1 It is time to "prophesy again."
The Spirit of God now is on the Church of God, the Body of Christ. The anointing is being poured out from Heaven.
Now is the hour of the latter (harvest) rain. Christ is coming to His people as the rain, and we must press on so we may know the Lord more fully.
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. (Hosea 6:3) It is time now, the hour is here, to pray for rain—the rain of God’s Holy Spirit.
Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to everyone grass in the field. (Zechariah 10:1)
What is the purpose of the rain from Heaven? It comes that we may prophesy, that we may bear witness of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth. The Lord would say to each of us who is willing to lay aside his or her interests and seek first the Kingdom of God: "Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." God has a work to perform in the present hour, a work that will bring the Gospel of the Kingdom in the fullness of Divine glory and righteousness to every city, every village on the earth.
It is the Lord’s intention that every man, every woman, every boy, and every girl behold with his or her eyes the fullness of the glory and power of the Almighty God. All flesh shall see the salvation that is in the Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah 40:5).
The Lord Jesus cannot return until the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached in all the world for a witness to all nations—a testimony of the soon coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth (Matthew 24:14). And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (Revelation 11:1,2)
The meaning of the above passage is that the Lord is judging the people who are closest to Him, while those who are not "dwelling in the Holy Place" will be examined at a future date (I Peter 4:17).
The issue today concerns the Temple of God, which is the Body of Christ; in particular, those who are worshiping and praising God at the Altar of Incense, to speak symbolically. Those who are worshiping at the Altar of Incense are the warrior-remnant who are offering their bodies a living sacrifice to the Father.
The Lord is pouring out on the Body of Christ a Spirit of praise. There is a move forward in the Holy Spirit into the fervent, Spirit-filled praising of God. Many churches are experiencing this renewal, and God is blessing all who will enter His Presence with thanksgiving and praise.
Any time there is a move forward in the Spirit of God there always will be a stricter judgment of the believers who are pressing in, because the closer we draw to God the more important our conduct becomes. We must behave righteously if we would walk with God.
We can notice the relationship between judgment and pressing forward in the Spirit, in the forty-seventh chapter of the Book of Ezekiel:
And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. (Ezekiel 47:3,4)
The "man that had the line in his hand," going forth eastward (toward the rising of the sun of the Day of the Lord), measuring a thousand cubits, represents Divine judgment. Do you see that judgment and pressing into deeper levels in the Holy Spirit go together?
In Revelation 10:11 ("And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings") God informed the Apostle John that the Body of Christ will bear an end-time witness surpassing anything God has done in the earth. In connection with this, the Temple of God, the altar, and the worshipers were to be measured.
The Temple of God refers to the Church, the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb. The altar is the Altar of Incense, the place where we bow in death to self, consecrating ourselves to the will of the Lord.
The worshipers are those who have come past the Altar of Burnt Offering (receiving the blood atonement made by the Lord Jesus), past the Laver (repentance and water baptism), past the Table of Showbread (the born-again experience), past the golden Lampstand (the baptism with the Holy Spirit), and now are at the Altar of Incense.
The Body of Christ, particularly those members who have come to the place of total consecration to the Lord, are to be judged concerning their love of the world, their love of sin, and their self-love, self-will, and self-centeredness. This judgment is taking place in the day in which we are living. Many Christians are being shaken by the Lord so they may turn from their sins and disobedience and seek God in earnest.
The Body of Christ is being prepared for the end-time testimony, the testimony of the two witnesses. The members of the Body are learning to praise God fervently, and also to deny themselves for Jesus' sake and for the Gospel’s sake.
To enter the Glory of Christ we must come by way of the Altar of Incense, by way of worship and obedience. As we enter the Presence of the Lord in worship there must be a circumcision of the heart, a willingness to die to our will so God’s will may be done in the earth.
After the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, and before they began to wage war against Jericho, each male had to be circumcised. God will not bring to us the promised harvest-rain revival until the fleshly and soulish motives, so prevalent in the churches of today, have been cut back.
As soon as God gives "Moses" a charge to deliver His people He seeks to "slay Moses." It happens every time. God will not walk among us while we are behaving in our customary sinful, worldly, self-seeking, rebellious manner. This is why we have the angel with the measuring rod examining the level of maturity of the Body of Christ and of those saints who are praising God at the Altar of Incense.
The measuring (judging) is in preparation for the testimony of the Body of Christ after the fashion portrayed in symbolic form by the "two witnesses."
The mass of mankind, as represented by "the court that is without the temple," will be judged and dealt with at a later date. The Presence and power of the Lord Jesus Christ is moving today among His saints, His elect. Christ will speak to the nations of the earth through His chosen remnant in this hour so they may have an opportunity to make peace with God before the time of their judgment arrives.
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. (Revelation 11:3)
The word power is not included in the Greek text but is implied in the context. The Scripture here is stating that in the last days, just before the coming of Christ from Heaven, God will pour out on His saints a double portion of His Holy Spirit so they may bear witness of the coming of the Kingdom of God into the earth.
We will explain in just a moment how we know from the Scriptures the spiritual significance of the two witnesses of Revelation, Chapter 11. Bear with us as we take these concepts in order, for they are vital to our vision of the period of God’s time in which we are living.
The first concept is that the ministry of the two witnesses is a Divinely ordained revival, being prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures. The revival to which we are referring is the "latter-rain" outpouring of God’s Spirit that will be given to bring the planting of the earth to maturity.
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. (Joel 2:23)
Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to everyone grass in the field. (Zechariah 10:1)
We know from church history that from time to time God pours out His Spirit on a geographical area. When He does, righteousness and power are demonstrated in an extraordinary manner.
We can plead with people to pray and to live for God. A few will respond. But when God pours out His Spirit, as in Wales, or Azusa Street, or Africa, or Indonesia, or in the jungles of South America, righteous living and miracles will be in evidence. Multitudes will be saved and the work of the Kingdom will take a giant step forward.
We know from history that God can and does send His Spirit in order to accomplish a specific work, among certain people, at a designated time and place.
The second concept has to do with the number two. The latter-rain revival, as we understand it, is represented by two witnesses.
The number two speaks to us of two wave loaves of the feast of Pentecost, of Elijah and Elisha, of the two sets of fifty rings over the veil of the Tabernacle of the Congregation (Exodus 26:6,11). First let us think about the Levitical feast of Pentecost.
Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord. (Leviticus 23:17) The above verse is speaking of the feast of Pentecost. What is the main ceremony of the feast of Pentecost?
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