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A GREAT ARMY COMING DOWN FROM HEAVEN

As we read verse 14, in this 19th chapter of Revelation, we see that the Lord is definitely coming back to earth with His Church. I pray to God that we will all see the true picture portrayed here. When we look at ourselves, Do we think we are any better than anyone else in this world? Not one bit. What is there in us that makes us look at things like we do? It is because God has done something inside of us that a lot of these quoters know nothing at all about. He has done it, not because we were worthy, but because He loves us, and He is a merciful God and Father that wants to share something with us. There is definitely going to be a great body of people seen in this event that unfolds from heaven. It is going to be just as real in that hour for you to be a participant of that scene as it is in this hour to sit here enjoying a revelation of truth from the word of God. We have been made a partaker of His grace through the gospel and we are a part of the body of Christ in its earthly journey. If we can be partakers of that now, then I know we can be partakers of that other scene when it is fulfilled. "And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." This is not a denominational clothing shown here. This is none other than the best spiritual material God has in His wardrobe. He has purchased it and made it available for the Bride of Jesus Christ, which is the highest calling of God in Christ that any mortal creature can be called unto. What an honor! What an opportunity we have to be a people privileged to make up part of this scene, and to be with Him when He comes back to execute this part of the Creator's purpose. When you go back and read the words spoken to the seven churches, in the admonition to one of them, the Lord in His priestly work spoke to John and said, "To him that overcometh will I give power over the nations that he should rule them with a rod of iron." If He is coming to rule the nations with a rod of iron as it says here, then it means the overcomers that are going to be participants in this scene are not on horses, they are on thrones; but they are coming from heaven on horses. A rod of authority is going to be invested in the Church of the living God, which is the Bride of Jesus Christ. "And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations." The smiting of the nations will first be those forces gathered together for the battle of Armageddon. Then in the final analysis of that, as we read further in the 19th chapter, it speaks of how the beast and the false prophet are gathered together to make war against Him that sitteth on the throne. When we think how man in this age has designed and built all his technological military weapons, the fast, supersonic jets, with air to air missiles, radar guided and all of that, some of this Bible terminology sounds a little strange; but by the Spirit of God we are given an understanding of the application. Just think of what man is able to do with all this explosive, destructive means that are available today. Think of the world beast system gathered there in the land of Israel, somehow or other, hoping they can hold off this event that is taking place. You can read there in the final verses of the 19th chapter, what it says about how they are gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse and against His army. They may have some ideas of how they can stop that great army from reaching earth, but their ideas are worthless against the KING of kings, which is the LORD of glory. Brothers and Sisters, When you consider your own life, how the devil has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at you, and how at times you feel so discouraged and pressed down, and feel like you do not amount to very much, just remember this, we need to continue on, even if we have to crawl. Many times it is not the man standing upright on the battlefield that inflicts the most damage upon the enemy. Sometimes it is that wounded soldier lying there with what seems to be the last breath ready to leave him, that gets his hands on a grenade, or a gun, and is determined to fight until the last breath does go out of him, that gets the opportunity to turn the tide of battle. I just use that to illustrate to you the importance of pressing the battle no matter how grim the picture looks. We have a promise in the word of God that He will not suffer (or allow) us to be tested beyond what we are able to bear, but with that trial or test God will always make a way of escape that we may be able to bear it. I am fully aware of how almost every saint of God in this hour is having something thrown at them, but it is not because God is trying to get rid of us and it is not because He is going to allow the devil to get rid of us. It is to make us realize that the darkest hour is just before the sun rises, never to set any more. Hallelujah! My point is, Regardless of what the devil may throw at you, just hold on a little longer for we are close to the end, and the whole picture is going to change. Let me read this again, for if we are among those who overcome, we will be a part of what we are reading about here. "And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron." Picture Jesus, (as He stated in Matthew 19:28) sitting in the throne of His glory. We know how kings have been shown holding a scepter. It is just a decorated stick. It is not a walking cane. It is a stick that indicates authority. Jesus therefore will rule the nations with a rod. In other words, this is not some little flimsy stick. It is referred to as a rod of iron, which means He is going to have the authority in a disciplinary way, to rule the nations that survive that terrible era of His wrath and judgment. People are going to be brought under subjection to that rod of authority. That is why one of the Old Testament prophets spoke of this. He shall come and take His rightful throne, which is the seat of David. "And the law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, in those days." In return, all nations will flow unto Jerusalem. Why? Because Jerusalem will be the world capital. As Jerusalem becomes the world capital, this makes it necessary that there come something from Zion and Jerusalem to inform the people of the earth. As we look at mankind today in his modern role, young people, children being born into this