In scriptures, the brides of Jesus Christ are promised three different ministries, by which they can be perfected, and fit to meet their Lord in the air. And it will do us good to pay diligence to understand how Christ intends to have His bride raptured so that we can position ourselves right for that glorious appearance.
Text: Malachi 4:4-6, Ephesians 4:11-13, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Revelation 19:11-13, John 3:26-31, John 1:35-37, Revelation 10:1-3, Revelation 10:7, Matthew 25:1-6, Acts 19:1-5, Act 18:24-26, Exodus 14:1-2, Joshua 1:1-6, Joshua 3:14-17, Matthew 9:16.
The coming of Jesus Christ for His earthly bride is first spiritual before His physical coming. Christ, who is the WORD would first come to establish His bride in divine intimacy and union to the end that the brides are blessed with an assurance of resurrection (even if they sleep) for the rapture of the Church. An assurance that comes through a Knowing (knowledge), sustained by intimate fellowship as of a man with his wife. And without muddling words, Christ indeed has come in the WORD-FORM for His bride, and gradually through spiritual intercourse, she’s being made perfect -to the stature of the fullness of Christ to receive her Lord. Just as every man has a taste of what he wants in his wife, Christ does, and even more. So, He fashioned out ways by which He would present Himself a glorious Church, not having spots or wrinkles, such that Christ would see her at the end and exclaim, “This is my truly Wife!” Do you desire to be amongst them? Then stay with me as we receive enlightenment from the scriptures on how to position ourselves for this great blessing.
We did say that Christ has come in the WORD-FORM, and I’m sure you’re curious to ask, how? Before the first coming of Christ, and in this second coming, a ministry of Elijah was promised to awake those who would not miss Him when He comes on the scene, Let’s see that in Malachi 4:5-6:
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.
Unequivocally, there are two ministries here, joined together by the conjunction, “and”, but these ministries are thousands of years apart. The first part of this ministry is for the first coming of Christ, God would raise a man in the anointing of Elijah (not the Elijah of Tishbite), to forerun the first coming of Christ, and that was fulfilled by John the Baptist. He would turn the heart of the Jewish fathers to the Apostles of Christ (who then would be the children). The second part of this promise in Malachi was for the end time before Christ would come for the Church. Another ministry would rise with the same anointing of Elijah to point the people (who of course must have derailed from the Faith of the Apostles which Jesus Christ sowed in them due to the darkness that Satan would fight the Church with) to the faith of the Apostolic Fathers of Jesus Christ. God who knew beforehand that Satan would sow tares amongst His wheat had already smoothed out a way to bring His elect out of darkness, ever before it’ll happen. Glory to His Name!
The Second Elijah of Malachi 4:5-6
First, let’s discuss the essence of this ministry.
Christ established His Church on the day of Pentecost, and through Paul, the gospel light came to us -Gentiles. A commandment was given us in Jude to earnestly contend for that Faith that was delivered unto them because Christ would not have a substitute of that Faith to Himself, He is coming to harvest the exact He sowed. This means that our defense to being considered as members of Christ’s body is our being in that Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Satan, knowing this, would fight us so that we would either not hold to the Faith at all, or give us something else as a substitute, and that would not guarantee any resurrection. The Devil did just exactly this, in the process of time, people began to slip away from the truth, submitting to the deception of Satan that crept into the Church seemingly harmless, people began to breed suggestions that are not bad in themselves, but are unscriptural. The growth of this led to a deep slumbering and sleeping of the church. The tarrying of the Bridegroom caused all (both wise and foolish) to sleep. This simply means that they went haywire in the religion, it was a heyday for the doctrines of men to thrive above what Jesus handed over to the disciples. The Bible was taken away from people, and the revelation of the word was completely lost. By the time we get to the last church age, Jesus who was before, in the midst of the Seven Golden Candlesticks, is now outside, knocking and seeking entrance. He had been pushed out of His church through the traditions of men. What is He going to do to wake men up out of the quagmire they found themselves, out of their deep sleep in the error of what God cannot fellowship in? He had to send a ministry. Hallelujah! This is the ministry of the second Elijah of Malachi 4:5-6.
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise and were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a CRY made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. Matthew 25:1-6
He came to wake the church world up with a SHOUT, “BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM IS COMING, COME OUT TO MEET HIM”. Yes, this messenger was the only one God did not allow to sleep in the mess of religion. He screamed out with a CRY and call out to those who had ears to hear.
