Good evening, beloved friends and brethren present. It is a great blessing for me to be with you on this occasion, to share with you some moments of fellowship around the Word of God and His Program relevant to this end time.
For which I want to read in Revelation, chapter 14, verse 14 to 20. Chapter 14 of Revelation, verse 14 to 20, says:
“And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”
May God bless our souls with His Word and allow us to understand It.
Our topic for this occasion is: “THRUST IN THY SICKLE AND REAP, FOR THE HARVEST IS RIPE.”
This apocalyptic prophecy, notice, has to do with this end time in which we are living, and it is in this end time where this prophecy will be fulfilled.
God also spoke in the Old Testament, for example, in Joel, chapter 3, verse 13, and said… A little before that, verse 9 and on, it says:
“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.
Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”
Now see where Revelation, chapter 14, verse 14 to 20 places us: It places us in the Lord’s Day, it places us in the time where God calls and gathers His elect, represented in the wheat.
You see, the natural things represent the spiritual things. And this is why God gave ordinances and laws to the Hebrew people through the prophet Moses, and gave them ordinances and laws even for the sowing and harvesting of the fruits of the field: Because that is type and figure of the things that God would do.
And now see how Jesus Himself also used the wheat in His parables, representing the children of the Kingdom with the wheat, the children of God; and He mentioned the tares, representing the children of the evil one in the tares; and then He spoke of the harvest, the time of harvest, where the Son of Man will send His Angels, because the reapers are the Angels; and that is for the end time, in other words, for… Let’s see what Jesus tells us: In Matthew chapter 13, verse 30, He says:
“Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
And in this same chapter 13, verses 37 and on, Jesus says:
“He answered (that is, Jesus) and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
The enemy that sowed them (that is, he sowed the tares) is the devil…”
So the children of the evil one are the children of the devil, that is the tares; and the children of God represent, that is, are represented in the wheat. It continues saying:
“The enemy that sowed them (that is, he sowed the tares) is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.”
Who are the reapers? The Angels. That is why in Matthew, chapter 24 and verse 31, Jesus says:
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Here Jesus mentions the Angels again; because these Angels who are sent to carry out this work, you see, are sent in this end time; and let’s see what the Reverend William Branham said regarding these Angels. On page 141 of the book of Quotations, verse 1260, he says1:
“Notice in verse 41 [of Matthew 13], the two also very close, so close in the last days till He didn’t do… He could not depend on some certain church to separate them, say, the Methodist or the Baptist, or the’ An angel is coming to bring the separation, the segregation between the right and the wrong. And no one can do that but the Angel of the Lord. He’s the One that is going to tell which is right and which is wrong. God said He will send His angels at the last times. Not angels down through here…”
That is, not during the seven ages; because these Angels that He sends to carry out the Harvest, He sends them in the Age of the Cornerstone.
“God said He will send His angels at the last times. Not angels down (that is, no angels below in the seven ages) through here, but angels at the last time, and would gather together. We know that this is the coming harvest time now (it is for the time of harvest that He sends His Angels). Now, an angel is actually interpreted a ‘messenger.’ And we see that there is seven angels of the seven churches, and now… no, through the church ages.”
Now, notice, after the seven angel messengers of the seven ages finish their work, Christ will send His Angels with a Great Voice of Trumpet and they will gather His elect.
And Jesus also speaks of this —of these Angels— in chapter 16, verse 27, when He tells us [Matthew]:
“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”
And in Revelation, chapter 22, verse 12, it says:
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
Now see how all these passages speak of this end time, where the Angels of the Son of Man will be carrying out the wheat harvest, the gathering of God’s elect.
The sickle represents the Word, the Message of the Gospel of the Kingdom, with which God’s elect are harvested and prepared to be transformed in this end time. And Christ in this end time would be carrying out that Work of the gathering of His elect.
Christ was manifested through the messenger of each past age and used them greatly in past ages. Then, in the seventh age of the gentile Church, He sent the Reverend William Branham as a forerunner of the Second Coming of Christ and angel messenger of the seventh age of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sent him operating the ministry of Elijah for the fourth time.
