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The End of the Church Age...and After
Chapter 9. The Third Season. The Latter Rain
In this study, we have learned that God has a carefully developed plan to evangelize the world. It consists of three seasons and three times. Thus far in our study, we have examined in some detail the first two times, that is, the three and a half year famine of Jesus' day and the spiritual famine of hearing the Word of God during the Great Tribulation. We also examined in some detail the first season, called the early righteous rain, which was the Old Testament era that resulted in the harvest of Jesus Christ Himself as the Messiah. We then examined the second season, which was called the early Pentecostal rain. It began when Jesus arose from the grave and continued for more than 1950 years as the church age. It brought forth a spiritual harvest of Pentecostal firstfruits, the complete fullness of which is typified by the number 144,000, which God speaks of in Revelation 7 and Revelation 14. Later we will examine the 144,000 in greater detail to see why they are the complete fullness of the church age. We are now ready to consider the third and final season, that is, the season of the latter rain. We will discover that it is a time that coincides with the last part of the Great Tribulation. In the Bible, the use of the word "rain" can be teaching God's curse or God's blessing. When God destroyed the world in Noah's day, much of the water that came upon the earth came as rain. We read that it rained 40 days and 40 nights. That rain was a judgment upon the earth. On the other hand, we frequently read of rain upon the earth as an expression of the salvation message, the true Gospel, coming from heaven to earth. Deuteronomy 32, verses 13, teach this principle:
As we learned earlier in this study, this rain of the Gospel is divided particularly into two seasons during the New Testament era. These seasons of rain and the time between these seasons of rain are so important that we will review some of the material presented thus far.
First of all, there is the early or first Pentecostal rain and following this there is the latter rain. In Deuteronomy 11:14-15 we read: In James 5:7, the same principle is stated: This is also taught in Jeremiah 5:24: In Hosea 6:3 we find another reference to this principle:
That there is the early or former rain and the latter rain each in its season instructs us that God anticipates the sending forth of the Gospel in more than one season. This accords with the teaching of Jesus in Acts Chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, where we read:
The restoration of the kingdom to Israel is accomplished as the Gospel goes forth to the world. Those who become saved become an eternal part of the Israel of God.
How then are the seasons of early rain and latter rain divided? We can learn something about this when we go to Deuteronomy 11:16-17:
This is a very significant passage because it teaches that there is a break between the first rain and the latter rain. This break will come if those who are commissioned and mandated by God to bring the true Gospel begin to serve other gods by bringing doctrines that are not from the Bible. We can further understand the early and latter rain when we recognize that the purpose of rain is to bring forth a harvest. Remember in Deuteronomy 11:14 God declared:
We thus must understand what the Bible has to say about harvesting. There was an early Pentecostal harvest and a harvest at the end of the year. In Exodus 23:16, God speaks of these two harvests:
The feast of harvest was celebrated at Pentecost. The feast of ingathering or the feast of tabernacles was celebrated in the seventh month. The feast of Pentecost, which was observed seven weeks after the Passover, was the time when the firstfruits were brought in. We read in Leviticus Chapter 23, verses 16 and 17:
This offering of firstfruits was from the first or early harvest of the land. It, therefore, would relate to the first or early rain. In the New Testament this day is called Pentecost because it was 50 days after the atonement. The feast of tabernacles was in the seventh month of the Jewish year and coincided with the completion of the harvest. Deuteronomy 16:13:
This feast, therefore, would relate to the latter
rain, which we are studying in this chapter. As we assembled Biblical information that helped us to understand the early and latter rain, we read in Joel 2:21-24:
Because of the very helpful
character of these verses, we will look at them again. This passage is more complicated in that it declares, "he hath given [should be ‘gives'] you the former rain moderately [the Hebrew word should be translated ‘righteously'], and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in [should be ‘after'] the first." This passage speaks of two seasons of rain. The first is the righteous former rain. The second is another season of rain that is divided into two parts, an early or former rain and a latter rain. The second is to come after the first righteous rain.
