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 Leaven

THE TRUE BREAD

This bread that came down from heaven that Jesus talks about in the 6th chapter of John; He said, "I am the bread that oometh down from heaven. If any man eat of me he will live forever." Thank God. That is the reason old babylon is dead (no true spiritual life), if you please. She wouldn't eat this bread that came down from heaven. She was bound to bake her own bread. The 18th chapter of Revelation tells us that she has got all kinds. It tells us that her merchants have waxed rich from her delicacies. She has 'cookies' and 'sweet rolls,' 'doughnuts' -- anything you want. She has it to suit your taste. If she hasn't got what you like, she will bake something up to suit you, But God has a people, If You please, that wants the bread to come down from heaven. This bread I am preaching about is the Holy Word of God with no leavening added to it and nothing taken away from it. It cannot be baked in men's or devils ovens. Amen! It comes straight from heaven every day.

Someone said, I've heard men that preached that, and said you had to have a little leaven in it to get it raised. Oh, no. This bread that comes down from heaven, my friend, is raised by the power of God. The Holy Ghost moving on it if you please, raised it and caused it to be that which would be food to our little souls. So, we have a picture before us here, of that time the kingdom would go through this age of Protestantism, showing forth as a woman taking three measures of meal and to it adding this leaven or corruption or this earthly work, until the whole is leavened. Oh, help us to see this picture of false religion that will not eat God's bread.

In the 4th chapter of Isaiah and verse one he gives us a prophecy there that will help us clarify. "And in that day, seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach." There's people trying to find out what day that was. After the second world war, or while it was going on,many preachers said, 'that was the day' that Isaiah was talking about. They hunted up statistics and showed that the men were being killed off so fast that there were seven women for every one man. God pity the poor man that seven women was to take hold of. I could just help you a little bit on that business. You need to know that God constructed a man and woman so that one woman is all that a man needs. I just want to tell you from the Bible and from experience, If you will give her all the love and care that you owe unto her, you will be working mighty hard the rest of your life. You won't have any time for anything else. And when you put forth all the effort and strength that you possess to love and care for that woman and look after her there will still be a lot of woman left there desiring more. You won't need to run anywhere else. In that day, seven women will take hold of one man, saying, we will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach. What is he talking about? In that day, keeps referring right back to Isaiahs prophecy. You go back to the first chapter and second chapter. He has been talking about that same day all the way, it never changed in the second chapter. He said "in that day the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And there will the Lord of hosts prepare a feast unto all people of fat things of wines on the lees,well refined." Now you know what day that is, It is this Gospel Day. That is the day he is talking about. Not in the days of the second world war, but in this Gospel day, Isaiah was talking about seven women would take hold of one man.

Who is the one man? Christ, my friend. But what are their attitudes toward Him? He is showing us nothing more than the seven false churches right down through the seven ages of time. In every age, when God had a true church, the devil had a false one, if you please, that would look to Christ, and all they glorified Him for His name was, to take away their reproach. They didn't want to eat His bread, they didn't want to dress like He said dress, with the robes of righteousness. They just wanted the name to take away their reproach. Well, I am here to tell you, that taking the name of Christ will not take away your reproach. Professing the name of Christ, will not take away your reproach. What is reproach? Sin, if you please. In your heart and life and it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to take it away. We must eat this bread that eomes down from heaven or we will still be dead. We can have a name that liveth and still be dead. Our reproach will still be upon us, unless we eat this bread and dress like He says dress. The robes of righteousness are the way Christ wants us to dress. Somebody said, don't you think He meant there, modest apparel and so forth? My friend, He basically means the robes of righteousness

"We will eat our own bread, we will choose what we eat, we will take the part of the Word of God we want and the part we do not want we won't take - but we are going to keep the name." It will never take away your reproach. Amen! The bride of Christ loves the bridegroom And a bride that loves the bridegroom is going to dress like the bridegroom wants her to. He is gone away, but He is coming back after her. Thank God, all the Word of God really is, when you boil it down, is a love letter. It tells us how to find Christ. Then, after we find Him, it tells us how He wants His bride to dress and act, talk and walk; what He wants her attitude to be.

When I was overseas and wrote that I was going to be back in this country a certain time, my father was not very well with heart trouble, but he decided to drive and meet me, and my companion got ready to come along. She began to think how I liked to see her hair fixed the best, what dress I liked to see her in the best, and brother, when I got there and stepped off the truck she was dressed just like I liked to see her. That is just exactly the way the bride of Christ is. She is not worried about surroundings. She is looking for her husband to come after her, Glory be to God, she is going to be fixed up just exactly like she knows it pleases Him. Whether it pleases herself or anybody else, she wants to please Him. Why? That is the way she loves Him. [ End of Part 8 ]

A LITTLE LEAVEN

1. The same old spirit that came up through here, right up through the Gospel Day is working today, the same spirit that causes people to take this attitude -- that we will do what we want, but still want to hold on to the name of Christ. My friend, we want to repeat, that Christ is the living bread. Expcept we eat that, we will have no life in us.

