EATING THE LITTLE BOOK

Thought for the book taken from the

Message delivered on July 2, 2002

Kalamo, Zambia

©2002 by Ben Howard

All rights reserved. This book cannot be sold, nor in any way be used

for the soliciting of funds.

All scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version Bible

Published by the Sound Of Liberty

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EATING THE LITTLE BOOK

Well I want to say as my wife has already said, “We’ve really enjoyed being here with you. I believe our brother invited us to come back next year. We don’t know what another year holds, but we want to obey God.”

I want to thank the brothers who have interpreted for me, I know I gave them a little bit of a hard time. It has been a real pleasure to be here. You have got a place in our hearts. When we go back to the United States, we’re going to take a lot of good memories with us. As Paul said, “You are in my heart.” Also, I really enjoyed meeting all the minister brothers that have been in the meetings. I thank my brother for praying for us. He prayed that God would give us a safe journey, and I appreciate that. I thank God for all the little children. I don’t have any earthly children, so I just adopt them all where ever I go. I adopt the whole church! Praise God! “Children are a gift from God,” the Word says.

I came from a big family. There were fifteen of us, and we lived in a small house, so we had to work together. We had to get along. We couldn’t argue and fuss with one another; not too much anyway. My daddy would really get on us. It taught me that in this life we’ve got to work with one another. Sometimes there may be little differences in the family, but we work around those things. We don’t magnify those things. Paul taught us to earnestly strive to keep the unity of the faith. That’s something that we have got to do. We love you all, this morning, with the love of God; not only with the love of God, but with our human love. I just appreciate you. I wish there were other words to tell you, but that’s all the words that I know. I praise God for you all.

All right, now let us go back to Revelation, Chapter 10, and we’re going to begin where we left off yesterday. Yesterday we got through the seven church ages, and as we came through the seven church ages, we showed you that God is going to restore the church back. The church through the church ages lived on a lower level, because she was fallen from her first love; but God said that He would restore it back in the end time. There is a prophecy in Joel 2:25 that says, “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.” Let’s read now in Revelation, Chapter 10. I want to begin reading in Verse 7, which finishes up the mystery of God which is the church ages. Revelation 10:7, says, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery (and that’s important— a singular mystery.) of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” Now, we go from Verse 7 to Verse 8, and it was taught us by the messenger (the seventh church age messenger, Brother William Branham) that we are in the bride age, eternity. So the seven church ages have run their course; that is, as far as the bride is concerned. The age itself goes on, but we are called out. So the seventh church age is over for us, the bride.

Now God brings back the original Word, and restores us back to the foundation that the Apostle Paul laid. So the angel, which is Christ in spirit form, is here with a book in His hand, and there we begin Verse 8. It says, “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.”

We are getting ready to go on a journey now in the Word of God. Here was a book which was brought back to earth. We found out yesterday, that this book was in heaven. It was already written (written within), but it was sealed with seven seals. We also found out the seven seals were taken off, and when the seven seals were taken off, the Mighty Angel brought the book back to earth. Now I want you to notice something. The Mighty Angel is a spiritual angel. This Mighty Angel is Christ coming back in spiritual or angelical form (not a physical coming, but a spiritual coming) – the anointed Word coming back to the church. So this spiritual angel has a spiritual book for us. It’s a revelation of what the Apostle Paul wrote to us.

I want, again, to put our two ands of St. John 2:22 up on the board here. I want to show you the first and, and the second and. The first and was Paul’s letters that were already here, written (the little book was written within), it was not unwritten Word. It was what the seven thunders said (uttered out) that was unwritten Word and sealed with seven seals, and those seals have been opened to us. We found out in these meetings that the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. We spoke of St. John 2:22, the two ands in that verse, how that the disciples believed the scripture. How it says, “and they believed the scripture.” And it says, “and the word which Jesus had said,” -- giving us the written Word and the spoken Word. We already had the written Word here before the Mighty Angel came. Remember, the little book was written within. The Bible says, “You can’t add to or take from when it comes to the written Word.” When He came down, He was an angel, He came in the Spirit; so He brings a spiritual Word to that which is already written back to the church. What it is, He brings a revelation back to the church to reveal something that is already written. Let me say this again: It is the full revelation of Paul’s message that is already written. (Christ as the Mighty Angel brings back what He meant (the understanding) and lays it down upon what He said (which was the written Word), thus giving Paul’s message an end time application to a Gentile bride.

