The Bride
I always try to be in the Spirit so I’ll have plenty of time to break down what the Spirit brings out, that you might understand it, because it takes me hours to understand it, and if I get up and just run right through it, then you’re not going to understand it. I’ve spent many years in the Word of the Lord, and many, many hours, sometimes seven to eight hours a day, waiting on God to understand it, and if takes me hours to understand it, I know that if I try to give it to you, then you’re not going to understand it in thirty or forty minutes.
It takes Scripture after Scripture to confirm it, to make sure it is God. The minister has to wait to make sure it is God, to try the spirit, so that when he comes to you, he might come and relate two or three passages of Scripture, or relate to you something that the Spirit told him during the day, but that still won’t be quickened to your spirit. He has to get under that special anointing, and let the gift that God has set in the church begin to speak. That’s why I come after God has talked with me. It takes God’s anointing to bring it out.
God doesn’t get in a hurry. You know that, don’t you? God will stay all night long, and all day tomorrow, and all day the next day, but you won’t do it. Your spirit gets tired and weary. You work all day on a job, and labor at material things, and you’re worn out, like Esau. The Bible says that Esau came in from the field and was faint. His spirit was faint because he’d been laboring in the field. When you speak of laboring in the field, what does that mean? In the Bible, the spiritual revelation of ‘field’ is ‘world’. Esau had been enjoying the things of the world, and when he came around where Jacob was, the one that was waiting for the birthright, he did not have any energy and couldn’t enjoy those things.
That’s the way the people of the world are. They come around where God’s blessings are, and they’ve labored so fervently for the things of the world, and they’ve been so interested in the things of the world that they don’t have any energy in their spirit anymore to labor for the things of God. In so doing, they sell their birthright to their younger brother who is always waiting at the portals of God to find the spiritual revelation of Christ.
That’s what we want. These things in this world will pass away. They’re good while we’ve got them here to use, but they’re all temporal. You can have the finest automobile, but it’ll pass away. You can have the finest home, but it’ll burn up one day. You can have the best wife there is in the world, but one day, she’ll leave you. One day, God will separate you. You can have the best children there are, but someday, you’ll give those children up, for in heaven, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels. And so it is, the thing that we need is the birthright that God wants to give to us. The thing that you and I should labor for is the birthright.
So then, Esau’s spirit was very faint because he had spent all of his time in the field. The thing we need to do is to get out of Egypt and go off somewhere and worship God. Every time the children of Israel decided that they wanted to leave Egypt and the things of the world, to worship God, Pharaoh said, using our terms, “What about getting a new living room suite? You could double up, work a few extra hours, and you could trade your old car in and have a better one.” I’m talking about the Pharaoh of today. It was types, shadows, and allegories in that day. But today, it’s not garlic and onions, but it’s the things that are material goods that are in this world. He’ll bind you tighter and tighter when you start out of Egypt. He doesn’t want you to leave Egypt.
I want to read some Scripture, and see if we can get into what I wanted to or not. It’ll be up to the Lord as to whether He’ll let us do that or not. It depends on the drawing of the Spirit. The woman who touched the hem of Jesus drew the virtue out of the body of Christ, and she was a type of the church. The Bible says that if anything has any virtue, think on these. A lot of us don’t have any virtue because we don’t think on the right things. We should think on things with virtue. It’s virtue that heals people. The woman needed healing, and she drew the virtue.
The Bible tells us that if we make straight paths for ourselves, the lame wouldn’t be turned aside, but let it rather be healed. Why? Because we will have become virtuous, and we’d pray for people, and people would get healed. So the thing we need is virtue, and the only way you can get from of the body of Christ (Paul said, “Whose members you are”) is by faith, and by hungering and thirsting after righteousness. We’ve got to make ourselves available, somebody has to, and then you draw that from that member of the body.
Let’s read from the twenty-first chapter of Revelation, starting at the seventh verse.
Revelation 21:7-10: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things" and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”
Now, I want you to notice this:
Revelation 21:11-12: “Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal" And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.”
