The Night Season

This dream was several months ago, I don’t know exactly when… But the message is clear. In this dream God sent me…. I was walking in the village in which I live. Down the street I noticed people with blank stares sitting around everywhere. I notice they were lost and seemed to be waiting for something. I also noticed it was daytime yet the sun was dark. Then I looked down how I was dressed. I was still in my sleepwear and barefooted. I thought to my self “I not dressed for this weather” and there was broken glass everywhere.
Even before I woke from this dream, God spoke to me saying You are not dressed for the night season and your feet are prepared.    I knew I needed to be spiritually prepared for what was to come and his work.

Filthy Rags.

It was a cold December last year I was unable to sleep well, but finally sleep overcame me although this time I was aware I was dreaming.

In this dream, I was walking down the street and everywhere I looked the people were wearing filthy rags. I stopped in front of this  church as I noticed they seemed to be having some kind of sale…. I walked up to the door where two men were exchanging clean cloths for the filthy one’s people were wearing.  Some people were coming out and their clean cloths became filthy rags again.  One of the men spoke to me and said ” You don’t belong here friend”… I was kind of in shock at this all and his statement.  I walked past them into the church and I noticed every bible had a price tag… all those people sitting had no eyes, only dark holes in their heads.  The pastor was preaching but his words were all jumbled up.  He was telling  the people how God was pleased with them and what wonderful people the were.  Then, people would step forward and give him money.

I was deeply distressed by all this and I became sick and felt an overwhelming urge to run out of the place.  The more I looked for the door the more confused I became, waves of nausea rolled over me.   Suddenly I felt someones hand touch my shoulder and I became well again… I could not see his face but his voice was soothing as he said; “This way my son”… He took me to a doorway which was outlined with light and opened it.   As I stood there in the open doorway I looked down and I was very high up above the street.  Fear gripped me as he exclaimed; “Step out, do your work”  I said;  But I’ll fall.. The voice said; Go now, do your work.  I closed my eyes and stepped forward.  To my surprise, I was standing in front of the church once again.

These are the Last Days Enter the Straight Gate

Few there be that find it. Where two or three are gathered in my name there I am in the midst of them.

With these words the Lord again warned that only a few as in the days of Noah were saved so shall it be here in the end of the world.

Revelation 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

1Peter 3:20  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

I have of a long time spoken of the few; it was Gods way to show me that we are of the truth.

Matthew 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Matthew 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Matthew 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a  wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Matthew 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Matthew 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Matthew 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Luke 13:23  Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved?

Luke 13:24  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

It was this that caused me to learn the fear of the Lord. Lest I preach to others and then God cast me away as David prayed cast me not away or Lord and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

Matthew 8:11  And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Take heed let he spar thee not.  These are trying time and only way we shall overcome is to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold to eternal life

Many times I will ask the question in order to give the reason or answer.

That was the Lord way of giving truth to the elect and to reject the rejectors.

To know the truth is truly a blessing to identify the elect.

Mark 12:14  And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?

John 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

1 John 2:21  I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

1 John 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

John 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

John 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

John 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

John 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

John 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

John 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

John 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

John 8:45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

John 8:46  Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

John 8:47  He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Only unto ONE was the prophet sent, in this account we can see again the few, the widow was to know the prophet and the prophet the widow the same with the leper.  Gods way to identify both and his chosen and elect they would know who and each other by the witness of the Spirit of God.

Luke 4:25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;

Luke 4:26  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

Luke 4:27  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

Luke 4:28  And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,

By a prophet was Israel preserved.

Hosea 12:13 And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and by a prophet was he (Israel – The Elect) preserved.

What is a Prophet?

He is the most unlikely person you would ever expect God to use.   He and many more like him are all about you, yet you refuse to heed there words, because you look to someone who is outstanding in the Church or someone who looks Holy, Acts Holy…. You look for a man who has many words and can captivate you with their personality and grammar.    These are the one’s who deny Gods power yet hold the form of God.  These are the men who come in wolves clothing and captivate silly women filled by various lust and wife tales.

And I sought for a man among them,
that should make up the hedge,
and stand in the gap before
me for the land, that I should not
destroy it: but I found none
Ezekiel 22: 30
“Ye have not gone up into the gaps,
neither made up the hedge for the house
of Israel to stand in the battle in the
day of the Lord.”
Ezekiel 13: 5
So what is a true prophet?
First and foremost he is a man!
He is God’s man!
He belongs to no one but God!
He has no ruling authority but God!