Then, the voice from heaven spoke and said to John, “Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel.” Now the hand (can type) the fivefold ministry – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Your hand is what you wash and clean your body with. Your hand is what you feed yourself with. In the writing of St. Paul, Ephesians Chapter 4, He gave us the five fold ministry for the perfecting of the saints. A revelation has come to the church, and that is signified by “the voice from heaven spake again,” which shows us that after the seven church ages are over, and all seven messengers have come and gone, the voice of God is still talking to the church; and He is telling us to go and take the little book.

Now we’ve got to get a revelation that there is a little book to take. He didn’t tell the church to go take the little book, until He brought it back. He didn’t tell us to do it, until it was available to us, and when we come to this place in the history of God’s church, there begins to be a revelation that comes into the heart of the bride. There begins to be a hunger for more of the Word and a closer walk with God. So the voice said, “Go and take the little book,” and that is what the voice of God is saying to us. Why sit here till we die? Let’s go take the little book, because we will perish without the Word! We’ll perish without the spiritual book; and it is available for us! We have the authorization from Almighty God to go and take the book out of the hand of the Mighty Angel. That’s why you are here this morning, to come and take the little book. You not only take it, but you eat it.

Let’s get Verse 9, “And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book…” John obeyed the voice that spoke from heaven. John understood the time he was living in; him being a type of the bride. The voice said, “Go and take the little book.” John walked up to the angel and said, “Give me the little book.” There has to be a spirit in you saying, “Give me the little book.” Now I want you to watch this, because this is something God does for you in your heart.

The Holy Ghost is your personal teacher. The Holy Ghost deals with your heart. Somehow you get that hunger, and the Spirit of God urges you to go and ask for the book. The Word says, “Ask and you shall receive.” Some people don’t want no more. They’ve got all they want. Because, when you walk on with God you’ve got to make changes in your life. When you walk on with God you’ve got to make changes in your beliefs, because we walk in the light as He is in the light. Here, the bride is saying to Christ, “Give me the little book.” In other words the bride is saying, “Give me the revelation of your Word Lord; give me everything you have for me.” We’re going to become one with Him. Now, He’s going to give us something to eat. At this point, it hadn’t been said to eat the little book. First the voice spake and said, “Go and take the little book.” Revelation is one step at a time. How many knows it? You take one step at a time in God. When God begins to move us on, many times He doesn’t make a big change overnight, because we like to feel our way and see our way, and feel like we are walking exactly in the will of God. Just like when God started restoring the church back, He began to let that light shine a little at time, a little at a time, until the daystar rises in our hearts. So that’s what God is doing with us; He’s leading us step by step. First, He wants a feeling to come among the people; as the voice speaks from heaven there begins to be a feeling that there’s more to come, because the voice from heaven, the Almighty said, “Go and take the little book.” That lands in your spirit and in your heart, and it gives you the feeling, “I believe there’s more for us. I want to get closer to God.” When that takes place, the voice from heaven says, “Go and take the little book.” We get the commandment to go take the little book, and we can’t go take it until then. So, John said to the angel, “Give me the little book.” Now this puts you on a one-on-one relationship, because the angel is getting ready to talk back to John.

I’m feeling good now. I think about Ananias, when Paul was going down to Damascus. The Spirit of the Lord spoke to Ananias while he was down in Damascus. The Spirit of the Lord said, “There’s a man coming. His name is Saul. I want you to go lay hands on him and pray for him that he might receive his sight and the Holy Ghost.” Ananias began to talk back to the Lord and said, “I’ve heard much about this man, how he persecuted the saints.” And the Lord spoke and said, “Yes, but now, behold, he prayeth.” It shows the relationship— the Lord was speaking to Ananias, and he was speaking back to the Lord. So there’s a spirit that comes into the bride that we want to go to God. We want to hear His voice. A few months back the Lord spoke to me to begin to fast, and pray, and seek God. I thought, “Well, I’ll fast a week.” I went a week, and thought, “Well, maybe I’ll go two weeks.” I went two weeks, and thought, “Maybe I’ll go twenty-one days.” Well, when I got to twenty-one days I thought, “Well, four weeks is twenty-eight days, I’ll go twenty-eight days.” I got to twenty-eight days and thought, “Well, maybe I’ll go thirty days.” Well, at thirty days I thought, “Well, I’ll probably go a few more days.” I was praying, fasting, and seeking God for a full forty days and nights. I lost about fifty pounds of weight; but I gained a new relationship with the Lord!

