No. 64 - SEASONS OF THE CHURCH, PART IV: IT’S DARKEST BEFORE DAWN By: John J. Blanchard Saturday, April 02, 2005 The first thing we are going to do in this sermon is describe the body of Christ at its very finest. We will look into what the Church is composed of and how it emulates Jesus Christ in the very best way possible. We will do it by looking at scripture. THE CHURCH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST Turn, if you would, to I Corinthians chapter 12 where it is speaking of the body of Christ. Read I Corinthians 12:12-20. We have used this scripture many times in the past to show that God has many parts to the body of Christ. Turn now, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 5. These parts which, of course, are people called by God and given the Holy Spirit to be a part of that body also form a dwelling place and a temple for Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5 tells us something else about the body here. Read Ephesians 5:25-32. First of all, it is a tremendous mystery to understand that family and marriage portray what God is doing between Jesus Christ and the Church. It is an even greater mystery to understand that the people who form the body of Christ are actually flesh of his flesh and bone of His bones. Turn back now a couple of pages to Ephesians 2. Read Ephesians 2:19-22. Here we see that the body of Christ (flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones) is also a dwelling place for Jesus Christ. It is His temple. It is a household (a building for Him to dwell in). It is composed of many parts (many people). Turn now to Hebrews 3 for corroboration of that. Read Hebrews 3:1-6. Part of the agreement is that we will hold firm to our calling to the end, whether it is our life that ends or Jesus Christ returns. But we have become a house for Him to dwell in. Just as a physical house is not equal to the person who built it (the person is greater than the house), Christ is greater than His body, yet He dwells in His body. It is flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones. It is a place for Him to dwell. Without turning there, you will remember that in Galatians 2:20 we are told that it is no longer we who live but Jesus Christ who lives in us. Once we have accepted the calling and received the Holy Spirit, we are, in essence, crucified with Him. We have died to the flesh (died to the world). He now dwells in us, and we are His body. What makes a body useful, productive and able to think and reason? Is it not the mind? Of course, it is the mind. Just as we have a physical body, and the spirit that God put in us (which is called the spirit of man) allows us to think and to reason, the spiritual body of Christ must have a mind. That is, of course, the mind of Christ. That mind is what directs the body to do His will. Turn, if you would, to I Corinthians chapter 2 for a discussion of that in the scriptures. Read I Corinthians 2:6-10. It is God’s Holy Spirit that allows us to understand scripture and the meaning behind His holy days, His plans, and His future for mankind. These are spiritually discerned. Continuing in I Corinthians 2, verse 12. “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” THE MIND OF CHRIST Verse 14: “But the natural man…” (that is the mind that we have at our human birth) “…does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” The reason we can be instructed by God in the Spirit is that He has put a bit of His mind into a person. Once a person is baptized and receives the Holy Spirit we have just a touch of the mind essence of God! That allows us to discern spiritual thoughts of God and to compare spiritual concepts to spiritual concepts as we do with the scriptures. We compare one thing to another so that we can come to a fuller understanding of what we should be doing and what God is doing with mankind. This is a gift from God, and it is a great mystery. The only way we can receive this gift is to become part of the body of Christ and receive a bit of His mind. Therefore, we give ourselves to Him so He has a body to work with. It is flesh and bone in order to continue His work. The ultimate manifestation of having some of the mind of Christ is love. Love is the ultimate manifestation that Jesus Christ is directing the body. Let’s read a few scriptures that would support that by turning to John chapter 13 and read verses 34-35. Jesus Christ gave a command to His disciples which has been passed down through the ages through His Church. That command is that we are to love one another. By this tremendous love for one another, the world would actually see where the mind of Christ is because the love that is within us would portray Christ’s mind in action. Love is the action that is getting things done for God that the whole world can recognize. Now turn to John chapter 15:1 where Christ explains this concept even further. Read John 15:1-5. We have to have the mind of Christ abiding in us in order to bear fruit of a spiritual nature. Continue reading John 15:6-8. In verse 9 as we continue you will see what is the evidence of this fruit. It shows the evidence that the mind of God is within a person (within the body of Christ). Verse 9: “‘As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.’” So to abide in the vine is to abide in Christ’s love. Verse 10. “‘If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.’” Joy, of course, is one of the fruits of the spirit. Continue reading in John 15:12-17. This whole concept of being part of the vine and Jesus Christ being the true vine and our bearing much fruit if we stay connected to that vine is manifested by love within the individual connected to the vine. We must bear much fruit, and in order to do that we must have much love. It is the love of Jesus Christ. Go back now to John 14:15. “‘If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.’” This is a promise of receiving the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of truth) if we agree to keep His commandments. Then in verse 18 He identifies this Holy Spirit. He says, “‘I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.’” So it is the mind of Christ coming into the body of Christ that brings us the Holy Spirit of truth. It brings us the knowledge of how to bear fruit and how to produce love in our lives. It all goes together in a remarkable and very mysterious way. Because when we die to Christ, we allow Him to take our body (our flesh). We give it to Him to use. Through this dwelling place where He lives (this household) He works in this body. He works in this house and produces much fruit. The Father keeps pruning it back so it bears even more fruit, but we have to stay connected to the vine. We need to stay with the house in order to bear this type of fruit. Now please turn to II Timothy 1. There is other evidence that the Holy Spirit is working with a person. We have evidence that the Holy Spirit is working within the Church. Turn to II Timothy 1, verse 3: “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience…” (this is Paul writing to Timothy) “…as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.” He said the mind of Christ was first in your grandmother and then it was in your mother, and I am persuaded because of what I see in you, Timothy. I am persuaded that it is in you. Verse 6: “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” He was writing to his son in the faith, Timothy. He was encouraging Timothy for whatever reason. There must have been a problem Timothy was facing, and it was causing him concern and perhaps some doubt. Paul said I want you