Message 34 - By Leroy
Surface
The Day of the Locusts
I
begin this message with an event that happened in one of my tent revivals over
forty years ago. It was in April, of the
year, 1970. I had set up my tent on the
south side of Houston, Texas, in a suburb called Sunnyside. We had been having services in the evenings
for less than a week, when a young militant from the original “Black Panther” party gave us a
visit. At the time, the Black Panthers
had been making news for several weeks, possibly months, going into a number of
large traditional churches in the Houston/Galveston area and causing
commotions. In one Catholic Church, they
had overturned the images. In another,
they had desecrated the altar. In every
instance, probably about a half a dozen, they ended by passing the offering
plates and receiving themselves an offering.
In those churches, there had been several of these militants working
together because of the large crowds. In
our services we were having about fifty to sixty people each night, and there
was only one of the young militants sent to disrupt our meeting. I supposed he was in his early twenties; a
huge, muscular man who wore his hair in a large afro. He came under the tent just as I was beginning
to preach. I still remember the text I
was preaching from, Galatians 3:16-29,
which ends with the words, “And if ye be
Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” He came inside and walked to the front of the
tent, where I was. He picked up a chair
from the front row, then came upon the platform and sat down facing the
congregation, right next to where I was preaching. I didn’t know who or what he was, but I knew
there was going to be a problem. I
decided to ignore him and kept on preaching.
He leaned back in the chair, took a huge knife out of his pocket, and
began cleaning his fingernails.
Instantly, he had far more attention from the congregation than I did,
so I stopped preaching and said to him, “young
man (I was only thirty years old at the time, and weighed about a hundred
and fifty pounds), you are welcome to be
here, but you will have to sit with the rest of the people.” He answered me, “I only wanted to sit where I could hear you.” I assured him that he could hear my large P.A.
speakers very well. He asked me where he
could sit, and I told him he was welcome to sit anywhere in the
congregation. There was a young lady in
my church that lived with, and took care of, her uncle, who was a paraplegic in
a wheelchair. The militant pulled a
chair up close to the young lady and sat down.
After a few minutes, he leaned back in his chair and put his arm around
the young lady, who was obviously annoyed and very frightened by this. I stopped preaching again to address the
young man. I said to him, “you are welcome to be here, but you cannot
bother the young lady.” He answered
saying, “I thought you said I could sit
anywhere I wanted to.” I told him, “You can, but do not touch the young lady.” It was at this point that he stood up and
started talking to the congregation about preachers that came into the black
communities and took the people’s money.
Only a month before, a well known minister had rented a large auditorium
and had about three services with what he called his “Gold Book” prosperity plan.
According to the young man, he had taken around $50,000.00 in those
three services, and hadn’t even preached to the people. I realized that he was accusing me of being
like that preacher, whom I knew to be a charlatan. He said to the people, “We are not going to let that happen again,” and he looked straight
at me when he said it. For just a moment
we had eye contact, and I said, “You are
a child of the devil.” His answer
surprised me. He said, “Yes, I know. Satan lives in me. When I speak, it is Satan that speaks through
me.” I still had eye contact with
him, and said, “Satan, I rebuke you in
the name of Jesus Christ, and I command you to sit down, and not disturb this
service again.” He sat down as meek
as a lamb, and amazingly, I was able to preach my message about the promises to
Abraham concerning his “seed,” which
is Christ, and those who belong to Him.
We had an altar service and prayed for the sick, and when we dismissed,
the young militant was still there. I
asked him if we could talk, which he agreed to do.
Writers
note: the following paragraphs, which I have italicized, were written in 1970
and published in our “Streams from
Calvary” publication of that day.
We talked
for about two hours. He told me that he was a member of a militant
black power group, and he began to tell me
about their plans for revolution in America. He said his desire was to tear down, and destroy this country.
He said that they would someday own America. He told me of all the ways that the black man
has been mistreated in the past; and you could see the hatred working in him as
he spoke. He hated the white man. He also hated the colored brothers who were
working with me. He admitted that he
did not have control of his actions, but that
Satan within him was doing this work.