Sometime, we talk about the city of God, but tonight, we want to talk about the bride, which is different from that part of it even though it all ties in together. As it has been said, “Jesus, the Word, is just one, big revelation.”
A lot of times, we say, “I got a revelation,” but that isn’t true. What it is, it’s “The Revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave to Jesus,” John said, “to reveal to His servants.” The only revelation we have is the revelation of the revelation. In other words, He earned it" He worked for it" He labored for it that His bride might have the bread of life. He labored among the thorns and among the thistles, just as Adam did, that His spiritual bride might have the bread of life and be able to survive in the time of famine.
The Bible teaches that Adam, in the garden there with Eve, was secure as long as he was in the garden. He was well and healthy, and the bride was well and healthy. But according to the Bible, when the bride began to reject the Word of God, then God drove the bride out. How many of us know that the woman is responsible for the sin that is in the world? Did you know the Bible says that the man was not found in the transgression, but the woman? Being found in the transgression, she shall be saved in child bearing.
Now you might ask, “Brother Pike, why is it the man didn’t sin just like the woman?” Well, the reason is because the man is a type of the Lord Jesus, and you know that it was the bride that sinned and not Jesus. So then, Adam could not have sinned, because he was likened unto Christ, who was called the second Adam. While they were in the garden, according to the Bible, everything was well with them, and God gave him His plan, and gave him His blessings, and told him to multiply and replenish the earth. But according to the Bible, Adam, even though he was willing to obey God, yet he followed Eve, who was his bride, because he loved her so much. He was willing to leave the presence of God and the beauty of the garden to follow Eve.
Jesus was willing to leave the things of heaven, and willing to come down from the garden of glory, to walk in this world with you and I, that He might redeem the bride" not willing to stay in glory, and enjoy the presence of the great things of God while the bride was shut out, but He loved her so much, He wanted to share His blessings with the bride. Isn’t that wonderful? He loved her so much. If men would love their wives like that, they’d never lose her. He loved so much that He was willing to give up glory, and come down for a season, and find that bride, adorn that bride with a wedding garment, and take her back into the glory world. That’s a wonderful thought if you can get the picture of it.
The Bible says the Word of God came unto Adam, and the Word of God came unto Eve. The Bible says that God spoke to them, and told them just as He’s told us today: “The just shall live by faith,” and if they’d walk upright before Him, they could stay in the garden. They could have the blessings of God.
We find in the Old Testament, that He speaks of Satan. Satan was also among those that were in the garden. The Old Testament speaks of God looking at Satan and saying, “You have walked up and down among the stones of fire. You’ve seen the beauty of them. But because you lifted up yourself, you shall be cast down to hell.” Do you know tonight that we are the stones of fire? There’s only one kind of stone in this world that has fire in it, and that’s a jewel. The Bible says that God will remember you when He comes to make up His jewels. When John looked and saw the beautiful city coming down from out of heaven, he said, “Behold, it’s the bride, and it was beautiful jewels. It’s walls were great and beautiful jewels. It had fire within them.” God said to Satan, “Thou wast in the garden" you walked up and down among those stones of fire. You saw the beauty of them. You were a great and beautiful tree, but you lifted yourself up above the trees in the garden. I shall cast thee down to hell.”
Satan was in that garden. Did you know that in the book of Job, when the sons of God came to present themselves before God, the Bible says that Satan came also? John said, “Now, beloved, are ye the sons of God.” We are here, right now, presenting ourselves before God. Did you know that Satan is here tonight, too? He has to come and give an account, too. As these sons of God came before God and say, “Lord, deal with me and teach me,” Satan comes, also. He’s walking up and down among the stones of fire. He sees the beauty and the splendor of them. But, he was cut off from that world. He can never get back into that garden because he betrayed Christ. He betrayed mankind. He betrayed everything that was good, and turned to those things that tend to bring corruption.
