To view the contents of each parable click on the title subject

The Sower	The Wheat & Tares	The Mustard Seed	The Leaven	The Treasure	The Pearl	The Full Net

The Teaching on the Seven Parables are excerpts from Brother Emerson A. Wilson teaching of the Seven Parable

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

Many people have never been born again, yet are trying to teach the kingdom -- because of that, there is much confusion. Others have been born again and then because of yoking up with false religious organizations, have lost their vision of the kingdom and are looking for a literal reign of Christ here on the earth. I stand on God's Eternal Word that it is a lie, from the pits of hell. Jesus will never touch mother earth again.

Someone says, Bro. Wilson, I couldn't believe that. Well, I don't know what you are going to use to fight me. I have the Word. Thank God for His wonderful goodness. We rejoice in the truth that sets us free.

We look into the Word of God to the 44th verse of the 13th chapter of matthew. Let us read together. "Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." We might notice this, that the 1st through the 7th parables Christ spoke, are consecutively outlined from 33 A. D. to the end of time, and bring the kingdom up through from Christ to the Judgment. There is no confusion of this ever lasting kingdom of Jesus Christ, -- if we will let the truth alone. You can pick up a Scripture and take it over somewhere else and hook it on to something else and prove anything you want to. That is why we have hundreds of conceptions and faiths and beliefs and all claim to be preaching out of the same Bible. But I declare unto you, if we will leave the Word of God be as it is, it will teach one thing. God only had one thing in mind for each Sripture in there. Somebody said, well, how will we ever get to know it? Very simple. If this brother writes a book here and he gives it to me, I get down and I begin to study it and I cannot understand some of it, so I call up Bro. Craig. He is a good friend of mine. "Bro. Craig, what do you think Bro. Turnbow meant?" He will tell me what he thinks he meant. Well, that does not sound right. That is all right if you want to feel that way, but that does not sound right to me. So I ask Bro. Fisher, and the more I ask the more different answers they give me, so finally I get wise and get on the telephone and call up Bro. Turnbow. He wote it, so he knows what he meant. I say, brother, what do you mean here. "Well, I meant thus and so." Well, thank you, Bro Turnbow, that makes sense. Amen!

Well, this is God's Book. Somebody said, well, how are we going to find it out? Get hold of the man that wrote it. Paul said in 1 Corinthians the 2nd chapter, we have the mind of Christ through the Spirit, if you please. God's eternal Spirit whom He set as a teacher will let us know exactly what He meant. Thank God, whenever we get a greater revelation of truth it will never cross up that which was truth before. That is how we can know that it is truth. It might be strange to you, but the fact is that the 5th, 6th and 7th parables all begin with the word "again." I wonder why? I wonder why the Word of God says, again, the kingdom is like a treasure. Again it is like a merchantman: again it is like a net. Whenever you say, again, it was like that once before. Amen! So again, the kingdom is like a treasure up here. It was like that in the morning time and it is like it again in the evening time. That is why I like these parables. You get to preach twice on everything.

Every one of those three parables said "again the kingdom is like this." It was like that in the morning time, but it was lost sight of, it was covered up in the rubbish of confusion and earthly works. But thank God, back in the evening time it is again just like it was in the morning. And again the kingdom is likened unto a treasure hid in a field; the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. The kingdom has been likened to many small things through the dark ages. It was likened unto a grain of mustard seed, which we proved by the Word of God to be the least of all seeds. Now, He puts its true value on it again. He shows us the great advantages that is offered to mankind, those who are willing to come to its terms. He said, it is as a treasure hid in a field. There is a reason that everybody that talks about the kingdom does not see it. Because there are some conditions to meet, if we ever lay hold of this precious experience. He tells us here, it is as a treasure hid in a field. We know that Christ, or His kingdom, is the true treasure.

In the last parable that we delt with, we delt with the false systems of religion, Christ teaching us through a parable that it was as a woman, which took three measures of meal and hid leaven in it until the whole was leavened. He showed us coming through Protestantism that they would actually take the Word of God, and hide in that Word -- earthly works and organizations, that they got from old Rome, until they corrupted the very Word of God. But thank God, while the woman was hiding leaven in the meal, God was hiding something down through there too. While old Babylon was hiding leaven and corruption, God was hiding a treasure. While one was working a deception, the other was bringing a people to a 'full light.' Right down through these 350 years of Protestantism, there was a treasure hid there and Christ likened it unto the kingdom. Christ, or His kingdom, let me repeat, is this true treasure that He is speaking of.

In 2 Corinthians 4:7, Paul said, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels; " speaking of that experience of Christ coming into our heart and life through a born again experience, taking the reins of our life -- Paul called it a treasure. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. In Colossians 2:3, "In whom (in Christ) are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." So, thank God, when we lay hold of this treasure it opens up the storehouse to all the treasures, all the richness that God has for mankind. Christ and His kingdom are greater, I want to repeat, because it opens all other treasures. Not only spiritually, but physically. Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." All these things, such as food, clothing and where you are going to live -- all these things will be added unto you. Many lives are being wasted today because they are trying first, to add the other things without seeking first the kingdom. Until we seek the kingdom first, we do not really have anything.

