Signs and Wonders God Wrought in the Ministry for Forty Years/Chapter 37
CHAPTER XXXVII
SERMON—PREPARE FOR WAR—MARSHALLING OF THE NATIONS
“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem.
“T will also gather all nations, and will bring them into the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare for war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
“Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say I am strong.” (Joel 3.1, 2, 9 and 10.)
“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established on the top of the mountains and it shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow into it.
“And many nations shall come, and say Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
“And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off ; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
“But they shall sit every man under his vine and his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it.” (Micah 4.1; 2, 3 and 4.)
These two quotations from Joel and Micah sound a little’ contradictory. I have heard people say so. But the statements refer to two different parties and times.
The first, “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears” means “Get ready for battle,” and it refers to this present time, a time of war.
The second, “Beat your swords into plowshares and your spears into pruning hooks,” “Get ready for a time of great farming.”
The one to prepare for the greatest battle the world has ever heard of; the other refers to the time when war shall be no more.
The first text in this sermon, Prepare for War; Wake up the mighty men of war. Let the nations gather together for battle, refers to this time of the end that we are now living in, when the gentile time is full or closing.
You see the awful slaughter, massacre, deadly hatred, causing them to kill and-destroy each other. God has risen up like a mighty man of war. He shall roar and shout out from Jerusalem till all nations are gathered in deadly combat, till the blood flows like a river.
In the text in Joel the call is primarily to the Holy Land, where the great battle of God Almighty will be fought. The battle of the great Day of God while the angel is standing in the sun, calling all the fowls of the air to come to the Supper of the Great God, to eat the flesh of all the mighty men, the great men of the world, and the rich men. They are invited to eat and drink the blood and get fat on the flesh, on the carcases of kings and princes of the world, who will soon fall in the notable day of the Lord.
The Lord shall awake and shout out as a man of war. He shall roar out of Zion, and shall utter His voice from Jerusalem. The heavens shall shake and the earth, when the nations are gathering for this great battle with the Lamb and His army from heaven.
John says, “I saw heaven opened, and beheld a white horse, and Him that sat upon him. His eyes were as a flame of fire. On His head were many crowns, and He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in white linen, white and clean.
Oh, praise the Lord! the saints have been translated to heaven. The marriage of the Lamb and His Bride has taken place, with shouting and hallelujahs that have shaken all heaven and earth. The great Marriage Supper, with all its grandeur, and glory, and greatness is over. And they have been with the Lord executing judgments on the earth during the awful tribulation.
Now the cup of wickedness is full. They have defied the God of Heaven long enough. He has stood up in His wrath. All nations of the earth are gathering to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The Lord of Lords and King of Kings, with all His armies of Heaven comes riding in triumph, down through the skies. Enoch saw the Lord coming with ten thousand of His saints. The anti-Christ has gathered his army and is about to destroy God’s children. They will gather all their armies together against Jerusalem to fight, but then the Lord comes from heaven and fights this great battle. The saints do not have to fight, the Lord Himself does the fighting.
Then the Millennial Kingdom is set up, and Satan will be chained during that thousand years. During that time, the curse, and its effects, including all weeds, thistles, and that which would produce disease, etc., have been taken away. “Nothing shall hurt or destroy in all My Holy Mountain.” The time is coming when they shall cease to make war, and the devil is taken out of the hearts of the people.
To-day they are just like wild beasts thirsting for each others blood. They are burying the living and the dead together. Pestilence also has already began its deadly havoc.
Did you ever hear of a great war breaking out so quickly. For years past the most talented men have been inventing to see who could get the most deadly weapons.
God has been holding back the tidal waves and the other destructive forces. His angel has shouted back, “Wait till the servants of God are sealed with the seal of God.”
The division of the book of Joel into chapters is bad. The first verses of the third chapter are a continuation of the last verses of the second chapter and should not be divided from them.
“In the last days I will pour out My Spirit.” Baptize with the Holy Ghost, and scatter the power of the Holy People.
God says, I will rise up in My wrath in that day. When the judgments of God are in the earth some will repent. In the last days I will pour out My Spirit. God says, wake up the heathen.
God is sealing His saints, but that sealing time is pretty nearly over.
That they speak in new tongues is a sign that the Lord is coming.
“The power of the Holy People shall be scattered,” These are they that are clay in the Potter’s hand. They are just clay, having no control of themselves at all. God Almighty speaks through them, “With stammering lips and other tongues will I speak unto this people, but FOR ALL THAT they will not hear.”