In the sixth chapter of Revelation and the 5th and 6th verses, we see the black horse -­symbolizing the apostasy that moved in on the morning church. There, on that horse is a man with balances in his hand saying, "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny. We hear it taught that that is Roman Catholicism issuing out the Word at a starvation rate. I say, now, I don't believe that Roman Catholicism ever had the true Word. That might seem upsetting, but please, let's go back and read the Book as it is. If Roman Catholicism ever had the Word, why would it be black? How can you give away something that you never had? If you are going to say they had the Word once, then you have to own the fact that they tell the truth when they say they had the Word from the beginning. Sorry to say, I don't believe they ever had it. Stay with me please. That black horse is a symbol of the apostasy.

The morning church apostatized. Someone says, How do you know? The book says so. Let's read here in the 6th chapter of Revelation and read it slow, the 5th and 6th verses. We have to get 'this' to understand our lesson. "And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand." Now, underline this. "And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny." What are the four beasts? -- a symbol of the church through all ages. Who said that? Rome didn't say a measure of wheat for a penny. That came right out of the four beasts. The four beasts said, a measure of wheat for a penny. Apostatizing ministry turned from the Word and measured it out at a starvation rate. What are you going to do with that? It says, a voice came from the midst of the four beasts -- that is the church. God bless your heart, it was the people of God -- let's just analyze a little.

Where do you think that beast or that woman in the 17th chapter of Revelation came from, that was in the wilderness? A good part of that was made up of backslidden individuals, people that had rejected light. A modernizing, apostatizing ministry, if you please, is symbolized by that black horse saying, "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny." Rome did not have the Word to give out. The Scripture said a voice from the midst of the four beasts. Now, that was bad enough back there, but I want you to see something here. Papalism did not hurt the Word and the Spirit. It hurt not the oil and wine. In this apostasy and during papalism, the Word and the Spirit were not hurt. They prophesied all through it. They fed the church in the wilderness all the way through it. You think God had other food for the church in the wilderness? He fed them the same food -- the bread that came down from heaven, the good Word of God. Papalism did not hurt the Word and the Spirit. They turned it down -- they rejected it. You can not hurt the Word of God by rejecting it. That does not change it. What hurt it? 'Right here' is where we hurt the oil and the wine, when they added to the Word and took away from the Word, that is what hurts it, that is what kills it. Somebody said, I don't believe that is right. Well, let's get some Revelation to back us up.

The 11th chapter of Revelation tells us that the Word and the Spirit lived clear through here, for 1260 years they prophesied every day. They had to be alive to preach. They were in sack cloth, but they lived and prophesied --right here is where they laid dead for 350 years. 1530 - 1880. What killed it? When they added that leavening to it my friend, that is what killed the Word. When you add to the Word of God, it is not God's Word any more. That is what killed the Word, my friend, and kills the power of it. You let God's Word be just like it is and it will produce just what He says it will. But when you add to it or take away, it is liable to produce anything. This Word of God is God's Will. The Hebrew writer said in the Hebrew letter that a will is of no affect unless the testator died. What is he talking about? You can write all the wills you want to, but as long as you are still alive they do not amount to anything. Why? You might change your mind. But after you are dead, then that will, my friend, will stand.

Paul said Christ died and signed God's will with His own blood -- that made it of affect. If we will let it be just like it is there, it will prosper in the thing God sent it for. Isaiah said it would. That is where consecration comes in. My father died and left a will. After we had buried him and days past, we went down and the judge read the will and he left everything to mother, but before he would make a move to probate it, everyone of us children had to sign a waiver that we would leave it just like that. After we had all signed the waiver, he said the will will stand. It cannot be broken. It will stand in any court. But, if I had 'raised up' and said, I don't want it that way Judge, I want him to give me so much, the Judge would say, "Listen son, that isn't your dad's will, that is you will." Well, Amen. You know what I am getting at. Let this Word of God stand just as it is. Its power is killed when you try to change it and add to it and revise it, my friend. Nothing but the devil is after this thing, but I thank God for the good old Word of God that stood down through the ages. Men have raised up against it and fought it. We preached here for six or eight days now on the beasts and the spirit and all that have come up against it, but the World still lies this morning. I tell the people, this Word of God is like the old blacksmith's anvil. Every blacksmith comes and lives sixty to eighty years and pounds it and after that, they are gone; but the anvil is still there waiting for the next generation to come and 'pound it a little.'

The Word of God has taken the worst and the most serious pounding of any other thing that was ever given to us, but after all these multiplied hundreds of years and the pounding and the persuading power put on it , she still stands in her fulness today...ready to deliver a people. I think of old Solitare, that got so stirred when people talked of a real experience with God. He just got so stirred he said it took a few ignorant fishermen to establish Christianity and years to do it; I am going to show you how one Frenchman, in one year, can wipe it out of existence, and he set his presses to sending out false and erroneous doctrines against the Word. It was not very long until God called him in death. The Geneve Bible Institute bought his presses and for years his presses were used to press Bibles and his storehouses were filled with Bibles.

