Luke 22  Nobody must be elevated above people

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A secret betrayal when an apostle is paid enough

LUKE 22:1    Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.

The Passover was on Thursday when the lamb was killed.

For the Jews, Thursday actually began on Wednesday night at 6 o’clock. Then Thursday ended at 6 o’clock on Thursday night. This day was known as the Passover and the day of preparation.

The Jews would eat the Passover on our Wednesday night (the Jewish Thursday).

Then the Passover lamb was killed and roasted on Thursday, before  6 o’clock.

Thursday night was called the Feast of the Passover or the Feast of Unleavened bread.

Thus, Passover started at 6 o’clock on our Wednesday night with a meal that included bread and stew with gravy. Jesus dipped the bread into the gravy as a sop to give to Judas.

Remember, the Jewish Thursday began on Wednesday evening at 6 o’clock.

So, Wednesday evening they ate the Passover which was some kind of stew.

The Bible never speaks of the “Passover meal”.

“Eat the Passover” is the expression that is used five times in the New Testament and once in the Old Testament.

The Bible never says “ate the Passover” which would make it a past tense experience.

“Eat the Passover” is a present tense experience, implying something that is ongoing.

When the sun came up it was Thursday for both Jews and Gentiles. On this day of preparation, they had to kill and roast the Passover lamb before sunset on Thursday.

Thus, Jesus died on Thursday afternoon.

JOHN 19:31   The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

At sunset, the Jewish Friday began. That day was the Feast of the Passover when the roast lamb was eaten after dark.

This Feast of the Passover on Friday was a high day or special Sabbath. The next day was the usual Saturday Sabbath. Thus, there were two Sabbaths in a row before the resurrection on Sunday morning. The Friday Feast of the Passover was also called the Feast of unleavened bread. Friday was a double feast day. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Unleavened bread spoke of His perfect and sinless life.

The Jews had to eat unleavened bread for seven days, representing the perfect life of Jesus in the seven church ages.

JOHN 6:35      And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life:

The Passover lamb spoke of the death of Christ on the cross for our sins.

Why did he die on a cross?

Our sins crossed over onto Him and His innocence and sinlessness crosses over onto us. Then God will pass over our sins and not recall them.

I CORINTHIANS 5:7   Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

LUKE 22:2    And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.

Notice the deviousness. Jesus had done no harm to the people who rated Him as a prophet. They had welcomed Him at the beginning of that week on Palm Sunday when He rode in on an ass (a donkey) and the colt or child of the ass.

This symbolized the apostolic fathers who enabled the first church age to carry the Word of God in their hearts as the true church. The Bible truth was lost in the Dark Ages after the AD 325 Nicaean Council introduced an unscriptural Trinity with Father and Son being of the same substance. That is false as "God the Father" is not a Man. He is Spirit, not flesh and blood. Then they called Jesus “God the Son”. Unscriptural.

Only the Babylonians had called Nimrod “El Bar” which means “God the Son”.

Other Babylonian doctrines also entered the church like Christmas or the birthday of the sun god on 25 December.

The spirit of Babylon with its High Priest or Pontiff would enter the Roman Catholic church. Then many Catholic doctrines would spread to the daughter Protestant churches.

Satan entered the church leaders.

LUKE 22:3    Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

Satan’s masterstroke was to take over an apostle, a church leader.

Attacking the church from within was far more successful than attacking it from outside. Satan's great trick was corrupting the church leaders with money. Church leaders will sell their souls if the price is right.

At that moment Judas ceased to be an apostle.

Notice the accuracy of Scripture. It does not say “being of the number of the twelve apostles”. Because only eleven were apostles after that time.

LUKE 22:4    And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.

“He went his way”.  Judas no longer followed Jesus as the Way to Truth.

“And communed”. The Last Supper or the Passover was where Jesus communed with the apostles. They did eat the Passover and Jesus then broke bread and passed out wine. People often call this event the “Communion”. A time of intense focus on Jesus and what He did for us.

Judas preferred communion with the important religious leaders and influential captains. His self-gain was inspired by their money. He wanted a profit not a Prophet.

Captains speaks of politics. Betrayal comes from church leaders who are involved with the chief religious leaders and those with influence in politics.

LUKE 22:5    And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.