We’re living in the day when He wants to talk to you, and He wants you to talk to Him. He has come down among us. He is here. He is right among His bride; not in His physical form, but He’s here in spiritual form. When you recognize that, and you realize there is more for you, you will begin to say, “Give me the little book.” Then He will say to you, watch what it says, continuing Verse 9, “Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.”

Now if you eat this book, it’s going to taste good, but there are some consequences that goes along with it. Many times old friends and acquaintances will walk no longer with you. This book is only for the bride. This is only for those that can hear the voice of God. This is only for those that have a close enough relationship with God that not only can they talk to Him, but they can hear His voice talking back. That is you! You’ve got that relationship with God. When we started these services here, we brought in the gift of righteousness; where God gave us His own righteousness, and that’s the only way we can come to God in complete righteousness. At the very best we could do, in the eyes of God, our righteousness would be as filthy rags, so what we do is accept His righteousness. Chapter 5 of the Book of Romans speaks of the gift of righteousness. The bride is clothed in fine linen, clean and white, and that is the righteousness of the saints, which the Lord has given. When righteousness is given as a gift you can’t earn it, you can’t buy it, it is free, but you do have to accept it. I find that it’s hard for many people to accept that you are as righteous as He is righteous. Many are too busy going about establishing their own righteousness, instead of accepting His. In the Book of Matthew it tells us, “Be ye holy as your Father which is in heaven is holy,” and that holiness only comes from Christ. If you would allow me, I would like to tell about the lamb, because this is one of the most important points. In the Old Testament when they offered a literal lamb, the priest examined that lamb, but he didn’t examine the one that brought it! If that lamb was without spot and without blemish the priest offered (killed for a sacrifice) the lamb, instead of the one that brought it. The little lamb paid for the sins. We have already learned that. The Lamb came and took the book (that was Christ in His sacrifice at Calvary), but now He comes to earth as a Mighty Angel and to be the Bridegroom. The bride shouldn’t be too stubborn. If we love Him just right we are going to want His garment. We’re going to want what He is serving. So there comes a spirit among the bride, the church; that says, “Give me the little book.” Here you’re talking to the Lord. And then He says, “Take it and eat it.” You’re talking to Him and He is talking back to you. He is giving you instructions.

He set a ministry in the church. I want you to notice this: He set the ministry in the church to help with your instructions. We are helpers of your faith, but the Holy Ghost is ultimately the teacher. We are here to help your faith grow.

I was telling you about the Tennessee walking horse; how there are certain things in its genes, and all that horse trainer has to do is just coach it along a little bit, and it picks up what it is supposed to do, what it was born to do. Now if Paul’s gospel is in your spiritual genes (seed after its own kind), the five fold ministry will just coach you along, and the Holy Ghost in you says, “Amen!” The Holy Ghost (Christ) is your personal teacher.

So He says, “Take the little book and eat it.” We don’t just eat the book, to sit around and get fat on it. When we eat the book we do something about what it says. Listen to Verse 10, “And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand,” Now watch something here. The book is transferred from the angel’s hand to the hand of the church. It’s no longer in the Mighty Angel’s hand. He entrusts us with His Word. When He left here in the physical form he told the disciples, “You occupy until I come.” Now watch what God has done. The book was in heaven, sealed up. It was unavailable to us, and sealed with seven seals. Then He took the seven seals off for us. Then the Mighty Angel brings it to earth, but it’s still in the Mighty Angel’s hand. Then John, being a type of the bride hears a voice, that is that hungry feeling you get - Go take the little book, and when he gets the revelation that the little book is for him; that gave John courage to walk up to the angel and say, “Give me the little book.” Is your spirit saying that today, “Give me the little book”?

When you speak first it is still in the angel’s hand. It’s not put in the hand of the church yet. There’s a voice when the revelation comes to you that asks the angel for the little book. We’ve got to want this thing, folks. We can’t say, “I couldn’t care less what, or which way.” No. We’ve got to get concerned, “Lord, I want what you have for me.” And if you get what God has got for you, it’s sweet in your mouth, you rejoice about it, but when you begin to digest it, apply it to your life, it makes your stomach bitter, but the angel gave it to John, him being a type of the church. It was in his hand.