You might as well give up fighting against this thing, brother, it will be a rock for you to build on if you 'take it,' but if you turn it down, it will turn around and 'grind you to powder.' That is why, if you please, God is so after Babylon (religious confusion) today. They have raised up against this Word. They won't take it to build on, but God is turning with the Word and grinding them to powder. Papalism did not hurt the Word. Men and women that reject it do not hurt it. The man or woman that is hurting the Word and the Spirit (both of the witnesses), my friend, are those that change it. The Revelation proves it true. I asked you who the plagues are put on. The 18th chapter of Revelation deals with sect babylon, not papalism -- sect babylon. Put here right where she belongs. Sombody said, how do you know? God said, "Come out of her, my people," and God's people never were in Romanism. No...why? To be a child of God, you must be born again and Rome has always fought a born again experience. Brother, God's people were in sect Babylon. It said, "Come out of her, my people." Who does God put the plagues on? The 22nd chapter of Revelation said if any man not reject the word, but adds to it, or takes away from it. If he adds to it I will add to him the plagues. There is the one He is after.

I want you to see something. Whenever Protestantism began to go back and strike up an alliance with Rome or Catholicism, she turned to darkness. And whenever the Church turns to Protestantism and begins to strike up an alliance, she is turned to darkness. The plagues are after that individual that will add to it or take away; won't give it all. If you will read all -- down through Chapter 22 of Revelation, verses 18 and 19, "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things" (you be careful what you preach). We still have to be careful what we preach. Why? We are in a day and age, my friend, when the sickness is being shot , if you please, like a poison arrow out on the saints of God, that is putting groupism in their heads and trying to get them to add just a little bit her, and make one Scripture a little stronger. Trying to get people to do 'this' a certain way or 'that' a certain way, trying to be separate. Better look out! Be sure you have Bible for that, for what you preach, because, brother, if you don't, you are going to get the plagues after you. And you dare not take the least bit away because if you do, it is liable to take your whole part out of the Holy City and your name out. You preach God's eternal Word and it will make a separate people, that is all that is needed. Thank God for His Eternal Truth and what it will do for us. All I am saying is, Let's be sure we have the truth for what we are preaching.

The Word was given at a starvation rate, my friend. The bad part here, remember, the three measures in the 6th chapter of Revelation. Here we still got the Word at a starvation rate, but some old corruption put in with it. That is worse. It is bad enough in the apostasy to go at a starvation rate on the Word, but here we have got three measures of meal again and added to that, some corruption that brings death. Death and hell followed this business, right in here, is death and hell. We read in the Word of God where it comes to pass. What are you talking about? The Word of God tells the thought of today more clearly that this business is the depth of Satan. He scraped the bottom of the barrel when he pulled this deal, to a certain extent. Why? God bless your heart, it is just like taking a glass of milk and putting a few drops of poison in it. It will kill you just as much as if it was all poison and that is just exactly what he did here when he pulled one of his worse ones. He took truth and hid corruption in it, and all people could see was that truth, not realizing there was poison in there, that was killing them as much as if they drank all poison. Hid a little leaven in there until the whole was leavened. It all ended up poison. My Lord and my God, may we see it.

Ah, the deception of this second beast is terrific. We read over in the 13th chapter of Revelation, verse 11, "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth tha earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." Now look here! Here is a deception: "he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast." Now, brethren, I know there is a lot of false fire, but in the very beginning of this thing, Protestantism right here, that old false system of religion, cashed in on God's holy fire, and makes their image. You stop and think a minute. I will make this statement. The Methodist couldn't build their organization today, on the message they are preaching now. How did they do it? They cashed in on that Holy Ghost fire that God dropped in their midst when the fire was in the camp and the sick was healed and holiness was preached and practiced. That old false system of religion, came in and cashed in on the presence of the Holy Ghost and built an organization in the midst of it. I say again, they could not build an organization on the messages they have today -- in their 'deadness and formality.' They cashed in on the fire of God to build that thing. They deceived people by saying, this is God's way, and God moved in their services and blessed the Word that they preached and they cashed in on the moving of the Holy Ghost to build up that false religion or that human organization.

