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- From: "Anthony Grigor-Scott" <ags@biblebelievers.org.au>
- Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 00:28:14 +1000
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- Dear Bible Believer,
- Christian greetings in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus
Christ
The following is a sample of our FREE weekly Newsletter. If
you would like to receive it regularly, please write me a note.
Otherwise, just disregard this invitation -- but please make
full use of the Christian resources on www.biblebelievers.org.au/
which focus on the present Truth -- what Jesus is doing now.
Back issues of the Newsletter may be downloaded from our main
page.
Bible Believers' Newsletter is dedicated to those of like
precious faith and whosoever will receive the truth. Everything
presented should be confirmed personally in your own Bible.
God bless you,
Anthony Grigor-Scott
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Signs of the End of the Ages
The prophetic list of signs foretold in relation to the end
of the world and the Coming of Christ for His Bride is quite
lengthy, including an increase of knowledge, repetition of the
circumstances of the days of Noah and Lot, the rise of anti-Christ,
a flourishing global economy, wars and earthquakes. These conditions
and the instability of world affairs, have convinced scientist,
economist, politician and psychic, as well theologians, that
a major catastrophe is imminent.
I wish to alert you to one more vitally significant sign which,
likewise, has found its fulfillment in our day. This sign is
unique in that it is God's essential warning before any major,
scriptural happening. It is at once His most vivid yet most overlooked
and misunderstood sign.
Amos 3:7, "Surely the Lord God will do NOTHING but He
reveals His secret to His servants the prophets". God's
pattern of dealing with His people has always included sending
prophets. Amos states emphatically that God does nothing without
a prophetic forerunner.
History also reveals that seldom was a prophet greeted without
skepticism and abuse. No matter how great their Divine vindication,
they suffered at the hands of those to whom they were sent. Jesus
told the Pharisees in Matthew 23:3l-36, it was their forefathers
who were guilty of the blood of ALL the prophets from Abel to
Zechariah.
Maintaining the consistency of His Word, God promised us a
prophetic messenger to announce His second Coming. Only one ministry
in this century could qualify as that messenger. William Branham
was vindicated by god, and recognized by his contemporaries as
a major prophet, then rejected by that wayward and arrogant Laodicean
generation.
It's commonly considered that since the first advent of Jesus
Christ, God no longer uses prophets to minister to His people.
A carnal interpretation of Scriptures such as Luke 16:16, "The
Law and the prophets were until John," and Hebrews 1:1,
"God, who at sundry times and in various ways spake in time
past unto the fathers in the prophets, Hath in these last days
spoken unto us in His Son . . ." is taken as proof of this.
However these Scriptures do not point to a cessation of prophets.
They state only that the partial Word of each Old Testament prophet
was fully expressed in Christ, the Logos (or Word), when he appeared
in flesh.
The New Testament abounds with prophets after Christ, aside
from the prophetic ministries obviously manifest in the Apostles
Peter, Paul and John. Let's consider Ephesians 3:l-5:
"For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,
for you Gentiles. If you have heard of the dispensation of the
grace of God which is given me toward you: How that by revelation
He made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote afore in few words,
whereby, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ. [In other words, I'm a vindicated prophet]).
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men,
(or prophets -- Ezekiel 2:1,) as it is now revealed unto His
holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."
Here Paul shows that New Testament prophets not only exist
but are ordained to carry the mysteries that the Old Testament
prophets (sons of men) under the Law saw as a shadow. "In
THESE last days God has spoken unto us by His Son," defines
the FIRST advent. The Son is STILL speaking through His ordained
messengers.
The Scriptures are equally clear that a PROPHETIC ministry
would be focal at the END of the world; FIRST, to RESTORE the
Gentiles to the TRUE Message of the Son, (the Logos or Word),
and SECOND, to deliver the Message of the Messiah to Israel during
the great tribulation (Revelation 11). The following Scriptures
together, point to this Gentile forerunner:
Amos 3:7, "Surely the Lord God will do NOTHING, but He
revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets."
Remember -- before any significant, Scriptural event, God
ALWAYS speaks to a prophet. For example, Noah before the flood,
Abraham before the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah; Moses to deliver
Israel; John the Baptist before Christ's first advent, Paul to
the Gentiles, the two witnesses to the Jews of Revelation 11.