The youth wants a good companion. They like nice clothes, they want a good home and you can just keep putting ciphers out there, but without the kingdom first, all you have got is a bunch of ciphers. But, if you seek the kingdom first, you can put a one in front of it and you have something. God bless your heart, you will not only have it here, but something through the ceaseless ages of eternity. Now, he said, this treasure was here in a field; now what is a field? In the morning time, when we studied the parable, the field was the world, Jesus said, but now speaking on a little different line of the kingdom, here we are speaking of the kingdom in an individual experience again. Here, He said the Kingdom of heaven is like -- let us read it again. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."

Now we have a different field this time, our parable has taken a different 'coat.' It is an individual experience again, a treasure hid in the field which when a man has found he for joy went and sold all he had to buy that field. Now, we know the field is not the world now, because when a man buys this treasure he does not go buy the world, he gives it up. So, what is the field? I will prove to you by the Word of God, the field that this treasure is found in, is the Word of God -- it is in the pages of God's eternal Word, this kingdom can be found. And , it is the field, that the treasure is found in and whenever any man or woman truly finds the treasure of a born again experience, it takes the Spirit of God to open up this Word. You will never find it until you are born again of the Spirit of God. You will be just like Nicodemus, you will never find it. Jesus said, "You cannot see it naturally." He, in all His wisdom, thought Christ was a teacher, and men with high intellectual power yet today think He is a teacher and a good example, but when Nicodemus said we know you are a teacher, Jesus said, listen, that is 'too dry.' I am not a teacher, I am a Saviour. I am a Redeemer, if you please. You must be born again, or you will never see the work that I can do.

Thank God, this kingdom can be found within the pages of God's eternal Word, as Christ would speak of it, as a field. If we will seek and search for it. When he had found this treasure, he hides it and goes and buys the whole field. There is consecration -- spiritual maturity -- walking in the light, in the evening light. May God help us to see it. Here is the Word of God -- we have an individual seeking the kingdom, let me repeat again, because I want you to get it. The Word of God is the field in which the treasure is hid. The parables clarify it very clearly when He said he would buy up the field to find the kingdom. Within that field, God hid a treasure, a truth, of the kingdom of God that makes us all one people. I thank God I found it. The word of God teaches us all the way through that this treasure is hid. You know it is. This treasure, that of the kingdom or the truth about the kingdom, is hid all the way through the Gospel ordinance. It is hid as the Word of God says -- it is hid as the milk in the breast, the marrow in the bone, the manna in the dew, the water in the well, the honey in the honey-comb. Those are all Bible expressions that men of God used to try to show us how this treasure was hid. May I just take one of them for a couple of moments.

It is hid as the water in the well. Let us deal with it typically. Go back to the garden of Eden where God created man. There was no well there. Take a quick jump to the 22nd chapter of Revelation where a paradise is restored, there is no well there. There are rivers again, but brethren, in between that paradise that man lost and that paradise restored, God has given us a well through which we can get the same water. The Bible is that well through which we get our water, just as sure as we are here. This Word of God is the well through which we receive the water of life. There, everyone of us can get the water. [ End of Part 10 ]

THE TREASURE IN TYPE

1. We go back to get a type in the 26th chapter of Genesis, the 18th verse, “And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them…” with earth. What do you think that is a type of? Abraham was God’s man, a type of God and everywhere he went, except when he got away from God and went down in Egypt, he dug a well to take care of Abraham on the outside. He built an altar to take care of Abraham on the inside. Everywhere he went he knew that man was “two-fold”. He did two things as soon as he got there; the Word of God said, after he had passed away the Philistines came through and stopped up the wells with earth. Boy, do we have a job. It’s not the Philistines today. The Word of God said in the 18th chapter of Revelation, that Babylon’s merchants were great men of the earth and they have stopped up these wells that the morning church drank from, and got their power. It is our business in this evening time of light not only to dig new wells, (get new sight on the truth) but to unstop some of the old ones that have been hidden with the earth and have been stopped up. We need to unstop these wells and lead people to them and let people get a hold of them. There is water in the well.

It is a sad thing, but many educators and theologians let their critics stoop down and scratch around a little in here and say, nothing here, nothing but dirt. So, they throw the Scripture away verse by verse---nothing there but dirt. Thank God, I told you, it has not been very long ago that I dug up a lot of them that the Revised Versions threw away. I have been preaching on them, that there is water in them. The trouble is they did not go deep enough, and the second reason is, they did not have anything to draw with. In the 4th chapter of John, when Jesus met the woman at the well, He told her, if you would have asked of me, I would have given you a drink and you would never thirst again. She did not know what He was talking about. She said, are you greater than our fathers that gave us the well? That well is deep, and you nave nothing to draw with. Jesus, in so many words, turned to her and said, you do not see the well I am talking about. It’s deeper than Jacobs well and you have nothing to draw with.

