"The Endowment"
by Earl R. Curry

QUESTION NO 4: Must the people and ministry of the Church pass thru a 
                        time of very great trial, or calamity, or judgment, before 
                        the day of judgment?
                                                                                        
Yes, for many there must come such a time, and all must pass thru it.
The finest blessing, the most gracious bestowal of more than Pentecostal power,
        cannot come to men whose trust is in worldly wisdom and the arm of flesh,
        neither can it come to such men as are self-centered, or arrogant, or proud, or
                         overcome with surfeiting, 
        or whose lives are filled with a multitude of interests which are of little lasting 
                value,
        nor can it come to any whose hearts are hardened and insensitive to spiritual
                guidance, 
        or whose spiritual perceptions are of low order, or as mere crumbs from the
                bounteous table of the Lord.
        
It will not come to any number, or set of ministers, who in their own wisdom and 
        counsel, bring the 
                ways, and
                 means, and 
                methods of the great and abominable church, 
                        or any of her worldly daughters and 
        seek to substitute these for the 
                simple, the 
                unpretentious, but yet 
                all deeply spiritual ways of the Lord.

It cannot come to those 
        whose hearts are impure and 
        whose lives are stained, sometimes very deeply 
                with the sins of negligence, 
                or extreme preoccupation with the affairs of the world, 
                or failure to make the great concerns of the Lord their great concerns, 
                or are light-minded, 
                or are ignorant of the word of God, 
                or know not the word of the prophets, 
                nor see the starkly clear signs of approaching catastrophic crises.

It is impossible for it to come to men who, 
                in this day when the long foretold judgments of the Almighty 
                        are about to sweep over the earth, 
        are concerned with little more than the churches of the world.

Woe unto all such for they stand in the way of the Lord of Hosts,                 
        hindering, terribly hindering His great work. 
Judgment shall not alone fall on a grossly sinful world, but
         it shall also fall upon those of the church, 
                and even ministers who could have known the deeper things of the Lord, 
                        but do not.

Yes, a time of calamity must come and is near at hand.
        Men think they have arranged ways that shall guarantee their security, 
                regardless of their worthiness in the sight of the Lord. 
                         Those ways will fail.
        Men think now they are so wise there will be no more panics or depressions or 
                times of mass unemployment or great want. 
                        In this they know not the future.

The present abundant streams of prosperity shall dry up. 
        Conditions shall change, for like the backward swing of a giant pendulum 
                it shall swing farther back than ever before.
        Already the world is filled with troubles and problems whose solution defy the
                wisdom of your great statesman.
        War and disintegrating forces set in motion by the emissaries of Satan shall
                increasingly add to the perplexities of men in these latter days.
        Power now in the hands of man to destroy cities will be used. Cities and 
                strongholds will be thrown down, 
                        even as shown to the prophets of ancient America.

By all these things shall 
        the heart of the world be humbled and 
        the hearts of the people of the church as well.
By these things shall you understand 
        that it is only as you lean very heavily on the arm of the Lord's power 
        that His great work can be done. 

Always there has been a great trial before a spiritual blessing. 
        And thus must it be now. 
                Men, in general, must learn obedience by what they suffer.

Yet, all who will, all who see, 
        may now prepare themselves.
Blessed are all such as shall draw close to the Lord 
        in lowliness of heart, 
        in great love, sacrificially, and 
        in great faith. 
                Such will be pillars of strength to God's people 
                and they shall be instruments of power in His hands. 

Yet, be not dismayed because of this coming day, for 
        out of your trials and sufferings shall come a new nearness to spiritual things.
        Out of trial shall come compassion.
        Out of disaster shall come new willingness for brotherhood.
        Out of downfall of cherished, but mistaken, ways and notions shall come a 
                new willingness to consider the high way of God.

You must suffer with them to save them, 
                even as Jesus suffered for all mankind.
        The mighty blessing of great spiritual power, that shall come to the church 
                        as the Eternal Father meets the church's desperate need, 
                shall be so altogether 
                        worthwhile, and
                         joyous, and 
                        far-reaching
                 that when that day comes, all trial and suffering of the past 
                        will be as a forgotten evil dream.

Oh My people, be not deceived. God does not want any of you to blunder along in 
        these momentous days and times, 
                like a man stumbling thru the darkness of night.
It still is true, as spoken by Amos of old, that the Lord 
        will not do any great thing or                 
        permit great waves of commotion or destruction to overwhelm
                without warning those who love Him. 

If you are filled with a Godly concern, 
if you become of great faith,
if you will call on Him in mighty prayer,
if you will prepare yourselves,
if you will go apart 
        into the quietness of the woods or hills or desert places, 
                or best of all, 
        into the solemnities of holy sanctuaries--
        into places where you can listen for the still small voice--
                behold,         
        He shall wondrously show you what lies ahead.
        He will show it to the spiritually awake among you, 
                be they aged or young,
        God would make you strong for these times.
        He would have you take such steps in preparation as only He can show you.