Proclaim and tell it to the people. Blow the Trumpet. Sound the alarm in the Holy Mountain. What is the danger? THE DAY OF THE LORD IS COMING, IT IS NEAR AT HAND.
God’s people are blowing the Trumpet. They are sounding the alarm in Zion. What is the signal of danger? THE GREAT DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR.
It is time for the saints to get this knowledge if they do not already know it. How can we give the signal if we do not know How could we warn the people of danger?
If they escape when the sword is coming, good. But warn them anyhow. If we do not warn them their blood will be on our hands. Wake up the heathen. Call up your mighty men. Call the soldiers into line. Get them ready. Get the weapons of war ready for the world’s great conflict. There never has been anything like it, nor ever will be again.
There will be a scarcity of steel. They cannot make enough of it. The nations are all the time building new warships, and manufacturing so many deadly weapons. It takes a good deal of steel to make these warships. Such monster vessels. Each nation trying to build the largest ships, and invent the most deadly weapons.
Still, they are crying; “Peace, peace,” Right in the midst of this false peace and security, death and war and destruction have come like a whirlwind.
There is a lack of steel. Where are they going to get it? Pretty soon they will not be able to meet the demand for it.
Then men will be hunting around in the farm yards, old barns, stables, and sheds, everywhere for old plowshares and pruning hooks, for everything that they can beat into swords and spears to kill their neighbors with.
“The time is coming in this glorious America when parties and factions will rise up—Labor against Capital, and other parties and factions. There will be no safety to him that goes out or goes in. And at that time they will not be able to buy or sell, unless they have the mark of the beast. It will be death, and to have the mark of the beast will mean the second death. There will be no safety or hiding place to him that goes out or in.
“As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.” (Amos 5.19.)
It is implied that the land will be infested with poisonous serpents, reptiles, and insects, and they will be turned loose among the people, with their deadly power to bite, sting and destroy.
So, that if you run away from the sword and pestilence, and try to hide in the house, you will lay your hand on the wall, and be bitten by a deadly serpent. There will be no safety to him that goes in or out.
There will be awful, deadly hatred among the people, and they will be banded together hand in hand, and they will make weapons of steel with which to kill and destroy one another.
I read not long ago that the powers were crying out because of the scarcity of steel. Your neighbor will be hunting round for a piece of old steel to kill his neighbor with.
In Europe now they are calling out young men and boys to fight and to be destroyed.
It is time to wake up from the sleep of death, and call on God to give you life.
According to the Word of God, and the signs of the times, we are now living in the commencement of these awful times, when many who read these lines will see a great deal more than I have written. You and your children will go down in death or go through this dreadful time of trouble such as never has been nor ever will be again.
Many of the best Bible students say that the eleventh chapter of Daniel refers to the Sultan, or ruling powers of Turkey.
“He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain: yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” (Daniel 11.45.)
And they think that the book of Obadiah also refers to him.
The passage in Daniel does not refer to the anti-Christ, for he will not be revealed, or take his power till after the hinderer is taken away, till Christ takes out a people for His name from among the Gentiles, till He comes and takes His Bride.
He shall come to his end in the time of the end, and at that time Michael, the great prince, shall stand up for his people, and all will be delivered whose names are written in the Book of Life, and the Wise, who know these things shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.
The way the war is raging against Turkey it looks as if she might lose her capital, Constantinople, and be compelled to leave her headquarters almost any day.[1] How natural it would be for her to transfer her government to the Holy Land, of which she still has control, in haste; she could occupy almost any building for that purpose.
It is reported that the Turks are building a large palace, or building, and they are keeping it quiet, and will not tell anyone what it is for.
“He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas, in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him.”
But he will not stay there very long; little by little, he will go down till he is entirely destroyed.
The Holy Land was to be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the end. Then and at that time Christ will come. The Jews will flock to Jerusalem and again possess the Holy Land.
Most of those that have gone through the tribulation will have had enough and they will be ready to listen to the voice of that prophet.
If the angels are loosed it will not be long before we take our flight. When these things begin to come fast, we shall soon be taken out of the world. The worst trouble will come after the saints are taken out. The anti-Christ will deny the Blessed Christ, and cause people to take his mark or to be put to death. Those who do not go with Christ will have to go through this or go down in it.
Jesus comes to take a people out for His name, for His Bride. He comes and takes her away to the heavens. The Great Marriage Supper takes place, after which they will be sitting with Christ on His Throne and helping to execute judgment during this awful tribulation.
