<TITLE>12. Par 35-38</TITLE>L-35 Heavenly Father, we thank Thee tonight for the promise of the Holy Spirit. I pray that You'll bless this little group. In these next few moments of speaking, may the Holy Spirit... We're not able to open this Word, Lord. John saw it over there, One setting on the throne. And He had the Book, and there was no one that was able or worthy to open the Book or to loose the seals thereof: no man in heaven, no man on earth, or no one beneath the earth. Oh, he wept much.
And then he heard a Lamb bleating. And he looked, and it was a Lamb as though It had been slain from the foundation of the world. And He was worthy. And He went and took the Book out of the right-hand of Him that set upon the throne. And loosed the seals thereof and opened the Book.
And O Lamb of God, come tonight. And as I turn back these pages, open the Word to us, Lord. Loose every seal, and may the Spirit of God move in this building tonight. Convince sinners of their wrong. Convince those who are without the Holy Spirit that they will receive It. Convince unbelievers that they are in error. And heal the sick. For we ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.

L-36 Joel 1, beginning with the 4th verse, I want to read a little Scripture. I don't have time for much more. And about fifteen minutes talk, and then we'll have about thirty minutes of seeing how many we can pray for. And tomorrow night, likewise, the Lord willing.
That which the palmerworm hath left... the locust has eaten... that which the locust has left... the cankerworm has eaten... that which the cankerworm has left... the caterpillar has eaten.
Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because... the new wine... is cut off from your mouth.
For a nation is come upon the land, strong, and without number, whose teeth is the teeth of a lion, and he has--has the cheek teeth of a great lion.
And he has laid my vine waste, and is breaking my fig tree: he has made it clean bare, and has cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
God bless His Word. And may It do as He said, not return to Him void, but accomplish that which It's purposed for.

L-37 During this time of Joel's prophecy here, the Church was in a terrible condition: backslid, just prior the coming of the Lord, the first time. And how that the Spirit come upon this prophet and he--he foresaw things. And he saw the--the condition of the Jews. And he saw the condition of the Church in this day.
Now, this prophecy, of course, like all other prophecy, has a compound meaning. A prophecy sometime has a natural meaning. Then it has a spiritual meaning. Now, of course, the natural meaning of that, even Dr. Scofield in his footnotes (I'm not a Scofieldite) but--but however, in his footnotes there, he gives that it meant when the Syrians come over and invaded. That's true.
But it also had a--a meaning of--of the last days, towards the Armageddon, the coming up of the last days, the condition of the Church spiritually in the last days.

L-38 And while I was setting out this afternoon reading. I thought... I happened to turn over to Joel, and I thought... The Lord just spoke to me, something about Joel there and that palmerworm, cankerworm, caterpillar, and locust. And how it had stripped the tree.
Now, that tree was represented again in Matthew 24, when Jesus spoke of the tree. The tree is always... The Jewish Church has always been the fig tree. We are the... That's the tame tree and the wild tree. And we were the wild tree which was grafted into the tame tree.
And Jesus spoke up there in Matthew 24, "When you see the olive tree--or the fig tree, rather, putting forth buds, you know that spring's nigh." Likewise, see, when you begin to see the Jews returning to Palestine, in other words, know the time is nigh, even at the door.


<A HREF="P13">Next Page</A>