Sadly, he did not want to be free from the
devil. (He
told me his father was the pastor of a church, and that he would rather keep
what he had than to have what his father had.) The work of Satan is to steal, kill, destroy, and take life, and he is still being revealed in people today. This young man knew the scriptures better than most Pentecostal
Christians. He could quote the Bible
from one end to the other; any place you could mention, he knew the
scripture. Don’t ever think that Satan doesn’t know the
scripture. Satan used the scriptures to tempt Jesus, and he still uses the
scriptures to deceive today; therefore, we must
ever stand by the rightly divided
Word of God. This man used scripture to
say that America must be burnt with
fire. He said that America is the Babylon of Revelation and that it would be burnt with
fire. He also said that the merchants of the earth will weep over her (Revelation 18:18). He said his militant black power group is ready to burn America and are only waiting for the right time.
The man was big and strong. He said
there is nothing that he or this group is afraid of; they are not afraid of the
law, the police, or anything in this country.
He also said that he is ready to die
for revolution. He then told me
something that all America needs to
hear.
He said
there is no man, black or white, that he is afraid of; but continued, “the
only one that I am afraid of is Jesus Christ.” Praise the Lord, the devil
knows that he is defeated in Jesus. He then pointed his finger at me, and said “If you are real, then I am afraid of you.”
(Then he added these words.) “None of us have the power to hurt anyone
that has what you preached tonight.”
I truly believe it was the devil in him that confessed that truth. He
was afraid of Jesus, and all those who were, and are, genuine in Christ.
Brothers and Sisters, the only answer for America is Jesus. The only
thing that is going to stand in this last day is the kingdom of God. In this
conflict between the races, neither party is right. Only
those found in Christ are true. The ninth chapter of Revelation tells of the bottomless pit being opened, and creatures coming out
of the pit with power to hurt
men. But the Bible says they could hurt ONLY those who HAD NOT the seal of God in
their foreheads. Praise God! There is
a seal for the people of God that will keep them, even in these troublesome times; and Satan knows he cannot hurt those
who have that seal. Even now, God is sealing his people; not with
a doctrine, or a denomination, but with
the Holy Ghost. When the time of great
trouble comes, religion and churches found NOT to
be true will suffer the most. All else will fall, but God will keep his people. The
young man told me, that if I was what I preached, he
could not hurt me. Then he said, if I wasn’t what I preached, they would destroy me. (He actually said that I was his target that
night, and if he found out that I was not what I had preached, I would not have
enough equipment left to pull off of the tent lot.) Brothers and Sisters, in this
last day, more and more, it pays to be real.
Satan may hate you, but he can not hurt
you as long as you are in Jesus Christ.
Great trouble is coming
to America; worse trouble than anything we have yet seen. Riots will again spring up, and there will be
more bloodshed in the near
future. Early in the Spring of 1970, God gave me a vision of trouble in America. In the
vision, things had gotten so bad that the government, right here in America, had to stop all free travel
between the states. Anyone traveling from one state to another had to
get a special travel permit to cross
state lines. No permits were given for
religious purposes. (This vision has not fulfilled at the
time of this writing [2011], but it could well happen in the very near future
as the problem of terrorism increases in America.) Religion was almost cut off, but the real people of God were willing to
suffer to carry the gospel. They suffered much at the hands of man, but the gospel was still carried; even more than before. Satan cannot stop the true and the genuine.
Christians, we must carry this gospel, whatever
the cost to ourselves. We must do
all we possibly can to preach this gospel to the world. (This ends the text quoted from our 1970
message.)
There
were many things this young man told me that night I did not feel free to
publish in 1970, due to the fact that he said I was his target. He told me of their plans to burn the cities
of America. He said “We built them, and we will burn them.” He said, “The
black man mixed the mortar, and pushed the wheelbarrows to build the cities,
and we will destroy them.” He told
me that (at that time - April, 1970), militant groups like his were already in
every major city in America. He said
they had all the weapons and ammunition they needed, and they were just “waiting for the signal.” He said when the time came, they would kill
anyone that moved against them; whether man, woman, or child. I have no way of knowing if everything he
told me was true but, at the time, I certainly believed that it was. He said Houston, Texas was going to be the
first city they would take over. It
would be a “test case.” If they were successful in Houston, the “signal” would be given, and riots would
break out in every city in America on the same day. He said, “We’re
not afraid of the law, the police, or any man living. The
only one we are afraid of is Jesus Christ.”
Then he put his finger against my chest and said, “…and you, if you have what you preached tonight, we are afraid of
you. None of us have any power to hurt
anyone that has what you preached tonight.” We talked for over two hours,
straightforward, with no threats from either side. He demonstrated his physical strength by
holding a tent rope in his right hand and letting three men try to pull his arm
down. They could not. When it was finally time for him to leave, he
turned to step out of the door of my trailer, but stopped with his hand on the
doorknob. He turned around, and in a
moment of time, everything had changed.