world in the future will grow up in life never knowing a thing about God. All they will know is what pertains to this natural life. God only knows the filth, the evil, the perversion and the absence of anything that causes a mortal creature to acknowledge and appreciate God the Creator. Therefore, there is definitely going to be a time as that one thousand year age starts, that it will be necessary for instructions to come forth from Jerusalem, and be applied in the knowledge realm, that the mortal subjects of the world may know how to please the Creator. I have to say this, These environmentalists today are not advocating any of their environmental feelings because they have a love for God. It is not because they love God, nor the earth. They are just on a kick. However, we do know this, the whole world of mankind is reaching a catastrophic state. The waters, the air, nature, and everything, which tells us we have to do something unless God does something first. These liberal minded people do not even realize God foresaw this day before any of us were even born. That day when He burns this earth, as it says in Isaiah 24, and the earth shall be burned and few men left, is because man has defiled the whole earth with his selfish ways. Someone made the statement in a news program, It probably will not be long, until there will be an element of environmentalists rise up with a humane feeling, contesting the slaughter of animals for meat. I tell you, disaster is going to break out when that happens. Before the flood, it is not recorded that man ate meat. Yet there is no doubt that among the Cainite people, there may have been something like that going on. Nevertheless, when the flood was over, God made a covenant with man. Now he could eat meat. That meant the flesh of the animal kingdom. Therefore, from that time down through the ages, man has been eating meat. Does it not seem strange that right here at the end of time you have an element of environmentalists and humanitarians that want to get back to some kind of beginning, and none of it is inspired by God in any way. When God's wrath hits this planet, some of those creatures they are trying to save as endangered species will be killed just like the rest. In other words, God is going to kill a lot of them, and yet He is going to save a sufficient amount of everything that they may be able to repopulate the earth once again. Furthermore He will use fowl of the heaven and beasts of the field, to come and eat the flesh of kings, of captains, of horses, the mighty, the slaves, and all such like. God has this whole thing in His hands. As I said, When God destroyed the old world, He destroyed the whole animal kingdom with it. He just saved what He had instructed Noah to take into the ark with him. God does not need but two, one male and one female of each species somewhere on this planet; but this time there will be more than that left of most everything. "And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations." I read that again because I want to be sure you realize, the nations, are people that will still be living, existing in their mortal, physical makeup, just like they are right now. The reason I say this, After over 1900 years of the gospel being preached in this Gentile church world, the average professing "Christian" still does not know how these scriptures apply. They see the end of everything, believing that God will destroy everything except what He changes into immortality, and that those immortal ones will be forever in heaven in the presence of the Lord. They will all be in the presence of the Lord, so to speak, but it will not be off somewhere in the heavens. It will be right here on earth where God placed His human family in the beginning of their existence. All that are taken are coming back to rule with Him. Even among the followers of Bro. Branham's message, there are scores of them that only envision Jesus and the Bride coming back to earth, and God destroying everything, and this is where the Bride is going to have a honeymoon, because that is what the prophet said. I remember when he preached that sermon. It was titled, "The Future Home of the Earthly Bride and the Heavenly Bridegroom." It was just left hanging like that as though when He comes back to earth God is going to destroy everything and set up His kingdom here on earth, and it will be just Jesus and His Bride having a honeymoon. Well, I suppose you could look at it as a honeymoon in one sense of the word, but it is going to be a honeymoon that will last a long time, and it is going to accomplish something in the earth. What it will accomplish is all written right here in the scriptures, but an awful lot of so called Christian people reject the whole idea of mortals living on earth during the Millennial reign of Christ. That is why He will rule the same nations He will smite with the sword, with a rod of iron. Out of that time of Gods wrath being poured out upon earth, there will be a realm of mortals that will survive the wrath and He will rule them. "And He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." That takes you back to what we read in Revelation 14, how He brings the clusters of the earth and casts them into the winepress of God. "And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

THE MOUNT OF OLIVES WILL CLEAVE ASUNDER

I want us to go to Zechariah 14. Here is a scripture that portrays the coming of the Lord as we have just read in the 19th chapter of Revelation. He is coming from heaven and will be revealed from heaven as it is described in other scriptures, but we are going to read a prophecy that deals with when He has actually reached the earth. (14:4) "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." This is a prophecy that tells us there is going to be an element of nature expressed once His feet has struck earth. Therefore, we can say there will definitely be an earthquake associated with His literal return to earth to fulfill these other scriptures. I was asked this several years ago when we had printed our article on the seventy weeks of Daniel, and had put in there about the temple being rebuilt in Jerusalem for the coming of the Lord because the Messiah will rule from it. This man said to me, Bro. Jackson, I cannot understand how the temple could be built then, when the scripture says there is going to be a terrible earthquake and that the Mount of Olives is going to