To destine means to set apart for a certain purpose, to predetermine. Predestination is the act by which God supposedly foreordained everything that would happen. That includes all the mess brought about because of deceit, lying, sin and disobedience in the Book of Genesis with which God had nothing to do. Man and the devil, not God, brought about the problems we read of in that Book. God did not foreordain them.

John Calvin, a French Protestant reformer who lived from 1509 to 1564, brought forth the damnable doctrine of predestination for the soul as well as for everything else. According to him, nothing can be changed. What is to be will be. Calvinistic beliefs say that God predestines certain souls for damnation and others for salvation. When you come into the world, according to Calvin, you are either damned or marked for salvation and you can do nothing to alter your path. Where is that invitation: Whosoever will, let him come after me found in Mark 8:34? Where is that truth: For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life we read about in John 3:16? Where is that promise: Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved recorded in (Romans 10:13)? Ignoring these and other scriptures, Calvin taught false doctrine, a doctrine of devils that has destroyed many lives.

Predestined: fate, nothing God or anyone can do; your fate is predestined when you are born. You are bound for a course you cannot change, and no one else can change it for you, not even God Himself—it’s a devilish doctrine, a doctrine that falls apart when taken to the Word of God. Everything must stand the Word test.

God Did Not Know

God did not know Adam and Eve were going to sin. If you believe He did, then you believe in Calvin’s predestination, that God predestined mankind to fall and they could do nothing about it. No, God didn’t want to know the future of man. In one of the divine visitations, God told me He could have known, but He didn’t want to know. He wanted man to put one hundred percent trust in Him, and so He put one hundred percent trust in the man and woman He had made. He refused to look into their future.

When you come to the altar of God, He will not look to see whether you are going to serve Him tomorrow before He saves you today. When you come to Him, asking for forgiveness and to be born new, He will save you, put you on the path of righteousness, and give you power to trample devils underfoot. Through the blood of His Son Jesus, God will give His children everything they need to stay on His path. He wants you to live holy, and there is no reason why you can’t. There was no reason Adam and Eve could not have stayed out of sin, for they had all the power they needed to live holy. The Lord told them not to partake of the one forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Many things in life you can enjoy, but the forbidden works of the flesh cannot be in your life if you want to be part of His Kingdom.

Today’s tree of forbidden fruit is laden with the works of the flesh. Don’t toy with it, visit it or look upon it. Keep your eyes on Jesus; keep your eyes on the truth, the straight and narrow road, on the love, joy peace, wisdom and knowledge of Heaven.

God Predestined Some Things

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified (Romans 8:28-30). God predestined holiness, righteousness and sinless living for all of His people. He predestinated His people to be holy; and if people are not holy, they are none of His. The Lord calls everyone to salvation. It’s whosoever will: all peoples, all nations, tongues, dialects are called to salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). If you really love God and are in His divine will, not the permissible will, all things will work for good for you.

Some things God predestined cannot be changed, but, I repeat, God never predestined souls to go either to hell or Heaven. It’s His will for all to be in Heaven, but the choice is the individual’s.

God predestined that the land of Canaan would be inherited by the seed of Abraham, that all the Promised Land would go back to the Jewish nation, Abraham’s seed. That cannot be changed. God made a covenant with Abraham for land, not for souls. The Lord said the land would belong to him and his seed forever. No one but God has a right to say who will get that land. He has had to change plans again and again because people would not obey Him. All these many, many years God has worked and worked to get Abraham’s seed back to that land and for them to live the way He wants them to live. In the past they have failed Him, but the time is coming when the remnant won’t fail.

When man fails, God has to change His plans and work things out the best He can. He depends on man here on Earth to carry out His works. You can lose the place God calls you to, fail God. He has not predestined you to stay in His will. You have free choice. God has predestined the Gospel to be preached to all nations, and then the end will come. The Lord will not predestine you to have no choice but to follow Him: you can choose to do His will or to turn your back on it. If you fail, God will raise up someone else to do your job. God will have some true-blue followers—how many, He didn’t say. No matter who fails, this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14). God is paving the way for us to reach millions by television, radio, the printed page as well as through the crusades.

