THE CHURCH OF GOD OF PROPHECY

47 Pine Hill

Centreville, AL 35042

MINISTER: Leonard Chance

(205) 926-7706

(205) 717-1960

www.thegreatspeckledbird.org

THE LORD’S HERITAGE

JEREMIAH 12:8-10--Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore I have hated it. Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

PROVERBS 26:1,3-5--As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool. A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

If you think snow in summer is a little quaint, if you are ready to harvest and it is raining and you are losing your crop it could make you upset a little. Honor with fools will do the same. I have a reason for telling you this. When you begin to talk and agree with a fool, after awhile you begin to sound like a fool. If you talk to a fool then you will begin to act like a fool. You begin to believe the fool. The more you talk and listen to the fool, the more you sound like the fool. When you begin to agree with him and listen to him then he thinks he is wise in his own conceit and you think, ‘hey he’s right’. ‘So honor is not seemly for a fool.’

1 CORINTHAINS 12:28--And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

I believe he said, ‘God had set some in the Church.’ I don’t believe God set all in the Church. I believe somebody else climbed up and came in another way. God set some, that is why the word ‘some’ is used; otherwise it would have said God set all but He didn’t say all.

‘For God hath set some in the Church, first Apostles, secondarily Prophets, thirdly Teachers.’ We know the Ministry is set in The Church of God of Prophecy by God given Power for one thing and only one thing that is to Preach the Word and the Doctrine of the Word! You have no authority to go any further than the Doctrine will allow. That is where you must stop!

Today they don’t even use the word Doctrine! ‘For God had set some in the Church, first Apostles, secondarily Prophets, thirdly Teachers, after that, Miracles.’ We wonder sometimes why we don’t see more miracles like gifts of Healings: and Helps, we wonder why we don’t see our Helps anymore? Wonder why the printing press died in The Church of God of Prophecy some years back? Those printing presses were Helps. They could send you the White Wing Messenger and you could lay it on your body and be healed. Devils were cast out by laying on the Anointed Cloth or the White Wing! Great healings came through the Power of Holy people when they anointed the Cloth or the White Wing in the upper room of the General’s office. Every morning they would anoint the White Wing and the Prayer Cloths with the Prayers of the Saints for the casting out of Devils and for healing various body problems, even cancers. They were full of the Holy Ghost! Helps, Governments, and diversities of Tongues. Wonder what happened to the Governments? What happened to leaning on the Holy Ghost to give inspiration in our business meetings? We don’t have that anymore.

Some have called me a dictator. Well, I am a dictator. If you think all I want to do is dictate this Word stop second-guessing me, I do. I am a dictator. I have one Gospel! That one I will dictate because the Man that wrote it is my dictator. I cannot leave Him lest I become the fool. After awhile you too would begin to think I was a fool. This is what has happened in The Church of God of Prophecy. Now it all sounds foolish. People have followed foolish people in their own deceit! The Holy Ghost is a dictator. Jesus was a dictator. He did not give in to popular demands and no more can we.

We have no authority to change these written Words, add to it, or take from it! It is our rule of Faith! Now people say, ‘that old Church of God of Prophecy are beat and battered people’. Who beat them? If the Spirit condemned them or the Word condemned them, guess who battered them, their own conscious! Don’t lay that at the foot of The Church of God of Prophecy! You saw the Truth but you didn’t want to live that way so you laid your charge to the Church.

Paul asked a question, Helps, Governments, diversities of Tongues. Do we all have Miracles? Do we all work Miracles? No. Do we all have the same office or job? No. This one is highly misunderstood. Do we all speak with Tongues? Everybody when they receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost speaks in Tongues. That is the assurance and proof that they have it. This person may not speak as often as other people speak. They don’t have the gift of Tongues like other people have. I speak in Tongues quite frequently. We have people who will go for some period of time that don’t speak in Tongues. They didn’t get the gift of Tongues. Then we have people who speak in Divers Kinds of Tongues. Well, I’m a little left out on that one. I don’t have the gift of many other Tongues.

We all don’t have the gift of Knowledge. You’re the Sheep. God doesn’t expect you to know everything. You have to be preached to. You’re the Sheep. You’re not the Shepard. God has not called you into the Ministry. We all have different jobs, but there is one thing we all have and that is pure undefiled Salvation. We all see the same thing. We all work for the Body of Christ with the ability that He gave us. The Lord knew where to set you in the Body. He knew how to show you what to do in that setting. He knew what job you could do. Some are called to give financial support. Whatever jobs you are called to do, do it with joy, not sadness. Be glad that you are doing what God set you in the Body for.

