Anointed Ones At The End Time #10
An Irrevocable Juncture#2187
Shall we pray.
Heavenly Father, we’re very grateful again to know for surety that You’re here in the form of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
And we’re very glad Lord, to know that we have seen what is possibly, have seen You Lord, we know that we cannot see You with a mortal eye but we’ve seen the evidence and we know that the Word has not failed this hour that You have visited the Gentiles to take a people out for your Name.
So Lord, by grace, we believe that we are part of that people, others around the world also Lord, making one great unit, one great body, but… and we thank You for them Lord, but… and it’s good to do that because we don’t want to put any undue emphasis upon ourselves, and yet Lord, it’s something we must be exceedingly grateful for to believe that we ourselves are a part of It.
And so Father, we just commend ourselves now to the study of Your Word that’s left to us by a prophet. May it bring light to our souls, may It bring power in our lives Lord, may it do that which It is supposed to do which we know is going to get us ready and put us into the rapture be it the way of immortality, these things we thank You for them in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
You may be seated.
Now this is number 10, on The Anointed Ones of the End Time, and in this message we see that the constant rejection of new light or revelation of the Word as God gives it from time to time, or from age to age from Luther until now, ends in a total rejection of the restoration message of Elijah and consequently of Jesus Christ who is in the form of the Holy Spirit and men crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh.
Now what we’re saying here is that as the Bible tells us that the Word of the Lord has always come in part and especially from the time of Luther there has been a reformation which would eventually lead up to a restoration which restoration we have now.
Now history has always shown, and I don’t think there’s any way that anybody can refute it, in fact there’s no way, that people have always rejected the light and it’s called a new light although it actually is not a new light, it’s the old light brought to the people’s attention so they can have it for their hour.
And in this last day because of what has been going on for all of these hundreds of years there will not be a change in the trend. People will refuse the light of this hour but the tragic thing is they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh.
As Brother Branham said it so beautifully, “See,” he said, “in this day God has given us the gift of His Son in the form of the Holy Spirit.”
Now this crucial rejection that brings about the destruction of all humanity according to Malachi 4 has proceeded from Luther until now and what we might call an orderly unobtrusive manner through fallen stars. Now the fallen stars, of course, are fallen angels.
Now that doesn’t mean that Luther fell. It doesn’t mean that Wesley fell, or those involved in Pentecost, that is from 1906, actually fell. What it is they left what God gave them. What Luther had was left, what Wesley had was left.
In fact Wesley one time said, “I’m not afraid that the name of Methodists will vanish from off the face of the earth; but the power of God from amongst them will.” And that’s almost a verbatim quote.
So we’re speaking of here now that that there’s been what you might call a falling away from the Word and a constant deterioration in a manner that’s kind of unobtrusive; it hasn’t been really noticed.
We’ve been sort of inured with the thought that, all right, things get a little bit dead and then God just sheds some light enough to bring that generation out, that is the people elect in the generation and so on, and so it’s kind of difficult for people to realize that that something is going on and has been going on and must come to an end and that this is the end.
It’s not so unobtrusive anymore but at the end time the last star in coming does not foster a church exodus that falls but brings her to restoration and the rapture. Now, that’s also promised in the Word.
However, as a coup d’état God Himself sends a delusion upon the completely fallen church. Now it’s completely fallen because the falling away has been unobtrusive. It’s, you just can’t put your finger on it, it’s just deteriorate, deteriorate.
However, at the end time there’s going to be an absolute drop where there’s going to be a complete separation of God and that church.
Now, at the end time, however, there will be a messenger who has to come who will be able to bring the church to a place of restoration so that God can receive it in spite of this constant falling, falling until there’s nothing left of that church but an antichrist spirit.
Now, He does this by allowing a genuine anointing, that is the end time comes about, so there’s a complete destruction and yet a Bride can get out of here at this same time.
He does this by allowing a genuine anointing of the Spirit upon all flesh so that false prophets arise with such signs as to attract and deceive all but the very elect.
Now then, combine the influence of the fallen stars, all organizations, with all the false prophets and we see all but the very elect are deceived, and therefore, cursed. Now since no man wants to be cursed, all people turn away from hearing their judgment.
And Brian Kocourek just read me an article from a sermon by William Eisenhower in the Presbyterian Church who brought out this very thing that people absolutely do not want to hear judgment and they do not want to hear cursing so the gospel has come to a place where there is no genuine repentance from sin, there is no genuine turning away from evil and no genuine understanding of what lies ahead and what is obtaining in this very minute.
Now last Sunday we read much about cursing because it was involved in paragraph 107 where Brother Branham says here that these two prophets in confrontation epitomizing the true and the false, Jeremiah as the true and Hananiah as the false, representing organization, where Jeremiah is representing God.
[107] And Hananiah wanted to show he was… just as big as Jeremiah. [And he said,] “You know they don’t like you, anyhow, Jeremiah. And… I’m a prophet, also. In fact, I’m a… prophet more than you are, because Jeremiah you’re prophesying a lie. You tell me that God’s people are going to be in such-and-such a length of time in captivity?”
[Now the confrontation is there and Brother Branham’s comment on that confrontation was:] That’s what they say today, but you’ll be there just the same, as a church. [In other words, your church, you’re going to be there.] You’re accursed with a curse. All you churches, denominations that are holding to their traditions of men instead of the Word of God, you’re cursed by God.
Now the portion we didn’t read along with Deuteronomy, chapter 28 and also, Matthew 3:11, 12 was over in Revelation, the 16th chapter, so that’s where we’re going to go, and we’ll read what evidently is under the vials and poured out in the Great Tribulation.
(01) And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
(02) And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
(03) And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.
(04) And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
(05) And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
(06) For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
(07) And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
(08) And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
(09) And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Now a lot of this could well be simply the outworking of what man has done with nature, and because the Bible says, “That God will destroy those who destroy the earth,” some of these things could become… should actually come upon the earth because of what man has done with his inventive ability which has pulled him down.
And he said,
(09) …men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. [See, that repentance in there.]
(10) And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
(11) And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their [pain] and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Now you can see here what kind of a system is it that they will be living under where they got this beast, he’s supposed to be God to them, and they’re blaspheming the very God of heaven.
You can see that there is certainly a very… a terrible religious condition, spiritually.
