As I indicated above, the gospel of Jesus Christ is an ultimatum. It challenges men to choose sides -- once and for all. Which will it be? The world, or heaven? God, or the devil? There is no such thing as "accepting Jesus" as Savior, but refusing Him as Lord. Salvation -- the forgiveness of sins, deliverance from Satan's power, the hope of heaven -- is but one benefit of heavenly citizenship. It is given freely to all who finally and completely cast their lot with heaven's King. Anything less is fatal.

Throughout the age the gospel has been the sword of heaven's army, wielded through the lips of God's servants, chosen from among men to proclaim the heavenly message. Wherever it has gone men and women have been called out from Satan's dominion and made citizens of heaven. Today, a great company of the redeemed line heaven's shores watching, and waiting, as the last chapter unfolds.

But the gospel is a two-edged sword. Wherever the gospel goes men become responsible before God. It exposes the true nature of their sin and rebellion. Without its light men just do what it is their nature to do -- and die. But when the light of God's Word shines upon them, their sinful and rebellious nature finds its true Adversary and they must choose. To continue in sin then is to choose damnation. It is to spit on the love of God and to defy His Son.

We have already referred earlier to Paul's writings in II Thess. 2. His general subject was the coming of Christ. He, by revelation, foresaw many things that were to happen prior to Christ's coming. One of these things (verse 3) is variously translated as, "a falling away" (KJV), "the rebellion" (NIV), "the apostasy" (NASU), "a time of great rebellion against God" (TLB).

Each of these translations says the same thing in slightly different words. And all convey the revelation of God that enabled Paul to look down the stream of time and foresee a time of great rebellion shortly before the coming of the Lord. There has, of course, been much rebellion against God in the world but Paul isn't speaking in generalities. He saw a very specific time of rebellion.

This is evident from what he says in verse 7. There he refers to the "mystery of iniquity" which was already at work in his own day. A "mystery" in the Bible is something that natural man is incapable of understanding. It is something that God must reveal, even to His own, if they are to understand. The word "iniquity" means "lawlessness." A "lawless" man is someone who will not be ruled over. Particularly it refers to a man who will not be ruled over by Christ. Remember the words from Christ's parable, "We will not have this man to rule over us."

Please note especially that, although this secret principle of lawlessness was at work in Paul's day, there was a restraint in place. "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way." NIV. This is a clear reference to the fact that God has restrained the power of darkness during the gospel age, allowing it to be expressed only so much. The full expression of man's wickedness has been reserved for the end of the age. The ending of this restraint corresponds to the "great rebellion."

When we hear words like "rebellion" and "lawlessness" we are inclined to associate them with things that are outwardly and obviously wicked and against Christ such as sin and perversion, war and violence, secularism, paganism, new age teachings, atheism, humanism, and so forth. Of course these things do indeed flow forth from the spirit of antichrist but the most subtle and dangerous expression of the spirit of antichrist is not in overt wickedness: it is in religion. And I don't just mean "heathen" religion. I mean most of what goes by the name "Christian." Christianity has been largely hijacked by the kingdom of darkness to the point that it has become one of Satan's greatest tools for sealing people in their sins and preparing them for the lake of fire.

Jesus spoke of such in Matt. 7:15-23. After warning of false prophets who would come dressed in sheep's clothes he declared in verse 21, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." He then revealed the fact that MANY -- not a few! -- on the day of judgment would call him "Lord" and point out all they had done in his name but would be rejected as those who "work iniquity." Sobering words, those, words that ought to make us seriously consider.

Remember that the word "iniquity" means "lawlessness." This indicates that although these people had done many impressive religious things so far as they were concerned, they were actually rebels at heart. They had never truly bowed to Jesus Christ as Lord and submitted themselves to His Headship. Jesus was not the author of what they did. Other spirits were at work.

Consider the beginning of the church. Christ ascended to the throne and at the appointed time sent forth the Spirit upon the apostles, His chosen vessels. They proclaimed the gospel message and some 3000 people believed, were baptized, and then continued in fellowship together. How many denominations were there? Of course there were none! There is no such thing in God's kingdom! There were only two kinds of people: those who believed in Christ and those who didn't. And I don't mean a superficial "belief." I mean the kind that caused people to wholly cast their lot with Jesus Christ for time and eternity, that caused them to remain steadfast even when it cost them their lives.

The lines were clear. At the center of things was Jesus Christ, God's Son. People were either with Him or they were against Him. And things stayed that way for a time. But "fast forward" a few years and you can see the "mystery of iniquity" at work -- in the Name of Christ! The New Testament is full of warnings about this corruption of Christ's Church that showed itself in such things as strife and division, false doctrine, false ministries, and sin and rebellion of every kind. One church leader named Diotrephes (3 John 9-10) wouldn't even receive John the Apostle himself, and if anyone was in fellowship with John, Diotrephes threw him out of his church! I wonder what kind of a spirit was behind that!