to stir the Spirit up that I know is there. The mind of Christ is there, and use the power there. If you are using that power, you will not have fear because you will have love. Love is what casts out fear. Turn, if you would, to I John chapter 4. When it casts out fear, we have a sound mind. It is the mind of Christ. You do not get any sounder than that! I John 4, verse 18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” We love this Jesus Christ whom we have given our body to. It is the same Jesus Christ who has come to live with us. We love Him and are made more perfect as we get rid of anxieties and fears and we trust Him. He gives us that sound mind that is full of love and therefore casts out fear. There is another way that this is evidenced. We have this love of the body of Christ. We cannot hate the flesh of our own flesh. Once we become part of the body of Christ the great mystery is that we must all love one another. If we are hard on one another, dislike one another or judge one another, we are actually hating our own flesh because we are part of the body of Christ! LOVE BY KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS If you turn to Romans 13, Christ takes this another step further. Romans 13, verse 8: “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” We are to love our neighbor which goes beyond the body of Christ. We are to love all of mankind and do so by properly keeping the commandments of God. This is why Jesus Christ said if you love Me, you will keep My commandments. Continuing in Romans 13, verse 11: “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” Brethren, that is more true now than it was 2,000 years ago, for sure! Verse 12: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” The lust of the flesh that causes envy, strife, arguing, and things we should not desire is the opposite of love. The things that would cause us to break God’s commandments are the opposite of love. They are the opposite of the mind of Christ. That brings us to the point that we want to continue from the previous several sermons: How would one go about abominating and desolating the body of Christ (the Church)? DESOLATING THE BODY OF CHRIST Satan used two stratagems that we can easily prove from the scriptures. We just read of them as we read these verses. First he would cause the individual to break the commandments. He would cause them to stop keeping the commandments of God, which of course involve how we treat our fellow man. But the first four commandments are how we relate to God. Do we keep His Sabbath, His holy days and revere His name? Do we keep His truth and not apostatize against the truth? In this way, if Satan can get an individual or the Church to start breaking the commandments, he would start the process of the abomination of desolation. This would tear apart the body of Christ! This is exactly what he did starting at the 1,290th day as we discussed in the second and third installments in this series. That is when the abomination of desolation was set up in the holy place, which is the body of Christ. That is this temple we have been talking about where the love of God should be so powerful and ever present that there would be no way an abomination of desolation could get set up. But at the 1,290th day spoken of in Daniel, the abomination does get set up. The first wave of heresy that came over the Church was about the Sabbath day, the holy days, doctrines (such as health and healing), the truth of God versus the trinity. Once these things came into the Church, to follow them was to break the commandments, so the Church fled. They did not realize we were fleeing the abomination of desolation, but those who wanted to hold on to the truth fled. There was a huge number of the people who were very comfortable with the new teachings and succumbed to the abomination of desolation. That was not sufficient. There were quite a few thousands of people who were holding fast to the Sabbath and the holy days as they had fled away from the abomination. Satan put into motion his second stratagem: to diminish love in the Church. He had to get the body of Christ to start turning on itself and turning on its neighbor, which we understand is the world. Every man and every woman on the planet is our neighbor according to God’s word. He did this by getting the love of the Church to wax cold. Turn, if you would, for the warning of Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:10. Just before He warned of the abomination of desolation, He warned that the love of many would wax cold. Matthew 24, verse 10: “‘And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.’” He is talking about within the Church (the body of Christ). Verse 11: “‘Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.’” The King James Version says “to wax cold”. The love within the body of Christ would start to diminish. What does that mean? The mind of Christ being allowed to work in the Church is getting weaker and weaker because we have to give Him our body, our heart and our life in order for Him to produce spiritual fruit. As that fruit diminishes, He is actually in effect being pushed out our lives! We are quenching the Holy Spirit! There are scriptures to warn against quenching the Holy Spirit (the mind of Christ). Love is the glue that keeps the body of Christ together. It is the actual glue that keeps us together and caring for one another. Turn to Galatians 5:22 where it tells us the fruit of the Spirit of the mind of God working within the body of Christ. Galatians 5, verse 22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” We could look up many scriptures in the New Testament to attest to these fruits of the Spirit and how to avoid the pulls of the flesh that cause division, arguing and envying against one another. In the body of Christ, love should be the guiding factor. Love and the mind of Jesus Christ should be guiding us towards gentleness, self-control, patience, longsuffering, and goodness. These are the things that would show that the mind of Christ is powerfully working in our lives (the body of Christ). The lack of them obviously shows that the mind of Christ is not having the control over the body the way it should. Let us turn to Matthew chapter 5 for the section on The Beatitudes. In a sermon Christ also outlined all the fruits of the Spirit here that we would need to be very profitable for Him and to be lights to the world. Read Matthew 5:1-12. Then He goes on to say you are the salt of the earth. You are a preservative by bearing fruit like this. The mind of Christ is working through the Church. Verse 13: “‘You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city…’” (and we talked about that spiritual city Jerusalem and that spiritual temple in the last couple of sermons) “‘…that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.’” We are so bright, like a beacon on a hill. Verse 15: “‘Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.’” People should see what the Church is doing, our good works and our love for one another. They will see our lamps shining like a beacon on a hill. They will see how people should treat one another and follow our example. They can follow Jesus Christ’s body because the mind dwells here and we are emulating His life. We are letting Him run our flesh and bones, is what Jesus Christ is saying. It is like that lighthouse we talked about. We are out there showing the world how to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Then in the same discourse I want to pull out some select verses. We can glean more insight into these things. Drop down to Matthew 5:19. “‘Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.’” In order to be blessed with the opportunity to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must practice these things and let our light shine by keeping the commandments. We absolutely must, which is why Satan tried to get the Church to stop keeping the commandments. Matthew 5, verse 21: “‘You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.” But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, “Raca!”