The Bible says that God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden. We see the picture as we search for the mind of Christ. We can see the picture as Eve is driven out of the garden. Why? Because she listened to what the serpent had to say. The devil, working through that beast, and according to the Bible, the spiritual power came through that beast, then it went through that beast to get to woman. It went through woman to get to man, and the closest it could get to God was in man.
A woman doesn’t portray the bride of Christ, but it takes a man, because man is made for God, but woman is made for man. Woman is man’s bride, but man is God’s bride. God created man for His bride, and He created woman for man’s bride. That’s according to the Bible.
The Bible teaches that Eve was driven out as the bride of Adam, and Adam followed her. As he went out into the world, what did he have to do? He had to labor by the sweat of his brow, to bring forth bread, that he might sustain that bride and those children that she had brought forth. When God got ready to give Adam that bride, what did He do? He laid Adam down, He performed an operation on his side. He reached into the side of Adam, and He came out of the side of Adam with a beautiful bride that was called Eve. But for that bride to come out, He had to put Adam, that body, to sleep. That body of Adam had to go through those hours of darkness that He might be able to bring forth a bride.
So, according to the Bible, when the Lord Jesus came into the world, He came as the Son of Almighty God, to bring forth the bride, as the second Adam, when He hung there on the cross. They put that cut in His side, and the blood and the water came out for the covering of your sins and for the baptism unto His death. We see the bride being born from out of the side of Jesus, coming out of the cleft of the rock. He said to Moses, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock.”
And so it is, the Rock, Christ Jesus, was cut in His side, and it was said to the bride, “I’ll hide you in the cleft of the rock while the glory of God passes by,” and you can see the beauty of Almighty God. According to the Bible, there came the Spirit, the water, the blood, and the church was born. A bride was born. But just as Adam had to lay there and go through the hours of darkness, so it was with Jesus. The dark night of death began to come over Him. God performed the operation. He went down into the heart of the earth, and He laid there three days. Why? He was going through those dark, dismal hours of the operation so that the bride might be born.
God made a world, and out of that world, He reached in and got the Jew nation and He said, “Thou art Mine.” Then, He reached into that Jew nation and He got Jesus, and He said, “Thou art Mine.” Then, He reached into the body of Christ, and He came out with the Spirit of Christ, and He said, “Thou art Mine.” Can you see that? He took the Jews from the Gentile world, and He made them a special people. He took Jesus out of the Jews, and He made Him a special person. He took that Spirit out of the body of Jesus, to place it in your heart and my heart that we might be the bride of Christ, even though it’s a different picture when you get it in spiritual allegories. Coming from out of the world comes the Jew nation. Coming from out of the Jew comes Jesus Christ. Coming out of Jesus Christ comes children.
Now look at Noah. God reached in and got Noah out of a world of people, and then He reached in Noah and got Abraham, and then He reached in Abraham and got Isaac, and He reached in Isaac and got Jacob and Esau, and He started two nations with them.
And so it was with Jesus. He reached into the world and got that Jew nation. He reached in there and got Jesus. He reached in there and got the Spirit, and when He came out, what did He have? He had a natural Jew nation and a spiritual Jew nation.
Who was Isaac? He was the son of the promise. But remember, the Bible says that Abraham had two brides. He had Hagar, who was the bondwoman, and he had Sarah, who was the free woman. According the Bible, Hagar brought forth a son who was called Ishmael, but he wasn’t a son of promise. But when Sarah brought forth her son, the Bible says she brought forth Isaac, who was the seed or the son of the promise.
According to the Bible, after Isaac came along, Jacob and Esau were born, and out of Jacob there came forth twelve tribes that spread over all the earth. But what did Esau do? The Bible says that when Esau came forth, instead of going to his father’s kindred and taking a bride, he went and took a bride from that son of Abraham that was by the bondwoman, and he joined hands with them, and he created a nation of Ishmaelites. And the battle today is between the Ishmaelites and the Jews. It’s still the same. Both claim that the Holy Land belongs to them, and Abraham was their father. They are having war in the Holy Land. The Ishmaelites say that Abraham was their father, and the Canaan land is ours. But the promise was unto the son of faith.
