Meet Me Tonight in the Threshing Floor
“Meet Me Tonight in the Threshing Floor”
(Ruth 4:2)
Sunday, August 17, 2007
Sermon Notes: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
I just walked away from the television debate between Obama and McCain with tears of joy flowing down my face. I am having to compose my thoughts because of the emotion I am feeling. My message tomorrow continues on Redemption and the Lord’s plan of Redemption from the foundation of the earth through the forgiveness of sin by Jesus Christ. Tonight I felt our nation has once again been given the Grace and Mercy of “redemption” because of the Faith and Steadfast courage of conviction I heard from the mouth of John McCain. This is not a political statement, but a statement of Faith.
I have written and prophesied that a fresh wind is blowing. All that is hidden is being brought into the light. The Lord is calling the church to participate with Him in forgiveness that He may bring Justice that will usher in His Redemption.
Many have weighed in on the Lakeland revival. I have not because I have felt that like Jesus told Peter when he inquired about John. “Peter what does that have to do with you?” If Todd Bentley knew me and called and asked me for help, that would be a different matter. I stand as His Sister in the Lord without condemnation or judgment as the Lord works His Redemption is His life and family. It will be no help at all for the church to stand in judgment of the situation. Our work is forgiveness. The Lord’s work is Justice.
I am taking my text today from the Book of Ruth. I have been watching, pondering and studying this wind of the Holy Spirit for the past two weeks. I read Bobby Conner’s book, The Story of Ruth, the Romance of Redemption. He has done such a fine job of revealing the Present Truth of this prophetic perspective that I will be teaching from that book as well as the Scriptures.
Last week a certain member of our church related a vision which was given to her. She saw a small church in a large field of grain. The combines were harvesting the grain and an enormous grain harvest was being gathered in. She told me, she thought that to be Eastgate Ministries, Inc. a/k/a Little White Church.
Page 37-38: Bobby Conner: “We reap what we sow. If we sow to righteousness, we reap righteousness. If we sow to the flesh, we reap of the flesh corruption. One thing about reaping is that it is always a bigger amount than that which was sown.
Ruth 1:22: So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
Here is a significant point to remember, every harvest in the Bible deals with a dispensation of God dealing with His people---and, every harvest is mentioned in the Book of Ruth. She arrives there in Bethlehem at barley harvest. Why barley harvest? Barley was the grain that the High Priest was to offer for the jealousy offering. It was for when a man or woman played or was even suspected of playing with adultery. We find that Ruth was there through the barley harvest, the wheat harvest, and the corn harvest. Every one of these harvests deals with a dispensation of God dealing with His people. Do you believe we are at barley harvest? Do you believe God is a jealous god? Do you believe He’s tired of us playing the harlot? Do you believe that to be a ‘friend of the world is to be at enmity with God?’ (James 4:4-5). We need to understand that the barley harvest really means something here---every one of these harvests really means something pertinent to us.
Once I was speaking to Dr. Billy Graham about the time we are in being harvest time. He placed with weathered hand upon my shoulder and looked deep into my eyes and said, “Son I was reared on a farm and one thing I know about harvest time—it is short. When he said that, it went off in me like a bomb. We cannot say, “There are four months and then will come the harvest.” Christ said that now is the time to lift up our eyes and se tour vision on the ripe harvest.
We have Naomi, the “pleasant one,” and we have Ruth, the “arm and welcoming one” and they are out of Moab. Now, think of the Church. The church is out of the “land of loose living.” Do you see this is for us? God has brought us out---to bring us in. Go ahead and say that out loud. If feels good. He brought us out---to bring us in. We are out of Moab, the land of loose living. Do you think the Church has spent some time in Moab? Do you remember the early 1950’s? There was scandal after scandal striking some of the big healing ministries. Then in the early 1970’s, there was scandal after scandal again due to loose living.” (End of Quote)
I am going ahead in this story and then come back to chapter Ruth 3.
When I first started the church in Baton Rouge, I had an open eye vision. I saw chaff on a threshing floor. A wind came through and swept the floor clean except for a handful of grains of wheat. The wind separated that which was not of God. The good seed became the church of Eastgate Ministries. (Vision given to Carolyn Sissom) “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, says the Lord…” (11 Corinthians 6:17)
Page 74: Bobby Conner: “The real us is exposed when we come to a threshing floor. One of the first open visions I had, that I shared publicly, was about a threshing floor, Winnowing, sifting wheat, throwing away the chaff and keeping the good. Do you remember where He says He’s winnowing? At the threshing floor. What does that mean; winnowing? They take a big, three pronged fork, stick it into the stubble and toss it into the air. The wind blows the chaff away and the grain (good fruit) settles to the floor. They do it again and again. Have you ever felt like you don’t know which end is up? Well, welcome to the threshing floor. (Vision given to Bobby Conner)
Another way that they separated the grain from the husk was to let a big animal walk on it, and sometimes they used a big grinding rock. You might say, “I don’t know why I’m going through this pressure.” Welcome to the threshing floor.’(End of Quote)
Page 55: Bobby Conner: “Where is the Church headed? The Church has now been brought out of the land of loose living and from the corner of the field to the center of the field. Notice this as well: As Ruth is brought out, her boundaries get narrower but her authority gets larger. She is brought from a country (Moab), to a city (Bethlehem), to a field, and we are going to find out where she goes beyond that field.