I bring it down to the Church in this evening light. Let me tell you, you cannot do what these evening light brethren done as a whole, with the message they are preaching today. I preached a while in Springfield where Charlie Byers was a faithful trumpeter of God and stood there and had these charts up and preached them and rented the city hall and preached to thousands. He built one congregation of hundreds, and two or three more around him there; through his influence and this Word, that he stood for -- reached on out, Bro. Runyon knows -- God bless your heart, over into Urbanna and around. I told them that they would do well, to water what Charlie Byers built with the message they are preaching today. It takes the real thing; it takes the Holy Ghost fire of God in our midst. I have seen men that were stiff, hard hearted. I have preached to them before. I have seen altar services and they could sit in it, when the saints were weeping and rejoicing, they could sit and never be moved, but I saw the same man running to an altar one night screaming for God to have mercy on him. Why? Brother, you cannot resist the power of God that has backed up God's Eternal Truth when it is being poured out in its fullness. This thing was sent out to save the world, and she will do it, if we will preach it. Sure, it will do it. It has never lost its power.

I say again, my friend, they cashed in, back there in the early days of Protestantism, on God's goodness and God's mercy, and God's power, to build up that human organization. We can see today where the work has taken place. We know that God is rejected. Where is the Holy Ghost Fire? Where is the shouting in the camp? It might have "The Church That Jesus Built" over the door...! Someone said, "Well, Bro. Wilson, where will I go?" Well, let the Holy Ghost lead you. His sheep hear His voice; a stranger's voice they will not hear. Ezekiel said in the 34th chapter, he is gathering them out of all the places they were scattered in the dark and cloudy day and bringing them back and feeding them on the good mountains of Zion. You read it real careful. He said, "I will be in the inhabited places." Now any place that God does not inhabit, you will get no food there. Places that are inhabited by God and His Holy Spirit are where His Word is let live, where His Spirit is moving, that is an inhabited place. God says that is where He is going to feed them.

It is necessary that we be fed. He said that this Word with just a little leaven put in those three measures of meal until the whole was leavened. Let us look how Jesus used leaven. Mark 8:15, He said "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod." Luke

12:1 He said, "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Does that sound like some blessing on the soul? 1 Corinthians, the 5th chapter; see how Paul used it. "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Well, that is just what Jesus said it would do. He said you just put a little leaven in three measures until the whole was leavened.

Now, what was that leaven that was added to the measures of meal -- God's eternal truth, here, that human work? Earthly wisdon, James says, is earthly, devilish and sensual. That was the leaven that was added to the meal until the whole was leavened. This thing here, my friend, and churches that came into being through this era (1530-1880) have become truly and wholly leavened, completely. They are an earthly organization. They have human heads, human governments, human creeds, everything about it is earthly. The word of God has been fulfilled. In Galations, Paul said, "Ye did run well, who did hinder you." Still dealing with leavening -- I want us to see that a little business here won't hurt, isn't so. Let us listen to the Word of God. "Ye did run well, who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth. This persuasion cometh not from him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump," Paul says again.

Now, brethren, the same thing that stopped God's people from walking right here, was the leaven, and the same thing that did its work on God's people in this evening light in the past few years has been a little leaven. Paul said, "purge out the leaven that you may be a new lump," -- that is to the Church. Let us clean up and straighten up and purge out the old leaven. How are you going to get it out? A fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost will purge out the old leaven. We will be a new lump!

THE NEW LUMP

I said the kingdom is likened unto leaven, but it is not leaven. Amen! Now we are getting down to it, we showed you what the kingdom underwent. He said it is likened unto leaven. What is He talking about? It works just like leaven does, but it is not leaven. Brother, it is corruption. While the devil was doing his work here, while old Jezebel was inserting the leaven in, and building up this human work, thank God, the Spirit of God was working down through here too. It was building together a people, a heavenly society, right here on earth. He was getting more and more truth to them and the Spirit of God was bringing their hearts closer and closer together, and getting them ready for this great call at 1880 when He said, "Come out of her, my people." Brother, they were ready to come. God already had them sick of the thing. They were tired of it. They were weary of it. I declare unto you, you talk about God getting a man ready to preach a message; if God really gets a man ready to preach a message, He gets a people ready to hear it. God works on both ends. It will not always be the thousands that will hear you, but if God definitely lays a message on your heart, there will be an honest soul there somewhere that will be just longing to hear that thing. The Word of God said in Isaiah, and we are jumping a little bit ahead, but I can't hold it back! What am I going to do? It's just like eating your beans an bacon, and you see that nice piece of cake and it looks so good you have to take a bite every once in a while and mix it in with the beans.

My friends, I love this evening light message so well that I cannot hardly stay back here long enough to preach about these other things, to bring you up there. There was a sad thing. God's people were sick of it and God's people are sick of it yet today. They were sick of it and wanted to get out of it. All they needed, after God stirred them and got them ready to bring them out of it; all they needed to do was to get ahold of some men; a nucleus there, D. S. Warner and some others. Why do you think He had more than one? God won't let you preach until you are in unity. She got her nucleus there, of men that had prayed down the fire from God, and God had given them a revelation of this evening light, and they could see eye to eye and they went out together and preached it. Old Isaiah said back there in the 11th chapter of Isaiah that the Lord would set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people. How was He going to do it? He said He would lift up an ensign for them to come to. An ensign, my friend, is a flag. I have illustrated it this way before:

When I went overseas we had radio communications and other communications, but at that time when they did not have radio communication, we took the flag over with us, and all rolled up in a tube. Why? It was our standard that we were fighting under. Years back, when a battle would take place over there, hand to hand combat, it would be a terrible masacre. And when the smoke would clear away -- here would be a wounded soldier, and over here one; and every one, no doubt, thought they were the only one left. But what were we instructed? The man that had the flag would get up on the highest hill around there and hoist the flag. Brother, when the flag would go up those soldiers would look and say, "There must be somebody else alive." The flag hoisted was a direct order to a soldier to assemble to the flag. Here they would come from everywhere. Out there laying dispersed they thought they were the only one left. But, thank God, when they began to gather in, they found out they had a pretty good sized army.