Notice this now, that Hagar was the bondwoman. Not only was she a type of Jerusalem that is in bondage with the seed unto laws and traditions, but the real allegory is that she was a type of this world with her children unto bondage to sin and corruption. Hagar was a type of one of God’s brides, for God created the world just like He created heaven. But Sarah was the mother of us all, the Bible says, for she was a type of heaven with her children of liberty, and the children of the Spirit, and the children of freedom. And then, the Bible says that Esau went out, and instead of marrying into that heavenly bride, he went back out into the world and took that daughter of Ishmael. He went and took that daughter of Ishmael instead of going into the land of his kindred and getting a bride.
The world: Hagar. Sarah: heaven. Sarah with her free children. The world with her children of bondage.
Jacob went down into the land of Laban and got Rachel. He got a heavenly bride, a type and shadow of a heavenly bride. Then the Bible says that Esau, instead of doing that, went over to the son of Abraham, which was Ishmael, born of the world, the worldly people and got his bride.
Can you get the picture? As Jesus hung there on the cross, He brought forth two nations, just like Isaac did. Isaac was a type of Christ. Jesus brought forth a spiritual nation, a spiritual Jew, and He brought forth a natural nation, which was a natural Jew. And what happened? The spiritual nation went right on, and according to the Bible, there were twelve apostles that sprang up, and twelve tribes sprang up from the twelve apostles to fill all the world, making up that spiritual nation. Just like it sprang out from Jacob. Twelve tribes making up the natural nation. What happened to that natural nation? They went right straight on through into the Canaan land. What happened to the spiritual nation? They are going through into the Canaan land. But what happened to the natural Jew? He went right back out and married who the daughter of the son of Ishmael. He married into the world. He got back into the world out there.
That’s what the natural Jew has done today. But that spiritual Jew didn’t do that. That spiritual Jew, like Jacob, wants the birthright. He thought, “If I have the birthright, I’ll have the inheritance of my father. One day, he’s going to give me all the inheritance.” But the natural Jew was like Esau. Esau thought, “I’ll go back out there in the world. I remember that the world belongs to God, and I remember that the world was His bride, like Hagar was, and I remember that there’s good things out there in the world, and I’ll go back out there into the world.” So Esau went back to that place that was worldly, to that woman that was worldly, and took that daughter of that son that was called Ishmael and ended up in bondage. And so it is with the people of this world today. They’re out there in bondage.
Let’s go a little further and see if we can see it in spiritual terms. According to the Bible, once the whole world was Catholic. The Roman powers dominated the world. What did God do? He looked down from out of heaven, and He saw that everything was Catholic. He reached into the Catholic Church and came out with a Protestant. He reached into the Protestant and came out with a Pentecostal. And then, He reached into the Pentecostal and came out with the elect.
Then the elect began to bring forth two nations, just like Jesus did, just like Isaac did, and just like Eve did in the garden. Eve brought forth two nations. She brought forth the nation of Cain, which was corrupt, and she brought forth the nation of Seth, which replaced the seed of Abel, which was a holy and a righteous nation. And, so it is with the elect. They are the bride. Jesus was the bride of the heavenly Father. Isaac was symbolic of the bride. The elect is the bride. Out of the seed or teaching of that elect, there are two kinds of nations that came forth. Did you know that a good person is born in the church, and also a bad person? You can look around, and you find bad people that profess Christianity, just like you can find good ones. One day, the whole world will belong to the church.
Daniel said that there were four powers striving over the waters. The Bible says that he looked, and out of the waters, he began to see some beasts rise up on the surface of the earth. He said he looked, and saw the great body of waters, and four winds were striving over the waters. The winds were coming together. The east wind, the north wind, the west wind, and the south wind. They began to strive with each other, wrestle with each other. Four powers wrestling over the water. The Bible tells us that waters are a symbol of people" it’s a symbol of nations. We find out that wind is a symbol of power.