cleave. I said, You surely have forgotten that God knew all about that from before the foundation of the world also. The western wall has been standing there for centuries. It was the only part of the temple retaining wall that was left by the Romans. It is believed that the western wall, when the Romans were tearing everything else down and came to it, was so constructed that it could not be torn down like the rest. When they came to this portion of it, which was the outer court wall, but was actually a retaining wall, because inside it was all filled up with dirt and rock to make the inside perfectly level where the temple was built. It was said that this wall was built by the poor people that came out of Babylonian captivity. They were not like the rich ones who could hire servants and laborers to do the work for them. This wall was put together by poor, hard working people. For some reason this was one part of the wall where God wanted to honor those ancient saints that built it, for their labors. This is legendary of course, but it is said that many times as the Roman soldiers drew their spears to gouge the mortar out or probe at the rocks, their weapons were rendered useless. It was just like beating on an unmovable object, so Titus gave the order-Let that part stand as a reminder to them of the great victory we have attained, seeing that everything else about it has fallen down. Since 69 A.D. I could not begin to tell you of all the earthquakes that have shaken Old Jerusalem, yet that wall stands right there. We just have to realize we are living in a day that God is going to cause His word to be fulfilled, and it will be just the way His prophets have foretold it to be. When Jesus was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem and raised from the dead the third day, He afterward appeared to His disciples and spent time with them. Then on the day of His ascension, He led them across the valley of Kidron, which is the valley of Jehasophat, over to the Mount of Olives. From there, while talking with them, He ascended into heaven. Therefore, according to what we see in the scriptures, this same Jesus which they saw going away will come again in like manner. Not in the same image structure, because He is coming back clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. When He actually makes His literal appearance on the earth, that is exactly where He will come to. Not New York City or Washington D.C., but the mount of Olives in Jerusalem. He will come and touch the Mount of Olives and this scripture will be fulfilled. There will be a great valley open up. You can read about it. Then if you take that right on over to Ezekiel and read what follows after that, Ezekiel saw this personage coming. It was a vision, a prophecy how the Lord would come from the direction of the Mount of Olives and would come in and His glory fill that temple that will be built before then. It tells how the waters would go out from under the altar and everything and flow eastward and downward. I remember the last time we were in Israel, our guide told us, or he reminded us of this particular prophecy. He said there are things now that begin to indicate that somewhere under this mountain region, there is a vast flow of water. In one way he talked about maybe this could possibly be fulfilled by modern irrigation technology, if they could just find the exact source. Then he pointed us to how the rock terrain lays. I just thought, No, modern technology will not do it. It is going to come about by the hand of God using nature because when God bursts that subterranean rock or whatever it is, there is no doubt there will be a flow of water that will come to the surface. It has to flow somewhere. Jerusalem is 2700 feet above sea level. It will have to go somewhere. In just a few moments of time, God can set many pictures of prophecy in motion. Jesus returns to earth in bodily form under the application of the sixth seal of Revelation 6:12 which says, "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood." This one and the following verses describe that time of the wrath of God being poured out upon wicked mankind and their response to it. The Lord's bodily return also comes under the application of the sounding of the seventh trumpet angel, which you find in Revelation 11:15. "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever." That does not mean He comes twice in bodily form. All of this takes place at the same time. There is yet another, for He also comes under the pouring out of the seventh vial. Notice Revelation 16:17-18, and take note of the earthquake and so forth. It is all speaking of the same period of time. These events are going to be stacked upon each other; but they had to be written one at a time; and that requires that we take note of the events and coordinate them. "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." Yes the Lord makes His appearance, visibly, through the outpouring of the seventh vial. Let me comment. First I will ask you, What does the seal of 6:12, signify? It pertains to the loosing of something. In the natural sense, we think of a seal as something that holds something. When we think of it as pertaining to a legal document, it is the seal that safeguards against something being secretly tampered with. We have the revelation of the sixth seal, so we know what it pertains to, but its application is still in the future. In application, the seventh seal is actually fulfilled ahead of the sixth because the seventh seal pertains to Jesus leaving the mercy seat, which He will have to do before He comes visibly to earth to fulfill the application of the sixth seal. I know most of you sitting here know that already, but some will read it in the Contender that have not heard it before. When the seal is opened, or broken, it is time for its application. The seal holds the time in place. Therefore, when the time does come, it is the seventh trumpet angel that announces the event. That is usually what a trumpet does. It announces an event. Well what about the vial? The vial angel is in charge of the anointing necessary for the application. That is why I have repeatedly proclaimed, that Jesus comes under the sixth seal, the seventh trumpet, and the seventh vial; but there is not three separate comings. I hope that is clear to all of you. It is just like one stacked on top of the other. The one sets the other in motion.

