My friends, I love this evening light message so well that I cannot hardly stay back here long enough to preach about these other things, to bring you up there. There was a sad thing. God's people were sick of it and God's people are sick of it yet today. They were sick of it and wanted to get out of it. All they needed, after God stirred them and got them ready to bring them out of it; all they needed to do was to get ahold of some men; a nucleus there, D. S. Warner and some others. Why do you think He had more than one? God won't let you preach until you are in unity. She got her nucleus there, of men that had prayed down the fire from God, and God had given them a revelation of this evening light, and they could see eye to eye and they went out together and preached it. Old Isaiah said back there in the 11th chapter of Isaiah that the Lord would set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people. How was He going to do it? He said He would lift up an ensign for them to come to. An ensign, my friend, is a flag. I have illustrated it this way before:

When I went overseas we had radio communications and other communications, but at that time when they did not have radio communication, we took the flag over with us, and all rolled up in a tube. Why? It was our standard that we were fighting under. Years back, when a battle would take place over there, hand to hand combat, it would be a terrible masacre. And when the smoke would clear away -- here would be a wounded soldier, and over here one; and every one, no doubt, thought they were the only one left. But what were we instructed? The man that had the flag would get up on the highest hill around there and hoist the flag. Brother, when the flag would go up those soldiers would look and say, "There must be somebody else alive." The flag hoisted was a direct order to a soldier to assemble to the flag. Here they would come from everywhere. Out there laying dispersed they thought they were the only one left. But, thank God, when they began to gather in, they found out they had a pretty good sized army.

Now, God said in these last days He would set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of the outcasts of Israel. How is He going to do it? Thank God, He is telling us flag-bearers to find the highest hill you can, Mt. Zion; get on her and host the flag. Glory be to God! And God's people are coming back to the flag and thank God, they are going to be a people gathered together to fight this last and hottest battle of Armageddon, just as sure as we are here. Poor old saints. I visit them, I hear from them; they are laying out there, many of them, sick and wounded and heartsick over conditions until the devil has them feeling they are the only one left. Thank God, how it cheers their soul to tell them that down here are a lot of people, over there is still a lot, over here is a lot. Just like it was back here in the 11th chapter of Revelation. In 1880, the Word of God said there, that when God called the witnesses out, there were seven thousand slain right in the beginning of the harvest with the sickle. What is that a type of?

Go back to old Elijah, when he thought every one had quit. I'm the only one left and they are going to kill me. God said NO, I still have seven thousand who have never set a Jezebel's table. Brother, right here God still has seven thousand, an answer to that type, who have never set at old Jezebel's table and wouldn't put up with Babylonian captivity.

The kingdom was like leaven. It too has a principle of silent growth. I want to repeat, the kingdom has a principle of silent growth. It is not leaven, but it works somewhat like leaven. What am I talking about? Brother, the grace of God gets in 'that' man, that man gets the Holy Spirit; that man gets it and I get it -- there is a work begins. I didn't know there was a man by the name of Paul Turnbow in the country until a year ago. I didn't know there was a man such as he and he didn't know there was a man such as me. But, brother, that silent thing working within...it began to work and open up paths to where we could come together and set together in Christ Jesus. It will work silently, but the love of God, and the Spirit of God working in our hearts will bring us together just as sure as we keep it. And just like this old leaven here has leavened the whole thing and made it earthly, this spiritually, this Spirit of God within us, it will fill us all in all and make us all one spiritual body.

In the second chapter of Revelation, we read part of this letter. Let me comment just a little. The second chapter of Revelation, verse 18; "And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write: these saith the Son of God." Here we have the church in parable. Remember back in the second parable, a perilous condition when there were tares among the wheat. How did God take care of the situation? He said, "I am going to cast them in a furnace." He started up a furnace work. We proved by the Word of God that Isaiah, in the 33rd chapter said His furnace is in Zion, not in the pits of hell, His furnace is in Zion.

All right, here He comes writing to this church. What has happened here again? Starting out in Lutheranism, my friend, many truly lived by faith. They were sons of God, so how did Christ present Himself in the letter? These things saith the Son of God. Amen! The only letter He addressed that way. Men were actually becoming sons of God here, but, what else were they doing? They were turning around and joining a human work that wouldn't stand the Word of God or stand the fire. Not only did He say, these things saith the Son of God, but these things saith He that hath His eyes as a fire. Someone is going to get burnt. His feet are as fine brass. What does that show? There is going to be a furnace work. Somebody said, how do you know? Rev. 1:15, when John first saw Him, "his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace. God is going to start a fire here and anything that will not stand the fire is going to be consumed, He tells us. You have done good when you become a Son of God. You are on the right foundation, the only foundation. No man can lay any other. That is why old Babylon is built on the bottomless pit, only one foundation laid and that was Jesus Christ and the minute He laid it, He put a building on it. You can only get one building on one foundation, so old Babylon had to build on the bottomless pit.