God portrayed men as beasts. Why? Because they are of the beast. Their origin was of the beast. They carry the beast nature. They do those things that’s like unto the beast. I’ve made the statement in preaching the message on the mark of the beast: look at them around you. When you see sports teams. What do they name them? What do they name the clubs that they have, like the Elks Club, the Moose Lodge and the Lions Club? The beast nature. They will sit around the television, drink in the lust, and act like a bunch of beasts. When they go to eat, they have no control over their appetites. They act like a bunch of beasts. What is it? It’s the beast nature.
I remember that I was talking with God one time, and I asked Him, “Lord, why is it that these people insist that they came from a beast? I don’t understand that.” God answered back and said, “Because they did.” I asked, “Why do I insist that I didn’t come from a beast?” He said, “Because you’re a son of God.” Amen! We came from God, but they came from the beast, and they act like it!
Daniel saw those beasts out there, and he began to see those ruling powers. I asked God, “What were those powers?” And this is the answer, and I believe it’s right. There is a power of Christianity that I believe is one of the winds that was wrestling over the waters, trying to get control of the people of the world. Do you believe that Christianity is trying to get control of the people of the world? Do you believe the Spirit of Christ is trying to get control of the people of the world today?
I believe that another power is Catholicism. Do you believe Catholicism is trying to do it? I believe it is. I believe one of the powers was Communism. Do you believe Communism is trying to do it? I believe it is. I believe the last power is Capitalism, and Capitalism is trying to do it, too. I believe each of these four powers – and you’ll notice that each one of them starts with a ‘C’ - Communism, Catholicism, Christianity, and Capitalism – is trying to dominate the world. Christianity wants control of it. Communism wants control of it. Catholicism wants control of it. America, as Capitalism, wants control of it. They’re wrestling over the waters.
But, I thank God that we are free from those things. We are free from those powers. We are free, because we are the bride of Christ. Though we may be among the waters that the powers are wrestling over, yet we are the bride of Christ, and we are not entangled in the things of this world.
So then, the whole world will be religious. Of those powers that are wrestling over the waters, that one power of Catholicism, someday, is going to get control. It’s going to dominate the earth, and you know what’s going to happen when it does? God’s going to let the powers of Satan work through that beast. That Catholic Church is that beast. That is the beast in the garden in allegories, that the demon powers come through to get to the bride. Just as that satanic power came through the beast to get to Eve, to corrupt Eve, so does Satan seek to come through that Catholic Church and get to the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what they’ve been trying to do.
We know that the Jesus Name people are the bride of Christ. There’s no true bride that won’t take the name of her husband. We know that the Jesus Name people are the true bride. But what does the bride have to do? The bride labors, and the bride travails, and she brings forth the children. Then the beast comes in, and what happens? We get doctrines, and dogmas, and disciplines, that mix into the true church where the bride is. What do we come out with? We come out with Assemblies of God, the Church of God, the Baptists, the Methodists. You say, “But Brother Pike, all those people are going to heaven.” I don’t believe that. God said that in Isaac shall the seed be called.
You might ask, “Weren’t the Jews cut off? Weren’t they cast into outer darkness? That was one nation. What happened to the other nation?” They went right on into the teachings of the twelve apostles, and set up a Jesus Name church. When the bride really got herself set up, what happened? The Roman powers came in, and just as quick as they could, they killed out the apostles, took over the perfect church, and began to place the corrupt seed within her, and what happened? Instead of one kind of children coming forth, just Jesus Name, we began to get Baptists and Methodists and Presbyterians, along with Jesus Name people. It began to bring forth the corrupt seed of Cain. It began to bring forth the seed that wouldn’t walk with the Word of God.
Every child that is born of his father’s seed is like his father. A tree produces after its kind. Everybody that’s born of the Word of God has the nature of this Word of God. This is God’s seed right here, this Bible. If I’m born of the Word, born of God’s seed, I’ll do just exactly like the nature, which this Word, says to do. I’ll live right, and I’ll have the fruits of the Spirit. I’ll walk right. I’ll talk right. I’ll be right everywhere you see me. Why? I’m born of the seed.