Remember we learned in this study that the former righteous rain was the Old Testament era that produced Jesus as the harvest. The next early or former rain identifies with Pentecost and brought as the harvest all those who became saved during the church age. To help us to further understand this, we should now turn to James 5, verses 17 and 18, where God declares:
This passage immediately sends us to I Kings 17:1, where we read:
The end of the severe famine that followed came immediately after the contest on Mount Carmel. We read I Kings 18:22-24:
Immediately following this
contest, we read in I Kings 18:43-45 that there was a great rain. In other
words, the famine was ended. When we look for the spiritual meaning of this famine and this contest on Mount Carmel, we see quite clearly that it relates to Christ's ministry, including His crucifixion and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Elijah clearly
represents Christ. James 5:17 discloses to us that the famine of Elijah's day continued for three years and six months. This is the exact time from the baptism of Jesus, when He was officially announced as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, until He went to the cross. It was at that time that the fire of God's wrath was poured out on the sacrificial animal laying on the altar, and both the animal and the altar represent Jesus who is the fulfillment of all sacrifices. The fact that the 450 prophets of Baal could not call down fire from heaven is proof that Satan could not and did not bring judgment on Christ. Only Christ as the high priest could offer the sacrificial Lamb, who was Christ Himself, which was to come under the fire of God's wrath. The fact that the 450 prophets of Baal were killed by Elijah (I Kings 18:40), represents the fact that Satan was given a death blow when Christ paid the penalty of God's wrath for our sins. Thus, before this three and a half years had come to an end, judgment had come upon Christ and judgment had come upon Satan.
Do you remember that earlier in this study we learned that there was a spiritual famine during the three years and six months that Jesus was bringing the Gospel to the land of Israel? This was so in spite of the fact that He was the perfect preacher. He declared in Luke 4:43:
Indeed, He was the perfect preacher. He is God Himself. But preaching alone does not bring salvation. God the Holy Spirit must apply that preached Word to the hearts of those who are to be saved. We read in Matthew 13:2:
The disciples asked Him, as we read in verse 10, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" And Jesus answered in verse 11:
That is, only those to whom God
gives understanding will the Gospel be understood. Those who have not been
given understanding will not understand the Gospel. Jesus further declared
in Matthew 13, verses 14-16:
Now we understand why after three years and six months of perfect preaching, there were only 120 in the upper room (Acts 1:15). Additionally, we read of 500 seeing Him after His resurrection (I Corinthians 15:6). Very few were being saved. For example, in John 6 we read of Jesus doing many miracles, including the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, and yet, when Christ began to teach the true nature of the Gospel, we read in John 6:66: Now we can understand what Jesus is teaching in Luke 10:13-15:
Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum were cities near or by the Sea of Galilee. They were cities closest to where Jesus did most of His preaching, and yet, this language implies that virtually no one there became saved. This language underscores the unbelief of those to whom Jesus ministered. Indeed, the prophetic declaration of Amos 8:11 is clearly in evidence:
There was plenty of spiritual bread and water because Jesus was the perfect preacher. But there was a famine of hearing the Word of God.