…’” (which is like calling someone a fool) “‘…shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, “You fool!” shall be in danger of hell fire.’” Christ warns us not to be angry within the Church against our brothers and sisters in the faith. Anger is a seed that Satan can use to divide and destroy the body of Christ. Verse 23: “‘Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.’” Within the body of Christ there should be no rifts, no division, no hatred, and no anger. Christ says do not come and pray to Me or make offerings to Me until you rectify these things within My body. Do not be tearing My mind apart in both directions. I want brethren to get along. I want the parts of My body to get along. Read Matthew 5:27-30. There are a couple of things I want to address here with these verses. First of all, evidence that the Church is in dire straits right now is that marriage is in trouble throughout the Church. Marriages are falling apart, and divorce is rampant. It is not just men lusting after women. It is women destroying their husbands and causing families to dissolve. God hates this. But He says if you are having a problem with things entering your eye (your mind), and it is so bad that is causing you to do things with your hand and your foot (leading you astray), it is better to cut off your hand or your foot so you will not go do those things. We do not do that to ourselves necessarily, but that is the seriousness of the situation. The Father does that! He has no compunction with waiting. He prunes the branches. The body of Christ is composed of many parts. If there is a hand, foot or eye that continues to sin causing a blackness to enter the body of Christ and that individual will not repent, God has no choice but to prune it off. He gets rid of it! He lets it wither because it is harming the entire body! This is a two-fold principle, both spiritual and physical. We must pay attention to this, because we are part of that wonderful body of Christ if we have the Holy Spirit. Please drop down to Matthew 5:37. “‘But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No.” For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.’” Keep your word. We are to say what we mean and mean what we say and keep it. Jesus Christ says if you do other than that, it is the evil one who is causing you to do that. If the body of Christ has deceit, lying and intrigue within it, you know it is being led in those cases by the evil one. It is a very serious matter. Throughout the Church now people do not, to the same extent, try to tell the truth. There is a lot of deceit and intrigue within the body of Christ. It is harming people from the top to the bottom. It is hurting people very deeply, and Jesus Christ does not allow that. Be straight forward with one another. Be honest. Read Matthew 5:38-42. Once again Christ says here do not have a get-even attitude, especially within the body of Christ. Today within the body of Christ there are many lawsuits between individuals and different Church groups. They are constantly taking one another to court. This is slandering the body of Christ. This is tearing apart the body that the mind should be directing toward higher pursuits and not before the courts of the law. We could look at scriptures in the Bible that actually tell us to stay out of the courts of the land. We should solve our differences the correct way using the principles as outlined in Matthew 18. We should go to our brother and reconcile ourselves, rather than tear ourselves apart in court. The attitudes that cause us to do these things are not of the mind of Christ. Read Matthew 5:43-48. God’s love is so perfect He loves our neighbors. He loves the world. God so loved the world that He sent His Son not for a special few but eventually for everyone! If we are to emulate our Father and be perfect like our Father in heaven, we must love all mankind. We must get rid of this hatred and animosity starting within the body of Christ. We need to put these principles to use within the body of Christ, but then also practice them with our neighbors. There is no such thing anymore as an eye for an eye. We are to forgive our neighbors and forgive the brethren whenever there is an offense. This is how we bear fruit for God, for this is love. Jesus Christ and the Father are, of course, perfect love. The hatred within the Church and the lack of forgiveness within the body of Christ are some of the primary tools that Satan used to divide the Church. Essentially the Church has been divided because the shepherds became divided. As the shepherds fought and argued amongst themselves, they tore members from the body of Christ and had them follow after each individual shepherd. These grudges, the finger pointing and the harsh judgmentalism we see within the body of Christ is Laodiceanism. We are told not to judge. JUDGING OTHERS LEADS TO BLINDNESS Turn to Matthew 7 and read verses 1-5. The principle is to judge ourselves. Be hard on ourselves first, and be harder on ourselves than we are on our brother or sister in the faith. Then very gently help them. Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter 6. It is talking about the same principle here in Luke 6. Read Luke 6:37-38. That is a principle we have to take to heart. We are warned by the mind of Jesus Christ that how we judge, how we give and how we forgive sets the standard by which we will be judged. We are warned right here. Read Luke 6:39-42. Working with wood as much as I do, I have had slivers and specks in my eye on many occasions. They are painful. You close your eye and you cannot see anything. Until it is removed by washing your eye and getting the speck of dirt out, you cannot see. You are temporarily rendered blind. What Christ is saying here is if you have a plank in your eye, how can you see to help your brother? You cannot see, and you are blinded. So blindness is caused by this lack of forgiveness, this judgmentalism, and this harsh dispensing of justice amongst the brethren! This causes blindness. It is a spiritual blindness of the worst type. What we have done now with these few verses is we have identified ourselves (the Laodicean Era) in scripture. Blindness is rampant because these things are rampant in the Church. Let us turn now to a description of the Laodicean Era in Revelation chapter 3 where Christ tells us in no uncertain terms. Revelation 3, verse 14: “‘And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, “These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God…”’” The mind that works within us (the body of Christ) that witnesses and that teaches us of the truth tells us here in verse 15. “‘I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked…’” Now we understand how we became blind. Verse 18: “‘I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire…’” (that is character that will make us truly rich, and we saw what that type of character is) “‘…that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” If we have an ear to hear, we can hear this. Jesus Christ may have vomited our era out of His mouth, but He did not go