Would you like to know where the Lord wants to bring the Church? If I had but one word to share with the Body of Christ right now, it is Ruth chapter 3. The Lord is saying, “Meet me tonight at the threshing floor.” We have been so deluded and deceived that we thought we could meet Him in the “throne floor.” He wants our Faith at His feet at the threshing floor.
Naomi who is a true “type of the Holy Spirit is going to tell Ruth how to prepare herself to have this engagement with the Lord at the threshing floor. You pastors and leaders need to study the threshing floor. Every time you find “threshing floor” in the Scriptures, you find God’s people coming into a deeper intimacy with Him. What happens at the threshing floor? Separation takes place and the husk, the counterfeit, the fluff and that which is not the heart of the matter is separated.
Aren’t you glad we are out of the land of loose living? I am aggravated at Elimelech for leading them down to Moab. He represents people who claim they know Him, but they really don’t. We had better watch out when the blind are leading the blind or we will all end up stumbling.”(End of Quote)
Page 71-73: (Ruth 3: 14-15) “And she lay at his feet until the morning; and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, ‘Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor’. Also he said,’ Bring the veil that you have upon thee, and hold it’. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city.”
When we come to Him, He doubles what He gives? We are in the end-time and we receive the double anointing. When she worked all she could get for her efforts was half of what he freely gave her. But now she has come to him, and all she has to do is lay at his feet---more can be done near Him than laboring on our own.
She gave the grain to her mother-in-law. (Verse 18). Then said she, (Naomi), Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest until he has finished the thing this day.” (Ruth 3:18)
Do you believe we are in “this day” spoken about in Ruth 3:18? God has called us to the floor. What is going to take place at the threshing floor? Every time you find the threshing floor in the bible, you find an encounter between God and His people…Gideon tested God at the threshing floor. David stopped the plague at a threshing floor. Uzzah died at the threshing floor of Nachon.”(End of Quote) Ruth was redeemed at the threshing floor.
Bro. Conner goes to admonish the church to stop lingering over the land of leftovers. I believe we have left that land at Little White Church. I believe we have a fresh anointing of the Angel of His Presence. I along with many of you am aware of the blessedness of this Presence and we are guarding it from the pollution of the “system” priests, “Temple Prostitutes”, “superstars” and “elitist”.
He says, “The Lord is bringing us out of the corner of the field to the center of the field. At the center of the field we will find purpose. We will find an engagement with Boaz, but the ultimate result is something else. In Ruth 4:13, we learn that Boaz married Ruth, went into Ruth impregnated her, and she had a baby.
(Ruth 4:17) “…and they called his Obed; he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.”
Page 93: Bobby Conner: “Obed means “one with the servant’s heart.” Obed was the good fruit produced out of the union of Boaz and Ruth, symbolizing Jesus and the Church. That good fruit was a servant. God wants to come and change the whole philosophy of the Church. He wants us to start birthing people who have a servant’s heart. Jesus said he did not come to be served, but He came to minister. He came to give His life as a ransom. Many times we have said, “Oh! Come on and get saved and become a Kingdom superstar.” No---the real way is to become a servant.
I challenge you to study the words servant and submission. Both words speak of intimacy of relationship. The word “servant” is from the Hebrew “Ebed” and was used to prophetically speak of Jesus.”…for, behold I will bring forth my servant, the Branch.” (Zechariah 3:8). The word servant not only means slave and subject, it also means worshipper. Servants were not only salves; they were ambassador’s ministers, messengers, and officials.”
Page 5 &6): The Lord took Ruth out of Moab in order to bring her in to His purposes for Ruth… It is a picture of redemption…Boaz appears as the kinsman-redeemer who redeemed his Gentile bride; Ruth is a type of the Church, the Bride of Christ.
Pages 93 & 94: God brought her out of a country to a city, from there to a field, then to a corner of a field, from the corner of the field to the center of the field, from the center of the field to a threshing floor, and from a threshing floor to a city gate. And finally, He took her from a city gate to a marriage bed and from a marriage bed to the lineage of Jesus Christ. That is amazing to me! The women of Ruth 4:14 prophesied. They said, “…that his name may be famous.” Obed’s name is famous.
Ruth 4:18-22: “Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. “
In Matthew, we find the entire lineage of Jesus Christ recorded. “…Salmon begat Boaz of Rachab; and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth…Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” (Matthew 1: 5 & 6)
I plan to order several copies of this book to give as gifts. I have only touched on the beautiful story and revelations revealed in this book.
As a guest minister here, Bro. Conner expressed his burden for ministers to be trained to gather in the Harvest. I have a similar burden. For too long, the church has been training superstars who are part of the idolatry of the world system. These are trampling on the harvest and gleaning the tithes and offerings.
We need pastors and apostles who will raise a standard of righteous servants. They understand their redemption is free, but it is not cheap.
“And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12 NAS) (B.C.) “You see, you don’t stay at the threshing floor; it’s a place of separation. You go to the barn or to the fire.”
Taught by: Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Text quoted and paraphrased from The Story of Ruth, the Romance of Redemption by: Bobby Conner, Demonstration of God’s Power, Publisher, P. O. Box 1028 Moravian Falls, N.C. 28654
Quoted by permission of Bobby Conner, Scripture from King James Version