What we are understanding is that during the three years and six months that Jesus was preaching, there was no problem with the presentation of the true Gospel. The problem was that of hearing the Word of God. In that sense, heaven was shut up and there was no rain. We may assume that many if not most of
the 120 and the 500 mentioned above were saved before Jesus began to
preach. We know that the shepherds (Luke Chapter 2), and Mary, Zacharias,
Elizabeth, Joseph, Simeon, Anna, and John the Baptist are a few of those
who were saved before Christ began His ministry. This famine of hearing the Word of God ended with Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was now in the midst of those gathered together. The season of the church age had begun. Jesus promised in John 14:16-17:
The Holy Spirit who is God Himself began to apply the Word of God to individuals. Thus, even though Peter was far from being the perfect preacher that Jesus was, about 3,000 people were saved in one day. We read in Acts Chapter 2, verse 41:
The three years and six months of the famine of hearing the Word of God was over when Christ arose, and the former or early or first rain had begun. That is, the church age, which would continue for more than 1950 years, had begun. In principle, it began when Jesus arose from the dead for we read that He is the firstfruits (I Corinthians 15:20, 23). As long as the Holy Spirit remained in the midst of the believers who gathered together as a church or a congregation, the former rain continued. And all those who became saved during the church age are the firstfruits. That is why in Revelation 14:4, the 144,000 are called the firstfruits. In Revelation 7, the 144,000 are identified with 12 tribes of Israel. This is so because they were typified by these 12 tribes of Israel. Remember, the nation of Israel consisted of the 13 tribes. Yet 144,000 are all the tribes of Israel even though the tribe of Dan is not mentioned. Thus, these 12 tribes who were typified by literal Israel are in fact the Israel of God which consists of all believers throughout the world. In the Book of James, these same 12 tribes are in view as we read the salutation of James in Chapter 1, verse 1:
That accords with James 1:18 where God states:
Thus, we can be assured that the Book
of James is speaking particularly of the churches and congregations of the
church age. The people saved during the church age are called the
firstfruits in Revelation 14 and in James 1:18. As we are learning, it was
during the church age that the firstfruits of the Pentecostal harvest were
brought into the kingdom of God. And then there is another break in the rain from heaven, a time when three years and six months are again featured as a time of no rain. That is, it would be a time of a famine of hearing the Word of God. The Bible records this in Revelation 11:2, where God prophesies that the temple would be trodden under foot for a period of 42 months. We read there:
The time period of 42 months equals three years and six months. True, the three years and six months when Jesus was preaching, when there was a famine of hearing the Word of God, was exactly, very literally, three years and six months. On the other hand, the 42 months of Revelation 11:2 is to be understood figuratively. Literally, it is a longer period. This period identifies with the 2300 evening mornings of Daniel 8. This possibly could be an exact literal period of time. This famine which began at the completion of the church age effectively signified that the harvest of the firstfruits had been completed. This same famine of 42 months or three years and six months is further declared in Revelation 11, verses 9 and 11, to be a period of three and a half days. Understanding the Biblical principle that a day can signify a year, the three and a half days that the dead bodies of the two witnesses lay outside the gates of Jerusalem become equivalent to the three and a half years or 42 months of Revelation 11:2. As we are learning, the spiritual harvest from the latter rain period is the end of the year or the final harvest. We are learning that this, too, is the same time period and the same event during which there is a famine of hearing the Word of God. The 42 Months of Revelation 13 Remember in James 5:17-18 we read that there was no rain for three years and six months and then, "the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." Thus, the famine of hearing the Word during Jesus' ministry was immediately followed by the resurrection of Jesus and Pentecost, which brought into being the New Testament church age. Likewise, the famine of hearing the Word of God that is signified by the 42 months or the three and a half days of Revelation Chapter 11 is immediately followed by the latter rain, when the earth brings forth its fruit. And as we are learning, the spiritual harvest from the latter rain period is the end of the year or the final harvest. The Bible discloses to us the follow-up of the famine of Jesus' day. We read in Acts 2 that on that first Pentecost, about 3,000 were saved. But where does the Bible talk about much fruit being brought in after the famine of hearing the Word of God and during the time that the two witnesses lay dead? This is found in Revelation 7:9-14. Later in our study, we will look at these verses which teach that after the 144,000 were sealed, a great multitude which no
man can number become saved. Revelation 7:14 assures us that they are saved during the period of Great Tribulation. Thus, we have learned from the Bible
that there are two parallel events that encompass the entire New Testament
era. Both begin with a time of three and a half years when there is a
famine of hearing the Word of God. Both are followed by a great program of
salvation that extends into all of the world. The first event of salvation
is the entire church age during which time the church was commissioned to
bring the Gospel to the world. The second event is the activity of those
outside of the churches and congregation bringing the Gospel to the world.
