Prepare To Meet Thy God

Good afternoon, beloved brethren and friends, fellow ministers in the mystical Body of Christ our Savior; it is a great blessing to be with you here in Bogota, Colombia, and also with you there in Ecuador.

Greetings to missionary Miguel Bermúdez Marín and to all the ministers there in Ecuador, and to all the ministers in all the countries that are gathered on this occasion, connected to this ministers’ service.

Let’s read in Amos chapter 4, verse 12; and then Exodus chapter 19, verses 10 to 11. It says the following, in verse 12 of Amos chapter 4:

“Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.”

And Exodus chapter 19, verse 9 and on, says:

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,

And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.”

In these two passages that we have read, it speaks to us about a preparation; “prepare to meet thy God,” says God through the prophet Amos in chapter 4, verse 12. And in chapter 19, verses 9 to 11, God tells Moses to prepare the people “today and tomorrow,” and on the third day God will appear on Mount Sinai in a thick cloud.

“PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD.” That is our subject for this occasion.

Our subject speaks to us about God’s Coming to Earth, to the people who are under the Covenant relevant to that time, the people who are going to receive the Covenant.

We find that Mount Sinai also represents the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Mountain of God, the Holy Mountain of God, because God, who is the Holy One of Israel, is there. If God is in a place, that place is holy.

Notice, when He appears to Moses in that bush that burned but was not consumed, there on Sinai… whom did Sinai belong to? To Egypt; and God says Mount Sinai is a holy place,¹ a holy mountain, because it is the place where God was; that is why they called it “the mountain of God,” where He would appear in a Cloud of Fire at the top of the mountain.

At the top of the mountain, God calls Moses to go up on the third day, where God will appear in a thick Cloud, and God will speak to Moses, and all the people will hear God speaking to Moses; in a thundering Voice, which caused terror to those who heard It; and Saint Paul says that Moses was also trembling.²

Now, notice, the mountain of God, which is a type and figure of God’s people, both God’s people of the Old Testament as well as God’s people of the New testament.

We also find Moses building an ark according to the pattern that God showed him on Mount Sinai; and when he finished the ark – the tabernacle, he put the ark of the covenant inside, in the most holy place, and in the ark of the covenant he put the tables of the Law, and also a portion of manna from the last day of the week,³ in other words, from the last day on which manna fell, which was the sixth day; because on the seventh day, which was a sabbath, they could not go out seeking manna; and if they sought it, it would spoil, it would turn into worms.⁴

And when he finished the construction: he presented the people and the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle, to God; and God came in a Cloud and entered into the tabernacle.⁵

We also find that God would dwell in the midst of the people of God, the people of Israel, under the Covenant that God gave them through the prophet Moses; and we saw Him dwelling in that thick Cloud, which by day was a shade to the people and by night was a light to all the people; It was a Pillar of Fire by night, and a Cloud of shade to the people by day.⁶

Later when Solomon also built the temple and dedicated it to God, having put the ark of the covenant inside, God came in a Cloud and entered into that place; and the priests could not minister because of the Glory of God that had arrived, had come to the people;⁷ which is why the people had to be prepared for the arrival, for the coming and the meeting of God with His people in that temple.

And we also find that for God’s people to meet God in the form of a man, in the Coming of the Messiah, there was also a preparation that God carried out through the prophet John the Baptist, calling the people to prepare to meet their God.

And John said: “I knew Him not, but He that sent me to baptize told me: Upon whom you see the Holy Spirit descending like a dove upon Him, that is Him,” (in other words, that is the One whose way you are preparing).⁸

And He was one of the brethren of Israel, He was one of the people; the veil of flesh had to appear as one of the people who were under the Covenant relevant to that time. Don’t lose sight of that premise, we might say. He had to come, not in the body of a Gentile, although His lineage was also mixed with Gentiles: through Gentile women,⁹ such as the wife or woman with whom Judah united and had children, Tamar;¹⁰ then there was also another connection with Gentiles through women, which was Rahab, who married a prince of Judah;¹¹ and then, later on, there was another connection with Gentile women, which was Ruth the Moabite.¹²

Notice that the line of Judah is mixed with Gentiles, with Gentile women, the line of Jesus, humanly speaking, the line from which He came; because the virgin Mary is a descendent of King David, and therefore, of the tribe of Judah; and Joseph as well, since he adopted Jesus, He is an adopted son and He obtains all the rights of a son, both physical and material – or physical and spiritual.

