The Two Witnesses: Conditions for Power

THE TWO WITNESSES: CONDITIONS FOR POWER

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There are indications in both the Old and New Testaments that during the closing days of the Church Age, God will issue power never before witnessed on the earth. However, there are conditions we must meet if we are to be recipients of such power.

Introduction
Holiness
Purification from Idolatry
Total Obedience to God
Freedom from Presumption
Humility
Repentance
A Willingness to Deny One’s Self for Others
Conclusion

Introduction

The events in Revelation chapters 10-11 (I think they should be one chapter) tell us about the preparation for the blowing of the seventh, and last, trumpet.

But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. (Revelation 10:7)

We know that when the last trumpet finally sounds, the bodies of the victorious saints will be swallowed up by immortality. At that time, the Lord Jesus will govern the earth.

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)

It is my opinion that we are entering the period of time occurring just as the seventh angel is about to sound, or as he “begins to sound” (KJV). During this time, the mystery of God, which is Christ in us, will be brought to fullness. Also, the outpouring of the planting and harvest rains will occur, along with powerful judgments of the nations that attempt to block the last great witness of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.

Another important event will be the unleashing of the fullness of the power of God. When the huge angel who governs the work of God during the last days shouted like the roar of a lion, the “seven thunders” spoke. Then the apostle John was commanded to seal up what the seven thunders said and not write it down.

And he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” (Revelation 10:3,4)

The seven thunders speak symbolically of the fullness of the power of God to be given to the saints in the last days. These miracle-working saints, together with Jesus whom they serve, are symbolized by the two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11. What do you think the seven thunders said? I think they said, “God is not going to issue the prophesied power of the last days until there are saints who will not be corrupted by, or harm others with, God’s power.”

God hides His power!

His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. (Habakkuk 3:4)

It is a good thing He does! The events of the twentieth century reveal clearly that the issuing of Divine power to believers, such as the power of healing, can result in their destruction.

We tend to be like the people Jesus healed. On some occasions, He told them to speak to no one about what the Lord had done for them. They straightway went forth and proclaimed the miracle they had received. A harmless frailty? No disobedience to God is a harmless frailty.

Sometimes we are to tell what the Lord has done. On other occasions we are to remain silent. The issue is God’s timing. If there is anything needed today in Christian circles, it is a reverence for God’s timing. Ours is an age, at least in America it seems, when the believers are exhorted to go out and get the world saved. It is seldom that one hears that we are to keep looking to Jesus for every decision we make.

I’ll tell you one thing. I have come to believe that self-willed Christianity is the False Prophet spoken of in Revelation. It seeks the two horns of the Lamb’s power, but it speaks with the self-willed voice of the dragon.

When I was in Bible school many years ago, as green as I was, I actually prayed that God would not send His power on us. Why did I do that, when Elijah, the man of fire, has always been one of my heroes? It is because I knew (don’t ask me how) that God’s power would end up being misused.

At one point in his career, William Branham, who had been given what probably was the most spectacular gift of healing of the last century, was coerced by his “helpers” to preach in a certain city in Africa. The Lord had warned him not to go. He went, and became ill. My wife and I saw Branham minister at the peak of his career. The Presence of God was awesome. But toward the end of his life, there were doctrinal problems of one sort or another. Having such power is dangerous indeed. Alexander Dowie, another man of tremendous power, came to believe he was Elijah. This apparently happened to others who were greatly gifted.

Perhaps we imagine that if God would just pour our His power on us all problems would be corrected. Unfortunately, people are people. God does not give us gifts because we are perfect, but to make us perfect.

What would you do if God gave you the power to multiply food, and although people around you were starving, the Lord forbade you to use your gift? What if other people knew of your gift and brought pressure to bear on you? Could you remain faithful? You might think God would never do this. Everyone will tell you, “If you have a gift, you must use it where it is needed. You don’t need to ask Jesus what you should do. If the need clearly is present, God intends you to act.” How little we understand God!

