Would you like to see Jesus? How much would you like to see Jesus? Would you pay every price to see him? Is it true the words – (hymn) We would not mourn then in exchange for thee. When finances don’t go right, when you have situations n the family, do you mourn your financial situation? Do you mourn your situations with your family and friends? What is Jesus worth to you?

The Word of God

The word of God is self fulfilling. When God speaks, his word will proceed from his mouth and it will not return unto him void. Elijah demonstrated God’s existence and power upon Mount Carmel. He had come to the king and said for three years there will be no rain. For three years the clouds of heaven will be shut up according to his word. Now three years later he gathers Israel to Mount Carmel and they make a choice. The false prophets had spent all day dancing around trying to make fire come down from heaven but it had not happened. Elijah demonstrated as God’s messenger that he was the true God. He built an altar with 12 stones and he laid upon it the wood and sacrifice and around the altar he dug a ditch and there were large amounts of water poured over that altar. He prayed the most simple prayer and fire came down from heaven and consumed the rocks and sacrifice. The word of God had been three years there will be a drought. Then God came to Elijah and said I will now send the rain. He gathered Israel and they made their experience.

1 Kings 18:41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for [there is] a sound of abundance of rain. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare [thy chariot], and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. 45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

Before a cloud could even appear Elijah said there is the sound of an abundance of rain. He believed that God would fulfil his word. Note verse 42;

1 Kings 18:42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,

The Prayer of Elijah

What did he do? He prayed. What was it that he prayed? What could he have prayed? What he had prayed was that God would fulfil his word.

Throughout the day he had unflinchingly performed the will of God and had revealed his implicit confidence in the prophecies of God’s word; and now, having done all that was in his power to do, he knew that Heaven would freely bestow the blessings foretold. The same God who had sent the drought had promised an abundance of rain as the reward of right doing; and now Elijah waited for the promised outpouring. In an attitude of humility, “his face between his knees,” he interceded with God in behalf of penitent Israel. {PK 155.2}

Again and again Elijah sent his servant to a point overlooking the Mediterranean, to learn whether there were any visible token that God had heard his prayer. Each time the servant returned with the word, “There is nothing.” The prophet did not become impatient or lose faith, but continued his earnest pleading. Six times the servant returned with the word that there was no sign of rain in the brassy heavens. Undaunted, Elijah sent him forth once more; and this time the servant returned with the word, “Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea like a man’s hand.” {PK 156.1}

Did you notice he sent his servant to learn whether there was any visible token that God had heard his prayer? God had said I will send rain in the third year after three years but what was it that actually caused the rain to come? It was the prayer of Elijah. It was as Elijah prayed that the rain came. It was as Elijah prayed for the fulfilment of God’s word that Gods word was fulfilled.

Judah Captive in Babylon

Judah was captive in Babylon for 70 years and God said I will cause you to return to this place.

Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Daniel had seen the prophecy that God said 70 years. What did Daniel do?

Daniel 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

Like Elijah he makes confession.

Daniel 9:16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people [are become] a reproach to all [that are] about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.

Here Daniel was praying that God would fulfil his promise.  He saw the prophecies.  He saw that the time was nigh so he pleaded with God to keep his promise, to fulfil his word.

Often had Daniel and his companions gone over these and similar prophecies outlining God’s purpose for His people. And now, as the rapid course of events betokened the mighty hand of God at work among the nations, Daniel gave special thought to the promises made to Israel. His faith in the prophetic word led him to enter into experiences foretold by the sacred writers.  {PK 553.1}

Still burdened in behalf of Israel, Daniel studied anew the prophecies of Jeremiah. They were very plain–so plain that he understood by these testimonies recorded in books “the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” Daniel 9:2.  {PK 554.2}

With faith founded on the sure word of prophecy, Daniel pleaded with the Lord for the speedy fulfillment of these promises. He pleaded for the honor of God to be preserved. In his petition he identified himself fully with those who had fallen short of the divine purpose, confessing their sins as his own.  {PK 554.3}

As that time had been approaching and he was praying;

Heaven was bending low to hear the earnest supplication of the prophet. Even before he had finished his plea for pardon and restoration, the mighty Gabriel again appeared to him, and called his attention to the vision he had seen prior to the fall of.  {PK 556.3}

The deliverance of Daniel from the den of lions had been used of God to create a favorable impression upon the mind of Cyrus the Great. The sterling qualities of the man of God as a statesman of farseeing ability led the Persian ruler to show him marked respect and to honor his judgment. And now, just at the time God had said He would cause His temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt, He moved upon Cyrus as His agent to discern the prophecies concerning himself, with which Daniel was so familiar, and to grant the Jewish people their liberty.  {PK 557.1}

The time was then. God had said 70 years.  Daniel came before the Lord and said you have said 70 years, fulfil your word please and the word of the Lord was fulfilled.  The work had already been done in Cyrus’s heart to do it so as soon as that time came, God could fulfil.  Heaven was hearkening and listening to see who was praying for the fulfilment of it.