And then the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, notice, comes from the line of Judah through Jesus, and from the Gentiles. The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is represented in Tamar, in Rahab, and also in Ruth.

Now, through the line of Ephraim, we find that it is also mixed with Gentiles, because Joseph’s wife was an Egyptian Gentile of the high class, and therefore, of a very high position in Pharaoh’s kingdom; she was of the royal line or the high class.¹³

And then we find that relation with the Gentiles in the tribe of Ephraim, which is the tribe that has the Birthright Blessing, which Jacob bestowed upon his son Joseph by blessing Ephraim first, who was the youngest (who represents the believers in Christ, the Church), and Manasseh (who represents the Jews); Ephraim got the greater blessing.¹⁴

Therefore, the Birthright Blessing belongs to the tribe of Joseph. And what does that mean? That without Ephraim, Judah won’t work, won’t work properly, the kingdom would be divided; because when the kingdom was divided in the time of Solomon, one part was given to the tribe of Ephraim in the time of Solomon’s son, who was Jeroboam – or Rehoboam, and the ten tribes were given to Jeroboam.¹⁵

The names are similar, just one or two letters are added, but ten tribes are added to Jeroboam’s, those are ten tribes; in other words, more than 80% or 90% of the Kingdom is in the hands of Ephraim’s tribe; and we won’t speak much about that now, only what we’ve already spoken. Because in Ezekiel 37 or 38, around there, it tells us that the two sticks (the tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of Judah) will be joined together to form one Kingdom, the Kingdom of David, which consisted of the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Manasseh, and the ten northern tribes; or the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin.

And now, all of that will happen at this end time, in the Visit and meeting with our God, and our God’s Visit and meeting with the Hebrew people, who are waiting for Him for the restoration of the Kingdom. And in the restoration of the Kingdom the twelve tribes will be united.

Without the scepter of the tribe of Ephraim, who rules over the ten tribes, the northern kingdom, the kingdom of Judah, the kingdom of the Messiah, cannot be established; therefore, the Kingdom of the Messiah and the Messiah, will come with both sticks, both scepters, joining them together into one stick, into one Kingdom.

And that will be in the Visit and meeting with our God at the Last Day, which will be the Visit and meeting with the Messiah in His Coming to His Holy Mountain, which is His Church, also called Mount Zion; and to and in His Temple, which is His mystical Body of believers, which is the human Temple of God as a mystical Body of believers.

Saint Paul the Apostle, who is knowledgeable about this mystery, tells us in First Corinthians chapter 3, verses 16 to 17:

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

As God said, that Mount Sinai was the holy mountain; and also like the people of Israel, God calls them a holy people; and like the temple, it is also a holy temple; and the tabernacle that Moses built, it is also a holy tabernacle, a holy temple. Such is the body of Jesus Christ, of which He said: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Chapter 2 of Saint John, verse 17 and on. And… because God, the Most Holy, was there.

And now we see that the holy people under the New Covenant is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It also says that in Ephesians chapter 2, and Hebrews chapter 3. In chapter 2, verse 19 and on, it says [Ephesians]:

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;”

When a person says: “These are the members of my household,” he is saying: “These are my sons and my daughters.”

“…And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord,” (a holy temple. Who? The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ);

“In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

Now, just as God is building a holy Temple, which is His Church, He is also building individuals as holy temples, temples set apart for God to dwell in them in all His fullness.

First we receive the firstfruits of the Spirit, where we obtain the new birth, and we already obtain Eternal Life, and we obtain the heavenly body, our theophany; and then we will receive the physical adoption, which will be our transformation, in which we will receive an eternal, immortal, incorruptible and glorified body, just like the glorified body that Jesus Christ has; because the promise and goal is that we will come to be in His image, theophanic body, and in His likeness, glorified and eternal physical body.

At this end time, the promise is that we will have an encounter with God, that God will come to meet in and with His spiritual Temple, and therefore, with those who form that spiritual Temple, which has been growing from age to age with millions of human beings who have been added in each age as part of the construction of that spiritual Temple, which has an Outer Court, a Holy Place and a Most Holy Place.

And in a building one starts with the foundation and then finishes with the crowning part of the building, which is the highest part, where and from which you get the best view of the whole panorama.