Malachi 4:5-6, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
BEFORE the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and
the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite
the earth with a curse."
The Spirit of Elijah is here prophesied to PRECEDE the Day
of the Lord. Any Bible student understands the great and dreadful
Day of the Lord is the END of the age when plagues of God's judgment
are poured out upon the Christ-rejecting Gentiles (Isaiah 2:12,19;
I Thessalonians 5:2,3; II Peter 3:10). Notice this TWOFOLD prophecy,
Elijah WILL come:
To turn the heart of the FATHERS to the children,
To turn the heart of the CHILDREN to their fathers.
In the following Scriptures we will see where this prophecy was
PARTIALLY fulfilled.
Luke 1:17, "And he shall go before Him in the Spirit
and power of Elijah; to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord."
This speaks of course, of John the Baptist, but notice: the
Holy Spirit DIVIDED the prophecy of Malachi and showed John fulfilling
the FIRST part only; John did NOT precede the great and dreadful
Day of the Lord. He preceded the EARTHLY ministry of Jesus as
the Good Shepherd.
Matthew 17:10-12, "And His disciples asked him, saying,
'Why then say the scribes that Elijah must FIRST come?' And Jesus
answered and said unto them, 'Elijah truly SHALL first come,
and RESTORE all things, But I say unto you, That Elijah is come
ALREADY and they knew him not . . .'"
Notice how Christ maintains the CONTINUITY of the previous
Scriptures, also dividing the prophecy concerning the Elijah
ministry. Jesus indicates that PART of the Elijah ministry is
already fulfilled and part REMAINS to be fulfilled. In this further
aspect of the Elijah ministry, He declares he will "RESTORE
all things."
II Thessalonians 2:3, "Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall NOT come, except there come a falling
away FIRST and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
Paul was stating that the Lord's Day would not come UNTIL
there was a "FALLING AWAY." The Greek word is "apostasia"
and means a FORSAKING of the faith. If we continue through II
Thessalonians 2, noting particularly verses l2 to I5, it becomes
evident that Paul was warning of a falling away from the WORD
of God as delivered by the Apostles. This is precisely what ensued
from about the fourth century, when Roman Catholicism gained
pre-eminence, REPLACING the authority of Scripture with the authority
of church dogma, marrying Christianity with PAGANISM.
Acts 3:20-21, "And He shall send Jesus Christ, which
before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive UNTIL
the times of restitution of ALL things, which God hath spoken
by the mouth of ALL His holy prophets since the world began."
That is, the FULLNESS of the Word.
Notice the similarity to Matthew l7:11. Peter agrees that
BEFORE Christ's return, there must be a restitution or RESTORATION
" and identifies "all things" as God's Word "SPOKEN
by the mouth of all His holy prophets." It is a restoration
of ALL the Word of God and as the Word comes ONLY to a prophet,
God must send US a prophet in THIS day (II Peter 1:20-21).
Let us now APPLY this Scriptural picture to our concluding
text to establish:
Elijah is to restore "ALL things" (Matthew l7:11.)
ALL THINGS are to be restored BEFORE the second PHYSICAL Coming
of Christ (Acts 3:2l.)
ALL THINGS refers to God's Word AS it came through His prophets
(Acts 3:2l; II Thessalonians 2:3; II Peter 1:20-21.)
Revelation 10:7, "But in the days of the voice of the seventh
angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should
be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the PROPHETS."
The angel to the SEVENTH or Laodicean Church Age is identified
as the messenger who would preach the mystery of God that has
been declared to the prophets. This mystery is HOW God incarnate
and gained the pre-eminence of Christ, HOW Christ redeemed His
Bride in each age, and is gaining the pre-eminence of His end-time
Bride, and HOW He will RESTORE us back to Eden. This incarnation
of God in Christ and Christ in His true Church is the WHOLE Message
of God's holy prophets and apostles. This seventh angel then
will REAFFIRM this SAME Word or Logos TO the end-time Gentile
church. The "end-time" began when Jesus opened the
Seven Seals and revealed them through this prophet (Daniel 12:4,
9; Revelation 10:4).