A moment before he had been bold, feeling that he was totally in control
of the situation. Now, he was a
terrified young man. I have never seen
such fear on the face of any man. He
said, “Preacher, pray for me; pray that I
get home safe. I’m scared! I don’t know
what I have done. Pray for me.” I
put my hand on his huge bicep and said to him, “You know a lot about black power, but you know nothing about the power
of God.” He answered, “I know it; oh, what have I done. I’ve touched something that I should not have
touched. Please pray for me.” I tried to get him to repent and receive
Jesus, but he said again, “No! My father is the pastor of a church; I’d
rather have what I’ve got than what he has.” With that, the young man went off into the
darkness, terrified at what he had tried to do.
In
the summer of that year (1970) the militant group he was a part of, marked off
a square mile (sixteen blocks) of the third ward in Houston and warned the
Houston police not to enter their territory.
They put their own men on the streets to patrol the third ward and keep
order. This continued for several weeks
until the night of July 26, 1970. The
police had secretly positioned men on the roof of a church across the street
from the militant headquarters. When
several of the young militants came out, a gunfight occurred, leaving the
leader of the group dead and four others wounded. I have always wondered if the young man who
came to my tent service that night was one of them.
The Seal of God
I
have never forgotten the words of that young man; “The only one we are afraid of is Jesus Christ; and if you have what you
preached tonight, we are afraid of you.
None of us have any power to hurt anyone that has what you preached
tonight.” Whether that young man
knew it or not, he was confirming the word of God in Revelation 9:4 concerning the “locusts”
that will swarm over the face of the entire earth; “And it was commanded them
that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing,
neither any tree; but ONLY those men
which HAVE NOT the seal of God in their foreheads.”
Sometime
ago I was visiting with a pastor who was talking to me about “eternal security” and “being sealed by God.” He referred to the scripture, Ephesians 1:13, which says, “…after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession.” He told me that people must have the “security” of knowing that when they
sin, they do not lose their salvation; they are “sealed” when they are saved and nothing could ever cause them to
be lost. His scripture for this was John
10:28 where Jesus says, “I give unto them eternal life; and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” I
believe this man is a man of God, but he is mistaken in what he believes the “seal” to be. When Paul reminds the Ephesians of the day
they were saved, he says, “In whom (Christ) ye also trusted, after that
ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation: in whom also after
that ye believed, ye were SEALED with that Holy Spirit of promise…” (Ephesians
1:13). Notice that Paul speaks of
two separate works of grace which the Ephesians had received. First, they “trusted” in Christ and “believed”
the “word of truth, the gospel of your
(their) salvation.” Second, they were “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,” which is “the baptism with the Holy Ghost.” Notice the words of Jesus to the believers on the day He ascended
to the right hand of the Father. “And,
being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart
from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise
of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” Acts
1:4-5. By these words of Jesus we
can know that the “promise of the Father”
is the “baptism with the Holy Ghost,”
hence Paul identifies the “Holy Ghost” as
“the Holy Spirit of promise.” In the nineteenth
chapter of Acts, the record is given of the day the Ephesians were “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.”
And it came to pass, that, while Apollos
was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus:
and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy
Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard
whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he
said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s
baptism. Then said Paul, John verily
baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they
should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ
Jesus. When they heard this, they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them;
and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
And all the men were about twelve.
Acts 19:1-7
Notice
that Paul asked these disciples, “Have ye
received that Holy Ghost since ye
believed?” When he reminds them
of this event in Ephesians 1:13, he
says, “…after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise.” It is obvious that the
baptism with the Holy Ghost is an experience that is received subsequently to
salvation. It is also obvious that it is
the Holy Ghost that seals the believer “unto
the day of redemption” (Ephesians
4:30). We should pay particular
attention to verse six of Acts 19; “…the Holy Ghost came on
them….” The word “on” in this verse is translated from
the Greek word “epi,”
which means “superimposition.” They were “filled
with the Holy Ghost,” just like those on the Day of Pentecost. The Spirit was “in them” and they were “in
the Spirit.” The “evidence” Paul offers is in the same verse; “…they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” My question to those who believe they are “sealed” and cannot miss heaven, even
though they continue in sin in this life, would be this; “…Have you received the Holy Ghost since you
believed?.”