You can have all the education you can cram in your head, but short of the Spirit of God, you cannot get a drop of water out of the well. You cannot get water out of this well with man-made pumps. It’s drawn by, the Spirit of God. I want us to see, when He speaks of it being hid in a field, He is saying it is hid within the pages of God’s eternal Word, and you can read over and read over it, but you will never draw out of there that treasure, unless you have the Spirit of God. It is too deep. It takes the Spirit of God to draw the water. We will go right through this age, my friend, there was something hidden there---a treasure in a field. If we ever find this treasure, we have to dig. I want you to see it just like Jesus wanted us to see it, because we read the Word too fast; it is as a treasure hid. Someone may say, “I stumbled on to a born again experience.” No, you didn’t. You were fooled. No one stumbles on to it. This thing is as a treasure hid. It’s not laying on the surface. It’s hid. You can walk over the top if it, stand on it for a week, and never know you are near it. You have to get below the earth. We have to get down and dig if we ever lay hold of this experience that God has in store for His people in this day and age. The reason that many cannot enjoy the blissful experience they once had, is because they won’t put forth the effort it takes to get it. They become too lazy. They seldom open their Bible, and when they do open it, they try to read a chapter and a half. We would do well if we would read two verses. I doubt if we could get all from them what God has for us. People just relax and come down to the church and let the preacher preach it and then they are just like a bunch of birds in a nest. You go around a bird’s nest where there are baby birds and just peck on the nest and whether you have anything or not, shove it down and we’ll take it. God’s people in the morning time, searched the Scriptures when Paul preached, to see if those things that he preached were the truth or not and that is where they got their deep experience.

Sometimes when God blesses my soul, and the saints get to rejoicing, and say, “Bro. Wilson, that’s good,” I come back and tell them, if you want something better, go get yourself a drink! Why, after God gave it to me and it blesses my soul, and I have feasted on it and drank on it, and then, when I bring it down…you’re drinking out of my reservoir. It you want a good drink, go and drink from the fountain yourself. That’s exactly what God wants you to do. I know through experience, some of the richness has been taken off after the man of God has drunk from it. What am I getting at? I want to get the saints back to old time Bible reading and prayer. That individual connection with God, where He walks with them and talks with them and tells them that He is their own and they are His. Yes, we will find the power, and it is no wonder that Christ likened it unto a treasure. It is above all treasures of this world.

In Acts 8:26 Philip was told to go down to Gaza and teach the Ethiopian who was in charge of all the queen’s treasure. How do you think she heard about anything going on up at Jerusalem? Study history and you’ll find that the Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s wisdom and went up there to see. But she couldn’t get it, just hear it. Christ was Solomon’s wisdom. She went back and told of the greatness a few years hence when Candace was Queen. The Word of God, along with history, would have us believe that the Queen spread abroad the greatness that was going on up in Jerusalem. Here, many years hence came an Ethiopian up, “I have heard of great things up here.” He was in charge of the Queen’s treasury, but there was something within him looking for something better. You can have your hands on all the treasures of this world and you will never be satisfied. They will not satisfy. It is a trick of the devil; that keeps you going after it. It’s like a picture I saw of a little boy sitting in a wagon with a dog hitched to it and a hot dog sticking on a stick out in front of the dog and he was riding about, the dog going after the hot dog. That’s the way the devil works. He will put things in front of you, and make you think you are to get them, but you never catch them, and if you did catch up with them, my friend, it wouldn’t bring an ounce of peace.

When he was ready to leave there to go back, God saw his heart was honest. God saw that boy really wanted to worship God. It is too bad when people come up to Jerusalem to spend a few days and go back and never hear about Jesus. If we are not careful, people will come into out midst right around that which professes to the church, and go on their way back home and never hear enough truth to get acquainted with God. God help us!

He left with a saddened heart, going right down the road. He had gotten clear out of Jerusalem…out in the desert. God moved on Philip and said, take off down there as hard as you can go. So he got down there and joined himself to him. He was reading in Isaiah where he read, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter.” What did Philip say? You’re in the right field; you are going to soon find a treasure.

THE BURIED TREASURE

When you get over in the Scripture about Isaiah’s prophecy and through there, you are in the right field, and if you will dig a little, it won’t be long until you’ll find a treasure. Too many today are trying to find it in a field of religious education, in the field of science, in the field of this and that or the other, or in the field of theology. You’ll never find it there. You will find it in this field, THE WORD, or you will never find it. God help us, to turn back to the old fashioned truths of the Gospel and lift up a Christ of Calvary; that will draw all men unto Him.

