Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. “And they will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts,” on the day that I prepare My own possession” (King James reads: “my jewels”), “and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” Verse 18 is the key verse. So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him (notice: you will again distinguish).
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” (the better translation is “healing in its rays”; His sun does not have wings—it has rays); “and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes” (the ashes are the result of the fire mentioned in verse 1; they have already been consumed as far as the basic spirit and entity of their wickedness is concerned) “under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:16–4:3.
Today God is concerned about two things: completing His program in the earth and finishing the devil’s program on the earth. Our Scripture indicates that both of these things are in His thinking and planning. He is bringing the day that has not been here before—the day when we can distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.
I have read many articles containing descriptions of witchcraft and interviews with witches. Their boasts are very arrogant. They laugh at the Christians who pray, saying, “They pray and nothing happens, but when we cast spells, something happens.” An arrogance is coming upon them. God has maneuvered to coax witchcraft out in the open. Satan worship has almost become an incorporated, organized religious movement, at least in California. Satanism, witchcraft, devil worship—all of this is coming forth; God is smoking it out. The day is coming when you will see the difference between the man who serves God and the man who does not.
We see that the Lord is bringing a culmination of two things. He is bringing wickedness out where He will deal with it, and He is bringing His people out and dealing with them, too. He is going to bring to maturity the precious fruit of the earth by sending the long-promised maturing latter rain upon it to bring it forth (James 5:7). This is a unique generation. In this hour we see two things happening: God is maneuvering the wicked into the place where they will be judged, and He is raining His Word and His Spirit upon a remnant of people who are open. We have never known so many blessings or such quick, deep dealings of the Lord in the life of an individual.
You may have had nothing but problems since you came into a walk with God. Every problem that God has presented to you has literally forced you into a spiritual maturity. It has dealt with your spirit. A walk with God is not a little picnic that you join lightly, hoping to give this testimony: “I feel better since I’ve been in the walk than I’ve ever felt before. There is a joy of living, a zest for living. I go to bed at night and sleep so soundly that I never wake up until morning.” That is not true of anyone who walks with God. A man who walks with God is in devil conflict and spiritual warfare. He goes through battles until he sometimes wonders whether he is coming or going. When he gives a testimony, it has to be solely a thing of faith on his part.
God says the day is coming in which we are going to distinguish between the man who serves God and the man who serves Him not. Those who serve Him will be gathered like His precious possession. He is gathering them in, and He will position them in the place of immunity so that the universal tidal wave of judgment that is destined to sweep over the whole world will by-pass them in all of its destructiveness. His presence will not be removed from them—only the sting will be removed from it. We will go through the time of judgment without becoming victims of it. God will show us the difference in that day. And when it is all finished, we are going to be walking upon the ashes of the wicked. That is what He said. I think God is sitting in the heavens, laughing at the arrogance and the pride of the world in this generation. Meanwhile, He is preparing the righteous, wooing them and bringing them forth.
In old order, people were always taking part in testimony meetings. But as God’s dealings became more severe, especially in the Pentecostal movement, the testimony meetings gave way to a certain observation made by one of the last Pentecostal prophets, a man who had a great healing ministry. He stated, “In spite of the fact that for over a generation the Pentecostal people have believed in Jesus Christ as the great Physician, ninety percent of them are sick.” In spite of all the testimonies and the things that were being preached to the people, it was not working. It was more than the viciousness of the enemy; God was dealing with His people. And today He is still dealing deeply with them. All of God’s dealing is to bring His people into a place of immunity rather than to just give a momentary healing. Going through this process of gaining the immunity that God wants us to have should be more important to us than merely trying to avoid any pain.
When the doctor gives you a smallpox vaccination, it may make you quite sick. Likewise, when God starts giving you this treatment to build up your immunity against the days that are coming upon the earth, you may feel worse than you did before He started dealing with you. And you say, “O Lord, I can’t stand this divine health another day.”