In which part of a building do they put helicopter landings? We have a visit of chariots of fire. When they are going to evacuate people out of a building that is in danger, using helicopters, they have to go up to the heliport; and from there they are taken to the safe place, because the building is in danger.

And since the Great Tribulation is about to come, God’s children are in danger; if they are left here on Earth…; and since they have been washed in the Blood of Christ there is no reason for them to go through the Great Tribulation, because the Blood of Christ has cleansed them from all sin; the judgment that had to fall upon us, fell upon Christ two thousand years ago on Calvary’s Cross. Therefore, He will take us out of this earthly dimension, in what Christianity calls the rapture or catching away of the Church.

Just like Enoch was caught up and God took him away so that he would not see death;¹⁶ and Elijah was caught up so that he would not see death;¹⁷ and after Jesus was resurrected, He was caught up to Heaven too, and the saints who had died rose,¹⁸ they were on Earth with Christ for about forty days, with Christ appearing to His disciples, let’s say, every Sunday and perhaps some other day of the week; but the Bible indicates Sundays in which He appeared, or the first day of the week.¹⁹ And then He ascended to Heaven with all those who had been raised in the resurrection with Christ.²⁰

And there will be another resurrection: of the New Testament saints, just as there was a resurrection of the Old Testament saints; and we will be on Earth for a period of time, Rev. William Branham says about 30 or 40 days, and then He will take us from here to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

When we see the dead in Christ resurrected in young bodies, because what we will be seeing will be a group of young people coming glorified, in eternal bodies; when we see them we will be changed; and what there will be is a glorious manifestation of God in His Church, in young people, because they will all become young people with glorified bodies like the glorified body that Christ our Savior has.

That is the reason for the encounter with our God at the Last Day, which will fulfill the Coming of the Lord to His Church, which She has been awaiting so much for about two thousand years in the Dispensation of Grace.

In the Old Testament more was spoken about the Second Coming of Christ than the First Coming of Christ; and Christ Himself spoke more of His Second Coming than the First Coming. And the only hope there is for believers in Christ is the Coming of the Lord.

The Seventh Trumpet to the Jews, like the Seventh Seal to the believers in Christ, will be the Coming of the Lord, God’s meeting with His people at the Last Day, coming to His Church. And the Jews will say: “This is what we have been awaiting for thousands of years. Why is He among the Gentiles?” Later it will be explained to them, they will understand it later; under the ministries of the Two Olive Trees they will understand it.

In the Coming of the Lord to His Church at the Last Day, the promise is that the Son of Man will come in a cloud;²¹ in other places it says that He will come on a white horse.²² He will come in a Cloud, as He came to Mount Transfiguration, where Jesus Christ, Peter, James, and John, were seeing the vision of the Second Coming of Christ to His Church, the Holy Mountain of the New Covenant; just like Mount Transfiguration was the mountain where Christ was seen glorified, with Peter, James, and John by His side, witnessing everything there; but on the right and on the left were Moses and Elijah.²³

What was seen back then is the Order of the Coming of Christ to His Church. That is why in the Coming of the Lord, in the Coming of our encounter with God, and of God meeting with us, the ministries of Jesus Christ, of Moses, and of Elijah will be seen. That will be seen in God’s Coming to meet His Church, which is the Coming of the Lord for the adoption of the sons and daughters of God, according to Romans chapter 8, verses 14 to 39, which the children of God cry out for, and all of nature is crying out for the adoption of the children of God.

And the adoption is the adoption of the body, that is, our glorification, our transformation; because we have already received the spiritual adoption as sons and daughters of God, but we still need the physical adoption, which is the glorification, meaning, our transformation, in order to have eternal, immortal and glorified bodies for all eternity.

Therefore, ministers, let’s prepare to meet our God on the Holy Mountain, which is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The promise is that He comes in the clouds, as He came to the temple that Moses built and as He had come to Mount Sinai, and as He came in Solomon’s time during the dedication of the temple. See? In other words, all of that typifies, it is a type and figure of what will happen at this end time.

There must be a people who make up the holy people of God, the Holy Mountain of God, and that is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is in the Cornerstone stage; and each stage pertains to a territory, each age and its messenger has its time, and from its territory it then spreads to other nations. And at the Last Day, from the territory and age relevant to our time, which is the Golden Age of the Church, the age which crowns the Church, which crowns the Holy Mountain, the spiritual Temple, the mystical Body of Christ, from there, from that eternal stage or age, it will spread to the whole world.

