"Thou dost provoke her to jealousy by thy good works."
THESE ARE THEY THAT LOVE ME. For who is My mother and who are My brethren and who are My sisters? They that do the will of My Father.
NOT THEY THAT WEAR THE GARMENTS OF THE RELATIVES and who bear relationship in name only, but love Me not, neither obey Me, nor honour Me but honour themselves and obey themselves and follow their own way and lift themselves on high and brag of their relationship with Me in name only.
FOR THEY DO NOT THE THINGS THAT I ASK and they know Me not, and they lie not with me in the bed of love, neither do they wait upon Me continually in the things that I ask, neither do they look up unto Me to be guided with Mine eye, My wish their command, as doth this one.
THEY CLAIM TO BE MINE--My wife--My Church--but the relationship is in name only. There is no other relationship. They have no other communion. They have no other intercourse and they bear no children. Therefore is this hypocrisy and not a marriage. This is pretence and not love.
THIS IS SACRIFICE AND NOT OBEDIENCE. This is the fat of rams and not hearkening. And it is unto Me as witchcraft and idolatry and their temples are as the temples of men and of devils--an abomination unto Me, and their offerings are as a stench in My nostrils and their holy days do horrify Me. And their children do sicken Me and their luxury doth cause Me to abhor them and their beauty is a reproach unto Me and I shall utterly cast them out and destroy their palaces and strip them of all these things until they shall beg unto Me for mercy. And if they shall cry unto Me, even these should call unto Me and upon My name in repentance and in turning, I would yet forgive, but I could not save their system.
I CANNOT BEAR THEIR ABOMINATIONS, but I would pluck them as one from the dung heap and as her that hath been cast aside, as I did in her infancy before she became proud against Me. For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved. Return, therefore, unto Me, O thou backsliding daughter, lest I return unto thee in My fury and pluck thee out of thy place, for I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy and I will have mercy, not sacrifice, for she hath not had mercy. She hath cast forth My children, and her that was dear unto Me and she hath beaten My prophets. She hath harmed Mine anointed.
THEREFORE SHALL I BEAT AND HARM HER IN GREAT WRATH and in great fury in the hour when her cup of iniquity shall be full, but I shall spare these that she hath beaten and protect these that she hath harmed and bring them through as by fire and they shall glorify Me and they shall enter in to the Marriage Feast of My Beloved. For I rejoice in her, delight in her--this, My New Bride, who hath oiled her lamps burning brightly and who doth lighten this world in this last dark hour.
THEREFORE, SHALL THEY SAY unto thee, "Whence cometh this one? And who is she and wherefore dost thou love her and why is this one in thy house?" and I shall unto them, "This is the Bride of Mine affliction. This is the darling of My Tribulation." This is the one that doth suffer for Me. The one that endured unto the end in the hour of greatest need and gave her life for Me and that of her children.
SHE IT IS THAT LOVETH ME. Therefore do I delight in her and do highly honour her and do give her a place above all the maidens. And she hath gone with Me through Great Tribulation, neither hath she forsaken nor hath she deserted Me as this other whose light died out because she had no oil and who was left in darkness because she depended upon man, and who fled from Me for the fear of man.
BUT THESE ARE THEY WHICH ARE VIRGINS IN MY SIGHT, who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, and who minister unto Me and who are not contaminated by the things of this world--the things in which her soul delighted--but their delight is only in Me--their joy is only in My presence and they do follow Me whithersoever I go, even through Great Tribulation.
THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE NOR FORSAKE ME as she hath done in the hour of her prosperity. For she did desert Me in the hour of her power--in the hour of her glory and did dote upon herself and her own things, but these have followed Me with nothing, even through Great Tribulation, because they loved Me and Me alone.
BUT THERE SHALL BE THOSE OF HER CHILDREN THAT SHALL STONE THEE and beat thee and shall say unto thee, "Why dost thou not honour this, our mother? Has she not been faithful through many years and ages and times? Hath she not preserved us over the centuries? Hath she not made unto us homes and palaces and nourished us and clothed us in fine linen? Is she not our Mother? Why, therefore dost thou disown her and dishonour her to us, and take unto thee this one who is nothing--contemptible in her sight, despicable unto us, who is nobody, and how doth thou flaunt her in our face to shame us and dishonour our Mother?
AND THERE WILL BE THOSE OF HER CHILDREN THAT WILL BELIEVE THEM and follow them and say, "These things ought not to be so, for have we not done many mighty works in His name and are we not also called by His name? Is He not our Husband? Have we not dwelt in His house and have been clothed in His raiment and fed at His table? How shall they say unto us then that we are not His, that we are no longer His bride, and that we have been cast forth as the shameful ones? How could He cast us aside? Are we not His temple?"
BUT I SHALL SAY UNTO THEM, "DEPART FROM ME, ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you, for I was an hungered and ye gave me no food, thirsty and ye gave me no drink, in prison and ye visited Me not, naked and ye clothed Me not, and I was alone and ye loved Me not, but rather ye doted upon your own children and upon your own ways and your own houses and upon others and ye departed from Me in heart long ago--not I from thee."
THEREFORE HATH THY MOTHER ALREADY DEPARTED, lo, these many years for I was gone from her and she sought Me not. She even wist not that I was not there, and she knew not that My love was gone from her, because she hath forsaken Me in her heart and honoureth Me with her lips only, for she wilfully goeth her own way, despite My entreaties and she leadeth others astray with her, for she hath many children and many do follow her. She hath led them all astray.
EVEN SO, MY MERCY ENDURETH FOREVER and My loving-kindness unto all generations if they will return unto Me. Therefore, though they reject thee, still I will love them and receive them. And be not as that backsliding daughter and do not unto them as they do unto thee, even as thou shalt not do unto her as she shall do unto thee. For if she would but return unto Me, I would receive her. For I am the Lord; I change not, and My mercy endureth to all generations, if they will but call upon Me and turn unto Me, for behold, I am married to the backslider.
AND EVEN AS ISRAEL OF OLD, SHE SHALL TURN UNTO ME and in time of bondage, and she shall turn unto Me in the days of affliction when she doth weep beneath the willows upon the banks of the River Chebar. Then will I deliver her, for only then will she turn unto Me, for I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.
THEY SHALL AGAIN BE MY PEOPLE, and I will again be their God. But it shall be a shame and reproach unto them and they shall live in everlasting contempt. But these faithful ones, these little ones whom they buffeted, shall be raised to everlasting glory, and shall shine as the stars--as they that turn many to righteousness, and as those that remain faithful through Great Tribulation.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family International
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