(12) And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
(13) And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, …out of the mouth of the beast, …out of the mouth of the false prophet.
(14) For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of [the] great day of God Almighty.
(15) Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that [watch], and [keeps] his garments, lest he [should] walk naked, and they see his shame.
(16) And he gathered them together into a place… in the Hebrew tongue [called] Armageddon.
(17) And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
(18) And there were voices, thunders, lightnings; there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
(19) And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
(20) And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
(21) And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the [plagues] of the hail; for the plague… was exceeding great.
Well, that’s just a portion in the Book of Revelation of the curses that are coming upon the earth because men have turned down the Word of God.
So that makes us understand as perhaps as we have not previously understood that every time there is a promise of God given there always is the blessing and the cursing and you cannot get away from it.
The blessing, of course, is to those who by diligence pursue the things of God, the revealed truth; the curse will go to those who by the same diligence go away from the things of God as given for that hour.
Now we’re going to continue then on paragraph 108, and see how far we can go.
[108] Now notice, here he comes. Hananiah jerks this yoke off of Jeremiah’s neck, of which the yoke was a symbol from God, and Hananiah broke it, and said, “THUS SAITH THE LORD. In two years they’ll be back.” Hananiah was just a showoff, he said, “I’m So-and-so.” …he was an organizational prophet.
Now in here, you find that this fellow does a very childish thing. He does not have anything to back him up, except his arrogance, his pride, and his denomination, and what he figures to be his own experience that he’s going to palm off on somebody else and there’s nothing to it.
Now it’s a sad thing to say but I’ve seen this in Pentecost where a person would try to prove his point by speaking in tongues to somebody that doesn’t believe in speaking in tongues.
You don’t prove anything to anybody by such nonsense. I’m not saying the gift wasn’t genuine. I’m not saying the gift wasn’t of God and I’m not saying the person who was being spoken to in tongues, though it meant nothing to him because Paul said, it’s just a barbarian speaking in the air; I’m not saying that person might not even blaspheme the Holy Ghost by calling it of the devil.
But you see, there’s a lot of things that are nothing but hot air. They’re just nothing but people getting together and deciding this is the thing to do.
But when it comes to the Word of God there’s only one thing that to do and that is the Word of God within the framework of the Word of God and to believe anything at a juncture if a man calls him prophet… himself a prophet is to see the thing thoroughly brought all the way through instead of just listening to something.
Now Brother Branham himself knows that he is thoroughly vindicated of God so that whatever he says then will stand the test of God Himself, that the thing will come to pass. All right.
[109] Jeremiah was a wilderness man who lived by himself.
Now again you’ll notice that Brother Branham is going always to the wilderness, and that’s true because much of Israel was a wilderness, and the prophets would come storming out of there. Brother Branham was a wilderness man.
And you’ll notice he spoke of the man’s nature having to be one with the spirit that was ordained for that hour. And Brother Branham’s nature was ordained to be like Elijah’s and you’ll find that most prophets run in this mold. They are loners. They have to be loners.
And whether they themselves would want to be loners; they have to become loners. You’ll notice that Brother Branham spoke about it himself, even almost cried about it. Okay.
[109] …he lived by himself. He prophesied evil against them all the time, because they were evil.
Now I want you to notice here that this was an irrevocable junction. Now Jeremiah could have gone before God and said, “Now, Lord, look these people have begun to soften up. They are beginning to repent and surely, Lord, we can postpone this thing.”
God says, “No way! No way!” A juncture comes, God cuts off. That’s the end of it.
Now as I say most people do not want to accept this because nobody wants to see himself cursed. Nobody wants to see himself thrown in jail.
Now they can swindle all the money out of the bank, they can do horrible things to people, pull everything in the book and out of the book over people and then want to stand back and say, “Well, it shouldn’t happen to me.” Well, who should it happen to?
America’s got this thing messed up: the poor little women and men that get mugged by these gangsters out here, these horrible things that can’t even be called beasts when you see a nice intelligent dog living a nice life walking down the street.
And yet they’ll do everything they can to make him comfortable, give him TV’s, every nice thing in the prison, but they got no… nothing to give the victim. Do you think God’s going to stand that? Oh, come on. Nobody wants to see himself cursed and so nobody even wants to believe anything is going to happen.
Well, I’m going to tell you something. You’re all sitting here getting older, and you all feel good. But if the Lord tarries you won’t feel so good, and what are you going to do about it? See? People just don’t want to know that this is the time there’s a juncture, this is it.
[109] [Now these people, he says,] he prophesied evil against them… because they were evil.
On what grounds are they evil? Now he’s talking about today; never, never, never think he’s talking about yesteryear: these are examples of today.
(10) And he [said] unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. [Juncture. What time is at hand?]
(11) He that is unjust, [will remain] unjust… he [that] is filthy, [will remain] filthy… he that is [evil, will remain evil. He hasn’t got a chance.]
At this juncture all you can do is cry to the rocks and the mountains later to fall on you. “Hide me from the wrath of the Lamb.” It’s over. You’ve missed it.
Now I know that we all sit here, we like to think we’re nice people. We are nice people. We’re nicer than God most of the time. See? Because we won’t give God credit for doing what God’s going to do and the means whereby He’s going to do it but He’ll be doing it.
See? Now I’m not trying to get any vengeful spirit in this congregation but I’m trying to get you to understand this is the Word of God and it is going to prevail because this is juncture and you can’t change it. The die has been cast and you can’t pull the hand of God back.
Now this comes, absolutely, from Revelations 10:7. Well, we could… the 6th verse, we’ll say.
(06) And [he] sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created [the] heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
In other words, there’s no more delay. Now even at this period of time it’s going to feel like a delay but I’ve got news for you, there is no delay. It is started and it’s going to go plumb on until the curse is upon this earth and everybody is wiped out.
Then at that time there is nothing left but the White Throne judgment for those that are wiped out. So therefore, the White Throne judgment is here. The White Throne judgment is a now judgment as to its certainty and its immanency.
Now nobody want so believe it. I’ve preached the Judge years ago. They’re just trying to catch on now. They’re not going to catch up, I don’t believe. I’d like people to catch up. It would be very nice if we get people caught up. I doubt if they’ll catch up.
Now can they understand this? That the same Judge there, if that be the Judge and we believe it is, and we believe He’s here, and we believe He’s already passed judgment as we’ll read a little on later in this message here.