Judas was immediately made welcome and gained an immense popularity amongst that religious nest of vipers.

LUKE 22:6    And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

Judas could not keep His commitment as an apostle to serve and obey Jesus Who is the Word.

But as a church leader Judas was happy to betray the Word for a suitable price.

God uses an unusual sign at the end

A man carrying water was unusual

Water was usually carried by the women.

LUKE 22:7    Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.

The day when they ate the Passover was also called thre day of Unleavened Bread.

(The next day was the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread).

At 6 o’clock at night it was Wednesday night for the Gentiles but Thursday for the Jews.

LUKE 22:8    And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.

:9   And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare?

:10    And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in.

At the end the disciples were led by an unusual sign. The circumstances of the end time require us to expect the unexpected. Our traditional way of doing things will not help us find the truth.

Donald Trump was a completely unexpected type of politician but he had the courage to defy tens of millions of Muslims and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. We must expect the unexpected.

The ravages to the world economy by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and then the unexpected and vicious invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. It is really a time of upheaval and turbulence.

LUKE 22:11    And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

:12   And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.

:13   And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.

:14    And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

At this stage Judas was still an apostle, So the Bible says “twelve apostles”.

But if we look further along in the Chapter we see that when Judas came to betray Jesus, the Bible does not say “twelve apostles”. Judas was no longer an apostle as Satan had entered him.

LUKE 22:47   And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him.

Just one of the twelve. He does not say twelve apostles. Satan had entered Judas so Judas was no longer an apostle but had become the son of perdition. The son from hell.

Jesus speaks to the disciples in the upper room.

LUKE 22:15   And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

Jesus had longed to eat the Passover. The next night was the Feast of the Passover when they ate the roasted Passover lamb that was killed on Thursday afternoon.

Jesus could not eat that as he was the Passover Lamb that would be slain the next day.

LUKE 22:16   For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

The cup and the bread were significant

There are two aspects to Christianity, the flesh and the Spirit.

LUKE 22:17    And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:

The cup represents doctrine.

58-0927  WHY ARE WE NOT A DENOMINATION

… having a golden cup in her hand full of the abomination and filthiness of her fornication:

What'd she have in her hand? Her doctrine, what she was holding out to the people, "We are the church. We are this." And she's made the kings of the earth become drunk with her like that. "We are this. We're the great powers. We sweep every nation. We're the greatest church there is. Come on, drink of our... Here, pour out a little bit of it; you take it; you take it." There it is (See?), "and she had in her hand a cup."

61-0806  THE SEVENTIETH WEEK OF DANIEL

You remember the old mother prostitute that set upon a beast, scarlet clothed like that, had seven heads and ten horns, you remember that? And she had a cup in her hand of the filthiness of her abomination; that was her doctrine that she put out to the people.

61-1217  CHRISTIANITY VERSUS IDOLATRY

She give out doctrine from her cup of the filthiness of the abomination of her fornications: dirt and filth, the makeup of mere man instead of the Word of the living God which is true and unadulterated. O God, have mercy on us, is my prayer.

The wine has a spirit in it, which represents the Life in the Blood of Jesus, which is the Holy Spirit.

LUKE 22:18    For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Wine represents the stimulation of revelation.

The thrill of being able to understand the meaning of Bible verses.

63-0320  THE THIRD SEAL

Now, oil typifies Spirit, and wine symbolizes stimulation of revelation.

54-0513  THE MARK OF THE BEAST

And she had a cup in her hand, full of the wine of her fornications, her filthiness, her doctrine that she was causing the kings; "Oh, just to have a little prayer and pray you out of purgatory," and all these things.

LUKE 22:19    And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

The broken bread is a symbol of His suffering in the flesh.

LUKE 22:20   Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

There is a spirit of life in wine. Drinking wine can make a person’s behavior change as the spirit in the wine begins to control the person.

LUKE 22:21   But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.

Where believers gather together, Satan does his best to insert one or more unbelievers or make believers.

LUKE 22:22    And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!

The unbelievers and make believers will perform a certain amount of damage to the believers. But they merely heap up more damnation on their own heads. They can only do the damage that God wants done.

LUKE 22:23   And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing.

The disciples could not grasp that an apostle could betray Jesus.

Church-goers refuse to believe that church leaders could mislead them.