When he found the field, it wasn’t long until he had the treasure. Lord, help us to see that we have to go below the surface. Sometimes we need someone to help us. Philip began with that very Scripture and preached Christ to him. It wasn’t long until he got an experience and was baptized. Again, I want you to see that we have to go below the surface to find this treasure. Don’t you know, the richest mines are often found underground? You go to the south and into the west where the gold mines are---I’ve been there. That land is so barren and so rough, you can hardly stand on it. It looks like it is wasted, but God knew what He was doing. Under that most barren land, is found the richest gold mine. I declare unto you, right here in this very Word of God, where it looks like there’s nothing there; you keep digging, because under those things you think most barren, you will find the richest treasure. In other words, friends, Jesus said, search the Scriptures. If a lot of people would search the Scriptures, they might find out they never received anything, though they thought they had.

He said, search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life. But you don’t have eternal life by the Scriptures. The Scriptures just lead you to Christ, who gives you eternal life. Proverbs, the second chapter, and a few verses there, the wise man tells us the same thing---we are going to have to search the Scriptures if we ever find it. In other words, friend, you are going to have to put forth a greater effort than some of you have ever made, if you ever find this rich experience, that you can rejoice in. Proverbs, the second chapter, “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commands with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Whosoever will; may have the knowledge of God. You can have the understanding of God, if you will seek for it like hidden treasures.

If you were going to go out and literally dig up a hidden treasure, you would not go bare handed; you would take something with you to dig with---if you were really going after the thing. The kingdom is the best known and the least known thing in the world. Jesus gave us these parables to teach us the mystery of the kingdom. He said to His disciples, “It is given unto you.” We taught you that in the first verse, He went out of the house and taught the four different kinds of ground; but when He got into the essence of the truth of the parables, He went back into the house, and that is where the teaching took place, and you have got to get into the house to ever understand the teaching of this book. I say again, the kingdom is the best known and the least known thing in the world. Those that have it, wonder why others can’t see it, and those that don’t have it, wonder why those that have it, are so happy about it. No wonder Jesus said, their ears are deaf and their eyes are blind and their understanding is darkened. What is He talking about?

Some good old brother or sister sits beside you in worship. Someone is singing a glorious song of Zion; and all at once the Spirit of God touches their soul…they rejoice! You, sitting right beside them, and what did you feel? What did you hear? What did you see? “I don’t see anything. I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t feel anything.” Jesus said in the 11th chapter of Matthew and verse 25, God “hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes, even so Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.” So, my friends, we gather from God’s eternal Word, that if we ever find this experience, if we ever find this treasure, (speaking of a born again experience) first, we must be treasure hunting.

The next thing is, we have to find the right field. Can’t we see how foolish, how much money is wasted---for science and other groups and individuals that try to dig into this thing to try and find anything that would prove God’s Word true. They will never find it. Why, I just read an article the other day, that they thought they had come up with the answer for the Red Sea crossing. They are hundreds of years behind. They’ll never catch up. They haven’t got that figured out yet. Here we are, way over in Canaan. Christ has died, we are saved and consecrated and they are hung up at the Red Sea. Not only, must we be treasure hunting; we must find the right field; but we have to have some tools.

We have proved the field is the Word of God. What kind of tools do we need? Repentance will help us. How? It will turn us in the right direction. Out in the world we’re going farther away from the treasure every day. The first thing necessary is, repent; turn around. Somebody said, how do you know what it is. I’m a “field man”. Not a field man for an organization; I’m a field man for God. Someone asked, “How do you know?” Because I found it, and anybody that can find it, can tell you where they found it.

Well, you come through repentance, my friend---old time humility. It will get you down where you can dig. It will break the surface; faith will do the excavating; the Spirit of God will take the veil off of your eyes and you will be born again---see the kingdom without which, no man can see it, without being born again. I praise God that right here in this world of sorrow, poverty, sickness, failure, being in debt, there is to be found a kingdom of righteousness and peace in the Holy Ghost.

Now, He went on a little farther. He said, when a man had found it, he hides it. What is he hiding? People that really have this experience are taking care of it. Why, you can tell when people have any money. They are trying to get up or down, and I see people going along with their back pocket half tore out, pocketbook hanging out. Well, I say, that man hasn’t got anything. When people have really got something, that means anything to them, they take care of it. You can tell when people have a rich experience by their very actions. They’re taking care of it. They are guarding it with their life. They are careful where they go, what they say, who they have companionship with. Why? They don’t want to lose it.

When he finds it, he hides it; guards it with his very life. It is the most precious thing. Salvation is the most precious thing that ever touched the soul of man; a heavenly gift. Talk about people with millions. Go over to France and give $2500 for something, and people take it down and put it in a safe box down at the bank; maybe only look at it once every 6 months. I am preaching about something that came from heaven. People think it is nice to come from France or way off somewhere, where man has hardly been. They like to say, this is a wonderful thing; it came from way over there. I am talking about a gift that came from heaven, and people that really get it, hide it, and guard it with their lives. God gave us a place to hide it; to put it in “safe keeping”.

