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THE HIDING AWAY OF THE CHURCH DURING THE INDIGNATION
Reprinted from The Midnight Cry Messenger (October
1995)
Written by Chief Bishop Samuel Doffee (1995):
This material is not to be republished in any Internet publication or any
other publication without the express permission of the author. Anyone
wishing to study this material is welcome to do so
By: Chief Bishop Samuel Doffee
Revelation 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a
great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where
she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face
of the serpent.
In this article I would
like to show from the scriptures what God is saying to His people concerning
the Second Coming of Jesus that we might prepare ourselves and all who
will listen (or hear) to escape the Great Tribulation which is the wrath
of God to come. Ministers are preaching and teaching that we, the
church and all believers in the Lord Jesus, will not have to worry when
God will pour out His wrath. It is being taught and preached from
behind pulpits, on television, on radio, and in church newsletters that
we will all be raptured up during that time to be with the Lord until the
Great Tribulation is over.
I have written letters to ministers asking for scriptures that
will support this doctrine. I have searched the scriptures and cannot
find one that says we will be raptured up and be with the Lord Jesus until
the tribulation is over and then come back to earth to reign with Jesus
Christ for 1,000 years. However, I do find scriptures in the Word
of God that the Church, when she is made ready, will be given two wings
of a great eagle to fly into the wilderness (not raptured up), to be nourished
and cherished for a time, and times, and half a time, which is 3½
years, from the face of the serpent. (Rev. 12:14)
THE TWO WINGS
In Exodus 19:4 God said, ". . .ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians
and how I bare you on eagles' wings and brought you unto myself."
The two wings that will be given to the Church to fly into the wilderness
are none other but men that God will choose to get His Church ready to
take to the hiding place that God has prepared for her. There God
will care for her until the seven plagues of the seven angels are fulfilled.
Revelation 15:8 - "And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory
of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple,
till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled."
As God chose Moses and Aaron to gather His people (the children of Israel)
together and bring them out of the land of Egypt where they had been in
bondage for 430 years, away from Pharoah and his army, which were the forces
of Satan. It was there that God saw the afflictions of His
people and heard their cry and knew their sorrows by reason of their taskmasters.
God sent Moses and Aaron down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians
to bring them into the land that flows with milk and honey (Exodus 3:7-8).
Meaning that God had a place chosen for them to go that they may worship
the Lord their God in peace. This same plan will God use for us today
to escape the Great Tribulation. God will have a place for us in
the wilderness for a period of time and then we will be brought out into
the Promised Land to reign with Jesus for 1,000 years. Paul said
in Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to day, and forever.
Therefore, let us not think that God will change His plan for us today,
for He will not change His Word for any man.
DISCIPLES ASK JESUS FOR THE SIGNS OF HIS SECOND COMING
In Matthew 24:3, the disciples went to Jesus privately and asked
Him to give them a sign of His second coming. The first thing Jesus
said in verse 4 was to take heed (meaning - be aware) that no man deceive
you, for many will come, in My name, saying, I am Christ, and that they
would deceive many. Verse 12 shows that many false prophets shall
arise and shall deceive many and because iniquity (sin) shall abound the
love of many would wax cold - just as it is happening today - bringing
about the great falling away that Paul said would take place in II Thessalonians
2:3: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not
come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition;.
Ministers of God today are turning away from the true plan of
God and mapping out their own way to escape the Great Tribulation and leaving
the Word of God behind. Also in verse 24, Jesus warned His disciples
when He told them that there would arise false Christs and false prophets,
and they shall do such great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were
possible the very elect, which is the Church (the chosen), will be deceived.
Thanks be unto God and the Lord Jesus Christ for He promised in verse 22
that He will shorten the days for the elect's sake.
THE SIGN OF NOAH
Jesus said in Matthew 24:38-39, For as in the days that were before the
flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until
the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came,
and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
To find out how it was in the days of Noah, let us go to Genesis 6:1-2,
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth,
and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters
of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they
chose. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
These scriptures
show that the sons of God (which were the children of God) had gotten themselves
involved with the people of the world and it caused God to repent that
He ever made man and decided to send a flood to destroy them all.