To foreordain means to intend or to do by divine decree. God foreordained some things. By His divine decree, by His divine intent, He destined them. To be destined is to be bound with no way to change. Some things cannot be undone: God’s plan for the land of Israel, for one. The Gospel cannot be changed, and it must be preached. Another promise that can’t be changed is the pouring out of the Holy Spirit: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:17). God predestined the pouring out; it will happen—it is happening—but He did not predestine how many people would accept the power and the Spirit of God.

God Had to Wait

People have wondered why God waited so long to send Jesus. God had to wait until He could get the human race ready to accept Him. What if Jesus had gone to Egypt instead of Moses? The Israelites had been in bondage over four hundred years, had suffered much, and yet they were not ready to come out. Many worshiped idol gods instead of the true God. Although God waited four hundred years, they still had idols. Even after they were delivered, they wanted to worship the golden calf. God could not get them to look steadfastly to Him.

Think how many times God tried during those four hundred years to get the Israelites to worship Him. Had Jesus gone down then to bring them out, they wouldn’t have come. Later Jesus did come for the Israelites. He went to Calvary for them, dying a terrible death. Did He bring them out? Not very many.

Again and again we read in the Old Testament that God called Israel a rebellious people. It was the best nation God had to work with. All the others worshiped only idol gods. We talk about Israel’s disobedience, but the Gentile nations were worse. They spit in the eye of God every day. God did have some among the Israelites who honored Him at all times. He doesn’t seem to have had any in the other nations, some of which even burned their children. At times, numbers of the Israelites became involved in that hideous practice. That’s the reason God told them He would separate them, that if they mingled and mixed with the heathen, He would cut them off.

God promised the land of Canaan to the Israelites, promised to drive out their enemies before them. They were forbidden to mix with or have anything to do with those who worshiped idol gods. God told them if they disobeyed Him they would go into bondage and He would spew them out of the land. Does that sound like predestination? God gave them a choice. They weren’t predestined to have the land at any cost. They couldn’t keep the land if they didn’t keep God’s commandments even though God had made a covenant with Abraham. Some may have believed the land was theirs regardless of whether they obeyed God or not; if so, it was an assumption that became a snare.

The Second Greatest Sermon

Stephen’s sermon before his murderers was second only to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It was so important that this young man was willing to give his life to preach it. A sermon worth dying for is one we ought to spend time with, to weigh carefully.

The lies of evil men brought Stephen to the place of judgment. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us (Acts 6:8,10-14). False witnesses came against Stephen.

Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee (Acts 7:1-3).

Stephen told the story of how Abraham, obedient to the Word of the Lord, left his people behind and journeyed into the land God told him to go. God gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child (Acts 7:5). The land was promised to Abraham before Isaac was born. He visited the land, but at the time he was unable to claim any of it.

And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him (Acts 7:6,9). Some think that Joseph was predestined by God to be sold into slavery. The Bible does not say that. It says that the patriarchs—Joseph’s brothers—moved with envy, sold him. They weren’t moved by the Spirit of God but by envy.

No one scripture in the Bible is of a private interpretation. You must study the Word of God and put the scriptures together as a whole. You cannot base a doctrine on one verse. Many have gotten into false doctrine by isolating verses. Taking scriptures alone or out of contest is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle and forcing pieces into the wrong places. When the puzzle is together, the picture makes no sense. To have the puzzle come out right, the pieces must fit together correctly. Some people can’t figure out the Word of God, and so they jam it all together or cut pieces out. The picture they come up with is a jumble. It’s not together right with God. He is the one who has the final say when you work with His Word.

God didn’t plan for Joseph to be sold; it was not part of the divine will of God; He would have worked it another way. The devil was in the envious Patriarchs, convincing them to sell their own brother. Would a God of love endorse that? It is pointless for Him to tell us how He would have done it; the Bible tells us how man did it and why.

Stephen continues his sermon, reminding his listeners that God delivered Joseph out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house (Acts 7:10). The Lord could have made Joseph governor in a different way. He could have sent Joseph to Egypt on a divine mission to present himself before Pharaoh, given him the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams and still have made him governor. Man and the devil can cause much trouble.

But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh (Acts 7:12,13).

Another Deliverer Was Raised Up

Stephen goes on to tell how Joseph’s family came to Egypt, lived out their lives there, how with the passage of time a cruel leader arose who dealt so harshly with the Hebrews that even their boy infants were killed. God did not will those children killed. He would not want the children of a mother who loved God with all her heart to suffer. God is not that cruel. Do you really think God predestined the slaughter of innocents, that there was no way to escape such carnage, that the ruler of Egypt could act in no other way? I don’t believe it at all. God would have worked deliverance out differently.