Now it is one thing to get on the right foundation, but let every man take heed how he build thereon. Why? If any man build using, gold, silver, precious stones; good! They will stand the fire. Those are symbols of truths, but if you get over to wood, hay or stubble, look out! It won't take it because every man's work is going to be tried by fire. 1 Corinthians the 3rd chapter "Every man's sork shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Now, you are going to tell me, that is the end of time when Jesus comes again. I won't agree with you a second. When is the day when our works are tried with fire? -- this day of preliminary judgment from 1880 to approximately 1980. Would you tell me that you are serving a God that would let you build right on wrong, right up to the judgement and then try you and let you be lost. I am not serving that kind of a God. He gives a preliminary judgment here, called the day of His wrath, when He is pouring His wrath out on Babylon, when He is shaking everything that can be shaken and men and women that are not built right have a chance to lay hold aright and build right before He comes.

Someone says, Bro. Wilson, that cannot be it. All right then, there are only two sides to take. If you say that fire, that He is trying people's works with, is not the fire of God's Word in this Gospel, or this day of His wrath here that began with the 6th seal ministry, then you have to agree with the Catholics, that there is a purgatory. You have to take one way or the other. There is no middle ground. Read it. He is going to be put in the fire, his works will burn but he will be saved. Well, that is what the Catholics say. This day of His wrath began here at 1880, and this is the day He is trying men's works. There is more than one man that I could have 'come and testify,' that has come out of Babylon, but the fire of God's Word has burnt up their works. They have come out of Babylon, and they have been saved, but their works had to burn down ther. They started working for God once again. Somebody said, I don't believe that is it. I will give you another Scripture that will prove it. The 14th chapter of Revelation, verse 13. After God had a people gathered back on Mt. Zion, then He said, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth." How come their works do follow? Thank God, any work that you put in on a solid foundation by truth in Mt. Zion will follow you, but your works down in Babylon have to burn with Babylon. That is why it is needful, that you hurry out of there -- that is Bible.

There is a reason for hurring people out of there. A ________ minister that took a stand for truth some time ago, and now another minister ready to take his stand, ( he has already made his move to get his name off the book and get out); but one of the saddest things today, that wounds this brother's heart, is, to think he was a hard worker there and he lead any number of people to the Lord over there, and got them joined up, and now he sees the wrong of the thing, he sees the erroneous doctrine that is going forth, and when he thinks...he lead them in there and got them fastened with it, and now he cannot talk to them to get them out -- it breaks his heart. It will break yours too, when you see the truth in the right way.

The day will declare it, my friend. This is the day of God's wrath we are in, when He is pouring His wrath out on old Babylon.

Who hath His eyes like a flame of fire;...know thy works and thy charity and thy service and faith and patience and thy works, and the last to be more than the first. Nothing more, my friends, than their works 'outrun' God's works. You read on in the closing of the letter. He said, I am going to judge you by your works, but he that keepeth my works. We have got man's works raising up against God's works. Let us read a little farther. "Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." Friends, here is that picture again of false religion. First of all, as a prophetess, a woman who calls herself a prophet. Who is that a type of? This false religion here, of these churches and what kind of preachers have they got? Preachers that call themselves. God never called any man to go out and preach contrary to the Word of God. That would be foolishness. Brother, let me tell you something. If God does not call you, and send you, you will never have the message. Never have. I can call Bro Turnbow up here and say, Come here, I want to send you a message back to Bro. Craig, and whisper it into his ear. Bro. Gunter can say, I am going to go; Bro White can say, I am going to go. And I will say, God right ahead, but you will never tell him the message I sent. A dozen more of you want to go --I say go right ahead, but you will never take my message. I gave it to this man. Amen! The God we serve has never got so hard up, that He is having to choose 'week-kneed,' jelly-fish, worldly minded, unGodly men to carry His message. He will never do it.

A woman who called herself a prophetess, forgetting all about the divine call, is cranking them out. The divine call is being all forgotten. Paul said, how can they believe in whom they have not heard and how can they hear without a preacher, and how can they preach unless they be sent. I say that, for the benefit of young people. God bless your heart -- know that God is leading you. Don't go out and waste a life. Bro. Runyon made an expression I never forgot, because it was right at the time when God was dealing with me. I will never forget it. He made a statement when he was preaching...and maybe it didn't mean much to him, but it did to me. He said the best evidence that a man was called to preach was the fact that he could preach. I never forgot that. God was dealing with my heart. Some elderly sisters in the congregation, when my father was still alive, would ask me, Bro. Wilson, when are you going to preach? Why I just laughed at them and said, what makes you think I am going to preach? But I knew that God was dealing. I kept putting it off and putting it off.

