KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

Among the various types of our Lord's return is His coming unto us AS THE RAIN. The world cannot receive the Christ today because it SEETH Him not, neither KNOWETH Him. But to all whose hearts hunger and thirst for the fullness of His presence, power and glory the promise is sure: "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and HE SHALL COME UNTO US AS THE RAIN, as the latter and former rain unto the earth" (Hos. 6:3). The apostle James, speaking of the coming of the Lord, penned these significant words: "Be patient therefore, brethren, UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he (it) receive THE EARLY AND LATTER RAIN. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the COMING OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH" (James 5:7-8). Furthermore, the prophet Zechariah gives us this inspiring admonition of hope: "Ask ye of the Lord RAIN IN THE TIME OF THE LATTER RAIN; so shall the Lord make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field" (Zech. 10:1). In that beautiful messianic Psalm, Psalm 72, the sweet singer of Israel intoned these marvellously instructive words about the coming of the King of Glory: "HE SHALL COME DOWN LIKE RAIN upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth" (Ps. 72:6). Little wonder that the scriptures reiterate again and again that the Lord comes WITH CLOUDS; for there can be no rain without clouds, and we are exhorted to ask for rain, via the avenue of clouds (Zech. 10:1).

Thus the prophets foretold a coming time of the manifestation of the Lord as rain upon the earth, the former rain, and the latter rain. They spoke of a time when there would be an outpouring of the Spirit of Christ in the earth that would be known as the early or former rain; they also prophesied of a time when there would be an outpouring of the Spirit of Christ in the earth that would be known as the latter rain. The early or former rain was the outpouring or visitation of the Lord that you can read about in your Bible in the book of Acts. The latter rain began about the turn of this present century. Historically you will find sovereign outpourings of the Holy Spirit in all kinds of places from about 1885 onward; places like Armenia and Russia, places you wouldn't dream of. God was beginning to restore something! At the turn of this century the baptism in the Holy Spirit was restored to God's people. Talk about a bomb going off! The latter rain had begun.

In America in 1899 a Methodist minister, Charles Parham, had a little Bible School in Topeka, Kansas. These people had been through the traditional Holiness teachings of salvation, justification through the blood, divine healing, sanctification etc., and in their studies they came to a subject called the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Brother Parham said to his student body, "Boys, I've got to go away for two or three days; I want you to search the scriptures about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and tell me what you find." He returned on schedule and unanimously they had discovered from the scriptures that the evidence for having received the baptism in the Holy Spirit was speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. With the realization that they obviously had not received this endueument of power, they commenced to search their hearts and seek the Lord for the outpouring of Himself.

At the end of that year, at a watchnight service, the hour of midnight struck as the small company of students and faculty continued in prayer, waiting upon the Lord, scarcely knowing what to expect, yet following undauntedly the faith which had been kindled deep within their spirits as the whisper of the Spirit had grown to a mighty thunder within their consciousness: "HE shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost!"  Suddenly, over the the assembled company there came the passing of the Divine breath!  A woman began to quiver slightly... the rhythmic quivering of a leaf rippled by the wind... and beautifully, forcefully, distinctly there flowed from her lips ecstatic utterances which soon became a language... unintelligible to the kneeling company, but without doubt a language. Rising to investigate the phenomenon further, they beheld a blue flame-like fire playing about her head, as she gladly and joyfully yielded herself to the Holy Spirit of God. Although many groups of intercessors over the country were not present to witness that small and humble beginning, God had ordained that as the next few years quickly passed, the whole world was to hear of what He had done on that New Year's morning at the turn of the century. And by the time the century had run its course, multiplied scores of millions of believers would have shared the blessing of the experience.

There were seasonal rains in Palestine, the former rain and the latter rain. The former or early rain was the rains that came at the time when the seed was planted in the ground, and speaks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the early or former part of this age. The latter rain was the rain which came about six months later to bring the harvest to maturity and speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit in the latter part of the age. When a farmer plants the seed for a new crop, he desires the early rain to water the fields and to promote the immediate growth of that seed. In like manner, when the seed of the Kingdom was first planted in the early Church, the Lord then came as THE EARLY RAIN so that the seed would germinate and produce the desired life. Again, when the farmer sees that his crop is growing unto maturity, he then desires THE LATTER RAIN so that the grain will mature in the head of the plant and his harvest will be abundant. The harvest was the result of the rain. During Jesus' earthly ministry, He preached in the cities and villages of Judea, healing their sick and preaching the Kingdom of God. He looked at the multitudes and saw them as scattered sheep, having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore THE LORD OF THE HARVEST, that He will send forth laborers into HIS HARVEST" (Mt. 9:35-38). Thus it is established that the harvest of the earth is "HIS HARVEST," for Christ is the Lord of the harvest, and He will see that the grain is matured and the harvest is reaped. He is, furthermore, the rain that falls upon the harvest!

