Book of Revelation at the End Time

   The White, Red , Black horses combine to a deathly Pale horse, under the 4th seal. 

Will produce Satan incarnate in a person and a people. 

The Lion, Ox, Man anointing all join under the Eagle, as Christ is loosed by the opened book. 

Will produce Christ incarnate, in a person and a people. 

Satan's Eden 

II CORINTHIANS 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

LUKE 4:5 And the devil, taking him (Jesus) up into an high mountain, shewed unto him (Jesus) all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said unto him (Jesus), All this power will give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

The phrase Satan's Eden primarily refers to a 1965 sermon by William Branham (delivered August 29, 1965) which contrasts God’s original paradise with a world established by Satan in sin, deceit, and religious corruption. 

In broader theological and cultural contexts, the term is used to describe:

Theological Interpretation: The idea that the Earth became Satan’s domain after the Fall, where he established a "kingdom" of sin that opposes God’s righteousness.

Historical Documentary: The 2013 film The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden, which investigates unsolved disappearances and scandal on the island of Floreana in the 1930s. 

Biblical Analysis: Scholarly discussions on how the serpent in the Garden of Eden was later identified with Satan by early Christian writers like Justin Martyr, despite the original Genesis text not explicitly naming him.

[Sermon] 65-0829 - Satan's Eden By William Branham

Highlighted Quote: 

60 Now, he, by this fall, it has took over and possessed the garden of Eden, himself. He took it over. And now he has had six thousand years of deceitful rule; deceiving the people, God’s children, as he did then. Because, they were based on free moral agency, to act any way they wished to. And believing that they would act right, or trusting they would act right, then they’ve come with the wrong act, and sold their birthrights, as Esau did, for the world. And Satan won it, and he took it over. And he’s had six thousand years to build up his Eden, as God had six thousand years to bring His Eden to a close. And by deceit, deceit of the Word, or the people, now established his own Eden in this earth, in sin.

61 God’s Eden was established in righteousness. Satan’s Eden is established in sin, because Satan is sin. God is righteousness, and God’s kingdom was established in righteousness, and peace, and Life. And Satan’s establishment is in sin, and religious sin.

    65-0829 — Satan's Eden preached by William Marrion Branham ( listen to YouTube here ) ( playtime 1:22:36)

49 YEARS FOR THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM

 49 YEARS FOR THE REBUILDING OF JERUSALEM

DANIEL 9:24, 70 WEEKS, B.C.533

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

Daniel 9:24 is a foundational Messianic prophecy stating that "seventy weeks" (literally seventy units of seven, interpreted as 490 years) are decreed for the Jewish people and Jerusalem to accomplish six divine objectives: finishing transgression, ending sin, making atonement for iniquity, bringing in everlasting righteousness, sealing up vision and prophecy, and anointing the most holy place. 

Key interpretive points include:

Timeframe: The "weeks" are widely understood as seven-year periods, totaling 490 years, beginning with a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. 

Messianic Fulfillment: The passage is the only Old Testament scripture explicitly calling the Messiah by name, prophesying that the Anointed One would appear after 69 of these weeks (483 years) and be "cut off" (killed) not for himself. 

Theological Significance: It outlines a comprehensive plan for spiritual restoration, where the Messiah's death serves as the ultimate atonement for sin, establishing a new era of righteousness and closing the era of prophetic vision through its fulfillment. 

Unfinished Elements: Many scholars note that since full "everlasting righteousness" and the "end of sins" have not yet manifested globally, the final week (70th week) is often viewed as a future event associated with the Second Coming or the Millennium.

69 WEEKS (Daniel 9:25) “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.

69 weeks consists of 7 weeks ( prophetically  49 years for rebuilding of Jerusalem ) plus 62 weeks ( 434 YEARS TO MESSIAH ) to A.D. 30 .

From A.D. 30 , Luke 21:24 is a prophecy by Jesus describing the destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent period of Gentile dominance over the city.  The verse states: "They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations.  And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." 

This passage is interpreted in two primary ways:

Historical Fulfillment: Many scholars view this as a direct prediction of the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem by Roman armies, where hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed or dispersed into captivity across the Roman Empire. 

Eschatological Significance: The phrase "until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" refers to an indefinite period of Gentile political control over Jerusalem, which continues until a future divine intervention or the Second Coming of Christ. 

The verse is found in the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus details the signs preceding the end of the age and the destruction of the Temple. 

Period of the seven church ages , from A.D. 30 to A.D. 70 .

Jews Returning to Jerusalem . 

STONE OF Daniel 2:34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.

Daniel 2:34 describes the pivotal moment in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream where a stone cut out without human hands strikes the feet of iron and clay of a colossal statue, shattering them.  This event symbolizes the divine establishment of God’s eternal kingdom, which will overthrow all transient human empires represented by the statue’s various materials. 

The verse highlights several key theological and narrative points:

Divine Origin: The stone is formed "without hands," indicating it is not a human creation but a supernatural intervention by God. 