THE SEED OF DAVID, THE STEM OF JESSE

Let me take you to Isaiah 11:1-9, where we will see Jesus upon His earthly throne. God is bringing His people Israel home today, and getting ready to reveal their Messiah to them. The ten northern tribes have been scattered to the four winds for 2700 years, but now they are returning to the land of their forefather's which is the only place God will deal with them as a nation of people, like He did in former times. What is He bringing them home for? To set the fulfillment of these scriptures in motion that have been lying here for centuries, awaiting their time of fulfillment; and we are privileged to be living here at that time to watch them come about. "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of His roots: (That is all pointing to the seed, the anointed one, which is the seed of David.) And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, (That is speaking of the anointing.) the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." This is characterizing a little more what we read about in the 19th chapter of Revelation where it says His name is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness doth He judge and make war. Verse 3, "And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: (Why? Because that omniscient Spirit in Him will know everything about everyone. He will not need to see with His physical eyes, nor be told anything about anyone.) But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth: with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked." All of this is elaborating in more detail about what that Spirit on Him, or in Him does. "And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." Notice in verse 6 what follows that application. Here is the picture. Man, for hundreds and thousands of years, has somehow or other in the back of his mind had a fantasy about how it would be if he could just somehow be able to tame the animals. That has always been in some people's inner feelings, how they would like to be able to tame some of the wild animal kingdom and be able to pet them. I have seen some of these Nova pictures they showed some time ago, how a man trained a huge grizzly bear. He described a grizzly and his nature and characteristics. That great big grizzly weighed eight hundred and some pounds. He was a monster. Yet it showed how that man would take him out, feed him and play with him, and even wrestle with it. I thought to myself, That grizzly looked like he was having the time of his life. That man was actually sticking his hand in the bear's mouth and all such as that. I could not help but think,Yes, that looks pretty good now, but there is a day coming when man will not have to train him to be like that. Animals are suddenly going to lose their instinct to be like they are today. A minor prophet said, In that day, (meaning the Millennium age) the Lord said He would take away from between man and the animals, the enmity that was put there when we were driven from paradise. God will take away the enmity so that there will be a compatible communication between man and the animal kingdom, from the largest to the smallest. Well what did Isaiah say about it? (11:6) "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, (What a picture!) and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; (A goat. That would be an impossibility now.) and the calf and the young lion (another impossibility at this present time, but in that day that is how it will be.) and the fatling together; (That is the fatted animal. In other words, whether it is the bear, whether it is the wolf or whether it is the lion, the fatter they are, the better they like them.) And the cow and the bear shall feed: (graze) their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. (God is going to change the cravings of that stomach.) And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, (That is something in the reptile family.) and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den." Whatever we imagine now in the animal kingdom to be dangerous or harmful for a little child or baby to play with, a mother, in that hour, could send that child out, or leave it sit in the grass and not have to worry. I want to bring that into the message at this time, because years ago when I preached, I said, In that great Millennium age, there will be little children born. They will not come from the immortal saints, whether Old Testament saints, or the Bride saints. I said, All those people being immortal will have no such relationships. On the other hand, all those of the nations that are spared and left alive by God's sovereign grace, once He has executed wrath and judgment on the earth, will be the ones He will be dealing with. Out of the nations, He will select a remnant from all nations that will still remain in their mortal realm. This is the realm of mankind God will use to fulfill the words that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 19:28, concerning His ruling in the time when He will sit upon the throne of His glory. "And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." He was talking about mortal Israelis that will repopulate that race in the Millennium. It will again be the will of God for mortal mankind to fill the earth up with offspring. I said, In that day, little children will be born. They will not get sick. They will not die. In that day, it will be possible for a person to live a thousand years and so forth. I received a telephone call from the father of Perry Green. He said, Bro. Jackson, and then he introduced himself. He said, I understand that you believe there is going to be children born in the Millennium. I said, Yes. He said, You know, we should not say things the prophet has not said. I said, But the prophets of old said it, and if they said it, that makes it so. He said, Well I believe that scripture could come in like this, We know a lot of children die when they are young, so that will be the children and infants in that day. I said, Bro. Branham's