SELLING ALL, TO BUY

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” There is your “full consecration”…the setting yourself apart to the whole truth. When he finds the treasure, a born again experience, this treasure experience, what does he do? He goes right on and makes a full consecration. How does he do it? He sells all that he hath and buys the field. Complete consecration to God’s Word, will give you the whole Word of God. The wise man said in Proverbs 23:23, “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” I want us to see that the devil has deceived many. He makes them feel they are selling out a little here and selling out a little there. When you sell any part of the truth, you sell it all. You cannot tear it apart. If you sell out the least bit to the devil, you lose it all.

Now, I would like to stop a minute and put a little emphasis on the reason why this fellow consecrates. He found this treasure through a born again experience. He saw the kingdom; it was his. Thank God, that Paul said we have it right here in earthen vessels. He got joy. The kingdom is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. He found joy and the Scripture said, for joy he went and sold all that he had and bought the whole field. What did he do it for? For joy, he did it. Sure there is joy in finding the Kingdom, but there was more joy available. Your joy can be full! Jesus said, if you get the vine purged, you can bear more fruit. So he found joy in a born again experience, and for more joy, he goes and consecrates…sells all he has (complete consecration), to gain the full truth. In the 19th chapter of Matthew, we read there: the rich man that came to Christ, the young ruler…what does he say? He had kept the commandments from his youth up, but Jesus said, “if thou wilt be perfect”. Don’t be afraid to use that word. “Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection”

Back here in the early part of the parables they brought forth no fruit to perfection. When the thorns were still in the way. If thou wilt be perfect; and God is no respecter of persons. If the rich young ruler could be perfected, by doing that, so can you and I. “If thou wilt be perfect”---the same thing he said there, He said here, go and sell that which thou hast. Give to the poor and come, and follow me. May the Lord help us to see this; it takes a selling out. This individual has found a treasure in the field and just like any wise businessman, said, I found a treasure in that field, but what does he do? He said I am going to buy that whole field---there’s liable to be some other rich mines in there. He just buys the whole thing.

Now, here is another mystery of the kingdom. This is a mystery. You have the whole field and I have it all. How do you figure that out? There is nothing else in the world like that. If you bought it all, there wouldn’t be any for anyone else. But here, everyone can have it all. Who ever heard tell of such a thing? You can buy the whole field, and then, when I come along, I can buy it. If a man could do that in literal life, he would get arrested. We see how much greater heavenly things are. He sells the same thing over and over. You get all of Christ and I get Him all. This field of truth is the only field that the kingdom will grow in.

In Revelation the 3rd chapter, I want to deal with the Pentecost in the Revelation; just hurriedly. I dealt with these hearts when we came up through the morning time. I said I liked these parables because you get to preach twice. We dealt with the hearts and the thorns, and a little later on, we want to deal with another portion; the temple, in another thought of speaking on consecration. You turn to the 3rd chapter of Revelation (I am not going to turn there now, but sometime read it again), but He did speak to the Church in Sardis (just let me hit a few high spots) “These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars.” We know Sardis covered that age, as the brother showed you of Methodism, when God was ready to give them light regarding consecration. Luther came preaching justification by faith. We come up to that Sardis age, my friend, which brings us right in there, that from 1730 to 1880, God was ready to give the light on consecration. So, how did He come to them? “These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God.”

There’s only one Holy Spirit, but it works in seven different ways through the ages. Not only does He have the Holy Spirit for you, but He has the seven stars, which are the ministry (messengers) that will tell you how to get it. Just like the star that led the wise men to Christ, God has got a ministry that tells people how to get the field (experience) and the treasure (experience). That was the way He addressed Himself to Sardis.

We come on down through, my friend, and He said, “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and are dead.” In the second chapter of Revelation, verse 23, back in this age, He told them, if they did not repent, if they did not quit that old Jezabel doctrine, that He was going to kill their children with death---well, here they are, dead. They are still holding on to a name (profession), but they are dead. What happens to people when they do not walk in the light? They get just like a lot of people are today, still going around saying, we’re the church, and dead as “door-nails”. We know, right in this age, that Methodism was the highest organized group on the face of the globe. If organization and its education and intellectual power, would have saved the world, the Methodists would have done it long ago. Sardis, my friend, was a highly organized church. I want you to see, you can be perfectly organized and be perfectly dead. You go back to the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, when God took him down in the valley of dry bones. He prophesied the Word out to them and every bone hooked on to its bone and the flesh came on and the muscles came on. They were perfectly organized. And dead as they were, before they were ever brought together. What did they need? They needed the breath of God to blow upon them.

