The Lord shall come suddenly to His temple, that is, to the hearts of the members of the royal priesthood.

The Lord's coming is one coming. He has come and never shall leave. It is true that He ascended to Heaven and that He will appear in the clouds of glory and descend to the Mount of Olives. In another sense He, having once come, has never left. He always has been here wherever we have gathered together in His name.

Malachi is not describing a separate coming of the Lord but an aspect of the one coming. The Lord's birth in the manger was one aspect of His coming. His death on the cross was another aspect. His bodily resurrection from the dead was another aspect. His ascension to the Father was another aspect. His shedding of the Holy Spirit on the waiting disciples was another aspect of the one coming.

His coming through the Spirit today is still another aspect of the one coming. He is coming, as John the Baptist promised, to baptize us with fire and to thoroughly cleanse His floor, burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. He is laying the ax to the root of the cedars and oaks that have exalted themselves against the Lord, casting into the fire every tree not bringing forth good fruit (Matthew 3:10-12).

The Lord Jesus is refining the silver (redemption) and the gold (Divinity) that He has placed in the priesthood. He is purifying us with the fires of tribulation and persecution. He is like strong soap, washing away the stains of sin and rebellion.

Those who faithfully remain true to the Lord throughout the purifying process will then be able to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through the Lord Jesus Christ; those who refuse and rebel will be visited with the fires of torment.

The hour is here. The King has come through the Holy Spirit to prepare His elect and the nations of the earth for His appearing in the clouds of glory with the saints and holy angels.

We must repent, confess our sins, and accept the prisons and crosses that God finds necessary for our purification.

The wheat and the tares are coming to maturity. Even now the tares are being removed from the Kingdom. First, the sins and rebellions are being removed from the personalities of those who are pressing forward in faith. Second, those who persist in their sins and rebellions will be removed from the Kingdom.

It is time to blow the trumpet in Zion. It is time to sound the alarm in God's holy mountain. It is time to prepare the great and strong army of the Lord. Soon the army will descend with the Lord and the wicked will be ashes under the soles of the feet of God's saints.

Let every believer in the Lord now turn to God with his whole heart, confessing his sins, repenting of his coldness, his complaining, his impatience, his faithlessness. Let the righteous rejoice and grow strong in the righteousness the Lord is giving.

The blowing of Trumpets announces the Day of Atonement, the reconciling to God of His creatures.

As soon as the reconciliation has been perfected, God can find His rest in us. The abiding of the Father and the Son in us is the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

The invitation to the members of the Bride is to wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb; and to the nations of the earth to drink freely of the water of eternal life. All who partake of God's salvation in Christ will receive the blessing of the Lord.

The individuals who choose to refuse and rebel against the Lord Jesus shall not have any part in the new world of righteousness and glory God has promised to those who love Him.

The trumpet is blowing in Zion! (from The Blowing of Trumpets)