It will be said of the true prophet that which was said of Elijah in James 5 : 17 – 18…

Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the
space of three years and six months.
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain,
and the earth brought forth her fruit.
In the natural the prophet is subject to like passions as any other saint but in the spiritual he is acutely attuned to the things of God.
He is dominated with a mind that has God in complete control in ALL THINGS AT ALL TIMES and if there be any other than that, only God will make it known to him!
He is not born on this earth as others to do what others do!
He must so what God requires of him.
He is separate from all institutions, organizations,
religions, doctrines and creeds!
He is a seer! He sees with the eye of God, understands by the will of God, and cannot be moved otherwise!
He doesn’t foretell the future. He forth tells from Scripture alerting the people to the times that they are in and what is imminent according to the word of God.
He is mostly alone in his thinking and is never changed by other mens thoughts.
He is mostly at home in the presence of God.
He is set apart to search out the hidden truths
of scripture and reveal them to babes!
He’s rejected by the wise and prudent and misunderstood by all but the elect of God!
He is set for judgments that lead unto righteousness and truth that brings a freedom that only rings in heaven!
He is solid rock in truth and cannot be swayed by anything that is half true or even 99% true! No matter whom it is that preaches it!
He is quick to receive the penitent heart and quick to speak judgment to evil doers! He reproves the self-willed, the rebellious and the stubborn.
He uncovers the abominations and hypocrisies of religions at the risk of life…
He pulls down that which God did not build!
He roots up that which God did not plant!
He destroys what God wants destroyed!
A prophet is a man that God knew, formed, ordained and sanctified in his mother’s womb! Just as John the Baptist was.
Therefore, he is the thought and voice of God and hears by command that which he must speak! He has no option but to speak it!
He has a voice that speaks for God alone!
God is always with him! God puts his own words in the prophet’s mouth!
A prophet builds up what God wants built and plants what God wants planted! God performs His word that the prophet speaks!
A prophet is one that God speaks to by vision
and by dreams and by an audible voice,
and with a sanctified mind speaks a precise
word not mixed with mind and
matter of this world!
He is chosen to see the wickedness
of nations and to see God’s judgments that
are coming with destruction!
He is sent to utter these things and proclaim them as warnings
that all men might turn from their wicked ways!
My friend and mentor Leonard Ravenhill ‘s
“Picture of a Prophet” describes thus…
No man can be fully accepted until he is totally rejected. The prophet of the Lord is aware of both these experiences. They are his brand name.
Smug or what . . .
The group, challenged by the prophet because they are smug and comfortably insulated from a perishing world in their warm but untested theology, is not likely to vote him “man of the year” when he refers to them as habituates of the “Synagogue of Satan”.
Urgent need . . .
The prophet comes to set up that which is upset. His work is to call into line those who are out of line.
He is unpopular because he opposes the popular in morality and spirituality. In a day of faceless politicians and voiceless preachers there is not a more urgent national need than we cry to God for a prophet.
The function of the prophet, as Austin – Sparks once said “has almost always been that of recovery”.
The prophet is God’s detective seeking for a lost treasure.
The degree of his effectiveness is known by the measure of unpopularity. Compromise is not known to him.
He has no price tags . . .
He is totally “other worldly”
He is unquestionably controversial
and unpardonably hostile
He marches to another drummer
He breathes the rarefied air of inspiration
He is a “seer” who comes to lead the blind
He lives in the heights of God and comes into the valley with a “thus saith the Lord”
He shares some of the foreknowledge of God
and so is aware of impending judgment
He lives in splendid isolation
He is forthright and outright but
claims no birthright
His message is repent,
be reconciled to God or else
His prophecies are parried
His truth brings torment but
his voice is never void
He is the villain of today and
the hero of tomorrow
He is excommunicated while alive
and exalted when dead
He is dishonored with epithets when
breathing and honored with
epitaphs when dead
He is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ
but few “make the grade” in his class
He is friendless when living
and famous when dead
He is against the establishment in ministry
then he is establishes as a saint by posterity
He eats daily the bread of affliction while he
ministers, but he feeds the bread of life
to those who will listen
He walks before men for days but has walked before God for years
He is a scourge to the nation before he
is scourged by the nation
He announces, pronounces and denounces
He has a heart like a volcano and
his words are like fire
He talks to God for people
He talks to people for God
He burns the lamp of truth amongst heretics
He hides with God in the secret place but has
nothing to hide in the market place
He is naturally sensitive but
supernaturally spiritual
He has passion, purpose and pugnacity
He is ordained of God but disdained by men
He will be self abasing, non self seeking,
non self projecting, non self righteous,
non self glorying, non self promoting
He will say nothing that will draw men to himself
but only that which will move men to God
Let him come daily from the throne of a Holy God,
the place where he has received the order of the day.