Now this is getting back to Ephesians 4, where there’s a five fold ministry, and the little book is transferred from the Mighty Angel to the people, through the ministry. That is what is taking place now, and it’s all in the spirit. That’s why you get that feeling, “I just feel like there’s something else I need.” And sometimes the devil will try to use that feeling for his own advantage. I’ve known people that have left a church where the Word of God was really being preached, and when it was questioned to them why; they would say, “Well, I just feel like there’s something else somewhere I need.” Well, that feeling is right. It’s of the Lord. He has what it takes to satisfy you, but leaving your church is not the answer when the true Word is being preached. Christ is the one that has that satisfying portion.

Satan tries to pervert, doesn’t he? As God drops this spirit on the people to “Give me the little book,” that is something within you saying, “I need something else. I just don’t feel like I’m getting all that I need.” And you begin to search around. And Satan will say, “Go over here at this place, they may have it.” He’ll say, “They may have it over there.” And he’ll take this same thing and try to run you around different places. No. Be still and see the salvation of the Lord! He has a five fold ministry. He set it in the Church and as He sets it in the church, He takes His time, and He tries your faith. He puts that feeling in you, and then He tries your faith, to see if you will look to Him or see if you will just begin to wonder around everywhere…, “I’m not satisfied, I’m not happy, I can’t find my place!” Well, the feeling comes from God – that you need more – but Christ is the one that’s got more and it’s in His hand – Ephesians, Chapter 4, but He’ll let you wait sometimes to see what you’ll do. The Word of God says that when the five fold ministry comes, “We are no longer tossed to and fro.”

So that is what has been happening. Satan is a very good worker, he never rest and he never stops. He can’t stop God’s plan, but sometimes he can run us around different ways, until we get tired of running and look to God. I believe God has sent you a Word, as Paul said. “God has sent you the Word of Salvation.” The Bible says, “Though the vision tarry, wait for it,” because God is building a solid, spiritual nature in you. In order to do that, you must be tried. According to the Book of Romans, Chapter 6, you’ve got to be crucified. In Galatians, Chapter 2, Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ.” They crucified Christ, but He rose again three days later; and you’re going to be crucified spiritually. Paul said, “I die daily.” God wants to get everything out of us, but the desire to please Him.

So when God drops on the church the spirit that causes a hunger, many times people begin to search other places other than the corn crib. Remember Joseph down in Egypt, he had the key to the corn crib. I believe the corn crib has been opened, and there’s a voice that says, “All things are now ready.” Come to His supper! Do you want the little book? It’s the ultimate of all that God is giving to the church at this end time.

When we go back and read Paul’s letters, we find that he told us about and brought in all that it would take to rapture the church. He told us about being married to Christ. In Ephesians, Chapter 5, he quoted the very scripture that was wrote in Genesis, that “a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife, and these two shall become one flesh.” He said, “This is a great mystery.” But he said, “I’m speaking of Christ and the church.” Praise God! You know, the old serpent and Eve became one in the flesh, but not one in the spirit. She had a different spirit than that serpent did. She was a spiritual being and the serpent wasn’t. There was no way they could become one in spirit. They only became one in the flesh. Eve’s spirit was part of Adam. The old serpent side-tracked her for a while, but she didn’t stay with him. She realized her mistake. She was Adam’s bride. God never joined her to that serpent. Satan has side-tracked the church through the church ages for a while, but God sent His Spirit. God came and manifested Himself through the revealing of the son of man; a mighty prophet walked this land and preached the Word of God to us, and told us to go back, go back! Go back to the original! Go back to what Paul taught.

Now it’s not bad to get side-tracked, but it’s bad to stay side-tracked. Even Jesus learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Hebrews, Chapter 2). God brought Him a certain way, because we were going to have to come that way. He grew in favor with God and with man. His knowledge increased, and He finally reached the place where God wanted Him. He got to the place where He said, “The prince of this world has come.” How many know who the prince of the world is? The devil. He has incarnated himself in all the systems of the world. Jesus said, “The prince of this world has come, and has found nothing in me.” There was nothing in Jesus that Satan could work with. He was that Word made flesh.