In the end each disciple wanted to be the greatest

The disciples, as the church leaders, totally misread the current situation at the end of the First Coming of Jesus. Jesus was preparing to die the most horrible of deaths and they were heatedly obsessed with trying to prove their self-importance.

LUKE 22:24    And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.

Humans are too competitive. Each one wants to be better than the others.

People love being admired and uplifted.

How unbecoming is the worldly ambition of being the greatest, to the character of a follower of Jesus, who took upon Him the form of a servant, and humbled Himself to the death of the cross!

LUKE 22:25   And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.

It is a habit of Gentile kings, all around the world, to feel that they are superior to the people. They thus demand the right to rule the people and tell them what to do. The leaders tell the people what to do and the people have to humbly obey and do it.

There can be no opposition. Human leaders destroy any rivals and opposition.

“Lordship” means that the people have no say. They must obey without any arguments.

But church leaders must not boss the people nor dictate to the people.

LUKE 22:26   But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.

The main Christians must serve the other Christians and be servants. The word “minister” means to serve. A church minister is not the head of the church but a servant of the church. Servants do not give orders.

LUKE 22:27   For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.

At the dinner table, the man who eats is greater than the servant who ministers by giving out the food.

Yet Jesus, the greatest church Leader sits at the table and serves the food to the disciples.

Jesus did not act important. Jesus put no emphasis on His office as the Son of Man.  Jesus humbled Himself as the Ox, the powerful Servant. An ox works hard and is then killed at the end for its valuable meat. An ox just gives of itself.

Leadership is based on giving, not receiving.

LUKE 22:28    Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.

God had ordained a place for the disciples to suffer and struggle and succeed in their ministries.

Their reward lay in the future kingdom. Thus, it made no difference what they had to endure on earth. It made no difference if they were accepted or rejected. They did not have to seek a prominent reputation. They did not have to strive to be above others.

LUKE 22:29   And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;

God has already appointed a place in His Kingdom for each believer. Success, elevated position, and wealth on this side does not mean that success, elevated position, and wealth will await you on the other side. Whatever happens on this side does not alter the fact that God has already chosen and appointed a kingdom for the disciples. Competitive Christianity, which is churchianity, does not affect our future position in the Kingdom of God.

LUKE 22:30   That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The disciples did not need to compete nor compare with each other. Jesus already knew that they would eat at His future table and judge on the Day of Judgement. Our only real function is to be humble and serve God by believing His revealed Scriptures.

Judas would fall away but God had already chosen Paul to take his place. The disciples would choose Matthias but the Bible never mentioned Matthias again. It is not for man to select who has a ministry, God decides that.

We easily fool ourselves that we are dedicated to God

Peter thought he was brave but he was not. Many Christians think they are serving God when they are just following the traditions of their church. Many mistake being emotional for being spiritual.

Christians can easily fool themselves that they are dedicated to the truth of Scripture. Jesus is the Word and Peter thought that He would always defend the Word.

LUKE 22:31   And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

But Satan comes from a higher dimension and is thus far cleverer than us. He is a cunning adversary that we cannot withstand in our own strength.

Believers when left to themselves will fall.

LUKE 22:32   But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

We need the prayers of Jesus as He alone can show us the way. The true way is not the way that we humans think. God has to out-think the Devil and thus has His own secret plan which He alone can reveal to us.

But God's Plan will be vvery diffetent to what we would think up.

The conversion of Peter was the Holy Ghost baptism

There are four stages in the Christian experience.

Repentance or Justification. Holiness or Sanctification. The Holy Ghost baptism which involves spiritual gifts and an understanding of Scripture. The revelation of the written Word is more important than the manifestation of the gifts.

JOHN 4:24   God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The evidence of the Holy Spirit is the ability to understand Bible truth.

JOHN 16:13   Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:

Sadly, many will be anointed with spiritual gifts but if they do not know the revealed truth, God will reject them.

MATTHEW 7:21   Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

“Lord, Lord”. They doubly emphasize that Jesus is their Lord but they do not know God’s Will for their age. They are the foolish or fooled virgins. They are sincere in their desire to serve Jesus but are fooled by their church leader into unscriptural beliefs.

MATTHEW 7:22    Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Great supernatural signs that they manifested did not mean that they were right with God.