That’s White Throne personage, so therefore, White Throne now is the message. Miss this it’s the White Throne and the lake of fire. In other words, it’s immediate. There’s an urgency. Okay.
It never was certain until this hour that this would come and you just put your finger right on the White Throne at the same minute you’ll put your finger on Malachi 4 because it says, “A burning, root and branch.”
So therefore, this visitation of God in promise and wrath is White Throne.
Now you do what you want but that’s the prophet said that. I’m only repeating and trying to make it clear to you although some preachers wouldn’t agree that we have the ability to do this.
They certainly let their people sit there and not know these things. Well, I’m not in that category. I’m going to clear my skirts.
Let me read it for you just in case you think I’m giving you something that’s not on the record. Malachi, okay, now he says here,
(01) For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: [and remember this is a proud generation: we’ll find that in 2 Timothy]… and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, …it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And Brother Branham put that right down to the lake of fire. So, all right, there’s an eminency here, and it’s irremediable, irreversible, and you’re into it now whether you want to believe it or not. See? Same person. Okay.
It never was certain till this hour and this hour was not certain until the days of the Son of man was… proved it to be so. The days of the Son of man dramatized the Judge.
Those days bring either destruction and the first Resurrection and nothing further obtains as the judgment until the whole… until the White Throne and all the burnt earth and the burnt earth now sets a scene for it.
So what we’re going into, you see, it starting. In other words, I want you to know we’re into history which you can’t turn back. Okay.
[109] He prophesied evil against them… because they were evil.
The people didn’t want it. Matthew 24:40, and here again is something the prophet said,
(40) [There] shall be [two] in the field; one taken, [one] left.
(41) Two grinding at the mill; one taken, [one] left.
This is the separation of the people by the Word. This is not the separation in the rapture, though many people think it to be. It is not. This is where you get the separation.
Now, and Brother Branham continues.
[109] And this man was telling them, [This fellow Hananiah] “Oh, you’re all right as long as [you’re an Israelite], that’s all that is necessary. [You’re all okay as long as you’re a church member, speak in tongues, do this, that.] God [isn’t] going to do that.
[That’s put you in captivity and keep you there and let you just die out there, two generations. Now,] I know there’s a little something happened here, but don’t be alarmed, [du Plessis said,] don’t be scared [“My, that’s nothing to what the prophet says.”]
Why they don’t want Brother Branham upsetting their apple cart. “Why, we love LA. We love the spirit out there.” Well, how can a Spirit of God love anything out in Hollywood out there? I went out there more times than you can shake a stick at; it ain’t worth it.
[“Oh,” he said, “there’s nothing that] a little something happened here, but don’t be alarmed, don’t be scared.” Oh, brother, they still live that way today. “Don’t worry, everything is all right. We’ve got everything under control. We’re the Church.…
We’re telling you. We’re the refuge. We’re setting the order.” Who started that? The Roman Catholic Church, we speak for God. Hogwash, they speak for God; the Protestants don’t either.
[110] So he said, “Everything is all right. They’ll be back in two years. There’s a little thing… happened. It’s nothing unusual.
“That big quake in Alaska didn’t mean a thing. The prophet really didn’t, you know, it has nothing to do with the fact of the world, we’re ripping and gouging the rocks out there, well, you know. No big deal, you know, those things, why there’s been quakes been going on for years, you know.”
Just let Nebuchadnezzar come up here, and our God will take care of all this.” [See? “No matter what comes, hallelujah, we’re standing in grace, we’re okay.” See?] But the Word said that they would be there seventy years; till that generation had faded away, and another generation came on. And forty years [is] a generation.
In other words, literally two generations.
Now let’s notice how God deals with generations. Let’s go to,
(35) That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.[Now what’s he talking about?]
(36) Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Now nobody wants to believe that. Why should we suffer for everything they did? How many thousand years have you had of illicit sexual intercourse where you can put a virginity belt made of iron on a female and she’d still break it and the man would break it? Seven petticoats couldn’t keep people apart, but now they’ve got AIDS.
They’ve started a strain of gonorrhea that they can’t knock out. And if the lick AIDS something worse will come. “Oh, it shouldn’t happen to this generation.” Why are we reaping? Because God said you’re going to reap.
Why are you sitting here weak tonight most of you folk? You haven’t got near the stamina I had and my wife had because we’re the old generation.
You can’t go to a doctor and find in your genes what we got in ours. Our kids are hopeless mess alongside of us, and our granddaughter is three times as bad and our great grandkids haven’t got a prayer.
You wonder why I try to feed you vitamins and things and get you to take care of yourselves? Because if you don’t nobody else will and then you’ll blame it onto God, I suppose.
God tells you these things, the prophet told you these things, then just don’t sit there. I’m not trying to make health nuts out of you but it wouldn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt anybody to try to take care of themselves.
Because upon this generation. You suddenly think there’s going to be vitamins and minerals in the earth? Brother Branham said, “It’s depleted. There’s nothing in the food. Your body’s going to mush.” And he said, “What about your brain?”
My brain’s pretty keen, seventy-two. It’s a whole lot keener since I took my body toddy, and I’m not advertising this stuff either. I care less if it’s body toddy, horse milk or who cares, or three shots of scotch with four ounces of cream or something. Who gives a rip what it is?
The point is, look; this generation is not going to pass away without being hit. This is the hit generation, not the hep generation. They brand themselves the Cats, the Beetles, and God knows what, that’s there cats are to be kicked out because they caterwaul and beetles are to be stepped on.
They call themselves devils and everything else and they are. Brother Branham talks about them. We’re trying to show you something here; this generation. See?
And he said, “It can’t go longer than into the next generation.” It started. Okay.
Let’s go to Revelation, chapter 18, we done better than last Sunday, we went back one paragraph. We’re going to get three more paragraphs this time. Okay.
(20) Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
(21) And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
(24) And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Now she got hit from century one to six thousand. You say, “Why me, Lord?” Because that’s what God said; and the elect miss it. Now if you want to miss it there’s only one way and that’s for Elijah to do something, or whoever Elijah, or whatever God means by Elijah, you’d better find out.
But nobody’s interested so they fold their hands and they just dream their lives away.
