christ founded the New Testament faith, and they became the fathers of the faith of the New Testament.
9 For we are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 1Corinthians 3:9-10
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2Peter 1:1
The apostles of Christ laid the foundation of the New Testament faith, through them, Christ sowed the seed of the gospel in the first church age. Meanwhile, we know that the Gentile dispensation is divided into seven dispensations. The light of the gospel which dominated the first church age was diminishing as the men who laid the foundation slept in Christ. Romanism almost squeezed the light out. She picked leaven and hid it in three measures of meal. Thanks to God for Martin Luther who again brought back the light in a little way to the Church, after which God used John Wesley. The culmination of the church ages will end in the seventh, and Christ leaves us with a promise in Revelation 10:7
7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
The mystery of God as revealed to us by Paul in the scriptures is the engrafting of the Gentiles into Christ -that the Gentiles would be fellow heirs of the promise (what we can call the time when the Jews will believe the true God). The Bible then reveals to us that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, which is the angel of the Laodicea church age, the mystery of God would be finished. This means that at the end of the sounding of the voice of the seventh angel, God would be done with the Gentiles.
To understand the significance of the seventh angel, it is important to say here that the whole Gentile time is “one day” that is not day or night -this paradox talks of the striving for light and darkness in the church ages. The devil was strategically fighting the gospel of God in all ages, riding on his deceptive horses. However, Christ would not leave Himself without a witness, He promised that in the evening time (the seventh church age), there shall be light. (Zachariah 14)
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
This is the age where God would again establish His truth as revealed by the apostolic fathers, and He would restore the heart of the end time children who are gone astray, back to the faith of the apostolic fathers. God will bring to light all the truth that has been hidden by Romanism. Let’s see this in Matthew 25:
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
This is the ministry of the seventh angel, it was a message of the SHOUT -back to the faith of the apostles. His ministry is to awaken all the slumbering virgins to trim their lamps and meet the Bridegroom -Jesus Christ -the Word of God.
DID WILLIAM MARRION BRANHAM FULFILL THIS COMMISSION?
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1Thessalonains 4
The SHOUT is CRY in Matthew 25 that would awake the virgins, for Christ will not come and have nothing to harvest to Himself, this is why He would descend with these three things for the preparation and furnishing of the bride that Christ would rapture to Himself.
It was at the foot of Spring Street at Jeffersonville, Indiana when Willaim Marrion Branham was baptizing the 17th person at the Ohio river in 1933, a voice spoke from Heaven saying to him that “as John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Christ, you are sent with a message that would forerun the second coming of Christ.”
This is the ministry of the second Elijah who shall restore all things as said by Jesus Christ and restore the heart of the children back to the apostolic fathers as prophesied by Malachi.
Events are made clear by prophecies, William Marrion Branham unequivocally was the one that fulfilled the ministry of the second Elijah. The baptism he preached was the same as what the apostles preached, his doctrines were from the Bible, to say it as it is, he preached what Paul preached. A perfect revelation about the church ages and their angel was revealed to him, more so, the revelation of the seven seals was revealed to him. Controversial people believe he derailed his ministry when he switched from healing the sick to teaching the word of God. This is not true. Miracles and signs are baits that the prophet, Branham used to invite the people to hear the word of the kingdom. The prophecy is to restore the faith of the children to the faith of the fathers, and you don’t do that with miracles. Faith is beyond signs and wonders. If all the prophet did was miracles, signs, and wonders, he can fit into that position. We are blessed to know better.
As the ministry of Elijah, the Tishbite gave birth to the ministry of Elisha; the ministry of William Marrion Branham produced the fivefold ministry. (Ephesians 4)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
The fivefold ministry is not different from the SHOUT but a continuation, just as Elisha was to Elijah.
YOUR DILIGENCE IS UNDER THE SHOUT MINISTRY
In Matthew 25, when the SHOUT cried out, all the virgins arose and they begin to trim their lamps, putting their lives in order by the word of God. This is the responsibility of everyone who must overcome in this end time. Your diligence is required in the time of the SHOUT, that is the time to trim your lamps, that is the time to overcome, that is the time to make sure that you’re right with God because, after the sounding of that SHOUT, the mystery of God would be finished. There is no more time to repent, there is no more time to trim your lamps. All teachings and preaching will be concluded in the SHOUT.