During this time another deliverer was raised up; Moses was born, saved by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses still could have been taken into the house of Pharaoh, still have been the deliverer without the murder of all those little babies. How freely God could have worked with man had man only been obedient to Him all the time!

When people walk in the divine will of God with Christ Jesus—walk in His steps, wear His spiritual garment, think the way He thinks—they are just like Jesus. Paul, for instance, after his conversion could not be separated from Jesus.

God had a plan for Moses’ life, but Moses got ahead of God. Stephen talks about that time: And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not (Acts 7:23-25). Moses took for granted that those in bondage would understand. God has to work the best He can with the unstableness of man. Man is a free moral agent, free to choose what path he will take. Moses could make his own decisions. He could decide to kill the Egyptian or not. He decided to kill; God didn’t tell Moses to kill the Egyptian. Moses had power to do his own reasoning. He didn’t ask God if his brethren would understand. He reasoned in his own mind that they would, and things worked out to his sorrow.

And the next day he [Moses] shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? Moses had great love for his own people. But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian (Acts 7:26-29). Moses, no doubt, never would have had to have gone away for forty years had this incident not happened. He had to suffer, just as Jacob suffered heartache when he fled for his life and live away from his family for years. When you get ahead of God, you have to suffer. At this time Moses evidently knew that God was going to use him, but I say again, he got ahead of God.

The Lord gave Moses insight into the coming of Jesus. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear (Acts 7:37). Moses did not say how long it would be before that prophet would be raised up. He didn’t know. God had not predestined the time; He had to wait to see how man would respond, had to deal with man.

An angel spoke to Moses. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina (Acts 7:38).

Because the Lord obligated Himself to man, put Himself in jeopardy to man’s choices, God’s hands have been tied again and again. One day, however, God will be completely in charge. The White Throne Judgment where the wicked dead will be judged will be in God’s hands. Man will have nothing to do with it. It won’t be a long, drawn out thing. Billions of people will be judged in a short time, judged however God wants to do it.

God can deal with everyone one-on-one, or He can deal with billions of people together. He can hear everyone pray at the same time, hear everything that’s being said. People don’t know what an incredible master mind God has. Man’s knowledge cannot begin to compare with God’s knowledge. Our little minds can develop conceit over knowledge—what vanity! The devil can snatch up human minds until people are in such distress and despair they hardly know what has happened.

God will make quick work of the devil, put him into the bottomless pit for a thousand years. God has predestined the devil’s fate; it can’t be changed. God didn’t want it to ever be changed. If anyone thinks he will rescue the devil, he is wrong. The devil’s fate is in the hands of God.

Stephen, giving some highlights—or lowlights—of the history of Israel, doesn’t spare his listeners at all. [Moses] to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us (Acts 7:39,40). The Israelites are now calling Egypt home—Egypt with all its slavery, persecutions and idol gods—when a land flowing with milk and honey awaited them.

Had the Israelites obeyed God and traveled the way God was sending them, it has been calculated that they would have reached the Promised Land in eleven days instead of forty years. God didn’t plan for them to wander forty years in the wilderness. He would not look into their future when He started them out. Do you think God wanted to wait that long for His people to reach the land He had promised them? He had waited on them already over four hundred years. God is a reasonable God. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD (Isaiah 1:18).

But while Moses was on the Mount receiving the Ten Commandments, the people urged Aaron to make a golden calf, for they said they didn’t know what had happened to Moses. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands (Acts 7:41). These are the people for whom God had separated the Red Sea. It has been estimated that the place they crossed was twelve miles wide, eighty-some feet deep. What a wonderful miracle! All the plagues God had sent, all the miracles He had performed for their benefit were forgotten. Now they wanted to worship that dead, useless god of Pharaoh’s; as cruel as Pharaoh was, as much as they hated him, they still wanted his god.

Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets (Acts 7:42). Many today put more emphasis on the stars than on the Lord. All kinds of occult practices are going on. It’s a devilish mess that God is about to spew into hell, eternal destruction.

