MESSAGE OF THE HOUR:The Time Now In Heaven

By

Pastor A.C. Ohanebo

General Superintendent,

Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement (WCCRM)

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Text:                      Matthew 25:1-12

The message you are about to read is a unique one, so you are heartily welcome to it.

 Please note: God has graciously put His name, His Word, His Spirit and His power in the place from where this message originated. 

It is indeed a place of revelation knowledge, i.e., knowledge that you will get from neither the sun, nor the moon, nor from any form of science, nor from the Guinness Book of Records, nor from any encyclopedia, nor from any other sources, but from the excellent Spirit of the Living God.  Besides, it is a place where the stones of life are turned into pillows.  The name of the place is the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement.

What is it that informs the uniqueness of the message in your hand?  Here it is: the teaching is addressing a very urgent issue which cannot be otherwise addressed than through revelation knowledge by the Spirit of God.  The subject matter once more is, “The Time Now In Heaven.”  This title clearly confirms that there is a clock in heaven and that that clock is saying something right now. 

The Clock Ticks Towards Midnight

This revelation knowledge was given directly to the man of God, the General Overseer of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement on the 16th of April 1999 in Padova, Italy, as he was preparing to address some Christian folks on another issue altogether on that fateful Sunday morning.  The text quoted for him by the Spirit from which the insight was given is Matthew 25:1-12).

Because of the nature of this message and the need for an appropriate response by all who will hear it, we must make reference to some Bible incidents, where certain people were given some unique information by the Lord, so we can learn from the response of such people.

During the time of the kings of Israel, David, a great king, was unfortunately involved in adultery and later in the murder of the husband of the woman whose wife he had defiled. 

In 2 Samuel 12:1-13, we read:

“And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.  And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”

It is obvious that after King David’s sins of adultery with Uriah’s wife and facilitating the man’s death, he went about his business, probably having shed off the guilt of adultery and murder by some means.  But the Lord sent His messenger to him with a specific message to remind him of the seriousness of his sins and rekindle the guilt of same.  And David, on hearing the Lord’s message, received it and was broken by it through to thorough repentance (see Psalm 51).

Pastor A.C. Ohanebo Ministering At An International
Conference Of Gospel Ministers Hosted By The
Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement
(WCCRM) In Nigeria (2003)

In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus was God’s messenger sent by God with the message of the kingdom of God, etc.  In His day, there were these Samaritans (among many others), who heard God’s doctrine at His mouth and responded en masse, repenting and believing on Him. 

“So when the Samaritans were come unto Him, they besought Him that He would tarry with them: and He abode there two days. And many more believed because of His own word; And said unto the woman,  Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world”. (John. 4:40-42).

There are yet some other people in Bible times who were given revelation messages, whose response we must learn from.  In Matthew’s gospel Chapter 13, Verses 53-58 we read:

“And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed thence. And when He was come into His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not His mother called Mary? and His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

 We note that these people from the town and village of Jesus were different from King David and the Samaritans.  They rejected the Lord and the messages of God which he brought to them.

King Agrippa and Governor Felix, like these people of Jesus’ town and village, were people who did not make use of the information that God sent them through Apostle Paul. On hearing Paul’s powerful reasoning on righteousness, temperance and judgment to come, Governor Felix trembled, being under the conviction of the word, but refused to be persuaded and postponed the day of salvation indefinitely (Acts 24:25).

 On the part of King Agrippa, the powerful gospel message of Apostle Paul was a kind of madness.  He later observed that Paul had almost persuaded him into being a Christian, and the matter was laid to rest. 

However there is this other example of those who heard, received and benefited from the message of the Lord. Cornelius, the Roman army officer, received the message of the Angel that was sent to him, sent for Apostle Peter as he was instructed, heard and received the message of Peter and become saved and filled with God’s Spirit with his household (Acts 10:1-8,30-48).

Watchman Pastors And Ministers From Several Churches

Praying During The Anambra Zone Of The International Gospel

Ministers Conference Of The Hour (IGMC) At The Women Development

Centre, Awka Anambra State. 

Dear friend, I urge you to be like David, the Samaritans or Cornelius, who responded positively to the message of God, as you now hear this unique information on The Time Now In Heaven.

Looking in-depth into our text, Matthew 15:1-12, we see a number of relevant issues that must be considered if one must understand what time it is in heaven now and its implications.  These issues are as follows:-

(i) The ten virgins that waited for the bridegroom

(ii) The bridegroom

(iii) The foolish virgins that had no oil in their vessels

(iv) The wise virgins that had oil in their vessels

 (v) The slumber of the virgins

 (vi) The marriage proper

 (vii) The midnight and the midnight call.