Now, God said in these last days He would set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of the outcasts of Israel. How is He going to do it? Thank God, He is telling us flag-bearers to find the highest hill you can, Mt. Zion; get on her and host the flag. Glory be to God! And God's people are coming back to the flag and thank God, they are going to be a people gathered together to fight this last and hottest battle of Armageddon, just as sure as we are here. Poor old saints. I visit them, I hear from them; they are laying out there, many of them, sick and wounded and heartsick over conditions until the devil has them feeling they are the only one left. Thank God, how it cheers their soul to tell them that down here are a lot of people, over there is still a lot, over here is a lot. Just like it was back here in the 11th chapter of Revelation. In 1880, the Word of God said there, that when God called the witnesses out, there were seven thousand slain right in the beginning of the harvest with the sickle. What is that a type of?

Go back to old Elijah, when he thought every one had quit. I'm the only one left and they are going to kill me. God said NO, I still have seven thousand who have never set a Jezebel's table. Brother, right here God still has seven thousand, an answer to that type, who have never set at old Jezebel's table and wouldn't put up with Babylonian captivity.

The kingdom was like leaven. It too has a principle of silent growth. I want to repeat, the kingdom has a principle of silent growth. It is not leaven, but it works somewhat like leaven. What am I talking about? Brother, the grace of God gets in 'that' man, that man gets the Holy Spirit; that man gets it and I get it -- there is a work begins. I didn't know there was a man by the name of Paul Turnbow in the country until a year ago. I didn't know there was a man such as he and he didn't know there was a man such as me. But, brother, that silent thing working within...it began to work and open up paths to where we could come together and set together in Christ Jesus. It will work silently, but the love of God, and the Spirit of God working in our hearts will bring us together just as sure as we keep it. And just like this old leaven here has leavened the whole thing and made it earthly, this spiritually, this Spirit of God within us, it will fill us all in all and make us all one spiritual body.

In the second chapter of Revelation, we read part of this letter. Let me comment just a little. The second chapter of Revelation, verse 18; "And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write: these saith the Son of God." Here we have the church in parable. Remember back in the second parable, a perilous condition when there were tares among the wheat. How did God take care of the situation? He said, "I am going to cast them in a furnace." He started up a furnace work. We proved by the Word of God that Isaiah, in the 33rd chapter said His furnace is in Zion, not in the pits of hell, His furnace is in Zion.

All right, here He comes writing to this church. What has happened here again? Starting out in Lutheranism, my friend, many truly lived by faith. They were sons of God, so how did Christ present Himself in the letter? These things saith the Son of God. Amen! The only letter He addressed that way. Men were actually becoming sons of God here, but, what else were they doing? They were turning around and joining a human work that wouldn't stand the Word of God or stand the fire. Not only did He say, these things saith the Son of God, but these things saith He that hath His eyes as a fire. Someone is going to get burnt. His feet are as fine brass. What does that show? There is going to be a furnace work. Somebody said, how do you know? Rev. 1:15, when John first saw Him, "his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace. God is going to start a fire here and anything that will not stand the fire is going to be consumed, He tells us. You have done good when you become a Son of God. You are on the right foundation, the only foundation. No man can lay any other. That is why old Babylon is built on the bottomless pit, only one foundation laid and that was Jesus Christ and the minute He laid it, He put a building on it. You can only get one building on one foundation, so old Babylon had to build on the bottomless pit.

Now it is one thing to get on the right foundation, but let every man take heed how he build thereon. Why? If any man build using, gold, silver, precious stones; good! They will stand the fire. Those are symbols of truths, but if you get over to wood, hay or stubble, look out! It won't take it because every man's work is going to be tried by fire. 1 Corinthians the 3rd chapter "Every man's sork shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Now, you are going to tell me, that is the end of time when Jesus comes again. I won't agree with you a second. When is the day when our works are tried with fire? -- this day of preliminary judgment from 1880 to approximately 1980. Would you tell me that you are serving a God that would let you build right on wrong, right up to the judgement and then try you and let you be lost. I am not serving that kind of a God. He gives a preliminary judgment here, called the day of His wrath, when He is pouring His wrath out on Babylon, when He is shaking everything that can be shaken and men and women that are not built right have a chance to lay hold aright and build right before He comes.

