19We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 2 Pet. 1:19.

Ah, the Dawn! Yes! Praise God — the Dawn! Finally, after a long night, the dawn is announcing the rising of the Son. Weeping may have endured for a night, but joy always comes in the morning Psa. 30:5.

The more sure word of prophecy is not the dawn, nor is it the day star. Like a candle, it is the enlightening word which shines in dark places showing the way until the Day does in fact dawn, and the Day Star, the Son, rises in manifestation in our hearts and lives. It is then that from the abundance of the heart that the mouth will speak, and it shall not lie. This prophecy is the harbinger of the Dawn, heralding the rising of the Day Star. And like all prophecies inspired by the Spirit, it is a declaration containing the quickening seed of that which will be coming. And it is by that seed — regardless of world events, gloom and doom, or eons of unbelief — every word which proceeds from the mouth of God will come to pass in bold manifestation. Not one word will fall to the ground or fail. This is sure. We can count on it, and expect it. However, we must also know that we are not destined to live forever in the womb of expectancy. There is a time for the prophecy to be fulfilled. There is a time for the baby to be born. A woman can conceive; but she will not remain pregnant forever. In due time she must bring forth that which was conceived in her. In due time we must also bring forth that which was conceived in us — the sure Word of prophecy which declares the coming dawn. Moreover, as silent as the dawn is, to us it is as a trumpet sounding that the Son is pursuing hot on its heels. When we see the dawn breaking the strong embrace of the night, we know the Day Star will be shortly rising in the heavens of His awakening body. The sure word of prophecy declares the coming of the dawn and the Son. The dawn is a sure sign of the rising Son, the Son who will be the light of the whole world.

We are bursting with excitement, while a few of our readers have grown weary of me writing on the Darkness which is for the Occasion. Come on friends, cheer up and be happy. Don’t you know there is a time for that subject to be broached. It may not be apparent; but I do not like being a burden to anyone; however, if I have truly been one, receive it as from the Lord and the burden will be light. The letters and phone calls we’ve received (mostly pro but a few have been con), has made it clear that the addressing of this subject has been direly needed. For the most part, people are rejoicing; yet what I’ve written has stirred others to lash out in anger. The mere mention that there may be a fragment of darkness remaining in their lives, and they may not be walking in total manifested perfection has kindled some strong opposition, which settles my point in fact.

I have found it amazing how I was recognized as receiving revelation by the anointing from on high when I wrote that which certain ones were in agreement with; but now that the word is contrary to their liking, I am supposedly speaking my own personal views. It is remarkable to say the least; but I am not surprised. I am disappointed that it is so hard for them to see something so obvious as the appointed element of time which courses its way between the Beginning and the End. These stages are filled with all manner of human things; namely, things such as sin, sickness, seduction, darkness, delusion, deception, and death. Those dark eras of time are like the letters of an alphabet, and they are just as much a part of the whole as the Alpha and the Omega, and each one must be reckoned with as the ages unfold in their assigned seasons. Not only have we been made subject to that alphabet; but we have lived it to one degree or another. But that discourse is not our portion in life. We overcome it and find our end in He who is the End — Jesus Christ. This is not to say that we should set out to deliberately accommodate ourselves to every aspect of sin; but I can tell you that every aspect of sin will be learned and embraced by mankind throughout the course of time, and like it or not, all have been made subject to the vanity of it. And that subjection will remain until deliverance comes by the light, life, and liberty of Jesus Christ.

Due to impatience, seeking a sign, or perhaps sheer deception, some are saying the Word has been fully birthed in them, that there is no more to come, it is finished, the finale is final. Moreover, the supposed dawning of that word has been the result of simply believing it is so, believing they were never in darkness, believing they were never separated from God, believing they have always been in Eden, believing every thing on the physical plane is an illusion. To believe such is not productive, and neither does teaching these things leave one with the marks of wisdom, regardless of how old and wise one may appear.

Wouldn’t it be something if the splendor of our perfection in Christ Jesus hinged on a mental image that our carnal minds could call up from the deep? What a pitiful display of God’s majesty. There are many self-portraits being painted today, and I must say, they are not Master pieces. If they are indeed the Master, we have been sold a cheap bill of goods, and the cross of Jesus has not been a necessary part of our lives, which some have been persuaded to believe.