The Ark of the Covenant

On the side of the ark were rings and through those rings were staves so the ark could be carried.

Exodus 25:13 And thou shalt make staves [of] shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. 15 The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.

These staves that went on the side of the ark were to stay there.  They were to remind on the side of the ark.  Without them the ark could not be born.  Without them Gods presence could not go with them.  God would work only as man worked.  It’s a beautiful symbol and illustration that there was the presence of God, the Shekinah glory but only if the staves remained.  They were there to demonstrate that God cannot move unless we move.  Unless we move, God cannot move.

Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Jesus has said I come quickly.  What is to be our prayer?  Even so, amen.  Come quickly.  He says he will, why hasn’t he come yet?

Why Has Jesus Not Come Yet?

Because no one has prayed the prayer.

Psalm 119:126 [It is] time for [thee], LORD, to work: [for] they have made void thy law.

When is it time for the Lord to work?  When they have made void the law.  When will they make void the law?  They have already made void the law.  The law according to this prophecy connected with Revelation 12:13 – the image to the beast.  This was all done in the year 1892 – 118 years ago. In the year 1892 America was through its legislative assembles declared to be a Christian nation.  Under the American constitution it was made very clear that the American government was not founded upon any religion particularly the Christian religion.  America was to be a free country religious wise.  Didn’t matter what religion, they were not to be cognizant of any religion.  But in 1892 America was declared a Christian nation.

In 1892 church and state were united.  In 1893 there was the world trade fair and the churches said we aren’t going to support the world trade fair unless you close it on Sundays.  In congress they passed a law that the world trade fair would be closed on Sunday. What took place back then was a broad subject.  At a future time we will look aback in history and look at the American constitution and look at 1892 and 1893 and we will see why A T Jones said in 1893 we have no more errands to Washington but we will preach the three angels messages to receive not the mark and be sealed.  Prior it could not be declared.  In 1892 they made void the law of God but he is not working yet in this great final judgment which we know is to come upon the world.  Why not?  1892 to 2012 is 120 years.  Noah struck the first blow on the ark and finished it 120 years later.  For 120 years the warning of God was given to the world.  120 years finishes in 2012.  Recently a movie came out called 2012.  I’m not saying anything definite but 2012, the day of the Lord is coming. Can it be 2012?  If we will pray this prayer.  This message Christ our righteousness, the three angels messages, receive not the mark and don’t worship the image was proclaimed in 1892 but it was rejected.  In the words of the Spirit of Prophecy to a great degree the light was kept away from the world.  Is it time for the Lord to work?  No one prayed for its fulfilment back then.  It was just a few here and there and evidentially some had not settled into the truth as Jones and Waggoner fell away from what they were preaching.

I Come Quickly

The Lord has said I come quickly.  It is our duty to say amen, come Lord Jesus.  When we do that, he will come.  He is hearkening and is waiting for someone to pray this prayer.  It is time for thee O Lord to work for they have made void thy law.   It can be 2012 if we choose for it to be 2012.

This is explained more fully presently that the papacy is watching the times to come with an all absorbing interest. She proposes to prepare herself in every way to meet the things that are to arise, as she says, in the times to come; and she proposes to use the United States by which, and through which, to clothe herself and prepare herself to meet successfully these things that are to arise in the times to come.: {February 6, 1895 ATJ, GCB 29.7}

The interest is the necessity in which Rome finds she is, to direct her general course according to the signs of the times and the transformations on the agitated surface of the world. The peculiar conception is the deep-rooted feeling that the Church of Europe must renew its instruments and its method of adapting unchanging principles to changeable surroundings and new conditions. …. In this evolution the Church, in the eyes of the Pope, has a mission to fill. To fulfil this mission she must adapt herself to the changes which have come about in the action of universal forces. State Church, official Catholicism, privileges, legal and close relations between two powers, connection of the clergy with a political party, feudal ecclesiastical organizations, all the external framework of the Church must be transformed, renewed, perhaps be done away with entirely.  {February 6, 1895 N/A, GCB 29.8}

The papacy is very impatient of any restraining bonds; in fact, it wants none at all. And the one grand discovery Leo XIII has made, which no pope before him ever made, is that turn which is taken now all the time by Leo and from him by those who are managing affairs in this country–the turn that is taken upon the clause of the Constitution of the United States: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” {February 6, 1895 ATJ, GCB 29.14}

That s the first amendment of the constitution.