MATTHEW 7:23   And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

God sends the rain of His Spirit on everyone, both the just and the unjust.

MATTHEW 5:45   That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,

and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

But the knowledge of the truth enables a person to strengthen other believers. The more we can understand the Bible truths, the more our faith gets established on what God wants to do at the end time.

Peter did not know what God wanted to do at that time, and thus he denied his faith.

Yet Peter was a brave man. But we get a warning from this. End-time events will stagger us and we will have to keep a fixed eye on Scripture if we are to unravel the right path. Many brave men and women will collapse under the pressure and the intense opposition.

LUKE 22:33    And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

Peter, in the flesh was a bravely prepared to suffer for Jesus.

But Satan was going to unleash a spirit of fear that scared even the bravest of men. We cannot combat Satan in our own strength.

Three church ages denied and lost the truth

LUKE 22:34    And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

Three denials. The first church age had the truth. Then over the next three church ages the church would deny the Bible truth and end up in the Dark Ages in the fourth church age of Thyatira. Thyatira means a dominating woman. The Roman Catholic church dominated Europe in the Dark Ages and killed tens of millions of people who disagreed with her.

II THESSALONIANS 2:3   Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Three church ages, numbers 2, 3, and 4, were spread out from AD 170 to AD 1520 when Bible truth died out and even owning a Bible could earn you a death sentence. This was a massive falling away from the beliefs of the first church age.

Then the very brave monk Martin Luther in Germany exposed the Pope as the head of the Roman Catholic antichrist spirits.

II THESSALONIANS 2:4    Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

The Pope sits in the chair of St Peter in the Vatican and claims that he can forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins. Thus, he claims to be God.

I John 4:3     … and this is that spirit of antichrist,

The Bible never says “The antichrist” as if antichrist is a man. Antichrist is a spirit.

That spirit of antichrist has been around right from the beginning.

The spiritual fathers of the church were the early apostles. In terms of the 2000 years of church history, the young men were the reformers like Martin Luther, the translators of the King James Bible, and John Wesley. Luther restored salvation by grace through faith. John Wesley restored holiness and outreach which led to the great missionary age that took the King James Bible around the world.

The children were the Pentecostals who restored the power of the Spirit.

The little children are the end-time believers who believe the revelation of the Bible mysteries and are thus restored to the beliefs of the first church age. The American prophet William Branham revealed the mysteries of the Scripture between 1947 and 1965.

Thus, finally, the church in the last age is restored back to the beliefs of the first age. This is the great mystery of God that the churches of today never understood.

I JOHN 2:18   Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Many antichrists were around as spirits in the early church. They have returned in strength to the last church. These antichrist spirits are bound up in the Roman Catholic denominational system of organized churches. The Roman Catholic church is the only organization that survived the breakup of the Roman Empire. Thus, the Roman Catholic church is governed by these antichrist spirits.

They claim that Peter was the first Pope but Peter never made that claim.

Thus, they believe that the Popes go all the way back to Peter.

REVELATION 17:8   … when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

The beast is the antichrist spirit of organized religion that wants to worship some person. The Catholics worship Mary and the dead saints.

“The beast that was”. By claiming Peter as the first Pope means that there always was a beast.

“And is not”. The Pope dies.

“And yet is”. A new Pope gets elected.

The Popes represent the longest line of dictatorial rulers in the Western world.

In 2022, the Pope was the only dictator in Europe.

The beast thus refers to the succession of Popes and their man-made church beliefs as the Pope is the figure head of the Roman Catholic church.

The end will be very different from what we expect

LUKE 22:35   And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.

God had looked after their daily needs.

LUKE 22:36   Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

Things will change at the end. Life will not be as it was before. It was wrong for them to dispute about who was most important (that is a Nicolaitan spirit that God hates) because things would change radically. Poverty, affliction, and distress would be the fate of many Christians.

The Word of God is a sword.

“Buy one” means pay the price to learn the Bible truth. It is hard work and often ends in rejection and persecution.

EPHESIANS 6:17   And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,

which is the word of God:

We can only hold the sword of the Word in the hand of faith. Jesus does it all, not me.

HEBREWS 4:12   For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

My works are inadequate. I can take money and a scrip, a small bag for food. That way I can survive by my own efforts but I am not effective for God.