Just like in the new Jerusalem, when that City is on Earth, in eternity, internationally they will see the light on that Mountain, upon the top of that Mountain, which is the place where the Throne of God and of the Lamb will be; and it will be in the territory of Israel, but extended, the territory that God told them that they would inherit, which currently, let’s say, doesn’t even include half of what is theirs by promise.

“PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD.” Ministers, peers: prepare yourself together with your congregation to meet your God.

It has been a great privilege for me to be with you on this occasion, testifying to you about the preparation to meet our God.

The forerunner of the Second Coming of Christ, his Message is a message of preparation to meet our God; therefore, every minister should have It written and recorded for his congregation; because the way to prepare ourselves to meet our God is there, so that we do not miss it, as Israel missed the encounter with our God two thousand years ago, God coming with His Angel clothed in a human body called Jesus. There was God’s meeting with His people, which they did not understand.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we will speak a little bit more; we can’t say some things. Rev. William Branham said in the message “Christ Is The Mystery Of God Revealed,” on page 16: “We don’t know how He will come and when He will come; and it’s good that we don’t know.”²⁴ Now, why? So that there are no imitations. He knew, because he is the forerunner; and it is in the messages, that forerun the Second Coming of Christ.

He said on page 119 of the book of Quotations [para. 1058] [63-1229E – “Look Away To Jesus,” p. 7, paras. 50-52] “I won’t die of old age, until He’s here, unless I die in an accident or some other way.” In other words, that means he was expecting the Coming of the Lord in his time, if he remained alive; and he knew what It was. Don’t think that he didn’t know.

The Third Pull contains all of that. And he said: “This…” the Angel said to him: “Don’t tell anyone anything about this.”²⁵ He told the rest of the Pulls and they were imitated. The Third Pull cannot be imitated because they don’t know what it is. And until we are in the Third Pull, in the fulfillment of the Tent Vision, the mystery of the Second Coming of Christ to His Church will not be revealed.

Remember that in the Tent Vision, Rev. William Branham was taken, and the Angel who would speak to him was with him; and then he says that he saw the Pillar of Fire come down to the place of the little room.²⁶ The Pillar of Fire is Jesus Christ, the Angel of the Covenant.

In other words, He goes down to that Pull and He will be the One to perform all those wonders. It will be Christ coming to His Church in a Cloud, the Pillar of Fire, God in the Pillar of Fire visiting His Church, to give Her the faith to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Remember, the Thunders will reveal to the Church the mystery of His Coming, the mystery of the Seventh Seal; and will give Her a revival, an awakening. And the Seven Thunders are the Voice of Christ, the Mighty Angel that comes down from Heaven with the little Book open in His hand, crying as when a lion roars and Seven Thunders speaking their voices; Christ speaking with a Lion Voice, crying, roaring as when a lion roars, and Seven Thunders speaking their voices.

Rev. William Branham says that the Seven Thunders contain the mystery of the Seventh Seal;²⁷ therefore, with the revelation of the mystery of the Seventh Seal that will be given to us by the seven voices of the Mighty Angel, of Christ, at the Last Day, it will give us the faith to be changed, it will reveal to us the mystery of His Second Coming, the mystery of His Visit to meet His Church at the Last Day.

We need to know those mysteries, which are going to be revealed in the Third Pull (as it is called by Rev. William Branham), in the fulfillment of the Tent Vision; therefore, there is a lot of blessing for the time of the fulfillment of the Tent Vision.

Without the fulfillment of the Tent Vision we cannot be changed, because that is where we will be given the faith to be changed, the rapturing faith. Therefore, we are supporting that project of that Vision which was shown to Rev. William Branham to be fulfilled in the midst of Christianity at the end time.

Without the fulfillment of that Vision: there is neither resurrection, nor transformation nor rapture for the believers in Christ, at the Last Day. As simple as that. And that Vision will be fulfilled at the Last Day, in the stage of the Cornerstone Age, in the midst of the believers who will be in the stage of the Cornerstone.

If it was supposed to be fulfilled in Saint Paul’s time, it would have been up to Saint Paul with his group to build that Great Tent Cathedral; and he was also a tent builder;²⁸ so, surely he also had some tents for meetings too.