The first three chapters of the Book of Revelation describe
the CHARACTERISTICS and CONDITION of seven Gentile churches once
located in Asia Minor typing Seven Church AGES to come. It is
erroneous to presume that this discourse ONLY had an application
to John's day. The FIRST verse of the Revelation describes its
contents as "things which must shortly come to pass"
(in the FUTURE). Thus the ENTIRE Book is PROPHETIC, beginning
with the IMMEDIATE future and continuing through the Gentile
dispensation to the calling of the 144,000 Israelites, the Millennium,
the White Throne Judgment and even the new Jerusalem.
These seven churches then were ALSO prophetic and their characteristics
applied to seven AGES within the dispensation allotted by God
to the Gentiles. From Ephesus to Laodicea, EACH Age had an angel
who would bring it a Message from God. These "angels"
are NOT to heavenly but to earthly messengers through whom "the
Spirit speaks to the churches." Over the past two thousand
years, God has raised up a succession of great, spiritual leaders
such as Paul, Irenaeus, Martin, Columba, Luther, and Wesley to
preserve the faith, from age to age.
AFTER the Dark Ages, the reformers were anointed to BEGIN
a RESTORATION. God blessed the ministries of Luther and Wesley
with mighty revivals as the Light of His Word was reopening to
them. The followers of these messengers, however, refused to
KEEP ON walking in the Light AS God was CONTINUING to unveil
it. They stopped at a partial restoration, organized, denominated,
then died and assumed the formalistic characteristics of the
organization from which they were once delivered. Revelation
10:7 states that the ministry of the seventh angel, or the angel
to the Laodicean Church Age, would be to finish the COMPLETE
mystery. This FINAL messenger will declare ALL the Word, from
which the EARLY church apostatized, AND reveal the mystery surrounding
the rapture and the second appearing of the Lord Jesus.
* * *
I'll warrant those who know only what organized religions teach
know nothing of the prophet Jesus promised God would send us
in THIS day. The MAJORITY is always wrong in Spiritual matters.
So unless we're constantly in the Word, we won't be familiar
with what God is doing NOW?
Unless we're constantly in the Word, we'll have to rely upon
what OTHERS say. IF those others are DENOMINATIONAL ministers
and priests, they're beholden to organizational creeds and the
educated guesses of DEAD men, not free to follow the LEADING
of the Spirit.
Nations assume the authority of a god over their citizens,
because they have the power to take their life. Denomi-nations
have power to destroy their soul. Those who refuse to submit
to their authority are branded heretics, or "the ENEMY",
and excluded from certain privileges reserved for those who yield
allegiance and accept their mark. This happened to Elijah, Jesus,
Martin Luther, John Wesley, and William Branham. Throughout history,
ALL men who have been signally used of God were REJECTED by organization.
Organized religion is NOT of God. In Isaiah 8 God calls it accursed;
in Revelation 2 and 19, Jesus says its end is the Lake of Fire
At the end of this GENTILE dispensation, ALL the organizations
will UNITE and agree to give their support to the Beast. There'll
be a BOYCOTT against the faith and the non-elect will receive
their teachings and do their bidding or be KILLED. But following
a brief and powerful display of the Spirit -- UNKNOWN to anyone
except the end-time Bride, or TRUE Church -- God will take them
Home for the Wedding Supper.
FAITH is Spiritual revelation, or a clear understanding of
God's Word. As God's Word comes only to a prophet, the unchanging
God sent us a prophet to RESTORE the apostolic faith, FINISH
the mystery of God, and call His elect OUT from all man-made
systems into the UNITY of the faith for the MANIFESTATION of
the Sons of God and the translation. His Sheep RECEIVE that revelation,
but to the majority it REMAINS a mystery.
In Acts 3:21 Peter prophesied, "Heaven must receive Jesus
Christ UNTIL the times of RESTORATION of ALL things, which God
has spoken by the mouth of ALL His holy prophets SINCE the world
began". Or, "When That which is PERFECT is Come"
-- the FULLNESS of the Word (Christ)!