Stiffnecked People

In Acts 7:51, Stephen tells his persecutors what they are: Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. They weren’t holy in heart; they were hypocrites like their fathers. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it (verses 52,53). Stephen is talking about the Jewish people.

The Law was put in order by angels. You may not have known that angels had such a part in the Law, but the Bible says they had. They are ministers of the Lord. The Jews are called a stiffnecked people, but so are the ungodly Gentiles. They have been taught Jesus is the Savior, just, and they have trampled His holy blood underfoot as though it were nothing, crucifying Him all over again. No matter who you are, when you reject God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit of God, you are in trouble. Jesus is Savior, Redeemer, the foundation of the new and living way, God’s greatest gift to man.

Israel failed. God has dispersed them and then taken them back more than once. Did they have a better chance at salvation than other nations? Other nations could have called on God. They didn’t have to worship images and idols, or burn their children as offerings. Had they called on God, He would have heard. God heard Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian handmaid, when she called on Him in her great distress. An angel of the Lord came to Hagar and told her that her seed would be multiplied until it would be a multitude without number. God did not will it to be that way, but He took over to give a plan when Sarah and Abraham decided to work God’s plan out their own way. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai (Genesis 16:2). The repercussions of that decision are still on Earth today, people hating one another, fussing, fighting, killing. See the strife brought about because Abraham and Sarah got ahead of God? It was not the divine will of God, I say again; it was man and the devil.

Study the pattern of God, what He would have done had other nations called upon Him. Don’t pity the other nations. God sought to keep His promise with Abraham, but that doesn’t mean He didn’t work with anyone else.

What if the Jews had never failed? What if the Church had never failed? The Church has more help available than Israel had. From the beginning of Grace, the Church has had Calvary, the Upper Room, the Holy Ghost baptism to strengthen them. The nine fruits of the Spirit are available to the Church.

What happened to the Church of Jesus Christ in spite of these available helps? The light of the Gospel went out almost completely. For hundreds of years just a flicker gleamed through the darkness. It didn’t start out that way. The first thirty-three years of the Church were glorious; they evangelized the known world of that day. Such holy living was manifested that God struck a couple in the Church dead for telling one lie. God was determined to keep the Church clean.

God Has Killed, and He Will Kill Again

Now we are coming back, saith the Lord; we’re coming back. Whatever it takes to keep the Bride clean in this hour God will do. He will purge the Bride to have a holy people in this hour, gathering people from the ends of the earth. God will not let the hypocrites destroy His plan, saith the Lord. He will kill like He did in the beginning of the Church, saith the Lord. He will kill again—watch it. What God has done in the past He will do again.

People have gotten by with disobedience but no longer. Now we have come to the closing hour of the Church Age; the Lord gave me this picture in a divine visitation. No one will be on the fence, He said. People will go either to the left or to the right because of the two great powers: God’s Almighty power and the devil’s power. If you don’t yield to God, you are going the devil’s way. You may not admit it, may not confess it, but you will be on the devil’s side of the fence.

The Bride will live pure, clean and holy because it’s predestined. Those who choose not to live that way will not be part of the Bride. God’s people will be a holy people. It’s predestined by God that Jesus will come for a people without spot, wrinkle, blemish or any such thing.

No need to think how the Jews have failed God as a nation—the Gentiles almost destroyed the Church completely. God loves people throughout the whole earth: it’s the same love Jesus brought for all people. Holding “citizenship papers,” the Church is heir to that eternal Promised Land of Heaven, joint-heirs with the Son of God. No one can take your title deed away from you; no one but you can keep you from being a joint-heir with the Lord. It’s an individual covenant. Thank God for it!

Take a Lesson from Moses’ Mistake

We’ve read what Stephen in his great sermon had to say about Moses, now let’s go back to the Old Testament to find out more about him. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him [Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I (Exodus 3:2,4). The angel of the Lord called Moses. Angel talk is God talk; angels speak for God in the first person. It’s the same as if God made an appearance. The angel said, And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he [Pharaoh] will let you go (verse 20). Moses had doubts. And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee (Exodus 4:1-5).

Then the Lord had Moses put his hand into his bosom. When he took it out, it was leprous, white as snow. Put it in again, the Lord said. This time when Moses took it out it was normal. After those signs, as well as the sign of the burning bush, Moses still failed God.