But the Vision is for the Last Day. If it would have been for one of the seven messengers, like Rev. William Branham, he (along with the group of his age) would have had to build that Vision, make it a reality; that’s why he tried, he said that he was going to build a tent, that he was going to be preaching such-and-such things;²⁹ what is going to happen later on in the Age of the Cornerstone was being reflected in him.

What God will do at the end in the Age of the Cornerstone is reflected in the messengers of each age.

And the believers of the Last Day will have a manifestation of faith. They will work on that project by faith, so that Christ may visit His Church, to have an encounter with our God in His final manifestation, where we will receive the rapturing faith, the faith to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Remember that the revelation of the Seventh Seal will give us the faith; and the Seven Thunders contain the revelation of the Seventh Seal. See how simple it is? Because it is all so simple, it is complicated, because no one expects something so great in a simple way.

On Sunday we will speak as much as we can on the subject for next Sunday, which will be: “BE PREPARED FOR THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN.”

In the meantime, find everything related to the subject of the Son of Man and the blessings there are under the title of Son of Man; and also find Son of David, Son of God, Son of Abraham, because under those titles of Son there is an inheritance that has some blessings for the people who have that manifestation of those titles of Son.

For example, for the title of Son of God, the inheritance is the Heavens and the Earth, He is King over the Heavens and the Earth. As Son of David, He is the heir to the Throne and Kingdom of David. As Son of Abraham, he is the heir to all of Abraham’s inheritance, to everything that was given to Abraham as an inheritance, including the land that God told him that He would give Abraham and his seed as an inheritance; such is every title of Son.

And we will see the one of Son of Man tomorrow, Sunday, where our subject will be: “BE PREPARED FOR THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN;” which in Saint Matthew chapter 24, verse 27, says that It will be as the lightning that comes out of the East and shines, where? in the West.

The East is the land of Israel, the Middle East; and the West is the continent of the Americas, which all of Latin America and the Caribbean belong to, and so does North America. In other words, the final manifestation will be in the West (page 68 and 69 of the book of Quotations) [62-0422 – “The Restoration Of The Bride Tree,” p. 67, paras. 518-520], because the Light was in the East first, the Coming of the Son of Man, the Coming of the Lord back then. He said: “I am the light of the world,”³⁰ He was shining there; and His Second Coming will shine in the West. We will stop here. Let’s watch for His Coming in the West.

Next Sunday, tomorrow, we will be speaking about the Coming of the Son of Man, for which we have to be, what? Prepared. And the Message of the forerunner prepares the believers; therefore, we will see in his messages – or in his Message… it’s One, with many conferences, it’s One contained in many conferences that he gave.

It has been a great blessing for me to be with you on this occasion, speaking to you about THE ENCOUNTER WITH OUR GOD and THE PREPARATION TO MEET OUR GOD; we already know where it will be, in which age: our age; in which place: in the spiritual Temple of Christ, at the top. When Jacob saw the vision of the Church: he saw God at the top speaking to him from there.³¹

Therefore, that is the place for God’s Visit to His Church at the Last Day, for which we must be prepared and in the right age; because God was already visiting His Church from age to age, through the messenger of each age, and calling and gathering His children in each age, and thus forming each stage of His spiritual Temple, which grows until It reaches the highest part, the top, where He will call the elect of that time, who are the most privileged people in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ; since that is the part of the Throne in the new Jerusalem, in the part of the Throne in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ; just as the part of the Throne is the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant is, which was carried from age to age by the messenger of each age, the Word, the Ark of the Covenant.

Well, if I continue speaking to you, I wouldn’t have anything to talk about tomorrow, but let’s leave something for tomorrow, God willing.

We know that we have a promise of an encounter with our God at this end time; and tomorrow, Sunday, we will see, as far as God allows us to see, what that meeting of God with His people at the Last Day will be like, what that meeting will be like in the Coming of the Son of Man with His Angels at this end time.

May God bless you and keep you, ministers, and may He use you greatly in His Work, and prepare you and your congregations, and me, to meet our God.

God bless you and keep you, and continue having a happy afternoon, filled with the blessings of Christ our Savior.

It seems like we had dessert, it seems like even from far away Miguel is… he puts his faith in action by asking for dessert, because he has… what do you call it? A sweet tooth, he always likes dessert.

May God bless you, Miguel, may God keep you and all the ministers who are gathered there in Ecuador, and all the ministers in all nations.

God bless you and continue having a happy afternoon, filled with the blessings of Christ our Savior.

“PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD.”