37 All nations respect this language.

It is amazing how fear and suffering can move us to perform the "impossible"! We have presented our viewpoint that the two witnesses of Revelation, Chapter 11 are a symbolic portrayal of the end-time, latter-rain testimony that the saints will give in preparation for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven.

It is the anointed preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom in all the world for a witness to all the nations of the earth. The Divine testimony will be given at the closing of the present age (Matthew 24:14).

God will confirm His testimony by signs and wonders of a fullness of power never before seen on the earth, power of the magnitude of the stopping of the sun’s movement at the word of Joshua.

Where do these two witnesses come from, for they suddenly are empowered to prophesy? There is no information concerning their origin.

Here is the meaning of Revelation, Chapters 10, 11, and 12 as we understand them: Chapter 10: the necessary preparation of God’s elect, God’s remnant, for the work of the end-time Divine testimony.

Chapter 11: the latter-rain witness, the removal of the Christian testimony from the cities of the earth, the first resurrection from the dead, the changing of the ruler ship of the world from Satan to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 12: the same saints, the eternal rulers, seen from the standpoint of Christ being formed in them.

Chapter 11 portrays the anointing for witnessing that rests on the members of the Body of Christ. The anointing for witnessing is a temporary, partial blessing, a "seeing through a glass darkly," that enables the Christian to bear the Divine testimony of Christ. It is a prophetic anointing. The prophetic anointing is never part of the saint. It is power and wisdom that come and go according to the current needs of God’s eternal purpose.

This is why the Divine testimony can be "overcome" by Antichrist—overcome by the express permission of the Lord in line with His eternal purpose. The Christian testimony is overcome in the sense that God permits the anointed testimony to be removed as a hindrance to Antichrist’s ambitions. This is for a brief, predetermined, and carefully regulated period of time so the revelation of Antichrist can be completed (II Thessalonians 2:7).

Have you found it to be true that healing and other blessings may be delayed for a season while God is working out something in your life? After God’s objective has been accomplished, if you remain in prayer and thanksgiving, the Lord blesses and heals you. The testimony of the Scriptures then has been restored because the Lord has delivered you from all your diseases and afflictions.

The Divine witness can be "overcome" from time to time according to the working out of God’s eternal purpose in Christ. The saint himself never can be overcome if he continues to do the will of Christ, for that would be contrary to the Scriptures (Romans 8:37-39). The forces of Satan can never, in any manner, by any means whatever, overcome the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

No authority or power can separate one of God’s elect from the love of Christ. In order to do so the power must overcome the resurrection of Christ; for we live by His Life. Chapter 11, therefore, is referring to the anointing for witnessing that abides on the saints, for it is this that can be overcome, in God’s appointed time.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8) Chapter 12, on the other hand, is referring to the permanent change that is taking place in the personality of the saint while he is performing the work of the testimony. It is the forming of Christ in him or her (Galatians 4:19). While we are serving, Christ is being formed in us.

The trumpets of Gideon’s three hundred men typify the anointed testimony of Chapter 11, the "trumpet of the Lord" that will prepare the way for His return from Heaven in the clouds.

The lamps of Gideon’s three hundred men speak of the forming and revealing of Christ in us, the Divine Glory that will be revealed in Christ and in the saints at His glorious appearing (Judges 7:19). Christ is being formed in us in preparation for our eternal ministry as kings and priests of God—the coheirship with Christ, the rulership of the ages to come (Revelation 22:5).

The eternal Conqueror, God’s King and Lord, Christ, is being formed in the testifying saint in preparation for the coming Kingdom of God. Christ is the male Son (man child), the Son of God, who is to rule all nations with the strength and inflexibility of the Spirit of God—a rod of iron.

We understand, then, that two works of God are taking place in our lives: We are being anointed by the Holy Spirit so we can be Jesus’ witnesses in power. We ourselves are being transformed eternally by having Christ formed in us in preparation for our positions of authority as coheirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our ministry and our transformation interact. Our ministry assists in our personal transformation as well as in the transformation of those who hear us. Our transformation causes us to work at our ministry in ever-increasing faith, wisdom, and diligence.

There are instances where believers do not profit from their own ministries. After they have preached to others they themselves are disqualified. They are not built up by their own gifts because they love darkness rather than light. Although they may perform powerful works in the name of the Lord Jesus, He never has known them. Are both of these Kingdom works (witnessing and transformation) being developed in your life today?

Because the Spirit of God is announcing the forming of Christ in us, and also the coming manifestation of the sons of God, many fervent believers are confusing the coming revelation of the sons of God with what is possible today. Let us remember that we still are in the Church Age. The power of Christ still will be revealed through gifts and ministries. The manifestation of the sons of God, the fullness of the glory, that which is perfect, is not available today. It will appear with the appearing of the Lord from Heaven.