Take a lesson from the mistake Moses made. It’s the pattern of doubting God that people follow today, bringing trouble on themselves. And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say (Exodus 4:10-12). This was God’s divine plan. It wasn’t God’s divine plan for Aaron to be the mouthpiece for Moses, or for Miriam to be part of the leadership. Sometimes kinfolk bring contention, expecting more from you than anyone else, taking more advantages and causing more heartache. Had Moses accepted what the Lord said, he would not have wasted his time contending with his relatives.

Miriam and Aaron helping Moses was not the Lord’s plan; He became angry about it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well (Exodus 4:14). The Lord said Aaron could speak well, but He didn’t say he would live well. Moses had to instruct Aaron in all that he was to do. It would have been better if Moses, after taking orders from the Lord, had gone into action himself; it would have saved a lot of aggravation.

God Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come (Matthew 12:31,32). Every sin man commits can be forgiven except the sin of blaspheming the Holy Ghost. This was startling information that Jesus gave His hearers; it was this sin that caused God to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh had blasphemed against God’s Spirit; no longer would the Spirit of God deal with him. God could take Pharaoh over as though he were the devil himself. When God gets ready to take the devil over, He will send just one angel with one chain to do it. The devil will have no choice whatsoever; neither will the fallen angels when God casts them into the lake of fire. Because Pharaoh had turned away from everything that was like God, he did not have a choice of keeping his heart soft. He had sinned against the God that had made him, and God’s Spirit ceased to strive with him.

People have felt sorry for Pharaoh, thinking he never had a choice. Pharaoh had a choice, and he chose to sin his time of grace away. Noah found grace in the eyes of God; Pharaoh shunned that grace and spit in the eye of God just like everyone else in Noah’s day but Noah and his family before the flood. Judgment fell upon them, and now judgment fell on Pharaoh. The Lord could do whatever he wanted with him, harden his heart or soften it. God was going to use him. God uses a devil many times to show His power upon the kingdom of Lucifer. God is the Almighty, the Supreme One. God manifested His judgments, His power, His plagues upon Pharaoh when He hardened his heart. God had no mercy on him or for him. Neither had He mercy for the army following him that had agreed with Pharaoh and bowed to idol gods. God hated all of that.

Again and again God hardened Pharaoh’s heart; He told Moses He would. See that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go (Exodus 4:21). Moses should have known what to expect.

God allowed the devil’s crowd, the magicians to do some of their enchantments. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:7). They brought up frogs, but when it came time for lice, they couldn’t bring them. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not (verse 18). God puts a limit on how far the devil can go. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said (verse 19).

The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart whenever He wanted, for God was going to show His great power. And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go (Exodus 8:32). Moses warned Pharaoh, and when he turned a deaf ear, the plagues fell. God turned the Nile into blood, multiplied the frogs, brought lice, then swarms of flies, killed the cattle of the Egyptians (not of the Hebrews), erupted boils, rained down a destructive hailstorm, produced a plague of locusts, caused dense darkness that could be felt, and finally the death of the Egyptians’ firstborn.

The plagues that came on Egypt are samples of the terror God will rain down in the Tribulation Period, samples of what an angry God of the universe can and will do when no mercy is left for fallen mankind. Pharaoh wouldn’t believe, and judgment fell again and again.

God was preparing His people to leave Egypt, and to leave with wealth. Let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people (Exodus 11:2,3). The Lord had predestined that Abraham’s seed would spoil the Egyptians. There was no way the Egyptians would get out of it; they had to let God’s people go. God, I say again, can without mercy take people over when they have gone past the point of no return with their disobedience.

With the death of the firstborn, a great cry arose in Egypt; and Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, Get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men (Exodus 12:31-33).

Into the great care of God went the children of Israel, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Surely they would never doubt God again—but they did when Pharaoh changed his mind. And he [Pharaoh] took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea (Exodus 14:7-9).

God was going to destroy the pride of Pharaoh’s heart; he had killed Pharaoh’s son, and now He was going to kill his army. But the children of Israel saw the army coming and fear took them over. Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt (Exodus 14:11)? They didn’t see the plan of God.

People today murmur in the churches—Christians grumbling, complaining, accusing God and blaming others for their lot in life.

