July, 2003

Fred R. Coulter, Minister

July 16, 2003

Dear Brethren,

In this mailing we are sending the tape Events After Pentecost #2. As you will learn, after the first resurrection many things must take place on the Sea of Glass before we all return to the earth with Jesus Christ. Although the first resurrection occurs in a single day, our return back to the earth to rule and reign with Jesus Christ is not a helter-skelter, haphazard one-day event. There are many things that must take place before we return. God has to prepare us for the greatest event since the creation of the world. With perhaps millions of resurrected saints on the Sea of Glass, we will need to understand what God wants us to do. Jesus Christ will have to prepare us and let us know what His plan is.

God always makes preparations because He is working everything according to His plan. Look how He prepared for the ministry of Jesus Christ. It was well-planned. God caused the miraculous birth of John the Baptist, who thirty years later prepared the way for the Lord Jesus Christ. This plan was revealed in the Old Testament when Isaiah prophesied about John the Baptist six hundred of years before his birth: "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" (Isa. 40:3-9, KJV).

Again, over four hundred years before the ministry of John the Baptist, the prophet Malachi prophesied of John, who was to prepare the way before the Lord: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts" (Mai. 3:1).

When the priests, Levites and Pharisees questioned John the Baptist, he made it clear that he was a voice crying in the wilderness. There is no doubt that during his special training for his job, God revealed to him that he was sent from God, and he would be a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord: "And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?' Then he freely admitted, and did not deny, but declared, 'I am not the Christ.' And they asked him, Then who are you?Are you Elijah?' And he said, 'I am not.' Then they asked, 'Are you the Prophet?' And he answered, 'No.' Therefore, they said to him, 'Who are you? What do you say about yourself so that we may give an answer to those who sent us?' He said, 'I am a voice crying in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord," as Isaiah the prophet said.' Now those who had been sent belonged to the sect of the Pharisees" (John 1: 19-24, also see: Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3 and Luke 3:4).

True to the prophecy of Malachi, Jesus did suddenly come to the temple during the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. His appearance was very dramatic because He cleansed the temple; in this way He demonstrated that He was Lord indeed. John describes this confrontation: "Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money exchangers sitting there; and after making a scourge of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with both the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money exchangers, and overturned the tables. And to those who were selling the doves, He said, Take these things out of here! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise' " (John 2:13-16).

The ministry of Jesus Christ had many purposes. He taught all the things that God the Father commanded Him to teach. During Jesus' three and one-half year ministry He taught the apostles and prepared them to be His witnesses to preach and write the Gospel for the entire world! Every thing that Jesus did was according to the will and plan of God the Father!

God does every thing according to His will and plan. On the day of Pentecost, when God poured out the Holy Spirit in power, Peter proclaimed that the coming of Jesus Christ, His ministry, crucifixion, death and resurrection was according to the will of God: "Men, Israelites, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarean, a man sent forth to you by God, as demonstrated by works of power and wonders and signs, which God performed by Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know; Him, having been delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you have seized by lawless hands and have crucified and killed. But God has raised Him up, having loosed the throes of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it" (Acts 2:22-24).

Brethren, we need to realize that just as the heaven and earth are marvels of God's tremendous creative power and work according to His will, plan and purpose, so also, He has a plan and purpose that He is working out for all mankind. The destruction of Babylon the Great and the Beast and false prophet that John prophesied about in the book of Revelation was first prophesied by Isaiah: "The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand. That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" (Isa. 14:24-27, KJV).

Greater still, God revealed his plan to His apostles, who wrote it so that His saints might understand His plan and purpose. Think of it! The Great Sovereign of the universe, God the Father, has made known His plan to us! The apostle Paul wrote: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly things with Christ; according as He has chosen us for Himself before the foundation of the world in order that we might be holy and blameless before Him in love; having predestinated us for sonship to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us objects of His grace in the Beloved Son; in Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He has made to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence; having made known to us the mystery of His own will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself; that in the divine plan for the fulfilling of the times, He might bring all things together in Christ, both the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth" (Eph. 1:3-8).