This same "mystery of iniquity" has continued at work in Christianity down through the centuries, corrupting and dividing, using and abusing everyone it could. The miracle is that God has carried out His plan in spite of Christianity! I'm glad! But what has this to do with our subject? Everything! The great rebellion unfolding in our day is not limited to the secular arena. It is evident everywhere in churches. God's remnant need to be aware of the fact that very little that goes by the name "Christian" actually operates under the headship of Christ. Some other spirit is in control.

I believe that anyone with any spiritual discernment is aware of this. In one sense you could say that we don't need a vision or an angel to make us aware of spiritual conditions in churches, yet during the visitation we experienced in the late 1960s the Lord didn't leave this subject out. We were repeatedly shown the awful apostate conditions that prevail in most places. Visions would be given that showed a few scattered points of light in what was otherwise great darkness. This lent special emphasis to the ministry of the Word on the subject as well as confirmation of what we knew as a matter of spiritual discernment.

The rebellion against the Lordship of Christ is just as great in Christendom as a whole in our day as it was against Jesus Christ when He was on earth. The same religious spirits are at work. Real Christian believers, as they become aware of this, really need to seek God from their hearts for His leading and provision. There is a great famine in the land. It makes no sense for believers to continue to pour time and money into religion that honors Christ in name only. It greatly saddens me as people write to us telling how they've gone here and there to church and been abused, intimidated, brought into great bondage, and spiritually starved. That is all there is in many places yet God does have a people in the earth! We need Him to lead us.

God never called anyone to gather people under the name "Baptist," or "Methodist," or "Pentecostal," or any other name other than Jesus Christ. His is the only name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12. In spite of the fact that there have been some real believers who have worn these "brands" such names are devices of Lucifer to divide and hinder the work of Christ in the earth.

We have a name. It is Midnight Cry Ministries. But we have no interest whatsoever in promoting, or in bringing people under that name. It is simply a legal entity so that we can own property and enter into agreements with broadcast outlets and so forth. But the only Name that is to be lifted up is the Name of Jesus!

Spurgeon was a great preacher who happened to be Baptist. But I like what he said about that: "I say of the Baptist name, let it perish, but let Christ's name last forever. I look forward with pleasure, to the day when there will not be a Baptist living. I hope they will soon be gone. I hope the Baptist name will soon perish, but let Christ's name endure forever." I wonder how that would go over in most Baptist churches today! Yet, could not the same be said of any denomination?

One vision I particularly remember regarding churches depicted a large church full of people. Then a giant fist began to beat on the roof of the church and to cause it to crumble. The people, of course, came running out. But the interesting thing was that dark figures took most of them by the left hand and led them off in one direction while bright figures took a very few by the right hand and led them off in the other! Most of those church members belonged to the devil!

No one is more aware of the apostate condition of churches than God Himself and He was letting us know that He would be bringing about conditions that would uproot His elect and separate them from religious houses of darkness and slumber. Drastic measures are sometimes needed to awaken His children to the great need of the hour.

In fact, separation was a great theme of the visitation. Over and over we were shown through vision and in the scriptures both light and darkness each gathered to its own kind. The true gospel of Jesus Christ has always brought about separation -- oftentimes within families.

We have witnessed this in a number of ways. Some will go along for awhile and then at some point rebel against the light and go out. I John 2:19 is fulfilled which says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

Other times we have seen the Lord reach out to bring someone into the light, into the fellowship of the body of Christ, yet their earthly family remain in darkness -- sometimes religious darkness. Remember the words of Jesus (Matt 10:34-37): "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

These things have always occurred wherever Christ has established His church, gathering people in His Name. Yet the conditions to be expected as the darkness intensifies mean we will see more and more separation take place. I believe that before the end the line between those who serve Christ and those who remain in the enemy's camp will become far more clear than it is now. Things were pretty clear in Noah's day. They were likewise clear in Jerusalem in the days before judgment fell in 70 A.D.

The gathering darkness will make it more and more necessary for true believers to seek out fellowship with their own kind. God Himself will dry up the "pools" and do whatever is necessary to bring His children out of religious prison houses. Isaiah 42.

Even as God would not forever strive with men in Noah's day, so it is today. There is a line men cross where they are abandoned to the darkness they have chosen. Jesus gave a scathing indictment in Matt. 23 of the religion of the scribes and Pharisees. Verse 38 sums up God's response to their persistent unbelief and wickedness: "Behold your house is left unto you desolate."

Desolate! What a sobering word. I wonder how many places are in that condition today. I fully believe that people cannot even be saved in many churches. God has abandoned them. People must leave if they are to get help and find God.

We can see this in the ministry of Jesus. Over the course of his ministry Jesus travelled the cities and villages of Israel preaching God's word and performing mighty miracles. Yet over and over he was met with a deeply entrenched religious unbelief. What it really was was demon power. Satan had clothed himself in a religion that outwardly honored God and Moses. But Jesus knew their hearts. That's why he said, "Ye are of your father, the devil." John 8:44. In His own hometown of Nazareth the good folks of the synagogue tried to kill him on one occasion! Luke 4:16-30.