Chapters 10 and 11 (and 12, in the light of what we have just set forth) of the Book of Revelation describe the sounding of the last trumpet (I Corinthians 15:52). We noted previously that the "pictures" of the Book of Revelation are not in strict order of time but are a series of viewpoints from which we may observe the Day of the Lord. The vision of the Book of Revelation is one tapestry of intricately woven threads.

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: (Revelation 10:1) It is a powerful angel, a strong messenger, who announces the end-time, latter-rain Divine testimony, and the completion of the "mystery of God." The Divine mystery, a mystery still not understood by the Christian churches, is Christ in us (Colossians 1:27).

Righteousness always is a battle of strength concerning the issue of Divine truth. We know what God wants us to do, But we find an actual war is taking place in the members of our physical body.

We desire fervently to do what God’s truth commands us to do. But another power, the sin and rebellion that are in us, fights continuously and viciously against our desire to obey God’s truth. The power to perform what we know to be the truth, to do God’s will, is not found in our human personality.

The power to perform truth is found in the Personality of Christ. It is Christ who alone is able to make it possible for us to obey Divine Truth. In fact, Christ Himself is Divine Truth as well as the Power to obey Divine Truth.

Our responsibility is to choose with all the determination we possess to obey God’s truth. We are to announce our choice vigorously and continually to the Lord and, on suitable occasions, to the saints around us. For our words will stand in the Day of Christ either to justify us or to condemn us.

As we continue choosing to obey God’s truth, Christ’s unlimited authority and power are pointed in our direction with the result that we receive power to conquer the darkness of the present age. As we ourselves are set free, by the power of Christ working together with the truth He Himself Is, we can assist in the release of other people from their bondages.

When we know Divine truth, and gain enough power to obey that truth, we are released from slavery to Satan. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)

The spiritual atmosphere of the earth already is becoming oppressive. It is quite difficult (sometimes seemingly impossible) to behave righteously, to speak words of truth and courage, to resist the pull of the lusts of the flesh and of material gain, to think pure, lovely, wholesome thoughts, to avoid self-seeking and self-exaltation.

The darkness is mounting slowly and steadily. We humans do not possess enough power to resist the spiritual darkness. Some people think they do possess enough power and that they can play with sin and then turn away from sin when they get ready. They are deceiving themselves.

The Great Commission to make disciples of all the nations remains as a responsibility to which we should be giving supreme attention. Yet it appears that satanic wisdom and power are driving the nations ever deeper into secular knowledge, political ambition, pornography, fornication, and the destruction of family life. The world is not becoming a more righteous environment in which to live.

What is the problem of righteousness? It is that the saints lack power—power enough to drive the wickedness out of the nations; power enough to compel righteous behaviour on the part of the peoples of the earth. Righteousness is a question of spiritual power. Wouldn’t you bring all the nations of the earth into righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit if you possessed enough power to do so?

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, possesses all authority in Heaven and on the earth. He is waiting for God the Father to exert the wisdom and power required to bring all of Christ’s enemies under His feet.

God understands better than we the pressures that now are coming on each person on the earth. During the end-time, latter-rain revival of the Gospel of the Kingdom, the Lord Jesus will send a double portion of the power of the Holy Spirit—enough power to overcome every other power during the season of our preaching the Good News of the soon coming of the Kingdom to every nation under the heaven.

It is our responsibility to pray for rain in the time of the latter rain (Zechariah 10:1). God, in response to our petitions, will send Christ to us as the rain, giving every Christian who asks for rain an abundance of rain and fruit. The Lord God stands ready to equip us with authority over all the power of the enemy.

The sounding of the seventh (and last) trumpet is marked by the sending down from Heaven of an authoritative and powerful angel. This signifies that the last revival will be one of unprecedented power. The angel comes "down from heaven" (Revelation 10:1). The Divine testimony of the last days of this age will not proceed from the wisdom and striving of the flesh and soul.

Some today are teaching that if Christians will exert faith and diligence they can gain control over the political structure of their cities and nations. This is not the role of the Church and such a program will not establish the Kingdom of God.

First there must come the latter-rain witness, and it will proceed from the Throne of God in Heaven not from the efforts of the flesh. After the witness has been fully given, the earth will be visited with the great tribulation. Then the signs in the heaven will appear and Christ will return in His Kingdom. When God is ready to activate some aspect of His eternal purpose He does not put His trust in human beings. God performs His own works, using the persons of His choosing.

The angel is "clothed with a cloud," reminding us of our being caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Wherever the Scriptures describe the coming of Christ and our being caught up to Him there often is the mention of a cloud or clouds (Daniel 7:13, for example; compare Acts 1:9).

The cloud speaks of the Presence of the Father. Both in the Old Testament and the New, God appeared in the cloud. And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. (Exodus 16:10)

And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee forever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord. (Exodus 19:9) While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. (Matthew 17:5)

God Himself will be present to an unprecedented extent in the latter-rain revival. The last witness will be more than a blessing or the presence of an angel. The Lord Himself will come to us as the Rain. 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)

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