Target of Judgment: The strike specifically hits the feet, the weakest part of the statue composed of mixed iron and brittle clay, symbolizing the fragility and division of the final human kingdom. 

Total Destruction: The impact crushes the feet, causing the entire image of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay to collapse into chaff, signifying the complete and irreversible end of earthly dominion. 

Eternal Reign: Following the destruction, the stone grows into a great mountain that fills the earth, representing the permanent and universal nature of God’s kingdom. 

Interpretations generally view the stone as a prophecy of Jesus Christ and His Second Advent, where He will defeat the final Antichrist-led coalition and establish Christ's millennial reign, replacing all human political systems with divine authority. 

The 2 Prophets in Jerusalem , Revelation 11:3 "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."

My Two Witnesses , Will Prophecy For 1260 Days Clothed In Sackcloth. Revelation 11:3 

The person and work of Christ is the central focus of all prophecy, and the book of Revelation is the full and final unveiling of Jesus Christ, and is the climax of God's purpose and plan for His creation. Following the Rapture of the Church, this book reveals the future, which begins with a series of judgements that punish the godless nations for their rejection of His only begotten Son and His redemptive plan.

As God's wrath is poured out through a sequence of judgements, there are certain supplementary sections that provide additional insight into the 70th week of Daniel and the final three and a half years of the Tribulation, known as the 'Time of Jacob's Trouble'. Revelation 10:1 to chapter 11:15 is one such interlude which introduces three messengers from God, one angelic and two human. This parenthesis occurs just as the last trumpet judgement is poised to be sounded.

The two human messengers are identified as: "MY two witnesses." The Lord never leaves Himself without witness to the truth, and amidst the terrible events of the Great Tribulation, we gain insight into their mission. We are told that God will grant authority to His two witnesses: "And they will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth."

Revelation does not identify these witnesses, although there are many speculations as to who they may be. Some consider them to be Moses and Elijah. They were the two men who spoke with Jesus on the mount of Olives. They probably 'witnessed' His Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension, and they will return to earth as 'witnesses' to preach a message of judgement on all who will not repent and believe.

Sackcloth and ashes indicates mourning and misery, lamentation and grief. Their mission is to declare God's message of doom and destruction during the 1260 days of Antichrist's tyrannical reign on earth, following his desecration of the Holy Place in the rebuilt Tribulation Temple. 

The authority these two witnesses will receive from God comes from the Holy Spirit, and during the 1260 days, the two will be able to perform some specific miracles: "They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want."

It is not God's will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, and the truth that these two witnesses will be proclaiming, will be words of salvation to any that will hear and believe. But the rebellious hearts that withstand the testimony of these two witnesses and who rejoice when they are finally murdered by the Antichrist, will testify to their defiant disobedience to God's sovereign will.

The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, will empower God's two witnesses during the Great Tribulation. And this is the same Holy Spirit that indwells us: "Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world." This is a truth that all who have called on the name of the Lord should know as fact, for His Word is truth. May we stand firm on the authority of God's Word, and as we read of these two men, may we be encouraged to witness faithfully to the truth during our sojourn on earth. May we never forget that our strength comes from the Lord alone, for it is not by might nor by power, that we overcome in this troubled age: "But by My Spirit," says the Lord.

My Prayer

In Lord Jesus Christ' name, Heavenly Father, thank You that You have told us the end from the beginning and that evil will one day be fully and finally put away. Thank You for sending Jesus Christ to be the propitiation for our sins, rescuing us from eternal damnation, and clothing us in His perfect righteousness. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Thank You that sin, Satan, death, and hell, will one day be fully and finally thrown into the eternal lake of fire and Christ will put all things under His feet. May I be a faithful witness in the position where You have placed me and continue to work the works of God, during my sojourn on earth. Thank You that the indwelling Holy Spirit Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will empower Your two witnesses during the time of Jacob's Trouble. Thank You that Your same Holy Spirit currently indwells all believers, and that "Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world." To the praise of Your glory, Father, AMEN.

MIDDLE OF WEEK , ARMAGEDDON 

Armageddon is a prophesied gathering place for armies in the final battle of the end times, as described in the Christian Bible's Book of Revelation.  The term appears only once, in Revelation 16:16 { Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.} , where it is identified as the location called in Hebrew "Har Məgīddō" (Mount Megiddo). 

Key Biblical Details:

Etymology: The word derives from the Hebrew Har Megiddo, meaning "Mount of Megiddo," referencing the ancient strategic fortress and plain in Israel known for historic battles. 

Event: It is the site where "the kings of the whole world" are gathered by demonic spirits "for the war of the great day of God Almighty."

Outcome: The gathering precedes the final defeat of these armies by Jesus Christ upon His return, marking the end of human rebellion against God. 

Interpretation: While some view it as a literal physical location near Megiddo, others interpret it symbolically as a global confrontation or the culmination of all end-time conflicts.