But now, for the Last Day, when the seven ages of the gentile Church have passed, Christ goes up to the Age of the Cornerstone and comes manifested; just as He came manifested in each angel messenger of the seven ages of the gentile Church, He comes manifested in the Age of the Cornerstone, in His Angel Messenger, and He comes operating the ministries of Moses and Elijah; because the Son of Man comes with His Angels; and where Christ is manifested in the Last Day, in the Age of the Cornerstone, the Angels of the Son of Man will be there, which are the ministries of Moses and Elijah, in order to —through those ministries that the Holy Spirit, the Angel of the Covenant, will be operating in His Angel Messenger— all the elect of God to be called and gathered.
That is why, in this time of Harvest, the order from Heaven is: “THRUST IN THY SICKLE AND REAP, FOR THE HARVEST IS RIPE.”
Whenever the end of a dispensation is reached, God sends a dispensational messenger, and a new dispensation begins to intertwine with the dispensation that is coming to an end; and God begins to use that messenger to call and gather God’s children, and place them in a new dispensation.
See how in the days of Jesus, He was speaking about the harvest; and it says in John, chapter 4, verse 34 and on:
“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.”
There we can see that Christ is sending His disciples (to what?) to reap; and they are going to reap, to harvest, what others sowed during the Dispensation of the Law. And now, a gathering, a harvest, of the people who were under the Law takes place, and they are called and gathered into a new dispensation.
And after that time of the apostles had passed, there in the land of Israel, we find that the Gospel passed to the gentiles: Everything was intertwined with the Hebrews and the gentiles; and it was Peter himself who opened the Door to the gentiles in Cornelius’ house2, just as he had opened the Door to the Hebrews on the Day of Pentecost3</sup>; and all that which was happening there was a harvest.
Now, we can see that for this end time we have the promise of a harvest, a harvest that will be carried out in this end time.
Christ was harvesting, and He sent His disciples out to reap. And now, for this end time, a harvest is taking place in Christianity. It is Christianity that has the promise of a harvest, and that is why the Angels of the Son of Man are sent to Christianity to carry out that harvest.
Now, we can see that this is the Angel of the Covenant, the Angel of the Lord, Christ, the Holy Spirit, manifested in the Last Day in His Angel Messenger, operating the ministries of Moses and Elijah and Jesus, and thus carrying out the Work of the Last Day.
God doesn’t send two greater prophets for the same age or for the same dispensation, but He can send two ministries of prophets in one man and even three ministries as well; He can operate them in one man without any problem.
When Jesus was on Earth, Christ, carrying out all the miracles and wonders, people said: “This is John the Baptist who has resurrected.” Others said: “This is Elijah.” “Or Jeremiah,” others said. And others said: “Or is it one of the prophets who has resurrected.4”
It is that the fullness of God was in Jesus, therefore the Holy Spirit could work in Him as He worked in Ezekiel, as He worked in Jeremiah, as He worked in Isaiah, as He worked in Elijah, as He worked in John the Baptist and as He worked in the different prophets; as He worked in the prophet Moses as well.
Now, we can see why many people confused Jesus with one of the prophets of the past and thought that a prophet of the past had resurrected; but it was that the fullness of God was in Jesus.
For this end time, Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, will be manifested in His Angel Messenger, and He will be operating these ministries of Moses, Elijah and Jesus, and He will be carrying out the Work relevant to the time of Harvest, time of Reaping; and thus to call and gather all His elect of this end time.
And now, where are the elect of this end time? Here we are. And why are we here? Because Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, has called us and gathered us by operating the ministries relevant this end time.
We have reached the most glorious time of all times. The time of the reaping or harvest is a time of joy, a time of rejoicing, because the fruit of all the effort and labors that were carried out to obtain the fruit is gathered.
That is why for this end time the dead in Christ are going to be resurrected in eternal bodies and we who are living are going to be transformed. All this is within the Divine Program of the Harvest, of the Reaping, for all the sons and daughters of God.