Leo has made the discovery that the papacy can be pushed upon this country in every possible way and by every possible means and that congress is prohibited from ever legislating in any way to stop it. That is a discovery that he made that none before him made and that is how it is that he of late can so fully endorse the United States Constitution. {February 6, 1895 ATJ, GCB 29.14}

While the constitution was there, that the laws of the nation could not obstruct religion form doing anything in the country, they went in and did what they did.  First it was through the churches.  The Spirit of Prophecy said the protestant churches of American will link hands with the papacy.

That is why Pope Leo XIII turns all his soul, full of ideality, to what is improperly called his American policy. It should be rightly called his Catholic universal policy. {February 6, 1895 ATJ, GCB 30.3}

What, then, is his policy in the United States? It is universal policy. That which is done in the United States by the papacy is done with the idea of influencing all the world and bringing all the world into line with the papal ideas, and to build all once more upon the basic and fundamental principles thereof. {February 6, 1895 ATJ, GCB 30.4}

When they established the constitution, there was a declaration made that if the American government was to pass any law regarding religion, that if the constitution was to be cognizant of religion, they said it would return us to the papacy.  If the American government was to recognise religion in any manner, it would return to the papacy. Where are we in earth’s history? The papacy set its eyes on America in 1892 because until 1892 America was quite well and was of no concern for the papacy.  But in 1892 when she declared herself to be a Christian nation, almost immediately the papacy sent a papal delegate which was to function as a representative of the pope himself to pass laws and sentences.  They made void thy law.  Since 1888 the fourth angel’s message has been sounding.  But who heard it?  No one is talking about it or praying about it.

Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

How long, O Lord?

These people were in cut in pieces after spending days upon the rack.  After having hooks lashed through their skin.  After being dragged about through the nose.   What’s wrong with us today?  Why do we not cry out how long o Lord?  One simple example is in 1554 two men of the reform religion, a son and daughter were committed to the castle of Niverne.

In the year 1554, two men of the reformed religion, with the son and daughter of one of them, were apprehended and committed to the castle of Niverne. On examination, they confessed their faith, and were ordered to execution; being smeared with grease, brimstone, and gunpowder, they cried, “Salt on, salt on this sinful and rotten flesh.” Their tongues were then cut out, and they were afterward committed to the flames, which soon consumed them, by means of the combustible matter with which they were besmeared.  (The History of the Reformation)

They rejoiced that they could be separated from their sinful flesh.  The very thing that would cause them to be separated form their saviour.  Do we cry salt on?  Do we ask the Lord from an experience that we could be separated from our sinful flesh?  Do you hate it yet or not?  The bible gives descriptions – heady, high mindedness, and it says you are to come out from them.  Who are they?  Descriptions of the flesh.  Come out of your flesh, come out from any attachment of this earth.  Come out of her.  What is Babylon?  Anything that entrails the sinful flesh.

Come Out Of Her

Are we not yet sick of this world?  Do we really want to suffer on in this world?  Do we really want to see the devil continue to harass our families and children?  And ourselves?  I don’t.  Haven’t we had enough of it?  My Lord delayeth his coming because I delay his coming. All it will take is just ten consecrated men Sr white says.  Just ten.  But no one I is praying for its fulfilment.  No one is praying for its fulfilment because they are not willing to face the consequences of it.  It says Jesus will cut short the work in righteousness.

One thing I of the Lord desire,

For all my path hath miry been,

Be it by water or by fire,

O make me clean, O make me clean.

Wash me, Thou, without, within,

Or purge with fire, if that must be,

Anyhow, if only sin

Die out in me, die out, die out in me.

What are we waiting for?  What are we scared of?

Through the dark ages there were those that suffered in the dungeons week after week with rats gnawing away at them as they were too emaciated from their tortures yet they never renounced their faith. They were fed to the lions and bears, burnt at the stake, drowned in the rivers.  Those at the galleys were to remain for the rest of their life.  They slept on the plank.  They had nowhere to go to the toilet.  If they got sick, too bad, you have to row.  They got whipped.  Year, after year, after year.  To burn at the stake, to have your head cut off would have been a privilege.  How long O Lord how long?  Can you feel their cry? You can’t, you still love your flesh too much. God had said after three years he would send rain.

He sent the rain as Elijah prayed for it.  God had said after 70 years the captivity shall cease.  Those 70 years came to a close only after Daniel requested its fulfillment.  It’s been nearly 2000 years since Jesus said it.  I come, my reward is with me.  I come quickly. He will come only as we really genuinely ask him to fulfil his word and he will. Do we really need to suffer much longer?  How many more experiences do we need to go through?  How many more people we know are going to have to be lost?  They have made void the law of God.  It has been time for him to work for the last 118 years.  He is just waiting for someone to pray the prayer.  It is time for thee O Lord to work.  Let that be our prayer.  As the time comes to its fulfilment it must fulfil as it will not return to him void but like Elijah and Daniel they let the Lord move them to pray and ask. May we let the Lord fulfil his word.

Amen.