I need to know God’s Will for my day if I am to be any use for God’s Kingdom.

Spiritually, we are clothed in a garment of righteousness. But that garment is not of our own righteousness. We must sell or get rid of any reliance on our own good works or cleverness and buy or pay the price for faith in the true Word of God, the King James Bible.

ROMANS 4:3   For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

ROMANS 4:5   But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

All our human works cannot achieve anything. It is only what the Scripture says that counts. And only Jesus could achieve what the Scripture required.

JOB 29:14   I put on righteousness, and it clothed me:

ISAIAH 61:10   I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness,

By repentance and believing in the works of Jesus on behalf of myself, I gain His salvation and His righteousness.

Selling means to get rid of something for personal gain.

I get rid of my own inadequate garment of righteousness (which are filthy rags) until I am clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. That is great gain for me.

Selling my righteousness means I have no righteousness left. My opinions and ambitions and efforts are worthless. Once I have abandoned any hope of saving myself or helping myself, only then am I able to buy into the Plan of God that says that only Jesus purchased my salvation and He offers me His righteousness.

But the price involves enduring rejection, loneliness, and the hard work to find the truth of the revealed Bible mysteries for my day. The world and the church will hate the true revelation of the mysteries of Scripture that take us back to the beliefs of the early church.

A man got into the Wedding Supper but he had the wrong garment, his own righteousness.

MATTHEW 22:11   And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a

wedding garment:

He got thrown out.

Our faith has to be in our Sacrifice. The Lamb of God is the Word of God and He alone is perfect.

So, we must believe that the King James Bible is perfect. Whatever we say about the King James Bible, we are saying about Jesus. Criticize any word in the King James Bible and you criticize Christ. Then you are out of the Wedding Supper where only perfect faith in the perfection of Christ, Who is the King James Bible, is admitted.

The only perfection that we can offer is to have perfect faith in the Word of God. Perfect faith that Jesus is our sacrificial Lamb.

When a Jew brought his sacrificial lamb to the altar, the priest examined the lamb, not the Jew. If the lamb was perfect then the Jew was forgiven.

A crossover effect then happened. The sin of the Jew flowed onto the lamb which died. The innocence of the lamb flowed onto the Jew. But the life of the lamb could not flow into the Jew. So he kept the desire to sin.

Our Lamb is Christ.

When we repent, our sin flows onto Christ and then in a cross-over His innocence flows onto us as a garment of salvation. But the Life that was in His blood, the great Holy Spirit, then comes into our hearts by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then His Life lives within us and takes away our desire to sin as His Spirit makes us die to self.

Like Samson, we destroy more of the enemy when we die to ourselves than what we did when we were alive to self.

Righteousness has nothing to do with self and everything to do with what Jesus Christ did.

LUKE 22:37   For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.

“That this that is written must yet be accomplished in me”.

The Old Testament prophecies told us what Christ had to accomplish. It was all about Him, not about any other human.

Humans can tell us about Christ, but it is Jesus that has to do the works in us and for us. We cannot do the works on our own.

“He was reckoned with the transgressors”. This staggers us. The holiest Man ever is rated as a common criminal. At the end, things are just turned upside down until they make no real sense.

That is why churches condone the murder of unborn infants and allow same-sex marriage and gender choice.

We just have to make sure that we stay strictly with Scripture.

LUKE 22:38   And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

The disciples had two natural swords that represented the Word of God in the first and in the last church ages. The sword of the Word is enough to guide us when the mysteries are revealed at the end.

“Enough”. The first church age would have a revelation of the true Word of God which is the two-edged sword. This truth would be successively lost over the next three church ages as the churches moved into the Dark Ages. But this sword would have to be fully restored to the Bride before the Second Coming.

Then Luther’s great Reformation in the fifth church age would turn the tide. People got saved by grace through faith instead of by works. The King James Bible was translated and checked between 1604 and 1769. John Wesley’s sixth church age restored holiness and outreach. This produced the missionary age.

In the 7^th church age the Pentecostals restored the power of the Spirit and brother Branham revealed the Bible mysteries. These revelations brought us an understanding of the Scriptures which took us back to the beliefs of the first church age. Thus, we can also hold the two-edged sword of the Word of God again for the first time since the first church age.