We must also understand that not only dispensationally is there the manifestation of the former and latter rain, but individually, too, on the plane of our personal development in Christ. As one has written, "The Husbandman plants His seed, and He shall receive His harvest. However it requires long patience, for there are some tremendous processings required to bring it to that RIPENED harvestable state. There will be the early rains to make the seed sprout and grow. There will be the latter rains to close out the growing season and give fullness to the corn in the ear. There will be the hot drying days as it matures and ripens - and patiently the Husbandman waits. Yet suddenly He announces THE TIME IS NOW - conditions are just right, let us reap. 'We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus...' (Eph. 2:10). We are the PRODUCT of His hand. HE COMES TO US, He becomes in us the Seed, then He visits us periodically - 'the times of refreshing which come from the presence of the Lord' (Acts 3:19). HE is our early rain which causes our life in Him, His life in us, to sprout and grow. Visitation after visitation, change after change, going from strength to strength - IF WE RECEIVE HIM IN EACH VISITATION. All of God's times are related to certain spiritual states, and we have to be in the right state and condition to be in its corresponding time. There is a right spiritual state wherein that which was either past or future becomes NOW. Others may have experienced it long ago, but I wasn't ready for it then. Some will not be ready for it for a long time to come. But our prayer is that HE WILL WORK IN US, DOING A QUICK WORK, CUTTING IT SHORT IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, that we might come into the 'now' of its fulfillment. Thus we pass from vision into reality, from profession into possession" - Gospel Echoes.

On the day of Pentecost, God, the husbandman, poured out the first rain of His Spirit on' His newly planted crop of believers to commence the growing season that would one day yield a harvest of spiritual fruit the husbandman Himself could eat and enjoy. These branches from the rod of the stem of Jesse (Isa. 11:1), as a result of cultivating, pruning, watering, fertilizing and finally drenching, with the latter rain of His Spirit, would yield the precious full ripe fruit of love, joy peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Gal. 5:22-23). This is nothing less than man in the express image of God! That initial outpouring was like the great volume of fuel that blasts our rockets out of earth's gravitational pull. So it is, the Spirit blasted those early believers out of the gravitational pull of the things of this world, into the second heavens of Pentecost or the Holy Place.

A graphic and eloquent description of the glory of the former rain has been given by George Hawtin in his booklet BEHOLDING THE MORE EXCELLENT GLORY. He writes, "So great was that outpouring that by the end of the century one-twentieth of the entire Roman Empire had been converted to Christ, and by the year 300 A.D. Christianity far exceeded paganism. Following Peter's sermon at Pentecost, three thousand souls were saved and the day following another five thousand were saved. In the days following multitudes both of men and women turned to the Lord. Mighty signs and wonders were done by all of the apostles. By Paul's hand God wrought special miracles. The sick were brought and laid in the street that the shadow of Peter failing upon them might bring healing to their bodies. The glory of that former rain beggars description. Truly they had been baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost and the heavenly 'wind' was blowing whithersoever it listed. This was a mighty manifestation of THE GLORY OF GOD. This was GOD'S GLORY falling as rain among the people and filling their hearts with joy and gladness, transforming their lives and making them sons of God.

"Something happened to those saints at Pentecost that needs much more investigation than we have ability to give in this brief article, but let it be known that these people had been BAPTIZED WITH FIRE. Tongues of fire had rested upon them, burning up every trace of sin and carnal nature. I may be wrong, but I am persuaded that the Lord did for them at Pentecost in a moment of time that which other men must take a life time to attain. Their words were burning, flaming words of truth. Their miracles were on a par with the miracles of Jesus Christ. Their lives were radiant, shining suns, manifesting forth the glory of the Lord everywhere they went. Evil men killed them, but they could not resist the power and glory with which they spoke. THE GLORY that filled the typical temple of Solomon's day was the SAME GLORY that filled the living temple at Pentecost. Pentecost was the early rain given moderately, but it was glorious beyond description. In centuries past the Lord had filled temples made by human hands, but at Pentecost He was putting His Spirit in the hearts of men to form a temple not made with hands, a temple from which He will govern the world in the ages of glory yet to come" -end quote.

Glorious beyond description was that mighty outpouring of God's glory at Pentecost! But as highly as we might esteem the wonders of that heavenly visitation, it was only the former rain moderately. Turning now to Hos. 6:3 we read, "HIS going forth is prepared as the morning; for HE shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." Then from Young's Literal translation, "As the dawn prepared is His going forth, and He cometh in as a shower to us, as the gathered rain - sprinkling earth." There are two qualifying words to which I would draw your reverent attention. "LATTER" rain, with this word "latter" from the Hebrew MALQOSH, meaning GATHERED or HEAVY rain. While the "FORMER" rain comes from the Hebrew word YARAH, meaning SPRINKLING or FIRST rain. Thus, the former rain moderately is showers of sprinkling rain, whereas the latter rain is cloud bursts of heavy torrential downpours - copious effusions of the Spirit!