Look at the awful death and carnage, and destruction if you do not go up with the bridal company. Those who go up when Christ comes are the Lamb’s wife. He returns to build up the waste places of Jerusalem. The soil will all be fertile then, and the people will not need to do much work. It will be like a holy camp meeting all the time during the millennial age.
The first time Jesus comes none see Him but the Bride. The world hates her, and cares nothing for her, and Jesus is going to take her away.
Christ will come as quickly as the lightning flashes from the East to the West, just that quick He will snatch His bridal company away, while the world sleeps in a drunken stupor.
But the next time He comes all will know it. “Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess,” every eye shall see Him, and every slanderous tongue will have to confess before the world that these were God’s chosen vessels.
This honor belongs to the saints. They will have to confess that we were right and that they were wrong. God is very proud of His Bride. Children of God now deny themselves many of the things of the world, but we are heirs of the Kingdom, though many of us are poor in this world and having hard times. There is going to be a change in this old world. God is calling you to behold. Don’t go a step further. Don’t step over the mangled body of Christ any more or it may be the last time.
The first time the Bride will be caught away, the second time she will come riding on white horses. Jesus will stand on Mount Olivet and they that pierced Him shall see Him. You know now down in your hearts that Jesus is the Christ. That we people are every one in earnest. That we hear something more than natural men hear. The wisdom we get from God who gives liberally. That has been my prayer more than anything else, “Give me wisdom.” Almost a blind man can see if he looks at the signs of the times.
Daniel says the wise shall know when the Lori comes.
You may say I don’t believe. You don’t want to believe and that day will overtake you as a thief in the night. None of the wicked shall understand the signs of Jesus’ coming. Ye who are children of the light shall know and that day will not over- take you, unexpectedly. God gave Daniel a picture of the lost world, none of whom should know when He comes.
Who are the wise? Those who know the time of the Lord’s coming. “They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars. But they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.” They that be wise shall know.
Don’t be looking to the grave. Look, for behold He cometh. Oh, Glory to God in the Highest. Come, Oh Redeemer, come quickly.
ADDENDA
“World's Great War Tragedy Is Filled With Bloody Scenes
Every man in a French force penetrating Ft. Douaumont was killed in a German charge.
Men are fighting in dark, underground tunnels, using hand searchlights and knives and bombs.
Hundreds of French and Germans have been buried alive in the wrecking of underground works by shell fire.
Scores have gone insane from the lust of the horrible butchery.
Surgeons, amputating arms and legs without anaesthetics, report wounded French and Germans continuing the struggle with knives though unable to stand.
A French captain reported 7,000 dead heaped along a 700-yard front.”—Extract from Daily Paper, U. S. A., 1916.
MAY, 1916
“Preparedness” The Cry of the hour in New York
The civilians in the mammoth preparedness demonstration in New York last Saturday are shown passing the New York Public Library. An idea of is magnitude may be gained when it is remembered that the marching columns composed of twenty men abreast extended for twenty miles.
Marshalling of the Nations
By common consent, the European war was written down from its very beginning as the greatest titanic struggle ever waged by man; such a marshalling of the nations was never before seen on earth.
After eighteen months’ conflict; President Wilson said in an address at Cleveland, Ohio, January 29th, 1916: “While a year ago it seemed impossible that a struggle upon such a large scale should last a whole year, it has now lasted a year and a half, and the end is not yet in sight."—Washington Post, Jan. 30, 1916.
The Toll of War
“The blackest eighteen months known to the modern world! The net result has been 2,990,000 men in the very prime of life killed, more than 2,200,000 made prisoners, and more than 9,830,000 wounded.”—International News Service.
“So over the whole world is heard the sound of the trumpet and of the alarm of war, and ‘two-thirds of the world is at war.’ I know that daily we are treading amidst the most intricate dangers, that the world is on fire and sparks are likely to drop anywhere,” President Wilson said—Washington Post, January 30th, 1916.
Time foretold in prophecy. Joel 3.9, 14; Rev. 11.18; Jeremiah 25th, 31.33. Two things are plainly seen in these Scriptures. First, that when the day of the Lord is near, the nations of the world will be making gigantic preparations for war.
“Prepare war, stir up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up, beat your plowshares into swords and pruning hooks into spears, let the weak say, I am strong.” If this had been written by a present day observer of events, it could not have described the international situation more accurately.
ARMAGEDDON
The last conflict of the nations or the European conflict, terrible and far reaching as it is, is not the Armageddon of the nations of which the Scriptures tell us, but it surely is a forerunner of the last great clash of the world empires.
- ↑ More sorrow 1916.