That which I am giving you from the word of God
is vitally important to all of us. And remember,
this comes from the highest authority in heaven
and earth. It comes from thus saith the Lord.
Turn, if you will, please, to that little book
of Joel. It's a very sharp book. and yet vitally
important, especially to those of us living today.
For the whole picture in this little book is
of the end time of this present age, of the times
of the Gentiles. It's more important to us today
than any generation that has ever lived. Let
me begin reading, if you will, please, the first
chapter of Joel. The second verse. Hear this,
ye old men. Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the
land. Hath this been in your days, or even in
the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children
of it, and let your children tell their children,
and let their children another generation. That
which the palmer worm hath left, hath the locust
eaten. And that which the locust hath left, hath
the canker worm eaten. And that which the canker
worm hath left, hath the caterpillar eaten. Now,
go a little further, into that second chapter,
and I will rest. to you the years that the locust
hath eaten, the canker worm, and the caterpillar,
and the palmer worm, my great army which I sent
among you. Go a little further, don't stop there,
and it shall come to pass afterward that I will
pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your
old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall
see visions. And also upon the servants and upon
the handmaids in those days will I pour out my
Spirit. This is the very Word of God. Now, pause
just a moment. On the day of Pentecost, some
3 ,000 souls were saved. And then we see Peter
and John going up to the temple, going up to
pray. And they passed a lame man at the beautiful
gate who asked alms of them. And Peter answers,
silver and gold have I none. I have nothing material
that I can give you. But such as I have I given
to thee. In the name of Christ, rise up and walk.
And something happened. You talk about a miracle
service. You and I stand awed when we see men
and women get up out of the wheelchairs. We've
seen some mighty miracles. But this was a glorious
miracle service. at the gate of the temple. The
lame man was healed instantly. And whether the
priests in the temple believed in manifestations
or not, I do not know. I've wondered many a time.
But at any rate, the man went into that temple
walking, leaping, and praising God. Oh, I missed
it. That was one miracle service I missed, I
wished. I could have been there. But one thing
I do know, it was the same pal the Holy Ghost
that went through that body of that lame man.
I don't think they had wheelchairs then. He had
been brought to the gate of the temple and probably
had to be taken home, carried home. They didn't
have wheelchairs. But we do know that the lame
man was healed. Instantly, he went running into
the temple. Oh, that was glorious. Now in Acts,
the fifth chapter, the 16th verse, we see the
multitudes out of the cities round about Jerusalem
bringing sick folk and those that were vexed
with unclean spirits. And they were healed, everyone.
Sick were brought forth into the streets. laid
on beds and couches, that at least the very shadow
of Peter passing by might overshadow some of
them. Signs and wonders were wrought everywhere
by the hands of the apostles, true to the word
of our Lord, who had said, Greater works than
these shall ye do, because I go to my Father.
In other words, he's saying, even greater works
because the Holy Spirit will come unto you. All
physical healing is of God. All healing is of
God. The same Holy Spirit that flowed to the
bodies then is the same Holy Spirit that flows
through bodies now. The church in those days
stood blazing with the full Pentecostal power
and the glory of the Holy Spirit. The words of
Jesus were fulfilled. In deed and in truth, they
were endued with power from on high. There was
timid Peter, who just a short kind before the
coming of the Holy Spirit, had seen Jesus look
into his face and say, Peter, I pray that thy
faith faileth. Timid Peter, who had once feared
a little girl who asked him if he knew Jesus,
he was so timid that he denied that he even knew
Jesus Christ. Oh, beloved, it was thrilling in
the early church when they were conscious of
the power of the Spirit. illiterate men and women
were turned into flaming evangelists the outpouring
of the holy spirit was not unto the jews alone
but unto the gentiles also every gift all the
fruits of the spirit were manifested in the early
church until the nine gifts and the nine fruits
of the Spirit hung as eighteen perfect apples
upon the perfect tree. And we read the scripture.
For to one was given by the Spirit the word of
wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the
same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another the gift of healing by the same Spirit,
to another the working of miracles, to another
prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits,
to another diverse kinds of tongues, to another
the interpretation of tongues. The early church,
so conscious of the power of the Holy Spirit,
The sick were healed. Miracles were wrought.
Oh, it was glory. Each of the nine fruits was
in the church. Love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness,
faith, meekness, temperance, long -suffering.
It was perfect. But something happens. The palmer
began to work. And thus ends the first chapter
of the early church history. Leaving the tree
rooted and grounded in the faith of Jesus. Every
limb, every branch, every leaf. The fruit in
perfect power and strength. All glorious days
of love and unity. Days when none called ought
that he had his own. Days when the children of
the Lord had all things in common. Days when
they were beaten and imprisoned. Days when prison
bonds were broken. Signs and wonders were wrought.
Oh, we've often wished they might have continued.
But they didn't. Slowly but surely. The palmer
worm began to work. And one day, the palmer worm
appeared, eating and destroying as it went. Until
as the years went by, the gifts and the fruits
of the spirit began to disappear from view. Not
so many sick were healed as they used to be.
Not so many miracles were performed. Faith was
on the wane. When someone in the assembly had
a message in tongues, there was no one who had
the gift of interpretation. Messages and prophecy
were not so frequently given as they used to
be. The fruits of unselfish love and joy and
peace were also attacked. by the palmer worm
who grew bolder and bolder day by day and gradually
the eighteen apples began to disappear from the
stanch and upright tree which had stood so gloriously
heavily laden for so many years after the coming
of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. It
did not stop with the havoc wrought by the palmer
worm. The enemy never stops. Other years and
other worms took up the work of destruction which
the palmer worm had left off. And that which
the palmer worm hath left hath the locust eaten.