We find in Genesis 6:8 that there was a man whose name was Noah that found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. This man Noah God chose to build an
ark for his household and all the animals that were to be in the ark so
they would be saved from the flood (which was the wrath of God for their
day and time) which would destroy the people.
In verse 17 and 18, He told Noah that He would destroy all flesh wherein
is the breath of life, and only Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives,
would go into the ark and escape the wrath of the flood. Can you
visualize one man out of all those people? But it's so. Notice
- God chose Noah - a man - to build an ark for the saving of his household
and all the animals that were to be in the ark would be saved from the
flood, but all that were not in the ark would be destroyed by the flood
of water. We find in Hebrews 11:7: "By faith Noah, being warned
of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the
saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir
of the righteousness which is by faith. So Noah built the ark according
to the pattern as God commanded and he completed the ark for the saving
of his house.
After completing the ark,
Noah had seven days to get his family and all the animals moved into the
ark before the flood came because God had told him (verse 4), For yet seven
days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights;
and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the
face of the earth. Notice - Noah had the ark done when God told him
he had seven days' time to get all in the ark before the flood came.
We will have seven years to have the Church ready to be hid away before
the Great Tribulation takes place. Also, in Genesis 7:11, we find
that Noah was 600 years old when he went into the ark and he worked on
the ark for approximately 100 years. If you rightly divide the Word
of God, the end of the 6000th year will be the time when we will go into
our place of refuge (hiding) from God's wrath and it will be at the beginning
of the 7000th year (the day of rest) that we will come from the hiding
place for the millennial reign.
I want you to notice in
Genesis 7:23 that not everybody went into the ark - only Noah and his family.
The reason that no one else went into the ark was because no one would
listen to Noah, the servant of God. The Word of God says that he
preached that God was going to send His wrath upon the earth for about
80-100 years and no one would listen. So when the time came, Noah
and his family went into the ark, the door was shut, and all the people
that would not listen were shut outside and perished. According to
Matthew 25, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven unto ten virgins who are
slumbering and sleeping (in the Word) while Jesus is sitting at the right
hand of the Father. While the ten virgins were slumbering and sleeping,
Jesus said in verse 6, at midnight there will be a cry made - meaning "Wake
up, you people of the Lord, and take heed, for Jesus is coming for His
bride." Verse 10 shows that when the bridegroom came, they that were
ready went into the marriage with him and the door was shut. Just
like all that went into the ark with Noah and the door was shut, and those
that had not listened to Noah were left outside and could not get in anymore.
They had to go through the flood and lose their life. So shall it
be for the kingdom of God today. Many will not listen to the servant
God has chosen and will not know the truth until it is too late and the
door is shut. They too will have to lose their life by not taking
the mark of the Beast during the time of the Great Tribulation. So
you see, it is imperative that we sharpen our swords (the Word), dust off
our Bibles and study, not just listen to what someone tells us, but see
for ourselves in the Word of God.
EXAMPLE: LOT and SODOM AND GOMORRAH
Lot is another example that
the Lord used concerning His second coming. We find this in Luke
17:28-29: Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat,
they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the
same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven,
and destroyed them all. Notice - God did not destroy the city until
Lot, his wife, and his two daughters were out of the city.
Now to find out how God
delivered Lot and his family, or whosoever would listen, let's go to Genesis
19:1. We find that God sent two angels to Sodom in the evening.
They met Lot sitting at the gate of Sodom and he rose up to meet them,
bowing himself with his face to the ground. (*Golden Nugget - These
two are an example of the two witnesses who are in the Book of Revelation.)
In Genesis 19:12, the angels (or men) told Lot to get himself, his sons-in-law,
and his sons and daughters, whomsoever was righteous in Sodom, together
and get out of the city for God had sent them to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah
for the sins and wickedness of the people (v. 13).