The world may see the cross of Jesus as a disaster, or at least as being pointless. This is no surprise; for they cannot see otherwise; but those called to sonship should know better. It may not be easily understood how glory could rise out of the ashes of such apparent defeat. For instance, Jesus led His disciples to the high pennacle of expectation, only to have them witness His humiliating death and utter loss. He raised them to grand heights, and then left them with broken hearts and shattered dreams. One even wound up hanging himself. Yet, it was all necessary and a very real part of the darkness for the occasion.

From every standpoint of human reasoning, Jesus was a miscarriage, an absolute failure; but this is the farthest thing from the truth, and we above all people should know this. That which seemed to be a failure from man’s perspective was a triumph for God. It was the more sure word of prophecy that creation would be saved from the bondage of corruption, decay, and death. Those with darkness covering their deep waters, however, have trouble seeing this, and unless the Spirit removes that veil from their understanding, nothing will change.

God's purpose and ways, as we know, are never the same as man’s, and so it is with our own calling. At times we all have questioned why we were led to such high places, and shown such grand vistas of His Kingdom, and then led to suffer such humiliation, unbearable pain, absolute loss, and overwhelming heartbreak. The answer, of course, is rooted in the life and death of Jesus. It is found in the purpose and ways of our Father. They are not the ways we would choose, and as it was with the disciples, we may not understand the process; but God laid it out perfectly in the Beginning, and that which He laid out will always be beyond our ways and whys, beyond the fire-storms and floods, and He will bring victory out of death, light from darkness, and triumphant glory out of every disaster. To look across the land at the Body of Christ today, we would have to say, it is nigh to being an absolute debacle, and one could easily become discouraged. But never let it happen, brethren. Look beyond the disarray, and see what a beautiful setting it is for the birthing of God's greatness in His time! And we have the sure word of prophecy that there will be a dawning, an out-raying, the manifestation of the Son of God rising in our hearts and lives, the very thing for which creation groans.

I am sure we are all familiar with the story of the transfiguration when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain apart Mark 9:2. And I am equally sure that we have all experienced times of similar exaltation on the mountain, times when we saw things from God’s perspective. We wanted to remain forever in those high places. But don’t we know — God never let us pitch a tent or build temples there. If we do, it will be on our own, and the cloud will not be obliged to stay.

One of the true tests of our spiritual life as a son of God is in the willingness to descend from the mountain. If we only have the desire to ascend, something is wrong, and that wrong spells self-preservation. There’s no denying it, it is a wonderful thing to be on the mountaintop with God and clothed upon by His cloud of glory; but when the truth is known, we understand that we ascend to that place so we can descend into dark valleys, and then lift up the down-trodden souls held captive (Mark 9:14–18).

Our fondest dreams may be to abide forever high and lifted up; but be assured, we are not called to make our homes in the mountains. Sunrises and cool breezes from on high are wonderful; but those times are intended to be moments of inspiration, times for being equipped for a purpose. Our calling, fellow sojourners, is not heaven, but the deep valleys. That is where we are needed. It is in those low places wherein we not only shine as a great light in darkness; but that is where we are proven. We are tried beyond human limitations, and we come forth as pure gold. But there is still that element of selfishness, of course, an element which always pines for repeated moments on those spiritual mountaintops. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels if we could only stay where the Word is rich and the cool breeze of the Spirit perpetually blows. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have great worth and meaning in our lives with God; but we must take care and prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them our only life. Such is not the Spirit of the sons of God. (See Heavens’ Descenders #136-142, free upon request).

Even though there is a greater condemnation to those who teach, as James 3:1 states, it seems that many who are not called to teach do everything they can to amass students under them. Moreover, there is a misconception which causes a large number to think that everything we experience on the mountaintops, and in the valleys, is to be used for teaching. We would have about as much success in teaching love as we would to teach mountaintop experiences. I cannot impart my love of God to you. That is something you have to acquire on your own. I can tell you about it, but I can’t teach it.

