doubt very much if any age truly knew
the
messenger
that God had sent unto it, except in the first age where Paul
was
the messenger. And even in that age many did not recognize
him for what he was.
Now the age in which we are living is
going to be
a
very short one. Events are going to transpire very rapidly.
We have
Scripture that describes his ministry.
First of all, that messenger is going to
be a
prophet. He will
have the office of a prophet. He will have the prophetic
ministry. It will be based solidly on the Word because when
he prophesies or has a vision, it will always be "Word
oriented"
and it will ALWAYS come to pass. He will be vindicated as
a prophet because of his accuracy. The proof that he is a
prophet is found in Revelation 10-7:
"But in the days of the voice
of the
seventh messenger when he shall begin to sound,
the mystery of God should be finished as He hath declared
unto His servants, the prophets."
Now this person, who in this
verse is called an "angel" in the King James version is
NOT
an heavenly being. The sixth trumpeting angel, who is an
heavenly being, is in Revelation 9:13, and the seventh of
like
order is in Revelation 11: 15. This one here in
Revelation
10:7 is the Seventh-Age Messenger and it is a man, and he is
to
bring 'a message' from God, and his 'message and ministry' is
going to finish the mystery of God as declared to His
servants,
the prophets. God is going to treat this last messenger as a
prophet BECAUSE HE IS A PROPHET. That is what Paul
was in the first age, and the last age has one, too.
Iis written in Amos 3:6-7:
"Shall a trumpet be blown in
the city,
and the people not
be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not
done it? Surely the Lord will do nothing, but He revealeth
His secrets unto His servants, the prophets."
It was in the end-time period that the
Seven Thunders of Jesus came forth.
Revelation 10:3-4...
"And cried with a loud
voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven
thunders uttered their voices. 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."
What was in those thunders no one knows.
But we
need
to know. And it will take a prophet to get the revelation
because
God has no other way of bringing out His Scriptural Revelations
except by a prophet. The Word always came by a prophet
and always will. That this is the law of God is evident by
even
a casual search of Scripture. The unchanging God with
unchanging ways invariably sent His prophet in every age
where the people had strayed from Divine order. With both
the theologians and the people having departed from the Word,
God always sent His servant to these people (but apart from
the theologians) in order to correct false teaching and
lead
the people back to God.
So we see a seventh-age messenger
coming, and
he is a
prophet. Not only do we see this messenger coming here in
Revelation
10:7, but we find that the Word speaks of Elijah coming
before
Jesus returns - Matthew 17:10:
"And His disciples asked Him,
saying, 'Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?'
And Jesus said, 'Elias truly shall first come, and
restore all
things'."
Before the coming of our Lord, Elijah
must
come
back for a work of restoration in the church. This is
what
Malachi 4:5 says:
"Behold I 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."
There is absolutely no doubt
that Elijah must return before the coming of Jesus. He has
a
specific work to accomplish. That work is the part of Malachi
4:6 that says "he will turn the hearts of the children to
their
fathers."
The reason that we know this is
his specific work to do at that time is because he has
already
accomplished the part that says "he shall turn the hearts
of the
fathers to the
children," when the Elijah ministry was here in John the
Baptist. Luke 1:17:
"And he shall go before Him in
the
Spirit and power of Elijah, 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."
In the ministry
of John the "hearts of the fathers were turned to the
children ."
We know that because Jesus said so. But it does not
say that
the hearts of the children were turned to the fathers. That
is
yet to take place. The hearts of the last-day children will be
turned back to the Pentecostal fathers. John got the fathers
ready for Jesus to welcome the children into the fold. Now
this prophet upon whom the Spirit of Elijah falls will prepare
the children to welcome back Jesus.
Jesus called John the Baptist, Elijah.
Matthew 17:12:
"But I say unto you that
Elijah is
come already, and they knew
him not, but have done unto him what they listed."
The reason that he called John Elijah, was
because
the same Spirit that was upon Elijah had come back upon John,
even as that Spirit
had come back upon Elisha after the reign of King Ahab. Now
once again that Spirit will come back upon another man just
before Jesus comes. He will be a prophet. He will be
vindicated
as such by God. Since Jesus, Himself, in the flesh won't be
here to vindicate him, (as He did John) it will be done by
the Holy Spirit so that this prophet's ministry will be
attended
by great and wonderful manifestation.