The fact that the Lord Jesus spoke in parables so people would not understand and be forgiven shows us that our Christian activities are man-made to a certain extent. We are following our religious ideas and guessing at the will of Christ.

He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” (Mark 4:11,12)

The above passage reveals how far off-base we are in our thinking.

If I am correct, the great issue of our day is whether there are any believers in Christ who will forsake their own ideas and just listen to Jesus, obeying Him implicitly in every instance. Such people are going to be more valuable than rubies throughout the approaching moral and physical chaos.

If God gave you unprecedented power, could you refrain from declaring yourself a supremely important personage, as happened with some of the gifted healers of the previous century? After seeing how some of the evangelists of our day act, I think the Lord would be unwise to issue enormous power to them. They would be destroyed and their followers harmed.

How many Christians of our day could be trusted to remain faithful to Jesus, walking in humility, if the Lord gave them the power to perform the promised “greater works”? From what I have seen in the last few years, the power of God soon would be incorporated and marketed in such a manner as to inure to the benefit of the recipient of the power.

There is such blindness in our day! The saints are encouraged to “go forth and save a lost and dying world.” But how many times are they advised to pray until they know what they are doing?

The assumption is that everyone is an evangelist. This is hardly what is taught in the New Testament. How can God entrust us with the double portion of His power when we do not wait until we know what Christ wants? This is ridiculous!

So I will tell you what I think the seven thunders said, and you can be the judge. I think they spoke of the personality changes that must occur in God’s people before they are entrusted with the last great witness of the Church Age. The required personality changes that have occurred to me are as follows. Perhaps you can think of others.

Holiness

Your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth. (Psalms 110:3—NKJV)

“In the beauties of holiness.” To be holy is to be close to God. To be holy is to be free from unclean spirits.

The Christian churches of our day in America have become careless concerning the necessity of holiness. Apart from holiness, no one can see the Lord. It is the pure in heart who see God.

We are called to be saints, that is, holy ones. This means that while we are in the world, we are not of the world. We are to be like the old testament Nazirites in that what other people are permitted to do is often not permitted to us.

Our language must be clean. There is to be no smoking, no drinking alcohol, no unlawful drugs. We do not attend morally filthy movies or plays, or read filthy books, or look at pornography on the Internet.

There have been instances where Christian ministers were not faithful in handling money. God will never accept this! No such individual will ever sit at Christ’s table!

I know some will protest, “But we are saved by grace!” In this you are mistaken. God’s grace does not blind His eyes to Christian sin. God is holy and has called us to be holy. Those who today are trying to claim God’s grace while they are living in their sinful nature will find that God will not receive them. They have been deceived. They have made God’s grace an excuse for immorality.

The gifts of the Spirit are given to us freely to make us holy. But the kind of power reserved for the closing days of the Church Age is not available to unholy ministers of people. God will not give His Glory to another person, and when our personality and behavior is not morally pure, we are “another person” as far as God is concerned. We simply are not part of His family.

The seven thunders would say: “Be holy for I am holy, says the Lord.”

Purification from Idolatry

And God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1-3)

This is the first commandment in the Ten Commandments. If we are to flow with the Life of God, we must be delivered from all motives and urges that dwell in our adamic, sinful nature.

A substantial part of our Christian discipleship consists of the Spirit of God pointing out the various idols that live in our flesh: idols of covetousness, fear, lying, presumption, haughtiness, self-consciousness, lust, sorcery, love of pleasure, and so forth. Regarding idols, it is not unusual for us to worship a person or relationship, someone with whom we are “madly in love,” or a close relative, such as a child.

As soon as we become aware of an urge or motive that is not godly, not Christ-like, we are to confess it as sin, denounce it as unworthy of the Kingdom of God, and renounce it, telling it we do not want it near us ever again. Little by little, our personality passes through judgment until we have been cleansed from our idols.

If God were to issue massive power to us, and there remained self-seeking, or covetousness, or fear, or haughtiness in us, you can see how we soon would destroy ourselves and those around us. People would see the power of God, but not the moral image of God. God would have to remove us from the earth before we did considerable harm.