GREAT TRIBULATION PERIOD OF 3 and 1/2 YEARS

The Great Tribulation is widely interpreted in Christian eschatology as the second half of a seven-year period of end-time distress, lasting exactly three and one-half years.  This duration is derived from prophetic timelines in the books of Daniel and Revelation, which describe the period using interchangeable terms: 42 months, 1,260 days, or "a time, times, and half a time." 

Biblical Basis and Timing

Scriptural References: Key passages include Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7, Revelation 11:2–3, Revelation 12:6, 14, and Revelation 13:5. 

The Halfway Point: The Great Tribulation begins when the Antichrist (the Beast) breaks a covenant with Israel, stops temple sacrifices, and sets up the "abomination of desolation" in the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. 

Distinction from the Full Tribulation: While the total tribulation period is often viewed as seven years (based on Daniel’s "seventy weeks"), the Great Tribulation specifically refers to the intensified phase of God’s wrath and persecution that occurs in the final 3.5 years. 

Key Events During the 3.5 Years

Intensified Persecution: This period is marked by severe oppression of believers and Jews, often referred to as the "time of Jacob’s trouble."

Antichrist’s Reign: The Beast exercises global authority for 42 months, demanding worship and enforcing the mark of the beast. 

Divine Judgments: The period includes the pouring out of the bowl judgments and culminates in the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Two Witnesses: According to some interpretations, the Two Witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days (3.5 years) before being killed by the Beast. 

Interpretive Views

Futurism: Most dispensationalist views hold that this is a future, literal 3.5-year period of unprecedented distress preceding the Millennium.

Alternative Views: Some scholars argue that the "tribulation" is not a distinct seven-year period but that the Great Tribulation represents the entire period of church suffering or a specific intense phase within history, though the 3.5-year prophetic calculation remains the dominant framework for end-times timing. 

The Power Of The Third Pull

 That's what's making them feel that way. 

1They know something is supposed to happen, but see, they're looking for it way off in the future to come when it's already happened right by you. 

Amen. Praise God. He can't say it any plainer. Whatever that was that was going to be the bride's revival to awake the bride which was the seven thunders the revelation of the seven thunders that was contained in the seven seals that was supposed to wake her up. 

Now he's saying that that she's been awakened. Amen. And you're looking for it a far off. You're looking for somebody to interpret the seals. You're looking for brother Branham to come back and do it. You're looking for another ministry to do it. Amen. But he said, "It's already happened all around you. 

It's happening right by you. It already happened. It's been done.

Praise God." That's why it's to me it's such a travesty in this day to sit as message believers looking into the future saying someday this will, someday this, someday. Today is the day. What needs to happen for the bride has happened. Amen. 

We know that there's going to be a translation. We know that our atoms will change. We know that. But what's going to change? It has already come. Amen. 

1:07:54 What's going to bring us into the fullness of the rapture to complete the cycle is already here. We're not looking for something to come. What needs to come? We need to look at what God has given us and put in our hands. And this is the revival that's woken up the bride. Amen. 

Yes. He says, "Now, I want to read that last sentence. 

They're looking for it way off in the future to come when it's already happened right by you." That's the same thing they did in the old days. They was believing in a coming Messiah. They believed that there would be a forerunner come, but it was right on them and they didn't know it. They didn't recognize it. They believed there would become a forerunner that would forerun the Messiah. And they cut his head off and killed their Messiah because it was prophesied that they would be blinded. 

Oh, praise God. There's a lot that could be said there. The Jews who had the word, who were looking for the Messiah to come, the forerunner as promised in the word had come according to the word and they rejected him. Yeah, then what he forerun had come, the coming of the Messiah, the Son of God, the lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. He was present tense and what did they do? They killed him. 

 What they were looking for? They killed him and they killed him and are still looking for him to come. 

Listen, I'll just want to say the Lord has come. Amen. He has come. The Messiah is here. I mean, the third pull. Amen. 

And the seventh seal are coinciding. 

 Amen. The revelation contained in the seals. The seven thunders. The mystery of God. It all comes together. It's been revealed. The seventh seal is open. The coming of the Lord is at hand. 

 And what's happening is people who claim to believe it, are killing it. 

Amen. 

Saying that's not it. There's something else coming. But if you deny his coming, looking for his coming. Amen. You're killing the very one who's come. 

 You're killing his influence over the people. You're killing the ability of people. Amen. To get a hold of the revival that's here today and what's been done and what's been given. Amen. 

Continually pointing people to the future, to the future, to the future. 

 You're doing the same thing that the Jews did, not recognizing that that word is here. What he promised to do is here. 

Amen. It's already been fulfilled. We're not looking for the fulfillment. We are the fulfillment. We are in the fulfillment that it's transpiring day by day in a body of believers. Amen. 

And by denying it, you're killing it. 

Killing the influence of it, killing the effect of it. 

Because if we don't know that the revival's here or if we don't know what the revival is, if we point back to first pull and second pull as evidence of the revival, brother Branham said that wasn't it. 

Amen. That's right. That after all the manifestations and after all the demonstrations, he still said we've got to go further. 