As a prophet, every
revelation will be vindicated, for every revelation will come
to pass. Wonderful acts of power will be performed at his
commands in faith. Then will be brought forth the message
that God has given him in the Word to turn the people back
to truth and the true power of God. Some will listen, but
the
majority will run true to form and reject him.
Since this prophet messenger of Revelation
10: 7
will be the
same as Malachi 4:5-6 he will be naturally like Elijah and
John. Both were men set apart from the accepted religious
schools of their day. Both were men of the wilderness.
Both
acted only when they had "Thus saith the Lord,"
straight
from God by revelation. Both lashed out against the
religious
orders and leaders of their day. But not only was that
so, they
lashed
out against all who were corrupt or would corrupt others.
And notice, both prophesied much against immoral women
and their ways. Elijah cried out against Jezebel, and John
rebuked Herodias, Philip's wife.
Though he will not be popular, he will be
vindicated by
God. As Jesus authenticated John, and the Holy Ghost
authenticated
Jesus, we can well expect this man will be first of all
authenticated
by the Spirit working in his life in acts of power that
are indisputable and found nowhere else; and Jesus Himself,
in returning, will authenticate him, even as He authenticated
John. John witnessed that Jesus was coming, and so will
this man, like John, witness that Jesus is coming. And the
very return of Christ will prove that this man indeed was
the forerunner of His second coming. This is the final
evidence
that this indeed is the prophet of Malachi 4, for the end
of
the Gentile period will be Jesus, Himself, appearing. Then
it will be too late for those who have rejected him.
In order to further clarify our presentation
of this
last-day
prophet, let us particularly note that the prophet of Matthew
11:12, was John the Baptist, who was the one foretold in
Malachi 3:1, and
Matthew 11: 1-12.
This has already taken place. This has happened. It is over.
But
note now in Malachi 4:1-6.
See,
immediately after the coming of THIS Elijah, the earth will be
cleansed
by
fire and the wicked burned to ashes. Of course, this did NOT
happen at
the time of John (the Elijah for his day). The Spirit of
God
that prophesied the coming of the messenger in
Malachi
3:1
(John) was but reiterating His previous prophetic statement
of Isaiah 40:3 made at least three centuries previously.
"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."
Now John, by the Holy Ghost, voiced both
Isaiah
and Malachi in Matthew 3:3:
"For this is he that was
spoken
of by the prophet Esaias, saying, the voice of one crying in
the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths
straight."
So we can well see from these Scriptures
that the prophet in Malachi 3, who, was John, was NOT the
prophet
of
Malachi 4, though indeed, both John and this 1ast-day
prophet
have upon them, the same Spirit Which was upon Elijah.
Now this messenger of
Malachi 4 and Revelation 10: 7 is
going to do two things. One: According to
Malachi 4
he will
turn the hearts of the children to the fathers. Two:
He
will
reveal the mysteries of the seven thunders in
Revelation 10
which are the revelations contained in the Seven Seals. It will
be these Divinely revealed "mystery-truths" that literally
turn
the hearts of the children to the Pentecostal fathers. Exactly
so.
But consider this also. This
prophet-messenger
will be
in his nature and manners as were Elijah and John. The
people
of this prophet-messenger's day will be as they were in Ahab's
day, and in John's. And since it is "ONLY THE CHILDREN"
whose hearts will be turned, it is only the children who will
listen. In the days of Ahab only 7,000 true seed
Israelites
were found. In the days of John there were also very few.
The masses in both ages were in the fornication of
idolatry.
I want to make one more comparison between
the
Laodicean Prophet-Messenger and John, the prophet-messenger who
preceded Jesus' first coming. The people in John's day
mistook
him for the Messiah, John
1:19-20,
Now this last-day prophet-messenger will have such power
before the
Lord that there will be those who mistake him for the Lord
Jesus.
There
will be a spirit in the world at the end time that will seduce
some and make them believe this,
Matthew 24:24-26.