far away. He is on the other side of a spiritual door waiting for us to open the door so He can come in and feed us the truth. Our lamps then can once again get lit. We can once again start bearing the fruit of God. We can be well connected to the vine that will give us life. If we do not, we will continue to grow wearier and wearier spiritually. That is the point the Church is in. It is growing wearier and wearier. Without the connection to the vine we will wither and die, brethren. So this is a very serious warning for the last era, but it is very hopeful. If we do let Him in and overcome the things that have overcome us and overcome the stratagems of Satan that have torn the Church apart, Christ says you will sit with Me on My throne. He knows how difficult this time has been for the Church. He gives us an outstanding reward if we will only listen to Him with ears to hear. He has a reward for us if we would let Him touch us with the salve that would give us the spiritual vision to help us to see ourselves for what we really are. We have seen the evidence of Satan’s hold on the body of Christ by a lack of these things, and we know what this means. We have talked about it in the last couple of sermons, but I want to turn back to II Thessalonians chapter 2 to refresh our memories. It is a very sobering thought. THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION Read II Thessalonians 2:1-2. Two-thousand years ago some brethren had been told by false ministry that Christ already returned! You have missed the boat! People were getting shaken up. Paul said no, it is not going to happen soon. Then he goes on to say what will happen first so that we will see what will happen prior to Christ’s second coming. Verse 3: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day…” (the coming of Christ) “…will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition…” We now understand this is Satan himself who has gotten into the Church. He does it, of course, by working through people, but it is Satan himself. Verse 4: “…who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” This is the abomination of desolation. Verse 5: “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?” (Paul said I already explained this to you before.) “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” You will notice that “He” is capitalized. It is in my translation. Because “He” represents Jesus Christ who restrained Satan from overcoming the body of Christ. Satan could not overcome the body of Christ until the restraining one (Jesus Christ) vomited the Church out of His mouth, so to speak. Satan could not have a free hand in the Church. The body of Christ has had a serious problem since the abomination of desolation has been set up. The mind and attitude of Satan has entered the Church! Instead of having the complete mind of Jesus Christ, we see the mind of Satan has entered the Church. This is the abomination of desolation, and this was what we were fleeing when we first left the true Church as we saw it go down. We saw it start to embrace false doctrines that would cause us to break the commandments. But over the years of fleeing, the Church broke into almost like a “Balkanization” of the Church like Beirut, Lebanon that had been a beautiful city. Eventually it was taken over by small factions and groups that tore it apart. They were terrorist groups. In the Church of God we broke down into small factions hating one another. We started taking each other to court. We slandered one another on the Internet. There was all manner of despicable things going on, which was not evidence of the mind of Christ, but is evidence of the mind of Satan working in the temple of God! This is how serious it was when we were vomited out of Christ’s mouth. We were left on our own to contend with Satan, and of course we did not do very well! To this very day the body of Christ has been self-destructing and wasting away. We want to look at what caused this. How were these stratagems used by Satan? It was through pompous words, false doctrines, hard-heartedness and an accusing spirit. This is what caused the love of many to wax cold. False doctrines translate into false signs and wonders. False pagan doctrines came back into the Church on what day to worship, whether to observe holy days, and all of these types of things. The hard-heartedness caused us to accuse one another and slander one another. These were the accusing spirits of Satan working within the Church doing his work of abomination and desolation. Turn, if you would, back to Matthew chapter 7. Sadly, all of this has taken place in the holy place as Jesus Christ warned. That is in His body and in His temple. Read Matthew 7:15-20. We have studied the concept of trees being teachers in the Church and trees representing false prophets in the Church that should be feeding the flock of God with good fruit. When they feed the Church good fruit (good doctrines, examples of good ways of living and of good treatment of the brethren towards one another) you would not have a “Balkanization” of the Church. You would not have the fruit we have today. Therefore, by their fruit we know ravenous wolves have come into the Church and devoured the flock of God! They have caused the body of Christ to divide, separate and waste away. There has been a harsh judgmental attitude that has been routinely dispensed within the Church and within the Church groups towards one another. There have been intrigue, politics, lawsuits, and selfishness. The most selfish doctrine of all has been the place of safety. Many of the groups are willing to say we are deserving of a place of safety and let the rest of the Church get martyred in the great tribulation! They also say let the rest of the world die except for whatever few can make it through the horror that they describe! That is such an extremely selfish doctrine. How could we ever believe that would be loving our neighbors! That is totally the opposite of loving our neighbors. Didn’t Christ say when we exhibit His love, we are willing to lay down our lives? This is true within the Church. Rather than to cause an offense, we should be willing to lay down our lives, to give up our cloak and to give up on the lawsuits. Within the greater community of earth itself it is saying we are willing to be the sacrifice for this world along with our Brother Jesus Christ. He is the primary sacrifice that washes us clean. We gave our bodies to Him to continue to sacrifice so the world could look forward to a Millennium. We can see this principle outlined in Luke chapter 9. Please turn to Luke 9. Jesus Christ had to upbraid a couple of His disciples who did not understand this point fully. Read Luke 9:51-56. For a simple insult these two disciples of renown had a grudge and an anger towards these people so that they were actually willing to wipe them out! In our vernacular today it would be like saying “nuke” them for this! Christ said you are not of My Spirit and My mind when you think like that! You are of that other spirit, the other mind, Satan’s mind. Get that out of your mind! Our purpose is to spare mankind. That is the purpose of the body of Christ. He set them straight on this point, and John learned it so well he is known as the apostle of love. We even read some of his words in both the gospel and the epistle of John of how to love one another. He did learn, but it took a few episodes, I am sure, of the teacher telling him, John, that is not our purpose. Do not be angry. Do not say “raca” to your neighbor. Do not hate your neighbor. We need to love all of mankind, and