That's not the awakening of the bride yet. There's got to come Something more. 

And it's the revelation contained in those seven thunders that'll wake her up. 

So, you can see how the wrong emphasis and the wrong part of the message will bring the wrong effect in people's lives because we can get just as excited as they got excited about brother Ben's first and second pool. 

And was it exciting? Exhilarating. Was it a thrill to see manifestations of God and the word being performed and healings and it was exhilarating. It's still exhilarating. We still love it. 

But that doesn't wake up the bride. 

 Brother said in the seventh seal, right in the beginning of the seventh seal, see, I'd like to add this that all of the services I've ever had in my life, I believe this week has been the most glorious time of all my life in services Why do we spend so much time everywhere else in the message when he said this was the most glorious time of his whole ministry? 

I believe this week has been the most glorious time of all my life in services. No matter what I have, I've seen great miracles performed of course before in healing services, but this is beyond that. 

 It's been one of the great times, highlights of my life is to be here and see this little tabernacle on its different look. Not only that, but the inside has taken on a different look. 

What's he talking about? He's talking about the people. Amen. He's talking about now to see the tabernacle. The tabernacle took on a different look. Absolutely. had just been remodeled. 

1:12:59 They were now having meetings that had been expanded and remodeled. And he talked about how beautiful it was. Amen. 

And he comes in the beginning of the seals to preach a  dedication service. And he said it's not a dedication, it's a rededication. And not just the building of our hearts and our lives. Amen. So he's showing that coming to the seventh seal. Amen. There's going  to be a rededication of the tabernacle of the temple. Amen. That God can fill it. And now he comes to the end of the seals and he's preaching the seventh seal, the last night, the last message. 

 And he said, "This has been the highlight of my ministry, the greatest time of all." Amen. To see this transformation, not just the outside of the building, but the inside, too. Why? 

Because he had recognized there's a transformation taking place. He had said,"I'm going to call you bride so that you'll understand this is the bride's revival. This is the awakening of the bride. This is the stirring to wake her up." And now something's moved into place. 

Praise be to God. Amen. But this is beyond that. 

He says in the seventh seal, now he comes towards the end of the seventh seal and [snorts] he begins to talk and he says, "And I had my hands out." And he's talking about being in Sabino Canyon and he was there sometime I think in January 1963 somewhere between Sirs, is this the time and preaching the seals. He's up in Sabino Canyon and he's praying and he's and he's asking God what to do. He's got  his hands in the air and God had called him to come out there. He said he says something hit my hand. I don't know. I can't say. Did I go to sleep? I don't know. Did I go into a trance? I don't know. Was it a vision? I can't tell you. 

Only thing I can say is it's just the same thing like them angels was. 

 Was it real? Yes, it was real. 

 And it struck my hand and I looked and it was a sword and it had a pearl handles, real pretty, and had a guard over it with gold. And the blade looked like something like chrome, like silver, only it was real shiny and it was so feathered sharp. Oh my. And I thought, isn't that the prettiest thing? just fit my hand. I thought that's awful pretty. 

 But I said, "Hey, I'm always afraid of them things, a sword." And I thought, "What will I do with that?" And just then a voice shook down through there and rocked the rocks and said, "It's the sword of the king." And then I come out of it the sword of the king. Now, if it said a sword of a king, but it said the sword of the king. And there's only sword. That's his word. what I live by that so help me God standing over this holy desk here with his holy word laying here it's the word I don't want you to forget that he said that when he put that sword in his hand it come into the prophet's hand he said just fit my hand and he describes the sword and all of a sudden the voice shook out and said this is the king's sword, amen and when he knew he knew that the king there's only one king that's God he has one sword that's his third. 

Amen. And then brother Branham gets excited. Listen to him. When brother Branham's getting excited, remember he's in the third pull now and he can't make

Chapter 13 - A Secret of Secrets: Humility the Soul of True Prayer

A secret of secrets, humility, the soul of true prayer. 

Until the spirit of the heart is renewed, until it is emptied of earthly desires and filled with a constant hunger and thirst for God, which is the true spirit of prayer, all our prayers will remain in part like lessons recited by students. 

We will say them more because we dare not leave them undone than because they rise freely from within. 

But do not be discouraged. 

Take this counsel and you may go to church without fear of mere lip service or hypocrisy. 

Even if the hymns or prayers rise higher than your heart feels.

 Go as the publican went into the temple. Stand in your spirit as he stood outwardly casting down his eyes and saying only,"God, be merciful to me a sinner." 

Hold yourself firmly, at least in desire, in this posture of heart. It will give life to every petition you utter. 

And whenever something is read, sung, or prayed that seems too lofty for you, use it as an occasion to sink even lower into the spirit of the publican. 

 In this way, you will be blessed and helped even by those prayers that appear to belong only to holier hearts. 

This, my friend, is a secret of secrets. 

 It will enable you to reap where you have not sown and to find a continual spring of grace within. 

