Ewald Frank

1985-04-24 19:30, Krefeld, Germany 

broadcasted on 2024-12-28

Subject: “The New Jerusalem is the dwelling place of the bride!”

Praise and thanks be to the Lord. We can sing this from our hearts and believe that grace has been bestowed upon us. Otherwise we would not be here tonight.

You all have it good, you can always sit and listen and let yourselves be showered with God's blessing and we have to come to the front and serve. The word "serve" also has its meaning. We are not here at the front to rule or reprimand. We are here to serve, to help each other, to strengthen, to comfort, to give new courage. We all need that at this time. Anyone who does not admit this is not being honest with themselves.

We have heard such a wonderful word and we are overwhelmed every time anew to see in what a way God, through the prophets, through the psalmists, through the men of God, has already predicted the whole plan of salvation in the Old Testament right up to the time when the Lord will come and set up His throne and reign as King.

That is still ahead of us, but it will happen, as surely as God has said.

Perhaps it says in Zechariah 9… No, it's in Zechariah 14, verse 9:

And the Lord shall be King over all the earth, and His name one.

That time is coming and it is no longer far away. We may call out to one another with all truthfulness what the Lord has said to us:

When you see all these things coming to pass, then lift up your heads, for you know that your redemption is drawing near.

And we are grateful to God that we can recognize by the signs of the times that the time is near.

Yes, here in Zechariah 14, 9 it says:

And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.

In that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

But you also have to read verse 4:

"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split," and so forth.

And then the last part of verse 5, "Then the Lord, my God, will come and all the saints with thee."

The men of God have seen this.

They have seen it. They have prophesied. They have been moved by the Spirit of God. They have spoken and written it down.

On that day He will step on the Mount of Olives with His feet. Then He will not come as the Son of Man. He will come as the Lord God.

Then the Lord, my God, shall come and all the saints with Him.

I could confuse you a bit now, but I don't want to, because that's not what we are here for.

But if I may read one verse, I just hope you understand it, because we can't go into it doctrinally.

Matthew 25, 31:

When the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, 

and before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.

Whether we read Son of Man, whether we read King, whether we read Lord or God, who is it?

I can read straight on. First in verse 31 it says "Son of Man," and in verse 34 it says:

"Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Everything will be fulfilled in due time, the return of the Lord, the resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ, our transformation and our rapture together. Everything will take place according to plan. We can believe this because it is before us and because God has promised it to us in His word.

What about our personal faith that He will also reach the goal with us, that He will fully prepare us by grace and that we can go to meet Him as an adorned bride?

When it comes to general faith, then we are all involved. However, general faith is not enough, but the very personal faith for you and for me. Believe that you, that I, that we have been personally included in this great program of God.

Who can believe that?

Amen.

Who can believe it? That you yourself, really without effort, that you know in your heart, I also belong to it. I too am one whom the grace has found.

I have said it often enough.

God does not reveal His word and His will to us in order to awaken hope in us and then leave us standing there with a long nose.

Never ever. The truthfulness of God is absolute and certain.

God has awakened a justified hope in us, has placed it within us. "We have not followed cunningly devised fables," [2Pt 1:16] but the proclamation of the word.

And by grace we have been allowed to remain within the bounds of this Word.

And this is, as we have looked at on Sunday morning, I can't forget it, when John said and wrote, "The truth that is in us will abide in us forever."

Not abide today and not tomorrow, but for eternity. What God does is done for eternity.

Here in Psalm 96 we notice that we are told, "Sing to the Lord a new song."

Who can sing a new song to the Lord?

Firstly, whoever has received new life, whoever has had a new experience with God.

A brother dared to build the bridge to the book of Acts 2, where people were given new tongues to speak out the new things God had done, "as the Spirit gave them utterance." [Acts 2:4]

God has done it. He can do it again, for He is "the same yesterday, today and forever."

Sing unto the Lord a new song.

We have the promise, "I will give you a new heart, a new life, a new certain spirit. I will put a new song in your mouth." [Ez 36:26]

God has promised all this.

We are here to believe Him. We are here to receive what He has already given us.

He will not give it to us first, but has already given it to us.

Sing unto the Lord, all the earth.

Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.

Sometimes difficult, but let's put our hand on our heart.

Will God turn His salvation into a curse? Will God take it away, give it and take it away?

Never ever. We can proclaim the salvation of our God that has happened to us every day.