that is what My Father sent Me into the world to do. I am to love and to preach love. THE CHURCH IN THE LAST DAYS Turn now to II Timothy chapter 3. There are many very sobering and helpful warnings in the scriptures here of what to watch out for in the latter days. What is being talked about here is the Church. The world has always had these problems. We are talking about the Church which should have the mind of Christ. II Timothy 3, verse 1: “But know this that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” We know how to put on a suit or a dress and look pretty good on the Sabbath. But we can deny God’s power if these are the fruits that we are bearing. The Church is in such a condition, we know this is the fruit within the Church! People are loving their money, and they are boastful. We blaspheme God’s name when we act this way. We slander His name when we say He wants to destroy the entire world here at the end, instead of fulfilling the obligation that the Church actually signed on to at our baptism. We agreed to help preserve the earth. We have been headstrong and traitors. We have been traitors amongst one another. We have been turning one another in, so to speak, and causing the love of many to wax cold. These are the fruits of the spirit we have within the Church today. They are the fruits of the mind of Satan and not the mind of God! We have to call a spade a spade, brethren, and not be afraid to look at the truth. When we look at the truth, then we will be armed with the knowledge we need to defend ourselves against these wrong ways of living. Continue reading in II Timothy 3:6. “For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts…” (The reference here is women being the Church. In the last days the Church, the ten virgins, have been led down this primrose path with this preaching.) “…always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” They can be studying their Bible, praying and going to church but being fed these horrible attitudes and not realize it! Christ warned Laodicea this is your condition, and you do not even know it! In verse 8 he gives us some specific examples from Moses’ time. Verse 8: “Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth…” (They are resisting the gospel of the kingdom! They are resisting the good news for the world!) “…men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” This is the time to get rid of this folly so that we will not be manifested as fools. We need to understand the work that has been done. We studied in the last couple of sermons the two witnesses preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and the Elijah work getting done which reversed the curse on the world. Up to that time, we were fulfilling our obligation to help God preserve the earth, and then something went terribly awry within the Church that caused the abomination of desolation to occur. Since that time we have been going backwards! We have to get rid of this nonsense and foolishness and get back on track spiritually and understand where we are in time. We need to understand where we are in the seasons of the Church. OUT OF SEASON Now, if you would, jump over a page to II Timothy chapter 4, verse 1: “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.” (Brethren, we are getting out of season, but we can still preach if we would get rid of this folly that we have been following for the last number of years.) “Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” II Timothy 4, verse 5: “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” God says even when you are out of sync with the seasons, persevere while there is still time and preach the truth. The reward is still there! That is what Jesus Christ told Laodicea. The reward is still there if you will get rid of your folly, put on clean garments, gain true riches and be the example and the light to the world that we should of God’s love. CORRECTION FOR THE CHURCH Satan’s trickery got the Church to reflect his attitudes and his thinking through pompous words, false doctrine, and slandering of God’s name. God had no choice but to spew us out! He had no choice but to not be associated for a short time with the Church, but He is utilizing that time as a corrective episode to get rid of the bad fruit (those who will not repent). There are also those who would repent and clean up every spot and blemish. This is a time that can actually be good for us. God loves every son whom He chastises and corrects. This can be good for the Church because in the long run it is going to polish those who want to shine. It is going to help those who really still care about their calling and who still care about having the mind of Christ. They are those who are letting Him use their lives. It is going to help them reverse this and clean up so that we can be part of the bride of Christ. At this point in time defeat is staring us in the face, and we need to admit it! But we can turn defeat into a wonderful victory by letting Jesus Christ work with us as He has promised He would. He has still not forsaken His Church. He stepped out of it temporarily, but He has not forsaken it. He will never forsake us. The promise is that we will win! We will win because Jesus Christ and God the Father are not losers. But we have to get with the program, so to speak, at the end. THE CHURCH OVERCOME Looking at what happened, let’s turn now to Revelation 13. We have looked at this in the last couple of sermons. Let us review these things and what happened to the Church. Revelation 13, verse 5: “And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him…” (once he overcomes the Church, he has everybody again) “…whose names have not been written in the Book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear.” Verse 10: “He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” This is what we must endure, brethren. Captivity and being led back into captivity is to go back to Babylon, and that is Satan’s world. Whoever leads back to captivity will be given over to Satan. The sword of God is the word of God, the Bible. There are those who kill with the sword, in other words, with false doctrine. He who kills people by misusing God’s word will also be judged by God’s word. These are sobering thoughts here. We are not talking about physical warfare because we are talking about the spiritual body of Christ, and that is the saints that are overcome. Let me repeat again physical warfare can never defeat the Church of God. Guns, bombs, and bullets cannot stop a spiritual body! It keeps coming, generation after generation. Sins, breaking the commandments in an unrepentant fashion, and letting the love wax cold defeat the body of Christ. This is what does it, and this is how Satan overcame the Church in the last days. Let’s tie this together with the two witnesses in Revelation 11:7. “When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit…” (we are talking about the same episode) “…will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” Here we see that when the Church goes down, it is a falling of the truth. It is a falling of the body of Christ. It is a putting out of the lamps that the virgins carried. This is what we are talking about which is why you do not bury these bodies. Unless a person so happens to die physically during this episode in time, you are not buried, but the Church still has gone down in a spiritual city called Jerusalem. In these conditions with Satan within the Church it is Sodom and Egypt to God. Mr. Armstrong used to teach that he called us out of Egypt and out of the world. When we let Satan back into