I received an inquiry about my comment in the Ephriam talk about God’s hand “the second time.” The inquirer referred to a letter Joseph wrote, directed my attention there, and asked about the “second time.” My response appears below:
God may yet set His hand a second time in still another generation (or generations, depending on the reaction today), if the work required is not done today. When God begins to speak, we are obligated to inquire, listen and heed. At present I do not expect any success in the present generation. This world is so captured by a faithlessness and hardness that even the trump of an angel would fail to reach those alive today. If mankind knew what He offers now, we would all make the necessary sacrifice to receive it.
Joseph spoke as the Elias sent to prepare. He accomplished all that was required in his day. But he did not accomplish what might have been done if those who lived in his day had been faithful. There will come another with the Spirit of Elijah, whom Joseph foretold. When that window opens it will require better response than in Joseph’s day, or another generation will pass away un-redeemed, but not un-warned. Right now the question is whether we are willing to still receive what Joseph in the spirit of Elias gave us. Hence the present series of talks. They are designed to let us remember. Before the Spirit of Elijah will be permitted to be heard, we must remember. God cannot give more when we forget what we already have received.
Then still another will come who is the Messiah. But all these are part of “the second time” in the Lord’s economy. Likewise, they will all minister to a “generation” in the language of prophecy, while in the reckoning of men it involves generations. ____________________________________________
I got a response saying the writer was trying hard, but seemed to be spending too much time with things like changing diapers to get any real breakthroughs. I responded:
changing diapers and being a husband and father are EXACTLY what will bring about both what you seek and what God wants to happen as well.
Daily, small acts of service to others, and in particular inside the family, are what we lack. We need better husbands and better fathers, more loving marriages and healthy families most of all. I will not get to that topic for two talks. But it is coming.
Too much attention is being paid to matters outside the family, where we have no control. It is family life, above all, where God’s great work gets done.