So then, God reached into that Catholic Church after she had corrupted everything. Right here, in the end time, He reached in there and got a church out of there called Protestantism. But He wasn’t satisfied. He reached back in there and got something out called Pentecost. And when the Pentecost came out, they began to get the same idea as the others, so He just reached in and got the elect out of it, which is the bride. That’s the Jesus Name people. He reached in there and got them, and she’s bringing forth children. When Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. She’s bringing forth some children.
When Jacob and Esau were born into the world, Esau went one way" he went out into the worldly things. Jacob went right straight into the promised land. When Jesus gave forth His children, we find that the Jews went right into the world, but the church, the true Christian, was filled with His Spirit and filled with His nature, and they went right into the promised land, which was the infilling of the Holy Ghost, their spirit being raptured up into the heavenly places.
Remember, your body is composed of flesh, and it’s composed of blood, and it’s composed of spirit. Those are the three major things, and your words are a production of your spirit, which amounts to being your children. Your flesh is an allegory of the Father, while your blood is an allegory of the Son, the atonement, and your spirit is an allegory of the Holy Ghost. The words that you speak bring forth somebody as a child unto you. You make a disciple according to your words, according to your speaking. That’s spiritually speaking.
So then, the elect’s job is to bring forth children. What did Isaac and Rebekah do? They brought forth children. What did Jesus do? He travailed and brought forth children. What does the real elect of God do? They travail and bring forth children. They bring forth Baptists" they bring forth Methodists" they bring forth Presbyterians. Have you ever noticed, that in the same family, sometimes a sick child is born, or an afflicted child? Sometimes it’s a demon possessed child. Have you ever noticed that? The mother might be good, but it comes forth anyway. The Bible says, “I am the God that visits the iniquities of the fathers down upon the children to the third and fourth generation.” It’s the iniquity of the fathers that causes that to come out in the elect seed. It isn’t that the elect is bad, or that God hasn’t purified the bride. But all of it comes out of the same womb. The devil, working through the beast, the Catholic Church, places its seed in the true church. It places its seed in there, and they come up with dogmas, ideas, opinions, and theology, and people that go to seminary to try to preach the Word of God.
The fivefold ministry of apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors is the head to that body until Jesus comes. They act as the head. The ministry acts as Jesus Christ Himself, for the perfecting of the saints. There’s a fivefold ministry, which is the five senses, and the five senses are centered right around the head, showing that fivefold ministry is the head to that body until the Lord Jesus Christ appears in His fullness. That’s the head.
So then, Christ, through the fivefold ministry, places His seed in the church by the teachings, just like I am doing. The Bible says, “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” He’s placing the seed there, trying to bring forth a church to Jesus Name and perfection, or a people that are called by His name, so that He can bring healing and so forth to them. Then, out in the world, the devil is working though the Catholic Church and the Catholic doctrine to bring forth a corrupt child.
Back in the Old Testament, the Ishmaelites and the Edomites and the others gave Israel trouble. They caused Jacob trouble and his people trouble all the way to the Canaan land. Didn’t they? Jacob’s seed had to go down into Egypt. It had to go through the wilderness. But it got to the Canaan land. And so it is today. The true seed of the elect that comes forth from the fivefold ministry goes down into Egypt for a time. But, they are coming into the promises of God as sure as I stand behind this sacred desk tonight. They are coming into the Canaan land of God. That’s where they are headed. They’re coming to all of those promises that are in this Bible to be made effect in the body. We are close to the coming of Jesus.
When the Lord Jesus hung on the cross, what did God do? He separated that Spirit from the body. He took the body and laid it down in the earth. The separation of Jew and Gentile. The separation of spirit and body. The separation of Protestant and Catholic. The separation of God’s Spirit from Jesus’ body. It showed the death. It showed the separation of heaven and earth. It showed the death of those that were in the earth. It showed that they had been cut off from life, just like Jesus’ body was, and laid in the grave.