Someone says, Bro. Wilson, that cannot be it. All right then, there are only two sides to take. If you say that fire, that He is trying people's works with, is not the fire of God's Word in this Gospel, or this day of His wrath here that began with the 6th seal ministry, then you have to agree with the Catholics, that there is a purgatory. You have to take one way or the other. There is no middle ground. Read it. He is going to be put in the fire, his works will burn but he will be saved. Well, that is what the Catholics say. This day of His wrath began here at 1880, and this is the day He is trying men's works. There is more than one man that I could have 'come and testify,' that has come out of Babylon, but the fire of God's Word has burnt up their works. They have come out of Babylon, and they have been saved, but their works had to burn down ther. They started working for God once again. Somebody said, I don't believe that is it. I will give you another Scripture that will prove it. The 14th chapter of Revelation, verse 13. After God had a people gathered back on Mt. Zion, then He said, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth." How come their works do follow? Thank God, any work that you put in on a solid foundation by truth in Mt. Zion will follow you, but your works down in Babylon have to burn with Babylon. That is why it is needful, that you hurry out of there -- that is Bible.

There is a reason for hurting people out of there. A ________ minister that took a stand for truth some time ago, and now another minister ready to take his stand, ( he has already made his move to get his name off the book and get out); but one of the saddest things today, that wounds this brother's heart, is, to think he was a hard worker there and he lead any number of people to the Lord over there, and got them joined up, and now he sees the wrong of the thing, he sees the erroneous doctrine that is going forth, and when he thinks...he lead them in there and got them fastened with it, and now he cannot talk to them to get them out -- it breaks his heart. It will break yours too, when you see the truth in the right way.

The day will declare it, my friend. This is the day of God's wrath we are in, when He is pouring His wrath out on old Babylon.

Who hath His eyes like a flame of fire;...know thy works and thy charity and thy service and faith and patience and thy works, and the last to be more than the first. Nothing more, my friends, than their works 'outrun' God's works. You read on in the closing of the letter. He said, I am going to judge you by your works, but he that keepeth my works. We have got man's works raising up against God's works. Let us read a little farther. "Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." Friends, here is that picture again of false religion. First of all, as a prophetess, a woman who calls herself a prophet. Who is that a type of? This false religion here, of these churches and what kind of preachers have they got? Preachers that call themselves. God never called any man to go out and preach contrary to the Word of God. That would be foolishness. Brother, let me tell you something. If God does not call you, and send you, you will never have the message. Never have. I can call Bro Turnbow up here and say, Come here, I want to send you a message back to Bro. Craig, and whisper it into his ear. Bro. Gunter can say, I am going to go; Bro White can say, I am going to go. And I will say, God right ahead, but you will never tell him the message I sent. A dozen more of you want to go --I say go right ahead, but you will never take my message. I gave it to this man. Amen! The God we serve has never got so hard up, that He is having to choose 'week-kneed,' jelly-fish, worldly minded, unGodly men to carry His message. He will never do it.

A woman who called herself a prophetess, forgetting all about the divine call, is cranking them out. The divine call is being all forgotten. Paul said, how can they believe in whom they have not heard and how can they hear without a preacher, and how can they preach unless they be sent. I say that, for the benefit of young people. God bless your heart -- know that God is leading you. Don't go out and waste a life. Bro. Runyon made an expression I never forgot, because it was right at the time when God was dealing with me. I will never forget it. He made a statement when he was preaching...and maybe it didn't mean much to him, but it did to me. He said the best evidence that a man was called to preach was the fact that he could preach. I never forgot that. God was dealing with my heart. Some elderly sisters in the congregation, when my father was still alive, would ask me, Bro. Wilson, when are you going to preach? Why I just laughed at them and said, what makes you think I am going to preach? But I knew that God was dealing. I kept putting it off and putting it off.

My father was in a tent meeting up there 22 miles north, and in that meeting he got thirty some people out of the ______church, out into the light. We had a quartet. We traveled and sang up there working with him. He spoke to me and had asked me many times before, to 'take the pulpit,' Sunday night, here at home. I said, No, I am going with you and sing. But, brother he spoke that time and I said no, I am going with you and sing, but God turned me over his knee and took all the joy out of my soul, and I went up to my bedroom and cried. There is where I settled it. I said, Lord if this is you I am going to do it, but this if going to be a test. If this is just humanity, just people pressing me ( every preacher wants his son to be a preacher), if this is just dad pressing me, I said, when I get up there tonight, I want you to make me the worst flop I have ever been and make me such a mess, that I will never attempt it again. I meant it. If it is you, you work just as hard the other way and let me know.