This is the bringing in of the final harvest of souls. Earlier in our study we learned that
the Great Tribulation of Matthew 24:21 was typified by the terrible period
of God's wrath on ancient Jerusalem and Judah. It extended from the time
of the death of the last good king, Josiah, in 609 B.C., until Babylon was
conquered by the Medes and the Persians in 539 B.C. This period of 70
years symbolizes and points to the entire period of the Great Tribulation
that occurs immediately before the end of the world. This is the Great
Tribulation the world is now experiencing.
What does it mean when the Bible says that during the 70 years, the land would enjoy her sabbaths? We will discover that this is a very important statement. Another reference that bears on this question is found in Leviticus 26:33-35, where God says:
We are greatly interested in this statement of Leviticus Chapter 26 because it, too, makes reference to a time of enjoying the sabbaths. II Chronicles 36, verse 21, also relates the idea of enjoying the sabbaths to 70 years. As we have already learned, the 70 years have everything to do with God's judgment at the end of time, and it begins with God's judgment on the churches and congregations of our day. Therefore, we will now look more closely at Leviticus 26. In doing this, we will find complete harmony with everything else that shows that God's judgment is upon the churches of our day. In Leviticus 26:1-4, God sets forth very important commands that He expects the believers to obey. We read there:
The first emphasis is that the believers are not to worship other gods. The second is that they are to keep the sabbaths. The promise is then made that if you will do this, God will give rain in due season and the land will yield her increase. These promises are further developed in the verses that follow, ending with the promise of Leviticus 26:11-12, where we read:
Later, we will look at the commandment that believers are not to worship other gods. However, first, we wonder why the keeping of sabbaths is featured in this language. We are very interested in this because we are wondering about the language that says the land would enjoy her sabbaths during the 70 years. Since we have learned that the 70 years identify with the Great Tribulation of our day, we want to know, if possible, the meaning of the phrase the land will "enjoy her sabbaths."
To begin to understand the phrase "enjoy her sabbaths," we must go back to Exodus 31:13-15, where we read:
In these verses, God insists that if anyone did any work of any kind on the seventh-day Sabbath, that person was to be put to death. God demonstrated the certainty of this law by telling us about an incident that occurred when Israel was in the wilderness after they had left Egypt. In Numbers Chapter 15, verses 32 through 36, the Bible reports:
What a terrible punishment for what appears to be a minor offense, picking up a few sticks on the Sabbath day. The solution to this puzzle, in which what appears to be a minor offense is met with drastic punishment, is found in the language of Exodus 31:13. There we read that the keeping of the Sabbath was a sign "that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you."
A commandment that was a sign is a commandment that points to some spiritual reality. The sign has no spiritual substance within it. It was a ceremonial law that points to a principle that is of great spiritual substance. This sign was pointing to the fact of the spiritual substance or the spiritual reality that Jehovah God is the one who sanctifies us when we become saved. It is a parallel truth to that which is reiterated in many places in the Bible. For example, we read in Ephesians 2, verses 8-10:
The work of salvation is entirely the work of Christ. God is so jealous of our understanding this that He recorded the incident of a man picking up a few sticks on the Sabbath day. That is like someone believing that Christ did all the work to save me, but I entered into the work of becoming saved because I accepted Christ, or I was baptized in water, or the faith that God gave me and which I exercised was an instrument that God used to save me. We began to look at Leviticus Chapter
26, and remember, we read that two commands from God were especially in
view. The first command was that we are not to worship any other gods, and