You know what you do when you stay in bed too long? Then you can’t get out of bed, you weaken your muscles. You can’t keep abreast of things. You go soggy in the head. You go soggy… your muscles just go soggy, and that’s what’s wrong with this generation. It’s asleep at the switch.
And the Bible says, “Wake thou that sleepest and arise from amongst the dead, and Christ will give thee light.” See? They don’t want it. They simply don’t want judgment. Okay.
Now, they’re standing back denying the Kremlin’s bomb, as well as, LA going down but they’re going to get it.
Now they make a sort of mental assent concerning it and they see a danger but they do nothing about it. And then they sit back and think God did nothing about it.
The church did nothing. It pretends it’s doing it and it hasn’t got anything to really work with, then they say, “Well, God didn’t do a thing.”
You know, listen, I’m going to tell you this is a very serious condition. See? You can’t swim, and you deny that anybody else can swim. Something’s wrong somewhere.
[111] This is almost two generations you’re going to be down yonder and Jeremiah said it according to the Word of God.
[111] …Jeremiah said, “All right. Amen.” [To Hananiah,” Sure,” he said, “I hope you’re right but I know you’re wrong.”] But, Hananiah, [Now Jeremiah speaking] But, Hananiah, let us remember this, we’re both prophets. We’re ministers.” And this I say… to you, my brother.
Now notice how Brother Branham is treating all these people. They were real nice fellows, respect to God’s ministers, just very nice, just telling, trying to reason with them.
Let us remember there have been prophets before us, and they prophesied against kingdoms, they prophesied against certain things. But, remember, when the prophet said anything, he must prophesy according to the Word. Like Micaiah, and Moses,…
And remember in Egypt before Moses ever came on the scene Joseph, the prophet had prophesied, “You’re going to be down here but God’s going to send you a deliverer, so therefore, remember when the deliverer comes take my bones with you. I want to be there in the Resurrection.” He knew Christ. See? So it’s got to be according to the Word.
[111] But, remember, when the prophet said anything, he must prophesy according to the Word. Like Micaiah, and Moses, and all the rest of them. [That means that no prophet can ever come on the scene without his prophecy being somehow in continuity somewhere with the rest of the prophets and the prophecies.] It must be according to the Word. If it isn’t, then remember what happens.
What happens is death.
So therefore, when a prophet comes, he must be… make a definitive statement with ample references as to their types in the Old Testament.
Never forgetting Amos the 3rd chapter, at a juncture when God is going to do something He sends a prophet. You know people don’t believe that today.
“Oh,” they say, “that took place back, you know, in the Old Testament. He doesn’t send prophets.”
“Well, how come? Who said so?”
“Well, it just stands to reason.”
“Who said that? Who said that?”
We’ve already been warned in 1 Corinthians… 2nd chapter, rather, that you cannot put your thoughts in the way of God’s thoughts. They are not accepted at all. You know nothing about it. Okay.
In other words, then when something is prophesied and we’re not speaking of moon landing and the circling any… the globe, we’re not talking of that. We’re talking of this hour here, this great time when only the elect are not deceived. There’s got to be something concerning it.
Now let’s take a look at prophecy and begin to notice something, how it’s got to come into continuity. The Word of God must flow in a certain order.
So we go to 61 Isaiah, back in Isaiah 61.
(01) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach [the] good tidings [to] the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to them that are [blind] [bound];
(02) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, [and then Jesus in Luke 4, closed the book. So there’s a period between] and the day of vengeance of our God; [and the comforting those] that mourn;
In other words, the day of grace closes out. Now, you’ll notice in here that two things were mentioned in verse 2.
Number one; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord: number two; to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God and to proclaim a comfort to those that mourn.
Now the question comes up, was there a proclamation concerning this first portion? The answer is yes, in Luke, the 4th chapter. Okay.
What about this in our day which is now coming up? All right. Let’s find out what we can see about it. It has to do with the end time destruction, the day of the vengeance of our God and, of course, I think about as good as any place to look is Hebrews, the 12th chapter.
Now we’ve studied this before but it doesn’t hurt you because I want you to know these Scriptures the same as I know them. Verse 25.
(25) See that [you] refuse not him that speaketh. …For if they escaped not who refused him that [spoke] on earth, [Who spoke on earth? Christ did.] much more shall not we escape, if we turn… from him [and they got the word ‘speaketh’; it doesn’t say that,] that [is] from heaven:
(26) Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
(27) And this word, Yet once more, [signifies] the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, [and] those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
(28) Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
(29) For our God is a consuming fire.
Now that actually is Malachi 4. People can say what they want, but you can’t put it any place else and being because it’s significant of the day of vengeance then somebody is going to have to make a proclamation concerning the second part of the second verse of Isaiah 61 which is the day of the vengeance of our God, and then give a message of comfort to those that mourn. All right.
Let us find out how that takes place in 2 Thessalonians, 1st chapter, verse 7.
(07) And… you who are troubled rest with us, [well, we could read 5]…
(05) Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
(06) Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
Now God said, “I’m going to clean up the whole show over all the two thousand years of the people that trouble you.”
Now He’s not going to clean the whole show up and bring them all out of the ground to do it. It’s going to fall upon the generation that the final trouble to these last day people.
Now watch what he says.
(07) And to you who are troubled rest with us, [relax, come into a place of relaxing. What time?] when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty [messengers],
(08) In [flames of] fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, …that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Now you notice that this is according to Scripture, literally Isaiah, because it does not say comfort those that mourn; it says announce the day of the vengeance of our God, then comfort those. So, the vengeance is no… is put down first in verse 8, and then it’s in…
(09) Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the [face] of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; [That takes you right to the White Throne. Now watch!]
(10) When he shall [have] come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
Now he’s telling you because a certain gospel, a certain thing preached, got these people ready for the day when God was going to comfort those that mourn, but He has to take vengeance on the wicked because He cannot bring them back here to the earth until the wicked are disposed of, then that same One there will meet them at the White Throne.
See, how this thing all lines up? You can’t get away from it. There’s no two ways. Nobody’s going to get away from it, because that’s the Word of God.
See, you see, when you talk about this, and you talk about the Scripture, you are talking about God doing everything in accordance with His Word wherein there are lots of precedence’s; there’s got to be, those which went before.
Now, Brother Branham said,
[111] If it isn’t, then remember what happens.
In other words, that prophet, death will come to that prophet. All right, then, for 112.