This is why we are called and gathered: That is a spiritual reaping, a harvest; and then we will be transformed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. All of that pertains to the time of the Harvest, which is this end time, in which we are living.
That is why the command is: “THRUST IN THY SICKLE AND REAP, FOR THE HARVEST IS RIPE.”
Where is it that the fruit ripens? In the upper part of the tree. And the top of the Tree-Bride is the Age of the Cornerstone; that is where the wheat ripens, that is where the sons and daughters of God ripen; and that is where the harvest of the sons and daughters of God takes place.
Now we can see where we are in the Mystical Body of Christ: We are at the top of the Tree-Bride to ripen; for we have been called and gathered at the top of the Tree-Bride, in the Age of the Cornerstone: That is a harvest, a gathering, in the Age of the Cornerstone; and later we will have the harvest in a broader form, and it will be when we are transformed.
Our transformation, you see, is also a harvest; and we will be taken to our heavenly Father’s House after we have the eternal and glorified body, equal to the body of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, you see, in the Program of the Harvest, of the Reaping, God has all these things to fulfill, and He does everything in a simple way.
Look, in the days of Jesus, He speaks of a harvest to His disciples and says: “The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray to the Father of the harvest to send workers into His vineyard.5”
Now you see how there was a harvest, a reaping, taking place, to be placed in a new dispensation, and to receive the blessings that God had in that new dispensation; and the blessings is the new birth. For all who were called, harvested, were placed in a new dispensation; and on the Day of Pentecost they received the Holy Spirit and thus obtained the new birth.
Now, we are in a time of Harvest: We are called and gathered and prepared to obtain the new body, physical and eternal; just as the call back then, in the days of Jesus, was to obtain the new birth.
Now, in this time, in addition to the new birth, we have the promise of a transformation for all of us, because we have been given to live in the time of the Harvest, in the time where the order from Heaven is: “THRUST IN THY SICKLE AND REAP, FOR THE HARVEST IS RIPE.”
That is why Jesus spoke in Luke, chapter 21, saying [verse 28]: “When you see all these things happening, lift up your heads to Heaven, for your redemption is near,” that is, our transformation. And He spoke of the fig tree, which is the Hebrew people, and then He said: “When you see these things happen, remember, summer is near.” Let’s see how He says it here: Luke, chapter 21, verse 29 and on, says:
“And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand (you know for yourself that summer is near).
So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.”
And we have seen the fig tree springing up (which is the Hebrew people), and all the trees (which are the different nations), and this has been a sign that summer is near.
Summer time is the time of harvest, and the last thing that is harvested are the grapes; and that is why, in Revelation, chapter 14, the wheat (that is, the harvest) is harvested first, and then the grapes are harvested and thrown into the winepress of the wrath of God. In other words, first comes the gathering or harvest of the elect of God, to be transformed and raptured; and then the wrath of God will come upon the grapes, which will be thrown into the winepress of the wrath of God, in other words, the world will be thrown into the great tribulation, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Now we can see why it was said: “THRUST IN THY SICKLE AND REAP, FOR THE HARVEST IS RIPE.”
We are as the wheat of God in the great reaping, the great harvest, of the sons and daughters of God; and we have been placed in the Age of the Cornerstone, we have been called and gathered with the Great Voice of Trumpet in this end time, to soon be transformed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
May the blessings of Jesus Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, be upon all of you and me too; and may you continue having a night filled with the blessings of Jesus Christ.
May God bless you and keep you, and may you all have a good evening.
I leave again the Reverend Miguel Bermudez Marin with us to continue.
“THRUST IN THY SICKLE AND REAP, FOR THE HARVEST IS RIPE.”
1 The Seed Of Discrepancy – January 18, 1965
2 Acts 10
3 Acts 2:14-42
4 Matthew 14:1-2, Mark 6:14-16, Luke 9:7-8; Matthew 16:13-14, Mark 8:27-28, Luke 9:18-19
5 Matthew 9:37-38, Luke 10:2