the Church, Egypt and Sodom came to us and took us again! We have gone back into captivity. This is what is being spoken of here, and it is a spiritual warfare at its worst. This is a very trying time for God’s people. Turn, if you would now, to Isaiah chapter 59. We will look up a couple of Old Testament references now which support what we have just said. Isaiah 59, verse 9: “Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us; we look for light, but there is darkness!” (That is the time we are in, brethren.) “For brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall…” (That is the wall of Jerusalem in the temple.) “…like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight; we are as dead men in desolate places.” These are dead people still stumbling around. It is the two witnesses. It is the Church without the mind of Christ in it, but that means Christ is suffering. He cannot let His lamp shine because He is using His body. It is His flesh and bones at this time. Continue in Isaiah 59:11. “We all growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves; we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them: In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.” Those are false doctrines and the harsh doctrines toward our brethren and toward our neighbors, and our sins have turned us from God. Verse 14: “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.” Anybody willing to stand up and say this is what is wrong with the Church is quickly slapped down! That is a very sad state of affairs. Many people who would understand these things are afraid to utter them to the Church, for the powers that be will disfellowship them and put them out! Also they slander them and ruin their reputation. This is the state of affairs the Church is in at this very time, for truth has fallen in the street! Go back, if you would, to Daniel chapter 12 where it is speaking of this time once again. Daniel 12, verse 7: “Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.” Brethren, we are so close to that being complete, if it isn’t already! There is not much time. We are in a season of darkness, and it is drawing to a close. The Church has been completely shattered and its power almost totally diminished. The truth has almost totally been erased, and the world has been given no hope. The gospel of the kingdom is not properly preached, for we deny what previously has been accomplished in the Church. We have denied what God has actually accomplished to preserve the earth! Therefore, we are taking the brunt of Satan’s anger. We are taking the brunt of his attacks on the Church. That has led to the power of the holy people being completely shattered and scattered. Turn back now to Daniel chapter 7 where it is speaking of the same episode. Daniel 7, verse 21: “‘I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them…’” It says “overcoming” in the King James Version. This point in time is being cross referenced now, and this shows us that there is a time in history when Satan prevails for a short time against the Church. Verse 22 tells us: “‘…until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.’” A lot of saints have died in the last couple of thousands of years, and the prophets before them, to get to where we are today. We must fulfill our obligations to get this project finished. God will see to it that it gets done. We want to be able to stand up with the brethren who have died in the past faithfully, but it is up to us, brethren. Are we going to get rid of the folly in our lives? Are we going to get rid of the spots and blemishes, hold fast and be part of a successful finish or will we be shown to be foolish at the end? Let us not be part of the foolish part of the Church. Let us seek the wisdom and overcome. Drop down to Daniel 7:25. “‘He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints…’” (that means to wear out in the King James Version) “‘…of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.’” That same period of time (the three and a half days or three and half years) at the very end of this dark period the saints will be given to Satan to thrash, but we know God is going to reverse this. Since we are in that time, brethren, it is incumbent upon us to realize just how short it is before Christ comes and takes us by surprise as a thief in the night. Let’s realize this wearing out of the saints is a wearing down of our hearts by anxiety. You would see this if you were to look it up in the Hebrew. It is a mental torment. It is a mental persecution because it is a pushing of the Church towards sin and a waxing of the love of the brethren toward themselves and the world. This has been the danger that we have been in now for quite some time. The warning is now going out. We have a mentally and spiritually exhausted Church! But Christ is on the other side of the spiritual door with the sustenance we need, the riches we need and the clean garments we need. We just need to let Him talk to us. Have an ear to hear what He is saying to us. Just let Him do it! It is by His strength that this gets done, anyway. None of us can defeat Satan on our own. Turn, if you would now, to Amos chapter 5:1. “Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel: The virgin of Israel has fallen; she will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land; there is no one to raise her up.” There is only one who can rescue us, brethren, and that is Jesus Christ. We have to let Him in. Verse 3: “For thus says the Lord God: ‘The city that goes out by a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which goes out by a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.’” I think Mr. Armstrong was very prescient when he said perhaps only ten percent of us get it, and maybe not even ten percent! There are indications at the very end there is a ten percent (a tithe) that would be used by God here to turn things around. But there is a good indication that half of the brethren are going to wake up. Please be willing to help our brethren in their weakened state and continue to get rid of our own spots and blemishes so we can Help God as the body of Christ. Let Him work in us once again so the Church would be cleaned up and made ready here at the end. Turn, if you would, to Amos chapter 8:1. “Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit.” (Here we are in the summer season, and He said the following.) “And He said, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ So I said, ‘A basket of summer fruit.’ Then the Lord said to me: ‘The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. And the songs of the temple shall be wailing in that day,’ says the Lord God…” And there is wailing in the Church of God. People are dying physically. Some have given up the truth. Some are being killed spiritually. This is a very sad time, and there is wailing in the temple of God (the holy place of God). Continuing in verse 3: “Many dead bodies everywhere, they shall be thrown out in silence. Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land fail…” Christ says you who are persecuting My people within the body of Christ hear this. We need to stop the destruction of My Church and My people. Continuing in verse 5: “…saying: ‘When will the New Moon be past that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, falsifying the scales by deceit, that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, even sell the bad wheat?’” Brethren, there are a lot of spiritual implications here about buying, selling, and trading of brethren. There is misuse of physical tithe and spiritual assets of God. Continue in Amos 8:7. “The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: ‘Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall the land not tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it?’” This is the state of mourning that we are in. Drop down to verse 9: “‘And it shall come to pass in that day,’ says the Lord God, ‘that I will make the sun go down at noon…’” (As we know, this is Jesus Christ.) “‘…and I will darken the earth in broad daylight…’” (The moon is no longer going to shed her light. The sun is not reflected by the Church.) “‘…I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth…’” (which is a mourning garment) “‘…on every waist, and baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.’” Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, now has a body called the Church. When the Church goes down, it is like mourning for an only son who has been lost. It is an extremely sad time in God’s Church. Continuing in Amos 9:11. “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it. In that day the fair virgins and strong young men shall faint from thirst.’” We have a famine of the word today. We are being led by false signs and false wonders and turned away from the truth. We are being taught selfishness. Preserve yourself in a physical place of safety while everyone else suffers and perishes! Brethren, we have to reverse these attitudes within the Church and then God will bless us. Then we will have happy feasts once again and truth taught throughout our feast sites and throughout the Church areas. Going now back to Amos chapter 4. It is speaking of this famine of the word. Amos 4, verse 6: “‘Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities.’” (That is all your congregations.) “‘And lack of bread in all your places; yet you have not returned to Me,’ says the Lord.” For a couple of decades now we have had a famine going on in the Church. It has been getting worse and worse. Yet people are not returning yet to God. How much correction do we need? Verse 7: “‘I also withheld rain from you…’” (which is the truth of God) “‘…when there were still three months to the harvest.’” The spring is over. There are still three months to the harvest, and He says I am withholding the rain. People are still not returning to Me. We have passed what should have been our Pentecost, the harvest of the firstfruits. Continuing in verse 7: “‘I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me,’ says the Lord.” That has happened. Congregations are being dwindled down to two or three mixed into one to still have enough brethren to come to services, and they are still not being fed the truth. It is a horrible time, spiritually speaking. SPIRITUAL LOCUSTS Verse 9 of Amos 4: “‘I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured them; yet you have not returned to Me,’ says the Lord.” God says whatever you are producing, the locusts are devouring, and you are still not returning to Me. Your fruit is being devoured by the locusts. You still have Church people putting out articles watching for plagues of physical locusts. Physical locusts cannot rob us of the fruit of the Spirit. That is a physical sign and wonder to look at that is wrong! It is deceiving people! Turn, if you would, for the proof of that to Revelation chapter 9. I will show you right where these locusts come from. Revelation 9, verse 1: “Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” Verse 5: “And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.” In other words, they had gold on them and a crown. They looked like Church members. They looked like teachers we could trust! It speaks of women’s hair. They looked like they were part of the virgins. This has been going on for quite some time. They are false teachers coming. But Paul said they were restrained. As long as they were restrained, these locusts could not destroy God’s crop. Then the restraining one moved out of the way, and the locusts had their effect. We are going to find out who these are. Continuing in verse 9: “And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings as like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.” These locusts are from the bottomless pit. When they are allowed to overwhelm the Church, it is when Satan is finally allowed to overwhelm the Church. These are Satan’s locusts. These are his demons. These are the locusts that can harm us. It is not the physical locusts that we see outside. They are spiritual locusts. Now go back to Isaiah chapter 9 because these locusts and scorpions are described once again. It is so important to look for the spiritual signs and wonders, brethren, and not the physical manifestations that can lead us astray. Isaiah chapter 9, verse 13: “For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, nor do they seek the Lord of hosts. Therefore the Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel, palm branch and bulrush in one day. The elder and honorable, he is the head; the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men, nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.” God is still chastising and correcting His people because we are still portraying Him incorrectly, preaching false doctrines, and robbing the world of hope. God says we have to stop that. The teachers (the elders) who are doing this thing are false. We have to stop that and get back with God’s program. Get back with the truth. We have to give hope to the world with the gospel of the kingdom. THE CHURCH DEVOURING ITSELF Continue in verse 18 of Isaiah 9. “For wickedness burns as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and kindle in the thickets of the forest; they shall mount up like rising smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is burned up, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire; no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry; he shall devour on the left hand and not be satisfied; every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh…” We are talking about the last days where the Church will start devouring itself! This is exactly what has happened because of the errors that have been brought into the Church and the love of many waxing cold. There are other places where we can verify this in scripture. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 31:4. “For thus the Lord has spoken to me: ‘As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, he will not be afraid of their voice nor be disturbed by their noise)…’” God is not afraid of false teaching. He will fix this. Continuing in verse 4: “‘…so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; passing over, He will preserve it.’” We can read in Daniel 12 about the angels of God. When Michael stands up and the angels and Jesus Christ fight for His Church, it is as if birds are swarming over this spiritual Jerusalem to fight the other birds who are devouring the body of Christ. They are devouring the body through the false teaching that they are pushing into the Church as they make the Church succumb to the mind and attitudes of Satan the devil. Go back, if you would now, to Isaiah 29 where this battle is described very clearly. It is a very mysterious battle, because we are talking about a spiritual battle for Jerusalem here. It is a spiritual battle for God’s Church. I want to start in Isaiah 29:1. Ariel is another word for Jerusalem. “‘Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt!’” David was a dweller in spiritual Jerusalem as well. We know he had the Holy Spirit. “‘Add year to year; let feasts come around. Yet I will distress Ariel; there shall be