What is so profound about God's plan is this: Only those who obey God the Father and Jesus Christ will understand—while the world will not and cannot understand because their minds have been blinded (Matt. 13:12-17). Furthermore, this precious knowledge and understanding of His plan is revealed through the holy days and festivals of God. It is not surprising that those who do not keep the feasts and holy days of God do not understand. However, our understanding is in direct proportion to our hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matt. 5:6). God promises that those who hunger and thirst will be filled.

Let's look at some of the things that must take place on the Sea of Glass before we return to earth with Jesus Christ. It will take some time for all this to be accomplished as there will be millions in the first resurrection, but since God has a plan and purpose for everything that He does, He must also have a plan to accomplish these things. Information about the things that need to be done is scattered throughout the New Testament. The most likely time for these to be done is after the first resurrection, and the most likely place for God the Father and Jesus Christ to do it is on the Sea of Glass before we return to the earth to rule the world as kings and priests under Jesus Christ! God must prepare us. The following things must take place (scriptural references are given on the tape):

1. At the first resurrection the angels take us up to the Sea of Glass
2. We sing the victory song—the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb
3. We receive our new names
4. The marriage of the Lamb and the Bride takes place
5. Everyone receives a reward and is given an assignment
6. We enter into a new eternal covenant as the first fruits with God the Father and Jesus Christ
7. The final judgment of Babylon the Great occurs with the pouring out of the seven last plagues

The time between Pentecost—the time of the first resurrection—and the Feast of Trumpets pictures the day of our actual return to the earth with Jesus Christ (Rev. 19:11-21 and Zech. 14:4-15).

It is profoundly important that we keep the feasts and holy days of God. So that we could know when we should keep them, God has provided the calculated Hebrew Calendar. (All other calendar schemes have been developed by men seeking to usurp God's authority.)

On the second tape there are two sermons from the Elders Conference — one by Marlin Fannin and the other Wayne Stenhouse. When those at the conference saw and heard these well-delivered sermons, they were all encouraged. This is important, because as our fellowship groups grow, which they will, elders will need the ability to teach new brethren. In addition, we will continually look to God to provide more elders as the need arises, and there is no reason to doubt that it will happen. However, we must wait on God. It must be clearly evident that God is calling a man to be an elder. He must be truly converted, manifesting the fruits of the Spirit in his life. Jesus Christ inspired the apostle Paul to give the detailed qualifications of an elder in I Timothy Three and Titus One.

It looks like we will be able to keep our schedule for the New Testament project. I am nearly done writing my part of the commentaries, and Gary Staszak is getting close to completing his.

In my last letter, I told you about our intent to have it printed on paper typically used for Bibles and to format it like a Bible. Unfortunately, the paper that we would have to use was far too thin, making it impossible to mark in the margins or to make notes. The ink from any pen would bleed through, and the print from the backside of the pages would be seen. The leather cover also would be far too thin, and the backing that would be glued to it would make the cover very stiff. Altogether, this would not have produced a quality New Testament designed for detailed study.

As a result, we are looking at a different type of paper that is more suited for detailed study. Moreover, we will probably use the same printer that printed the other books. We will keep you posted on how things develop. In every way, we all want it to be the best book possible for Bible study and something that you will be able to use for years.

Feast information form: If you have not sent your feast of Tabernacles information form, please do so. This will help us plan for the various feast sites. Also, if you are unable to come to a feast site, please rush your form back as soon as possible so that we will not be overwhelmed at the last minute trying to get the tapes duplicated and mailed to you.

Feast on the website: As has been the case for the past several years, all the holy days and feast sermons will be available from our website. You will be able to download the audio as well as a transcript of all the sermons. This should be especially helpful to those outside the States, since we are having an increasingly difficult time getting postal mail through to these brethren.

Brethren, we are excited about finishing the New Testament project and getting the book printed and into your hands. Thank you for your love and prayers for those who are sick and need God's intervention and healing. Thank you for serving other brethren by giving them tapes and literature. Thank you for your continued support that makes all these things possible. May God's love, grace and blessing be upon you and yours in everything.

With Love in Christ Jesus,

Fred R. Coulter

FRC