own dream tears that idea all to pieces. When his little baby died and was buried with her mother, you remember how he was so torn up with remorse. In the state he was in, one night in a dream, he saw himself in this heavenly scene. It was like he was out on the western range. He heard that old song, Wagon Wheels Keep on Turning. He saw the cabin in the distance. Then he saw his little daughter coming to him as a beautiful young girl. She introduced herself. Read it in the book, William Branham, a Prophet Sent From God. I believe that is the book, it is one of those about his early years. I said, Brother, God does not intend to leave babies that die in this age, always to be just little babies. Then I said, For how long would they remain little babies? Well, he let me know we should stay away from those things, because it takes a prophet to speak of such as that. That is how a lot of people look at these things. To them it matters little that a prophet of God has already spoken it. Anyhow, we see here in Isaiah's writings what the animal kingdom is going to be like in that day. (Verse 9, The promise is this.) "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my (notice these words) holy mountain: (What does that mean? It is His holy kingdom. We will pick up another prophecy dealing with how the Lord speaks concerning how He will establish His house in the top of the mountains. Actually it is how He will establish His kingdom in the top of, and over all kingdoms. His kingdom will have preeminence.) for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." You can take that right over to one of the Psalms, and it says, And the glory and the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth. So that age called the thousand year age, or the age of regeneration, has a great picture that should cause saints this side of it, to want to be there for sure. I sure do not want to be left here. I want to be a partaker of that glorious period. I cannot help but feel at times, "Why, out of all the religious people upon the face of this earth, did God choose me to be a partaker of His mercy and grace in this way?" I ask myself many times, Why did God lay His hand on us? Are we worth anything? Are we something special? Do we have degrees? Do we have titles? Do we have money to make ourselves stand out in this world's social realm as something important? No. We are about the most unworthy bunch of human beings that could possibly be found here. I do know one thing though, Inside of us, there is a picture of something beautiful and a deep yearning to be partakers of that something. Knowing that what we have now is just a little foretaste of that which is yet to be. I want to be there. I want to see all the precious people that love God there in that age. Hallelujah! I believe we can sing that old song, "Won't It Be Wonderful There" and be thinking of the Millennium age, instead of just thinking about being off some place in the heavens with the Lord. Right here on this planet is where God wants to walk with His children. That is why He put the first one's here in the first place.

SEPARATING SHEEP FROM GOATS

Let us go into Matthew 25, where we will see one of the first things that takes place after the descent of Jesus and His Bride from heaven. There will be that interval of chaotic, catastrophic judgments, and the wrath of God being executed throughout the earth, which will fulfill all these various scriptures we have been looking at. There are many other scriptures in the Old Testament that we could have brought in, but I do not feel that it is necessary to use all of them in order to present this message in an acceptable way. It tells in one how the earth will reel to and fro as a drunk man. What a terrible day that will be, to live on this planet, and suddenly feel the planet being moved in an out of control way. Do you think people could dance and carry on in a worldly fashion with that going on? I have my doubts. No wonder the scripture speaks of how the rich men, the mighty men, the bond and free will flee to the mountains, and cry for the mountains to fall upon them and hide them from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. We can say, The interval of His wrath, His descent to the earth, and all of that has passed when the events of the scripture we are now going to look at are taking place. We are going to see what that throne He mentioned in Matthew 19 is going to be like. Let us go to verse 31. Jesus has been speaking to His disciples in various illustrated parables. He would say, Again the kingdom of heaven is like to such and such, and so on. Then He comes to the point where He is going to describe that age of His kingdom, so He said, "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, (well that is when He comes to rule and reign) and all the holy angels with Him, (This lets us know, Not only is the Bride descending with Him, but all the holy angels of heaven are going to be in that great panoramic event, when it is set in motion.) then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory." I want to verify the fact that the time of the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ upon earth is yet to be fulfilled. In Revelation 3, He tells there, speaking to the seventh Church, which had conditions in it that would parallel the last age of Christendom upon earth, and we know that to be the Laodicean age, the age you and I are now living in, "To him that overcometh, (That is for you and me in our generation) will I grant to sit with me, in my throne, (which is yet to be) even as I also overcame and am (present tense) sit down with my Father in His throne." John was taken up in Revelation 4 and saw Him in that throne position. That throne position in heaven is not the throne of Jesus' glory. That is the glory of the Father that is being displayed in that heavenly scene. However, this earthly setting we are looking at in these scriptures is actually what the Jews for centuries have been waiting for. As they read the Old