WATCHFULNESS

TRANSLATION ALERT 95 | CD #1017 Part one, PM, 8/8/84

Amen! Lord bless your hearts. You are feeling good tonight? Well, He is really wonderful! Isn’t He? You know, walking here tonight, I thought to myself—I said—one time, I told the Lord, I said, “Lord, you know.” I said, “Lord, you know I am not cut out to do this.” And then the Lord, as I was thinking that—it is true as anything—He comes back. He said, “But you did pretty good, didn’t you?” You did very well. Not going to any type of seminary or college or anything like that except for trade school—barber college–before I was a minister, I did alright by listening to the Lord. Men, they may have some good viewpoints and so forth, but it must come from the Lord and whatever He gives you will always supersede anything that man can do. That’s what I found out in my ministry. Sometimes, you think way back, you new ones, you don’t know what I mean. For many years, I did not want to preach even after He called me to preach. I ran from the Lord and got deeper in sin; you know the story. I told the Lord I am not like those ministers. They are called in their field and I found out I am still a little different.

Lord, we love you tonight. We thank you Lord that you are among us and you are a REALITY, We feel it here tonight. Beyond anything in this world, nothing is like YOU ARE. We thank you for the healing and miracles you performed in this building and all over the world. [Bro. Frisby shared a miracle testimony. A woman used the prayer cloth and the pain left. Now tonight, Lord, those that are in pain, touch them Lord. Take away the pain out of their back and shoulder. Take away the pain Lord out of their bodies and all the sicknesses; we command them to leave in the Name of the Lord Jesus. [Bro. Frisby made some remarks about Wednesday night service attendance].

You feel happy now? Let’s get to this message. The Lord will really bless you. WATCHFULNESS—you know the other night we talked about faithfulness. Now in the Old Testament, they had watchers and those watchers would watch, so that the enemy couldn’t come in and take them by surprise. So many failures today and oppression from satanic forces, it is because they are not watching with their prayers. The enemy comes in and takes them by surprise. So, in the Old Testament, they had watchers and these watchers would watch so that the enemy couldn’t come in and take them by surprise. So many failures today and oppression from the enemy—it is because they are not watching with their prayers. The enemy comes in and takes them by surprise. So in the Old Testament, they had watchers, but in the spiritual world we have watchers that we talk about in the spirit. You know, in nature they have what we call watchers for others and they are always watching. In our world, the Christian world, you have to have your watchers. It’s all through the bible there.

One of the qualities of the elect bride is WATCHFULNESS. Did you know that the difference between the foolish virgins and even the wise that were asleep was watchfulness? She was not asleep. Did you know that? No, no, no way possible. The watcher see; was watching and expecting with all the heart because of knowing the signs, and the anointing and the Word of God; while the others they all slumbered and slept. There was a delay, and that delay caused the uniting of the church systems to come together during the delay. And then at the appointed time in reality He came, but only the bride was awake. It’s as if He had planned it which He did in providence to be just like that because He had things to do in the tribulation saints and among those who are translated first into heaven. So one of them–faithfulness that we have in the bible here—watchfulness is one of the qualities of the bride.

We find out in the bible Israel is God’s clock watch. Did you know it? And Jerusalem is His minute hand. Watch! Israel is His prophetic clock. You watch! Jerusalem is His minute hand, moving. You see events taking place there like they want to get that old capitol, and put the capital city there and they want it, the main city there. They’ve got it back and that is the minute hand. When they got it back in 1967—the Old Jerusalem—they got it back together and at that time, it was [became] the minute hand. No longer Israel, but the minute hand of God showing that we are in the very moments of the closing of history. That took place in 1967. That generation will not pass until all is fulfilled—Armageddon, tribulation and all.

In Matthew 25 we have what we call watchers, the midnight watches. We just spoke about that. Those that were watching and those that were waiting were the watchers. And the Lord tarried. They slumbered and slept. But the watchers, they didn’t tarry, they didn’t slumber, and they didn’t sleep. They weren’t caught off guard. They were ready and the Lord’s coming was very close. It was their alarm as watchers that activated the wise that got out—that had the oil—and woke them up. The foolish virgins, it was too late for them. See; they didn’t make it at that time. So the watchers that cry, God uses them to preach the gospel and He preaches through them. The midnight cry is saying Christ is coming and we are in the very closing hour. The clock is ticking. We are right at the end of time. And they were expecting Him. All the rest because there was a long expectation there, they didn’t have any patience, so they just went on to sleep.