Well, they told Sunday morning, that Emerson was going to preach Sunday night and you can just imagine, no one went to the tent meeting, hardly. They wanted to see what I would do. I got over there and saw such a crowd, I couldn't go in the church. I walked up and down in front of the church, crying to God, what am I going to do? I couldn't go to the pulpit stand, I was shaking too much, so I stood over to the song leaders stand an between crying and the thoughts God gave me, I spoke maybe an hour. Before we could give an invitation, 19 people came to an altar of prayer. God spoke to me, just as plain as if you would raise up, and said, is that enough, or do you want some more? I believe He would have saved another altar full, if I would have said that is was not enough. These things are divine. God does not want us feeling our way around and wondering if we are in the place God wants. I can thank God that it has been just as divine all the way along the line. He still works it out.

My father died and I was out in the evangelistic work quite a bit, and the old brethren in the congregation came to me. I just want to tell you it is a divine work. They said, Bro Emerson, you will have to take the church. I said, I can't do it. They said they would be behind me. I said, I know you will be behind me, but what if I preach something you don't like. If you fellows leave me I would not have any foundation and unless God would definitely show me, I will never take it. I will preach here and work with you until God shows us and gets someone. The next Sunday Bro. Mitchell spoke. Our hearts were heavy. Dad had died suddenly. The next Sunday morning, I had a message. God told me to open the book to the first chapter of joshua. I had read it and preached it more than once before that, but when I looked on it that time, it looked like it was italicized. "Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses minister." Brother, I can't tell you what happened to me and the church saw it happening to me and it happened to them too. You can talk about an installation service, brother, we had one. The Holy Ghost did the installing. God taught me a little lesson. He said when your dad lived, he was pastor. You cannot have two heads at once. That is why you did not feel any burden. Now he is gone, just stand up and read this to these people. I stood up and read with tears in my eyes, when I couldn't read. God said just like I was with Moses, I will be with you, if you will be careful to walk in my statutes and ordinances, just like my people did when Moses was living. These things are divine from beginning to end. The whole burden of our heart is to get you back to a divine work. God still knows what He is doing. God will let us know. We can know when we are in the order of God.

The enemy, my friend, the same enemy that worked here, has sowed something among the saints until they feel that you have got to use so much wisdom. I still believe in a God, that when they went to hunt Peter, He told them what the house number was and which side of the street he lived on, and told him he would be on the roof when he got there. It's the same God that told Philip to do down on the road to Gaza. "Go on down there. Well, that is a desert place. What do you want me to go down there for? You will find out when you get there." It wasn't long until there was a congregation came along that he needed to preach to. God will still lead us and work things out in a divine way.

That woman who calls herself a prophetess. You have allowed her to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. I am hurring, but that is a picture of protestantism, my friend, may we see it. I gave her space to repent and she repented not. Brother, God is a just God. He gave all of these, space to repent. He gave Roman Catholicism a good space to repent. When? When He took their own priest (Luther), and had them turn and preach the Gospel to them, that was their space to repent as a false system. He gave Protestantism 350 years sitting under this golden Gospel. She had space to repent, but, brother, Babylon (religious/spiritual confusion) will never repent. She is 'past her space.' Coming right on down, God bless your heart, He is giving us as the professed Church a space to repent. We will get it in the seventh parable. He is giving us as a people a space to repent of this lukewarmness. If you pass it up, the Word of God will teach us on the lesson, in silence in heaven, that the door of mercy will be closed. I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death. Well, brother, it has happened. You know that thing is as dead as it can be. How come it is dead? God said, if you do not repent, I will kill here children with death. Spiritual death has caused that thing. She is dead and formal as she can be. [ End of Part 9 ]

THE WAY OUT OF DARKNESS

 1. In the 17th chapter of Revelation he said "Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment (or truth)of the great whore," old mystery Babylon. She brought forth harlot daughters, and how did she bring them forth? The kings of the earth, or the heads of human organizations committed fornication with her. Now, how did they do that, my friend? The men that head these protestant religions, they commit fornication with Rome, spiritual fornication, with old Rome, mother Babylon. When they set up their human work, took some of that human creed and catechism and mixed it together with God's eternal truth and set up a creed and that is where the baby was born in bed. Come on now, a little harlot daughter came forth. And the Word of God said they take these names of blasphemy. Why - all illigetimate children take their mother's name. Why? Because there has been no marriage, just been a work of adultery or fornication.

"I'll kill her children with death and all her churches shall know that I am He that searcheth the reins and the heart and I will give unto every one of you according to your work" -- what is He talking about? Brother, here is a human operated something, men operating church doors and taking people in. God said I am going to do a work here that all men will know that I am the one that searcheth the heart, that men cannot take men in churches and put them out, because they cannot see their hearts. I want every one to know that He said "I am the one that searcheth the reins of the heart." The 17th chapter of Jeremiah, the 9th verse, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Someone said, well I know my heart. Better look out! That old heart is deceitful. OH, I have a new one. Look out! It will still cover you up and put all the blame on somebody else. The heart is deceitful, it is desperately wicked, who can know it?

