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