So we have those kinds of watchers and in those watches of the bible you have the seven church ages—a type of watches. But in reality, in history, there are four great watches of the night where there were three-hour watches through the night. Let me see what Jesus had to say here. Jesus warned that He would come in one of the watches. We know the fourth watch is here—in history—in the seventh church age. We know this, that in the watch—it is at night. Some people have tried to figure it out that He will come between 3 and 6 am in the morning because of the 4^th and last watch and it could be true. We don’t really know. He doesn’t give the exact time.

But besides that—the historical watchings of the four great watches that Jesus gave Himself—the seven church ages are a type of watches. The night watches that we are watching right at the end of the age—that was the bride that was doing the watching. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5: 1. He went down, and he said here [v.5]: We are not of the night, but of the day. We are not of darkness that it should take us [unawares] as those that sleep. But we are children of the day. Amen. And the children of the day are watching. He went on and said that ye are the children of the light and the children of the day. We are not of the night. Therefore, we don’t sleep like the others. But let us watch and let us be sober. He [Paul] just told them I don’t have to write to you about the times and the seasons brethren. You know it would come like a thief in the night [vs. 1 &2]. But we are not children of darkness. We will see it. We will know about these things. So watch, he said, and be sober for it will take place.

Remember, it was the other virgins that slumbered and slept, and went to sleep, but not the midnight cry [criers]. Amen. Then it says in Habakkuk 2: 1. “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower….” Now, he said I will watch and set me upon the high tower. I will get as high as I can spiritually, and I will watch the events of the times and seasons. He got up as high as he could so he could see all that he could. And he said something else, “…and will watch to see what he will say unto me” [because He is going to say something. He is going to reveal something unto me] “and what I shall answer when I am reproved.” He said I will go up high and watch, and if He reproves me, he said, then I will know what to answer Him. Now, there is a reproof in that watching. Some of them in their watching don’t watch right. But he said I will watch and will know how to answer Him when He reproves me. He goes on and says, “Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it (v.2). Put it on these tables here which would be revealed in scrolls and so forth. Let them know what would happen in appointed times at the end of the age. It should surely come through. You wait for it in patience. He will come. There would be a type of slow growth. While they all slumbered and slept, the vision would come to pass. Wait for it, for it should surely take place in the latter times. How many of you believe that? So, he stood upon his watch and he got a message. God gave him the message that he received there.

Jesus said in another place, be ye also ready for in such an hour you think not, I shall come. And He said if the goodman of the house—had watched–he would have known in what hour to watch. We are in the last hour. We are in that minute hand—that second hand is closing us out. If the goodman of the house had known when to watch, the thief would not have overcome him, and overtaken him by surprise. That’s a parable about the coming of the Lord in Matthew 24. He was a goodman, but he wasn’t watching and therefore, he was left (behind). But the church, they know what watch; we are in the last watch. We are in the minute hand and Jerusalem—when you see all the armies compassing roundabout—Israel and all the signs all around there—look up, see? Time is drawing close.

So, it’s ticking away in seconds. The age is closing out, and it is closing out fast. Messages like this will be going out, and the people will be sleeping. Messages strong and powerful, anointed of the Lord going everywhere, warning them, they won’t pay any attention. And all of a sudden, midnight cry, it is over! He translates and it is gone! The bible says it would take them by surprise. It would be unexpected. They will not even realize it’s so close except those who are preordained to hear–for they will hear. And those that listen and those that believe in their hearts in these messages, it won’t take them by surprise. They will understand these things and God will really bless them. I tell you; I wouldn’t want anybody to go through the horrors of the great tribulation. I mean no horror, it is said, in the world’s history would be as severe as Jacob’s trouble as it is called in the bible. Never was a time before and never shall there be a time afterwards.

The thing that the Lord wants us to do is to believe, prepare our hearts and be ready at a moment’s notice because He is going to call quickly. How many of you know that? You know, even right now in the world’s history, it would be a good time for Him to say, come up hither. Did you know how quick that would be if He said that? The signs are almost ending for the church age as far as the bride is concerned. There is a moving and a rushing of the Holy Spirit that would move and do tremendous things for her [the bride]. Behold, she makes herself ready with what He gives in the anointing and prepares her heart with great faith and the Word of God. That’s what is left. The rest of the biblical prophecy, the prophecies that God gives me, sometimes they overlap, and they are for the great tribulation. Those prophecies do not need to be fulfilled for us, for the translation takes place and the church is gone. Those events are for the rest of the world. How many of you realize that? That’s in the bible.