The latter rain showers commenced before the turn of this century. But in 1948 there occurred an unprecedented cloudburst of glory. A number of important events transpired in the year 1948, unmistakably marking that year as a significant milestone in the shaping of world events which would signal the final drama in this end of the Church age and the emergence of the new order of the Kingdom of God. In 1948 Israel (Judah) became a nation. In that same year the United Nations Organization was created. Also, the National Council of Churches was formed. And 1948, without a precedent in sacred or secular history, was the scene and action of a MOVE OF GOD'S SPIRIT which constitutes one of the epochs of all the ages. Streams of events which began their flow before the foundation of the world, and which will flow on through the vast ages of time into the oceans of eternity, met and converged at this point.

I now quote from a report written by one of the ministries who was a student and who was present at the time the revival broke. "For many years great numbers of consecrated Christians had been fasting and praying for long seasons that God would restore the gifts of the Spirit to the Church. In 1947 in the month of September several of the brethren were led of the Lord to open Sharon Bible College in North Battleford, Canada. The opening of the school brought a great burden for fasting and prayer upon all of the students and the staff. This settled down until it seemed that not a day passed by for months unless some were in fasting and prayer. Some fasted for three days; some for seven; some fasted for ten days; some for two weeks; some for three weeks; some for thirty days; and one man fasted for forty days. After many weeks of serious fasting and prayer, came the eleventh day of February, 1948. I shall never forget those days as long as I live. How the Spirit of the Lord came down was indescribable!

"I remember a prophecy being given by one of the young women in the Bible School, saying that we were on the verge of a great Move of God, and that all we had to do was enter the door - but I said, 'Father, we do not know where the door is, neither do we know how to enter it.' It was on the twelfth day of February that God showed us by the Spirit how to enter in through this door. On that morning one of the teachers rose to prophesy. All of the students were kneeling. He prophesied by the Spirit of God for about half an hour. During the prophecy, He called the whole school to great reverence and said that we must walk in the fear of God. Then there was a warning that we should not mention to anyone what was transpiring at the school. As the prophecy went on, these earth-shaking words were given by the Spirit of God: 'REMOVE THE SHOES FROM OFF THY FEET FOR THE GROUND UPON WHICH THOU STANDETH IS HOLY GROUND ... AT THIS TIME I WILL RESTORE UNTO MY CHURCH ALL NINE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT, AND THEY SHALL BE GIVEN BY PROPHECY, WITH THE LAYING ON OF THE HANDS OF THE PRESBYTERY.' This we knew was according to the Word of God, but we had not been able to understand it until the moment when it was revealed by the Spirit of God. The prophecy went on to say, 'I will indicate from time to time by My Spirit they that should be called to be prayed over to receive their gifts of the Spirit.'

"The next day, February 13, we searched the Word of God practically all day to see if these things that had been prophesied were according to God's Word. We found that Paul had said to Timothy, 'Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery...' (Tim. 4:14). And, 'Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the laying on of my hands' (II Tim. 1:6). We found how that king Saul had received the gift of prophecy by having this gift prophesied to him by Samuel. We saw how Joshua had received the Word of Wisdom when Moses laid his hands upon him. We read how Paul wrote to the Romans, 'For I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift...' (Rom. 1:11).

"On the fourteenth day of February - I can never begin to properly describe the things that happened on that day. It seemed that all Heaven broke loose upon our souls and Heaven came down to greet us. The power and glory of God was indescribable. Men and women were prophesied over and received the various gifts of the Spirit. To some it was prophesied that they would receive the gift of healing and immediately they began to heal the sick. Discernment of spirits was given and the influence of evil spirits was discerned, and these evil spirits were cast out. Some received the gift of faith, and faith began to operate mightily in our midst. Men and women prophesied like a mighty river. Heaven had truly come down to meet us. We sang new songs in the Spirit, songs that had never been sung before. Soon the multitudes were coming to North Battleford from the north, the south, east, and west. A new day arrived for the people of God. This was only the beginning!

"Soon the Lord restored unto us the ministries of apostles and prophets. All traditions and man-made divisions (denominations) were left behind. The elect remnant of God from the four winds were beginning to come together, destined to go on to perfection, ultimately to be filled with all the fullness of God and finally to stand in the last day as manifested sons of God, prepared to rule and reign in His glorious Kingdom. From now on we would be known only as 'Christians.' The last day 'Move of God,' the restoration spoken of by all the holy apostles, had begun. Its power and influence would grow until one day it would fill the whole earth. God would require of us a level of consecration and dedication never before dreamed of. We ceased to build our own little man-made kingdoms and began together to build the Kingdom of God. That was how it all began. There was much more that we would yet learn over the years" -end quote.

The effect of the move of God that began in Canada in 1948 soon spread around the whole world, and there are few places that have not felt its power in one way or another. It swept across North America, and over the continent of Europe; and also through Latin America, far away India, New Zealand, Australia, Korea and portions of Africa. God has done a great and mighty thing, but this is only the beginning. A mighty army of saints is in preparation as overcomers to take the Kingdom and rule and reign with Christ over the nations. Events of immense magnitude and universal significance loom bright upon the horizon!

