God's Time Clock Part II

Somebody said, for 270 years, God’s people were one. That’s right. But I can give you scripture to prove that the original glory that the church had on Pentecost was short lived. In A.D. 52, twenty-one years after Pentecost, Paul said that the mystery of iniquity was already working. In A.D. 66, thirty-three years after Pentecost, certain men had crept in unawares. Somebody had to let the standard down or they could not have gotten in. Men had crept in unawares, right in the midst and teaching things that were contrary to the Bible and because of it, were dividing God’s people and causing confusion. Paul warned, after my departure it will be worse. Grievous wolves will enter in. How in the name of the Lord can grievous wolves enter in among the sheep, brother, if the shepherds would have been standing guard? Grievous wolves are in. They are not sparing the flock. Men of your own selves will backslide and speak of the best things and lead disciples after themselves. When we fail to lead them after Christ, we’re leading them after ourselves. If we get up and go to preaching, “I don’t believe God meant this and that, and I don’t think that is necessary,” we’re raising up a congregation that is following us. Someone said, how do you know they are following us? Because when I talk to them about a certain truth, they say, “Brother So and So doesn’t say that.” Well, who are we for? Brother So and So, or Christ? Why was there a need for a sixth hour call? Because there was a falling away that took place there. God’s people were carried away with a form of atheism, and all the other isms (I’m not going into them) until they were carried far away. God made a call right there to call these people, to come and stand for truth. Now even as it happened in the morning church, I’d say 33 years from Pentecost, Jude said they’d already gotten in. You can’t say they didn’t---Jude said they had entered in.

All right, come over to 1880. Let’s take 33 years on that and that will bring you to 1913, and I have a book at home, if you want to read it, of camp meeting sermons when H. M. Riggle and others said that they already had entered in among us. I have the sermon and he said if we are not careful, within five years you won’t be able to tell the church from babylon. I want to tell you why there’s a need for the 11th hour call. Many things have happened as you come on down. We know there is a terrible business of groupism. This is an awful confusion, when a lot of different people claim to be God’s people, but that isn’t too bad because they all have different names. But, when we get a whole lot of different groups who claim to be God’s people and all have the same name and cannot fellowship, that is a terrible picture. You know what the trouble is, the ministry failed in their jobs. Why I hear them talking about---and hear them preaching about: just my duty to preach it. What people do is up to them. Why, if I get a hold of your people, you soon won’t have a job because I can tell them they won’t have to put up with you. If it’s just your job to preach it, I’m going to teach them something. I’m going to go into business and sell them tape recorders and then they can buy the tapes and get the best preachers in the country. They’ll not have to put up with you---just go to church on Sunday morning and play a record.

God wanted a man there. What for? To teach them to observe. It’s heart “sickening” to observe, right while the glory of God is leaving the midst, many are heavy hearted, seeking, just seeking, and watching and listening to the singing, listening to the preaching; trying to gather something they can feed their hungry soul on. Then, a preacher gets up and laughs and say, I’m glad Jesus built a church the gates of hell cannot prevail against, and it does sound good. The gates of hell cannot prevail against her. Nothing that the devil could come up with of an outward source; the dragon, the beast, the false prophet or the eighth beast---no outward force can come up against it, but men can get in the middle of it and tear it asunder. Someone said; I don’t believe it. Well, study what happened to the morning church. How did she lose her glory? Why, she whipped the dragon and cast him out, but men getting in on the inside put her in such a shape until god was ashamed of her and hid her away in the wilderness. He will hide us away in the wilderness if we fail to be an example of what the Church of God must be.

There’s a need for an 11th hour call. God’s people have been led astray. Somebody said, how do you know? I’m going to give you Bible for it. Read the 11th hour call. It’s the only one in all the calls like it. When he went out the 11th hour and found them standing idle in the market place, “Well, how come you’re standing idle?” “No man hath hired us.” Man bound---can’t make a move unless man hires them. You know what Jesus said to them? “Go on out to work in the vineyard.” I’m still on the truth. The only group in the bunch that gave Him the reason that they could not get to work for God, because men would not turn them loose. No, man did not hire any of the rest of them; this thing is an individual something between God and us.