My father was in a tent meeting up there 22 miles north, and in that meeting he got thirty some people out of the ______church, out into the light. We had a quartet. We traveled and sang up there working with him. He spoke to me and had asked me many times before, to 'take the pulpit,' Sunday night, here at home. I said, No, I am going with you and sing. But, brother he spoke that time and I said no, I am going with you and sing, but God turned me over his knee and took all the joy out of my soul, and I went up to my bedroom and cried. There is where I settled it. I said, Lord if this is you I am going to do it, but this if going to be a test. If this is just humanity, just people pressing me ( every preacher wants his son to be a preacher), if this is just dad pressing me, I said, when I get up there tonight, I want you to make me the worst flop I have ever been and make me such a mess, that I will never attempt it again. I meant it. If it is you, you work just as hard the other way and let me know.

Well, they told Sunday morning, that Emerson was going to preach Sunday night and you can just imagine, no one went to the tent meeting, hardly. They wanted to see what I would do. I got over there and saw such a crowd, I couldn't go in the church. I walked up and down in front of the church, crying to God, what am I going to do? I couldn't go to the pulpit stand, I was shaking too much, so I stood over to the song leaders stand an between crying and the thoughts God gave me, I spoke maybe an hour. Before we could give an invitation, 19 people came to an altar of prayer. God spoke to me, just as plain as if you would raise up, and said, is that enough, or do you want some more? I believe He would have saved another altar full, if I would have said that is was not enough. These things are divine. God does not want us feeling our way around and wondering if we are in the place God wants. I can thank God that it has been just as divine all the way along the line. He still works it out.

My father died and I was out in the evangelistic work quite a bit, and the old brethren in the congregation came to me. I just want to tell you it is a divine work. They said, Bro Emerson, you will have to take the church. I said, I can't do it. They said they would be behind me. I said, I know you will be behind me, but what if I preach something you don't like. If you fellows leave me I would not have any foundation and unless God would definitely show me, I will never take it. I will preach here and work with you until God shows us and gets someone. The next Sunday Bro. Mitchell spoke. Our hearts were heavy. Dad had died suddenly. The next Sunday morning, I had a message. God told me to open the book to the first chapter of joshua. I had read it and preached it more than once before that, but when I looked on it that time, it looked like it was italicized. "Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses minister." Brother, I can't tell you what happened to me and the church saw it happening to me and it happened to them too. You can talk about an installation service, brother, we had one. The Holy Ghost did the installing. God taught me a little lesson. He said when your dad lived, he was pastor. You cannot have two heads at once. That is why you did not feel any burden. Now he is gone, just stand up and read this to these people. I stood up and read with tears in my eyes, when I couldn't read. God said just like I was with Moses, I will be with you, if you will be careful to walk in my statutes and ordinances, just like my people did when Moses was living. These things are divine from beginning to end. The whole burden of our heart is to get you back to a divine work. God still knows what He is doing. God will let us know. We can know when we are in the order of God.

The enemy, my friend, the same enemy that worked here, has sowed something among the saints until they feel that you have got to use so much wisdom. I still believe in a God, that when they went to hunt Peter, He told them what the house number was and which side of the street he lived on, and told him he would be on the roof when he got there. It's the same God that told Philip to do down on the road to Gaza. "Go on down there. Well, that is a desert place. What do you want me to go down there for? You will find out when you get there." It wasn't long until there was a congregation came along that he needed to preach to. God will still lead us and work things out in a divine way.

That woman who calls herself a prophetess. You have allowed her to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. I am hurring, but that is a picture of protestantism, my friend, may we see it. I gave her space to repent and she repented not. Brother, God is a just God. He gave all of these, space to repent. He gave Roman Catholicism a good space to repent. When? When He took their own priest (Luther), and had them turn and preach the Gospel to them, that was their space to repent as a false system. He gave Protestantism 350 years sitting under this golden Gospel. She had space to repent, but, brother, Babylon (religious/spiritual confusion) will never repent. She is 'past her space.' Coming right on down, God bless your heart, He is giving us as the professed Church a space to repent. We will get it in the seventh parable. He is giving us as a people a space to repent of this lukewarmness. If you pass it up, the Word of God will teach us on the lesson, in silence in heaven, that the door of mercy will be closed. I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death. Well, brother, it has happened. You know that thing is as dead as it can be. How come it is dead? God said, if you do not repent, I will kill here children with death. Spiritual death has caused that thing. She is dead and formal as she can be. [ The End ]