Testament prophets, this is the hope they attain unto. They know that one, out of the seed of David, of the tribe of Judah, which is the Lion tribe, is the ONE that one day will come and take the throne of David. Then the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, but we as a Gentile Church can now see that this is going to be a fulfilled reality very soon; but Jesus, their Messiah, is going to be immortal. He will not sit there in mortal flesh. All the saints of God, both of the Old and New Testaments, are all going to be in that glorious kingdom hour. We need to understand this though, It is the Bride saints, that will hold the foremost and first position with Christ. As we read further, remember, this is a judgment. "And before Him shall be gathered all nations." If He is going to gather all nations, then at this point in our message, let us take a look at the nations. What has just happened? We need to back up a few months and see the tribulation period here on earth, (which presently is just ahead somewhere in time.) Humanity will have passed through that terrible hour and the judgment of God that follows it. Matthew 25 is dealing with those that will somehow survive that terrible hour of time. Never will humanity suffer and go through the ordeals any other time that they will at that time. We need to understand, when that terrible dark hour, which the Bible says will be the darkest hour of human history, a time of trouble such as never was before, and never shall be again, comes to an end, it will come to an end by the coming of Jesus Christ with His armies from heaven, first to pour out His judgment and wrath upon the wicked that are still left at that time. In Matthew 25:31, that is all over with and He is on His throne, the throne of His glory, and it is time to separate, or judge those of all nations that are left alive to live in the time of the Millennium. What, or who are these nations? This lets us know, not only has He destroyed millions by His wrath in that fashion, but there is yet multitudes of them still alive. Out of the chaotic upheaval of everything that has transpired prior to that time, there still remains a remnant of people of all the nations of the earth that is going to be brought before Him for a further judgment. The first thing is done, and here is where He will slay many with the breath of His lips. Here is His judgment. "And He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." You will notice in this setting there are no books opened, so do not relate this to the great white throne judgment. That judgment comes much later. This is not a heavenly judgment here in Matthew, it is an earthly judgment. Who is being judged? Not the immortal saints. It is mortal, earthly people, that have for some reason escaped the terrible period of His wrath and destruction that was unleashed against mortal mankind. Of this remnant of the nations, the first thing we can see is that He is going to bring them into His presence. What is He doing this for? He is going to judge them on the basis of what? This is what confuses church going Gentiles. They think everything there has been this side of the law age, has to be judged on the basis that he or she has met or failed to meet certain church stipulations. Well, when we have lived, (the Church) through two thousand years of grace, wherein we were subject to the gospel call and its message, if we are going to share with Him in immortality, and if we expect to have a body like His, there are certain things our lives, or our very individual selves must measure up to. That is according to the gospel that is applicable to this era of grace. However, as we look at this event, that gospel period has passed. He is not saving people any more to put them in an earthly church fellowship. He is introducing, or initiating a new era of time, or a new dispensation in which righteousness shall reign. Just as there was a dispensation before the Law, and just as there was the dispensation of the Law. We have been living in the dispensation of Grace, and we know there is another dispensation coming up. That is what we call the thousand year reign of Christ, or the Millennium age. In the light of a thousand years being as one day with the Lord, and one day as a thousand years, then we can say that somewhere, as the proximity of six thousand years runs its course, the next era is to be the Millennium, the seventh day, and it is God's Sabbath to the earth, when mankind will rest from His terrible earthly struggles. Well, as the Lord takes that throne position, here is something else we have to understand also. His throne is foremost for it sets in Jerusalem. There is where the earth will be ruled from. However, it says over in Rev. 20:4, "And I saw thrones, plural, and they, plural, sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them." Now who is this "them?" That is none other than the immortal Bride of Jesus Christ. This is the same army that we read about earlier, seen coming with Him, riding white horses. They are pictured clothed in fine linen and so forth, which is the righteousness of saints. We can see also, once that era or event of His wrath is over, they (the bride saints) are going to help execute this whole thing, and as He takes His throne position, so will His Bride take her throne positions in the earthly domain. Then this judgment is going to be set. As this judgment sits, here is what comes out of it. He separates the sheep from the goats. What kind of people is this going to be? We are going to find out this is mortal people that for reasons, as we see it in the earth now, have had no dealings with God in the sense of salvation. Yet as they go through the tribulation and as the 144,000 preach the everlasting gospel, that is why they must preach that kind of message. This helps put in the minds of surviving people something that causes their attention to be drawn toward God. It informs those people and helps them to know how to conduct themselves through that period of tribulation. Therefore, in