Every revival, or time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord began with a visitation from God expressed in a firstfruit people who tapped a high vibration of praise and worship. In 1949 in Tulsa, Oklahoma a minister had purchased a large tabernacle down town and preached every night for months to two or three women. One night before service, he sat in his office with his head in his hands, discouraged, not knowing what to do. Someone came running in shouting, "You won't believe this!" He arose and walked to the auditorium and saw the place was packed. A little woman far in the back began to prophesy through song, "This is the latter rain the Lord has promised unto thee." From that a worship broke forth in the people and for eight months, night and day, God appeared in one of the greatest visitations since the day of Pentecost. The newspaper reported that one night a neighbor sitting on his front porch looked over and saw fire on top of the building. He called the fire wagons, but there was no natural fire to be found. Something sat on that building as cloven tongues of fire and that is how the latter rain began in that city.

In those glory days at the beginning of the latter rain cloudburst, as the saints were gathered together by the Spirit and in the power of God, the entire gathering, whether ten or ten thousand in number, would all break forth into spiritual songs and psalms and hymns, and would all sing the same song BY THAT SAME SPIRIT. One brother related the example of a large congregation singing Handel's Messiah, from beginning to end, singing every word and every note in divine harmony, under the anointing of the Spirit, although no one in the congregation knew Handel's Messiah. The Lord also revealed that as He was able to teach a gathering of believers to sing the Messiah, repeating every word and note in correct harmony, SO IS HE ABLE TO TEACH HIS PEOPLE TRUTH AND A PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM. And when the Holy Spirit imparts truth to His people, that truth becomes LIFE which can never be taken away from them. Glory!

The Word of God is very clear in its teaching, and both Old Testament and New Testament history confirm the fact that all the great revivals and movings and manifestations of the Lord through past centuries were the result of prevailing prayer and intercession with fasting. Elijah was a man of prayer and intercession and wrought wonderful things thereby. Daniel, on one occasion, prayed unceasingly for three weeks, during which time he seems to have abstained from pleasant bread and wine and all other gastronomic delights. After twenty-one days of fasting, confession, and consecration he was visited by the angel Gabriel, who enlightened him with an understanding of the ages as was never before revealed to man. The longest recorded fast in the Bible was the fast of Moses, the man of God, who, after fasting in the mount of the Lord for forty days, fell down at the sight of Israel's idolatry and continued fasting for a second forty days, apparently without touching food at all (Deut. 9:9-18). Paul said that he was often in fasting (II Cor. 11:27), and clearly stated that he approved himself as a minister of God by labors and watchings and fastings (II Cor. 6:5). The Lord Jesus Christ commenced His ministry with what we call a "prophet's fast," a fast of forty days duration. The entire forty days were spent completely without food, and during those days of severe temptation He gained complete victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil and angels came to minister to Him. Jesus returned from that encounter in the POWER OF THE SPIRIT; and so will all men return who lay aside natural things that they may freely partake of spiritual things.

When the rain of the Spirit is withheld from the Lord's people, the church systems of man attempt to stir up some spurious revivals, conjuring up their own blessings, all the while demonstrating the pathetic emptiness and spiritual bankruptcy of their fleshly activities. These remind us of the Indian medicine men putting on their rain dances. They are not unlike the ancient prophets of Baal in the days of Elijah, they leap onthe altar and call on their god to send down the fire. They imagine there is strength in numbers and power in much excitement and animated ceremonies, but while all their vain prophesying and frenzied activity is going on, God has His man waiting in the wings in solitude and holy communion before His face. It was after Elijah was called out of the wilderness and after he had slain the prophets of Baal that he sent a message to Ahab, saying, "Get thee up, eat and drink; for THERE IS A SOUND OF ABUNDANCE OF RAIN ... and it came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a GREAT RAIN."

The rain does not come from heaven by performances of conniving men. There is a tendency, inbred in the soulish nature, when it seems the Lord is not moving as He should, to try and "stir it up." Preach more passionately; prophesy longer; praise louder; sing more choruses, clap, dance; command and MOVE THE SPIRIT! The corrupting influence of this false religious sensationalism is ever with us, but all who will be still and quiet long enough on the towering heights of God's holy mount will learn and know of a certainty that the rain of the Holy Spirit can come only from the presence of the Lord. When we come to the realization that we are passing through a season of drought, then and only then can we enter into our closet and shut the door and repent and seek the Lord for a true and genuine rain of His Spirit. And although we repent and pray and ask for rain, the Lord has a set time when He will open the heavens upon His elect. Let God bring it forth, my beloved. We can't! "ASK ye of the Lord RAIN IN THE TIME OF THE LATTER RAIN," is the simple but profound command of the Spirit of God. Ask! DON'T HOLD A RAIN DANCE! No need to try to "work it up" or "bring it down." No need to shout or dance or clap or cut yourself with knives or put on some religious demonstration to force the hand of God. In due time it will come to us if we will believe and wait, trusting in the Lord and His word of truth.