And just as He said then, "Today salvation has come to this house." [Lk 19:9]

And the prophet Isaiah writes, "All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." [Isa 52:10]

Yes, why not? God has promised it. He will do it.

If we read a few verses from Psalm 94, the same man of God also cried out to the Lord in deep distress and says in verse 17:

Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

When I said, 'My foot slippeth,' thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.

Isn't that marvellous? As often as I thought, "My foot will slip, it will stagger, it will no longer work," "your mercy, O Lord, held me up."

You have not supported yourself and I have not supported you either, the grace of our God surrounds us, carries us, supports us, sustains us.

Then it says in verse 19, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me," 

I am always so glad that these people were honest and that they dealt with the truthfulness of God and that they expressed what moved them, so that we too, who are in the same body, have to go through the same situations, that we have not been left without comfort.

(19) In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.

You know how it is. There are times in life when human consolation is no longer of any use.

But when we become silent before the Lord and think of what he has done for us and many others, what a grace and what salvation has befallen us, then we must say, "Lord, you support me, you carry me, your grace surrounds me, my foot will not slip." Even with a multitude of sorrows within us.

Sometimes we think we can go no further. How often have we said, "I can't take it anymore."

And when we look back, how much more we have been burdened with. When we kept saying, "Lord, that's enough. I certainly can't take it anymore." And there was always more.

And who can foresee the end? Only the Lord.

But He said, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." [Mt 28:20]

And it was also He who tells us, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." [1Pt 5:7]

I know. It's easier read and said than done.

But in faith, truly in faith, and looking up to God, we can become completely silent and say: "Lord, I bring you my life, my needs, my worries, all that I am. Here you have me. Make of me, for I can do no more. Make of me what pleases you."

And He certainly will.

Maybe not when you think, but when His time has come, He definitely will.

[Ps 96:3]:

"declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people."

Yes, the hour is coming when God will glorify Himself on Israel and show His power before all the nations, as it is written in the Prophet Ezekiel 38 and other passages of the Holy Scriptures.

And they will know that the Lord is God.

In verse 4 we read: [Ps 96:4]

For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods.

We need not fear them at all, for elsewhere the psalmist or a prophet says: [Ps 115:5-6] 

They have a mouth and cannot speak. They have eyes and cannot see.

They have ears and cannot hear and have feet and cannot walk.

They are man-made and they have no significance.

The Lord has created us, has put the breath of life into us, and not only that we live on earth, He has also put spiritual, divine life into us, has placed us on our feet, on the feet of faith.

And we may, as the men of God in the Old Testament, be full of confidence in the new and trust the Lord completely.

Verse 7 says [Ps 96:7]:

Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength; 

give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name.

What a marvellous word!

We can already now glorify His name and have read and referred to the word here often enough.

All the world will bow down to Him whom it has despised and scorned.

Every tongue will confess that He is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [Phil 2:11]

[Ps 96:8-10]:

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Bring an offering and come into His courts.

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

And then comes the glorious announcement.

Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth.

Then the time has come. Then the proclamation will go forth, and all nations will come to pay homage to the Lord of hosts.

Yes, "the kings will bring their splendor and glory" into the city of Jerusalem. It will all happen, because God has said so in His word.

May we take new courage, new hope, new faith, and thank the Lord for it.

It continues [Ps 96:10]:

The Lord reigneth. The world also shall be established, that it shall not be moved. He shall judge the people righteously.

We looked at this recently.

It is not the last judgment that is meant here, but a judgment between the nations, and that will be before the millennium.

Did we read the word from Isaiah 2 then? I think so. We have looked at it here. Isaiah chapter 2 is in connection with the word proclaimed here by the psalmist.

He shall judge the people righteously.

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad.

Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof.

Isaiah 2 verse 2 says:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

O, what a glorious day that will be! But before that day comes, the glorious morning will come. Before the day comes the morning, with the morning the day dawns. "Glorious morning, when Jesus comes, hallelujah," as the song goes.

O, then we will leave, excuse the word, no, I'd rather don't say it, this earth, and then go to the Lord.

And when we come back, it will already be tidy. Then the devil will be no more, and "the lion and the lamb will feed together." Then there will be peace for a thousand years.

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks.

Today everything is still in preparation, but then in that day, and mark the word, "in the last days it shall come to pass."

If we want to be very clear, we can say:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it, and many peoples will flock to it, and one will say to the other, Come, let us go together to the house of the Lord, to the mountain of our God.