Stand Still and See the Salvation of the Lord

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD (Exodus 14:13). This is what the Church of Jesus Christ must do in this last hour: Stand still, hear the Word of the Lord and see it go into action. The Lord wants the Bride to study His Word, to see how man has failed again and again so she will not fall into the same traps. No matter what God does in this hour, no matter how great the miracles, if you don’t surrender to the will of God, you are not going to walk in His way.

Some pray for a mighty miracle so their people will come to God. If their people would see someone grow a leg, most would declare it had been tied up behind the person all the time. Those who want to doubt God will doubt Him no matter how many miracles they see. God needs to heal their stony hearts first, give them hearts of flesh.

God has shown all kinds of wonders. He split the Red Sea wide open with the breath of His nostrils and held it back while His people went all the way across. Those who doubt miracles would see such a sight, start across terrified that the waters would crash in on them just any time. Huffing and puffing as they scurried along, they could have been shouting God’s praises had they believed God’s miracles instead of trying to outrace fear.

Pharaoh and his army thought they could cross the Red Sea if the Israelites could. They were wrong. The Lord hardened their hearts and caused them to believe a lie. If you don’t accept the truth, the Lord will let you believe a lie and be damned. He’ll let you be deceived, thinking you’re going to Heaven, when all the time you’re on the road to hell.

Almost every devil-possessed person I have ever met has said yes when I asked if he or she were saved. Some had many devils in them, making them feel they were all right in their souls when they were almost as mean as the devil himself. They received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (II Thessalonians 2:10-12).

Moses Interceded

The Lord parted the Red Sea, the Israelites crossed over and then complained when they came to the place where the drinking waters were bitter, accusing the Lord of bringing them into the wilderness to kill them. Some people just know God is going to kill them, but it’s their imagination. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation (Exodus 32:9,10). God had a plan. He could have started a nation from Moses, for Moses was the seed of Abraham.

And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people (Exodus 32:11,12). Evil in this verse means judgment, not sin—no one scripture is of a private interpretation. God didn’t create sin; He created judgment.

Moses spoke further: Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people (Exodus 32:13,14). God would have kept His promise to Abraham had He killed all the Israelites but Moses. But how many of the original group twenty years and older got into the Land of Canaan? Only Caleb and Joshua. The rest perished in the wilderness.

While Moses was on the Mount receiving the Ten Commandments, Aaron made a golden calf for the Israelites to worship. If you, like Moses, have relatives that hinder the work of God, it would be better to avoid them. Take authority over disruptive relatives who come to visit. Don’t allow them to make a disturbance in your home. If getting together with them at their place means nothing but a fight, stay away. Why go and be miserable on those special days? Why eat “miserable turkey” when you could eat “happy turkey?” Jesus said He came to separate families: Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:34-39).

And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf (Exodus 32:21-24). What a tale Aaron told! He just threw the gold into the fire, and out came a calf. He tried to seem so innocent.

And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me (Exodus 32:25,26).

Miriam and Aaron were trouble that Moses brought upon himself. The Lord had told Moses He would give him fluent speech, but Moses preferred Aaron to speak. Moses wanted someone with him. If you want someone with you in this hour, it had better be Jesus.

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses: And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed…and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb. And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee (Numbers 12:2-13).

Miriam and Aaron thought they had arrived; they were prophets and Moses was not the only one God could talk through. But in a close place, they couldn’t help themselves, and they turned to Moses to intercede. Moses didn’t ask them what was wrong with their prayer life, or what was wrong with Miriam. They claimed to be so close to God, why couldn’t they get a miracle now? True humility is keeping your mouth governed with the love bridle—Jesus humility.

And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again (Numbers 12:14,15). This huge multitude had to wait seven days because of one person’s disobedience and arrogance. One person can hinder the plan of God. We go to the Word and find out, yes, God has been hindered. He was hindered, hindered, hindered by the Israelite people, and later hindered by church people.

Skeletons of Hindrances

Arrogance has hindered the Church of Jesus Christ again and again. God’s plans have been blocked by His people’s determination to do things their own way instead of God’s. The work of God has been held back by people refusing to yield to Him. They ignore the fact that they are the problem. They should look in the mirror.

Think how much hindrance many people can cause! God isn’t going to put up with it, saith the Lord, in this final hour. Remember how God moved in the beginning of the Early Church when He killed two people who would have hindered the spreading of the Gospel. Some think you must give hinderers a chance. Skeletons of hindrances have been kept in the churches until many churches today are nothing but spiritual graveyards with dead preachers in the pulpits and dead people in the pews.