that period of tribulation, people will be faced with conditions and forced by those conditions and circumstances to conduct themselves in certain ways. It will be how they behave themselves and portray themselves in moral and social behavior. That is going to determine how and where they will live once the Lord has set up His kingdom. It is not a judgment of, What church do you belong to? Have you been baptized? It is not that kind of judgment at all. Therefore, when He separates them, He separates the sheeplike from the goatlike ones. It is people that through that interval of time wherein the whole mortal human element has been tested by dire situations and circumstances, and the way they will have done things and conducted themselves is what will prove and necessitate that the Lord look upon them as He does. The fact that some will be looked upon as sheep, is based upon their works, their conduct, their general behavior during that time of great tribulation. He will set the goats on His left hand, and then He will say to the sheep, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." He is not talking to the Bride. Here is where the Bride is sitting. (Bro. Jackson is pointing to the thrones pictured on the chart.) That is why Jesus said to Peter in the 19th chapter of Matthew, "Ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." If those Jewish disciples are going to judge Jewish people for that Millennium hour, where do you think the Gentile saints are going to sit? Jew will not judge Gentile. Gentile will not judge Jew. Gentile will judge Gentile. German over German. French over French. English over English. That is the way God will do it. They will all have the same mind in doing the judging though. There will not be different interpretations of what is right, nor favored groups that get concessions, like it is in the world today. That is the point. As He says to the sheep, enter thou into the kingdom prepared for thee from the foundation of the world, that means enter into this glorious era of time which was planned, ordained and provided for you from before the beginning of time. That goes to show, in the sovereign mind of Jehovah, He knew all of it before it started. That is all in His calendar of predestination. God knew there would be those individual mortal subjects there. He allocated an interval of time wherein they would enter and would be looked upon in this fashion. Now as He says to them on His right, (the sheep) and you will notice that the King is doing the talking, and that He is not talking on the basis of having books opened. He said, (Mat.25:35) "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: (36) Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me." How would He know that? We read it in Isaiah 11, He will not judge after the sight of His eyes, nor the hearing of His ears, but the intents of His own heart. He will discern they are the individuals that have conducted themselves in a proper social, moral manner in that short interval of time that has tried the human race. Therefore, they merit this wonderful period of time. No, they are not changed from mortality into immortality. They remain mortal. They are still in mortal flesh. We can say this, This particular judgment goes on until He has separated and selected all the sheep like people out of every nation and race of the remnant of nations that are saved alive at that time; and according to Zechariah, then these are the people that will remain alive. They enter into an era of time when they do not have an immortal body. They still have a mortal, fleshly body, but here is the thing to understand. We know in Revelation 20:1, the first thing that period starts with after the wrath of God is executed, Satan, (that evil spirit) is bound and cast into the bottomless pit. A chain is set upon him. He is locked up, that his spirit cannot be loosed for a thousand years. This means no temptation, no perversion, no usurping things that are contrary to what God is going to do. Naturally with that in effect there is no physical death running rampant. There will be no such thing as tuberculosis. There will be no more AIDS and no more heart trouble. When we look at this in this fashion, we can ask, What is the Millennium period going to bring about? Those mortal people that will be allowed to enter into that era of time will be given the privilege under the grace and sovereignty of His rule, of having longevity of life. It will be possible for a person to live, if they were a young person starting in the Millennium, throughout the duration of the Millennium; because we are on the returning end of time where that must be restored. We are returning to the original picture, not moving away from the original picture. If you understand what I am saying. From Eden, mankind has been constantly declining in his life potential, but in the Millennium, he is going back toward what it was in the beginning before there was any such thing as death. Let us finish this up. After Jesus has separated the sheep from the goats and pronounced their blessing, He then turns to the goat like people on His left and announces their reward based upon their deeds during that same period of time. They are judged on the basis of how they morally, socially and principally conducted themselves during that terrible hour of human history. The goats on the left, I believe we could say, are the selfish, greedy, wicked, drunken, perverted, hardhearted, self willed type of persons. They have no heart for anything. All they care about is themselves, never taking heed, or taking thought for anything like, that there might be a pay day somewhere at the end of the road. To the goats on His left hand He said, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (That is the reward of the wicked.) For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not." You will notice that both groups are to be judged by the same standard of judgment. That is of course how they conduct themselves during that dark tribulation