"For He maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof" (Job 36:27). Ray Prinzing wisely commented on this passage: "Herein is the secret of a mighty outpouring, it requires the ascending of much vapour, if there is to be a great return in refreshing showers. Every move of the Spirit across the world, and in every little group, has behind it the ascending of vapour. God lays hold on a remnant, they seek His face, prayers go up, praise goes up, and they draw nigh unto God, and then HE converts the vapour into rain, and pours down abundantly. We sang in Sunday School, 'The blessings will come down, as the prayers go up...' According to that which ascended, so also that which descended to bless another" -end quote.

The result of the rain - former and latter - was the harvest. When the Lord gave the promise to Israel of a land of abundance and one that flows with milk and honey, He promised that if they would obey His word, He would give them "the rain in your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, THAT THOU MAYEST GATHER IN thy CORN, and thy WINE, and thine OIL." In the epistle of James believers are exhorted to patience in view of the Lord's coming as rain and the resultant produce thereof. "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the PRECIOUS FRUIT of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the EARLY AND LATTER RAIN. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord (as rain) draweth nigh."

Here, from the example of the husbandman, believers are encouraged to patience. How perfectly this figure suits the Lord Himself! HE has spent much labor and has sown much precious seed. He has tilled and cared for His heritage. All preparation completed, there remains but to wait. So even as the farmer waits not only till the early rain makes the seed to sprout, but also till the latter rain fills the ears before they ripen, for both are needful before harvest can be gathered, the Lord on high lingers and has long patience. Thus are we too to wait that coming of His which will bring the fulfillment of our hope of full sonship to God.

At this point the question may be asked, But what is the harvest, and how does it apply to our lives? In the New Testament sense, or in the spiritual sense, it is apparent that the harvest represents saints of the Lord coming forth in the image and likeness of Christ and with the fullness of His life - sons indeed. It is also obvious that God has a purpose to accomplish in each age of mankind upon the earth. For example, it was in God's plan and purpose that Jesus Christ should come forth in glory and perfection as a result of the age of the law and the prophets. He was the END PRODUCT of that glorious age. Christ Himself was the harvest of that age; therefore, we can expect a like but even more glorious harvest as this present age comes to a close.

Now we come to the real meat of this message. In our generation we have seen a dramatic change in the course of the spiritual life of the body of Christ. But few recognize that it began with an outpouring of the Spirit at the turn of the century, with the real purposes of God brought into sharp focus fifty years later. Almost a whole generation has passed since the "Latter Rain" outpouring in 1948-49, and most of the pioneers of that move have gone on to be with the Lord. But there remains a few here and there who remember the powerful prophetic anointing in those days. The word of the Lord flowed like a mighty river, thundering down upon critical situations like a powerful Niagara. And from that prophetic realm came a great explosion of the miraculous. Signs and wonders became commonplace before the eyes of the whole world. But what happened then was but a drop in the bucket to what God has planned for the days ahead! The deluge of signs and wonders and miracles, the rain of worship and glory and of the prophetic word was a prelude to the reality of a company of sons conformed to the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. How precious is the rain of His presence and power and glory! But how much MORE PRECIOUS the fruit of the earth produced thereby! Ah, God's ultimate objective is not rain. Rain is but an instrumentality - a means to an end. "That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater." Now that's what we want! We want to become the bread of life to the multitudes famishing about us, and wine from the cluster to the thirsty soul.

Finally the cycle is completed, the day comes when the rains cease, and the earth is warmed by the bright rays of the sun from a cloudless sky. The beautiful blossoms wither and fade from the vine. Soon they are trampled in the dust beneath. But strangely enough the fruit-grower is not concerned about the fading of the flowers. In fact, he is elated! He must have the rain in due season; but in the time of harvest it is no longer necessary; because he is looking, not for rain, but for the FRUIT of the earth. In reality God is looking for something deeper, something better, something more enduring than the rain. He longs for that which will show forth His own life, His own nature, His own character, His very own wisdom and power and glory. Christ must be formed within before the husbandman can reach forth His hand and take that which will delight and satisfy His own heart, and which will satisfy the hunger and thirst of impoverished mankind. Lord! make us that bread of life and that wine of refreshing and restoration to the starving masses of humanity.

The rain that falls into the earth must finally produce the grain and oil and become concentrated in the cluster upon the vine. The presence and life of God must ultimately become something more than an available power outside of ourselves. It is not water from the sky for which the husbandman waits with enduring patience; it is the wine in the cluster! I am wearied a little because so often I hear God's precious people singing songs like "Oh Lord, Send the Power Just Now," or "Jesus is Passing This Way." There is a truth there, and I rejoice that there are indeed those special "times of refreshing" which come from the presence of the Lord, but I can assure you, beloved, that the elect saints of God will never know the glorious reality of sonship to God so long as they abide in that consciousness and mentality of the Lord "sending the power" or "passing by." The consuming desire within my heart in this important hour is that God's chosen people might with me become aware of CHRIST FORMED IN US. The message of life and triumph that in this dark and evil hour reverberates through the yielded spirit of every saint separated unto God by His Holy Spirit is just this: IT IS POSSIBLE FOR CHRIST TO BECOME I-N Y-O-U ALL THAT HE ETERNALLY AND UNIVERSALLY IS.