So we find out in the watches through history, the elect watches, and the rest of the world sleeps. It would take—He said, I think its Luke 21: 35 &36, it would take the world like a snare and by surprise. So we find out watching is one of the qualities of the bride. She will know the signs. She will know the seasons and their fulfillment. I believe this; I want to be a WATCHER. Don’t you? Remember in the Old Testament even spiritually speaking, the watchmen—the warning of the watchmen—it says to those that did not watch, the blood would be required upon their hand—if they do not give the warning alarm. [Warning/alarm] has been written through these scriptures and through the prophetic writings of Matthew 24 and Luke 21—all through there are prophecies to be told to the people—and in the book of Revelation and many parts of the bible to warn the people. And the message of the hour that we are living in now is a message of deliverance with the anointing of God and that He is coming soon. He told me HIMSELF. That is the most important message of this hour. How many of you realize that? Exactly right! It goes beyond anything else; anything that you would want to do. The message is: His return and the deliverance of the people.

In your heart—the utmost thing every day that should be in your heart—Jesus can COME today. Amen? Some people say, “When will the Lord come?” Every day–look for Him every day and you’ll run into Him. If you look for Him every day–that He is going to come to you every day, then He will run into you. The bible says this. You know over where I live once in a while you will see quails feeding in the field. I look out once in a while and you see one go up like this and walk out on a limb and it will watch and stay there. You look back later on watching again, you’ll see it go down and another watcher will come up and it will take its place. It will watch for a while and if there is a hawk or somebody coming across the field, you will hear a racket and they are all gone! They take their flight just like that. So, the quails are like unto the midnight cry—the warning. You see, the wolf cometh, let’s get out of here into the heavens—for he cometh down and he knows that his time is short—his wrath across the nations—that’s satan.

Listen to what the bible says. Jeremiah 8: 7. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times [nature knows its appointed time]; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming [the turtle is slow, but it knows its time]. How many of you know that? Amen. They know when their time comes, and they observe their time. That is what this whole sermon is about: observing the signs of the time, observing the reactions of the people and what is taking place. By observing you will know the coming of your time and the closeness of the translation. It’s right upon us. You believe that? Amen. But my people [He said my people—that’s like the foolish virgins that have gone to sleep, and some of them that have gone to sleep]. He said, “but my people know not the judgment of the Lord” (Jeremiah 8: 17). Because it is coming swiftly upon them. They know not the judgments of the Lord. All of nature can observe the times of their coming and going, but my people do not observe the time of the coming and going of the judgment upon the earth. Yet He forewarned in the bible. So, one of the finest qualities besides being faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, faithful to His work—one of the other qualities of the bride is WATCHFULNESS. That would be there. It would be instilled in their hearts. It [the bride] will be a watcher and that person will watch because if you don’t watch then satan as a roaring lion will come and take you over. How many of you believe that? If you watch, the LION of the TRIBE of JUDAH will protect you.

Now, the Holy Spirit when He comes—you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity for we know not what we should pray as we ought, but the Spirit maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8: 26). Now, by the anointing of the Lord in the Holy Spirit, as you receive the Holy Spirit, I can tell you, He is awake to every sign. The Holy Spirit will point to that sign. I will stand upon my watch. I will crawl upon the tower even if He wants to reprove me, I will have an answer. Write the vision. How many of you are with me now? He [the prophet Habakkuk] received it because he went as far as he could go in watching. And if you are filled full of the Holy Spirit and you watch the signs, and you are alert and observe the times of what is happening, the Holy Spirit will keep you awake for the midnight cry. When we are filled full of the Spirit of God, we are the children of light then and there is awakening. I know that people have got to rest their bodies. I am not talking about that kind of sleep. In case some of you use that as an excuse. You sleep too much? Maybe you do. But what I am talking about is spiritual sleeping [sleep].