I want you to see where we are. He went out the 11th hour, here’s the 9th hour (see chart)---two more hours puts us down to five o’clock on the Jew’s clock, which is actually eleven o’clock on ours. Why was there a need of the 11th hour call? Go with me to the 25th chapter of Matthew. The virgins---He said the kingdom would be like ten virgins, when He had been talking about the second coming, just previous to His second coming the Kingdom will be like this people, ten virgins---five wise and five foolish, there is your Laodicean. There’s your lukewarmness, yes---good and bad hooked together. Wise and foolish---together. Now, if you wait until the midnight cry, the foolish will never get a chance to get any oil because when the midnight cry went out the oil shop was closed. But He’s making an 11th hour call.

What for? To wake them up, so they can get oil. Jesus is going to come any time. I’m not saying 1980 is the end of time, don’t take that thought. These are approximate dates, but taking what we know by prophecy, it looks like somewhere short of this thing, something is going to happen. It looks like it’s going to be the second coming of Christ, according to what the Word of God would have us to understand. Brother, we’re down to 1960, it’s clear past 11:30, maybe 11:45. I don’t know because I don’t know how much He’s going to cut the time.

There’s a need for an 11th hour call. They’re good people, these virgins, even though they were asleep. Somebody said, I don’t think those were asleep that the oil went out, that they ever had an experience. Well, you got that because you got somebody’s Bible that you shouldn’t be following. I know who he is. He puts out doctrines and gives his own conception as he goes along. They were all virgins, they were all men and women who had an experience. How do I know? First of all, He said, the kingdom would be like this, and no body is a part of the kingdom until they have been truly born again. They were a part of the kingdom; they were virgins. What is a lamp? Salvation! The 62nd chapter of Isaiah answers that symbol. Thank God, old Isaiah did not go to sleep, he said I will not rest, I will not hold my peace, for Zion’s sake I will not do it. What for---until the brightness there---the salvation thereof is as a lamp that burneth. There’s salvation. But if you ever keep that lamp going you have to keep it full of oil an when your supply runs low, you must return to the oil supply and stock up! That’s the thing the people are falling short on. The tarrying. There is much tarrying to be done before Jesus comes. Why, way back there the Thessalonians thought He was going to come as soon as they got saved. Paul said do not get any wrong thoughts. There has to be a lot of things done here.

What was one of them? The man of sin must be revealed as the son of perdition. There’s the job on our hands. Somebody said, I know who the man of sin is. Well, God is a just God. He loves all humanity as much as He does you, in that sense of loving His humanity. But there are masses of humanity who do not know who the man of sin is. We have to get our charts up and go to preaching this thing. It has to be revealed to people. God cannot give them just judgment if they don’t know what the truth is.

Now, if we ever go through this tarring stage we have to have our vessels filled. I’m sorry to say, that even the wise slept a little. But that Spirit of God within them kept them. When the 11th hour ministry went out and woke them up, (there’s your people that are taking the 7th seal light). And others let their lamps go out. No need to try to get them. The best thing we can do is, try to get them saved. But there’s a people, that even through this lukewarmness, and sleepy age, they had enough of the Spirit in their life that their lamp got low, but when the 7th seal light came, they just turned her up, and measured up. Somebody said, what do you mean, trimming your lamp? Trimming it to the light of the age. You are going to have to come on 6th sealers and trim your lamps on up another step further and get up and get going for God. You can’t trim a dead lamp. Those, whose lamps went out, tried to trim them, but you can’t trim a dead lamp. You know that---all you people that ever burned coal oil lamps, know that you have to keep it lit when you trim the wick. Light that thing up and if the wick is burning uneven, you will have a shot of flame here and a low place and another shot, and it smokes the thing up and instead of making light, it just makes a mess. So you light her up, and take the scissors and trim her up. You know what the wick is, that is the old flesh, too much wick. When you get too much wick, you will not get much light. A lot of people are running around and sticking out a lot of wicks and think they have a lot of light. Well, there’s not any light there. That wick is just what holds the light. You have to have oil. There’s a need for the 11th hour call.