An Iron pillar…
A prophet of God is likened unto a defensed city, an iron pillar – and like a brazen wall against the whole land, against the headships of all religious movements, against the ministers thereof and against the people of the land because of their falseness!
Prophets therefore are fought against but
to no avail because God is with them!
The prophet declares . . .
“ Return unto the Lord and forsake your cloaks of religion
that are nothing but vanity and lies of hypocrisy that is
strong delusion and a mockery of God! “
A prophet of God stands on the other side of the river where it may seem to all it is a dry barren desert, a wilderness, unknown and fearful. A place where “fear and doubt” would grip the heart of man!
You may abide on the side of the river where it is nice, clean, comfortable and secure – where all are clothed in fine garments – where partying, barbecues, singing, dancing and the greatest glorious religious structures with all their praises and adorations are made known!
A place of religious security where there seems to be peace and satisfaction, love and goodwill, food, clothing and shelter!
Yes, you may abide where all is well, calm and comfortable, where there is a progressive – worldly lifestyle of security and substance and a church and religion of your choice!
A place of the glory of man and the great works of man!
In that number. . .
Yes you can be numbered among the popular religious beliefs and go to the church of your choice, but in the end you will be in an eternal hell that can never cross over that river where that prophet walks in the midst of holy angels and in the presence of Almighty God!
You will never come into the fearful, glorious presence of God’s Holy Son and touch the mountain of His fire and enter the cloud where He is and hear His thundering voice saying . . .
“The prophet has brought you home!“
By a prophet were they led out . . .
By a prophet they were kept . . .
And by a prophet they are led in . . .
Tune into the prophets for the time frame you are now living in, this is the last generation before Jesus return…
Believe in the LORD your God,
so shall ye be established;
believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Yet he sent prophets to them,
to bring them again unto the LORD;
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing,
but he revealed his secret unto
his servants the prophets.

Santification

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. – 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NKJV)

It was “the grand deposition which God has lodged with the people called Methodists; and for the sake of propagating this chiefly He appeared to have raised us up” [Works, Volume XIII, page 9]. John Wesley believed the doctrine of entire sanctification was Methodism’s distinctive gift to Christianity. He called it “the great promise of God” [IV. 138], Christian perfection, holiness of heart and life.

But while sister denominations within our Wesleyan family continue to preach and teach this doctrine faithfully, it is rare that one hears it even mentioned, much less taught, in the United Methodist Church.

Entire sanctification remains a part of our doctrinal heritage due largely to the enduring influence of the former Evangelical United Brethren Church. Article XI of the EUB Confession of Faith, now part of the United Methodist Book of Discipline (para. 62), includes the following statement:

Entire sanctification is a state of perfect love, righteousness and true holiness which every regenerate believer may obtain by being delivered from the power of sin, by loving God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength, and by loving one’s neighbor as one’s self. Through faith in Jesus Christ this gracious gift may be received in this life both gradually and instantaneously, and should be sought earnestly by every child of God.

Wesley believed that Christ’s death on the cross made it possible not only for sinners to be saved by grace, but, indeed, for them to be saved to the uttermost. Entire sanctification was restoration to the image of God, being made perfect in love toward God and neighbor.

It is thus that we wait for entire sanctification; for a full salvation from all our sins, from pride, self-will, anger, unbelief; or, as the Apostle expresses it, “go on unto perfection.” But what is perfection? The word has various senses: Here it means perfect love. It is love excluding sin; love filling the heart, taking up the whole capacity of the soul. It is love “rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, in every thing giving thanks.” [Sermon 43–The Scripture Way of Salvation]

“Well, but what more than this can be implied in entire sanctification?” It does not imply any new kind of holiness: Let no man imagine this. From the moment we are justified, till we give up our spirits to God, love is the fulfilling of the law; of the whole evangelical law, which took place of the Adamic law, when the first promise of “the seed of the woman” was made. Love is the sum of Christian sanctification; it is the one kind of holiness, which is found, only in various degrees, in the believers who are distinguished by St. John into “little children, young men, and fathers.” The difference between one and the other properly lies in the degree of love. And herein there is as great a difference in the spiritual, as in the natural sense, between fathers, young men, and babes. [Sermon 83–On Patience]

Entire sanctification, or Christian perfection, is neither more nor less than pure love; love expelling sin, and governing both the heart and life of a child of God. The Refiner’s fire purges out all that is contrary to love, and that many times by a pleasing smart. Leave all this to Him that does all things well, and that loves you better than you do yourself. [Letters to Mr. Walter Churchey, of Brecon]

But how is one sanctified? Wesley often had to defend this doctrine against charges that he was preaching some form of works righteousness. But nothing could have been further from the truth. Entire sanctification was not a goal to be achieved, but a gift to be received. Like justification, sanctification is the gracious gift of God, received by faith.

I have continually testified in private and in public, that we are sanctified as well as justified by faith. And indeed the one of those great truths does exceedingly illustrate the other. Exactly as we are justified by faith, so are we sanctified by faith. Faith is the condition, and the only condition, of sanctification, exactly as it is of justification. It is the condition: None is sanctified but he that believes; without faith no man is sanctified. And it is the only condition: This alone is sufficient for sanctification. Every one that believes is sanctified, whatever else he has or has not. In other words, no man is sanctified till he believes: Every man when he believes is sanctified. [Sermon 43]

Wesley also maintained that he was preaching no new doctrine, but simply recovering an old doctrine which the Church had long forgotten. With evangelical zeal, Wesley and the early Methodists were obedient to the call of God “to spread Scriptural holiness over the land.”

Today, the people called Methodists need to recover both the doctrine of entire sanctification and the fervor with which their forebears proclaimed it, but like so many church’s of Today they have fallen away and are nothing more than worldly organizations lifting up humanism.

I am not the author of this essay, the author is unknown to me.