Following this, we proceed to show what time it is now in heaven and the implications.

1.      THE TEN VIRGINS THAT WAITED FOR THE BRIDEGROOM (Matthew. 25:1-11).

As we know, the Bible often uses symbols to represent actual or real things. For example, in Jesus’ parable of a man that sowed good seed in his field (Matthew 13:24-30), the man that sowed the good seed in his field represents Jesus; the field represents the world; the good seed represents the children of the kingdom, while the bad seed (the tares) represents the children of the devil, and so on.

Here in Matthew 25:1-12, the ten virgins (or the bride) represent the entire children of God, the church, believers who have been born into the kingdom of God through repentance from dead works, and faith in Jesus and the impartation of the Ernest of God’s Spirit.

 The Apostle Paul confirmed the Corinthian Christians virgins whom he had betrothed to Christ Jesus, to present them as chaste virgins (2 Corinthians. 11:2).  So in the parable of Matthew 25:1-12, the ten virgins spoken of represent all believers who profess to be waiting for the Lord Jesus.

2.      THE BRIDEGROOM (Matthew. 25:1,5-6,10-12).

Common knowledge shows that once there is the bride, there is the bridegroom also.  In this parable, the bridegroom is the Lord Jesus himself.  Both Jesus and John the Baptist confirmed this.  And Jesus said to them (in answer to John the Baptist’s disciples’ question):

“Can the children of the bridechamber (Jesus’ disciples) mourn, as long as the bridegroom (Jesus) is with them? (Matt.9:15).  Also John the Baptist (in his testimony to Christ) said, “he (Jesus) that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice...” (Jon. 3:29). 

Obviously therefore, the Lord Jesus is the bridegroom to whom the bride has been betrothed and is waiting for.

3.      THE FOOLISH VIRGINS THAT HAD NO OIL IN THEIR VESSELS (Matthew 25:2-4, 7-11).

The foolish virgins that had no oil in their lamps when the bridegroom came represent those believers whose lives will lack righteousness, faith, love, humility, sobriety, evangelism, prayerfulness, zeal and all the other Christian virtues that will make believers rapturable.  They are those whose hearts will be chocked up with the mundane things of this world, though they may have been born again originally and profess to know God (cons. Luke 21:34-35).

4.      THE WISE VIRGINS THAT HAD OIL IN THEIR LAMPS (Matthew. 25:1-4, 6-9).

The wise virgins are the opposite of the foolish ones.  They are those children of God, who know that without holiness, no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14; Matthew 5:20; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 4:24; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 2 Pet. 3:11). 

They are those who use the mirror of the Word of God they hear to discover their faults; who are continually built up with all these Christian virtues that are lacking in the foolish virgins (Col. 2:6-7; Jude 20).  They are those who refuse to yield to temptations through diverse circumstances in order to be worthy of their Christian calling and of heaven at all times.

5:      THE VIRGINS’ SLUMBER AND SLEEP (Matthew 25:5).

Here it is stated that, “while the bridegroom tarried, all the virgins slumbered and slept”.  Yes, as they engage in the various activities of this world, often oblivious of the imminence of the bridegroom’s return, they are sleeping (as it were).  To bring out this point clearly, let us consider the pre-occupation of a young lady who is about to wed; who is waiting in the parent’s house to be picked to the church to meet her husband for the matrimonial ceremony.  While this lady is waiting for all arrangements to be concluded, every bit of the thoughts of her heart is about the wedding that is about to take place.  In contrast, the pre-occupation of the bride of Christ, now waiting as the bridegroom delays his coming is different.  This lack of 100% pre-occupation with, plus the unmindfulness of the imminence of the bridegroom’s return by the bride is what is symbolized with slumbering and sleeping.  But please note that in reality, the depth of the slumber and sleep of the foolish virgins and that of the wise virgins is not the same.  While the former is in deep sleep the later is half-asleep-half awake (as it were).

     

The WCCRM Music Ministry Performing At The

Anglo-phone West African Edition Of The

 International Gospel Ministers  Conference Of

The Hour (IGMC) Hosted By The Watchman Catholic
Charismatic RenewalMovement, At Great Hall, Kwame
 Nkrumah University Of Science And Technology,
Kumasi, Ghana (2008)

6. THE MARRIAGE PROPER BETWEEN THE BRIDE AND THE BRIDEGROOM (Matthew 25:6, 10).

The marriage that is pictured here is the one between Christ, the bridegroom and the children of the kingdom (His church), the bride.  This marriage was earlier spoken of by the Lord Jesus in His parable in Matthew 22:1-14.