"He that is joined unto the Lord is ONE SPIRIT" (I Cor. 6:17). "...nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME" (Gal. 2:20). "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until CHRIST BE FORMED IN YOU" (Gal. 4:19). It is this fact of CHRIST BEING FORMED IN US which now becomes first priority for the called out of God. Christ, the First of the firstfruits, the Head of the body, ascended on high, and HIS SPIRIT has been freely poured out as rain upon our earth, that we might receive of Him and have Him become all within our lives. NOW, as HE BECOMES FORMED AS BREAD AND WINE WITHIN US, then are we not to be that next "outpouring" which shall be given to bring life to the next order, that there might be a further harvest, as "in Christ" ALL are made alive, but every man in his own order? HIS Spirit became our life, our being, and we have received of Him that we might GROW in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, coming to spiritual maturity, then to be reaped, in the process BECOMING the bread and wine of Himself unto creation. Men speak of being God's harvest, of growing up into maturity, of putting on the mind and nature of Christ, conformed to His image, like ones unto Himself. But to what end? Just so we can wear halos and float about over the Elysium hills of that glory world above, strumming harps? NO! Praise God for the vision that ALL MANKIND SHALL BE HARVESTED unto the Lord. The outreach of this victory then becomes altogether-wonderful, praise His name!

IN THE FIRST

We have received the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost has come upon us, we have been filled with the Holy Spirit to the degree God has been able to fill us, depending on the degree to which we have been emptied of self. There is a day at hand when we will witness another great outpouring of the Spirit, transcending by far either the early rain of Pentecost or the latter rain of these last days. Let us refer to Joel's prophecy concerning the former and the latter rain, the seed rain and the harvest rain. "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain IN THE FIRST MONTH. And the floors shall be FULL OF WHEAT, and the vats shall overflow with WINE and OIL" (Joel 2:23-24). God has promised that His people should receive the early and the latter rains in due season. "Ask ye of the Lord rain IN THE TIME OF THE LATTER RAIN; so the Lord shall make bright clouds (ministries), and give them showers of rain, to everyone grass in the field" (Zech. 10:1). This is really the LORD HIMSELF coming upon us. "Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He shall bind us up. After two days will He revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord; His going forth is prepared as the morning, AND HE SHALL COME UNTO US AS THE RAIN, AS THE LATTER AND THE FORMER RAIN UNTO THE EARTH" (Hos. 6:1-3). We have already established the principle that the fall rains were called the former or seed rains, then the rainy season ended with the latter rains of the spring, or the harvest rains - that which caused the grain to form in the head, preparing for harvest.

BUT HERE IS SOMETHING VERY UNUSUAL! God has promised to do something strange, indeed; for He would give, not only the former rain in its season; not only the latter rain in its due time; but He would give the FORMER RAIN AND THE LATTER RAIN COMBINED! "And He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain IN THE FIRST MONTH" (Joel 2:23). Can we not see by this what God has promised His people in this great hour? Not only the fullness of a great and glorious beginning, as in Pentecost. And not only the wonderful harvest of Tabernacles, the Feast of Ingathering. But all the glory of the early Church COMBINED with all the glory and power of the triumphant Church of the last days! All her FORMER glory combined with all her LATTER glory! Truly we cannot begin to imagine the great and tremendous things which God has prepared for His people and for this earth!

Hear it! "And He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, AND the latter rain IN THE FIRST MONTH." The former rain has fallen moderately, and the latter rain has fallen profusely in these last days; but the former and latter rain combined has yet to fall, and it will one of these days, as our hearts are prepared to participate in it. The Authorized Version says that this mighty deluge will come "in the first month." But I would draw your attention to the fact that the word "month" is in italics, signifying that it does not appear in the original Hebrew text. Thus, deleting this supplied word the passage reads, "And He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain IN THE FIRST." The question follows - What is this FIRST? Is it the FIRST MONTH as the translators of the King James Version say, or does it bear another meaning? It is my deep conviction that the prophet is not talking about the former and latter rain both being brought in a month. He is speaking of it being brought in A FIRST - or a FIRSTFRUIT COMPANY - a PEOPLE the likes of which has never been before! You see, the purpose of the former and latter rains is to bring forth a harvest. Both rains then find their final and full expression IN THE HARVEST BROUGHT FORTH. The rain settles and is contained and formed IN THE GRAIN, IN THE OIL, and IN THE CLUSTER UPON THE VINE! When one drinks of the exquisite wine of the harvest he drinks of both the former and latter rain. The rain has been transmuted into wine!