The fact is, mountaintop experiences serve to build relationship and character. I can think of nothing better by which a ministry can be quipped than a relationship with their Lord and strong character. Although we can be enlightened, and at times we can feebly relate in human terms our enlightenment, the mountaintop is not designed to be a tutorial for teachers. There are compounds which become formulas when joined to one another, and I believe our mountaintop experiences joined to the hardships of our valley experiences is the formula which forms us. Some fail to endure the hardships of the dark valleys, and their Christlike character is never solidified..

There is a subtle trap in always asking, such as, "What can I get out of this experience? How can I minister this to others? How can I use this for God’s glory? How can I become recognized as someone special?" We can never measure our growth or spiritual matters in that way. Regardless of people’s claims, the moments on the mountaintop are rare, and unless I have missed something, those experiences will not be known to be common-place until the sons of God are manifested in glory and the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus is held by experience. Even then, the sons of God will, no doubt, be ascending and descending, as Jacob saw on the ladder reaching from the earth to the heavens Gen 28:12.

Notwithstanding, the rising of the Son (the transfiguration) is first seen from the top of the mountain, and it is glorious, so much so that our first impulse is to built a tabernacle of some sort to captivate that which we’ve experienced. We want to never let it go, and to be sure it doesn’t escape us, we build brick houses to keep it safe; such as, churches, denominations, theological boards, religious leaders, creeds and doctrines, and seminaries, to name a few. They come in various forms, but each serve the same purpose, which is to keep, or actually, imprison God’s glory forever. What Peter, James, and John saw on the mountain was a sure word of prophecy. It foretold the transfiguration of the many membered body of Jesus Christ, but rather than waiting for it, they immediately wanted to fulfill it the best they could, and that was by building tabernacles to enclose the seed of revelation they saw. And we do the same. Look at every church denomination there is, and we will see that each one began on the mountaintop of revelation. They all saw the light which shined in darkness, and rather than letting that light shine in their midst unto the perfect Day, they boarded it up by the religious walls of man’s carnal control. The Spirit of the Dove, of course, flew over the walls and far away from their tall temples built in honor of the glory they once knew. The structures remain, doctrines remain, and men remain; but the glory is gone, and death reigns. There are many mountaintop tabernacles today, and they come in many forms; but we find no more glory in any of them than we find in condemned buildings fit for razing.

We can see a similar scenario with Pharaoh and Israel, and we might note — we all have our own pharaohs to one degree or another. In the same way that Pharaoh saw the value of God’s chosen people, we see the value of the things God has chosen and placed in our lives, and we use them to serve our own wants and needs. Pharaoh, although he knew it was best if he released the chosen of God, he could not bring himself to do it. He, therefore, kept them captive. And we, likewise, will hold captive the gifts and callings of God. We have a hard time letting them go into the wilderness to be tested, fearing they will be lost forever if we release our hold upon them. Eventually, however, those precious things of God will be released, but sometimes it is after the pestilence and plagues have ravished our palisades of security. With religious tenacity, we may muster an army of reasons and logical plans why they should be in our confines and under our control; for, truly, they had worked for us in the past, so they should work well for us in the future. Armed with our carnal wherewithal, we follow hard after those glorious elements of God; but rather than drawing them back and under our dominion, every horse and rider of carnal reasoning perishes in the sea. No more will the anointed of God be a servant to our personal desires; for the powers of our pharaohs have a destiny — defeat by the power of life and light of Jesus Christ.

Although we have had a sure word of prophecy, a guiding light shining in our darkness, that seed of light is not our end. We are to take heed of the light of prophecy; but if we permanently fasten ourselves to it, when that light fades as the Day dawns, we will not see it and fade also. Let us heed prophecy; but let us not worship it, and I must say this — let us sing praises unto our Lord; but let us not worship the singing. Let us heed preaching; but let us not worship the preaching, or the preachers. Spend some time thinking about this.

There is a time of darkness where the subtle mystery of iniquity performs its appointed tasks; but the seed of the sure word of prophecy has been planted in the midst of that darkness, deep into our hearts. It is the life of that seed which must rise alive in us to swallow death and the grave.. It cannot be held back. It cannot be kept from its appointed season.