For everything, whether inward stirrings or outward events, becomes a true good to the soul that dwells in this humble state. 

Nothing is wasted on the humble heart. 

It grows continually as everything that touches it becomes like the dew of heaven. Therefore, hide yourself within this humility.

All good is contained in it. It is like water from heaven that quenches the fire of the fallen soul and changes it into the meekness of the divine life. Out of it comes the holy oil that feeds the flame of love to God and man. 

Be clothed with humility always as with a garment. 

Bind it around you as your girdle. 

Breathe only its spirit. 

See with its eyes. Hear with its ears. 

Then whether in church or out of it, whether hearing God's praises or suffering wrongs from men, everything will serve to build you up and carry you forward in the life of God. 

Here is an unfailing test to prove all things by the truth. 

Do this. Withdraw from the world and from all conversation for one month. Do not write. Do not read. Do not argue even with yourself. 

Cease from all the former workings of your heart and mind with all the strength of your heart. 

Spend the month in this one form of prayer to God. 

Pray it often on your knees. 

But whether sitting, walking, or standing, let your soul be always reaching upward with this single desire, that of his great goodness. 

He would show you and take from your heart every kind and degree of pride, whether from evil spirits or your own corrupt nature, and that He would awaken in you the deepest depth and truth of that humility, which alone can make you fit to receive His Light and His Holy Spirit. 

Reject every thought but this, waiting and praying in it from your whole heart, with the same truth and earnestness that those in torment would pray to be delivered. 

If you give yourself honestly and sincerely to this spirit of prayer,  I dare affirm that though you had twice as many evil spirits in you as Mary Magdalene, they would all be cast out   and you like her would be brought to weep tears of love at the feet of the holy Lord Jesus Christ. 

 You have finished listening to humility, the beauty of holiness.

Chapter 12 - Humility and Exaltation

 Humility and Exaltation. 

        He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Luke 14:11 and Luke 18:13. [Luke 14:11 states, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." This verse serves as the concluding moral for the Parable of the Guests, teaching that self-promotion leads to humiliation, while humility results in being honored by God. ] [Luke 18:13 describes the tax collector standing at a distance, refusing to lift his eyes to heaven, and beating his breast while praying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” This verse contrasts the tax collector’s humility and repentance with the self-righteousness of the Pharisee who prayed immediately before him.  The tax collector’s posture signifies his awareness of unworthiness and deep sorrow for his sins, recognizing that he cannot earn God’s favor through works or comparison to others.  Instead, he relies entirely on God’s mercy, making God the subject of his prayer while acknowledging himself as the object of that mercy.  This act of genuine contrition is central to the biblical theme that those who humble themselves will be exalted, while those who exalt themselves will be humbled. ]

        God giveth grace to the humble. 

Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you. James 4:10. 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. 1 Peter 5:6. 

 Just yesterday, someone asked me, "How can I conquer this pride?" 

The answer is simple. Two things are needed. 

1 Do what God says is your work. 

2 Humble yourself. 

 Trust God to do what he says is his work. He will exalt you. 

The command is clear. Humble yourself. 

   But this does not mean that it is your task to conquer pride in your own strength or to create within yourself the lowliness of Jesus. 

That work belongs to God alone. 

It is the very heart of the exaltation God promises to lift you into the true likeness of his beloved son. 

What the command does mean is this. Take every opportunity to humble yourself before God and before others. 

 Do it in faith believing that grace is already at work in you. Do it in the confidence that more grace will come bringing victory. 

Whenever your conscience reveals pride, its stirrings or its fruits, respond even in weakness and failure by remaining under God's unchanging command. 

Humble yourself. 

Receive with thankfulness whatever God allows, whether from within or without, from friend or enemy, from nature or  grace that shows you your need of humbling and helps you toward it. 

Count humility as the mother of all virtue,  your first duty before God, the constant safeguard of the soul. 

Set your heart on it as the wellspring of every blessing. 

The promise is divine and sure. 

He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 

Do the one thing God asks. Humble yourself. 

God will do the one thing he has promised. He will give more grace. 

He will exalt you in due time. 

All God's dealings with mankind follow a pattern of two stages. 

First comes the time of preparation, a season marked by  command and promise, mixed with our own efforts, our weakness, our failures, and partial successes.

In this stage, a holy longing for something more is stirred. A deeper hunger, a greater expectation. 

All this serves to train and prepare the soul for something higher. 

Then comes the time of fulfillment when faith inherits the promise and the soul finally enjoys what it once sought in vain. 

This two-fold pattern is true of every part of the Christian life and of every single grace we pursue. 

It is so because it is grounded in the very nature of redemption. 

In all things, God must take the first step. 

Once God has begun the work, our part follows. Not to complete it in our strength, but to strive and struggle until we learn our utter inability and in that self-despair die to ourselves. 

 Then we are ready willingly and knowingly to receive from God the completion of what we had once begun in ignorance.

So the God who was there at the beginning before we truly knew him or understood his purpose is now longed for and received as the end as the one who is truly all in all. 