Our burden is to herald the need of the Holy Spirit. We can hook every Scripture in the book together. Someone said, I don’t think you can hook together without it. There are people that had the Holy Spirit once, and are still rattling over an old truth that God showed them years ago, and it is as dead as could be. Paul said in 1 Corinthians the 13th chapter, you could have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and still not have the love of God. God help us, not to be deceived. The Word of God says, to try the spirit. There are too many being deceived. Just because a man can get up and rattle something that God showed him a long time ago; he may have back-slid and married a dozen women and be living in adultery now. We must try the spirit. How are we going to try it? He said, every spirit that confesses that Christ has come in the flesh is of God; not every person, but every spirit.

There are a lot of people that will testify that Christ came in the flesh---but He said every spirit that testifies it. There’s a difference!

He came on down through, my friend, and told us there in a few words what was needed. They had, even as the religious world today, and some that would call themselves, saints, a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. They had a name to live, but no principle of life. There was deadness in their soul, deadness in their services, deadness in their preaching, deadness in their singing, deadness in their praying. But thank God, they were not all dead in Sardis. There were two groups of people down there, which shows believers and non-believers yoked together. There were some that had a name that were dead, and there were others that had a name that they lived and they did live, and He told them to overcome that thing---be careful and hold fast to the truth they had and strengthen it with the new light that He gave them and they could walk with Him in white right on this earth, in consecration. Ah, these letters and parables tie together. I would to God we could take more time, but I want to go to the 8th chapter of Revelation a minute.

Rev. 3:4, “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments;” teaching us what? Few can remain in spiritual childhood very long without defiling their garments. There is very little standing grace, when failing to consecrate our lives.

In the 8th chapter of Revelation, verse 2: Did you know that Pentecost is symbolized in the Revelation? Many would have us feel that Pentecost was not in it. Would you think that when God gave us a revelation of Jesus Christ and His reign from beginning to end that Pentecost would not be in there somewhere, because that is what produced it all? [ End of Part 11 ]

PENTECOST

1. I will read a few Scriptures and bring this old type up to the anti-type, through the Revelation, and see what God can do for us today. The first verse deals with the silence in heaven, and the second verse: “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was give unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne. And the Smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earth quake.”

Here is Pentecost, my friend. Now we have some symbols to answer. I saw the seven angels, which stood before God, to them were given seven trumpets; here is a symbol of your ministry clear through the Gospel Day. The trumpets, if you please, I think you know what that is; is that of sounding out the Word of God. Back in Ezekiel, he said, son of man, I have made you a watchman on the wall, and told them to sound their trumpet and warn them when the enemy comes. If they won’t listen, their blood will be required at their hands, but if you fail to warn them, when the enemy comes, He will require the blood at your hands. That is why I am going to faithfully warn men.

God help us to see that we must faithfully warn men, in every situation of life, or we will come up with blood on our skirts. 1 Corinthians the 14th chapter and the 8th verse, Paul make is very clear when he said, “For if the trumpet give an un-certain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” Why don’t we see the saints raising up in this Armageddon, as they ought, and standing and getting in the Camp of the Saints and fighting for this thing, as they ought? There’s too much un-certain preaching, going on back home in the pulpits. People get up that are scared to death. They think a war is coming. They are afraid a depression is coming, and their salary will be cut off; before they read what the Word of God says. They begin preaching what they believe Jesus meant by this and that. You will never hear me preach I believe thus and so, because what I believe does not amount to a bit more than what you believe. Paul said, “we speak the things we know”. You go preach what you believe to a bunch of people, and they will not have enough faith to pray a church mouse out of the building. I believe He meant that---and then, they see a poor old brother that is guilty of that sin. Well, maybe He did not mean that. Brother, we need to put the Word of God out in no uncertain terms. It will be a foundation for men and women to build skyward experiences to God on. So here are the seven angels, that stood with the seven trumpets ready to sound, but they had not yet sounded and another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; there was given to him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne, and the smoke of the incense which came up with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. Now, here we have a censer and we have a golden altar. If we ever get the answer to these symbols, we have to go back to the temple, where they were used. Read Exodus the 30th chapter, ten verses, and let us get understanding here and we will see exactly what happened on Pentecost.

“And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breath thereof; foursquare shall it be; and two cubits shall be the height thereof; the horns thereof shall be of the same. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two horns thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony.”

The mercy seat was in the second room, the Holy of Holies was the mercy seat, the ark of the covenant---a symbol of the presence of God, in the second room. This little incense altar was to be put right before this golden altar. All right then, what was to happen there? “Before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.” There is where God meets with people, not over here, or out in the woods, no, right here. “And Aaron shall burn thereon, sweet incense every morning.” There were many things that these men went through back in the Old Testament that had no meaning to them whatsoever. It brought no blessing to them, but they are types of reality that you and I would enjoy through Jesus Christ, in this Holy Ghost dispensation. What did it do for Aaron, to take fire and incense and burn on that altar every morning and night It was a type of something.

Incense is a type of prayer. Psalm 141, David said, “Let my prayer be set for before these as incense;”. Revelation 5:8, “the four beasts, and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having everyone of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints.” Fire and praise go together, they had harps and vials.