And we will watch it all from the new Jerusalem.

The bride will not be in the old Jerusalem, into which the kings will bring their glory. The bride will be in the new Jerusalem, because that is the dwelling place of the bride forever.

This is the reason why the bride will be taken into the new Jerusalem, for even the heavens will roll together, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

But the new Jerusalem no longer needs to be renewed. The devil has not entered it and will never be able to enter it. That is the dwelling place of the bride.

He was in heaven, he rebelled there, he made the great rebellion, and therefore heaven is unclean and must be remade.

But the old Satan will never enter the new Jerusalem. We can rely on that. The bridegroom has reserved it for the bride.

It may be a word of the 20th century, but it's still true.

The bridegroom has reserved this for his beloved bride.

And you can read about this in Revelation chapter 21.

There it speaks about this new Jerusalem.

And it says, I hope, yes, here it is, Revelation 21, verse 10, yes, maybe the last part of verse 9:

Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.

You can read verse 2:

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband.

That is our home. That is where we will be with the bridegroom of our souls.

But here, to the old Jerusalem, the people of Israel and all who are left of all nations will come together. Then they will plant their vineyards again and whoever does so will enjoy the fruit.

Not one will plant it and the other will take it away. No, then there will be peace. You can read about it in Isaiah 65.

But coming back here to this Word, then "the Lord will judge among the nations." [Jes. 2:4]

He will judge.

And then the swords will be forged into plowshares and the spears into pruninghooks.

Everything fits together so wonderfully, so harmoniously that we can only make one request in faith: Lord, make us ready to share in it all.

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.

We should really make every effort not only to be believers but to be there when the Lord returns to take His own home.

And He will also do for all of us, by grace, what is necessary for us to enter into His joy.

You can still, if you want, read the same word in Micah. It is almost as if it were copied from the prophet Isaiah. Here it is exactly the same in Micah chapter 4:

But in the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains and it shall be exalted above the hills.

It almost seems as if Micah has copied from the prophet Isaiah.

No, that is not necessary.

The prophets lived at different times, but they served the same God, had the same inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, shared in the same word that was given to them, and "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." [2Cor 13:1]

God did not just speak once about everything that was decided in His plan of salvation, He spoke about it several times, bore witness to it, and then said to His people, "Ye are My witnesses, and I am your God." [Isa 43:10]

It continues in the last part of verse 1:

Exalted above the hills, and people shall flow unto it, 

and many nations shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.

Well, perhaps you can also read verse 3, but we realize why they are going there, to be taught by God.

Why do we gather?

To be taught by God, to be blessed by God, to know His Word, to get to know His will, to say, "Lord, here we are, teach us, show us the way we should go."

Instruction will come from the Lord, not only then, but already now to us.

Verse 3, "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares," and so on.

Yes, God has said it. It even says here, let me also read verse, With or without glasses, both go badly, probably verse 4:

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.

Hallelujah, He has promised. What a blessing that will be.

All the people who will still survive and endure and who will have gone through some sufferings right to the end, and the longer the worse – we can be sure that the devil will really turn everything upside down now before the bride is raptured among the people of God, and then before the millennium starts, he will turn everything upside down, but then he, then he will be cast down.

I don't want to say anything blasphemous, as we find it in the letter of Jude, not even about the enemy. God has also destined him for something, perhaps to test us. It's part of God's plan.

But when he is thrown down, then I will laugh too, for sure.

When the archangel grabs him and throws him down, then I'll be happy too, yes, and will be happy even before that.

Don't always be so serious, like me. But when we read things like this, let's be happy that the end is near.

This stuff and this cramp won't last forever. The Lord will bring us home and pay back the enemy. We'll go up, he'll come down, and then the matter is settled.

You can all read about it in Revelation 12.

By the way, brother Branham also explained it so beautifully in the first seal.

It says here, Revelation 12, verse 7.

And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.

A marvelous thought occurred to me recently: The Lord will not fight with the devil at all. He fought with him on Golgotha.

As the bridegroom, the Lord takes his bride home and says, 'Michael, get up now and meet this enemy.’ And he grabs him and finishes the job with him.

While the Lord, as the bridegroom, enters into glory with the bride, Michael and his angels will deal with the enemy. And it says, "Their place was found in heaven no more." [Rev 12:8]

Now he still has access to accuse us, but the blood speaks for us. And that brings the devil to the point of going mad. But there is nothing he can do about it.