Manifestations of Truth
The
“Holy Ghost,” which in Matthew 10:20, Jesus calls “The Spirit of your Father,” comes into
obedient children of God (Acts 5:32)
to “work in them” according to His “good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). In Luke 12:29-32 Jesus says, “…seek
not… what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful
mind. For all these things do the
nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of
these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall
be added unto you. Fear not,
little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” In Luke 17:20-21 there
is a discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees concerning the kingdom of God; “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees,
when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of
God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there!
for, behold, the kingdom of God is
within you.” The Holy Ghost (the
Spirit of God) comes to work in us the things of the kingdom of God. It is “within
us” that our Father “gives” the
Kingdom of God.
In
the seventh chapter of Revelation we
see the hundred and forty four thousand servants of God who are “sealed in their foreheads.” In the fourteenth
chapter of Revelation we see these same ones standing with the Lamb on
Mount Zion “…having His Father’s name written in their foreheads.” Paul says in Ephesians 1:13, “…in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise.”
In Ephesians 4:30, he says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.” Please follow this
closely. It is the Holy Ghost that seals
us, and the Holy Ghost is “the Spirit of
our Father” (Matthew
10:20). Those who are “sealed” are sealed in their foreheads (Revelation 7:3). The name of the Father is written in their
foreheads (Revelation 14:1), thus,
the “Spirit of the Father,” the “seal of God,” and the “name of the Father” are all one and the
same, and are all manifested by the working of the Holy Ghost in the children of
God.
Many
years ago I received a vision from the Lord that explained what it meant to be “crucified with Christ.” I had been saved for a number of years, and
it had always been wonderful, in the early days of salvation, to understand
that Jesus had died on the cross for me.
In my mind’s eye, I could see Him hanging on the cross with outstretched
hands; nailed to the cross for me. Some
years had passed, and that picture in my mind had grown dim. I found myself struggling with things I had
once been free from. I fasted and prayed
for sanctification and crucifixion, but found only temporary relief; not
deliverance. One night I received a
vision of Christ-crucified; which delivered me.
I saw Jesus hanging on the cross and dying for me just as I had in times
past, but this time something was different.
Superimposed over the body of Jesus was my body. My hands were stretched out over His hands,
my feet over His feet, with the nails piercing both my hands and His hands, my
feet and His feet. Everything they had
done to Jesus they had done to me. I
awoke from the unusual vision, understanding what it meant to be “crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). I have since preached that
experience, where I died with Him, as the finished work of Calvary; and it has kept
me for these many years since, just as it has kept many others who have
received the same understanding. Today,
however, I want to bring another “revelation”
understanding concerning the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of the Lord is UPON me (Jesus, speaking here of Himself, is quoting from a prophecy of the
prophet Isaiah [Isaiah 61:1-3].), because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor (the
meek); he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luke 4:18
The word “upon”
in this text, which I have capitalized, is translated from the Greek word “epi,” and
means “superimposition.” Of course the Spirit of God dwelt “in” Jesus, but He was also “superimposed upon Him.” This is the reason Jesus could say to Philip,
“…he that hath seen me hath seen the
Father…” (John 14:9). He continues;
“Believest thou not that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of
myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works”(John 14:10).
The Father was always with Jesus and in Jesus, but it was only when the
Holy Ghost came upon Him that the mighty works of the Father were
performed. When the Holy Ghost is upon a
person, that person is a manifestation of God in the flesh. As the Holy Ghost works in the man or woman
who is “renewed in the Spirit day by day”
(II Corinthians 4:16), that man or woman is transformed into a “manifestation of the truth.” The apostle Paul speaks of this in II
Corinthians 4:2-3, “…but have
renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth
commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to
them that are lost.” The apostle
had become a “manifestation of the truth”
he preached. He understood that the
gospel cannot be preached in word only and be expected to produce what Christ
died to give. The unbelieving world
cannot hear the gospel; they must see it in the ministers of God (II
Corinthians 3:2-3). Paul understood
and expresses this in verse three; if he (the minister) is not a
manifestation of the truth, then the gospel is “hid to them that are lost.”
This is the “seal of God,” who
alone can, and will, keep the believer in the day of the locusts.
I recall an incident that happened in my life about
thirty years ago. Every night for about
four or five nights I had a recurring dream.