[112] Then, Hananiah, his righteous indignation rose up. And he said, “I’m Hananiah, …the prophet of the Lord, and I say, ‘Two years.’“ In other words, “I don’t care what the Word says.” His anointing said, ‘In two years, they’ll be back.’“ [Now what anointing did Hananiah have? He had the devil, a false spirit.]
[113] Jeremiah walked out from before him, went out and said, “Lord, I don’t care what Hananiah said, I still believe and know what the Word says so. I’ll stay true to You. I’ll not be deceived by him.”
Luther took the same stand, he said, “What can I do but stand here?” he said, “I can’t go back on the church… on the Word.”
[114] God said, “Go tell Hananiah, ‘I’ll make… the next yoke out of iron.’“ …because he did that, and because he did that he was taken from the face of the earth, Hananiah was, that same year. There’s our examples, both prophets. So many more cases could be mentioned and talked about at this time.
Now if you want to look up Jeremiah 28, that’s where it is. Now in the case where Brother Branham said Hananiah was taken off the face of the earth, you’ll find many people believe Brother Branham died because they figured he got too puffed up and he began making false prophecies and false claims so God destroyed him. See?
That letter I read from du Plessis shows that.
[115] But watch. Jesus said, that, in this end time, …the two spirits would be real close together again. Is that right? Now notice. It will be closer than that was back there. This is the end time.
See? Now you notice that Brother Branham’s gift of discernment is the one that they really went for but nobody could discern with accuracy as he did. They all made mistakes. But you notice there’s more and more discernment. Everybody claiming to have everything the prophet had.
[115] God have mercy on us! Oh, children! God have mercy on us!… ”It would even be so real till it would deceive the very Elect if that were possible.”
Now remember, there’s always going to be conflict. You can’t help it. There’s no way that God’s going to have a man sent on the earth and he’s going to be universally received. It just can’t be done.
In Hebrews, the 10th chapter, 32-33 you notice it said here, now this has to do with us.
(32) But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after [you] were illuminated, [you] endured a great fight of afflictions;
(33) Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
In other words, when you come to this message there’s no way that you’re not going to enter into a conflict. You’re going to be tried because of it.
And you mention the name of Brother Branham and you say you believe him, right away all the crazy things they believed about him, all the things that they said he said, which he didn’t say.
Like du Plessis said, Brother Branham prophesied California will go down on a certain date. He didn’t prophesy that at all.
Do you think Mr. du Plessis would bother to check to see if that was right? Of course, he wouldn’t bother to check. He wanted to mouth off like Hananiah. There’s no problem. You say, “Well, he’s still living.” I don’t care; there’s a White Throne coming. Let’s find out who’s right.
I’m staking everything I’ve got and what I believe, and he’s staking everything what he’s got on what he believes. Let’s see if being footsie with the pope and the ecumenical society is going to pay off or not. Let’s find out.
If these men that say the ecumenism is the greatest thing that ever struck the earth, even men like Norman Grubb. I lost all faith in Norman Grubb. You say, “He’s Bride?” I deny he’s Bride in the very words that cut his own throat.
How are you going to falsely testify to the Word of God and be Bride? You say, “Well, maybe he was another generation.” Well, he’d have to be I’ll tell you that much. I’m not condemning the man; I’m standing on what I believe. You don’t condemn anybody just because you’re right.
Their condemnation lies in the fact that they didn’t take the truth. You say, “What if I’m wrong?” then I’m condemned; it’s that simple. I’m not saying anything different. If they’re right; I’ve missed it. And if I’m right; they’ve missed it.
You say, “What if you’re both wrong?” We’ve both missed it, it’s just that simple. Both can’t be right. We can both be wrong. So you got to remember that.
Now, the very elect would be deceived except for this, so very close you see. Okay.
[115] Now, how… did we tell it in those days? How are you going to tell it today? The same way, stay with the Word, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
Now he proved that, but did they believe it the way he proved it? No, because they said you haven’t proved anything because they couldn’t see that Hebrews 13:8 was what it was which was starting mainly back in Genesis 18, we saw how God moved in a way that He’s never ceased moving which is by prophets.
And just because we haven’t had a prophet for two thousand years doesn’t mean anything. I don’t understand people. They think God’s got to send a prophet every fifteen minutes? No, He does what He wants to do.
[115] Now, and when you listen to the tape, [Now watch this.] even maybe I’ll be gone someday when the Lord is finished with me here on the earth, [now you see they think, well, God took him off like Hananiah] you’ll refer back to this. Listen to my voice, what I’m telling you.
If He takes me before His Coming, [not Appearing now, His Coming] just remember, I’ve spoken to you in the Name of the Lord, by the Word of the Lord.
In other words, he’s telling you he spoke in the Name of the Lord, THUS SAITH THE LORD, that the thing which I tell you is going to come to pass and this is proof that what I tell you in the Scripture is here now, this is that hour and this is what it is all about. The rest couldn’t do it. See?
[116] Notice, “It would be so close together that it would deceive the Elect if it were possible,” just do the same signs, the same miracles, by the same Spirit. Is that right? Just like the prophets were that we just talked about, prophets.
Now watch this little trick here, you see, it’s easy to look back and see how false these prophets are. Anybody can do that. Ask anybody in church, I don’t care if… just he knows tiddlywinks about the Bible, but he knows a little bit.
You say, “Hey, what do you think about that fellow Balaam? Was he a false prophet?”
“Oh yeah, he’s false.” A lot of folk back there looking at Balaam didn’t think so.
“Now what about that fellow Zedekiah?”
“Oh, he’s got to be false.” Millions back there didn’t think so.
“What about Hananiah?”
“Oh, he’s false.” A million back there didn’t think so.
Now you got a bunch of false prophets now and a true prophet. Are they going to run true to nature? Yes sir, very few are going to believe the true prophet.
Poor old King Josiah back there, all of Israel went right for Ahab and his bunch of dummies, spiritual ignoramuses. Then they gave old Josiah a snow job, and he almost got killed. What a mess! Okay.
Now once you looked back it’s not hard to see it explained but to look at in the face they cannot take it. Let’s go to Matthew 23 and 29 again, that’s the chapter there that’s… the chapter that fits us because it’s a… Christ again to this generation…
(29) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because [you] build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
(30) And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we… [sure would have recognized old Hananiah and Zedekiah for what they were and old Balaam, you bet your sweet life. He said, “You bunch of liars. Who are you trying to kid?”]