Now, what was this business back here, putting incense, a type of prayer, our privilege of prayer. “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning; when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even.” There is a type of prayer---when should we pray? Every morning when we dress the lamp and every evening and then greater than that, keep on…”And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense” (Men ought always to pray). He said he was to get fire here off this brazen altar and bring it over here, but where did that fire come from, that he go off the brazen altar? Read the 16th chapter of Leviticus, the 12th and 13th verses---“And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord.” All right, out here at this brazen altar the priest was to take a censer full of fire from it and take it in here and put incense with it and put it on the golden altar. “And his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil.”

The 9th chapter will tell us where that fire came from. He just did not go out here and get fire from off that altar…it had to come from somewhere. Where did the fire come from, that he got off the brazen altar? “And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation and came out and blessed the people.” The sacrifices were put on the altar. God said, don’t let no man strike a match (if they had any). This is no human work; read it. “Bless the people and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people and there came a fire out from before the Lord.” Where did the fire come from? It came from God. Man never lit the first fire in the tabernacle of the temple. God lit it by a supernatural work and He told man never to let it go out. What is that a type of? That fire is a type of the Holy Ghost---all the way through---that John said Jesus would baptize us with. It came by God, He puts it in there and it’s up to you and I to keep it burning. How do we keep it burning? Just put in a little incense (prayer).

“There came fire out from before the Lord.” All right, the 6th chapter of Leviticus, the 13th verse, it came from God. The priest carried it to the golden altar. This fire was started by God and must never go out. “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.” We have a job, these are all types of the reality that we have in Jesus Christ. Here in our lesson in Revelation we have Christ, our high priest; remember this was the old high priest that went in there. He had to burn the incense and let the very smoke of it cover him as he went into the Holy place before God. Now Christ is our high priest, Paul said. He just went in once and when He went in, thank God, he rent the veil. Not only did He go in, but He opened up a new and living way for all the rest to go in. We come by this altar here where He offered himself as a lamb without spot and blemish, we come by the laver, the washing of regeneration. Thank God, we have a new and living way through the blood of Christ to go right on in to the Holy of Holies.

Now, let’s look a little farther. Just read our Revelation now, and see if it makes sense to us. “And another angel came and stood at the altar.” There were the seven angels standing (ministry) another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer (that angel was Christ) more than once in the Revelation, Christ is spoken of as an angel. When he was still operating in the thought of a messenger, bringing His good news of the redemption of mankind. This other angel, that stood at the altar is none other than Christ, having a golden censer in His hand and there was given to Him much incense that He should offer it with the prayers…What about much incense? He’s still praying. That He should offer it with all the prayers of the saints on the golden altar. Now, let us see if that does not bring us right over to what happened before and at Pentecost. He (this angel or our high priest) did not go before the mercy seat. The Scripture said He went before the very throne of God. Now, who works there and you will know who the angel was. Before Christ ever left here He said, “I will pray the Father He will send you another comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, and He will dwell with you forever, He will dwell with you but He shall be in you. He is the Sprit of Truth who the world cannot receive. It seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him.” He shall be in you. We will see that He offered His prayer with all the prayers of the saints.

Now, we will go back and get the last of the type. We come clear up through the Scripture in the first chapter of Luke and we see some of the last work there of the old high priest before Christ came. Zacharias was one, and in the first chapter of Luke, verse 8, we read---and we will see the last of this old work. We want to remember, that when the priest was ready to go in and put this incense on this golden altar with the fire he got off the brazen altar, the congregation stood outside praying. Here we will get the last picture before Christ came. “And it came to pass, that while he executed the priests office before God in the order of his course. According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.” There’s the picture, just a little while before Christ came. Here’s Zacharias still preaching to them and the congregation standing outside praying, the priest taking incense and going in before the Lord. It was just about ready to be an anti-type.

Now, we come over to Pentecost again, just before our high priest went before the very throne of God to pray that His people might have a comforter. A congregation was at Jerusalem praying, they continued in prayer. Christ was different from all the other priests. When this Priest had taken the incense and the censer of fire and went in and offered it on that altar He turned around and came back out and the congregation dispersed and went back home sad hearted. But look what our Priest did. He offered up His prayer with all the prayers of the saints; He went before the very thrown of God and after He had offered up the incense, He turned around and took the censer that He had the incense in, and picked up fire off the altar and cast it into the earth. There’s the day of Pentecost. Glory to God! He took one step that no priest could take in any age. When they had offered the incense they went back out, but our high priest, when He had offered the incense, He scooped up a censer full of fire and cast it into the earth, and Pentecost come into being.

