In this sermon, the speaker reflects on their personal experience in the Sinaiya Desert and how the Lord provided for them through a cloud. The cloud not only protected them from the extreme temperatures but also created a different atmosphere for the two and a half million people in the desert. The speaker believes that in the end times, God's people will need to be as sensitive to the Holy Spirit as the Israelites were to the cloud. This sensitivity will enable millions of Christians to move in harmony, be at the right place at the right time, and provide support to those in need. The sermon concludes with a prophetic description of the close of the age, emphasizing the purging and judgment that will occur before God's restoration and the presence of the cloud and fire as a symbol of fellowship with God's people.

When we got to the other end of the journey, out of four soldiers I was the only one that didn't go into hospital. And that was thanks to the Lord. But the Sinai Desert is burning hot in the day and bitterly cold at night, because sand loses the heat so quickly. And so the Lord had to provide for both. And he did it by the one means of the cloud. In the daytime it was a cloud that overshadowed them. And you must get the picture that it didn't just, wasn't just a little pillar, but it overshadowed the whole company. Two and a half million people were covered by this cloud. And they were in a different atmosphere from anybody else in that desert. They took their atmosphere with them wherever they went. And if you consider the design and the details of the tabernacle that they built, you'll see it had four coverings without any windows. It would have been unbearably hot, if it had been exposed to the rays of the sun. But I am really convinced that the Lord actually air-conditioned the Sinai Desert for his people. I mean I seriously believe that, because I don't think the story would be possible in any other way. That cloud changed the temperature. They were in a completely different atmosphere. And then at night it gave them the two things they needed, light and warmth. And it was that to them for 40 years through the wilderness. And when you think that Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as the comforter. How could you better picture that, than providing the shade by day and the light and the warmth by night. So this was their constant companion and provision throughout the whole desert journey. This heavenly atmosphere went with them. Now think in terms of preaching with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. This is not just something inside them. It was a presence that went everywhere with them and completely changed their environment. And I'm convinced that every child of God, walking in the will of God, being led by the Holy Spirit, has a right to have heaven's environment with him wherever he goes. And I believe the unbelievers should feel it. They should be aware there's something different where we are before we open our mouths or say or do anything. And in the British army I proved that in my experience. I didn't ever have to tell people. I remember one soldier, as most British soldiers do, cursing violently. I didn't say a word. He suddenly blushed bright red and turned around and said, I'm sorry I didn't know you were here. See there was a presence. He felt embarrassed. And that's how it should be. Exodus 14 verses 19 and 20. Now I want you to notice these words very carefully. The angel of God which went before the camp of Israel removed and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud went from before their face and stood behind them. If you can picture it. When the cloud first came down. I'm no good at drawing but here's the camp of Israel. All these people are marching. You might not know it but they are. The cloud came down over them like that. Now when the Egyptian army came from here. Here's the Egyptian army in Russian tanks. They were going to catch up with God's people. But the cloud moved like that. And stood there. And stood between the Egyptians and Israel all night. Now you work this out. Every one of those Israelites was baptized in the cloud. They were immersed in the cloud. Because the cloud went right over them. Every single Israelite entered into, passed through, and came out of the cloud. That's a baptism. Then it stood there. Now let's read what happened when it stood there. Verse 20. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. And it was a cloud and darkness to them. Who's them? Egyptians. But it gave light by night to these, Israel. We've got now the presence of the cloud here. To these people it's darkness. To these people it's light. That's what the Holy Spirit is. To the unregenerate, unconverted, it's dark, mysterious, incomprehensible. The children of God it's light, warmth, encouragement. And it separates. That's why I was thinking of that chorus you sang. Holy Spirit I appreciate you. You lead me and guide me. And in danger you hide me. It's very, very true. You know we had some friends, that are remembered by quite a number of us here. Two Russian Jewesses that escaped from Soviet Russia in the most fantastic way. Well they were converted in a fantastic way. They were brought up as atheists. And finding they had nothing to live for, they were planning to commit suicide by throwing themselves in the river. This was in the middle of World War II. And a Baptist pastor from Leningrad, who was right in the center of Eastern Russia, where they'd all been evacuated because of the war. Was directed by the Holy Spirit to go to this home. He didn't know them. He knocked on the door in the evening. And when they let him in, he said what are you doing? What are you going to do? And they were planning to commit suicide. And they were so astonished at somebody coming and asking them what they were going to do. That they began to talk to him. And they spent the whole night talking. None of them went to bed. By the morning they were believers. And when they went back to the airplane factory where they were working. Without their saying a word. People said what's happened to you? Have you come into money? They looked so different. And they witnessed boldly. And eventually they knew they were going to be arrested. They determined to escape from Russia. Which was incredible and unheard of. So they got on a train that went westwards to the border. And at the border of Poland, the whole train was stopped. And everybody was compelled to get out. And the train was searched from end to end. But they sat in the train. And the Russian soldiers came through the train with flashlights searching it. And when they got to the carriage where these two girls were sitting. They prayed and said Lord make them blind. And they shone their flashlights right over them. Walked past them and never saw them. So in a very fantastic way. Which took about two hours to tell. They eventually got to Israel. And were there in the siege of Jerusalem. And were without food or money. And they prayed and the Lord spoke to them audibly. And said go to the house of Mr. Prince. They didn't know me. They didn't