How in the world could it be otherwise if God is going to destroy that generation for all the sins of everybody before them? You’d have to be stupid not to understand this. You’d have to be spiritually sick. When have times ever changed? Never!
It’s just the same when you leave this earth and go to the next place, you will not change one little bit except your geography and you won’t take your body with you, but you’re going to be the same person, identical same person. You’ll be feisty just like old Samuel.
“What did you bring me up for anyway?”
Oh yeah, you won’t change. Who ever thought you’d change? Are you kidding? Think it over. Once a prophet, always a prophet: they don’t change.
“What have I got to do with you?” he said, “You didn’t believe me when I was on earth, what you bring me up for to believe me now? Are you crazy? You don’t believe me now. I’m going down again. Get out of here. But I’ll tell you something, you’re going to die and your son is going to die with you. It’s gone.”
“Well,” he said, “you said that before.”
“Do you think I’ve changed my mind? I’m the same old Samuel.” It kind of makes you feel good in a nasty sort of way, doesn’t it? When you think, hey, it’s going to be a showdown; we’re going to get vindicated after all. See?
Matthew 23:
(30) …If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
(31) Wherefore… be [ye] witnesses unto yourselves, that [you] are the children of them which killed the prophets.
(32) Fill… up… the measure of your fathers.
(33) [You] serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can [you] escape the damnation of hell? [He said,]
(34) …behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; …some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Did that really happen? Not really. It happened to the Gentiles, just a very small measure it happened in past history.
Did God send a lot of prophets to Israel from that time on? No, the blood and the life turned to the Gentiles. They got all the stars, the witnesses.
What’s going to happen in this generation? You know what’s going to happen, brother/sister, we’re talking about it, come on. Okay. That’s about as far as we need to go isn’t it? All right.
People have an idea that Brother Branham was here only to set an example or start a trend for what would follow. His singularity is denied.
But, remember, Jesus never came as an example but as a promise fulfilled and all contingent to that promise, so if William Branham was Elijah he never came to set a trend or to be an example.
He was the Word of God fulfilled for this hour and he did what he was supposed to do. Now that’s what people cannot understand. They don’t understand it. And yet when you talk about, I told you, “Did Jesus come to set a pattern or a trend?”
“Oh, no, no, no, He came to deliver; He came to do this, do that.”
“He really?”
“Yes, He did.”
“What’s Elijah going to do?”
“Well, now, you see, you leave us in a fog; let’s just put Elijah in the corner here.”
“What if Elijah’s really got to come?”
“Well, he’s going to come to the Jews.”
“What if he doesn’t come to the Jews?”
“Well, we just…” They get nervous.
You know, women are especially that way; they get cornered, they get nervous; a perfect type of the church. Yeah, perfect type of the church. Men get nervous too, but not like women. A man will sock you in the chops. A woman’s got to stand there.
Now listen! Brother Branham was a prophet. Do you think women sock his chops, too, Don? I guess they might do under certain conditions.
Brother Branham speaking of prophets according to Deuteronomy 18, and Numbers 12: the prophet that prophesied in the Name of the Lord and the thing came to pass you feared him because you heard what he had to say and you obeyed it if something was there to obey or you simply believed if something was there to believe, and it took its natural courses.
Numbers 12 is where God spoke face to face with a prophet, then He spoke face to face with Paul and now people will deny that a man like William Branham could come on the scene and say, “God spoke face to face with me in a Pillar of Fire.”
They say, “Well, He doesn’t do it anymore.” Where does it say He doesn’t do it anymore? “Well, He’s… see what He does; He does this about Jesus, sent the Holy Ghost.” Is that a fact?
Well, does that prove that He doesn’t do it? Now we don’t have any reels anymore but does that mean that somebody couldn’t make one.
Now I tell you what man can’t do; he cannot bring back the passenger pigeon, but God’s not dead. So God can do what He wants.
Now you see there’s got to be a pattern somewhere. Now men have consistently denied the pattern. Let’s find out. I don’t know if I’m sharp enough to find it but let’s pretend I can.
Let’s hope it is Psalm 101, no, it’s Psalm 103, okay.
(07) He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
Israel only saw the acts, they never learned the ways. The Bible said, “You never learned my ways.”
Let’s find out what God has to say about everybody and everything included.
3rd chapter of Hebrews, 7:
(07) Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if [you] will hear his voice,
(08) Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of [the] temptation in the wilderness:
(09) When your fathers tempted me, [tested me] proved me, and saw my works [for] forty years.
(10) Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do [always] err in their [hearts]; …they have not known my ways.
(11) So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
(12) [Now Paul said,] Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
By what? Turning away from what he has to say you based upon vindication. That’s the way of God. Moses learned it.
Do you think people know that today? William Branham learned it. What makes anybody think they’re going to learn it because he learned it?
[117] Also it is written. Let’s turn to it… if you want to, Second Timothy 3. Let’s not leave this one. And I don’t want to…
[118] …look at the clock up there, and I want to omit a lot… but I don’t think we should do it now. …If I’m up here, perspiring like I am, then you can take it down there, see, …I’m happy. …I know…this is true.
[119] [Now Brother Branham says in Timothy, 2 Timothy 3:8. Now that’s not correct. In Galatians,] Paul was the man who said, “If an Angel comes from Heaven and speaks any other word to you than that what I said, let him be accursed,” now, an Angel came down. That’s… Thessalonians 2… Oh, I’m sorry.
Now I want you to notice something here. That Brother Branham should not have said he was sorry concerning 2 Thessalonians because he’s quoting actually from Galatians, Paul said, “If an angel come down from heaven and say anything other than I say then let him be accursed.”
And then he said, “Now an angel came down.” What angel came down? 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1: it’s already happened. The mighty messenger came down in Revelation 10:1, right? Revelation 10:1, okay, then what about this one? All right…
(07) And to you who are troubled [relax]… when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty [messengers],
So if a messenger came from heaven and says anything other than what was said there’ll be a curse, so now Brother Branham is telling you and you’re going to find it all lines up with the Scripture, the same as it did with Paul. All right.