In each church age, there were watchers and they went to sleep in one of the watches, and that group was sealed away, and the others were shut out. He went and turned to another church group. You see, it’s all in the seven church ages in the book of Revelation. He would come and alert and they would stay awake. Finally, that age would go to sleep, see? But the good ones stayed awake. He sealed them away and the others were shut out—dead. The system went dead. All through the seven church ages, He would seal them away. Now in the age we live in, there is an alerting in that Philadelphian age for some reason. He has chosen it that way. It is evangelistic zeal, power to evangelize, power to deliver, and power to warn the world. There is an open door, that is, to warn the people. See; He chose that. Laodicea apostatizes, running simultaneously with the brethren in Philadelphia in the book of Revelation. And Laodicea, He pulled those out and the Philadelphian age together there. When He does, He’s got the translation group there. And Laodicea just goes to sleep and He just spews them out of His mouth because He has taken out what He is going to take. He takes them out of that age and brings them together, and that is your former and latter rain. Boy! You talk about thunder! The revival is on then. How many of you realize that?

The other people, they will listen to something else. They will be in a place where they can’t wake up. Have you ever gone to sleep—it happened to me when I was young? You go to sleep. You think you are awake, but can’t get up. How many of you have had that experience? I believe God gives that for a reason there. That’s kind of like something is happening and they can’t get to it. They can’t do anything about it. It’s just that the wise were jolted enough. They weren’t quite so far gone. They had the oil. That is the Word of God that is turned into a lamp of fire, that’s inside there. They were able to hear that cry. They weren’t slumbering. They aroused themselves and they went forth quickly. Then they were caught away. You see your wise virgins with that bride—they went on into heaven. Now, in reality, all of the body of Christ is a church, but out of that body He will take certain members. Like Adam–you know that was the body–and out of Adam, the church, He took out Eve out of the body while he slept. But at the end of the age, you have the body of Christ in particular, but out of there would come the bride, and she would be translated. But there is some left we find out in the great tribulation. That is like the body of Christ in another manner there. You have also the 144,000 (Revelation 7) that’s involved in the body of the Lord. So, as we see part of that [body] is going to be taken and it’s gone! The others, later. But who wants to go through such a tribulation!

I tell you, it’s about time. I know this: the real elect will observe those times. Are you awake? That’s God. You see, not only a miracle from the Lord, sure that’s to wake you up really and turn you toward His Word, watching His signs and really preparing your heart. But some just take their healing and forget about all the rest of it. It won’t do them any good later. You’ve got to take all of His Word. And Jesus taught them that men ought always to pray and not to faint. That’s what He said in Luke 18: 1. Watch ye therefore and pray always because He is coming like a snare (Luke 21: 36). Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation that would drag you into a false doctrine, and drag you out in the world. Pray, watch, and if you are a watcher and you are praying, then satan is not going to come and surprise you, and get a hold of you. Watch and pray. Jesus told His disciples, “Can’t you watch for one hour and pray?” They were a type of the sleeping church at the end of the age, you might say. But did you know what? During the time just before the cross, Jesus was awake. But all those that had been [with Him] and watched all of the miracles—you would have thought after they had seen the dead come back to life and after He had created things out of nothing—John said so, much happened you couldn’t even list them. We know only about half of a percent of what He did. But they had witnessed forces and thunder, and He changing in front of them where His whole face was altered and where He looked upon them in a different manner.

You would have thought after creating things that were gone, eyes that were gone—He would touch them, and they would have whole new eyes, fingers—He created whatever they needed. There were other things that He did. It seemed like the more He did, the crazier the Pharisees got against Him. You would have thought that after all that He did and [He] predicted that He would die and be raised again in 3 days. You would have thought that when He had told them to watch and pray—He just asked for an hour. They weren’t prepared. They weren’t prepared like He was. It [the scripture] said that in that hour of the cup of bitterness that He had to take in the human flesh—He said, “Can’t you pray– He tried to wake them up—for one hour? And there is a type, after seeing all those miracles and all the fantastic wonders that He performed, yet they couldn’t pray for one hour with Him. But Jesus, like the bride in the midnight cry—in the night before they came to get Him—like the midnight cry, He was awake. And so will His true elect be awake. That is why they are called the elected; they are up on it. How many of you believe that?

Not to take anything from those disciples. They learned their lesson and it was the hard way. They learned by experience that when they got on their own and He came back in His Name—He came back in fire and power. When He came back to them, we have to hand it to them; they went all out for Him. Didn’t they? It is a proven point. Amen. But they suffered quite a bit because they didn’t use divine wisdom in what He was saying and doing when He was around them every day. It kind of just went over their heads. They could have sat down and discuss that and really ask Him and find out many more things just exactly as He told them. Some of the Gentiles would say, “If I had seen Him raise a man that was dead a few days. If I had seen Him create, I wouldn’t sleep, and go right to sleep.” You go right to sleep in the days we are living in right now, saith the Lord. Oh, how many of you believe that? We’ve seen God do some wonderful miracles and it isn’t long, and people just go right on to sleep. You see them become lukewarm or just leave the Lord completely and go back into the world sometimes. In the hour that we are living in–Jesus is true–part of that church that is supposed to go in, they go to sleep, and they won’t even pray one hour with Him. There is no watcher among the foolish. There was a watcher among the wise. How many of you know that? There were no watchers among the foolish. But there were watchers among the wise, and those wise ones got up. The bible says He translated them.

