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RON AND KAREN SCHWARTZ

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OUT OF THE WILDERNESS (May 7, 2008)

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Out of the Wilderness

Part 1. The Remnant and the End Time Message.

May 6, 2008

By Ron and Karen Schwartz

This is the first part in a new series we hope will be helpful to those who are trying to flee the great whore church, Babylon the Great.  One of the continuing problems that those who leave the institutional church face is knowing where to go.  Many become trapped into an old delusion that is passing itself off as new “end-time” revelation.  Much of the “end-time” teaching of groups like the Prophetic movement is nothing but a new flavor of the same old Babylon.  Saints beware!

Eagle Saints

“It seems that each week we receive email from people who forward us articles about the coming ‘Army of God.’  Many of you don’t realize that I have been around the end-time movements since the 1970’s.  I was first exposed to the ‘Latter Rain’ doctrine of William Branham (I actually knew someone who recorded his tent meetings on reel-to-reel tape, and I listened to many recordings of his meetings) back in the 1970’s.  It was also in the 1970’s that I was first exposed to Bill Britton and the ‘Eagle Saints’ doctrine.  Some of you may remember ‘The Sound of the Trumpet’ magazine and other similar publications.  Consequently, the idea of an Elijah ministry is not new.  It has been around for a while.  And as far back as I can remember there have been those who can themselves apostles and prophets. They are ‘as old as dirt.’

“The ministries, doctrines, and movements that plague Christianity today are not new.  They have been around as long as I have been alive and then some time before that.  Every church, denominational and independent alike, believes in a sort of special “last days” church.  Some believe that the church will be ‘raptured’ and then come back in greatness and splendor to inherit the earth at the end of time.  Some believe that today’s carnal church will be refined to greatness by enduring persecution and the Great Tribulation, and some believe that God will raise up a special group of Elijah-class ministry to bring perfection to the saints and will - like Moses – usher in God’s wrath and pour it out upon the earth (i.e., ‘Latter Rain’).” - Ron

The Latter Rain teaching came out of the Pentecostal community of the forties and fifties.  It was a radical departure from traditional Pentecostal teaching.  From it came the teachings of Eagle Saints, Dominion, Remnant, Kingdom Now, and the Five-Fold Ministry.  These gave strength to the Charismatic movement of the 60’s and 70’s with which they synergized to create the Word of Faith, Discipleship, and Shepherd Movements.  Today it has evolved into the Prophetic Movement that is so popular among end-time believers.  It has branched out into Vineyard, Home churches, and the Emergent church movement.

At the center of Latter Rain teaching is the idea of an elite “class” of Christians who will arise as an “Elijah ministry” in these last days.  It teaches that this “Elijah ministry” will usher in perfection to the church, and some even go so far as to say that the saints will bring down the wrath of God and judge the earth.  Contrary to every biblical theme, the tone of their teaching endorses a supremacy outlook.  They promote arrogance among people who have nothing about which to be arrogant.  It is simply impossible to be part of their definition of end-time believers without adopting the same tone of egotism and conceit.   They infer that anyone associated with their ministries are automatically made superior (because of their knowledge of “truth”) and thus above those who belong to the apostate church, but the real deception (that they do not seem to recognize) is that they have never left it.  They are just an institution in another flavor.  Moreover, there seems to be no genuine humility or sorrow for the state of Christianity.  They are just as ignorant concerning their own idolatry.

The problem with the Latter Rain movements and Prophetic groups is not what they teach but what is missing.  All their doctrines and ministries start in the middle.

Starting in the Middle

Those who start in the middle (like the Latter Rain and Prophetic movements) tell Christians to go on into greatness without first dealing with the culture of Babylon that infects them.  Those who heed their voices to join them and become “Eagle Saints” or the “Elijah Ministry” simply recreate the Harlot church system from which they came.

The beginning is not found in the knowledge of how great we will become, but in how desperately we have been stained, wounded, and abused, and in how miserably we’ve failed.  The beginning is found in understanding that we are all daughters of the Harlot church systems – defiled and abused - and therefore infected by Babylonian culture.  Therefore, we must FIRST see that we are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17)”as a result of living in the contemporary church culture (which includes independent and denominational churches).  We must “buy from [Christ] gold refined in the fire, so [we] can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so [we] can cover [our] shameful nakedness; and salve to put on [our] eyes, so [we] can see (Revelation 3:18).”