When we recognize the five fold ministry, we recognize what God is doing. Satan can say, “Go over there and do this, and do that.” Satan can say, “They talk in tongues more over there than they do here.” Satan can say, “They shout more over there than they do here. They have more people over there than they do here.” But when we recognize by revelation the ministry that has the Word for us, then we also realize those that don’t have the Word for us. Now we’re sitting here and there has been a book brought back, and God made it so profound, that when the seven spiritual angels came to Brother William Branham, even one of the big magazines, Life Magazine, I believe it was June 18th issue, had the picture of the face of the Lord in it, and they wrote (in the magazine), “What is this mysterious cloud?” They said, “Moisture can’t get up that high. What is it?” And the question was left, “What is this?” But the bride knows what it is! It was Christ coming down to open the seals. Remember we read yesterday, how on the Lamb were seven horns and seven eyes. And we read where it says, “These are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” When that picture appeared in the cloud, there stood seven angels before the prophet. The angel said, “Go back; God’s going to open the seven seals.” The angel didn’t say that God was going to open six of them. He said God was going to open seven of them. There are those today that say the seventh one is not opened yet, but when the prophet (William Branham) spoke of the opening of the seals, he always said that God told him to turn, go back east and open the seven seals. Until the seventh seal is opened, then the book can’t be opened, and if the book is not opened, my preaching is in vain, and our faith is in vain -- we can’t eat the book, because the seals have got to be opened, and the voice from heaven has to speak again.

I thank God that the voice from heaven has spoken again (Revelation 10:8) and it said, “Go and take the book.” God is not so foolish that He would tell us to go take the book if there wasn’t a book to take, and if it wasn’t available. The spirit came into John’s heart, that hunger; and he found that satisfying portion. He said, “Give me the little book.” And the angel said, “Take it.” That’s a great transferring of the book from Christ to the church. The book is in our hands. The Word is in our hands. We can eat it. When we eat it, it’s going to taste like honey. I’ll tell you, this tastes like honey. But when you go out among some they’ll say, “You’re a fanatic, or you’re this, or you’re that,” – it becomes mighty bitter on your stomach.

Let’s read another scripture. Verse 10, “And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up;” Eat the whole thing! Don’t just nibble around on it, don’t just chew around on it. Eat the whole thing. It’s all for you. If I invite somebody to our house to eat, and dinner is served, if they just pick around the sides, just a little crumb here and there, it’s going to make me feel bad. I’ll think that they think the food is not good to eat or something or else they’re not hungry. There are some people that are just not hungry today. But I say, “If you don’t want yours, give it to me! I want a double portion!” So he took the little book and ate it up.

Continuing verse 10, “and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.” “I was doing pretty good, until I went to those services over there, and I heard a little more about the Word. When I tried to tell somebody about it, they turned me out! They said I was being deceived. They said I was being led astray.” But remember, you’ve got a personal teacher. That is the Holy Ghost. Take it before the Lord. If we get serious with God, God will answer prayers. The prophet of this age spoke, he said, “God has answered every prayer or told me why He wouldn’t.” I believe we can go to Him, don’t you? We’ve got to realize our personal relationship with Him. He said when He was here in the physical, “I am with you now, but I shall be in you.” So the Lord is talking to the church.

God set a five fold ministry in the church. Watch here, your five fold ministry teaching and the Holy Ghost: I can only speak to your ears. Your natural mind can glean what I’m saying, but that is as far as I can go. The Holy Ghost can take that same thing you heard me say, and convert it into spirit – then it becomes your revelation. Sometimes we hear people say, “That man has really got a revelation.” Well, you have to have a revelation, in order to know he has a revelation. His revelation becomes your revelation, when you get it. You say, “I’ve got a revelation! Where did you get it? You probably heard some preaching and the Holy Ghost revealed it. Whether God speaks to you personally, or you get it through the ministering of the Word, it’s still your revelation. The Lord said, “Let your light shine.” He has given you a light, and the Word is light. It’s not your pastor’s light. He may get it first and preach it. When you get the revelation it is yours! The ministry and the church are not separate. Christ and the bride are not separate. The body in the earth has both the masculine and feminine attributes. The masculine part is the ministry. God limited the five ministering offices to men. He gave these gifts to men, but there are nine gifts of the Spirit for the body, the feminine part of the body. The five fold ministry represents the head part of it, but the bride as a whole represents the heart of it. The man is the head of the house, but the woman is the heart of the house. That’s why Adam couldn’t be complete without Eve. God made one thing that wasn’t good. Everything that God made He saw that it was good. God made man alone and He saw it wasn’t good. Amen? It is not good for man to be alone. There was a head to the body, but it had to have a heart.