On another occasion Jesus pronounced woe on several cities by name -- Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum (Matt. 11:20-24). They were specially guilty because God had given them so much light. In fact Jesus said that Sodom would fare better on the judgment day than they would! Think about that! Bible-believing, synagogue-attending Israelites ranked lower on God's scale than did the wicked sinners of Sodom! Is it really so different in the Christendom of our day?

There is a revealing incident that occurred in Bethsaida, one of the cities censured by Jesus. It is recorded for us in Mark 8:22-26. Jesus came to Bethsaida where some people brought a blind man to him, asking that he be healed. However, instead of just praying for him then and there, Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the town. Now this was unusual!

After they had left the town Jesus prayed for the man -- twice! This is the only recorded incident in all of the ministry of Jesus where it was necessary for him to pray for someone twice. I believe it was a symptom, a symptom of the awful darkness of unbelief in that place.

But what follows is even more revealing! After the man's eyes were finally opened Jesus told him not to go into the town and furthermore not even to tell anyone who was going there! What does this mean? Doesn't God want everyone to know? Hadn't Jesus himself ministered openly in Bethsaida on other occasions? What was going on?

"My Spirit shall not always strive with man." Bethsaida had had their opportunity. God had shown a brilliant light in their midst and they had said no. God was through with that place. There was to be no more witness there. People had to leave if they got help -- and not go back!

More and more we are seeing these kinds of conditions in our day and God's people need to be aware of it. "Churchianity" will not do. Satan has been loosed as never before and some of his cleverest traps are religious. We need God as we've never needed Him before to lead us, to open our eyes and to give wisdom and discernment.

One of the things the Word of God specifically warns us of regarding the last days is religious deception -- including lying signs and wonders. Matt. 24:24, II Thess. 2:8-10. Don't believe everything that looks impressive, feels good, and they say is from God -- even if something truly supernatural is involved. Seek God!

One thing God's people need to understand about some of these things: when people go so far in rejecting truth and rejecting the Spirit of God, God sends them strong delusion. II Thess. 2:11-12. And what's more He does it for the express purpose that they might believe a lie and be damned!

I am fully persuaded that we are seeing and will continue to see the fruits of this kind of strong delusion. It is nothing less than Divine judgment upon rebellion and unbelief when God steps back and allows the devil to powerfully convince sign-seeking unbelievers of his lie.

God is our only hope in such an hour. Judgment hangs over our world. It draws closer every day. And more and more people every day are being sealed in darkness and unaware of what is coming. If there is any capacity at all for hearing the voice of God it is time to act -- before it is too late. And the lost will not know it is too late until the day of the Lord arrives. They'll cry; they'll scream; they'll pray but it won't do any good then. It's "Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts...." Heb. 3:7. Today is all we ever have.

One theme that surfaced during the visitation was "The Eleventh Hour." There were several visions given that in one way or another showed that we were entering the last hour. One showed a clock at 11 o'clock. Another showed the words, "The Eleventh Hour." Bro. Thomas was greatly anointed to preach a message with that as the title. He also preached a message about the same time entitled "The Last Hour For Sinners." He later wrote the recently reprinted article, "God's Last Call."

All had the same general theme, that the opportunity to be saved was getting shorter and shorter, that there was one more "hour" in which God would reach out. It was also emphasized -- relating this to the last invitation in the parable of the great supper (Luke 14:22-23) that God's principal outreach would be to the unreached. He would not necessarily be going back where the message had been rejected but would go beyond the symbolic "streets and lanes of the city" to the "highways and hedges." I believe that much of what God is doing today is happening in remote corners of the globe among those who have never before heard.

I firmly believe that in the end God's "house" will be full. Every single man, woman, boy, or girl that the Father has given to His Son will come to Him and not be refused. John 6:37. I cannot tell you who, or how, or where. Only God can show us that. I am convinced, however, that we are in the period of God's last call to mankind -- and time is getting shorter and shorter.

Another clear emphasis of the Spirit was upon the word "compel" in that parable. It signified the sense of urgency in the message. Time was running out. The Lord emphasized the "short work" that the Lord would do upon the earth from Rom. 9:28. Only the Lord knows how short "short" is. He has His own Divine schedule for things. Everything will happen according to His plan. But we were made to know that it is not a time for "neglecting" so great a salvation. Heb. 2:3.

A number of times since I began to write this series the question has come up in my mind as to how to finish it. It is one thing to set forth the fact that we are in "sudden death overtime." It is another to answer the inevitable questions that arise: "OK, what do we do, then?" "What exactly is going to happen, and when?" It is our nature to want answers to such questions. That's one reason why so many religious teachers of our day are so popular. They will gladly pull out their big charts and show you in great detail all that they believe is going to happen. But I am persuaded that they are as deceived about many of these things as were the Pharisees of Jesus' day. The Pharisees knew about Messiah's coming but failed to recognize Him when He actually came.