Now, we know that every time Jesus gave a parable He was provoked to it. That does not mean He got man now, that word, provoke, has more than one meaning. You will hear a man preach, he will provoke you to thinking. Time is running out. God is stirred with the conditions of this world. The Gospel is girdling the globe one last time. That’s all that has to be done, before Christ comes. This parable was given for a reason. You have to study this part of it to get the understanding.

There was always something happened that stirred Christ to turn around and say, “Let me give you a parable here.” Let us back up and see what happened and it will give us a little lesson. The 19th chapter of Matthew, verse 27, “Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold we have forsaken all and followed Thee, what shall we have therefore.” Peter was still “carnal” and “walked as men”…and he had that old spirit that many people have (what am I going to get out of this?). (Talk about me giving up all to follow you, what is there in it for me?) And Jesus spoke him a parable that taught us much truth and taught him a good lesson, and it will teach us a good lesson. Now we have covered the Gospel day and let us just look at the parable a minute. First of all, He would teach us that God’s rewards are of grace and not of death. Someone said, “How do you get it?” Why grace is shown forth. The man that only worked for an hour got the same pay as the man working all day. So you see again, you do not get what you are worth, you do not get what you earn, He deals in grace with you. Peter had to learn that. Why did he have to learn it? Why, he thought the Jews were worthy of salvation and the Gentiles---never! God’s rewards are of grace and not of death.

The next are, the rewards of heaven are not calculated by the methods of this earth. The Word of God teaches us, and even Christ, when He went to pay off here at the close of day, He put it right on the Jews and said, “Didn’t I agree with you for a penny? I coveted with you and you are getting your penny. What have you got to kick about? And you know what they kicked about? They were not complaining because they were not getting enough. They were kicking because they thought the other fellow was getting too much. Isn’t that something! Isn’t that a nice spirit! Someone said, “Well, why preach about the Jews?” Because that spirit is still alive. God just blesses people and they have got all they can handle, but resent others getting too much. Some young fellow gets saved, and because he really opens up his heart to God and keeps his nose in the Book, God blesses him and he gets to coming out with good truths that stir our soul. Some old fellow that has been around for awhile will say, “Ah, he better slow down, wait till he gets on the road like I’ve been for 30 years before he talks like that.” You are just clear off the track, the man that only worked an hour gets the same pay as the man that has been there all day. Jesus said, whatever is right, I’ll give you. And He taught them that whatever is right for you, the Jews is right for the Gentiles. It’s right for every one of us. Work is not always measured by time.

Now come on, I’m talking about working in God’s vineyard. Life itself is not measured by time. Short lives sometimes have far more real living in it. Stop and think about that a little bit. These fellows murmured, I want to repeat, not because they received too little, but because others received too much. You know what Jesus told them their trouble was? Their eye was evil. Pre-eminence was still in their heart. The children of God, then, must be humble and thankful, not jealous of others.

And here we have got preachers going all over the country, trying to explain why the last comes first and they go into all history and try to give some revelation and take you through the Gospel Day and try to prove why the last comes first. Why, you will never find it there. You will find in a lesson on humility. God teaches His children to prefer the other. And all He’s teaching us there, in the lesson, is that the last will come first and God’s people will like it that way. You know, there are other things that could be said about the last coming first, but I’m dealing with the lesson here. He told the Jews there, that the publican and the harlot go around and go into the kingdom of God before them. Well, that was not because He was holding the Jews back and letting the others in first, that’s because of the unbelief present back there. And a false profession today will hinder you. Men and women will come in out of the world and find this thing, and go into the kingdom, and sit down, while you are still there pondering over the thing. That is what He’s talking about. The very lowest place in the kingdom of God is far better than we deserve.