It is the same in the pursuit of humility.

 To every believer comes the clear command from the throne of God. 

 Humble yourself. 

And to the one who earnestly seeks to obey, there will come, yes, as a reward, two painful discoveries. 

First, the depth of pride still within. The deep resistance to being counted as nothing. The unwillingness to fully submit to God. 

Pride that was once hidden now stands exposed.

Second, the utter powerlessness of our own efforts, even our prayers to destroy that pride. We cannot overcome it ourselves. 

 Blessed is the one who in this discovery puts all his or her hope in God and continues despite the pride still working within in simple acts of humbling himself or herself before God and before others. 

We know the pattern of human nature. Acts form habits. Habits shape dispositions. Dispositions mold the will. And the rightly formed will becomes character. 

So it is in the work of grace. 

As acts of humility are repeated, they form humble habits and a humble heart. 

 And then He who works in us both to will and to do comes with His power and His spirit. 

The proud heart that once cast itself down again and again before God in weakness is now met with more grace. 

That heart becomes truly humble. The spirit of Jesus, the meek and lowly one, has conquered. 

The new nature has grown to maturity. And Christ, the humble One, now dwells there forever.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you. 

And what is this exaltation? 

The highest glory of any creature is to be a vessel to receive, enjoy, and reveal the glory of God. 

But this can only happen when the creature is willing to be nothing in itself so that God may be all. 

Water always fills the lowest places. So too, the lower and more empty a man lies before God, the quicker and fuller will be the inflow of God's own glory. 

The exaltation that God gives is not some outward reward, something separate from Himself. No, all that God gives is more of Himself, taking fuller possession of the soul. 

This exaltation is not a prize given from the outside  unrelated to the humbling that came before. 

Rather, it is the direct result, an outflow of humility. 

 It is nothing less than the gift of a deeper divine humility. The very humility of the Lamb of God, forming us into His likeness and preparing us to receive more fully the indwelling of God Himself.

Whoever humbles himself will be lifted up. 

Jesus Christ himself proves these words true, and he is the guarantee that they will be fulfilled in us. 

Let us take his yoke and learn from him, for he is gentle and humble in heart. 

If we are willing to bow down to him as he bowed down to us, he will stoop to us again and we will find ourselves joined with him in perfect fellowship.

 As we share more deeply in his humility, whether by humbling ourselves or by enduring the humbling of others, we can be sure that the spirit of his exaltation, the spirit of God and of glory will rest upon us. 

 The presence and power of the risen Christ will be with those who are humble in spirit. 

When God is given His rightful place in us, he will lift us up. 

Make it your care to seek his glory by humbling yourself. He will make it his care to give you glory by completing your humility and filling you with the spirit of his son as your very life. 

When the life of God fully fills you, nothing will seem more natural or sweeter than to be nothing yourself, with no thought or desire for self. 

Because your whole being is taken up with Him who fills all, then you can truly say, "I will gladly rejoice in my   weakness, so that the strength of Christ may rest upon me." 

Brother, sister, is this not the reason our consecration and faith have brought so little fruit in the pursuit of holiness? 

 The work was done in in the power of self, though we called it faith. 

God was sought for self's happiness. 

The soul rejoiced not in God alone, but in self and its own holiness. 

We did not understand that true holiness is rooted in humility. 

Deep constant Christlike humility that forgets self marks every part of life before God and man. Only in possessing God do I lose myself. 

 Just as the smallness of a speck of dust is seen when it floats in the wide glory of the sunlight, so humility is simply taking our place before God, being nothing but a speck shining in the light of his love. 

How great is God? How small am I? Lost, swallowed up in love's immensity. God only there, not I. 

May God teach us that to be humble, to be nothing in his presence is the highest honor and the richest blessing of the Christian life. He says, "I dwell in the high and holy place and with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit. May this be our portion, oh to be emptier, lower, unknown, unnoticed and despised, yet to God a vessel holier, filled with Christ and Christ alone. 

Chapter 13 - A Secret of Secrets: Humility the Soul of True Prayer ( continue here )

Chapter 11- Humility and Happiness

 Humility and happiness. 

        Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weakness, for when I am weak, then am I strong. -  2 Corinthians 12:9-10. 

     To keep apostle Paul from exalting himself because of the greatness of the revelations he had received, a thorn in the flesh was given to him, a messenger of Satan to humble him. 

At first, apostle Paul asked the Lord three times to take it away. But the answer he received showed that the trial was actually a gift. 

In the weakness and humiliation it brought, the grace and strength of Christ could shine more clearly. 

Apostle Paul's response was immediate and complete. He entered into a new understanding of suffering. 

Instead of merely enduring the trial, he began to rejoice in it. 

Instead of praying for it to be removed, he took pleasure in it. 

He had learned that the place of lowliness is the place of blessing, of power, and of joy. 

      Every Christian in the pursuit of humility passes through two stages.

 In the first stage, he fears and avoids everything that might humble him. 