The end of the 7th church age is the second time that the revelation of the Bible truths has been made known.

Garden of Gethsemane began to pay for Garden of Eden

Sin entered in the Garden of Eden.

Jesus began the atonement for sin in the Garden of Gethsemane.

LUKE 22:39   And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.

LUKE 22:40   And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

The end times will be dangerous and deceptive. We humans can be easily fooled. There are many temptations that can distract us and cunningly lead us further and further away from God’s Word.

LUKE 22:41   And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,

Lonely prayer is the final refuge of the Christian.

LUKE 22:42   Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Sometimes the Will of God seems to be more than what we humans can bear. But then Jesus set the supreme example by forgetting His own Will and agreeing to be totally submissive to God’s Will.

LUKE 22:43   And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

God’s Plan will always succeed because God has angels who can help humans when the going gets too tough. God’s perfect Will enabled Christians to draw from the resources of angelic help.

LUKE 22:44    And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

The worse things got, the harder Jesus prayed.

Prayer and Bible Study (so that we know what to pray about) are our final refuge.

Jesus agreed to take on our sins. That flood tide of filth would scare anyone. Especially a holy Man Who had never sinned Himself. His desperate prayers produced perspiration in His anguish.

The intense emotional struggle caused blood to separate out from the water of His perspiration.

Hematidrosis is an extremely rare condition in which a person sweats blood. Tiny blood vessels that are near to sweat glands rupture under intense stress. No greater stress can be caused than by depraved sins meeting a holy mind. It was a dreadful conflict.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus as the last Adam began to atone for the sins of the first Adam in the Garden of Eden.

One of the penalties of Adam’s sin was that he would have to work hard to grow food out of a reluctant earth.

Hard work causes a man to sweat.

GENESIS 3:19   In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,

If sweat was the penalty of sin, then sweat had to touch the blood of Christ so that sweat could be atoned for. In the new Kingdom, there will be no more sweat.

A willing earth will produce an abundance of food with minimum effort.

Because the blood of Jesus touched sweat, the curse of sweat will one day be removed.

LUKE 22:45   And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,

Luke, a doctor, gives a medical reason for their sleepiness. Aware that Jesus was much distressed, the disciples became numbed by prolonged sorrow and sought an escape from the real events in sleep.

Both the wise and the foolish virgins seek an escape in spiritual sleep just before the Lord returns. They just stay complacently unaware in their comfortable church traditions as they are totally unaware of the revelation of the Bible mysteries that are to return us to the beliefs of the early church.

MATTHEW 25:5   While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

Both the wise virgins and the foolish or fooled virgins are fast asleep. Virgins are clean women representing saved Christians.

LUKE 22:46    And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

The failure of humans is to fall asleep when things become critical. It is an escape mechanism and indicates how helpless we actually are when circumstances get too dangerous.

Lack of prayer enables the Devil to trap us in temptations that separate us from God.

Being separated from God enables the Devil to easily overcome us.

Peter fought bravely but had the wrong weapon

We often have zeal and good intentions but in our own strength we make a mess.

We must be careful of trying to do God a service that is not in His Will.

LUKE 22:47   And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him.

Just one of the twelve. One of the twelve men. He does not say twelve apostles. Satan had entered Judas so Judas was no longer an apostle but had become the son of perdition. The son from hell.

JOHN 17:12   While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

LUKE 22:48   But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?

A kiss had always been a symbol of love. Now Judas turned love into betrayal. To betray those you love is awful. It would be difficult to sink lower than that.

LUKE 22:49   When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?

One disciple, Peter, showed his bravery by attacking these armed men with his sword.

LUKE 22:50   And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

He struck him on the ear. This was pointless physically but it had a deeper spiritual application.

The sword of God’s Word, when it is preached, strikes a man’s ear.

But that servant was unable to hear the Word as he intended to arrest Jesus so that He could be killed.

LUKE 22:51   And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

Jesus is the Word and when He touches a man’s ear then that man is healed from his sins and sickness.

The Temple leaders were totally in the wrong. They had no right to arrest a man by night. All law cases must be done in the full light of day.

LUKE 22:52   Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

Jesus rebukes His opponents who came to arrest Him. Jesus was no thief, so why were they armed as if He was a dangerous criminal.

