THE TREE

by Tony Alamo

One beautiful, warm Los Angeles evening at our Canyon Country church on Sierra Highway, I stood outside the front door of the church to enjoy the evening before I went inside. The church was packed with the lost and the saved from the Hollywood/Los Angeles area. Some attendees were from other churches. Some were lost souls who had come to hear the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and receive a free meal after the service. We’ve served meals after each service for more than forty-two years.

In the Saugus/Canyon Country area, which is a mountainous area of Los Angeles, the night air was wonderful and calm. I was enjoying the smell of the night blooming jasmine. I always enjoyed looking at the mountains and other scenery, as well as a huge oak tree near our church, which we used on the cover of one of the church’s first musical recordings. In the photograph, many of the young people of the church sat on the tree’s limbs. It was a huge oak tree, so powerful-looking that it looked like a cartoon, unreal. I thought it was the strongest-looking tree I had ever seen in my life.

While I was admiring its huge size, obvious strength, and age, I was praying to God, saying, “Lord, make me as strong as that tree.” The Lord audibly spoke to me saying, “You will have to be hundreds of millions of times stronger than that tree.” I said, “What?” He repeated, “You will have to be hundreds of millions of times stronger than that tree.” Those words from the Lord amazed me because I felt that if I were as strong as the tree, that would be sufficient. I felt that if I was that strong, I would be stronger than Samson in the book of Judges.1 It seemed utterly impossible to be hundreds of millions of times stronger than the tree, even though I knew that God is always right.

I looked at my watch and knew that it was time for me to get into the church and open the service. As I went into the church, I was astonished, and I asked, “Lord, how could anyone be stronger than that tree, let alone millions of times stronger than that tree?”

After I stood behind the pulpit and prayed, I opened the service by telling the congregation exactly what the Lord had just told me. I wasn’t more than three or four minutes into my sermon regarding this tree and what God had told me when we all heard a tremendous crash out in the parking lot where the tree was. The crash literally shook the entire building. A lot of people ran to the window while I was saying, “Wouldn’t that be something if that was the tree?” They turned and said to me, “It is the tree! It has fallen down! It’s lying on the ground!” Everyone seemed totally shocked and full of fear. We looked out the window and saw that the dead roots were sticking up into the air. This lesson from God was exceedingly shocking to me and to everyone else who witnessed it. There was no breeze outside. The air had been very still all night. The tree was at least forty or fifty feet tall. Its branches spanned an area even larger than that, and the trunk was twenty feet or more in circumference.

The majority of people today feel that the problems they are having in this world are insurmountable. They have trouble believing they have the power God says they have. They feel that there are circumstances in the world that are too big, too great, and too powerful to be dealt with, but God proclaims, “All things are possible to him that believes” (Mark 9:23), and “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phlp. 4:13). By this I mean that God tells us we are hundreds of millions of times more powerful than whatever we see and whatever we think is strong in this world. The things of this world many times look to be much stronger than they really are to the mind of a novice, just as the huge tree looked to me when, in reality, it was dead. I have more faith today than I had thirty-four years ago, and more faith than I had yesterday, which shows me that the more we read the Word, and through time experience the truths of what God says, our faith is greatly increased. Patience is a virtue!2 Mere moments after the Lord told me I had to be hundreds of millions of times stronger than that tree, He confirmed it to me and to the entire congregation by allowing it to fall down, shaking the church building and rattling the bones of everyone in the church.

The people of the world who are not saved, and even many of those who are born again of the Spirit, trust in the things of the world and doubt God’s power in themselves. We are able to do all things in the power of God (Phlp. 4:13). The power of God is His Spirit.3 “The law was given by Moses, but [power] and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). They feel that doctors, nurses, medicine, big trees, etc. are more powerful than God, when in reality the power, the Spirit of God, is hundreds of millions of times more powerful than the strongest-looking thing on this earth, in this world. The Word of God says, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain [or insurmountable problem], Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and NOTHING shall be impossible unto you” (Matt. 17:20). The truth, the power of God, which is the Spirit, is hundreds of millions of times more powerful than any powerful-looking thing in this world.

Many people believe that today’s one-world government, church, and media at large is like a great tree whose branches reach throughout the entire world.4 The people of the world are saying today, “Who is able to make war with [the beast]?” (Rev. 13:4). The beast is the anti-Christ world government, the false prophet, which is the false church, and much of the media powered by that great red dragon, the devil (Rev. 12:3, 9), whose seat is in the city of the seven hills (Rev. 17:9), “which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18). All these seem incredibly powerful to those not knowing the Word, the power of God, just as the gigantic oak tree looked incredibly powerful to me on the night it fell to the earth.