But don't you believe it. He is not Jesus Christ. He is not
the Son
of God. HE IS ONE OF THE
BRETHREN, A PROPHET, A MESSENGER, A SERVANT
OF GOD. He needs no greater honor bestowed upon him than
that which John received when he was the voice that cried,
"I am not He, BUT HE IS COMING AFTER ME."
Before we close this section on the messenger
of the
Laodicean Age, we must seriously consider these two thoughts.
First, this age will have ONE Prophet-Messenger. Revelation
10:7, says, "When he (singular) shall begin to
sound."
There has never been an age where God gave His people two major
prophets at one time. He gave Enoch (alone); He gave Noah
(alone); He gave Moses (he alone had the Word though others
prophesied); John the Baptist came ALONE. Now in this last
day there is to be a PROPHET (not a prophetess - though
in this age there are more women purporting to give God's
revelation than men), and the infallible Word says that he
(the prophet) will reveal the mysteries to the end-time
people,
and turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers.
There are those who say that God's people
are going
to come together
through a collective revelation. I challenge that statement.
It is a bald, invalid assumption in the face of Revelation
10:7.
Now I do not deny that people will prophesy in this last
age
and their ministries can and will be correct. I do not deny
that there will be prophets even as in the days of Paul when
there was "one Agabus a prophet who prophesied of a famine."
I agree that is so. BUT I DENY UPON THE INFALLIBLE
EVIDENCE OF THE WORD THAT THERE IS MORE THAN
ONE MAJOR PROPHET-MESSENGER WHO WILL REVEAL
THE MYSTERIES AS CONTAINED IN THE WORD, AND
WHO HAS THE MINISTRY TO TURN THE HEARTS OF
THE CHILDREN TO THE FATHERS. "Thus saith the Lord" by
His unfailing Word stands, and shall stand and be vindicated.
There is one prophet-messenger to this age.
On the basis of
human behavior alone, anyone knows that where there are
many people there is even divided opinion on lesser points of
a major doctrine which they all hold together. Who then will
have the power of infallibility which is to be restored in this
last age, for this last age is going to go back to manifesting
the
Pure Word Bride? That means we will have the Word once
again as it was perfectly given, and perfectly understood in
the days of Paul. I will tell you who will have it. It will
be
a prophet as thoroughly vindicated, or even more thoroughly
vindicated than was any prophet in all the ages from Enoch
to this day, because this man will of necessity have "the
capstone
prophetic ministry", and God will show him forth. He won't
need to speak for himself, God will speak for him by the voice
of the sign. Amen.
The second thought that must be impressed on
our
hearts
is that the seven church ages started out with the antichrist
spirit as well as the Holy Spirit Who is to be blessed forever.
I John 4:1: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the
spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world." Did you notice it? The
antichrist
spirit is identified with false prophets. The ages came in
with
false prophets and they will go out with false prophets.
Now
of course there is going to be a REAL FALSE PROPHET in
the grand sense of that man mentioned in the Revelation. But
as of now before his revelation there are to appear many false
prophets.
Matt 24:24-36. These
false
prophets are embarked
for us in various other Scriptures such as the following: II Peter 2:1-2,
II Tim. 4:3-4,
I Tim 4:1.
Now in every case
you will notice that a false prophet is one who is outside the
Word. Just as we showed you that 'antichrist' means
'anti-Word'
so these false prophets come perverting the Word, giving
it a
meaning that fits their own devilish ends. Have you ever noticed
how the people who lead others astray bind them closely to
themselves by
fear? They say that if the people don't do what they
say, or if they leave, then destruction will follow. They are
false
prophets, for a true prophet will always lead one to the Word
and bind the people to Jesus Christ and he won't tell the
people to
fear him or what he says, but to fear what the Word says.