At the rapture, that is, the catching away of the living saints immediately following the resurrection of the dead saints, revealed in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, all the saints (the bride of Christ), both the living and the dead will proceed to the marriage-proper with their bridegroom, their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  This marriage ceremony will be held in the heavenly places while the great tribulation is holding on earth for the disobedient (Matthew 25:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Revelation 19:7, 9).

7.      THE MIDNIGHT AND THE MIDNIGHT CALL (Matt. 25:6).

Here is the point that will bring us to the realization of what time it is now in heaven.  We know that those who are asleep usually get into deep slumber at midnight and beyond.  What then is the midnight symbolizing in this parable?  Hear this: the midnight symbolizes the peak of the various activities and incidents that will influence the virgins (the bride of Christ or children of the kingdom), making them to lose all their righteousness, their faith, their patience, their sobriety, their prayerfulness, their evangelism, their interest in the things of God, their mindfulness of the bridegroom’s return, thereby rendering them unworthy for marriage with him.

Among these destabilizing, distracting and demoralizing activities and/or phenomena are:

(i)                the increase of knowledge and the running to and from for it (Daniel 12:1-4);

(ii)              the end-time mad pursuit of the mundane, such as, marriage, money, eating and drinking (Luke 17:26-30); 

(iii)          the economic, political and social ills and problems of these last days (Matthew 24:3,6,7; 2 Timothy 3:1);

(iv)            the terrible increase of various kinds of vice (2 Timothy 3:1-5);

(v)               the increase in false religious persuasion and in false teachers and doctrines (Matthew 24:3-5,11; 2 Peter 2:1-2; 1 Timothy 4:1-3);

(vi)            the prevalence of great compromise and outright backsliding by multitudes of Christians (2 Thessalonians 2:3), etc.

It is exactly at the peak of these things and their consequences on the bride (referred to symbolically as the midnight) that the sudden call to meet the bridegroom will be made (Matthew 25:6).

This call is that referred to as the Lord’s shout; the voice of the archangel; the trump of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Pastor A.C. Ohanebo

8.      THE TIME NOW IN HEAVEN, WHAT IS IT?

As pointed out before, it takes revelation to know what the clock in heaven is saying now.  And because the Lord will not have us be ignorant and to suffer the consequences of ignorance, He has revealed that the time now, according to the clock in heaven is 5 MINUTES TO 12 MIDNIGHT.

We shall not leave the matter there without some explanation.  We have already seen what midnight stands for, namely, the peak of the various activities and/or phenomena in the world that will distract, destabilize and demoralize the bride of Christ and all men, and that it is at this peak that Christ will return.  It therefore follows that we are now 5 MINUTES TO THAT TIME.

WHAT A SHORT PERIOD INDEED!

Right now, in our very eyes, these end time distracting, destabilizing and demoralizing activities/phenomena are speedily building up by every moment.  Look into the newspapers, listen to the electronic media, look around you in the villages, towns and cities of the world, the midnight mark is about to be hit.  IT IS INDEED 5 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT.

9.      WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO?

There is no reasonable person, a member of the bride of Christ or he that is outside the kingdom, that will hear this kind of revelation and remain adamant or indifferent.  If any person remains indifferent after hearing or reading this revelation, such a person can be joined with those of whom Abraham said that even if someone came directly from heaven to inform them, they would not be moved (Luke 16:31) WHAT AN UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE SUCH ARE!

As a member of the bride of Christ now sleeping, what ought you to do?  Let the foolish virgins drop their foolishness forthwith, and take oil for their lamps (the necessary Christian virtues already outlined) and get ready for the midnight mark.  To the one that is yet a sinner, or the backslider loitering outside the kingdom, the Lord God is commanding him to repent and return to Him through Jesus Christ, as the prodigal son did (comp. Luke 15:11-21). 

DEAR FRIEND, THE MIDNIGHT MARK IS ABOUT TO BE HIT.   IT MAY BE THAT BY THE TIME THIS REVELATION MESSAGE REACHES YOU, WE MAY BE ONLY 2 MINUTES, 1 MINUTE OR EVEN A FEW SECONDS TO THE MIDNIGHT MARK.  YOU MUST THEREFORE ACT WHILE YOU MAY, FOR THE MIDNIGHT COMETH, AFTER WHICH, NO MAN’S ACTION WILL BE PROFITABLE.

GOD BLESS THE HEARERS AND THE DOERS OF THIS WORD