know I existed. But they inquired and found their way there. And came in. My wife met them at the door. This was in the middle of the siege of Jerusalem. In 1948. And they didn't speak much, very little English and not much Hebrew. And so we hadn't much way of communicating with them. But they had a Russian New Testament. So my wife sat down with an English New Testament. And found all the places that spoke about the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the English New Testament. And they knew enough English to find them in the Russian New Testament. So they sat there and talked together for about an hour. Said we'll come back on Wednesday. Came back on Wednesday. And we prayed with them from ten o'clock in the morning till four o'clock in the afternoon. And the Holy Spirit fell on the younger girl. And she had an experience I've never seen equal anywhere. She was, her eyes were streaming with tears. And she began to worship the Lord and singing in an unknown tongue. But it was absolutely not like a human voice at all. It was like a wind instrument that was being played by the Holy Spirit. And she was singing something that reminded me of the music of Bach. So they became our friends. And we remained in contact with them for many years. But why I mentioned that was you see, in that carriage sitting there, they were surrounded by a presence. That the guards couldn't see through. And the flashlights couldn't shine through. It protected them. It came between them and the Egyptians. This is our right as children of God. We have the right to this supernatural presence. Now look on in Exodus 14 verse 24. And it came to pass that in the morning watch, the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians. If you study those three verses that I gave you in that chapter, you'll see that when the cloud moved, the angel of the Lord moved. So the angel of the Lord was in the cloud. And next morning it says, not the angel of the Lord looked out of the cloud, but the Lord Jehovah looked out of the cloud. So in that cloud was an angel who was also Jehovah. Who's that? The Lord Jesus Christ as we know him today you see. The messenger of God who is himself God. So in that cloud was the actual personal presence of their Redeemer Jehovah. Parallel this with John 14. Jesus said I'm going away. But when I go I'll send another comforter. And then he said I will come to you. How? In the comforter. So Jesus comes back in the personal presence of the Holy Spirit. Just like the Lord was in the cloud and was their Redeemer. Now let's look on to Exodus 33 verses 7 through 11. Now this was the point at which Israel had committed idolatry. Before the real tabernacle was built. When Moses came down he took his own tent. The King James translation doesn't make it clear. I'll tell you what does. The Amplified Bible if you want to read there. Moses took his own tent, moved it right outside and said this is where I'm going to live because you people are just not fit to live with. I'm going to read from verse 7. Moses took a tent or his tent not the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp afar off from the camp and called it the tent of the meeting. See it certainly wasn't the tabernacle that was later built because the tabernacle was right in the center of God's people. Always it had to be there. And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the tent of meeting which was without the camp. There are times like that amongst God's people when God's presence isn't in the midst. And if you want God you've got to go out. Most of us that have come in through the Pentecostal movement have been in situations like that. Where if you wanted God you had to go for yourself because there just wasn't a crowd there. Verse 8. And it came to pass when Moses went out unto the tent that all the people rose up and stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses until he was gone into the tent. And it came to pass as Moses entered into the tent the cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses. Where was the Lord? In the cloud. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door and all the people rose up and worshipped every man in his tent door. They stood and bowed before that cloud. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend. We'll stop there. But you see the cloud brought the presence of the Lord face to face with Moses. Moses could speak to the Lord in the cloud face to face as a man talks to his friend. That's what the Holy Spirit does. He brings the Lord so close to you that you can talk to him face to face. And then in Exodus 40. The last chapter of Exodus. Verses 34 through 38. Now all I need to do now is read the scriptures really because you can fill in the details for yourself. Once you've got the cloud identified every detail speaks. When Moses had finished. Now this was the real tabernacle. Which was in the center of the camp. When Moses had finished the tabernacle then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Where did the glory of the Lord come from? The cloud. The glory is associated with the cloud. And Moses was not able to enter into the congregation because the cloud abode thereon and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud were not taken up then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day and fire was on it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. So provided you keep in step with the Lord. Don't go ahead of him and don't lag behind him and don't stray to the right hand or to the left. You are entitled to have the cloud over you all the time. But if you find it very hot and tiresome and bothersome maybe you're not moving with the cloud. Because the cloud doesn't move where you move. You move where the cloud moves. Some people have got their own program and ask the Holy Spirit to bless that. But he doesn't. He sets the pace. Leviticus 16 2 And the Lord said unto Moses speak unto Aaron thy brother that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat which is upon the ark that he die not for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. So you see again the personal presence of the Lord is in the cloud. Now let's go on to numbers. I've got two passages in numbers. If you want to know the book that really deals with the cloud it's the book of numbers. You want to take a concordance for yourself and look up every reference. You find that there are more references in the book of numbers than in any other book. Numbers 9 15 through 22. Now this is the most beautiful passage. If you can picture yourself now and your relationship the Holy Spirit in these terms. And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle namely the tent of the testimony. And at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire until the morning. So it was always the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle then after that the children of Israel journeyed. And in the place where the cloud abode there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed. And at the commandment of the Lord they pitched as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. You know the problem with many believers is they don't know how to rest. They want to be busy. They've got a program. And the Lord keeps the cloud there. Think of that they were one place nearly one year. You spent one year in one place in the desert. I spent a good many weeks. Believe me it gets wearisome. But you have to learn to rest. If the cloud stays you rest. I believe if God's people learned this there'd be no heart attacks, no ulcers, none of these pressure diseases. If God's people would learn to rest under the cloud. Verse 19. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and journeyed not. And so it was when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. And so it was when the cloud abode from even unto the morning that and the and that the cloud was taken up in the morning then they journeyed. Whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up they journeyed. Sometimes the cloud would lift in the middle of the night and they had to get up and start off. Believe me if you've ever had to get up in the middle of the night in the desert and start off it's quite a problem. They were fantastically well organized. I remember when we were in the desert we never allowed to take our boots off for weeks on end because in the middle of the night if you get up and got to do something you're groping for your boots. You're a dead loss by the time you've got your boots on. So all these things are very vivid to me. See the ability to move two and a half million people in the middle of the night is fantastic organization. How was it done? By the cloud. And do you know I believe God's people before this age closes will have to come to the place where they are as sensitive to the Holy Spirit as Israel were to the cloud. As I understand it the strategy of God at the end of this age means millions of Christians moving in harmony. Going all over the world, being at the right place in the right time, sending money to the right person who needs it. And that's going to be achieved only when we become sensitive to the cloud. Numbers 10, 33 and 34. What does that have to say? I'm not sure. Yeah. Numbers 10, 33 and 34. And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days journey to search out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day and they went out of the camp. So God went before them in a cloud to search out a resting place. Now let's turn to the book of Psalms and just take two quick references there. Psalm 78. Which is a description of the journey of Israel through the wilderness. And it's interesting, let me point this out. In verse 22 of Psalm 78, it says God was angry with them. Verse 22, because they believed not in God and trusted not in his salvation. And if you look at the context, salvation means every provision of God. The cloud by day, the fire by night, the water, the manna, everything God did for his redeemed people in the journey through the wilderness is called by one word and that word is salvation. And I think today many of us grieve God and he gets angry with us because we don't trust in his salvation, his total complete provision. Now with regard to the cloud, look just at verse 14. Psalm 78 verse 14, in the daytime also he led them with a cloud and all the night with a light of fire. And Psalm 105 and verse 39. Psalm 105 verse 39. Again it's a description of their journey. He sprayed a cloud for a covering and fire to give light in the night. Notice the cloud was spread over the whole company of God's people. If you think of what the space is covered by about two and a half million people with all their cattle and all their equipment. It's a vast area was just overshadowed by the personal presence of Almighty God. All that time, 40 years through the wilderness. And again I say you and I are entitled to that. We're entitled to have the overshadowing supernatural personal presence of Almighty God with us wherever we go. And in all our ministry and in all our experience. Now I want to take you to one picture of the future. This is our last scripture tonight Isaiah chapter 4. Now this is a prophetic description of the close of this age. And it relates particularly to Israel and to Jerusalem. And it's worth looking at it for a moment before we get to the actual passage that I'm looking for. Because it tells us some things about what's going to happen on the earth. And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man saying we will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel. Only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach. Now I understand this the way I'm explaining it. You may feel otherwise. What was the reproach? Having no husband. Which is the normal way that's used especially in Isaiah. So for every seven women there's going to be one man. And they say you won't have to provide us with food or clothing we'll work for ourselves. But give us your name so that our children will bear your name. What does that tell you? That at some time between now and then there's going to be such tremendous wars. That the majority of the male population will be killed. I think that's very clear. And it could happen tomorrow. It's not impossible. And the earth will be desolated. There'll be no food there'll be no crops nothing. In that day verse two shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. There's going to be a supernatural productivity restored to the blasted earth. I tell you the world is going to need a man who can feed five thousand men plus women and children with five loaves and two fishes. He's going to be practically needed. And when the world is ready for him he'll come. Verse three and it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy. Even everyone that is written among the living in Jerusalem. The survivors of the end time battle in Jerusalem. Everyone that survives will be set apart as holy to God. You can read more about that in the last chapters of Zechariah. Verse four when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment by the spirit of burning. There's going to be a tremendous judgment. Now after God's people have been purged by judgment and cleansed then God will be restored in fellowship with his people. And this is the description of the fellowship. Verse five the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. There is the cloud back see. Cloud by day and fire by night. God's people should never be without it. And when they're reconciled to him restored to his favor there it will be. Now the last is the most beautiful picture. For upon all the glory shall be a defense. But where it says defense I think you find it says in the margin a canopy. How many of you have ever attended a Jewish wedding? You know they have a little canopy under which the bride and bridegroom stand. That's the Jewish word chuppah. So this is beautiful. When the Lord is married to his people the chuppah, the canopy will be God's glory. And his fellowship with his people will be under that canopy of glory which will be the cloud by day and the fire by night. And God's people will be back in perfect fellowship and harmony with him. So praise God for that.