IF there are any true apostles and prophets, they will tell you to repent.  They will not try to sell you the “glory” hype that comes from the pretenders.  The true “voices crying in the wilderness” are the ones that are telling you that we, the daughters of the Great Whore, are all infected with Babylonian culture and that we must “humble ourselves and repent.” Our only hope is to “come out of her… that [we] be not partakers of her sins, and that [we] receive not of her plagues (Revelation 18:4)” - and coming out means much more than a simple geographical disassociation.  It means to lay down the arrogance, the class society of clergy and laity, the structure built upon and around men, the pacifying of human cravings, and the deification of doctrines, bibles, saints, sacraments, building, and men.  It means to dissolve ourselves of ego and ambitions and allow God to be king.

Latter Rain and Elijah

The Jews were the custodians of the law and the prophets.  They understood the law and prophecy so well that when Herod sent for them, they were able to tell him with perfect clarity the details surrounding the birth of the Messiah.  Because of their knowledge of prophecy, their understanding of “their” end-time revelation, and their belief that they were God’s chosen people, they assumed that they automatically were part of (what was then) the “end-time” movement for their generation.  However, they were wrong!  They assumed that because of their knowledge they would automatically be a part of the “Elijah” ministry, but once again they were wrong.  Therefore, what angered the Jewish leaders most was not John the Baptist (the true Elijah ministry) and his preaching, but that God had left them completely out of what He was doing.

Like the Jewish leaders during the time of Christ who assumed that because of their end-time knowledge they were part of what God was doing, this same assumption is rampant among “end-time” communities today.   Latter Rain and Prophetic groups all imply that because they “possess” what they consider “end-time” revelation and doctrine, or that they are part of a following that teaches it, they are automatically part of God’s end-time work on the earth.  This is a great delusion.  The Jews had the same opinion in their time, and they became the enemy to what God was actually doing.

Regardless of your knowledge of the end time, the depth of your revelation, your participation in various Latter Rain groups, or your perceived status in the “five-fold ministry,” none of it buys you anything.  None of us are any better than our fellow.  No one of our current generation has escaped the influence of Babylon the Great.  We are all her harlot daughters (Revelation 17:5)!  Consequently, those who promote end-time doctrine as the solution for the church are doing God NO service.  They are a self-deceived as the Jews.  They are like the Jews who were swallowed up in self-righteousness, self-importance, and conceit, waiting expectantly for the coming of the Messiah.  However, when He did come, He fell under their attack because He refused to be part of their group. 

Both the Pharisees in the days of Christ and today’s pharisaical prophets and apostles have the same messages.  The Pharisees believed that Elijah would usher in a new age of glory for God’s people, that the Messiah would restore the glory of God’s kingdom to His people (Israel), and that He would command a militant army against Rome.  Does this sound familiar?  It should, because it is the same message that has been regurgitated by Latter Rain for decades.  Latter Rain teaches that an “Elijah-class ministry” will restore the glory of God’s people (the church), that the saints will come into perfection, and that the so-called “Elijah-class ministry” will command an army of saints to judge the world.  How is this current message any different from the one the Pharisees espoused?  If you listen to all the movements that sprang forth from Latter Rain, even though the Jews were wrong this time they’re right.

The message of John the Baptist (the true Elijah) and the Christ was NOT that God’s people would arise up against the world and restore the kingdom of Israel as the Jewish leaders believed.  Their message was that God’s people should “repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17).” Just as wrong is the end-time message promoted by Latter Rain and the Prophetic movements.  They are NOT the genuine end-time message.  In Revelation, the true nature of the end-time message is revealed.  However, it’s not as exciting as that proclaimed by the movements that came from Latter Rain.  The end-time message for this generation is to “come out of her… that [we] be not partakers of her sins, and that [we] receive not of her plagues (Revelation 18:4).”

The true revelation of the end time is not how glorious the church is to become, but how miserably it has failed – it’s not about whom we are or what we have become, but what we must lay down.  Therefore, the true message that Jesus is speaking today is that we are all “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17).”  We must therefore humble ourselves and repent.  Those who call themselves apostles and prophets and pronounce glory to their followers are fakes just like their Jewish counterparts of the past.  They are not the true Elijah ministry.  They are nothing more than Scribes and Pharisees.

Is there a unique Elijah ministry?  No!  But there are voices, and there is a message.  The so-called “Elijah ministry” has no face.  It is simply “a voice crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord.’”  The Latter Rain movements have failed because they focus on the ministries and the saints instead of on the message and the God who speaks it. There are no “great” evangelists, prophets, and apostles associated with God’s true “end-time” voice.  And if there are, those who are would not know it.  Those with a true “end-time” voice are only too aware of the amount of Babylon that exists within them to take on such lofty titles.  They are like fishermen who were mending their nets, possessing no grand title nor claiming a great ministry but willing to follow the Messiah when He called them.  You can know which “end-time” ministers are not the genuine articles by the titles they give themselves and what they claim to be.