God does not want us to worship ourselves and allow other people to worship us. Yet, this has proven to be a strong temptation to former recipients of God’s power.

The seven thunders would say: “You cannot have an idol in your life. If you are worshiping someone or something other than God, the power shall be withheld.”

Total Obedience to God

Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered (Hebrews 5:8)

I have spoken previously of the need to look to Jesus for every detail of our life, including Christian ministry. We are to seek the face of Christ constantly, and to obey God diligently in all He says to us.

The Christian churches often regard strict obedience to God as unattainable. Is God some kind of tyrant that He never can be satisfied? The truth is, God is easy to please. The reason we think He is difficult to please is that we have been taught that God wants us all to go door to door telling other people about Christ, or to go forth on some other impossible mission — impossible to us because most of us do not have the grace to evangelize in this manner. We remain under condemnation, hoping God won’t be too hard on us. Meanwhile the leaders of the church repeat that the sheep are to bear more sheep. But in some instances, they themselves do not lift a finger to help.

The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors. (Nehemiah 3:5)

“Work, work, work,” babylon cries, while she sits in her splendor. The same spirit found in the largest cathedral is sometimes present in the smallest independent work.

Thus the believers get the idea that no one can please God. It is true no one can please ambitious church leaders. But pleasing God Himself is simple. When He wants us to do something, He gives us abundant grace.

God does not want you or me living in condemnation. It is wise to say to God, “If you have something you want me to do, then please make it plain to me and give me the grace. Then I will do it.” The next move is God’s. The chances are you already are doing what God wants you to do. You have been experiencing condemnation for no reason.

We never, never, never are to disobey God. To disobey God, to be a rebellious child, is unthinkable.

Freedom from Presumption

Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:12)

What does it mean to put God to the test? It means to challenge God to prove His faithfulness, truthfulness, and power. In the above verse, the Lord Jesus was answering Satan. Satan had challenged Jesus to “step out in faith.” Jesus declared that He would obey God without question. He did not need to do something reckless to assure Himself that God was faithful.

There is an awful lot of that today, such as “Dare to challenge God to do big things. God will give you back ten times what you put in the offering. If you will give ten thousand dollars, God will heal you from cancer.” What an abomination!

Hebrews chapter 11 defines “the righteous shall live by faith.” There is not one instance that I can see, in the entire chapter, of aggressive faith. It is all about obedience to God in difficult situations.

What kind of a spirit exists today in America that we would urge people to do some reckless thing in order to demonstrate that God will take care of us? Its name is “presumption.”

Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. (Numbers 14:44)

Through presumption comes nothing but strife, but wisdom is with those who receive counsel. (Presumption 3:10)

Acting presumptuously actually is the opposite of living by faith. The whole prosperity-faith movement is institutionalized presumption.

Hiding the power of God is associated with the waters of Meribah.

Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. (Psalms 81:7—KJV)

There are two accounts of the waters of Meribah.

And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7)

They thought they were testing God. Actually, God was testing them. The Israelites were challenging God’s faithfulness and power. Again:

These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he showed himself holy among them. (Numbers 20:13)

In the second instance above, Moses hit the rock when he was supposed to speak to it. In both instances, man was putting God to the test. We are not to do this.

Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel. (Psalms 78:41)

Where does this kind of preaching come from? What spirit in us confuses presumption with faith? I think we are filled with the spirit of babylon, trying to build a monument to ourselves.

What is wrong with quietly waiting for Jesus? Suppose God has done some great thing through us — so what! Are we now supposed to perpetuate the miracle, making it happen every Sunday morning at 11:00? Are we supposed to leap and howl like the priests of Baal until “the power comes down”? Are we supposed to tell the believers to break their glasses so God will heal their eyes? Are we to tell someone not to go to the doctor and God will heal him? Is God so weak that if we take medicine or go to the doctor, He can no longer heal us?