He has not yet learned to seek humility at any cost. 

He accepts the command to be humble and tries to obey it only to discover again and again how deeply he fails. 

He prays for humility, sometimes very earnestly, but deep in his heart, he also prays, whether with words or silent wishes, to be spared from the very things that would make him humble. 

 He does not yet love humility as the beauty of the lamb of God or as the joy of heaven, so much that he would give up  everything to gain it. 

In this stage, both the pursuit of humility and the prayer for it still carry a sense of burden of duty or even bondage. 

   Humbling himself has not yet become the natural expression of a life and nature transformed by humility. 

It is not yet his joy or delight. 

He cannot yet say, "Most gladly do I glory in weakness.   I take pleasure in whatever humbles me." 

But can we truly hope to reach the place where this becomes real in us without question? 

And what will bring us there? 

The same thing that brought apostle Paul there.

 A fresh revelation of the Lord Jesus. 

Only the Presence of God can reveal and drive out self. 

Apostle Paul was given a deeper understanding of this truth that the presence of Jesus Christ removes every desire to find anything in ourselves and causes us to rejoice in every humiliation that prepares us for more of him. 

Through these humblings and through the power of Jesus Christ made real in them, we come to choose humility as our greatest treasure. 

Let us learn from apostle Paul's lifestory. 

There may be mature believers, gifted teachers, and those with deep spiritual experiences who still have not fully   learned the lesson of perfect humility, of gladly glorying in weakness. 

We see this even in apostle Paul. The danger of pride was still close. 

He had not yet fully learned what it meant to be nothing, to die so that Christ alone might live in him, to truly take pleasure in all that brought him low. 

It seems this was the highest lesson he still had to learn.

 Full likeness to his Lord in self-emptying where he rejoiced in weakness so that God might be all. 

The highest lesson a believer must learn is humility. 

Oh that every Christian seeking to grow in holiness would take this deeply to heart. 

There may be great consecration, burning zeal, and even  heavenly experiences. But unless the Lord in his mercy brings special dealings to humble the soul, there can still be an unconscious lifting up of self beneath it all. 

 Let us learn this truth well. 

The highest holiness is the deepest humility. 

And let us remember it does not come naturally. It comes only through the faithful working of our Lord Jesus Christ and through a heart fully yielded to him. 

Let us examine our lives in the light of apostle Paul's experience. 

Do we gladly glory in weakness? 

Do we take pleasure as Paul did in reproaches, in needs, in hardships, in wrongs? 

 Let us ask ourselves honestly, have we learned to receive a rebuke, whether fair or unfair, a reproach from friend or foe, an injury or difficulty caused by others as a precious opportunity to prove that Jesus Christ is truly all to us. 

To show that our own pleasure or honor is nothing, and that humiliation is in truth something we welcome.

Yes, it is a blessed thing, the deep joy of heaven to be so free from self that whatever is said about us or done to us is swallowed up in this one thought. 

Jesus is all. 

 Let us trust the one who took charge of apostle Paul to take charge of us as well. 

Apostle Paul needed special discipline and along with it special instruction to learn something even more precious than the heavenly things he had heard. 

What it means to glory in weakness and lowliness. 

We need this just as much.

Oh, how much more than we realize. 

The same Lord who cared for apostle Paul will care for us. 

He watches over us with jealous, loving attention, lest we exalt ourselves. 

And when we do, he seeks to expose the pride and deliver us from it. 

In trials, in weakness, in hardships, he works to bring us low until we have learned that his grace is enough. 

And then we come to take pleasure in the very things that   humble us and keep us low. 

His strength made perfect in our weakness. 

His presence filling and satisfying our emptiness. This becomes the secret of a humility that does not fail. 

Like apostle Paul, we can look at what God works in us and through us and still say, "In nothing was I behind the chiefest apostles, though I am nothing." 

His many humiliations had led him to true humility, a humility full of joy, full of glorying, full of delight in all that brings the soul low before God. 

Most gladly will I glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses. 

The humble man has discovered the secret of a joy that remains. The weaker he feels, the lower he goes. The more 

1:48:41 deeply he is humbled, the more fully he experiences the power and presence of Christ. And when he can truly say, " I am nothing," the voice of the Lord speaks with ever deepening joy. "My grace is sufficient for thee. 

Let me gather all into two great truths. 

The danger of pride is nearer and greater than we know. And the grace for humility is nearer and greater still.

The danger of pride is greater and nearer than we think, especially in our highest spiritual moments. 

The preacher of deep truth with an admiring crowd listening closely. 

The gifted speaker on a holiness platform explaining the life of heaven. 

The believer giving testimony of a blessed experience. 

The evangelist moving invisible triumph and blessing  many. 

None of these knows the full depth of the hidden unconscious danger surrounding them. 

Apostle Paul himself was in danger and did not know it. 

What Jesus Christ did for him is recorded as a warning for us that we might recognize our danger and know where our safety lies. 