Therefore, let us continue the journey in which we were called, and if we do not see the dawn, let the sure word of prophecy be our encouraging light in the time of darkness. And if our understanding has been enlightened by the dawning of the Day, let us know that the rising manifestation of the Son of God in our hearts and lives is nigh upon us. When that is a reality, our dawning presence will be the manifestation of our present sure word of prophecy of — Let there be light, and there will be light!

To be continued...

Elwin R. Roach        

Dear Brother Roach,

I thank you so much for allowing the Father to use you to bless so many like myself who can’t go to church anymore, at least not where I was going. You have helped me so much on my journey. The Pathfinder is Bread from Heaven, the Living Word.

Sometimes I am so disheartened. I’ve tried fellowshipping with a group here; but I can’t meet with them anymore, because we are so divided due to New Age. I can’t deal with it. Our group has not been the same since a certain minister came here, which really did a number, just tore us apart. Some are so messed up now that it seems that they can’t stand themselves, or anyone else. They are so confused.

I feel so burdened about our people not being able to sing anymore. They praise each other, because they think they are God. It’s just self, and that’s all there is, they say. I’m tired of hearing it. Some of them get upset with me for being so concerned; but I see lives being destroyed by this awful spirit that’s moved in.

Thank God for your encouraging word which has helped me so very much.

Yours in Christ

Arkansas

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Dear Pathfinder,

I wanted to mention that the message you are preaching in the Pathfinder is timely and desperately needed. What you speak about is exactly what has happened in my church. What started out as lively truths about the Kingdom of God (and man was I on cloud nine when these truths came out) has now turned into "we are God" and "we die only because we've made a compact with death" even though many confessing this have died anyway.

I wish the leadership in that church would hearken to what you speak of; but I think they are under the thrall of some really big names and personalities in the parabuilding industry, to use your term (Pub. #164.03). These parabuildings and their followers are eating from the wrong tree, and I watch impotently, because they consider me a lightweight and can, therefore, not reach them.

God bless, and never stop speaking the TRUTH!

Ken Vander Kooi

Jewett OH 43986

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Dear Elwin & Margit,

....I came to know the Lord about 22 years ago and was in the "name and claim it" move. Was a very difficult time!! Naming and claiming didn’t save my first marriage or prevent me from being separated from my two children. Naming and claiming didn’t spare my dad from the awful ravages of cancer and death. We know the love and power is there; but our Father’s will is the ultimate key.

We are learning the lesson of longsuffering, patience, faith. The words given to Paul comes often to my heart — "My grace is sufficient." We must hold strong onto His hand of Grace.

As I look back to those awful, awful heart rending times, I can now see His arms carrying me through that valley with all its shadows of death.

Our day is coming when we will see His fullness and we will be like Him. He will touch through us — He will love through us. May all the attributes of our Lord Jesus Christ find their home in His people. Arise and shine Father! With outstretched hearts, we reach for You — Your fullness — You are our Prize for this seemingly long race.

Come Lord Jesus!

Love in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Pat Connell
Pearisburg VA

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Greetings and salutations from sunny Florida,

I salute you for your profound message in Part 7 of Darkness for the Occasion (Pub. #166.03). I just love a message that jerks me out of myself so I can receive a word to brighten my garden within. I want the dark places to take on a glowing light from your penetrating, spiritual mind to mine.

We need more messages like this so we can wake up after we have been hammered on the head with a sledge hammer! Sometimes this is what it takes to keep us knowing what the price of the high calling Christ is. Jesus was never offended! We need the hard word to polish us to be worthy living stones.

In Christ’s love,

Gladys Campbell
Hallandale FL

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Please take me off your mailing list. I’m tired of hearing you on your personal soap box and whining.

Your articles are no longer feeding or causing growth to the body of Christ.

Wallace Rogers
Sedro-Woolley WA

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Dear Elwin & Margit,

It’s always great to hear from you. However, I’m sorry to hear of the hostility....I am reminded of Gal. 4:16 — "Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?"

Thank God for your ministry and others who magnify our precious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

In His Love,

Nancy Bailey
Worthington OH

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