This matches the prophecy of II Peter 3:2-4, "REMEMBER
the Words which were spoken BEFORE by the holy prophets, AND
the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior: knowing
this first, that there shall come in the LAST days SCOFFERS,
walking after their own CREEDS, and saying, "Where is the
promise of His (PAROUSIA) Coming? for since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of
the creation"'.
As Ishmael SCOFFED at Isaac, so these men of REPROBATE minds
concerning the one and ONLY faith SCOFF at the RIGHTEOUS. Peter
said they would. His prophecy is coming TRUE today. Denominational
children of the bondwoman will NOT be heir with the Son of the
FREE woman, or TRUE Church. That's why Jesus promised faithfully
in God's unchanging Word, to send US a prophet in these last
days to RESTORE the apostolic faith, FINISH the Mystery of God,
and call His people OUT from the SIN of organized religion.
Can you see It? The BIBLE promised us a genuine, vindicated
WORD prophet in the Spirit and power of Elijah to RESTORE our
heart to the understanding once delivered unto the saints?
Peter prophesied the destruction of OUR world by fire "as
it was in the days of Lot". The destiny of denominational
believers in THIS day is the Lake of Fire (Revelation 2:21-24;
19:20; 20:10).
Revelation 10:7, promised that in the days of the Voice of
the SEVENTH angel -- BEFORE he sounds his MESSAGE, Jesus will
have opened the SEVEN SEALS, and the mystery God has already
declared through His holy prophets will be REVEALED. This Voice
IS Christ. If you can receive it, the revelation of the Seven
Seals brought Christ back to earth in WORD Form in 1963.
The Message of this prophet was the "Shout" of I
Thessalonians 4:16 which AWAKENS both wise and foolish virgins
as Jesus foretold in Matthew 25:6. BOTH "trim their lamps".
A lamp is something that gives LIGHT in the absence of the sun.
But we walk by FAITH not by SIGHT, so the virgin trim their FAITH,
circumcising their understanding of all denominational teaching,
which Jesus calls SIN. The "shout" calls God's elect
OUT from UNBELIEF in the revealed Word and is the new birth of
the WISE virgin in THIS day.
Revelation 18:4, "I heard another VOICE from heaven"
(this is the "Voice of the Archangel," -- Christ, in
the heart of the Bride, CONFIRMING the "shout" of the
Prophet's Message from Genesis to Revelation) saying, "Come
OUT of her (not everybody), MY people, that you don't partake
of her SINS (or UNBELIEF), and receive not of her (Tribulation)
plagues".
The "Trump" marks the end of the Gentile dispensation,
calling the Bride to the manifestation of the Sons of God during
the resurrection of the Church Age saints, and calls the 144,000
to their Feast of Trumpets and Atonement.
Now don't imagine Brother Anthony told you not to go to church.
You MUST attend church, ESPECIALLY as you see the day of the
Lord so close. Try to find a CHRISTIAN Church, one that believes
and preaches the FULL Gospel -- and the PRESENT Truth. But if
you CAN'T find such a Church, attend an organization. And live
the Life as a TESTIMONY to the Hope within your soul. If you
can't get a loaf you might find a few crumbs. But DON'T receive
their ERROR.
DON'T accept what I've said just because I said It. TAKE what
I've said BACK to your Bible, and PROVE It. Make absolutely certain
it is what God's said. I want you to be resting on God and His
promises for this day, and to know it by faith.
God is only making epistles of the PRESENT Truth. We MUST
recognize OUR day and ITS Message because Christians can only
manifest the Word He is fulfilling NOW (I John 1:7).
When we can see the PRESENT Truth coming to pass in OUR lives,
we have found OUR position in the Body of Christ. We KNOW we
are born again and sealed to the day of our redemption.
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Brother Anthony Grigor-Scott is a non-denominational minister.
He has ministered full-time since 1981, primarily to other ministers
and their congregations in various countries. He pastors Bible
Believers' tiny congregation, and is available to minister in
your church.
For Further Information Contact:
Bible Believers' Church
Currabubula, NSW 2342, Australia e-mail: ags@biblebelievers.org.au
Order: Bible Believers' web site on CD.
URL: http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/
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