And then it says:

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Praise and thanks, but that's not all. Then he is only on earth. Then he is only on earth. But let me read this, and then we pray.

Verse 10:

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.

Then, when the bride is taken up, and Satan is cast down with all his hosts, and when the wedding feast is over, the Lord will come as king and will establish the kingdom on earth.

The reason is given:

… for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

But then all will be over.

Rejoice, ye heavens!

Where is this written? I always want to read it, or have I already read it? Where is it written?

Verse 12, yes.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

This Word refers specifically to the very short period of time between the rapture and the establishment of the millennium.

That is, without any doubt, that is Amen, brother Gaidatsch. That's Yes and Amen.

And the time will be so short and the devastation so cruel that no one will know where to go.

But then, before the millennium is established, Revelation 20 will be fulfilled.

Revelation 20. And there again it is not the Lord, but someone is commissioned.

I rejoice that the Lord has settled accounts with the devil once and for all, and it's enough for him to send someone to grab him and put him down.

Revelation 20, verse 1:

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 

and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Too bad, but it has to be, so what? But that is the Word of God. When the bride is taken up, then he comes to this earth.

We will be taken from here, he will come down here. But before the millennium starts, he will be taken from here and come down. Then the entrance will be closed.

I have to think of a strange comparison here.

When they put our Lord in and sealed the tomb, he came out, Satan stays down, he stays down, that's the way it belongs.

But as I said, God has a time for everything.

Rejoice, you who dwell in heaven.

Then we too will be in glory. And the joy will be immense.

Here we are so sad, so burdened and weighed down.

We walk along, bowed down and ask ourselves, "My God, how shall it be, how shall it end?"

And then a songwriter sings, "My Jesus is never late."

And we can believe it.

It's not always easy for me either.

I stand before you as someone who has probably gone through everything a person can go through.

But one thing is certain.

"If God is with us, who can be against us," the whole world? [Rm 8:31]

"But he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world." [1J 4:4]

Now he has his being in the children of unbelief, and there are very many believers who have fallen into unbelief.

They believe what fits into their concept, they accept it, everything else is left behind.

Let us believe every word to the end with all our hearts and face every word and agree with God in everything, and you will see that the Lord will be with us.

Say among the heathen, The Lord reigneth.

Proclaim that he has taken his great power, that he has established his kingdom, and all the earth will see that God has realized his purpose, and by grace we may be there.

One hundred percent by grace we may be part of it.

Blessed and praised be the name of the Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray.

Br. Russ:

Heavenly Father, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your powerful word again tonight.

Lord, we know that heaven and earth will pass away, but thy words will remain forever, and what your holy mouth has spoken will be fulfilled, O Lord.

We worship you in this evening hour, and we may rejoice, Lord, that your word is eternal, that it is true. Glory to your wonderful name.

We are already rejoicing today, Lord, even though we have to go through many a tribulation, but we are grateful for your word, Lord, because we know that the day is coming, the hour is coming, Lord, when you will take us to yourself, Lord, and when you will settle accounts on this earth.

Praise be to your wonderful name. Receive the honor, receive the praise and worship from all our hearts and mouths, Lord.

We are your people, Lord, the sheep of your hand.

Glory to your marvelous name.

Amen.

Br. Frank: 

Faithful God, my heart is moved to give you thanks.

You have led your servants and prophets and then the apostles, and in these days, by grace, you let us know your plan of salvation and revealed the details as never before.

We thank you so much for this.

Faithful Lord, strengthen everyone tonight. Comfort us, Lord, that we may continue to trust you, to thank you, to hold fast to your word. Lord, you have already done great things. We thank you for them. You will do the rest. You will prepare your bride as bridegroom. You will adorn her in shining white linen and then take her up into your glory.

We thank you, faithful Savior, and ask you, bless us all, and with us, your entire worshipping people, all brothers and all sisters.

May each of your words be so deeply rooted in us, anchored in our souls, O Lord.

We thank you for this. We love you. We love your word. We thank you for the grace and salvation we have received.

To you, O God, be praise and honor for the precious and holy blood, for the precious and holy Word, and for the Holy Spirit, for they are three who bear witness.

We thank you for this, and we believe this divine testimony of redemption.

We believe the revelation of the word, and we believe what the Spirit says to the churches.

Hallelujah.

Praise be to your name.

Amen.