If it has ever been said of someone who teaches or professes holiness, he is full of self or he does not live what he teaches or his blessing has not made him humbler or gentler. Let it be said no more. 

Jesus Christ in whom we trust is able to make us truly humble. 

Yes, the grace for humility is greater and nearer than we think. 

The humility of Lord Jesus Christ is our salvation. 

Lord Jesus Christ himself is our humility. 

Our humility is his care, his work, his gift. 

His grace is sufficient even for the temptation of pride. 

His strength is made perfect in our weakness. 

Let us choose to be weak, to be low, to be nothing. 

Let humility become our joy and gladness. 

Let us gladly glory in weakness and take pleasure in all that humbles and keeps us low. 

The power of Christ wil rest upon us. 

Christ humbled himself. Therefore, God exalted him.

 Christ will humble us and keep us humble. 

Let us fully agree and joyfully receive all that humbles. 

The power of Christ will rest upon us. 

We will find that the deepest humility is the secret of the   truest happiness, a joy that nothing can take away. 

Chapter 12 - Humility and Exaltation (continue here)

Chapter 12, Humility and Exaltation.

Muslims have killed many Muslims

 ² Muslims have killed many Muslims

Fighting seems to be a way of life for many Arabs in the Middle East.

400,000 Syrians have killed each other in 11 years of brutal civil war that produced 12 million refugees. This is the biggest humanitarian disaster since the second world war. Unless we compare it to the 2 million deaths and missing people in 1947 when India and Pakistan became separate nations. There were 11 million refugees that were displaced from one country to the other. This was a Hindu-Muslim conflict between people who had previously lived peaceably together.

Then in 1971, West Pakistan fought East Pakistan which wanted to separate as it became Bangladesh. 10 million refugees from East Pakistan fled to India. 30 million refugees inside east Pakistan were displaced. West Pakistan president Yahya Khan wanted his military to kill 3 million of the East Pakistanis. Political scientist Rudolf Rummel estimates that the death toll was one-and-a-half million. This was more of a Muslim-Muslim conflict as the majority of people in both west and east Pakistan were Muslim.

Once again, Muslim people were fighting each other.

An eight-year war of independence, 1954 to 1962, in Algeria saw 1 million Algerians die as they fought against France to get rid of the French. But, in addition, during that same time 500,000 Algerians were slaughtered by fellow Algerians during vicious Arab-Arab betrayals and fighting amongst the different factions. All factions were Muslim.

In 1992 a civil war broke out in Algeria. By 2002 it had claimed 200,000 lives as well as 15,000 Algerians who just forcibly "disappeared". An extreme example of Arab-Arab hatred despite all of them being Muslim.

The eight-year war from 1980 - 1988 between Muslim Iraq and Muslim Iran was the longest war of the last century which left a million people dead and in the end the two armies were in exactly the same position as when the war started. A new tactic by Iran was to give their teenagers motor bikes and make them drive into minefields to explode the mines so that the soldiers could advance safely. Their logic was that teenagers were cheaper to lose than soldiers who had cost a lot of money to train. Iran and Iraq were both basically Shiite Muslims. But a shared faith did not stop the blood-letting.

Afghanistan is consistently subject to violence between different sectarian Muslim groups. When the Russians were driven out of Afghanistan, the Afghan warlords then turned their violence on each other. This allowed the Taliban to rise up, and they continue with the killing of fellow Afghans.

A full-scale civil war in Yemen saw 16,000 people killed between 2015 and 2017. Arab-Arab violence keeps exploding despite their common Muslim faith.

Egypt is full of dissension that flows over into violence.

When Muslim Ayatollah Komeini took over Iran from the Shah, some 70,000 Iranian Muslim opponents were killed.

It seems that certain Arab factions hate other Arab factions, and then wish to settle differences using violence and murder.

Thus violence is not limited to the Jews and the Palestinians.

Violence seems to be the default mode in the Middle East.

Lebanon has a mixture of sects and religious groupings. But this did not spare them a devastating civil war from 1975 - 1990 when 120,000 died and 1 million refugees left Lebanon. Today there are still 76,000 displaced persons.

For over 3,400 years, Jerusalem has been regarded as the Jewish capital by the Jews. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem (1948-1967), they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

In the Jewish Old Testament Bible, Jerusalem is mentioned over 669 times and Zion (which usually means Jerusalem, sometimes the Land of Israel) 154 times, for a total of 823 times. The Christian New Testament mentions Jerusalem 154 times and Zion 7 times.

Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

Jerusalem is also not mentioned in the Palestinian Covenant.

King David established the city of Jerusalem as the capital of the whole Land of Israel. Mohammed never physically came to Jerusalem. Jerusalem remained under Turkish Ottoman Empire rule from 1517 to 1917, and under British rule from 1917 to 1948. Then Jordan ruled it from 1948–1967.

So the Palestinians as such, have never ruled Jerusalem.

Most of the Arabs in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza in the West Bank of Jordan River have complete autonomy under the rule of the Palestinian Authority.