Jesus and His apostles were in danger so much of the time that they were not about to try to demonstrate they were “God’s men of faith and power.”

The seven thunders would say to us:

You are seeking your own glory. It is true that the Lord said you could cast a mountain into the sea. He was not challenging your faith or asking you to put God to the test. He was exclaiming over how ordinary faith has been destroyed in mankind.

We will never be given to you until you are willing to sit quietly at the feet of Jesus and hear His voice. As long as you try to use us to accomplish in the world what you imagine is the will of God, you are a danger to yourself and to those around you.

Humility

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. (Revelation 11:3)

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

“Clothed in sackcloth”!

Today in America, it seems there is a Hollywood-type showiness, a “glitz,” that is often seen in evangelistic services. Probably much good is accomplished in these meetings, but I think they come short of the Glory of God.

Revelation chapter 11 describes the saints who passed through judgment (the measuring of the temple and the Altar of Incense), and then were given the power of the seven thunders.

I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there.” (Revelation 11:1)

The “temple of God” speaks of the Body of Christ. The “altar” is particularly important. Today’s believers who are at the Altar of Incense are pressing past the Pentecostal experience and saying to the Lord, “Not my will, but Yours be done. Today, God is judging these consecrated ones with the utmost care, preparing them for the double portion of witnessing power.

The witnesses of the soon coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth will be “clothed in sackcloth.” Sackcloth is a symbol of humility. Instead of the showy minister wearing expensive clothes, driving an expensive car, taking huge offerings, we have sackcloth.

The seven thunders would say:

The day of the exalted minister has come to a close. God is looking for humble people, people of simple sincerity and integrity, to use as vehicles of His power. Whether He uses them once or a thousand times makes no difference. They are not to attempt to market God’s power. Neither are they to attempt to prostitute God’s power in order to gain the favor of the world, as does the great whore, babylon.

God is not interested in developing important people. God is not looking for important people, but for faithfulness. No minister of the Gospel who is seeking great things for himself or herself will be entrusted with the fullness of power assigned to the closing days of the Church Age.

Repentance

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. (Revelation 11:3)

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalms 139:23,24)

As we have stated, sackcloth represents humility. Sackcloth also reminds us of the need for continual repentance.

We are to walk humbly with God. In addition, we are to be in a continual state of repentance. This means we are looking at Jesus all the time, and listening carefully to all He says. The moment we discern we have done something hastily or incorrectly, we are to repent, meaning that we are to immediately bring our behavior into line with the Lord’s desires.

We are always to be saying, “Search me, O God. Test me. Know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me. Lead me in the way everlasting.”

The moment the Spirit makes us aware of an offensive way in us, we are to confess it as sin and turn away from it with all the strength we have, looking to the Lord Jesus for wisdom and strength.

To flow with the Life of God means we keep an open heart before the Lord. If we are to flow with the Life of God at all times, then at all times we must be aware of God’s will: His pleasure as we fulfill His purposes, and His displeasure when some urge or motive of our sinful nature expresses itself.

The seven thunders would say:

If you are to receive the fullness of power, you absolutely must be instantly aware of the attitude of Christ toward your personality and behavior. If you will keep an open heart, God will show you how you stand with Him. All you need to do is ask Him. He will be quick to give you wisdom, and will never scold you for asking — even if you ask a thousand times in one day.

God is willing to give you the power of the Kingdom, the power of the age to come, but only as you walk before Him in an attitude of repentance, of willingness to change any aspect of your behavior as He directs.

A Willingness to Deny One’s Self for Others

We must be willing to deny ourself when it is necessary to meet the needs of other people.

Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27)

As I see it, the most accurate index of spiritual maturity is our willingness to deny ourselves, when setting aside our own desires is necessary if other people are to be benefited. Babies and wicked people have in common that they regard their desires as being of first importance regardless of the welfare of those around them. Wicked people are old babies.

Chronological age really is no index of maturity. Some people are showing signs of maturity at the age of ten. Others are seventy and are still intent only on what they believe is important to them personally.