the second was that we are to keep His sabbaths. Now that we understand that keeping His Sabbath means that we are to be altogether certain that Christ alone has done all the work to save us, we can understand how that relates to worshipping other gods. Let us see how these commandments relate. When we put our trust in anything, then that becomes a god we are serving. The essence of serving God is that we are trusting Him for every aspect of our salvation. If we trust in our bank account, then that is our god. If we trust in an idol, as Israel did in their high places, then that is our god. If we
Likewise, if we trust in anything that we have done as an assist or as a condition for our salvation, then that makes these works, doctrines, ceremonies, or the church itself our god. Even though we may insist we are saved by grace alone, if we hold any doctrine that teaches that anything, however small or insignificant it may appear to be, assisted in our salvation, we are worshipping another god. The account of the man picking up a few sticks should ring in our ears as it emphasizes that the absolute character of salvation is entirely the work of Jesus alone. Any time any doctrine is taught that is not altogether based upon the Bible, it is a spiritual high place, it is the worship of another god. However, in Leviticus 26, God warns that the high place of believing that even the slightest thing we have done assisted in getting ourselves saved is especially serious. Ancient Israel fell into this sin. We read in Romans 9:31-32:
They were trusting in their faithful observance of the ceremonial laws as a condition for their salvation. However, we must sorrowfully admit that this is the problem that also exists in the churches and congregations of our day. It is imbedded in prestigious Confessions like the Westminster Confession and the Belgic Confession. It is loudly trumpeted by those who teach that water baptism is a condition for salvation or that we must pray a certain kind of prayer or reach out and accept Jesus in order to become saved. It is probably the basic reason that most people who are members of churches today cannot even think about the possibility of leaving their church as God commands. If they are trusting in the slightest fashion in their water baptism, or their confession
of faith, or their church membership,
or their participation in the Lord's Supper as giving them any substantive
spiritual benefit, they cannot countenance the idea of leaving their
church. Even though they may not realize it, their trust for their
salvation is based on things such as water baptism and the Lord's Supper,
which are ceremonial laws that pointed to aspects of what salvation is.
With this knowledge of the latter rain, we can now return to an earlier question: How is it that during the 70 years, the land would enjoy her sabbaths? (See Leviticus 26:34 and II Chronicles 36:21.) Remember, the 70 years identify with the Great Tribulation of our day. Remember, too, that during this present period of Great Tribulation, there is bread and water. That is, the true Gospel is plentifully available, but at the same time, there is a famine of hearing the Word of God. We have learned that this famine is in the temple, the churches and congregations that have come under the judgment of God. The Holy Spirit is no longer in their midst. Satan is ruling there. However, outside the churches, the true Gospel is still going out, and it will continue to go into all the world until Christ returns. The major character of this Gospel which identifies with the latter rain is that the high places have been removed. That is, every possible effort is made to ensure that this Gospel of the latter rain is altogether faithful to the Word of God.
We have learned that a dominate high place that is a problem in virtually all churches and congregations is that of a works-grace gospel. Insistently and insidiously, doctrines are held that man must contribute something or make some effort to become saved. However, if one outstanding characteristic could be named concerning many who are endeavoring to faithfully bring the true Gospel outside the churches, it is that salvation is 100% by grace alone. Under no circumstance can any effort on our part, however small or unimportant we may think it is, be in any sense a contribution to our salvation. Remember, we are not to do any work of any kind to try to become saved. This important fact was typified by the seventh-day Sabbath when no physical work of any kind was to be done.