Let me share with you the law of the firstfruits. Jehovah required of the nation of Israel that the firstfruits be offered to Him, whether it be of man (the firstborn), animal or the fruitage of the ground (Ex. 22:29,30; 23:19; Prov. 3:9). The faithful offering of the firstfruits brought pleasure to the Lord and a blessing to all parties involved (Eze. 44:30). A failure to bring them would be counted by God as robbing Him of His due and would bring His displeasure (Mal. 3:8). I was raised as a boy in south Alabama where, in the days of my youth, many of our neighbors were cotton farmers. You could have a hundred acre field, and come the latter part of August you could look out and see a big, fluffy, flossy boll of cotton. Another hundred feet or so there would be another boll. That's the FIRSTFRUITS! There is always a portion of the crop that has a faster growth than the rest. When you go out and examine the stalk that has the cotton on it, you will find it has forty bolls on it! Another stalk is larger, it has a hundred bolls on it, but only one is ripe - open. The rest are green. If you went over that cotton field you might get ten pounds of cotton, but if you come back in six weeks you could pick one hundred bales off it!

When the Bible speaks of firstfruits it refers to the produce of Canaan - wheat or barley, oil and grapes. When the wheat field was almost ready, the priests went out every day and examined it. They were looking for the firstfruits. Why? Because the firstfruits BELONGED TO THE LORD! They were HIS. When they found the firstfruits they would blow the trumpets proclaiming, "C-O-M-E_U-P_T-O_T-H-E F-I-R-S-T-F-R-U-I-T-S!" So here they would come - the priests lined up abreast, going out to the field to pick the firstfruits. They would show it to Israel, then wave it before the Lord. It was His. It is for this very reason that the scripture says of the saints, "Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that WE SHOULD BE A KIND OF FIRSTFRUITS OF HIS CREATURES" (James 1:18). And of that illustrious company of the sons of God who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth it is written, "These were redeemed from among men, BEING THE FIRSTFRUITS UNTO GOD and to the Lamb" (Rev. 14:4).

The more I meditate upon the law of the firstfruits the more I am convinced by the Spirit of God that when the prophet declares that both the former and latter rain will be poured out IN THE FIRST - it is the FIRSTFRUITS OF THE HARVEST to which he refers, and not the FIRST MONTH. The FIRST is a PEOPLE! The first is a people who have received of the former and latter rain and have thereby been brought to the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ. I want you to see this principle -where God's mind is, where His heart is. It's to bring a FIRSTFRUITS to maturity, the precious FRUIT of the earth, a people filled with all the fullness of HIM who has come unto them as the rain and been formed in them. These are the FIRST OF A KIND, A KIND OF FIRSTFRUITS. And in THIS FIRST you are going to have the full embodiment and expression of both the former and latter rain - both together! All that the rain of God was meant to accomplish shall be fulfilled and manifested in and through this FIRST. Isn't that marvelous? Hallelujah!

The wonder of it is just this. This people will have a DUAL MESSAGE AND MINISTRY the message and ministry of the former rain together with the message and ministry of the latter rain. They will both sow and reap. They will birth men into the Kingdom of God and grow men up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. These will minister salvation, healing, deliverance, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and all the elementary things of the Christ to earth's vast billions; but they will also bring the multitudes of believers who have remained in the baby stage of growth into higher and higher dimensions of life and truth and development until they, too, become mature ones in Christ. Progressively they shall bring every man into the fullness of INCORRUPTIBLE LIFE in spirit, soul and body. Truly there has never been a people or a ministry on the earth like this! This is a FIRST! This is THE FIRST in which God manifests and from which He pours out all the power and life and glory and victory of both the former and latter rain!

There is going to be a ministration of the Holy Spirit in a way and measure that has never been before, when the Christ has been glorified in His body, His FIRST. We are to receive the Spirit in His fullness, be RAISED UP in the realm of the Spirit to be seated with the Lord in heavenly realms; above all the limitations of this fleshly realm; into a dimension in the Spirit that none as yet (except Jesus) has ever attained; to be poured out as former and latter rain into the earth. This will be the manifestation of the sons of God that the whole creation is waiting expectantly for. There will be an outpouring of the Holy Ghost such as never was. The glory of the former rain at Pentecost was marvelous beyond words to tell, and the glory of the latter rain has been glorious beyond human description, but the manifestation of God's glory when both former and latter rain, transformed into grain, oil and wine, are shed forth through God's firstfruit company will pale the light of the noonday sun and make to seem insignificant the greatest and most glorious things of the past. "The threshing floors will be full of grain (mature ministry), the vats (God's sons) will overflow with wine (life) and oil (anointing of power)" (Joel 2:24). Maturity, life and power! No wonder creation groans for this hour! What a ministry!

