ALONE WITH GOD     

The Hundred Fold Type

   Genesis 26:1, "And there was a famine in the land that was in the day of Abraham and Isaac...." There was a famine 'on' in Canaan. What was it 'on' for. Read the rest of the Word. That was God's way of running the Canaanites out. Isaac didn't have to fight… God just starved them out. They ran down there for food and Isaac took the whole land. But if Isaac hadn't listened to God, he would have run down to Egypt too.

We need to know we are doing the will of God and stand pat. It might be God is just trying to run off a few hypocrites through the troubles to give us more liberty.

In the 12th verse of the 26th chapter of Genesis, you will see…in the same year Isaac sowed the land and brought forth an hundredfold. After the Canaanites were all run out, Isaac sowed the land right in a famine and brought forth an hundredfold. Now what is that a type of? Old Israel wouldn't listen to God. The prophets pled with him, Jeremiah worked with him, but he (they) wouldn't listen to God. God moved on Amos in the 8th chapter of Amos, the 11th verse and said, "Tell them there is going to be a famine in the land, not of meat, nor of bread to eat, not of water, but a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord. From Malachi until John the Baptist or Christ, there was darkness over the earth. There was a famine 'on' of hearing the Word of God. Why did the famine come? Man brought it on himself. Why is there a famine on the Word of God today? Man brought it upon himself.

So, we need to learn a little lesson. All we need do is go up against God a little bit, or the saints to whine around a little, and say, "we don't want that preaching." Well, God can give it to us cold, and give us plenty of it. Where do we get Bible for that? Israel did not want the manna, they wanted to eat flesh. God gave it to them until it ran out of their nostrils. There were people who wanted to modernize 'this thing' a few years ago and there are some now 'so full of It' they don't know what to do. Well, just remember, it was asked for (frown).

There was a famine of the Word of God when Christ came. Isaac, the Word of God says, in the 26th chapter of Genesis, the 12th verse, Isaac and Rebecca sowed the land right in the midst of the famine and brought forth an hundredfold. What was that a type of? There was a famine on the land when Christ came, He took His bride and sowed the land and brought forth an hundredfold right in the midst of the famine. The morning church in her 'pristine glory' brought forth an hundredfold for God. It was not until the 'falling away' started that the sixty fold and thirty fold came into view. Now, someone would say, Brother Wilson, that is Old Testament. Give us something in the New Testament that will prove we have to bring an hundredfold.

Matthew 19:29, "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters or father, or mother or wife or children or lands, for my names sake, shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life," "And every one" (not every one that Is willing to forsake all, but every one) "that hath forsaken all, houses (that may be church houses) land, brother, sister, children, or wife for my name's sake shall receive an hundredfold" plus eternal life. So, it is not Bro. Wilson's saying, but the Lord's saying. That is, if you cannot get an hundredfold out of your experience you are still holding on to one of those idols He listed there. Your wife might be hindering you. Some one says, "Are you supposed to leave her?" No, but put her in secondary place. Put God first. Land, children, father, mother…those are the things, if you please, that are keeping people from serving God in the right way. It gets right back to that old consecration of putting everything on the altar for God. If you will put it there, and leave it there, you can bear an hundredfold, for the Word of God says so, and you know it is so.

Up through this thirty and sixty fold age, we are going to get to the 'fireworks.' You will find out that the reason they didn't get into an hundredfold and the reason they don't today; they are holding on to things that God said, "Let loose of." Someone says, "Bro. Wilson, how are you going to 'hook' this first parable with this first letter (in the Revelation)to get started. I won't have to. It is already 'hooked.' Everybody knows that Ephesus was a 'sowing age.' Now, there is just one thing we need to consider, to help us understand. When the letter was written to Ephesus - that was about AD 96, the work of apostasy or compromising, or losing their first love, or leaving it, I should say, had already been done. There was a time that Ephesus had a 'first love' - she couldn't have left it if she had not had it. It might be Interesting to know, just how short lived, the morning glory of the Church really was. It might help us, because people will say, "Well, my, this reformation is so young, how could it 'go to pieces' so early?"

Do you know, the morning church began to lose some of her glory within 25 years after Pentecost? The Church was started AD 33 and AD 66 Jude said 'men had already crept in unawares.' That was 30 years after it started. Back at AD 62, Paul wrote that the 'mystery of iniquity' had already worked. You come up to 1880 when the glory of the evening light came back, Jude said within 30 years after the church was built, men had already 'let the standard down,' and men can't 'creep In unaware,' if we don't 'let the standard down.' That is the way for them to get in. You add thirty years on to 1880 and that will put you up to about 1913 and 1915. At that time -- I got a book of camp meeting sermons when Bro. Riggle and others were 'crying out' saying, "they are 'creeping in' already, we've got to war against them"… and they preached Jude's message over again.

We want you to see this, that this period that we are dealing with was in the early stage of the Church, when she was sold out to God and brought forth an hundredfold, before the falling away ever started. Paul declared that the day of the Lord would not come, except there be a falling away first and 'there is' your falling away from a hundredfold to sixty and thirty, etc., before it ever began. Paul wrote to the churches and warned them what was going to happen. He wrote to Ephesus -- back In the 5th chapter of Ephesians. He wrote to her about two years after the Church was started and said, "Awake, thou that sleepest, arise from the dead and Christ will give you life." Who was It addressed to? Not to the world. Not to sinners; but to the Church of God at Ephesus. They had gone to sleep on the job. In the beginning, she was an hundredfold, and now we see the pitiful condition she has fallen to. We see that something happened -- that moved her from the state she was in.

In the 2nd chapter of the Revelation, "Unto the angel of the church at Ephesus, write: These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks" (the stars represent the ministry -- the Candlestick, the church; now, thhink on this), I am going to give a name to everyone of these churches.