My first wife passed away in 1995, and I lived by myself for five years. There wasn’t a whole lot of cooking done, along with a lot of other things. It just wasn’t right. Then God sent Barbara along. We married, and now there’s food cooked. Now I don’t have to figure out what clothes goes with what. She knows exactly. Now watch this: God made Christ; that was the Word made manifested, but it wasn’t good for Christ to be alone. He needed a bride, a Word bride, someone like Himself. So God put Him to sleep like He did Adam. He took from His side that feminine spirit and put it on the church. That’s why the church is called the bride of Christ. That’s why the church is called, “She.” It doesn’t say, “He hath made Himself ready.” He made Himself ready and He died on the cross. But when He is talking about the church it says, “She has made herself ready,” as He gives her His very own righteousness with His very own favor.

So what God did, He took some of those masculine attributes that was in Christ, He put them on men to be ministers. There’s your five fold ministry. That’s why He only gave these gifts to men. Now a woman can prophesy. She can testify. She can sing. She can speak in tongues. She can interpret tongues. She can have the gift of faith. She can have any of these nine gifts, and let me tell you something, “It takes the nine gifts to make the five ministering gifts work.” It takes a good woman to make a man work good. Isn’t it nice for us men to sit around and have a good meal cooked and brought to us? We don’t sit there and think, “Where did this come from?” No. There’s a nice lady that loves that man and knew what he liked to eat, and knew how he liked it, and cooked it and brought it to him. Sometimes when I’m working on my feet all day, my legs are hurting, my wife says, “Would you like for me to rub your legs? That’s a relationship like Christ and the hurch.

So God wanted it to be complete. He wanted His attributes to be here, and He wanted the feminine attributes to be here. Just like when He created Adam and Eve; it takes both male and female to make up the perfect man Christ Jesus. “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created He them. (Genesis 1:27) She goes back into Him in this last day, being one with Him. All that He is, she is. She’s baptized into the body. (1 Corinthians 12:13).

So there is a five fold ministry. There are apostles-- that’s where the leadership starts, and it filters on down; and we all speak the same thing. We all believe the same thing, and when that woman, which is the church (the bride), sees the ministers standing shoulder to shoulder believing the same thing, preaching the same thing, then she has that security, that stability. When the minister’s stand shoulder to shoulder, the church is going to say, “I can believe in that.” A woman cannot have a whole lot of confidence in a man if he is wishy-washy. If he gets a job today, quits and gets another one the next day, etc., so wishy-washy that she never knows what she can depend on, that woman is going to be in confusion as to what to do.

I am for quitting a job to get a better one. I’ve worked in mud-holes digging ditches, but when something better came along I took it. I can still dig ditches, but always if something better comes along and you can better yourself then do it! But if there is nothing there but a ditch to be dug, if you do a good job digging that ditch the man might say, “I’ve got a house to paint, and I’ll pay you a little more for this.” If you do a good job painting that house he might say, “I’m going to keep you around.” Well, that is the masculine part showing stability. When you do that, that woman can know she is going to have something to eat the next day. If he doesn’t have any money, it’s not because he didn’t try. He’s out trying. I don’t know if you have them over here, but over in America we have saw mills where they make lumber; they bring logs in and saw them up, and let me tell you that is hard work. I’ve done a lot of that, for very little pay, but I kept on being faithful, moving on up, and that’s what the Lord is trying to get His church to do. In Revelation, Chapter 4:1, John heard a voice, and that voice said, “Come up hither!” And I believe you are hearing a voice today saying, “Come up a little higher!” Men, you respect your wives, love them, give honor to them as a weaker vessel. Let them know you appreciate them, and when they serve you that good meal say, “Thank you, Honey.” You’ll get the man and woman together. That’s what it is with the ministry, see? First the ministry has got to love the church. If he is trying to be something, he’s just a stuffed shirt you don’t need. Paul said, “I’m willing to spend and be spent for the gospel.” He said, “I labor more abundantly among you.” Some of the places Paul went he said, “I labored with my own hands that I be not a burden to the church.” Praise God!