[120] Notice in… Second Timothy 3… Paul. Watch Paul speaking now. Let’s begin with about, oh, …the first… verse, and listen real close. You that have your Bibles, read with me. You that don’t have your Bibles, but listen close.
…This know also, that in the last days… [Now that’s a period of time.] Underline that, [he said,] “last days.” That’s when it’s going to happen… perilous times shall come. (We’re in it.)…
What are the perilous times? Now let’s find out. What are the perilous times? We go back to Matthew, chapter 24 and find out about perilous times. We’ve been through this two or three times now.
Let’s go through it again. Okay…
(03) …he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him [saying] privately,… Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy [Presence], and… the end of the [age]?
(04) And Jesus answered and said… Take heed that no man deceive you.
(05) For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
And, of course, we go to 24 and what does it say there?
(24) For there shall arise false Christs, [even lying] prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive [even] the very elect.
(25) Behold, I have told you before, [so therefore, don’t have anything to do with it. It tells you right there, perilous times.]
Now if you want to get in peril you fool with these guys. Now Brother Branham said, “Leave it alone.”
I know people you might get very sick and say, “Well, I got cancer. I got a bad case here and I think I’m going to so-and-so and get healed.” You go right ahead if you want.
You might wish that you had died, because you know you could even go to witchdoctors thinking he’s God and he’ll do something for you. Now this kind of puts us very close.
Brother Branham said, “Take this message for your healing.” The trouble is we’re not serious enough. If we were more serious we’d have more healings.
But that’s still not going to put vitamins in your spaghetti. You get vitamins from raw vegetables and raw fruit, good live things that God provides in this earth for people that want to smarten up and do the right thing.
Perilous times; we’re in it. Okay. That’s since 1946, that’s forty-one years: ‘87 coming right up. That’s a long time. Okay.
[120] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, [In other words, they’ll prefer themselves over Elijah. They’ll be] covetous, [they want popularity, big ministries, they’re coveting gifts and things. They’re] boasters, [See? What’s a boaster? Well, he talks beyond himself, makes himself bigger than he ought to be. He’s]
…proud, [he’s full of self-love, puffed up; blasphemous, he’s already blasphemed the Holy Ghost], disobedient to parents, [that’s just not kids, that’s these guys. What does the Bible say about children of parents? Prophets. They’re disobedient to parents, the parents are the prophets. They’re entirely disobedient to the Word of God.]
…unthankful, [no appreciation] unholy, [Sure, they’re unholy. Why? Because they turned down the Seals: Revelation 10… 22:10. Okay.]
[121] Look at this bunch that we got today, rotten. Even in the men… on the street, young men, pulling their hair down on their foreheads, …with bangs like… women. Perversion! Sodomites!
These are the forerunners of AIDS. You say, “Men with long hair?” Yup, sure, they look like women and they act like women. They take the place of queens, don’t they? What are they called? Drag queens or something?
You can look at some men and you can tell… you know, I don’t know how that Liberace won that court case, when he looked like one and he was one: filth of the universe, Hollywood and all that stuff; the forerunner of it. You start to look like women; you’ll start to act like women. See, homosexuality.
[122] Did you read… this year, in this month’s Reader’s Digest? Said, “The American people at an age,” which I think it was in their twenties, “between twenty …twenty-five… are already in their middle-age condition.”
They’re finished! They’re rotten! Science says that, that a man is in his middle age, and a woman, when they’re… in their… twenties. Their bodies… so rotten and given over to filth. Okay.
[123] Oh, America, how oft God would have hovered you, but now your hour is come! You lead the world in filth…
Now how does God hover? Now we read that in Matthew 23. “Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent to you, how oft I’d gather thee, thy children together as a hen gathers her chickens.” Okay.
“Behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men.” How does He do it? He does it by His Word, the message; the coming together is by the body of Christ, the revealed Word of the hour. Okay.
[123] You lead the world in filth… blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, … [Now that’s what happens when you leave the Word.] No true love… for even one another, man to woman, woman to man. “Not even natural affection.” Just filthy, sexually!… [sexual filth] trucebreakers,…
In other words, they broke their truce with God. The other churches all were supposed to live right before God; they broke the… they’re trucebreakers.
Now so God can go on the warpath. You know when you break a truce, the other fellow goes on a warpath, war is declared. So God has become a God of war. See?
[123] …false accusers, [against the prophets] incontinent, [self-indulgent] fierce, [war-like; oh, they’ll come right out and fight you.] …despisers of those that are good.
They cover up their own sins, and excuse everybody else’s. They cover up their unbelief. Excuse their peoples, lead people astray.
In other words, say, “[You’re just] a bunch of holy rollers.” Someone asked the other day about coming up here to the church. Said, “Don’t go up there. It’s… all a big bunch of noise …carrying on.” See, “despisers of those.”
Traitors, [false to the anointing, aren’t they? That’s what they are, false to the anointing.] heady, [full of creeds] highminded, [claim to be prophets] lovers of pleasure [no self-denial, they love their creeds above the Word] more than lovers of God; [They can’t love God if they don’t love the Word. They just say they do.]
You say, “Brother Branham, that’s communists.” What’s the next verse…? Having a form of godliness, [moral creeds] but [deny the truth] …but (what?) denying the power thereof: (They deny what’s behind the prophet. They can’t take it. Let’s get a little further exposition here what Brother Branham means.
[He said,] (the Word, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever, manifested, the promise for the day)… Just exactly like Hananiah, just exactly like Zedekiah, just exactly like Balaam, …back there,… Having a form of godliness, [Okay, in other words, they can produce certain things that say, “Okay that looks like God; I’ll take it for God,” anointed.]
See? Having a form, anointed, ordained ministers… Having a form of godliness, but denying [denying the power, denying what?] that He’s the same yesterday, [and one God]. Denying His Word! How did they deny Jesus in that day? Who did they deny when they denied Jesus? The Word.
They were religious. They taught from their Bibles, that denied the present-day Word. What are they doing today? Same thing, anointed, preaching the Gospel of Pentecost, but denying the present-day promise of the Word being vindicated, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Do you see it?
Now what’s he saying? He said they have a form of godliness. They can copy. They can mimic.
Now what is real godliness? Well, godliness what I see here Brother Branham brings it to Hebrews 13:8, and if you bring it to Hebrews 13:8 then you see Abraham in the Presence of Almighty God and God in the form of a man, and you see God in the form of a man today, God in a prophet doing what was done back there in Genesis 18. Okay.