Ephesus -- the 'serving church;' within the heading of every letter contains the condition the church is In. Someone says, How do you get that? Christ presented Himself to the Church here, in seven different ways. Here He holds the seven stars and walketh in the midst of the Church. Later, we will see Him with His eyes of fire etc., so within the heading of that letter, you can see the condition the church is in. Christ presents Himself as needed. To the sinner, He presents Himself as a Saviour. To the sick, He presents Himself as a Healer, To the growing or maturing believer, He presents Himself as a Comforter… as a Sustainer.

That is why He is the same Christ, and has presented Himself in seven different ways. Why? There were seven different needs, and He came as that, which was needed. So here He is…as He that holdeth the seven stars in His Right Hand and walketh in the midst of the candlesticks. Why would He present Himself to Ephesus that way?

First of all, because the ministry had 'gotten out of hand.'

Second, He was no longer permitted to walk in their midst as He once did.

Walk in their midst means: His complete government. He once had complete rule and He was Head of the Church in every way. He had walked in the midst, led them and enriched them in power. He was not permitted to do that anymore. Follow through these letters, and you will see how He presents Himself -- to each of the congregations according to their need.

Repeating…the ministry had 'gotten out of hand' and because of this, Christ was not walking in the midst of the Church as He once had. We see it, as he describes the situation in verses 2 and 3. He tells us that they did have good ground. Read it…"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them, which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars." All right, let's back up and see if there was good ground in the beginning. They had the Word. "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them, which are evil." They had the Word. It brought a change in them. They couldn't bear them, which were evil, anymore. They had been made into 'new creatures' through Jesus Christ and they hated the things they once loved and loved the things they once hated.

The next thing we know is that they understood the Word. The fowls couldn't pick it up. Somebody said, "How do you know?" They 'tried' them that were apostles. How do you 'try' them? They tried to pick up the word and take it away and Jesus told them of the fowls, but they couldn't do it. They tried them, which said they were apostles and found them to be liars. That is the way God wants the saints to be yet today. We are living in a day and age when people get 'scared to death' when somebody comes to their door, that hasn't got an ounce of doctrine straight and cannot 'hook two scriptures together to save them,' but the saints get seared to death and all nervous. God wants to 'try' people. We need to get an understanding of the Word until we can try false spirits and deceivers and prove them to be liars. When that church was on an hundredfold 'stage,' she had enough power with God and understanding of His Word, that she could try them, which said they were apostles -- and found them to be liars -- so, the fowls were not able to pick up the seed. Now, sad to say, there are a whole lot more 'today' -- claiming to be apostles…and are not. And we need to be 'finding them liars too!'

In the next verse -- third verse, "Thou hast borne." What kept the tree from bearing? What caused people to become unfruitful? The thorns grew up and choked out the Word. "Thou hast borne," shows us a falling away. "Thou hast been fruitful." How do you know it is a hundredfold? Well, let's read it. "And has borne, and hast patience." I believe there was a time when the thorns were all gone, because if there are any thorns in your life, you cannot have patience. You will get aggravated, agitated, irritated. "Hath patience, and for My Name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted."

So, how do we know they bore an hundredfold? He said, "Everyone that forsakes father and mother, houses and land, etc., for My Name's sake," (that's the reason of it), "shall receive a hundredfold." And these people had laboured for His Name's sake, so we know they bore an hundredfold. We see all this goodness that He shows forth, my friend, and tells of the goodness and how they bore an hundredfold, and I say again today to the church, let us labour for His Name's sake. When we do what we do for His Name's sake, or God's name...I might stop just a moment on that. God's name is a holy name. It is the only 'character Name' there is. You can be 'any kind of a rascal' and have a name Wilson or Luther or Wesley. Men of all kinds of characters have got 'that' name, But God is a 'character name' and none can bear the name of God except they possess the character and nature of God. That is why there were none. Read in Luke and you will find none were called the Sons of God from Adam down to Christ. Adam was the Son of God, and from there on down he was the son of man…and the son of man…until Christ came, who was the Son of God again, and thank God, to as many as received Him, to them, everyone of them, He gives them power to become the Sons of God; and when we become the Sons of God and have the nature of God, then we can bear the name of God and be the Church of God. I pray to God, to help us see that there is something in this name. After while, we will see that He does not write it on everyone.

Paul said He was the first born among many brethren. People like to quote John 3:16, and it is good, but it is outdated =). Something greater has happened. God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, but He is not His only begotten Son any more. Paul said He was the first-born among many brethren. Peter said He begot us. Who? With His own Word of truth. So Christ is just one of many begotten sons now. We are all begotten of God. Thank God, when we are begotten of God (born of God), we can bear the name of God and be the sons of God, and heirs together with Christ of everything that God has laid up 'in store' for us. So, we see that, when we begin to 'do this thing' for His Name's sake -- that shows you what David had in mind in the 23rd Psalm, when he spoke about the goodness of God. "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want." Amen! Thank God, I believe it just that way.

People today, want 'this, that and the other' of 'things of the world.' Friends, you need a shepherd, because, when you 'sell out' and let Christ become your shepherd, 'your wants' will be cancelled. And David went on and told us many more things. I spoke several weeks on the 23rd Psalm 'here,' and I cannot get into 'that,' but he listed the many things we wouldn't want; we wouldn't want for rest, we wouldn't want for food, we wouldn't want for water, right on down through, and all teach a great message. But he 'came on down' and says: "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake." Well, let me 'tell you,' it means something to bear the name of God, and if we will let the Lord be our shepherd, He will keep us in the paths of righteousness, and we will be one hundredfold saints.