Christ said, "I search the heart, I try the reins." Brother, when you won't let God search it, it just is not searched. Throw your heart's door open and let God search it. "I try the reins." What for? To give every man the fruit of his way. My Lord, may we throw our hearts open to God and let Him search us and then, own us.

"But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine." Who did He write it to? The angel of the church. Thank God, the pastor of this outfit was a good man of God. He had not got into it yet. Jesus said unto you, and unto the rest at Thyatira that have not this doctrine, -- what doctrine? This doctrine of Jezebel. God had good people in there that would not bow to that thing. They would have no part of it. They would not join any church. Unto you pastor, and the others that have not this doctrine, and the next verse said, "and which have not known the depths of Satan." Men today would have you think that it is higher culture, greater liberty. The Word of God says it is the depth of Satan. He has got a special message for God's people down there. "But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you no other burden. But that which ye have already, hold fast till I come."

Do you think He meant the second coming there? No, hold fast to that truth you have until I come with greater truth. Somebody said, "How do you know?" Because the next letter said, strengthen the things that remain. Amen! He is going to come with light on holy living or holiness, and it will strengthen that which He held onto here. "But that which ye have already hold fast till I come, and he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end..." My friend, the end of this Jezebel age, "to him will I give power over the nations." Praise God!

What is the first thing He is going to give? Power. And you get that when the Holy Ghost comes. To him that overcometh this age right here (1530-1880) I will give you power over all nations. That is one thing you are going to get. The next thing, you are going to take a rod of iron and you know that is -- the Word of God. If you overcome this business, you can have the Word and the Spirit just like the morning church had. "And He shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father." Thank God, you know the rod of iron is the Word of God, that the church was supposed to take and reign. You go back to the 12th chapter of Revelation and the 5th verse, the man child, what was he given? A rod of iron that he might rule all nations, but the man child was cought up to meet God, but here the church is coming out of the wilderness and what is God going to give her? The same rod of iron the man child had back there (33-270AD) when he fought the dragon -- and what will he do with it? You can reign over all nations, you can rule over all nations and what will it do to old babylon? That rod of iron will break here like a potters vessel is broken to shivers. You might as well tell me that the potter can make an old clay pot that you could stand and beat on it with an iron rod and not break it, as to take this Word and work on Babylon and not hurt her. Brother, I declare unto you, that when the Church has sworn alliance with old babylon, you can remember they left the rod at home because about the first time you use the rod down there it would break her to pieces. About like, hitting a glass jar.

What else did He do? Give you the morning star. The Word of God declares Him to be so. You are going to get Christ in His fullness. You are going to get Him as the head when you people come out here and be the body, you will get the Head, if you please.

Now, here we see the Church is on the way out. She was in the wilderness. There were two questions that always bothered me when I started out in the ministry, and never could find a man that could answer it, and I couldn't find it in any of the books. Maybe you never questioned it, but I wanted to know how the church got out of the wilderness. I read in the 6th seal ministry... They would take her in there and the next thing I knew thay showed her out her on Mt. Zion, but no one ever brought her out until I stayed before God's face and He showed me. Isaiah the 35th chapter tells you how. An highway will be there, a highway of holiness, the unclean will not pass over it. Where will that highway be? Right here my friend where the desert begins to blossom like a rose. When Christ comes into your heart and life an highway will be there. The unclean will not pass over it, but it will be for those, the redeemed will walk and come to Zion. How did the church get out of the wilderness? On the highway of holiness.

The minute Martin Luther began to preach on holiness, thank God, he began to lay the highway down. Wesley's came and built it a little farther; they got it up to 1880. The saints were heading back to Zion.

They did not all know it, but that is where the highway of holiness leads to. Brother, the minute holiness was preached, a highway began to be layed before the saints. They reached 1880 and D.

S. Warner and others laid the last few miles, and later on into Zion and the people of God came on back to Zion with songs of everlasting joy on their heads; they obtained joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing flee away. Jesus warned us in the 24th chapter of Matthew about many false Christs and deceivers. What did He say? "Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth." If Christ was there, there would be no desert. When Christ is there, it blossoms like a rose. He also said, do not go in any of the secret chambers, because He wouldn't be there either. You know where Christ is? Whereever He can find a body to put His head on. The Son of man had no where to lay His head until He could get a people baptized with the Holy Ghost of God. Baptized into one body. He will put His head on that body.

Do you know where the trouble is today? We are trying to preach a great, big, beautiful, strong head, and a poor, little old withered up, dried up body. People cannot see the head. Jesus said you can't. But they can see the body here. The Word of God, my friend, was given, Paul said, that we might grow up into a perfect man. He wants the body to be as glorious as the head. Why? Man does not see the head. They see the body. They see what the head is producing. They see the head is leading the body and the way it works. Why, don't you know, friends, you go to a lot of places around some church congregations, a sinner would think that God has died and the Church was holding His funeral. Oh, No! He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the God of the living too. Let us find this life, let us overcome.