Each dream was different, yet they were the same. The setting of the dreams was in a factory,
or warehouse, where I had been hired as a night watchman. In each of the dreams, I came upon a thief in
the night. In each case, I was unarmed,
but the thief was always armed with a gun or a knife. Of course, I was afraid, but each time the
thief would try to attack me, I would shout, “Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ.” Immediately, the thief would be paralyzed, but
only for a very short time. When he
would come at me again, I would again shout, “Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ,” and he would
again be paralyzed until such time as I could disarm him. I had this same dream, with some variations,
four or five nights in a row. I knew
that God was telling me something, but I did not know what it was until the day
that a certain incident happened.
Almost immediately after those dreams stopped, I was
put in a position where I had to confront a man about something I am not free
to talk about, even unto this day; because it had to do with the control he
exercised over a young lady that was not his daughter. The situation was so severe that I prayed
earnestly before leaving my house to go see the man. I asked Jesus to go with me, and protect me
in this matter. When I confronted the
man about what he was doing, he went into a rage. He screamed out, “Jesus Christ Himself cannot come to my house and say the things you
are saying to me.” He said, “I will kill you,” and when I looked
down, I saw that he held an open knife against my stomach. I cannot comprehend the calm that came over
me. I said, “Mister, you sure said the right thing.
Before I left my house, I asked Jesus to come with me, and He did.” Then I looked right into his eyes and said, “Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus
Christ, and command you to drop that knife.” The man literally began to tremble and
quake. The knife fell from his hand and
he said, “Who are you? I’ve never been scared of anything in my
life, but I’m scared to death right now.” That was the second time in my life and
ministry I had seen this same thing happen; the first time, under my revival
tent that night the “Black Panther”
attempted to take over the service. I
tell you again, the Holy Ghost will keep you in the evil day.
The Locusts
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from
heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there
arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and
the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon
the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have
power. And it was commanded them that
they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither
any tree; but ONLY those men which HAVE
NOT the seal of God in their foreheads.
Revelation 9:1-4
The
entire world is in turmoil. The
insurrections that are taking place in the Muslim nations of the world have
dominated the news for several months now.
The same spirit of insurrection is working in America where tens of
thousands of people are demonstrating in the streets against the rule of
government. All of Europe is in grave
danger of its entire culture being overthrown.
Catastrophic changes are coming to almost every nation on earth. America is teetering on the brink of losing
its constitutional government and being dragged into the abyss of a totally
controlled society; along with a socialistic economy, caused by the huge
national debt we have amassed, and which we can likely, never repay. It is the sins of the western world in
rejecting Jesus Christ that has brought us to this brink. For many years this ministry has cried out
against the sins of both America and the American church, warning of the things
that have now come upon us. A decade
ago, we warned that the administration of George Bush was a “space for repentance” for America to
return to God. Such repentance had to
begin at the house of God, because God has said, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear
from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14). The “space
for repentance” ended in 2008. We
warned that, if America did not repent, the things coming on America would be “too horrible to imagine;” and America
has not repented.
A Third of Mankind Slain
And the sixth angel
sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is
before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels
which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
And
the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a
month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen
were two hundred thousand thousand (two hundred million): and I heard the number of them.
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them,
having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of
the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire
and smoke and brimstone. By
these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by
the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
Revelation 9:13-18
For
a full decade we have lived in the days of the fifth trumpet, and even now, we are in the beginning of the sixth trumpet. Mohammad himself established that Islam is
the “locust army of God” (see last month’s message ‘O America, America,’ under the heading, ‘The
Locusts’). In this year (2011) the “locusts” have reached the “swarm
stage,” as we see the entire Islamic world in turmoil. Many believe this to be a good thing. They believe that the young people of these
nations are seeking to throw off the tyranny of dictators to live in freedom,
peace, and harmony with the rest of the world.
That would certainly be good, if it were true. It is, however, the belief of this writer,
that the end result of these insurrections will be something entirely
different. There are radical elements of
Islam that have been subdued for many generations; first by the Ottoman Empire,
then by Great Britain, France, and other colonialist powers of past
generations, and finally by numerous “strong
men” that have ruled with dictatorial powers over the Muslim nations since
World War II. The youth are yearning for
freedom, but even as dictators fall, the way is being opened for something much
worse to gain control. The goal of
groups like “The Muslim Brotherhood”
is to create theocracies in every Muslim nation that will rule the people by “Shariah Law,”
a law very much like the Old Testament Law of Moses. Israel will be surrounded by Islamic
republics that will be dedicated to the eradication of Israel as a nation, and
the Jews as a people. Treaties will mean
nothing as Egypt and Jordan join the ranks of those Islamic republics that hate
Israel and America. The “drumbeat” for the annihilation of the
Jewish state in Israel will increase on every side, until the entire world is
brought into the bloodiest war the world has ever seen; and will only be ended
by the return of Jesus Christ to the earth.