His ministry had three descriptions in the Bible, to show you the importance of His message in this last age. If not for this message, Christ would have nothing to harvest upon coming for the church, He would have no more to do than smite the earth with a curse.
- His ministry was referred to as the SHOUT, the CRY, and the VOICE!
Of course, if you must wake someone who is lost and gone in a deep sleep, do you whisper his name to wake him up -especially when he was drunk to sleep? No! Instead, you SHOUT! And because you know the importance of his waking up out of his mess, you will not stop until he is fully awake!! The messenger God used was the Angel to the last church age -the Laodicea Church Age. Christ, who in His good pleasure had planned to have a bride for Himself nonetheless sent us this message of the SHOUT. There is so much relevance in this message, that the death of the messenger would not end the message. The message would not expire even if the pioneer is off the scene.
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. Revelation 10:7
WHAT IS THE MYSTERY OF GOD?
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Ephesians 3:4-6
The above scripture explains to us this same ministry of Elijah, which fulfilled the second part of Malachi 4:5-6b, telling us that when this VOICE begins to sound, “…the mystery of God should be finished…”
The mystery of God is the engrafting of the Gentiles into the Vine. This means that what God started through Paul, shining the Light to the Gentiles should be finished in the days of the VOICE of this Seventh Angel.
Here comes the question we need to resolve, because, it pleased God to fulfill this ministry through the man, William Marrion Branham. We know that confidently, without any shadow of a doubt. But this humble servant of God has slept in the Lord, does it mean God has finished engrafting the Gentiles? Does it mean no Gentile can be saved anymore since the pioneer of this message is no longer on earth? Has the mystery of God come to an end? Is God done with the Gentiles? We can go on and on with questions. But there is an answer.
“…in the days of the voice…” is talking about the days of his message, regardless of whether the Seventh Messenger is still alive. God knew best how to further this message (VOICE) so that His will would be accomplished. It wasn’t written that in the days of the messenger, but rather in the days of his voice, which is the days of his message. This brings us to Ephesians 4:11-13
The Fivefold Ministry
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 fullness of Christ:
The message Jesus brought did not vanish when Jesus went up to heaven, the disciples of Jesus Christ were saddled with the responsibility to contend for that faith and carry it to other nations of the earth. The ministry of Jesus produced the apostles. The same thing with Paul, when God decided to shine His Light amongst us who are drawn to dumb idols, it lightens us up, and it of course birthed ministries even amongst us. The ministry of Paul produced Titus, Timothy, and many more.
Yes, when the church entered darkness during the church ages, the gifts also slept even as men slept in the doctrines of men. And the SHOUT which came forth to wake us up to meet the bridegroom woke the gifts in the lives of men likewise. These gifts of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, of teachers, would continue the SHOUT of the Seventh Messenger. When you believe the Message of the hour, you become a messenger yourself, because God is not done engrafting the Gentiles to be fellow heirs of the gospel.
The Fivefold Ministry did not put an end to the message of the SHOUT, instead, it continues it. The Ministry of the Fivefold is a continuation of the SHOUT, being a baby of the ministry of the Seventh Angel.
The Misplacement of the Fivefold Ministry
There is a doctrine in town, that the ministry of the fivefold is the “voice of the archangel” in 1Thessalonains 4:16, How true is this?
This is in no way scriptural! Believing that the ministry of the fivefold is the voice of the archangel is believing that:
- The message of Malachi 4:5-6b has expired,
- The mystery of God (the engrafting of the Gentiles) has ended.
And this has no root in the scriptures. What then is the fate of us who believe after the going home of the Seventh Angel if the ministry of the Fivefold is the voice of the archangel? Does it mean no Gentile can be saved anymore?
- The fivefold Ministry is a continuation of the SHOUT, God did not differentiate the ministry of the fivefold from the CRY of the Seventh Church Messenger -the engrafting of the Gentiles is not finished yet! AMEN
Friends and Elders, we are supposed to be circumspect, rightly dividing the word of truth. The Voice of the Archangel in 1Thessalonians 4:16 is not the voice of the Ministry of the Fivefold.
In our next episode, we would explain the ministries in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, which are the three ministries by which Christ would minister to His bride, before He comes for her physically, as earlier pointed out in this episode.
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