According to the Lord Jesus, the great ones in the Kingdom are those who serve. The Lord used Himself as an example.

“Greater love has no man than the individual who lays down his or her life for another.” Jesus did this. We are to do this if we desire to grow in maturity.

It is evident, as we look about, that the problems of society arise from one fact: people seek their own good regardless of the impact on others. This is not exclusively true. There are some who sacrifice themselves that others might prosper. But there are enough self-centered, selfish individuals to cause wars.

The political leaders of the world more often than not seem to be examples of immaturity. They are infants in this respect. They are babies who now have the power to hurt other people in order to secure their own advantage.

What would the seven thunders say to the individual who is seeking power but who still is occupied with his or her own welfare? You know as well as I.

Why do you want power? What are you planning to do with the power? Are you going to make an outstanding name for yourself? Are you going to build a cathedral or organize a corporation with your name in neon lights? Are you going to have the fastest growing church in your city? There are several “fastest growing churches” in the United States today. What about the other pastors in your city? What are they to do while people are flocking to your megachurch?

You will empty the young people from the little churches in your area, because most of them will go where there is excitement and other young people. Is this what you want — to humiliate some faithful pastor who has labored for years with his little flock? Do you ever think about anyone except yourself?

Do you want to empty the hospitals? Why? Do you really have a heart for the child with leukemia, or her worried parents? Could you get down on the floor and play with a sick child? What if she vomited on your 500-dollar suit? Do you really care about the people you wish to heal?

Are you going to a third-world country to have great meetings? Has God given you a love for these people? Would you lay down your life for them? Would you be willing to die of malaria if it meant God would save these people?

Why do you want power? Ask yourself that question. Do you want to be famous? Rich? Sought after? Precisely what is your motive in asking for power, the unlimited power of the seven thunders?

Our desire to seek great things for ourselves is an adamic characteristic. It is found in the Word of the Lord to Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe.

Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life. (Jeremiah 45:5)

Sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking we are serving Christ, when in actuality we are seeking great things for ourselves. God is not going to give us the fullness of power when we hope to bring gain to ourselves.

The day of the idolized minister is over.

Conclusion

It is time for Christ, Head and Body, the two Lampstands, to bear witness of the soon coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. They will be given the power of the seven thunders. The word of Divine judgment will be in their mouth. The nations will not be able to resist them. No doubt the majority of the peoples of the earth will make at least a token profession of Christ.

After that will come the worldwide testing of faith, that the product may be refined.

Where will these witnesses come from? From the rich and the poor, from the high churches and the low churches, from the formal churches and those of more emotional services. The Spirit of God is going through the churches of our day. He is seeking:

Those who are holy in personality and behavior;
Those who have been purified from idolatry;
Those who are totally obedient to God;
Those who refuse to act presumptuously;
Those who walk humbly with God;
Those who live in an attitude of openness before God, being ready to repent;
Those who are willing to set aside their own desires when it is necessary to benefit other people.

There are such people. They are being drawn to seek Christ with all their heart. They are quietly listening to the Lord Jesus and hoping in Him.

The Lord knows those who are His. Babylon the Great preens herself and declares that she is no widow. She lives deliciously. This is organized religion vaunting itself in its own personal ambitions.

In God’s time, He will give the power of the seven thunders to His witnesses. Christ will work with them, confirming the Word with signs following. For a specified period of time, the Gospel of the Kingdom will have unhindered access to all the people of the earth.

Then will come the great falling away and the rise of Antichrist. The end of the Church Age has arrived. Darkness has been authorized to spread out its dark tentacles.

At the time of the greatest darkness, the power of God will fall once again on the witnesses. The true witnesses of all history will stand on their feet and then be caught up to meet the King in the air.

Jesus is a true and faithful Witness of God. He wants you and me to be true and faithful witnesses, like Him. He will empower us so we can do the greater works, for now is the time.

But we must be prepared for this responsibility.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)

(“The Two Witnesses: Conditions for Power”, 4044-1, proofed 20240831)