LUKE 22:53   When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

Jesus had been in the Temple by day. Why did they not arrest Him there?

But God has ordained that evil must run its course so that we can see how bad evil is.

Peter behaved like the foolish virgins of Matthew 25

Virgins are clean women representing saved Christians in the churches. Saved but fooled into denying the Word in places.

The power of darkness would unleash a strong spirit of fear that would make the disciples run away.

LUKE 22:54   Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off.

Very illegal. Having a trial by night. The spirit of fear was affecting Peter and he kept his distance.

LUKE 22:55   And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.

By sitting around a fire, Peter represents the lukewarm church of the Laodiceans, the foolish or fooled virgins.

The front of Peter was hot but his back would be cold. A mixture of hot and cold represents the state of being lukewarm.

REVELATION 3:14   And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;

"The church of the Laodiceans" means that the Laodiceans make up their own beliefs, whatever suits them.

"Laodicea" means "people's rights". The churches of today feel that they have the right to make up their own beliefs and doctrines and worship God in a way that suits them. That is why we have 45000 different kinds of churches and denominations. It is a real spiritual swamp.

REVELATION 3:16   So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

From God’s mouth comes His Word. Being vomited out of God’s mouth means the church has become unscriptural.

LUKE 22:56   But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.

This was at the end of the First Coming of Jesus.

A spirit of fear was on the disciples. They were disciples, but they forsook Jesus.

Peter represents an individual in a foolish virgin church.

Desperate to be accepted by the people, he denies the Word of God.

When Martin Luther bravely led the Reformation there were foolish virgins who got saved but were scared to publicly oppose the Roman Catholic church.

LUKE 22:57   And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.

When John Wesley introduced holiness there were many saved Christians who did not think it was necessary to give up worldly ways and dress.

LUKE 22:58   And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.

In the seventh age many saved Christians ignored the Pentecostal gifts.

Then the Pentecostals ignored the revelation of the Bible mysteries by brother Branham in America.

The foolish virgins were and are the saved Christians who did not feel that it was necessary to take the next step.

LUKE 22:59   And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.

LUKE 22:60   And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.

Three denials and the game is over.

One day, suddenly it will all be over and the foolish virgins will be left behind as they will not have enough time to learn the revealed Bible truths.

LUKE 22:61   And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

Jesus is the Word. The Word never spoke to Peter at this time.

Today it is the same. The King James Bible can no longer reveal the mysteries to the foolish virgins as they are more interested in human opinions. Many message people who follow brother Branham refer to him as being the “Voice of God”. There is no such reference in the New Testament.

These saved Christians are outside the written Word of God.

They feel no urge to be strictly Scriptural so the Bible no longer speaks to them.

LUKE 22:62   And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

This will be the fate of the foolish virgins when they wake up to realize that they are trapped in great Tribulation because their church leader has fooled them.

At the end the true Word is mocked and persecuted

LUKE 22:63   And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him.

The men held Jesus, the Word. Men try to force the Word of God to agree with their ideas.

The Jewish trial of Jesus was a complete farce.

No arrested prisoner may be mocked or hit by those who arrest him.

LUKE 22:64   And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?

This was totally unacceptable behavior.

LUKE 22:65   And many other things blasphemously spake they against him.

They spoke blasphemously to Jesus and nothing was done to punish them.

But when the High Priest thought that Jesus had spoken blasphemously, then the High Priest immediately demanded the death sentence for Jesus. Such bias and favouritism made this trial a farce.

Mistreating Jesus during the night was completely unlawful.

That way they kept Him separated from His disciples and friends. Jesus had nobody to help Him.

LUKE 22:66   And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying,

At first daylight the Jewish Council moved to find Him guilty. They had already pre-judged Him.

LUKE 22:67   Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe:

:68   And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go.

Jesus knew they would give Him a totally unfair trial.

LUKE 22:69   Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.

Jesus bluntly warned them of their future fate.

LUKE 22:70   Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.

:71   And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.

They asked if He was the Son of God. They made the statement.

Then they condemned Jesus for what they had said about Him.

The trial was false from start to finish.

They has decided that He was guilty before the trial even began and they treated Him as a condemned criminal right from the start with their nighttime arrest and brutality.