The foolish, they had no watchers. They couldn’t make it. How many of you can say praise the Lord? They weren’t prepared. If they had had watchers, they could have had what God said they should have to make it out of there. So we find out, watch and pray. Why sleep ye? Arise and pray lest you enter into temptation and fail me on ever hand. That’s the keyword, WATCH! And we find out, we fight the good fight of faith upon our knees, being sober and then watching and praying. Put on the whole armor of God. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. There are just so many scriptures and we have what we call the the seven-fold reward coming. The bible gives us a seven-fold reward–to him that overcometh (Revelation 2 &3). Through all of these and the combat on this earth, and the hostile spirits that come up against us, we have the ministry of angels that are with us (Hebrews 1: 14) as well as the power of the Holy Ghost in Ephesians 1: 13. How many of you believe this? Watch thou in all things (2 Timothy 4: 5). Watch ye, stand fast as you watch in the faith. See Him coming right back with these scriptures here. Don’t stumble in darkness, but watch and be full of the Spirit of God. How many of you believe that tonight? Amen.

So we find out in the bible, the stork in the heavens knoweth their appointed times, the swallows and the cranes know the time of their coming, but my people know not the time of their judgment. I see it this way: it is going to come upon them just like a flash of lightning and the church will be gone in that flash! How many of you are going to be watchers tonight? Are you watching? The Lord wants the sermon preached that way because the church had better watch! Events are going to happen swiftly, and they are going to happen suddenly. We are already seeing world history changing in many parts of the world before our eyes and people can’t put their finger on it. In the Middle East, in Europe, in the USA, in South America—in different ways those things are happening because time is going to be shortened. And I am preparing my heart for a revival. Aren’t you?

I want you to stand to your feet right now. How many of you are glad you came to hear this message tonight? Amen. God bless your hearts. I believe that the Lord will bless you. I believe this: if you listen to the messages, how in the world can you fail Him? Amen. It will tug you right on in. Now, that’s exactly why He sent this ministry. It’s to hold those people right there, to bring those people right up to the advantages to receive—because now with the outpouring—you can ask anything in my Name and I will do it. That is the age we are moving into and it is really miraculous. But most of all, the urgency, with the signs that I see around, it just tells you we are running out of time. Amen. We are on borrowed time. And I tell you, all that we can in our hearts, in prayers; we should do for the Lord. If you need salvation, the bible says today is the day of salvation. With the signs around us, it is closer than you ever believed at all if you need salvation in that audience tonight, you want to receive salvation and He will bless your heart. Amen? What a time! Practically, everybody feels that power, feels the Lord—what He is doing for them today. I think it’s really marvelous. Are you happy tonight?

I think and believe in my heart that the real elect of God are 100% WATCHERS. Do you believe that? Every literature, everything that I send out is to ALERT [you] to WATCH the events as they circulate around, just a few days or months ahead whatever He will allow, and you will see what I am talking about. Are you ready now to reach on out tonight? Alright, are you awake? What you want to worry about is STAY AWAKE. It won’t bother you if you stay awake. Hallelujah! Come down here tonight and just open up your heart now. I have gotten you woken up to where you can receive. I will pray a mass prayer. I am going to ask God to bless you, and that the Lord will reveal the message here tonight even more to your hearts. Because no matter what you preach, at the moment, well, they kind of receive it, but you want to keep it in your heart. You want to be ALERTED at all times.

I don’t think you are here by accident tonight. The Lord brought you. Some might have been wandering way off like “I have got plenty of time” or something else like that. You don’t have plenty of time at all. All the time you’ve got is PREPARE YOURSELF for if the goodman would have known, see? The thief would not have caught him which is Christ in an hour they think not. BE YE ALSO READY! Are you ready now? Let’s go! Thank you Jesus! He is going to bless your hearts now. I love you Jesus. Oh, it’s great! Lord bless you.

95 – WATCHFULNESS