In this last hour, God will not allow His work to be held up. Thank God, this hour has come. Whatever it takes, God, is fine with me. We’re going to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Lord, we’re on our way. I know some things that are going to happen if circumstances don’t change, and it’s thus saith the Lord. What God says is coming to pass will take place.

When God moves, don’t let it hurt your faith. Decide that nothing will hurt your faith in God in this final hour. The true Church of Jesus Christ is going to journey unhindered wearing the love bridle. Those who don’t keep that love bridle on, watch for judgment to fall, saith the Lord. God won’t let the heathen be robbed. They will get this Gospel. Multitudes and multitudes are waiting.

Are You a Part of God’s Plan?

God is dealing with both Israel and the Church. He predestined the coming of Jesus and the great pouring out of His Spirit that would bring the Church to life. He predestined the Jews to become a mighty nation gathered back from all nations, and the great gathering is on today.

Are you a part of the plan of God, or are you a hindrance? What place do you fill today? The Lord let Israel know they would be either a blessing or a curse. Are you a blessing to the true body of Jesus Christ or a curse? There is no in-between. If you are not a blessing, you are a curse. Where are you in this plan of God? Is the Lord delighted in you? If you have not been a blessing, now is the time to change. Say the sinners’ prayer from your heart with me now: Oh, God, save my soul. Forgive me of my sins. I’m so sorry that I sinned against you, but I have come home and I’m going to serve you the rest of my life. I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins. Come into my heart, Jesus! Come in! I will be a part of your plan. I will do your will. Use me Jesus. Use me.

If you need a miracle or healing, pray with me now. The Lord said, I am the Lord that healeth thee (Exodus 15:26). All things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23). You with cancer, heart trouble or other afflictions or diseases, you who have a little afflicted one born deformed, know that God is more than able to heal, deliver, create and re-create. God has healed so many, re-created brains. This has happened again and again because it’s the work of God, His doing, not man’s. Man cannot do these kinds of things, only God. Now Lord, here they are. I bring the sick and afflicted. The mothers and daddies, the little ones, the young and old. I bring them all. In the name of Jesus from your gifts of healing, form your gift of miracles it comes in the name of the Lord: Heal! Heal! in the might, holy name of Jesus, in the name of the Lord; and make them well in your all-powerful name.

The healing power is flowing. Deliverance is yours. Only believe. Watch yourself get well. Watch all improvements in yourself or in your loved one daily, and get will. The God of miracles lives, and with God all things are possible.

A Message from the Holy Ghost

Thus saith the Lord: I am coming soon! I am coming soon! I am your love, I am your laughter, I am your righteousness, and I am your holiness, and I will be with you. Through you I will send my Gospel to the world in this your last hour. I will pour my power like mighty rivers. I will rain down my greatness, and the Bride will speak and it will be done. She will shout my greatness, and I will manifest my greatness. She will believe for all of my power to be manifested.

I will show forth my glory. No power can stop my greatness. No power can defeat my greatness. I am moving like I have never moved. I the Lord thy God am moving like I have never moved. I am drawing, and I am crying for all to yield to me.

I frown upon the lukewarm. I frown upon the disobedient. I frown upon those that are unconcerned. They do not have my smile. I cannot use them, and I am rejecting them. They have their great opportunity, but as others have done in the past, they are rejecting it. They do not believe that I am coming soon. They do not believe that it is the last hour. They do not believe that it is the last hour. They do not believe that they have to live free from all sin. They do not believe that they cannot have one seed of deceit in them. I cast Lucifer out of Heaven because of one tiny seed of deceit, one. I cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden because of one seed of deceit. And you with one seed of deceit will never see my Heaven and will never look upon my face.

I call to you in a voice of sorrow, in a voice of hurt and care. Again and again I call for you to yield to my Spirit and be delivered from all deceit. But my eyes are searching your innermost being daily, night and day. I know each one’s spirit. I know each one’s walk. I know everything; nothing is hidden from me, saith the Lord. I will use the very obedient, and I will come for the very obedient. And only the very obedient will be caught away and saved from great tribulation that soon will come upon the face of the earth. I am your Lord. I am your Lord and Master, saith the Lord.