We'd love to have a nice clear "road map" that would unveil God's full plan for His own in the last days -- where to go to church, what to believe, how to tell truth from deception, His plan for protecting us from the growing darkness, and so on. But God has declared, "Now the just shall live by faith." Heb. 10:38. Paul said, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." II Cor. 5:7. That is God's way.

The simple answer to the above question, What now? can be be stated in two words: Trust God. Yet that sounds overly simplistic, almost trite. What do you mean, trust God? Doesn't every Christian trust God? Yes -- and no. It is true that every genuine born-again Christian has trusted the salvation of their soul into the faithful hands of Jesus Christ. But there is a great deal more than that that God had in mind when He told us to "live by faith," and "walk by faith."

When I say, "Trust God," I mean that God desires in us a practical, active faith that touches every area of our lives. Too much of our "trust" in God is theoretical. We say that we are trusting in Him -- as long as we are healthy, have a nice house, a steady job, the ability to work and make a living, money in the bank, and so forth. Yet how quickly we panic on the inside when God in His infinite wisdom chooses to knock out some of these props from under us! Where is our real trust?

As I look into my own heart as well as round about I can understand why Jesus posed the rhetorical question: "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8. It is not nearly so plentiful as we might suppose.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate God's plan for us is recall something that was often emphasized during and following the visitation: the wilderness. The Lord often drew lessons and gave instructions to us from his dealings with Israel when He called them into the wilderness. There are prophetic scriptures such as Ezekiel 20:33-38 and Hosea 2:14-23 that at once look back to Israel's earlier experience in the wilderness yet also looked ahead to God's future dealings with His people. On numerous occasions the Lord greatly anointed Bro. Thomas to apply the truths in these scriptures and others to us in our day.

Egypt is a type of the world. God's elect are slaves there, spending their lives for things that can never last, eking out an often miserable and impoverished existence. God knows who they are and how to help them. But until He moves in, all they can do is struggle on and perhaps cry out to God. Be assured that He hears! Though He tarry in answering, yet He is never one day late.

Canaan is, in one sense, a type of the next world that God has planned for His own. It is a land of fruitfulness and plenty, a land abounding in peace and fellowship with God. It is a place where God's sons and daughters will be able to enjoy Him forever. (I am aware that, in another sense, Canaan is also a type of the full rest of faith into which true believers enter when they completely cast their lot with Christ. However, the fullest expression of all that Canaan means awaits the new creation after Christ returns and destroys this present one.)

The wilderness is a place of transition, a place where God tries and proves His own and prepares them for Canaan. In Egypt His people are in no condition to inherit Canaan. There is too much of Egypt in them, too much they need to both unlearn and learn. In Egypt they believed in what they could see and touch. Canaan is a place of perfect rest and trust in God. The wilderness is where those lessons are learned, where we are changed, conformed to the image of His Son. Rom. 8:29.

The wilderness is first of all a place of separation. In Ezekiel 20:34-35 God promised to bring us "out from the people," and "into the wilderness of the people." There He promised to plead with us "face to face." Remember how it was in Egypt. Moses went to Pharaoh repeatedly to deliver God's message to "Let my people go." Pharoah just as repeatedly hardened his heart against the Lord. Notice particularly how he tried to get Moses to compromise. He first agreed that all the men could go (Exodus 10:11). Of course, he knew they would return to their wives and families!

Later Pharaoh said that they could all go but to leave their flocks and herds behind. Moses stood uncompromisingly on God's Word and told Pharaoh, "There shall not an hoof be left behind." Exodus 10:26. That's what God is looking for in this hour -- those willing to make a complete break with the world, to embrace His kingdom without compromise. He desires a people who want Him alone, who are willing to "sell all" (Matt. 13:46) to follow Him, believing His promise.

This separation has to happen first in our hearts. That was the problem for so many who physically left Egypt yet remained in unbelief. There is nothing external that anyone can do that is a substitute for real heart faith. It doesn't matter where you are or what church you go to. Jesus Himself could be the pastor but if you have an evil heart of unbelief God will see to it that it comes out. Nothing short of faith will do.

Separation from our own lives in the world and unto God may have many practical ramifications, yet if God has our hearts He can lead us step by step. Abraham is the great Bible example. He is called the "father of all them that believe," by the Apostle Paul in Rom. 4:11.

God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave his country and his relatives and to journey to a land that He would show him. That took faith! God didn't show him the full plan; He didn't show him the land in advance. All Abraham had to go on was confidence in the One Who had called him. That was enough to enable him to do just what God said. He packed up and left. Over a period of time he was unerringly led to the land God later gave to his descendants.

There he was taught many great lessons of faith. God had promised to make of him a great nation yet he had to wait for many years before he even had an heir. By that time having a child was out of the question for Sarah but he kept on believing in God. Later on God proved his faith by asking him to sacrifice Isaac, the very son of promise. I'm sure that Abraham battled many fears and many questions, yet he set out to do what God had said. God waited until he had the knife raised before intervening. Abraham passed the test!