I told you about the Heritage. Now I’m going to read to you some Scriptures to answer questions that have already been answered. Foolish people want to deny the answers we already have. They want to redo it so it will seem good to them and the Holy Ghost. They will never get His ‘seems good.’ It already seems good to us on the teachings concerning divorce and remarriage. It has stood for over one hundred years with the Holy Ghost! The Church of Corinth was having problems with fornicators. They say, ‘We’re not sure what fornication is.’ This is Paul’s answer to the Church of Corinth:

1 CORINTHIANS 7:1-2--Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

Is it good not to touch a woman? Well, yes, it’s good not to touch a woman. I want to dictate this to you. What is it about fornication you don’t understand? Paul said:

‘Nevertheless, to avoid fornication,’ to stay away from fornication, to stay out of fornication, let every man have his own wife? Oh come on! We have had a problem with this thing for years. What about the innocent party? Hey, I couldn’t help that she divorced me, now I can go and get me one because I’m innocent. Nothing changes ‘it seems good to the Holy Ghost’ whether it ever seems good to you or not. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband! How hard is it to understand what is written in the Bible by the dictator who came to tell you that there is but one Gospel and one Church believing it!

1 CORINTHIANS 7:3--Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

The woman, if she wants to live without sin, renders the same benevolence unto her husband. I’ll show you an excellent way. If you take the time to believe what is written down, you won’t get all confused and mixed up with some babbling fool who will one day find the rod for his back. I really like this one:

1 CORINTHIANS 6:18--Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body.

Flee fornication. ‘I can’t’. Why? ‘She won’t let me. Now God, I have Salvation. I have too much to give up’. Flee fornication!!! Unravel this mystery for me. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body. How is that? It doesn’t matter if it is fornication, a small lie or stealing, if you commit the sin, the Church, (the Body) is not responsible. The Church of God of Prophecy is no less than what it is without sin and without reproach. You alone will bear the sin. I wanted to put this in here. When we get a little deeper I will bring you back. Every sin a man does is without the body. The Church is not charged no matter what the sin is. Don’t drag the Church in everybody’s sin.

You sin, it’s yours and you alone will bear it. These are dictates. No room for doubt. Leave fornication!! Get away from it. Get out of ‘I can’t.’ If you too wonder about Spiritual adultery or fornication, adultery is lust! Open lust that is all it is! You’re not in love you’re in lust. To commit fornication you must marry someone who has a living companion. You sin against your own body because you know in your own heart you have somebody that isn’t yours! You sin against your own body.

Your conscious is telling you that you have another person’s flesh. You sin against your own body but you do not sin against the Church. The Church is not dragged into your sin. I want to open up a little mystery to you. If you have a question I have the answer.

ZECHARIAH 1:7-8--Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.

Zechariah was one of the greatest Prophets. The Word of the Lord come unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the Prophet, saying, by night, ‘I saw by night, and behold a Man riding upon a Red Horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom:’ that’s the bottom land of the little country of Israel. He didn’t come upon a high mountain where everybody could see him but He came down in the bottom, down as low as He could come, in a manger. ‘He stood among the myrtle trees.’ Who are the myrtle trees? These were Israel’s high leaders. This is in the night but ole Zech’s eyes were fixed upon the man riding a red horse. Behind Him a Red horse, a Speckled horse, and a White horse. There are two red horses. These horses have names. I know you know their names. Ole Zechariah was astonished because the man that talked to him spoke to these horses and they answered.

ZECHARIAH 1:9-10--Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

Zechariah ask, ‘what are these’ my Lord? What are they going to do?’ And Jesus said, ‘These are they that will walk to and fro through the earth’. God sent them to walk to and fro.

ZECHARIAH 1:11--And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

And they answered Christ and said, ‘we have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest’. That is what the three horses did. He is riding one that is red. There is another red horse behind Him. That horse has a name. Another horse is Speckled. It has a name and the white horse also has a name. I’m not ready to tell you their names yet.

ZECHARIAH 5:5--Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.

I had to do a lot of talking to the Holy Ghost to get the answer. When I got the answer I was amazed. Why didn’t we see it all the time? Why didn’t we understand it long before now? What was so deep about it that we could not see it before now? It has been before our eyes the whole time. I guess we were looking so hard we didn’t see. Now it is time to see. ‘Then the Angel that talked with me,’ it is the same Jesus, and the same Prophet, ‘went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth’. I guess that’s why we haven’t seen it yet. We haven’t yet lifted up our eyes to see.

ZECHARIAH 5:6--And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

And I said, ‘what is it?’ What am I looking at”? And the Angel said, ‘this is an Ephah’. What is an Ephah? That is what Zechariah wanted to know. It has some strange things about it. Ask yourself, why did Jesus come in riding a red horse? The Red Horse He was riding was called Anti-Christ. Israel was at rest with their different believes or denominations or whatever gods they wanted to make for themselves. They had all kinds of different believes. I want to take you back to 13 June 1903. On this day America was at peace with its different believes. Like Israel, America had a lot of different denominations and they all got along ok. If you didn’t like any of the denominations you could start up your own church. Everybody was in harmony.