Notice how these people like Judas are out
for
money. They get you to
sell all you have and give it to them and their schemes. They
spend more time on offerings than the Word. Those who
attempt
to operate gifts will make use of a gift which has a margin of
error in it and then ask for money, and neglect the Word
and call
it of God. And people will go to them, and bear with them,
and
support them, and believe them, not knowing it is the way of
death. Yes, the land is full of carnal impersonators. In
that last
day they will try to imitate that prophet-messenger. The
seven
sons of Sceva tried to imitate Paul. Simon the
sorcerer tried to imitate Peter. Their impersonations will be
carnal.
They won't be able to produce what the true Prophet
produces.
When he says the revival is over they
will go
around claiming a great revelation
that what the people have is exactly right and God is going
to do
bigger and more wonderful things amongst the people. And
the
people will fall for it. These same false prophets
will claim
that
the messenger of the last day is not a theologian, so he
ought not
to be heard. They won't be able to produce what the
messenger
can; they won't be vindicated by God as that last day prophet
is,
but with their great swelling words and with the weight of
their
world-wide notoriety they will warn the people not to hear
that
man (messenger) and they will say he teaches wrong. They
are
running exactly tme to their fathers, the Pharisees, who were
of
the devil, for they claimed that both John and Jesus taught
error.
Now why do these false prophets come
against the
true
prophet and discredit his teaching? Because they are
running
true to form
as did their forefathers when in the days of Ahab they
withstood
Micaiah. There were four hundred of them and all of
them were
in agreement; and by them all saying the same thing, they
fooled
the people. But ONE prophet -just one- was right and all
the
rest wrong because God had committed the revelation to
ONLY
ONE.
Beware of false prophets, for they are
ravening wolves.
If you are still in any doubt about this ask
God by
His
Spirit to fill you and lead you, FOR THE VERY ELECT CAN'T
BE FOOLED. Did you get that? There isn't any man can
fool
you. Paul could not fool any elect, had he been wrong. And
in
that first Ephesian Age the elect there could not be fooled
for
they tried the false apostles and prophets and found them to
be
liars and put them out. Hallelujah. HIS sheep hear His
voice and
they follow HIM. Amen. I believe it.
THE
BIBLE
REFERENCE
REVELATION 3:14-22
14. "And unto the angel of the
church
of the Laodiceans write:
These things saith the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness,
the beginning of the Creation of God;
15. I know thy works, that thou are neither
cold nor
hot: I would
thou wert cold or hot.
16. So then because thou art lukewarm, and
neither
cold nor
hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth.
17. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and
increased
with goods
and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18. I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in
the
fire, that thou
mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed,
and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint
thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:
be
zealous therefore,
and repent.
20. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:
if any
man hear My
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup
with him, and he with Me.
21. To him that overcometh will I grant to
sit With
Me in My
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down, with My
Father in His throne.
22. He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit
saith
unto the churches.
Scripture References Used Above
Malachi 3:1:
"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."
Matthew 11:1-12:
"And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding
His twelve
disciples, He departed thence to teach and to preach in their
cities.
Now when John had heard in the prison the works of
Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
And said unto Him, Art
thou He That should come, or do we look for another?
Jesus
answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those
things which ye do hear and see:
The blind receive their
sight,
and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear,
the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached
to them.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended
in Me.
And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the
multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the
wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
But what
went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold,
they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
But what
went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and
more than a prophet.
For this is he, of whom it is written'
Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall
prepare Thy way before Thee.
Verily I say unto you, Among
them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
MALACHI 4:1-6:"For behold, the day cometh, that
shall burn
as an oven;
and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith
the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor
branch.
But, unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of
Righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall
go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
And ye shall
tread
down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of
your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of
hosts.
Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I
commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with statutes
and judgments.
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."
John 1: 19-20,"And this is the record of
John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem
to ask him, Who art thou?
And he confessed, and denied not;
but confessed, I am not the Christ."
Matthew 24:24-26, "For
there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall
shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Behold, I have
told
you before.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He
is in the desert; go not forth; behold, He is in the secret
chambers; believe it not."
II PETER 2:1-2,
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as
there
shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in
damnable heresies, even denying the Lord That bought them and
bring
upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow
their
pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be
evil spoken of."
II TIM 4:3-4,
"For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And
they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be
turned
unto fables."
I TIM 4:1,
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that
in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed
to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils."