Abraham saw something beyond this world. God was real to him, more real than everything else. He was willing to follow and believe in God even when it meant turning his back on everything other men hold dear. He lived his life as a pilgrim and a stranger and died believing in the promises of God. There was no turning back. Heb. 11:8-19.

That's what "trusting God" is really all about. Are you willing to put God ahead of family, friends, home, a particular church, plans, possessions, career, your own life? If not then you can't be Jesus' disciple (Luke 14:26-33). If so, then He can begin to teach you and lead you and provide every necessary thing for your earthly journey.

"Trusting God" almost sounds like a passive attitude, a sort of acquiescence to whatever happens. But it is really an active faith that calls on God, that bombards heaven in times of need, that continually and steadfastly looks to Him for the answers we need.

Yet there is a patience involved in real trust that is willing to await God's timing. Abraham had to wait 25 years for Isaac. During that time he took some detours, one of which resulted in Ishmael who could never be his heir. Yet, because his faith was real, God was always able to work with him and to bring him back on track. I'm glad that God continues to be faithful to His plan even when we get off course. He looks at the bottom line: Abraham believed God. Even though he failed here and there, God saw the end result and declared him to be "strong in faith." Rom. 4:20. That gives me hope!

Is there something in your life that holds you captive, something you can't really trust God with, or let go? That's actually having another God rather than Him. It's just another form of idolatry. You don't have to bow down to gods of wood and stone to be an idolator. Clinging to your own life in unbelief is the same thing.

God wants to truly be God to His people. That might mean separation from loved ones. It might mean leaving your church. It might mean leaving home and friends. It might mean leaving job and career. I certainly can't say in any individual case, but I know that we can't put anything ahead of Him. His plan is infinitely better than ours! He just wants our hearts and our trust.

Clinging to anything ahead of Him is like staying in Egypt. That won't do. Moses wouldn't leave a hoof print there. God has to bring our hearts to a place where He can begin to work in us according to His plan and our need. There is a lot of changing that has to take place before we're fit for Canaan. Our inward attitude must become the same as that of Jesus: "Not my will, but thine be done." Luke 22:42. Then God can touch anything in our lives that needs touching and deliver us.

Many of God's people have been put to sleep by the religion they are a part of. They are unaware of their need and of the dangers of the hour. Their church is just a part of Egypt and they don't know it. They are led more by tradition than by God. They do things their way and not God's way. What should you do if you wake up and find that this is the case? Seek God. With all your heart. Daily let Him know you desire to be led of Him and then do what He says -- when He says it. Don't run ahead and try to figure things out. Let Him set the pace. It is a walk of faith. I don't know what His plan for you is precisely. He does!

The wilderness is a place of total dependence on God. It means leaving the place where we feel safe because we feel in control for a place where God is the only answer, the only source of help. As Isaiah prophesied in 42:16, "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them." What a glorious promise! Yet how scary it can seem when God actually calls upon us to trust Him.

I was thinking the other day about how it might have been if a group of men had tried to lead and provide for a nation of people who were going to live in the desert for what turned out to be 40 years! What a staggering task! Scouting out trails and campsites, printing and distributing maps and guide books, establishing warehouses of supplies and supporting supply lines -- no doubt depending upon the heathen nations of the area! Only God could do such a thing. And He did it without relying on any of the things men would have relied on!

Life in Egypt was hard but at least they lived in houses and had gardens. Out in the desert, what were they to eat? Where would they find water? Talk about the impossible!

God did everything He could do to prove Himself faithful. He led them to a militarily indefensible spot beside the Red Sea and then stirred up Pharaoh's heart to pursue the Israelites. There they were, trapped and helpless. They cried out in unbelief. Was God worried? Struggling to come up with a plan? No! He had everything well in hand. He just wanted to secure their trust.

Finally Moses told them, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD which he will shew to you today." He said that this was the last time they would see the Egyptians and that God would fight for them. Exodus 14:13-14.

What did Moses have going for him? The promise of an unseen God and a stick! But he'd already seen God do some wonderful things through that "stick" as he moved in faith. And so we know the account of how God told Moses to stretch forth his rod over the sea and the waters parted. Then after the Israelites had crossed, the same waters destroyed Pharaoh's army as they tried to pursue. What's really amazing is that so many could experience things like this and still have no real faith!

As they journeyed on God miraculously provided water, and manna for food. Their clothes didn't wear out. Except for times when God judged some, they didn't even get sick. His presence was made known by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. As long as they moved in harmony with Him, He took care of everything. They were to move when the cloud moved and stay when it stayed.

And it was just as much a walk of faith for Moses as it was for the people. They looked to him and all he could do was to look to God for the wisdom and direction he needed -- as he needed it. He didn't have a map and a detailed itinerary in his tent. He needed God every day. No program. No five-year plan. Just God. And He was more than enough!