The next thing we want to remember; we must obey the calling of God. These calls were for man to come to work in His vineyard. We’re working in the 11th hour ministry, calling, my friend, people to come and work in Christ’s vineyard. The souls of men stand ready to be hired in one service or another. The market-place is nothing more than a place where the souls of men is going to be hired for one place or another. We either yield ourselves in service to Christ or to the devil. Paul said in the 6th chapter of Romans. Also, or in the marketplace, we must choose. The 11th hour call found them still standing idle---what am I talking about? Still unemployed---in regards to: the Master’s work. First in that of the work of getting our own soul saved, and then the work of getting other souls saved.

Today, too many, of that which calls itself God’s people are standing idle. Now you know that the church is not going forward as she should. We look at the church as a whole. You know why she is halted, and do you know how she got halted? The devil threw another opinion in there, and he’s got them halted. When you are halting between two opinions, you are not doing a thing for God. You’re just wrestling that thing---the devil’s got you stopped. As we look over the country, we see people, in this condition. Somebody said, What’s the two opinions? Your opinion and God’s opinion. Just boil it down. You have your opinion about the thing. How do I know? Because we tell people the truth about God’s Word and they say, “Well, Bro. Wilson, we’ve got our opinion about that.” We can’t afford to let two opinions get into our mind about these things. If we let another opinion get in, it will stop us and we’ll be right there and many have died right there, halting between two opinions. I say like old Elijah, let’s prove this thing true. You have halted long enough between two opinions. Let the God that answers by fire be God. And just to shorten it up, I can’t preach you that message; let’s get the fire! How are we going to get it? Offer the sacrifice and do it in the right way and get the fire.

I was down in Hamilton and held a meeting and they told me, and I believe it is so because some of our people came down for one night to visit the meeting and they came early and started to call the church of God in the phone book, and called until it was way too late to come to church and never did get to the one I was at. There’s five churches of God around there and none of them fellowships with the other. That’s bad. Tell me there’s not more than one opinion? There must be. I know it does no good just to tell it to the people and that’s not what I’m trying to do, but we’re trying to get you to see that God has got something great for us. The 11th hour call was for us to come and work in His vineyard.

Now Jesus likened this generation here to the children playing in the marketplace, and I think I can safely liken it in this generation of people we are living in. Children playing in the marketplace---can’t get along. In other words, you won’t play with me. And so here is a vision of confusion, like a bunch of kids on the outs with each other. “I’m gonna take my stuff and go home”---You can do what you want to do. And the world is dying and going to hell. Children playing in the marketplace and He closed with this thought, but wisdom is justified of her children. If I had time I’d turn to Proverbs, and he will tell you there that wisdom is having to cry out in the streets and it cries out in the place of concourse, or a better translation, it said in the marketplace. Maybe not a better translation, but another translation says in the marketplace, wisdom is crying out there. And wisdom is justified of her children. Why, you can tell whose wisdom’s children are---they are wise!

Wisdom’s children are wise. They’re going to quit this messing around, and go to work for God. Get back to the place where the glory of God is on your soul, where you get a soul burden. This thing has cone on until people are praying for a soul burden. If we’ve got to pray for a soul burden, we’d better pray for God to come into our heart. If God is there in His rightful place and working in His rightful way, we’ll have a burden for a lost and dying world. We might as well say that Christ could still be Christ and lose His compassion for a lost and dying world. No, if He had lost that He would not have been Christ any more. If we lost this compassion and a burden for souls to the place, that two revivals a year is too much, we’re in desperate straits. We’d better have a yearly revival. Wisdom is justified of her children. We don’t need to be confused. We can tell, who is being wise about this thing, Jesus said. Who is it? Men and women who are laying aside petty things, getting set on fire for God, becoming a son of thunder, if you please, and going out to win a world for Christ. [ The End ]