Are the leaders of these movements (e.g., Billy Branham, Bill Britton, and even men like David Wilkerson, etc.) prophets?  Quite possibly, yes.  But they failed.  How so?  They failed to present their lives as prototypes of the end-time prophetic voice.

Men like David Wilkerson did bring much light to the fallen state of the church, but even he never fully left Babylon.  All the leaders of these movements made their ministries into idols for others to worship.  Without fully understanding their error, each of these men came as a different flavor of Babylon, and in the end, none of their followers were/are any different than those who still live in Babylon.  The Babylonian church culture is still reflected in their ministry corporations and their churches.

David Wilkerson comes close to presenting the message of impending judgment that the contemporary church needs to hear.  However, his failure is in the fact that he still holds tightly to Babylonian church culture (traditional denominational structure) in his own ministry corporation.  Many have made note that, more and more over the last few decades, David Wilkerson has been off in both timing and fact concerning his prophecies.  This is due to the fact that, in his own heart, he himself has failed to let go of Babylon completely.

The misguided Christian leaders of the Latter Rain movements and the Prophetic communities are to be pitied.  They blindly ignore their sin and their wounds, believing against fact that they are virgins, untouched by pseudo-Christian Harlot church corruption.  They are in denial.  They are like alcoholics who erroneously believe they are different from all the others.  But our pity must in no way translate into becoming “enablers” who support their reprehensible addiction to power, praise, prestige, and control.  The best thing that you can do for them is quietly leave and allow God to break their will.

The Remnant

The “remnant” doctrine is derived from the story of Elijah.  Elijah hid in a cave and said to God, “The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant…  I, even I only, am left.”  To which God replied, “I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him (1 Kings 19:14-18).”  The idea here is that God has always had a remnant – a faithful few – who remain loyal to Him.

“Remnant” teaching is not unique among Latter Rain groups.  It is presented in another form by traditional mainstream denominations as “the elect.”  The elect are those who are predestined by God to be His people.  Some believe the elect to be “once saved, always saved,” while others believe that the elect are those whom God “foreknew” would “choose” the path to salvation.  The point is not which doctrine is correct but the lack of fruitfulness any of these teachings breed in those who embrace them – it’s not the doctrine that is the problem but in how it is taught.  The real problem is that every Christian group – Protestant, Catholic, independent, or cult – claims “remnant” or “elect” status.  And each of these groups has their own historical proof to document their group’s “remnant” standing.

All these groups, though different in doctrine, are at their heart part of the apostate Harlot church system.  Consequently, we are all the same.  We are all children of the Great Whore.  We are all her Harlot daughters [i.e., “I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.  This title was written on her forehead: ‘MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH’ (Revelation 17:3,5)].  So for any of these groups to proclaim that they are somehow “above” their fellow Christian brothers and sisters is ludicrous.

Is there such a thing as a remnant?  If there is, the Bible never guarantees it.  But then it does not negate it either.  You see, there is a clever deception in the doctrine of “remnant.”  If there is a remnant, then it must be the group who holds the truth.  But since every group believes they hold the “truth,” then they must all be the remnant.  It is circular logic.  Now tell us it is not delusional thinking!

Providing there is a remnant, could one of these “end-time” movements be the remnant?  Emphatically, NO!  Why are we so convinced of this?  Because the remnant – if there is such a thing – will be defined by the lack of idolatry in their lives (e.g., “have not bowed unto Baal”).  Name one ministry out of one of these movements that that does not believe that they are prophets or apostles, or at least that they stand shoulder to shoulder with them.  Ministries such as these have made idols (i.e. worship Baal) of their ministry.  Furthermore, name one of the “end-time” movements that does not present a tone of supremacy based on their doctrine (or, the “truth,” as they put it)?  Name one ministry that does not view their rank as being above their lowly followers?  And ask yourself, “What is the difference between them and the Pharisees?”  You cannot embrace Babylonian culture and claim remnant status no matter what doctrine you hold.

If a remnant exists, how would you know them?  First of all, like the remnant in the days of Elijah, they would have no part of the Jezebel harlot church system.  Second, they would be defined not by their doctrine but by not embracing the contemporary Baal idolatry of creating ministry idols (e.g. “have not bowed unto Baal”).  So they would be absent from the “high places” of self-appointed and exalted ministry.  And as a result, thirdly, they would be mostly unknown.  The true remnant would claim nothing more than that which John the Baptist claimed.  Consider John’s self-assessment in his own calling:

John 1:21-23

21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?"

He said, "I am not."

"Are you the Prophet?"

He answered, "No."