God’s Word states that the things of this world are powered by Satan, and tells us that Satan’s power and Satan’s things are weak and beggarly (Gal. 4:9). Love not the world, for all that exists in the world is lusts! (I John 2:15-17). Yet Satan, with his propaganda, makes most people in the world believe that the things of the world are mighty, powerful, and stronger than God. You can hear their foolish braggings, can you not? Why are people unable to remember that God created everything, and everything is subject to His power? The exception is those who resist Him, not knowing that the judgment is at hand.5 The Lord asked David, Psalm 2:1-5: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.”

Because sin, violence, and lawlessness have grown to today’s magnitude, God, who drowned the entire world, wants everyone to know that the world and everything in it that resists Him will burn with a fervent heat.6 He has the power to do that. He not only has the power to do that, He will do that! God cannot lie!7 What He says He will do, He will do, and soon!8 Jesus said, “ALL power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18).9

I’m glad God gave me power over my enemies! Jesus said, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in Heaven” (Luke 10:19-20).

There is no weapon in the entire universe more powerful than the Word of God.10 This is the weapon Jesus chose to create the heavens and the earth, to destroy the heavens and the earth, and to make a new Heaven and a new earth, all because of sin, Satan, lusts, death, Hell, and the grave.11 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” (II Pet. 3:10-12).

Daniel saw a vision of the beast, the seemingly insurmountable Antichrist.12 He was seeing the figure or type of government that we see in the world today. I had never before noticed the word that he used to describe it, that it was “dreadful” (Dan. 7:7, 19). The Lord showed me a vision of the beast, the one-world government, its mouth, which is most of the media, and the cult, which is Satan’s church. Again, Satan’s seat is the city of seven hills.13 Daniel used the exact word to describe it. It was dreadful to see, dreadful because of its overly intimidating look. I couldn’t look at it for more than a fraction of a second. Its look was immense, grotesque, awful! It looked more powerful than anything I’ve ever seen. Again, it was enormous and fierce. The height of it was from the earth into the heavens, extremely intimidating. It was like an unbelievably huge robot, and its face looked at me with more anger than I ever thought existed in the entire world. It was obvious that it wanted to quickly destroy me. It was moving so fast and it was so close that I thought I’d been had. It didn’t move like humans. When it was coming toward me, it was moving from side to side. It was awesome because of how huge it was. To see something that enormous running toward you in anger is paralyzing. Its head and teeth were huge and made of iron. Its mouth was wide open, and there was fire coming from inside the eye holes, the nose, and the mouth, like a burning furnace was inside. The fire in it was much hotter than the fires in the furnaces of the steel mills in Cleveland, Ohio. I used to live there. It was coming for me, just as the one-world government, Satan’s church in the city of the seven hills, and most of the mass media has come after me, my church, and other Christians throughout the world. My only defense against it was the blood of Jesus, the Word of God, so I quickly came against it in the blood of Jesus. When I did, it quickly disappeared. This shows that the Word of God and the blood of Jesus are much more powerful than it is. The Word of God, the blood of Jesus, is the most important thing in the world for all who are ready to fight the good fight of faith against the evil powers that exist in this world today. This is the true Antichrist (I John 2:18). Again, we overcome this wicked anti-Christ power, the entire world system, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony (Rev. 12:11).

To further describe this beast, Daniel said this fourth world kingdom was “dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth [triangular]: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was [different] from all the beasts [kingdoms] that were before it; and it had ten horns” (Dan. 7:7). The reason it is different than all previous kingdoms is because it encompasses the entire planet.14 Today’s one-world system is much different than any other system that has been in the world before, but the Lord is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). God will simply destroy him with the Spirit of His mouth, or in other words, with the Word of God.

II Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 8-12 state, “Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

“Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:12). In other words, Satan knows that he’s doomed. He knows that he is finished. When Jesus, on the cross, said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), He meant that Satan is finished. The old world is finished, and the same goes for the old Heaven.15 The mystery of God is finished (Rev. 10:7), and “there [shall] be time no longer” (Rev. 10:6). As soon as the seal of God is on the foreheads of the 144,000 Jews, the four angels in chapter seven will begin hurting the earth and the sea with all the plagues from God in rapid succession. Then shall the wicked people of the earth begin understanding the power and might of God Almighty.

When the Lord says there shall be time no longer, this means that judgment and eternity is all that is left, either an eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven for the servants of God, or an eternity in Hell and the lake of fire for those who served Satan, for his cult in the city of the seven hills, for his world government, and for those who believe the lie of it all.

The word “revelation” means unveiled. The mystery of all these things can be understood only at the time of their happening. That’s why we know that all these things are happening today. The mystery of God indeed is finished (Rev. 10:7). It’s just a matter of people making a decision as to whether they want to be in Christ and receive an eternity of His blessings in Heaven, as well as His blessings more abundantly on earth, or whether they want to turn them down. If your decision is to say no to God, you’ve called down your own condemnation. Now is the time to make your decision. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2).

