God refuses to give His Glory to another. Those who bear the vessels of the Lord must be holy. They must be in the moral image of Christ and resting in untroubled union with God before they will be entrusted with the power of the seven thunders. This accounts for the measuring, the judging of the Temple of God and the Altar of Incense described at the beginning of the eleventh chapter of Revelation.

And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. (Habakkuk 3:4)

Where is the hiding of His power? That is what we are trying to find out.

Incidentally the verses that follow in the third chapter of the Book of Habakkuk describe the onslaught of the army of the Lord. When God's army descends with the Lord Jesus the wicked, spirits and people, will be driven from the earth. The vision terrified Habakkuk and he was a prophet. Are you scared?

God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. (Psalms 62:11)

Before God's power can be released fully there must be two witnesses. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. There will be two witnesses in the last daysùChrist and His Body. The time is over for the "big evangelist" who is worshiped by the believers. God alone will be glorified in the latter-rain, harvest revival. Christ and His Body will work together, the Elephant and the mouse, and the job will get done without stellar performances by an ambitious ministry.

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)

Aha! Now we are discovering the secret of power. It has to do with the waters of Meribah.

Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. (Numbers 20:24)

What happened at the water of Meribah? God told Moses to speak to the rock. Moses upbraided the people for being rebels and struck the rock. The water came out but Aaron and Moses were kept from the land of promise because of their presumption and disobedience.

The incident that took place at the water of Meribah is a warning to those who are to be entrusted with the fullness of power designated for the closing days of the Church Age. We are not to "strike the rock." We are not to show off our gifts or refer to the congregation as rebels.

We are to listen to the Lord carefully and do exactly what He says, not one thing more and not one thing less.

We have blind ministry today. People go forth to "do the Lord's work" before they have heard from the Lord. They are relying on their "common sense." Common sense is a necessary part of our personality and it must never be abandoned.

Common sense tells us that we do not have the foggiest notion what the Lord expects of any individual at any given time. Common sense points out the need to pray and wait on the Lord.

Do you remember how Joshua got tricked by taking the words of the Gibeonites for granted? If we are to hear the words of the seven thunders we must never, never take anything for granted. We must listen carefully to the Lord in all we do.

To be continued.