hour of time. One group will say, When did we do those things? and He will say to them, (Mat.25:40) "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." When? During that same interval of time they too had just passed through. During that dark tribulation hour, we realize the Jewish saints and the foolish virgin saints will still be here, and as we read in Revelation, the devil, through his antichrist system, is going to try to liquidate every last one of them. He will try to rid the earth of every trace of holy, God fearing, believing people. Some are going to be locked up. Some are going to be starved to death and all such like. It is in that state of conditions that these other mortal people will have a chance to help fleeing Jews. Just think of the Jew, how he will be treated during that time. However, just like the Jew were treated in Europe during the WW2 period, when they were hid in attics, basements and such, by the underground forces of the natural European citizens, once again there will be that realm of mortal mankind that will show the same kindness to them during the antichrist reign. There will be that realm of mankind, who out of mere principle and respect for their fellow man, will conduct themselves in that same godly manner. It will not be because they are extremely religious, nor because they belong to a church that encourages such as that; it will just be because they have some principles in their makeup that will cause them to risk their own necks to preserve the lives of others. They will care for them in what ever way is necessary, just like Jesus said in Matthew 25. That is what God will be looking at. That is what the Lord is judging all of those sheep and goat people by. We need to understand that at that time He has not only destroyed multiplied millions by all the catastrophic elements of nature, as well as in Armageddon; but here, those that escaped that will encounter the final effect of His glorious coming to rule and reign. When it says that He shall slay the wicked by the breath of His lips, that is because He will say to the goats, Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, and so forth; for I was such and such, and you did not come unto me. That judgment lets us see how it will be once Jesus is on His earthly throne, and the Bride people are on their thrones. When we look at it in this light we can say for sure, The throne Jesus is presently occupying is not the literal throne of His glory. It is the Father's throne. He has sat down with the Father, in His throne; but you do not see two literal beings sitting there in the same chair. Neither will you see a great multitude of bride people sitting in the same chair with Jesus during the Millennium. That is just terminology used to describe authority. The bride people will judge with the same authority Jesus judges with because He will delegate to them that authority that they may be enabled to rule the nations. Therefore, when Jesus said, he that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, He is actually saying he will sit with me in the same position of authority to rule, to judge, and to reign. You can go right to Revelation 3:21, and find Jesus saying to the Laodicean saints, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne." Therefore, if He is going to rule all nations as the supreme King, so will the overcomers in this life rule within their respective nations, not over all nations. The individual will rule within the realm of nationality he came out of. We can say this, The husband (Jesus) is the Supreme head, and the sovereign King over it all. Therefore He will rule over all nations; but the Bride, the individuals of the bride will rule only within the nationality they came out of. We can still see how they will rule with a rod of iron though, for that is how Jesus will rule. As they take over the reins of earthly governments, and this judgment is over, and He slays the wicked. Sure they are going to be killed. The wicked are going to die right there. They will be slain by the words spoken by Jesus. Well Bro. Jackson, what are they going to do with those dead bodies? Do not worry about that. I grant you this much, Whatever the Lord chooses in cleaning up all this other mess of dead bodies, there will be enough animals around to help clean up that bunch too. I will just leave it like that for now because it plainly tells us in the last verses dealing with the battle of Armageddon and so forth, then when the whole earthly forces turn to make war against Him, then we see that angel crying to the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the field, come and eat flesh, and drink blood till you be filled, for this is the supper of the great God. This causes me to feel that all funeral parlors will more or less be out of business by then. There will not be enough alcohol to do the embalming. The animals, all those scavengers, like the buzzards are going to have a good long period of time to clean up the waste and refuse. Then I am sure the bones that are left to bleach in the sun when the Lord's government is finally set up, there should still be a few bull dozers sitting around somewhere. It will be left up to the mortal nations of people to scrape out a few holes and push those bones with whatever is left into them, to get it out of the way and out of sight. Do not think the Lord is going to look upon this with a lot of sympathetic attention. The main thing is, get rid of that creature that has helped to defile this planet earth. When that judgment of Matthew 25, is over, and He has His mortal realm of people, the world enters into that thousand years of peace. They will not have an immortal bodies. They will still be in mortal flesh, but Satan will be bound and unable to instigate trouble, so those people will enter into an era of longevity of life. Saints, That is what is ahead for overcomers; not just an eternity of floating around on a cloud, nor of living in a beautiful mansion in heaven, so to speak, throughout eternity.