Revelation 22:11 states, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” This shows me that we humans have the power from God to choose where we will spend eternity. It’s either Heaven, or it’s Hell and the lake of fire. There are no other options. If your choice is to spend eternity in God’s paradise in Heaven, then say this prayer:

Prayer

My Lord and my God, have mercy upon my soul, a sinner. 1 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. 2 I believe that He died on the cross and shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of all my former sins. 3 I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit 4 and that He sits on the right hand of God at this moment, hearing my confession of sin and this prayer. 5 I open up the door of my heart, and I invite You into my heart, Lord Jesus. 6 Wash all of my filthy sins away in the precious blood that You shed in my place on the cross at Calvary. 7 You will not turn me away, Lord Jesus; You will forgive my sins and save my soul. I know because Your Word, the Bible, says so. 8 Your Word says that You will turn no one away, and that includes me. 9 Therefore, I know that You have heard me, and I know that You have answered me, and I know that I am saved. 10 And I thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving my soul, and I will show my thankfulness by doing as You command and sin no more. 11

You've just completed the first step in a series of five steps which are necessary to receive salvation. Your second step is to deny yourself and take up the cross daily for the purpose of mortifying yourself, that is, for putting to death your own will, your soulful self, and the world with all of its lusts. All these must be baptized into the death of Christ.

Step three is your resurrection from the satanic life of Adam unto the sinless life of Christ. Step four is your ascension into a position of authority to reign for God on earth, and the fifth step is to reign for God on earth to the end for the purpose of bringing about the kingdom of Heaven on earth. You must learn the Word of God, then submit yourself and do what the Word says, so that the Church and the world may see evidence of your submission to God's Word, His order, and His authority in and by you.

Praise the Lord. May God reward you abundantly.

Pastor Tony Alamo

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"The Tree" footnotes:

1 Judg. 14:5-6, 15:14-15, 16:2-3, 6, 28-30 return

2 Luke 21:19, Rom. 15:4-5, I Tim. 6:11, Heb. 6:12, 10:36, 12:1, Jas. 1:3-4, 5:7-8, II Pet. 1:5-8, Rev. 3:10, 14:12 return

3 Gen. Ch. 1, Job 26:13, Matt. 12:28, Acts 1:8, I Cor. 1:24, Eph. 3:16-19 return

4 Dan. 7:23, Rev. 13:1-8, 16-17, 17:1-2, 15, 18, 18:1-3, 23-24, 19:2 return

5 Phlp. 2:9-11, Col. 1:16-17, II Pet. 2:4-9 return

6 Isa. 51:6, II Pet. 3:7, 10-13, Rev. 21:1 return

7 Titus 1:2, Heb. 6:18 return

8 John 5:26-29, II Pet. 3:9-10, Jude 14-15, Rev. 2:7 return

9 Psa. 102:25-27, Isa. 24:19-21, 51:6, Heb. 1:10-12 return

10 Matt. 5:17-18, 8:16, 24:35, John 1:1, 14, Heb. 4:12-13, Rev. 19:13 return

11 Isa. 65:17, Col. 1:16-17, II Thes. 2:8, II Pet. 3:10-13, I John 2:16-17, Rev. 11:18, 21:1-2 return

12 Dan. 7:7-8, 19-26 return

13 Rev. 17:9 return

14 Dan. 7:23, Rev. 13:1-8, 17:1-2, 9-18, 18:1-3, 23-24, 19:2 return

15 Isa. 65:17, II Pet. 3:13, Rev. 21:1 return

"Prayer" Footnotes:return to top

1. Psa. 51:5, Rom. 3:10-12, 23 return

2. Matt. 26:63-64, 27:54, Luke 1:30-33, John 9:35-37, Rom. 1:3-4 return

3. Acts 4:12, 20:28, Rom. 3:25, I John 1:7, Rev. 5:9 return

4. Psa. 16:9-10, Matt. 28:5-7, Mark 16:9, 12, 14, John 2:19, 21, 10:17-18, 11:25, Acts 2:24, 3:15, Rom. 8:11, I Cor. 15:3-7 return

5. Luke 22:69, Acts 2:25-36, Heb. 10:12-13 return

6. I Cor. 3:16, Rev. 3:20 return

7. Eph. 2:13-22, Heb. 9:22, 13:12, 20-21, I John 1:7, Rev. 1:5, 7:14 return

8. Matt. 26:28, Acts 2:21, 4:12, Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14 return

9. Matt. 21:22, John 6:35, 37-40, Rom. 10:13return

10. Heb. 11:6 return

11. John 5:14, 8:11, Rom. 6:4, I Cor. 15:10, Rev. 7:14, 22:14 return