God was showing them that they didn't need the things that men depend upon. They only needed Him in their midst. They needed to simply trust in what He promised and live lives of daily dependence on Him. This was, as Moses later recounted in Deut. 8:3 the major lesson of the wilderness: "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live."

There is something very "present tense" about that principle that we often forget. Now that we have the Bible, we think that's all we need. We do need it, of course, but it's no good without the Author! We need Him as the present tense active Leader. When we come together, we need Him to lead us and show us what to do. All of our plans and schemes, all of our programs are a poor substitute for having God in the midst.

One of the key phrases of Deut. 8:3 is, "And he humbled thee...." This is something that we by nature hate above all things. Yet it is absolutely necessary to God's plan. Even His own Son, our creator, "humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil. 2:8.

Heb. 5:7-8 says, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." Notice the connection between obedience, suffering, and the fulfilling of God's purpose for Him. It is the same for all of God's children. Notice also that eternal salvation is for those that obey him.

We don't like to be humbled, to be dependent, to feel like we're in over our heads. But the fact is that the life we've been called to is not natural, but supernatural. We can't do anything at all unless God helps us. It is both humbling and wonderful to realize that anything at all spiritually good that we are involved in comes not from us, but from God.

In the wilderness we learn that we are nothing and He is everything. It is as Ezek. 20:38 concludes, "... And ye shall know that I am the LORD." And we learn that He is all we need.

The wilderness is a place of testing and proving. So much that is called faith is not really faith at all. After God said in Ezek. 20:33-38 that He intended to "bring you into the wilderness," He promised to "purge out from among you the rebels and them that transgress against me."

So many that are apparent followers of God are actually unbelievers at heart. It just takes the right circumstance to bring that unbelief boiling to the surface. Korah and the others in Numbers 15 resented Moses' authority and rebelled, not against Moses, but against the God Who had called him. The ten spies (Numbers 13) believed more in the giants than they did in the faithfulness of God to keep His promise. Others were more interested in grumbling and complaining than they were in being thankful to God for feeding them in the middle of the desert (Numbers 21). A multitude made and worshipped a golden calf and were ready to return to Egypt rather than wait on God (Exodus 32). And on it went until a whole generation -- except for Caleb and Joshua -- died in the wilderness.

God knows just how to touch that one thing that is truly the center of our affections. When He does, there is a choice to be made: rebel or surrender. He will not have any other gods before Him.

There will be no stubbornness, no self-will, religious or otherwise, in the new earth. By nature we serve self and believe that obeying its dictates and desires is the key to our happiness. But in God's kingdom it is the opposite. Happiness, joy, peace -- and utter fulfillment -- come from God's loving will alone.

God's true children experience the same trials, the same tests, that eliminate the rebels. But the trials God sends upon His own, however fiery, are sent only to purify and strengthen faith, never to destroy it. In fact, true faith cannot be destroyed because it is not really our faith at all, but Christ's Who lives within. Gal. 2:20.

In I Cor. 10:1-14, Paul draws upon the wilderness experience of Israel in exhorting Christian believers to flee idolatry, to not be careless or presumptuous in following God. He enumerates the failures of many who died in the wilderness because of sin and unbelief.

It is in this context that Paul gave us verse 13, one of the most oft-quoted promises in the Bible: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." NIV.

What a wonderful testament to God's faithfulness! We often come short, but He is always faithful! Notice, also, how it is that He helps us. His interest -- and promise -- is to help us to be able to stand up under the trial, not to run away in unbelief, or to somehow make the trial go away.

So much of what is called faith in our day is devoted to making the trials of life disappear. What God is looking for is faith that is able to patiently endure when that is in order. For that He calls upon us to draw, not from our own strength, but from His. Every trial is carefully balanced with whatever grace is needed. In short, He is able to finish what He has started. He just wants our trust!

God wants to prove Himself to us and that cannot happen except He bring us into situations in which all we have to lean on is His promise. He wants us to know the same lesson He endeavored to teach the Israelites so long ago: "Man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God doth man live." Deut. 8:3.

Ezek. 20:37 says, "And I will cause you to pass under the rod...." The rod is a shepherd's rod. God is determined to be a Shepherd to His people. He knows how desperately we need one! His heart is to gather, to nurture, to protect, and to lead us safely through. The rod is a symbol of His loving rule over His people. Rebels hate authority but God's sheep see things differently. They can say with David, "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Psalm 23:4. They know that the Shepherd uses the rod to help His sheep and not to hurt them.

There was a rod in the wilderness that God used to lead and provide for His people. It was Moses' rod. It represented both divine authority and divine enabling. It wasn't Moses' choice or ambition that led him to do what He did. In fact he tried to talk God out of it! Gen. 3 & 4. But in the end he submitted himself to God's plan. It wasn't natural ability or schooling that enabled him to lead God's people: it was God's anointing upon him. That principle has never changed in spite of all that man has tried to employ as substitutes for the anointing.