Thus, when the Gospel that emphasizes grace and grace alone is preached all over the world, then the land, the kingdom of God, will enjoy its sabbaths. It will enjoy a totally works-free Gospel. The importance of a works-free salvation presentation cannot be stressed too strongly. When God wrote the Bible, He placed within the Scriptures some testing programs. In the Garden of Eden, He tested our first parents by planting a special tree and giving it an exotic and tempting name, "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:9). He then commanded our first parents not to eat of the fruit of this enticing tree. Likewise, throughout the Old Testament, God commanded that if one were to experience blessings of God, he must keep the commandments. If he disobeyed the commandments, he would remain under the curse of God. Ancient Israel, therefore, tried hard to obey God by religiously keeping the commandments. But they failed to achieve the blessings of God. Why? In Romans 9, verses 31 and 32, God informs us:
They failed to realize that alongside these commands that they were to keep perfectly were the ceremonial laws, such as burnt offerings and blood sacrifices. These observances were directing them to look for and put their trust in the Savior who would come to pay for the sins of His people. At times, God spoke plainly about this, for example, in Isaiah 53:4-7:
God also gave them many illustrations of the fact that only God could save them. Think, for example, of God taking them out of the land of Egypt
strictly by God's efforts and bringing them through the Red Sea, entirely by the work of God. God's Judgment Will Fall We are beginning to see that Leviticus is a very serious and important warning to us today. In fact, Leviticus 26:14-16 warns:
This warning of judgment that is upon those who violate these commandments continues for many more verses. These verses should be read and pondered very carefully by everyone and anyone who is concerned about his salvation. We call special attention to verse 30, where God declares:
Remember, we have learned that high places have to do with the worship of false gods. That is, they have to do with any doctrine we hold that is not faithfully true to the Bible. This chapter focuses especially on the high place of violating the seventh-day Sabbath (that is, even in the slightest sense, having a works-grace gospel). Actually, however, the litany of high places is very long in our day. Think, for example, of the Biblical laws that churches have violated in teaching that there can be divorce for fornication and that there can be remarriage after divorce. This verse teaches that if a church has high places, those high places will be destroyed. The verses that immediately follow instruct us as to how this destruction will be accomplished. In verses 31-33 we read:
This warning was literally carried out
against the ten tribes of Israel, which were entirely destroyed by Assyria
in 709 B.C. It was also literally carried out in 587 B.C., when Babylon
destroyed Jerusalem. And it has been carried out in our day as the
churches and congregations have become desolate. God's judgment is upon
them, the Holy Spirit is no longer in their midst, and Satan is ruling
there. Indeed, ancient Israel was constantly being tested. Would they try to get to heaven by their efforts to obey God's commandments or would they realize that they could not be good enough? Would they therefore search out God's promises of salvation? As we learned from Romans 9, except for a remnant chosen by grace, they consistently failed the tests. The same testing condition exists for the New Testament readers of the Bible. God commands us to believe on Christ, to confess Him, to repent of our sins, to seek Him with all of our heart, etc. Most people immediately conclude, therefore, that if we do these things, we will become saved, and theologians argue that it has to be so because a good God would not command us to do something we are incapable of doing. They correctly admit that only Christ can pay for our sins, and this is to be understood as the grace of God. And so, they present the Gospel as the grace of God but say it requires some action on our part, however small and insignificant that action might be. These theologians and Bible teachers fail to realize that the Bible clearly teaches that we are spiritually dead. We are as spiritually dead as the dry bones in the valley of dry bones of Ezekiel 37. We are as spiritually dead as Lazarus of John 11 was physically dead so that his body stank. They fail to realize that God gave the commands to believe, to repent, etc., because we are created in the image of God. Therefore, even though we are spiritually dead, we are still accountable to God. That is why God can righteously bring judgment
on the unsaved even though they of themselves could not
obey these commands perfectly. God does not look at mankind as robots or
animals. He regards mankind as those who were created in the likeness of
God, and therefore, completely answerable and accountable to God for the
way they have lived. God, therefore, speaks to and commands mankind to do things as if they were still capable of doing those things perfectly. He gives the commands to believe on Him, to repent, and to seek Him because mankind was created to obey God. Mankind was created in the very likeness of God. But, as we must do with any statements of Scripture, we must bring the whole Bible to bear on the verse that commands us to believe on Christ. It is then that we discover that we cannot believe with all our heart, we cannot repent perfectly. We are slaves of sin. We are in bondage to Satan. Spiritually, we are dead. We are told that no one will seek after Christ with all their heart. We are told that no one can come to Christ unless God the Father draws him.