22 Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'"

Was John a prophet?  Yes, but he didn’t know it, nor did he publicize it.  Contrast this to our contemporary prophets who claim to be everything that they are not.  They have the arrogance to call themselves by his calling: “Elijah ministry.”  Where do you find the humility of John the Baptist in any of contemporary prophets, apostles, ministries, and movements?  Think of it like this: John the Baptist (the true Elijah ministry) claimed nothing, but the Pharisees (the false Elijah ministry) claimed to be everything they were not.  Therefore beware of those who go by lofty titles and claim to convey greatness to their followers.  They are most likely not who and what they claim to be.

Consequently, the true remnant would be hidden and largely unknown - remember, not even Elijah knew the remnant existed. They would not be a visible crowd flocking in admiration around their favorite pastor/apostle/prophet.  They would be nobodies.  Their lack of conceit and self-promotion would cause the leaders of end time groups to dismiss them.  They would see through the conceit that drives the end-time leaders and have no part of them.  Furthermore, they would also detest the hypocrisy of institutional Christianity.  They would be like people without a country striving to understand what God has for them and not understanding that they have been hidden by God, jealously reserved for Him.

If there is a remnant, they would remain aware that within them still dwells the seed of Babylonian culture which they must continue to purge.  As a result, they would not view their lives as superior to others.  They would be only too aware of their own humanity to believe that they are part of God’s “end-time” remnant.  You see, if there is a true remnant, it is so well hidden that those who are part of it do not recognize that they are.  Therefore, they would not be talking about the remnant: something of which they could not possibly be a part.  The true remnant would be hidden from others who are also part of it.

So don’t be too disappointed if you find yourself alone.  You just might be hidden!

Final Thoughts…

Many Christians who contact us are confused and hurt that they are all alone.  They long for the encouragement of other believers and try to make sense of their solitude.  We are unable to offer these saints help since we do not understand the work that God is doing in their lives.  However, for those of you who have fled the prison of institutional churches and have rejected the arrogance of the Prophetic and Latter Rain movements, we leave you with this:

Revelation 12:14

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

The scripture records a hiding away of the saints.  Could this be the so-called “remnant”?  Possibly, but not the remnant as defined by those who claim “remnant” status.  We do know that God will hide away His true servants so well that not even Satan knows who they are or where they are.

Consider the words “from the face of the serpent.”  The word translated “face” is the Greek word prosopon which denotes the “countenance” or the look of the face.  It therefore implies “intent” or “purpose.”  It conveys the inward “thoughts and feelings.”  By removing His saints who love Him from institutional Christianity, by making them alone, God is protecting His people from the “face” (or the influence) of Satan.

Many saints have suffered adversity from institutional churches and have left only to find themselves in a “wilderness.”  They feel alone and dry.  Most Christians fail to realize that this is a wilderness of opportunity.  It is there where they can begin to work with others to help them escape from the prisons of Babylonian influence.  It is there where they learn humility by being humbled.  It is there where they learn what it means to suffer the reproach of Christ.

The purpose of the wilderness is not to prepare a great army of overcomers but to “nourish” His true humble followers.  If you are truly the Lord’s remnant, then you are in a wilderness hidden away.  You are alone in a crowd.  You may go to church but have nothing in common with those who attend.  You are in a place where God can speak to your heart.  So don’t be discouraged if you find yourself alone.  Don’t be discouraged if you can’t find a church.  It’s okay.  It means that you need to get alone with God and hear Him.

The Greek word for “nourished” is trepho, which means “to grow, to rear, to nourish, or to feed.”  It can refer to a mother “giving suck” or cattle being “fattened up.”  If there is any biblical parallel, it is to the “seven years of great plenty (Genesis 41:29)” that comes before the “seven years of famine (Genesis 41:30).”  However, this is a spiritual feeding that is only for those “hidden away” in the wilderness.  Those who enjoy the entertainment and social fulfillment of the institutional church or the self-promoting carnival ride of end time and prophetic groups will never find it.

Consequently, it is okay to be alone.  It does not mean that you have been forsaken by God.  In fact, it quite possibly means just the opposite.  It could mean that God has separated you so that you can hear from Him.  Remember the words of Peter when Jesus asked his disciples, “Will ye also go away (John 6:67)?”  Peter answered, “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life (John 6:68).”   There is no better place to be than near the heart of God, even if it that place is alone in the wilderness.

If you are near God’s heart, then you are not like those groups who proclaim remnant status and parade around arrogantly.  If you are near the heart of God, you will not be as those who claim to be the elect or specially chosen and ignore the consequences of sin.  If you are near the heart of God, then you have been humbled and are learning the nature of God, for we serve a humble Lord.  God’s heart is broken over His people.  They have rejected Him and made men into their kings.  They have built their own city Babylon instead pressing into His.  They have forgotten Him as they gather for their own selfish entertainment.

God is not in the institutions that we call churches.  He’s in the wilderness waiting for you to join Him.  Selah!

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