Add diligence to make your calling and election sure. If you can make it at the SHOUT, you don’t have to worry about the last two phenomenal. God takes responsibility from there and perfects His work of grace. Your quest and your labor should be exerted in the time of the SHOUT. Labor to enter into God’s rest, Labor to overcome, then you are secured in the time of the VOICE OF ARCHANGEL, and the TRUMPET. (Zachariah 4)
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
What the SHOUT would teach, and all it holds are written in the Bible, but when that is over, what the VOICE of ARCHANGEL holds is not written in the scriptures. The VOICE is the VOICE of the MIGHTY ANGEL in Revelation 10:1
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
This VOICE is for the living saints, and it holds the ministry of the seven thunders. This Mighty Angel would minister something to the seven thunders that are for the bride. This we do not know, because it is not written in the scriptures. This is why you should not worry about it, just make sure you are right with God in paying diligence in the SHOUT, and it will be God’s responsibility to keep you through till rapture.
2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
Stay in the middle of the line, stay with the word of God, even if it tarries, it will not fail, it will surely come to pass, says the Bible: Habakkuk 2:3
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end, it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
I Corinthians tells us of the hope that awaits the bride of Christ
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
Shalom
The Paradise of God III
From our text, we could bring out a vital point. There were two thieves crucified with Jesus Christ, but the thief on the right hand met the grace of God and recognize it. The Bible says that the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, but will all men recognize the grace enough to embrace it to work out their salvation? Selah. Let’s consider some more things about this paradise.
TEXT: Luke 23:42, Revelation 22:2, 1Corinthinas 15:19, Romans 8:18-23, 35-37.
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2
In the garden of Eden, there were two trees -the tree of Life which is the word of God, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil -which is perverted knowledge. These two laws still exist but in the new world to come, God would have succeeded in totally wiping out perverted knowledge of the devil such that what will be left is the tree of life which bare twelve manners of fruits and the leaves are for the healing of the nations. Can you now see the value of the word of God, for those who surrender to it, have such an inheritance that cannot fade? That is why God is washing us now by His word, it is the power of God to cleanse and purge till we are thoroughly furnished for that new world to come. Nothing will take you there except the word of God. Grace has appeared to all men, but you have to recognize it and act upon it, don’t scorn it, it is your life, it is what guarantees your good end. The word of God must have washed all the inheritors of Paradise before they can be there.
We should ask ourselves how this thief believed that Jesus who was hung on the tree like he was had a kingdom, and was pleading to be with him. There was no difference between them, in fact, if by the order of the word, anyone hung on the cross is accursed. How then did this man see through the odds of the moment, recognize it and plead for it?
While on earth now, you have received an opportunity, not just to believe in Jesus but to serve, and you should not waste your opportunity. What will give you a position in the kingdom of God is your service on earth. God has got something better for us, but revelation is needed to key into it. If you do not know what has been freely given to you, you cannot have the blessing thereof.
Men have served, not because they were expecting anything in this ephemeral world. Their focus was beyond this world. Consider Jesus Christ, who lived to have nothing on earth. He was born in the manger, lived as a wanderer, doesn’t have a house, no business, he died by crucifixion after thirty-three years. That does not look like a life well spent, to a carnal man. But yes, there is a world after this, and that was what He labored for.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 1Corinthians 15:19
Men of faith likewise fought for this same course, they sacrificed their lives because they had the revelation. Without revelation, you cannot labor for heaven, you cannot sacrifice for it.
My encouragement to you is in Romans 8:18. If you have the revelation of this paradise, don’t give up, continue to labor, continue to strife. Several people are striving for several things, but ours is different because we have a lively hope.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
The earnest of our salvation is the Spirit of God in us, that is what redeems our soul, but we are waiting for the redemption of our bodies when we will receive the full adoption of our salvation. For if this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, we have another one waiting for us -eternal in glory. But while we are still in this, we are groaning, we are waiting; we should not make this world our paradise. We should not limit this our labor to getting the things on earth alone. Nothing should be able to separate us from the love that is in Christ, as Paul proclaimed in Romans 8:35
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Yes, there is distress, there is famine, there is persecution, and all, but they should not separate us from the love of Christ, we need to acknowledge His sacrifice to the degree where we also can lay down everything for it.
Our God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love, He has a reward for you if you can press on to the end. Press on brother, it won’t be very long.