Moreover, we discover that to become saved, every one of our dirty, rotten, rebellious sins must have been laid on the Lord Jesus. This is because He alone is capable of paying for those sins and saving us. And only God could make the choice as to whose sins were to be laid on the Lord Jesus. More than that, we discover that even after Christ paid for our sins, another stupendous miracle must take place. That is, God must apply the Word of God to our life and give us a brand new resurrected soul. All of this has to happen before we are saved. And we can assist in no part of this. No wonder God says that it is by grace we are saved, and not of works. When we honestly understand all that is required in order for us to be saved, we realize why our works, our efforts, could never assist in any way with our salvation. Then when we add to this the knowledge that we are a spiritual corpse, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the only one who can save us is God Himself. We are completely at His mercy. True, we know that God is a merciful God. We also know that we can plead with God for His mercy. We know that it will not assist in any way in
getting ourselves saved, but at least we have the assurance that God knows of our desire for salvation. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, and so, we can place ourselves in that environment. This will not assist us or help us to become saved, but it places us in an environment where God can apply His Word to our heart if it should be His good pleasure to save us.
That is the reason for the existence of an organization like Family Radio. Our only purpose for existence is to put people all over the world under the hearing of the Word of God. Whom God will save and when He will save someone is entirely God's business. The one huge principle we must observe is that we are never to teach in any way that any individual can provide any kind of assistance to get himself saved. This truth that all the work to get someone saved must be done by God can be seen clearly when God saves a baby. John the Baptist, for example, gave evidence that he had become saved long before he was born. Obviously, the whole activity of that baby becoming saved was God's activity. Only as we bring this kind of salvation message will the land (the kingdom of God) enjoy its sabbaths. Thus, the true Gospel is a Gospel whereby the land, the kingdom of God, can enjoy its sabbaths. Through ministries like Family Radio, and through individuals the true Gospel is going into all the world. Let us pray that this activity may be continued faithfully until the last day when Christ returns. We have learned from Revelation 7 that after the 144,000 have been sealed, a great multitude which no man can number will come to salvation. Remember, these 144,000 are the complete fullness of all those who became saved during the church age. In Revelation 14 we find a second reference to these 144,000. Revelation 14, verse 1, declares:
Verse 4 assures us that they are of the church age because they are spoken of as being "the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb." Following
these references to the 144,000, God declares in Revelation Chapter 14, verse 6:
This verse like verse 9 of Revelation 7 is speaking of another event, independent of the 144,000. We will discover that it is speaking of those who are identified with the latter rain. Note first of all that this verse speaks of continuing the Gospel proclamation, which is to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. This language is virtually identical to that which we read in Revelation 7:9, "of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues." It is the preaching of the Gospel to the nations of the world by those outside of the churches, after the church age has come to an end. Revelation 14:7 is of singular importance because it details the nature of the preaching that is going to all the world after the church age. We read in verse 6 that it is the everlasting Gospel that is to be preached unto them that dwell upon the earth, but verse 7 gives more detail concerning the emphasis the Gospel is to have. Verse 7 declares: Preaching with a Loud Voice This verse declares that the preaching
is to be with a loud voice. We can understand this to mean that it is to
be sent forth in such a way that it can be clearly heard. Surely, as we
are able to send out the Gospel by radio and Internet and satellite
broadcasting so that it can be heard clearly in the homes of people all
over the world, it is going forth with a loud voice. Secondly, the emphasis of the Gospel message is a warning to fear God. When we reflect for a moment on this warning to preach the fear of God, we can easily see the reason for it. Sad to say, in the church world in our day, and for many decades in the past, there has been little or no evidence of the fear of God.