heaviness and sorrow, and it shall be to Me as Ariel.’” Verse 3: “‘I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, and I will raise siege works against you. You shall be brought down, you shall speak out of the ground; your speech shall be low, out of the dust; your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground; and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.’” Remember Satan had that curse. He had to lick the dust of the earth. He had to go after mankind and use mankind as a proxy for himself. When his mind gets the Church to utter the blasphemies, as we saw in Revelation chapter 13, it is as if God’s Church (spiritual Jerusalem) is speaking out of the dust of the ground. It is speaking as a medium, so to speak. Verse 5: “‘Moreover the multitude of your foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones…’” (those attacking the Church) “‘…like chaff that passes away; yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly. You will be punished by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire. The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel…’” (all of these spiritual wicked principalities) “‘…even all who fight against her and her fortress, and distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.’” Verse 8 of Isaiah 29: “‘It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is still empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look he drinks; but he awakes, and indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves: so the multitude of all the nations shall be, who fight against Mount Zion.’” Those who are fighting against Mount Zion are so mysterious they cannot be seen by human eyes except as they work through people! Our actual foes cannot be seen for they are spiritual wickedness in high places. We have a famine of the word even when we think we are being fed in many cases! Brethren wake up to realize no, I was not being fed at all! I was led down the primrose path of apostasy. Brethren have been running from city to city to get food and not finding it. It is a very discouraging time for God’s Church, but we are starting to understand it now. That gives us the knowledge to do something. Continue in verse 9: “Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep…” (Yes, the virgins sleep, the Church has been knocked down.) “…and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets…” (Our teachers do not understand.) “…and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.” Verse 11: “The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, ‘Read this, please.’ And he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’” I have personally done that. I have tried to bring some of these things to people I respect who have had much education, and they say, no, we do not understand this! Verse 12 of Isaiah 29: “Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, ‘Read this, please.’ And he says, ‘I am not literate.’ Therefore the Lord said: ‘Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward me is taught by the commandments of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.’” One of the signs and wonders is what has happened to the Church as far as losing its vision and its wisdom. This is what God says the Church is going through. This is the catastrophe that caused the Church to fall and the two witnesses to be exhausted and weakened to such a state that truth has fallen in the street. THE BLIND CHURCH The evidence and the effects of this mysterious battle for the Church are all around us, brethren. We need to just ask God for the spiritual powers to see it. We need to observe it for what it is. We need to see what our part has been in it. I have had to repent. I have had to look at myself and say, God, I am yours. If there is anything left in me that you can use, please spare me. Open my eyes and help me by correcting me. Because none of us can proudly stand up and say we were untainted by the abomination of desolation. Every one of us was affected to one extent or another. We need the spiritual observation to see the evidence and see the effects for what they are, and then do something about it. The battle has been for the heart and soul of the body of Christ. It has been against Christ’s very flesh and bone. The truth of the word that was preached has gone down. The vision and the eyesight of the Church is gone. It is blind! We need to learn how to get it back. We need to learn how to love one another and to love our neighbors. Turn to a couple of final scriptures to really nail this point home. Go back to Zechariah 14. Zechariah 14 describes this battle in more detail. We have to remember the Bible is written primarily for the Church. These words are for the Church to understand, especially in the last days. Zechariah 14, verse 12: “And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem…” (That includes us, if we are part of the Church turning on the body.) “…Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. It shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor, and raise his hand against this neighbor’s hand…” Brethren, that’s what has been going on. We have turned on each other. The flesh of the body of Christ is dissolving. It is actually turning on itself! The vision is gone. That is the dissolving of the eyes. It is not nuclear bombs. Your eyes do not dissolve from nuclear bombs. You are completely blown away! This is a spiritual desolation of God’s Church. When you look up the word “tongues” here where it states the dissolving of the tongues, it means the speech goes. We cannot even utter. Last week we looked at Isaiah 28 where it asks who is going to be able to give this message to preach these things. God wants us to be there, brethren. Look up Ezekiel 34 where the shepherds are asked why have you not fed My flock? Why have you not bound their wounds? On a dark day, gather them up and protect one another and love one another. Read Ezekiel 34:1-10. Read verses 17-20. There is a warning to the shepherds and a warning to the sheep to reverse this by taking care of one another. Seek God’s ways once again and bandage each other up. Love one another. DARKEST BEFORE DAWN The deliverance of the Church is nearly at hand. The rest of the Millennium lies just ahead! We need to persevere just a little longer, brethren. Then we will be able to be told, “Well done good and faithful servant.” But we have a little more work to do to get rid of the spots and blemishes. We need to let Jesus Christ open our eyes so we can see ourselves for what we are. There is a bright new day that is about to dawn, and it is always darkest just before the dawn! Soon you will be able to see what God is doing and partake of it, and we will get our lamps burning brightly once again. In the final sermon in this series we will talk next about the seasons of the Church and how God is going to rectify the situation we find ourselves in today. Study these things and prove them for yourself. Don’t believe them just because I am saying them or you hear them from someone else. Wherever you hear this first, prove it. Prove them for yourself in God’s word, and let God come in through your door (the door of your mind). Let the mind of Christ enter you and work to its full capacity. The fear, the anxiety and the lack of love will go. A sound mind will return. The strength and the power of God’s love will return. With Jesus Christ in you, you have the power to be a lamp shining for the world. You will be a lamp on a hill, a beautiful place that all the world will be able to come to soon to praise God during the Millennium.