Everywhere he went Moses lived in utter dependence on the God Who had called him. God showed Him what to do and how and when to do it. He just obeyed -- and God backed him up. When he stood before the Red Sea, unbelievers crying out in fear, God told him to stretch forth his rod over the sea and it parted. When the people were so thirsty they were about ready to stone Moses, he cried to the Lord and the Lord told him to strike the rock and water came out. Exodus 17:6.

Aaron had a rod, too. Later on when the people were in a complaining and rebellious mood God had their leaders place their rods together with Aaron's in the tabernacle overnight. Numbers 17. In the morning when they looked, Aaron's rod had blossoms and almonds on it! God wanted them to know that there was a difference that they needed to recognize and respect. There was no way to follow and respect the LORD without following and respecting Moses and Aaron. Why? Because they were naturally superior? More dedicated? No! Because it was God's plan.

It is the same today. God is a shepherd to His people by calling and anointing men to watch over and lead them. He wants His people to be able to tell the difference between His servants and the self-appointed, or those sent of men. You can know if you really want to do his will. John 7:17. Those who did recognized Jesus as the one sent of the Father.

In I Thess. 2:13 Paul commends the Thessalonian believers with these words: "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." That sounds pretty important to me, to be able to recognize men who truly have God's word -- not just the words of the Bible -- but God's message for right now! God used words that passed through Paul's lips to bring them into His eternal kingdom! But they were His words, inspired by His Spirit, full of life and power.

I don't believe we can improve upon God's plan for His Church. In Eph. 4 we find that there is one Spirit and one body. We find that Christ has given various ministry gifts "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Eph. 4:12-13.

And beyond the ministry itself, all the members of Christ's body are to be "joined together" and brought to a place where each member functions effectively by drawing strength and ability from Christ the Head. And every member needs every other member. No one is complete in Himself. Completeness happens when every member functions in his or her proper place for the benefit of the whole. This is the order God honors and that will get the job done.

God gave us a picture in the way the Israelites camped in the wilderness. Think of the chaos there would have been had they rushed helter-skelter for the best spots every time they made camp! It wasn't like that at all. At the center of everything was the tabernacle with the cloud over it. The Levites took care of the priestly duties with respect to the tabernacle and they did it in an orderly fashion. The rest of the Israelites were instructed to pitch their tents in careful order, by tribes, by families, and by rank within tribes and families. Everything and everyone had a place with God's presence at the center.

And God's presence was over the holiest place of the tabernacle, the place where the ark of the covenant rested. Notice that in Ezekiel 20:37 God promises to bring us "into the bond of the covenant." The covenant we enjoy through what Jesus did at Calvary is an eternal one, far greater than anything known or understood in Old Testament days. What we have is what believers of that day looked forward to.

God desires to bring us into every aspect of that covenant. All that we have been speaking of -- His drawing us out of the world and unto Himself together with our brethren, walking together by faith, learning His ways -- all these things are necessary if we are to enjoy all that Christ has given us. No matter what the devil does in these last days, there is no safer place than walking with the Lord and His people under that cloud.

One deception the devil loves to use is to cause people to become independent, a law unto themselves, subject to nothing but their own judgment. It is one thing to be alone, yet actively looking to God to find one's place among His people and under the ministry He has provided. It is another to actually believe that the Christian life is just you and Jesus "on the Jericho road." The Spirit of God always brings His people together, causing them to become subject to Christ as He expresses Himself through the various members of the body.

God's people are scattered and in all kinds of circumstances. Many are unable even to find a place where they can be fed spiritually. We hear from them all the time. Yet every one in this position should be actively seeking God to lead them. He has a place for you. He knows how to provide spiritual fellowship and food. Don't be in a hurry. If God answered all your prayers in a day, you might stop seeking Him!

Be aware that the devil will do all he can to discourage and sidetrack you if you set out to seek God. Don't let him do either. Keep right on looking to God, asking Him for courage and wisdom according to your need. If he should begin to provide you with someone of like spirit to meet and pray with -- or perhaps a small group -- just keep on seeking the Lord. Don't be in any hurry to "start something" or to "get organized." He is all the organization we need. Just pray and worship and encourage one another in the Lord.

Often when small groups are meeting informally for worship and prayer, someone with a lot of zeal and perhaps an aspiring spirit will begin to assert himself or herself as a leader, moving according to their own religious ideas. Part of looking to the Lord is looking to Him that you might be able to discern such things -- and to make that discernment known. God can bear witness and help us with these things. Even basically good people need the discernment and wisdom that God makes known through the body to help them to find their proper place. I believe that God's people know it when someone tries to do something God hasn't called them to do. It just doesn't bear witness. And many are so zealous that they don't realize it unless they are told.

The thing we need to prize above all is for the Lord to be at the center of things, leading and in control. He alone knows what we need. We haven't been this way before! What we've learned in religion won't do. We need to learn His ways. He is more than willing to teach us if we are willing to learn. And He has the ministries his people need.