Let me illustrate. The mandate that is given to every preacher and Bible teacher is to faithfully bring the whole counsel of God to those to whom they are preaching or teaching. Any time they teach a doctrine that is not faithful to the Bible, effectively, they are in rebellion against God. Effectively, they are saying that they know better than Almighty God. They are insisting that their wisdom is greater than the wisdom of God. To illustrate this reality, think, for example, that there are preachers who preach the doctrines of the Lutheran church, others preach the doctrines of the Baptist churches, others preach the doctrines of the Methodist denomination, others, the Reformed churches, etc. Each of these denominations frequently holds their unique understanding of a particular subject, while another denomination has a different understanding of the same subject. Obviously, there can be only one understanding of the subject in question that is altogether true to the Word of God, and all the others are false doctrines. Therefore, with the knowledge of all these differing views on the same subject, pastors and teachers who want to be entirely faithful to God's Word, and who tremble at the responsibility they have to bring the truth, should be constantly studying the Word of God and making correction to wrong doctrines that they have been teaching. To say it another way, how many pastors today are ready to take issue with a statement or doctrine in a Confession that their denomination follows if they suspect it is not quite as faithful to God's Word as it should be? Those who have a true fear of God should constantly be studying God's Word and be ready to modify their church Confession or any doctrine if it is not as faithful to God's Word as it should be. Again, for example, for hundreds of years, it was the correct Biblical position of most denominations that there is not to be divorce for any reason and there is not to be a second marriage if the divorced spouse is still living. Today, virtually every congregation teaches that divorce for fornication is possible and remarriage after divorce is also possible. The great number of divorced people in the churches of our day and even in the ruling bodies of the churches testify to the reality of this sin. How many pastors and elders or
deacons wake up at night in a cold sweat because they realize their church
is violating God's marriage laws? In Philippians 2:13, we are told to work
out our salvation with fear and trembling.
If anyone should tremble before God, it is Bible teachers and preachers. It is with good reason that God instructs those of the latter rain that the first thing they should emphasize in their Gospel proclamation is the fear of God. Of course, if they are to preach the fear of God, they themselves should tremble before God and make sure they are faithful to the whole counsel of God.
Remember that the Bible teaches that
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and that
Israel in 709 B.C. and Judah in 587 B.C. were destroyed by God because of
their refusal to remove their high places. These historical evidences of
God's past actions should cause every pastor to tremble in fear. No church
today has any more protection from the wrath of God than Israel and Judah
had at the time they were the focus of God's relationship to mankind.
The third aspect of the Gospel message that should be preached during the latter rain is that we are to give all glory to God. This seems like an unnecessary command. Any time we bring the Gospel, are we not glorifying God? The fact is, if we have any kind of a works-grace gospel, we are not giving all glory to God. To some degree, we are glorifying man for their part in the salvation process. If, for example, we believe that our church Confessions are on a lower level of authority than the Bible, and yet, in practice, they are the standard by which our church measures any doctrine, then God is not being glorified. The church fathers who wrote the Confessions are being glorified. Any time a church follows any doctrine that is not firmly based on the Word of God, it is man who is glorified rather than God. In fact, today, if a church refuses to heed and obey the abundant warnings of the Bible regarding the fact that the churches are now under the judgment of God, then it is not glorifying God.
God's Judgment Has
Come
We are instructed that another aspect of the Gospel message that should be preached during the latter rain is that the hour of God's judgment has come. The manner in which this sentence is written should cause all who read it to tremble with fear. It says, "give glory to him [God]; for the hour of his judgment is come." We should immediately think of Joshua's statement to Achan just before Achan came under the wrath of God. Achan had disobeyed God by taking for his own some gold and silver that should have been destroyed. God showed Joshua that Achan had done this. As Achan stood before Joshua, Joshua said to him, as we read in Joshua 7:19:
Achan confessed his sin but it
was too late. By God's command, he was stoned to death. In parallel fashion, we must remember that God is fully aware of each and every sin of the churches and congregations. He is fully aware of the high places, the doctrines produced by lofty thoughts of theologians rather than by humble submission to the Bible. And now, we who have the true Gospel are told to proclaim to all who claim to have an interest in the Bible to give glory to God, for the hour of His judgment has come. It might be noted that the proclamation that the time has come for God's judgment upon the churches and congregations is the most unhappy proclamation possible. The prophet Jeremiah had the same unhappy task in his day when he was instructed to declare to Judah that God was going to destroy Judah by the the use of the Babylonian armies. Many theologians have called him the weeping prophet, and so he was. It brought him no joy to preach judgment to Judah.
Likewise, the saddest possible task has been assigned by God to those outside the church. That task is to proclaim to the churches and congregations that the time of judgment has come. The evidence that we are at that time cannot be denied.
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