It’s not going to be long until we get there, Folks, and we’ll think back on these services. We are in heavenly places this morning. We are becoming one with Christ, and God has a ministry that’s honorable and that’s willing. I don’t particularly like to travel, but I like to meet God’s people. When we go back home we will be about twenty hours on a plane, plus the waiting, getting through the airports, getting through customs, etc. There’s a lot of stuff you have to go through now days when you travel. You could say, “To heck with it.” But you don’t do it, because you want to talk to God’s people. You want to see God’s people, and there is no sacrifice too great.

Paul was in that shipwreck, wasn’t he? The Lord revealed to Paul that the ship would be wrecked when he was on the way to Rome. So he told the captain, “Don’t loose from port. This vessel is going to be hurt, and much damage will be done.” The man wouldn’t listen. So Paul got on the ship and went on. He was a prisoner for this gospel’s sake. He went through a lot to get us this Word. He was that apostle to the Gentiles. God let him be put in prison and there is where he wrote most of the books.

Let’s go on to the next verse. The book is in our hands now, not in Christ’s hands. He has given the wife the ring. Now notice what it says then; this is after John ate the book, Verse 11, “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” There is still some work to be done. This is not a time to pack it in, the old saying is; we’ve got to work! God’s going to have a church. Do you believe that? And as this church comes forth there’s got to be somebody take it to many peoples, nations, and tongues, and the Lord has offices of the five fold ministry that do that.

Now we’ve got the book back! Let me go over this with you. When we first saw the book, it was in heaven. It was written within, but it was sealed with seven seals. Then the Lamb took it, opened the seals, and then He is shown next (the same one), as the Mighty Angel, as He dissents back to this earth. Notice the Mighty Angel brought it to earth, and He gave it to the church. So it is in our hands, isn’t it? The thing that was up there in the hand of Him that sat on the throne is in our hands! There is still power in the Word.

Let’s turn to Ephesians. Chapter 4, for the closing this morning. I hate to close these services out, because I’ve enjoyed being with you so much. I just fell in love with all of you. Ephesians 4:1-3, says, “Therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” I want you to notice endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit. There will never be any unity in doctrine, until there is unity in the Spirit. We have got to have a good spirit toward one another, and if there is one who sees a little something different than another -- if we have unity in the Spirit, then God will help us work it out.

Verses 4-7, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Now here it begins to talk about the gifts. This means if God has called you to do something, then He has given you grace to do it. If you are out of your calling, it won’t take long to find out. If nothing ever works and you are all the time messing up, then stop and ask the Lord, “Lord, am I in my calling?” Because He gives grace according to the gift of Christ.

Verse 8, “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” The gifts that He is talking about here are not given to women, only to men – the masculine part of the body.

Let’s skip down to Verse 11, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” That is your five fold ministry, given to men. Here’s what they are given for, Verse 12, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” If when you come to church and the preacher is always preaching a message that makes you feel worse leaving than you did coming, that’s not edifying. We are to encourage, to lift up, and to build up, although there are times when correction needs to be made, and God anoints the ministry to do that also.

Verse 13, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” That’s what the five fold ministry is given for. That’s what we are eating from, the little book. Notice verse 14, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;” I wish I had an hour on this verse. When the five fold ministry is in operation, and the ministry and the church has come together like Adam and Eve, Christ and His bride, we’re no longer tossed to and fro, no longer carried about with every wind of doctrine! We are established and settled in present truth.

The ministry does this, Verses 15-16, “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” When the five fold ministry is recognized, when the church and the ministry come together as one, then Verse 16 says that the body begins to edify itself. We edify one another. Paul said, “Let all things be done unto edification.” I tell them at my church, “If something doesn’t edify, leave it alone, whether it’s true or false, ask yourself this question, “If I start this rumor or go and tell what somebody told me, then will it edify the church or hurt the church?” If it won’t edify the church, leave it alone!

We are eating of the little book this morning. God Bless you. I’ll be glad when we get to heaven so we can have a six month meeting if we want to, just fellowshipping with one another, loving one another, telling how we appreciate each other, telling the story of how we came through trials, but we are here! I love you. God bless you.

AUDIO/VIDEO SERMONS AND BOOKS

At present there are over 2,000 sermons by Brother Ben Howard recorded on Cassette tape, CD's, DVD's, and Mp3 formats. Also, there is a collection of published books that are available for download or by request as well. Please feel free to visit us at our website often as new materials are constantly being added, or write to our postal address below.

Sound Of Liberty

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