I've tried basically to simply enumerate a number of principles that God has emphasized in our midst over the years, principles that He honors. Certainly high on His list are such things as brotherly love and unity. All of this may sound "spiritual" and vague and impractical but I believe that God is calling His people to just such a relationship -- with each other and with Him.

You will, of course, notice that I haven't given you a nice neat chronology of endtime events that lie in our future. I haven't given you a detailed "manual" on how to "set up" the body of Christ. What I have endeavored to give you is something much better than that! It is exactly what Noah had -- and also what the saints in Jerusalem had. They made it their one business in life to cultivate a practical relationship with God and He took care of them! What could be better than that? I just don't know any better way than trusting God and believing that He will lead and provide for His own.

Earlier I said that all Moses had when he faced the Red Sea was the promise of an unseen God and a stick. What I want to do now is to give just a little sampling of what we have to go on. I pray that He will quicken His Word and cause it to become more than just words in a book, but rather something we can rest our very souls upon. Did not Jesus say, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away"?

Heb 13:5. "...he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." KJV.

Prov 3:5-6. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." NIV.

Psalm 23:1. "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." KJV. (And the rest of Psalm 23!)

Isa 40:11. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." KJV.

Isa 42:16. "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." NIV.

Isa 52:12. "But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard." NIV.

Ps 68:6. "God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land." NIV.

Heb 10:35-39. "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, 'He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." NIV.

Ps 91:1-4. "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." NIV.

Isa 4:5-6. "And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain." KJV.

Titus 2:11-14. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." NIV.

1 Thess 4:16-18. "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." NIV.

2 Thess 1:6-10. "God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you." NIV.

2 Peter 3:9-13. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." NIV.

Matt 28:20. "...lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." KJV.

2 Tim 1:12. "...I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." NIV.

Phil 1:6. "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." NIV.

I believe with all my heart that we are in the last hour of this world's history. God desires that we be aware of this and of the conditions that will exist on planet earth. Within the limits of the plan of God, Satan will be allowed to have his way among men. It may well appear, before it's over, that he has won, but his end is sure! Christ is coming to crush Satan's rebellion once and for all. "Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28.

The coming of Christ looms over all that happens in our world. It is the devil's greatest fear and the believer's greatest hope. Jesus had a lot to say on the subject but his instruction to us can be summed up by what he said in Matt. 24:44 -- "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." When he concluded the parable of the ten virgins in Matt. 25:13 he said in a similar vein, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

What does it mean to "be ready"? First of all, readiness is based on knowledge. If you don't know about something you cannot be ready for it. But beyond mere knowledge readiness is also based on belief. Many in the world know of the doctrine of Christ's coming but they don't believe it themselves. In fact, many openly scoff at the idea as Peter said they would. II Peter 3:3-4. But true readiness treats the coming of the Lord as the fact that it is -- and acts accordingly.

Obviously, someone who has never been born again of God's Spirit is not ready. If Christ came today they would be left to suffer the world's fate. If you fall into that category I urge you in Christ's name to give your life unreservedly to Him. Bow before Him in your heart. Call upon Him to save you for time and eternity. Believe His promise! Rom. 10:9-13.

Yet I've met many people who think that because they went forward and "accepted Jesus" somewhere way back there that's all there is to it. They continue to live their own lives, attending some lifeless church, just waiting for "the rapture." I'm afraid that in many of these cases such people are not really Christians at all. They've been begotten by the lifeless gospel of "easy-believism." They are just lost church members. Paul exhorted the Corinthians to "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" II Cor. 13:5. In light of the eternal stakes, that sounds like good advice. What other issue is more important? Every other issue affects only our life in this world. God's kingdom is eternal. Don't be among those who scream and cry and gnash their teeth over their lost opportunity to be saved.

I believe that readiness implies a basic knowledge of what it means to serve Christ, to be His follower -- and a willingness, by His grace, to do it. It means that we are ready to serve Him in the light of what He has revealed about conditions on earth as His coming approaches. And, since we don't know the day nor the hour, it means that we are ready should he come today; it also means that we are ready to endure by faith however long He may tarry His coming.

Jesus gave us a warning in Matt. 24:45-51 concerning some who, when His coming seemed to be delayed, became careless and began to "eat and drink with the drunken." That's a picture of someone whose faith is superficial and whose real inner desire is to live to the lusts of their flesh along with the rest of the world. There are some that can be aroused to a state of excitement in their carnal emotions about the prospect of Christ's return, yet when that seems to be delayed and it comes down to practical Christian living, they're not really interested in that.

As we have said, being ready means ready if He comes back today; it means ready to walk with Him and look for Him if His coming is delayed for 50 years; it means ready to live for Him; ready to suffer for Him if need be; ready to die for Him. It simply means that our lot is 100% cast with Him no matter what comes -- or when. Like Abraham, we look for "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Heb. 11:10. We are willing to die in faith if necessary.

Are you ready?

Luke 21:36 says, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

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