God's FIRSTFRUIT FORMER AND LATTER RAIN SONSHIP COMPANY is the great harvest for which the Husbandman has been waiting ever since the foundation of the Church. Gifts of the Spirit are really no evidence of spiritual attainment; God bestoweth His gifts freely by His grace upon whomsoever He will. But with FRUIT it is entirely different. Fruit must grow; and God has never intended that the body of Christ should ever bring forth fruit except by a continual and progressive DIVINE GROWTH in the Spirit of God. God will not come to us looking for gifts, but for fruit of the Spirit. He gave us His gifts freely by His grace, and all we had to do was to receive them and use them. That is the law of the Rain - He causes HIS RAIN to fall on the just and the unjust alike (Mat. 5:45). Does that not explain why we have had so many scoundrels running across the country operating in the gifts of the Spirit? What God demands now is FRUIT, because that is something which He can RECEIVE from you. Until now the Husbandman has come into His garden, pruning, cultivating, watering - without expecting anything in return. But now the harvest time is approaching, and soon He shall visit His garden for one purpose and for one purpose only: seeking for fruit, and trusting that His tender care over the vine has produced genuine FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.

Think of the indescribable glory of a ministry of the FRUIT of the Spirit! "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5:22-23). Think of the impact and power of the ministry of DIVINE LOVE! "For God so loved the world..." From childhood most of us have heard these blessed words, yet they are so freighted with heaven's riches that one instinctively shrinks from talking about them. Who presumes to be able to measure the magnitude of God's love? "God SO loved the world." Charles Spurgeon once struck off a bold figure when he exclaimed, "Come, ye surveyors, bring your chains, and try to make a survey of this word 'so.' Nay, that is not enough. Come hither, ye that make our national surveys and lay down charts for all nations. Come ye, who map the sea and land and make a chart of this word 'so.' Nay, I must go further. Come hither, ye astronomers, that with your optic glasses spy out spaces before which your imagination staggers, come hither and calculate imaginations worthy of all your powers. When you have measured between the horns of space, here is a task that will defy you - 'God SO loved the world!' " Although we may completely despair of calculating the power and scope of the love of God, there are nevertheless in these classic words of Jesus some very clear statements that help us compute, to some extent, the greatness of the heart of God. This little word SO finds its definition, I think, in the object of the gift of God's love.

God so love "THE WORLD" - the world that then was and now is, the world rebellious against God, morally depraved and lost in degradation and shame. "Herein is love, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, but that HE LOVED US, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him" (I Jn. 4:9-10). You see, it was while we were dead in trespasses and sin, while we made no response to God, while friendship with Him was cut off and the urge of faithfulness and goodness lay smoldering in the grave of our depravity - it was THEN that the love of God's great heart embraced US. God so loved the world - that means His love sweeps around the whole earth and flows out to men of every race and tongue and nation; but it means more. It means He loves the men and women of the world who by their own evil have wrenched themselves away from Him. It means that He loves the blaspheming atheist, the scornful skeptic, the lecherous outcast, the criminal behind the bars, the grafter who swaggers about as a good citizen and the unscrupulous leeches who drain the very lifeblood of widows and orphans. God so loved THE WORLD. ALL of it! And He loves it still. He loves the men living now upon the earth, and He loves those who have lived and died in dim and distant ages past. He loves them on earth and He loves them in hell. God SO loved! Herein is manifested the love of God: He loves the unlovely, the unloving, and the humanly unlovable! Let holy and powerful angels from the extended galleries of heaven sing it! Let the redeemed in rapturous wonder take up the song and let sinners fall prostrate in penitence before the almighty Creator and Redeemer! "God IS LOVE!" Do you believe it? Oh, that all men might learn God's one and only everlasting Gospel, the Gospel of love - and then preach it! But God would have a people who will BE IT! For two thousand years the great Husbandman has been nurturing the fruit of His Spirit in the garden of His sons. The love of God must be lifted up IN US. The peace of God must be reveled IN S. The indnessof God ust be emonstrted THRUGH US. The gentleness and goodness of God must become EMBODIED IN A PEOPLE. Oh, how we love to manifest His gifts! But God desires that we manifest HIS FRUIT! Yea, that we BE His fruit. The sons of God are the sons of love, for GOD IS LOVE. The sons of God are the offspring of God's peace and joy and faith, and they grow up as the full expression of all His wonderful nature.

The ministry of the former and latter rain combined is the ministry of the harvest, the produce from the rain. The ministry of the fruit of the Spirit is the ministry by the omnipotent power of God of all that HE IS - the ministry unto creation of the infinite and omnipotent love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance of God Himself. What transformation shall be wrought in the earthly a ministry such as this! This alone can draw A-L-L MEN to Calvary's crimson fountain. O what a grand and glorious day awaits this sin-cursed earth in the outpouring of both the former and latter rain IN THE FIRST! The Day of the outpouring of the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT in power and glory! Because we do not have the fruit of the Spirit in any degree of fullness, we cannot appreciate its glory. Before the gifts of the Spirit were restored to the Church we had a faint conception of what they would be like, but what a revelation it was as we saw them unfolding before our eyes! SO WITH THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.

We know what they are: "Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." But we shall never appreciate any measure of their real glory until the fruit of the Spirit becomes matured and visibly MANIFEST IN AND POURED OUT THROUGH THE SONS OF GOD!

Next to Part 22

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