The
apostle John tells of seeing four angels being loosed that were bound in the
great river Euphrates. The scriptures
say these “angels” are prepared “for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a
year, for to slay the third part of men.
And the number of the army of the
horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand” (Revelation 9:15-16). That’s an army of two hundred million
warriors. No single nation on earth can field
such a vast army; nor could they supply it.
Only Islam can do this, because every man, woman, and child is a
potential warrior. John said the
warriors would have “breastplates of
fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone.” This is a perfect description of the “suicide belt;” but it was given
hundreds of years before explosives were even invented. The four angels are most likely to be the
angels of specific nations or peoples.
One of them is surely the “prince
of Persia (Iran),” a wicked angel
that caused much trouble in the days of the prophet Daniel (Daniel 10:12-13). That great army of two hundred million, as
great in number as “locusts,” is
gathering today in the Muslim countries.
It will become worldwide, and it will continue for three and a half years. During that time, one third of all mankind
will be slain. During that time, “only
those who have the seal of God in their foreheads” will be safe from their
destruction. We are quickly running out
of time to seek God for the fullness of His Spirit, before these things
transpire. So please, Brothers and
Sisters, do not delay. Seek God as you
have never sought Him before; until He once again pours out His Spirit as He did
on the day of Pentecost.
In
the September 2001 issue of “Behold the Lamb” I wrote a letter of
exhortation to the reader to seek God for an outpouring of the Spirit in
America. This was written and published
less than two weeks before the 9/11 attacks: Let this message be a call to enter your secret place of prayer, and in
secret call upon Him who said He would reward us openly. Accept the urgency of this hour. Daily prepare your hearts in prayer and
supplication until God “pours out of His Spirit” into and upon you as He has
promised. It matters not, that you may
have received the Holy Ghost years ago; we must have an outpouring of His
Spirit in this present time. Without it,
our nation is doomed.
Remember
that this exhortation and warning came only days before the “pit” was opened in New York City, the
day the towers fell. I feel the same
urgency today that I felt then. It is
too late to “warn America;” The
things that are coming are set in motion already. The prophecies will be fulfilled, and they
are imminent. There is time, however, to
warn your friends and loved ones who are not saved. Almost everyone is aware that something is
very wrong in America and the world today.
Millions of people are being prepared to listen to men and women who
understand the truth of God and speak it with love for the people. In fact, they will begin to search for those
who know the answer for the times we live in.
The only answer for the lost is to “repent
and believe the gospel,” just as Jesus says in Mark 1:15. Seek God
diligently for the baptism with the Holy Ghost, which is the “promise of the
Father” to every believer.
We
will see revival in the midst of the coming time of trouble, but right now is
the time to prepare for the move of God.
God is so ready and so willing to hear and answer the cry of His people
that there is no church that cannot be completely transformed in a few weeks
time of seeking God daily for daily renewal in the Spirit. In II
Corinthians 4:16-17 Paul says, “For which cause we faint not; but though
our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” It is in a time of trouble,
which Paul calls “our light affliction,”
that the children of God are driven to the altars of prayer. Paul spoke of “being renewed day by day.”
I have found this “daily renewal”
to be the answer for the command to “walk
in the Spirit.” Many people have
lived their life trying to “die daily,”
which is actually very foolish, because they still cannot “live” as Christ has purposed and purchased us to be. Paul tells us to “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans
6:11). If those who understand this “death and resurrection with Christ,”
will begin their day, every day, diligently seeking renewal in the Holy Ghost,
they will very soon enter into a walk in the Spirit they have never believed
possible. Let us come daily before God,
as a “beggar,” understanding our
abject poverty of Spirit if He does not fill us day by day. You may begin your day as a beggar lying at
the threshold of the throne, but before the day is over, you will be lifted up
to sit with Christ in His throne. This
is what it means to be “renewed day by day.”
Message 34 - By Leroy Surface - The Day of the Locust
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