And now we see the locust at work in the church.
The work of the locust is, of course, wrought
upon the leaves. He strips and lays barren all
that he touches. Thus not only were the gifts
and the fruits of the Spirit lost sight of, by
the vast majority of believers, but the personal
incoming and indwelling of the Holy Spirit was
also lost, as humility and godliness and the
manifestations of the Holy Spirit also vanished.
The Holy Spirit, as gentle as a dove, was quenched
and grieved. and stifled until he silently withdrew
his wonder -working manifestations and joy and
gladness were withheld from the sons of men and
the church grew cold few miracles practically
no power there always was A few of the faithful
who were filled with the spirit. Saints through
whom God manifested himself in a real and a supernatural
way. It was a sad day. It was a very sad day
for the church when the leaves were thus stripped
from the tree and the locust had done its work.
but days that were still more sad were to follow
for we read that which the locust hath left hath
the tanker -worm eaten after the fruit and the
leaves had been destroyed the tanker -worm immediately
made his appearance and began his work upon the
branches and the tender shoots of the tree, making
cankerous and unsound that God -fearing work
of holiness. Oh, beloved, that's one thing that
the Holy Spirit brings into an assembly and into
the life of a Spirit -filled person. And that
is holiness. But soon holiness began to disappear.
As the sap, the life of the tree was consumed
and the branches became more and more tenuous.
And unsound things that used to seem sinful appeared
sinful no longer. The world that used to be barred
outside the doors of the church now leaned back
in contented lethargy in the cushioned pews.
Christians let down more and more in the high
standard of holiness under the Lord, which they
had been holding so dear to their hearts, and
now it trailed, bedraggled, and unnoticed in
the dust. Quickly upon the trail of the canker
worm followed the caterpillar. And then we read
that that which a canker worm hath left hath
the caterpillar eaten. The perfect tree is no
longer perfect. Script of her fruits. Script
of her leaves. Her branches made white. Laid
clean bare. It was not long until the trunk and
the roots began to decay, and the caterpillar
made his nest in the decayed and rutted hollows
of the tree. No tree can eke out its existence
long without leaves through which to breathe,
and its branches and limbs through which the
sap and light courses through its veins. For
a believer to live without Holy Spirit, The very
breath of life, or the holy life as Jesus is
revealed by the Spirit, coursing through his
veins, is to eke out a meager, barren existence,
nowhere recorded in the Word of God. It wasn't
long. The fruit was gone. The leaves gone, the
branches bare, the trunk decayed. Not only decayed,
but rotten. A nest for the caterpillar. In other
words, the fruits and the gifts of the Spirit
were gone. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was
denied. Separation and holiness was gone. Justification
by faith was gone. The power, the glory of the
Holy Spirit was no longer there. The church stood
in name only, without power. She entered into
the Dark Ages, and no wonder they are called
the Dark Ages. Ah, dark indeed is the night without
Jesus, for he is the very light of the world.
And when the church lost sight of justification
by faith, when they lost sight of the atonement,
when they began to deny the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, when the church began to deny the
very deity and divinity of the very Son of the
Living God, there was a total... eclipse and
we find men and women groping in this darkness
trying to win their way to heaven by doing penance
sure read church history it's all there but watch
something he does not leave us in Total darkness.
God had a perfect plan. And God is never defeated.
Always remember that. It was his plan that the
church should go out in glorious victory. And
I promise you upon the authority of God's word
that his church will go out in glorious victory.
Know that. Believe that. God will carry out his
plan to the crossing of every T, the dotting
of every I. And back there in that little book
of Joel, Way back there in that little book of
Joel, the Holy Spirit, through Joel, gave us
a picture of the church today, his church. And
I can promise you upon the authority of God's
word that we're on the threshold of the greatest
restoration The greatest spiritual restoration
that the world has ever known. You say, Catherine
Cooman, how can you say that in the light of
that which is taking place in the world today?
I give it to you upon the authority of God's
word. For God's word said, I will restore to
you. the years that the locust hath eaten the
pankoworm the caterpillar and the palmerworm
my great almy which i stand among you oh look
up rejoice look up my friend our redemption draweth
nigh The restoration comes as meat in due season,
as line upon line, precept upon precept, here
a little and there a little, until today we are
nearing the completion of this restoration, and
Jesus is coming soon to take his church, a perfect
church, not a defeated church. A perfect church,
his bride, his fruit -laden tree unto himself,
transplanted from earth to heaven. The tree will
bloom and yield her fruit by the great river
of life forever and ever and ever. And he is
restoring his church to that to which it was.
at the very beginning. Beloved, this is one of
the most thrilling things that I could give you.
Look up, rejoice. Do you wonder why this great
coming out from the Catholic organization, from
the Protestant organizations, Why today there
are literally thousands of Jews who are becoming
interested in the Word of God, the true Messiah,
the things of the Spirit? Things are happening
today in the church that didn't happen 25 years
ago. That didn't happen 15 years ago. Here we're
meeting. Catholic priests, Protestant ministers,
rabbis, in one place of worship, all hungry for
the things of the Spirit, all seeking the things
of the Spirit. I will restore to you all this
great coming out. is nothing more less than prophecy
being fulfilled i will restore to you the years
that the locust hath eaten the tanker -worm the
caterpillar and the palmer -worm the great restoration
is taking place now