In verse 14, Lot went immediately
out into the city and told his sons what God had said - to get up and leave
the city. I want you to notice, when Lot talked to his family (sons,
daughters, etc.), it seemed to be a mockery to them. (They probably
felt also that they would be raptured out of there, or at the very least
that such a thing could not happen and even if they believed there was
a God, that He was a loving God and would not do such a thing - just like
people today.) Genesis 19:15 says: And when the morning arose,
then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two
daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity (sin)
of the city. Genesis 19:17: And it came to pass, when they
had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look
not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain,
lest thou be consumed. Genesis 19:19-20: Behold now, thy servant
hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which
thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the
mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city
is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither,
(is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. Genesis 19:22-23:
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come
thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun
was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
JOB WANTED TO HIDE FROM THE INDIGNATION OF GOD
Job, after he had gone through
all he did, asked the Lord to hide him in the grave. Job 14:13:
O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret,
until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and
remember me! Now why would Job ask the Lord to hide him in the grave
until the wrath was over if there would be a resurrection to be raptured
away before the wrath started? The answer is found in Revelation
14:13 where John wrote: And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto
me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their
works do follow them. This scripture shows that all those that die
in Christ or in the Lord Jesus are safe from the wrath of God and the flood
that the devil will pour out upon all them that are still living.
Where does that leave the
believers? Only the true Church and those who will believe the Midnight
Cry message (according to Rev. 14) will be taken (hidden) away to the wilderness,
a place prepared of God, to be nourished for times, and time, and half
a time, which is 3½ years from the face of the serpent (the devil).
This church is found in Revelation 14:1-5: And I looked, and, lo,
a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four
thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard
a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a
great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four
beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred
and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.
These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were
redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before
the throne of God. Not defiled with women does not mean natural women,
but other man-made church doctrines which are not in the Word of God.
These are people who follow the Lamb (in the Word of God) in whatsoever
He says in the Word to do (this is the Church that will be hidden away
during the time of the Great Tribulation - Rev. 15-7). They are without
fault before God.
THE GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES
Therefore, as Paul stated in
Hebrews 12:1, "Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses"
- Noah going into the ark to be saved from the flood which was the wrath
of God in his day and time; Lot and his two daughters going into the little
city of refuge until Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed; Job wanting to be
in the grave until the wrath of God be over; the Church today hidden away
in the wilderness until the wrath of God in the Great Tribulation be over.
"Let us lay aside every weight and sin which doeth so easily beset us and
let us run with patience the race that is set before us." and do what Zephaniah
2:1-3 says to do: Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together,
O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day
pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before
the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all
ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness,
seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.
Isaiah 26:1: In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah;
We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Isaiah 34:1-2: Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people:
let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things
that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD is upon all
nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed
them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Revelation 22:8,
10-14: And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had
heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which
shewed me these things. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings
of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is
unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy
still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that
is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and
my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to
the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
INVITATION TO ALL PEOPLE
AS ISAIAH THE PROPHET WROTE
(ISA. 1:18-20), SO SAY I UNTO YOU: Come now, and let us reason together,
saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white
as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the
mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Take heed, therefore, when
you see these things in the world coming together, because the Word and
prophecy will also come together at the same time. God is looking
for a people who will get together and study the Word of God and are willing
to live according to His Word. Just because we are living in a modern
time does not mean the Bible should turn modern also. The Bible is
the same today as it was in the early times. The Early Church is
just an example of what the Latter Church should be. God has not
changed. Don't let the world fool you into thinking you have to have
a simpler Bible to understand the Word. Those who change the Word
of God have a price to pay before God. Wake up, children of God,
and see that Satan is trying to deceive the world with cunning craftiness
by changing the Word of God to fit an easier, more modern, way of life.
I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT CLEAR TO ALL PEOPLE THAT I DO BELIEVE IN
THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, BUT I BELIEVE IT WILL HAPPEN AT THE END OF THE
WORLD - NOT THE END OF THE AGE (THE AGE OF GRACE AS WE KNOW IT).
If you have any questions about this message, or if you are looking
for a Church that is conforming to the Body of Christ as the Bible teaches,
with doctrine that is sound and true, please contact us at the address
on this Messenger. We are looking for men and women who want to live
according to Bible scripture. John 4: 23-24: "But the hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth." AMEN
To the Beginning
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