The day is right on us in which we are going to see the difference. God’s people will be fireproofed like the Hebrew children and waterproofed like Noah. They are going to be practically indestructible. God is building into them fantastic immunities. As for the wicked, they are being stripped of their defenses. The rich say they will pile up their gold and silver. And God says that the rust of it will corrupt them and eat their flesh like fire (James 5:3). He is going to blow on everything they do.
In this coming decade, there will be no such thing as security. Everything that a man trusts in will be taken away except the eternal everlasting arms. The Lord is building the faith in you. You may think that the walk is good; actually, it is the only thing. Walk with God. When the time comes for the world to face its crisis hour, you will already have faced your crisis. The story of the five wise and the five foolish virgins goes so far as to indicate that not only is there a line of demarcation between the wicked and the righteous, but also between the nominal Christian and the remnant. There are those who will be pushed out, and there are those who have gone through the period of preparation.
There is a story about an old sea captain who loved God and made prayer a way of life. The sailors on the ship made fun of him. One day there was a great storm. The sailors were cursing and blaspheming and carrying on as they were trying to control the ship in the storm. Finally it looked as if the ship would go down. Then the sailors stopped their cursing and blaspheming and came to the Christian captain, pleading, “Captain, we are going to die. Let’s pray.” The captain looked at them and smiled as he said, “I’ve already done my praying.” There is a time acceptable for you to do your praying and opening up to the Lord. This is the time that God is dealing with your heart. You are facing God’s deep judgment, and you are judging yourself so that you will not be condemned with the world.
Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous; that the righteous may not put forth their hands to do wrong. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts. But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them away with the doers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel. Psalm 125. This Scripture leads us to pray for the United States of America. “Let not the scepter of wickedness rest upon the land of righteousness.”
May God bring down every foul and evil force in this country. God bring to confusion the conniving of men who would run this country for their own interests with no regard to God. God sweep away the refuge of lies and expose the nakedness of their depravity in the name of the Lord. God bring down every foul influence that would corrupt this nation and bring it under the judgments of God. Let the righteous arise and say, “This is the day. This is the hour in which God shall make a difference between him who serveth God and him who serveth Him not. Let there be confusion upon those who in their arrogance have forgotten God and have tried to push Him out of this land.
In the name of the Lord, we prophesy against those who have risen up to be a curse to this land, who have sought to use the fabric of the laws and liberties of this land to outlaw the Bible and prayer and to make it increasingly difficult for people to seek the face of God. We curse it in the name of the Lord. We need to pray and prophesy for our country in every one of our churches. Let us see a change. I am not looking for anything to be easy for the Christians, for it will be a difficult time; but I am looking for God to deal with the wickedness of this land. Those who seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness have no other alternative.
As a citizen, I have had a conscience to go to the polls and vote. However, I am beginning to realize that there is an evil, diabolical force working within the fabric of a democratic system of voting in elections. Even if you could find and elect a good man, the forces of evil would either corrupt him or would tie his hands so completely that he could do nothing constructive. Knowing that, I rise up and say there is a far more effective way to be an influence than by casting a ballot. We are going to rise as the Kingdom party and believe God to bind the forces of wickedness. The rulers of the United States of America are no different than the kings that the Psalmist says should be bound with chains and fetters of iron (Psalm 149:8). We will come against everything they attempt to do to turn this country away from God or to see it destroyed. Not one of us is wise enough by the world’s wisdom to penetrate behind the scene and know what is right and what is wrong. God is going to show us clearly who His enemies are, and we will rise up in the name of the Lord and see confusion come upon them.
The world has painted an illusion of evil upon good men and an illusion of good upon evil men. Woe unto them when they call good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20). We curse it in the name of the Lord. The Lord sweep away the refuge of lies in which men have trusted and bring a realization of the true picture. It is going to be a time of disillusionment for most Christians because they have put their head in the sand like an ostrich. They have followed some little Pollyanna idea of what it means to live. They will face the rugged things of life. They are going to see the raw, snapping jaws of the dragon ready to devour the manchild. They are going to see Satan’s efforts to war against the inhabitants of the earth; but they will also see the army of the Lord come forth—an invincible force to bind principalities and powers and bring them down in the name of the Lord. So let it be.