We read on a little farther. Acts, the 2nd chapter we see the very thing acted out this morning. This thrills my soul. We begin reading (don’t forget, there was the congregation praying; Christ was before the throne praying). “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come.” People say when 50 days passed. That was not what the Scripture meant, there has been hundreds of Pentecosts, but that Day of Pentecost fully came this day and others were just types of this Pentecost. Brother, this was the Pentecost that God had in mind when He gave the first tabernacle in the Word. God did not have anything for man through this only examples, types and shadows. What He had in mind was the Holy Ghost coming back in the hearts of men. These other Pentecosts were just types of this one. The Day of Pentecost had fully come that morning. When the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all in one accord in one place. Praying together will bring us together. I firmly believe: if you let me use my imagination, that there was aught to get out between those people when they prayed in the upper room. Somebody said, what makes you think so? They were as human as you and I. They were human enough to turn back to their nets and disbelieve Christ when He told them He would meet them in Galilee. He said, I’ll meet you in three days, out here on a mountain. Did they believe it? They were going back to their nets saying, I thought sure He would redeem Israel. He had to get out of the grave, go round them up, and get them on a mountain. He got them over there and sat down and talked to them and said, all power is given unto me, in heaven and earth. This Gospel must be preached. There is your complete ministry; a symbol of it, gathered around there. This Gospel must be preached, to all the world, but tarry in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high. They were all together in one place---there came a sound from heaven, brother, there’s your fire that the high priest took in his censer and cast it in the earth.

We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Jesus prayed, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done IN earth, not ON the earth. Millennialists tried to twist that to make a literal reign here---Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Brother, the people of God are doing the will of God even as the angels are doing the will of God in heaven. That is why in the Hebrew letter he called the heavenly Jerusalem an innumerable company of angels. Why? They are doing God’s will, just as the angels are.

There came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house. All right, let’s go back to Revelation and read the last verse. “And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from off the altar and cast it into the earth.” Brother, when that thing hit the earth, when that Spirit hit the souls of men there was something happened. So Revelation says, “there were voices.” Let’s go back to Acts; there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind! Cloven tongues of fire fell on them. Where’d it come from? Out of this censer, up before the throne of God. The Revelation said there were voices. “And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire off the altar, and cast it in the earth: and there were voices.” Acts 2, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak.”

RESULT OF THE INFILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

There was thundering. What is thundering a symbol of in the Revelation? It is nothing more than thundering out the prophecies of the past. He takes literal things to teach us spiritual things. Even as He did in the days of Christ, He used natural things to teach spiritual things. Can you see the lightning and maybe hear the thundering three or four seconds later? Even so, the prophets got lightning.

Here was Peter when the Holy Ghost hit, the first thing that happened was that they all got to their feet and began praising God. It put light within them and the upstairs room. Don’t look down, look up! They began to praise God, the Scripture said, and the upper room got too small. They went out in the street, and began to witness. “Well, they were emotional fellows.” No, they weren’t. They were a bunch of dead, old dried up Jews. How do you know it? A few days before this day, when Jesus was walking and the little children praised God and said Hossana to the King, Peter and the disciples said, make them be silent, they make us nervous. Well, that is Bible. Jesus said, “If these little children don’t cry out and shout, the rocks will cry out.” Somebody is going to praise God. Brother, I’m not going to let a rock take my place.

If these were emotional people, if they were people that were know to shout; nobody got excited, but here came these old dead, dried fellows that could not stand any shouting or rejoicing, coul not eve stand for the little children to sing praises to Jesus. Various fellowmen came around and said, what has happened to you fellows? You have been hitting the wine. You might be followers of Jesus, but you have been in the wine because you would not act like that if you were not drunk. There was a great demonstration there. “There were voices and thunderings.”

Then, Peter stood up and felt like preaching. That’s the kind of man I like to hear. If there is anything I hate, it is somebody you have to coax to preach. Peter stood up…the Revelation said, there was thundering, what is that? He stood up and thundered out the light that Joel had. You read in the 16th verse, “But this is that, which was spoken by the prophet Joel:” Joel said it would come to pass in the last days that the Lord would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. And what will happen? Your young women will preach. (“But I don’t believe in women preachers.”) Well, you don’t believe in the Holy Ghost, because Joel said when the Holy Ghost will come the young women will prophesy. And the young men will see visions. And the old will dream dreams. What will they dream about? They will dream about the same thing the young men will be seeing a vision of and the young women will be preaching about.

Why, I have seen it happen…perhaps you have too! People get baptized with the Holy Ghost. I can show more than one illustration, when the Spirit of God moves on a young man and gives him a call. His father, maybe grandmother, right while he was seeing a vision of his word, neither one of them talked to the other, but they both came to me. He told me about a vision he saw of his work, and a father in one case told me that he was dreaming of his son. I said keep on looking and keep on dreaming. You know what happened? On Sunday morning, the son came to one end of the altar and the father on the other. Then I pulled the two together and said, he was dreaming about the same thing you saw. The father could hardly give the son up to the work, and the son was having a time consecrating. If we will thunder out the light of the past, God will give us new light.