Did He leave it like that? No! There was a time when somebody began to pray and say, “O God, Thy will be done on earth as in heaven.” What did God do? According to the Bible, when that prayer came forth, He sent the kingdom of God down into the earth. He joined that body of Jesus back with that Spirit of life. He joined earth back with heaven. He joined your body back with that spirit that He had taken out of you and had translated into the kingdom of God.
What did it mean when that body was separated from that Spirit as He hung there on the cross? The Bible says that the veil of the temple was rent in two, or twain. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” It was rent in twain. God took that body because the body was dead. He took that body into heaven, and He set it on His right hand. But what did He do with the Spirit of that body? It went into the heart of the earth, to preach to my soul that was in prison. My soul was in prison ever since I had fallen from the garden. He took my soul out of prison and put it into the kingdom of God by putting the kingdom of God within me.
Now, we have His Spirit in us. The body is in heaven somewhere. It’s setting there because God raised it up. Why did He take the Spirit out of Jesus’ body? Because He wanted to live in that body. What is the Holy Ghost? It’s God’s Spirit and Jesus’ Spirit combined. That’s what the Holy Ghost is. Jesus is the Son. God, the Spirit, is the Father. But, when you get Jesus’ Spirit together with God’s Spirit, you’ve got the Holy Ghost. Amen! You’ve got the Spirit of truth. That’s what we have now. We are filled with that Spirit.
We are the bride of God. Remember, Jacob wanted the birthright. Esau’s spirit was faint. Why? Because he had chosen to go with the world. But Jacob’s spirit was not faint. He had set right there, close to the pottage all the time. He was strong, ready to fight the battle of faith. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
John was caught up in the Spirit and heard the angel say, “I will shew thee the bride.” He’s saying to you and I, “Come up in the Spirit. I want to show you My bride.” Can you see His bride? Are you in the Spirit enough to see His bride? Oh, she’s a beautiful thing. There’s nothing like her. “Come up hither, John. I will shew thee the bride.”
The Lord took the Spirit out of the body of Jesus, and the body died. The Bible says that the body without the spirit is dead. He separated the Jew from the Gentile (the Jew was a type of the body), and the Jew died without the spirit (which was the spiritual Jew). He separated heaven from earth, and the earth died without the Spirit of God. He separated your spirit from your body by translating your spirit into the kingdom of God, and your body died by being buried in baptism with Jesus Christ, the resurrection. Everything is dead without God’s life.
When the night comes and the sun withdraws, everything goes to sleep. The great light shall rule the day and the lesser light will rule the night. God is the great light unto which no man can approach. When the night came, everything went to sleep. Why? Death set in. That’s what night is an allegory of. What was left? There were wandering stars left that had no life, and there was the moon, which is only a reflector of the heavenly light, which is a type of the church to give light, for you are the light of the world. There were two stars which were called little suns that had their own light. They have their own light.
The devil is after the church. Why? Because as long as he’s got the bride perverted, and as long as he’s got the bride away from the heavenly Father, then Jesus cannot come back into this world, and the devil can live eternally. But if the bride ever slips away, and God raptures her up into the Spirit, as He is doing right now – two in the field (the world), one taken (raptured up in the Holy Ghost, Jesus said, “I’ve taken you out of the world”), the other left – then if He can slip the bride away, then the devil is in trouble because God will burn him with fire. The devil is after the church, and the world is after the moon. The one who gets the moon will conquer the world. The one who gets the church will control the world. If the Catholics can ever get all the people into the church, they’ll control the world. They can start war. They can stop war. They will have a voice of power. All they’ll have to do is speak one thing and the whole world will obey it.
The moon is a type of the church, and in natural allegories, it shows that Satan is reaching through the Catholic Church after the true church.
By Rev. George Leon Pike Sr.
Founder and first President of Jesus Christ’s Eternal Kingdom of Abundant Life, Inc.
Holiness Unto The Lord