Now, that’s… the word ‘godliness’ means ‘God-likeness’, so they have a God-likeness. They attempt to do the very thing the prophet did. But you see they don’t line with the Word.
Now watch, watch in this Word here. You go back to the Garden, past the Garden, Cain and Abel, they both had revelations on the Word but one was wrong. One had a wrong one.
Now Abel then was God-like in his revelation and how he followed his revelation, and Cain was not God-like though he tried to look God-like, even in what he did and his revelation but they deny the authority and the power—that’s the true authority—that God sends in this hour that establishes who is right. They just turn from it. They don’t want it. So that’s what you’re looking at.
See, he said, “In the day of Jesus they were very religious. They taught their Bibles.” Sure they taught the Bible but they denied the Logos of the hour.
What are they doing today? They’re teaching in the same Bible and denying the very God of the Bible who manifests Himself according to the Bible and they turn it down.
Now, let’s look again.
[123] They taught from their Bibles, but denied the present-day Word of God. What are they doing today? Same thing,
Now only vindication can establish their chronology; they do not deny the Word itself but they deny the manifestation and the hour of It. They’re not denying this Word; they’re denying what manifested and they’re denying what It said about It.
Now remember, Brother Branham was thoroughly manifested to be that one for this hour, and I want you to notice something here.
The manifestation and Appearing is even more vindicated than when Jesus was here in the flesh because of John 14:12, He said, “The greater works than these shall you do,” and He talked to the person, greater works than this shall he do.
So therefore, the vindication of this hour is even greater than the vindication when Christ was upon earth. Now you tell that to anybody but us and they’re going to laugh at it and yet the evidence is there. See, they simply refuse to believe it. They deny God and His manifestation back then, they do it now.
Okay, keep reading.
[123] For this… sort… for of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sin, led away by divers lusts, “Our sewing parties and our so-and-so’s.”
Somebody comes around trying to misinterpret the Word, …saying this, “It’s all right, sister, for you to have short hair. Don’t pay… attention to that nitwit. [That’s what they called Brother Branham, see.] See?
Or, if you wear this; it’s all right, it’s not that… it’s not that what counts, it’s what comes out of a man’s heart that defiles him.’“ See? …do you realize that you are anointed with an evil, lustful, dirty spirit? …you might sing in a choir, with short hair, but you got an evil spirit. That’s contrary to the Word. That’s right.
You say, “What do you mean evil spirit?” Well, what are you listening to? What voice are you listening to? That tells you what it’s all about.
You know, brother/sister, let’s get this flat, Brother Branham said truthfully, he said, “If the women today had gone down the streets in their nakedness in the days of our grandmothers, they would have been called insane and put in an institution.” That’s true.
Well, what happened? Has God changed? Anybody in the church knows that church has got to get worse and worse not better and better. Then what are they talking about?
Now the point is because you cover up doesn’t mean you’re going to make it either. You’ve got to believe. We understand that. But how can anybody say I’m a true Bride of Christ and then not follow in line with the Word of God? Okay.
[123] …you can sing in the choir, [he said, that doesn’t mean you’ve got anything.] …”Well, I wear shorts. It doesn’t condemn me.” [Sure, it’s not condemned.] “…if a woman puts on a garment that pertains to a man, it’s an abomination in the sight of God.” The unchanging God said that.
Now let’s remember this brother/sister, nakedness proves that she’s in adulteress, and that’s right. Okay, remember, Eve and Adam both were in the Garden naked and were not ashamed, and today they’re naked and they should be ashamed but they’re not. Gone full circle.
So righteous there was no shame; they had the perfect covering of God. So lewd and so naked, so far from God now: no shame, just none at all. People are not ashamed. She’s already condemned.
[124] Oh, so many things, how could we just go through it; our time would be away. But you know enough to know what’s right and wrong. …how can I make them do it? How can I do it? You say, “Well, what are you hollering about?” I’m a witness against you. Someday, in the Day of Judgment, you’ll not have a corner to go into.
That’s what I said right there in Malachi 4. He’s telling you this is White Throne material.
[125] How could Micaiah stop that? How can Moses; screaming, trying to stop it, and Joshua and them running among the people, and Levi pulled a sword and slew them, even?
Now, that’s not Levi, it’s a Levite, and that’s Phinehas over there in Numbers 25. Phinehas there, it’s at the time of Baal-peor, when they listened to Balaam and he said, “Come to the great feast,” and so it’s very innocuous type of feast until the women began shagging their clothes and then from then on it’s just a love… it was an orgy, a sexual orgy.
And it went on to such an extent that God threw a plague on them, instant plague. It had to be a venereal disease. Come on, let’s face it. God does not give you… because, listen, committing adultery does not bring small pox. Sexual intercourse in a house of prostitution does not bring the measles, it brings gonorrhea and syphilis and AIDS; that’s what it brings you.
All right, then it had to be a venereal disease. Then what about today? Now what stopped the plague?
Now what stopped the plague was Phinehas when he saw an Israelite man taking a Midianite woman into his tent and he went in there and caught them in the very act and he put a spear through both of them. He killed them.
He said, “We’ll stop this going on, we’ll just bump you off.” Now they’re passing out condoms and things.
Do you remember the curses I read in Deuteronomy 28, about the botch and the sores and those things, sexual problems, the diseases? They’re not going to get rid of those in their bodies, pour.
Listen, back when I was a kid we had nurses come through and doctors lecturing against syphilis, what you could get by going to a house of prostitution, cavorting with a harlot.
And they warned us and talked about the open sores and all and showed us pictures of kids going blind and all. Do you think suddenly that that just disappeared into the thin air? Hogwash! It’s all here.
Now the church has mess up spiritually speaking an adulteress. And the world manifesting it by what they doing physically. So that the festering sore is there and they never going to get rid of it. They going to die with it.
Now they find out that cancer and AIDS and all those things are the same rascals. Now the immune systems has gone down the drain because there is no food left in there, there’s nothing left but the Word, it’s all pap and junk they preaching.
We alone have that which is going to fit our immune system to get out of here, spiritually speaking. Because nobody else has got it, smarten up enough and not fool with this, bunch of birds here.
So He stopped the plague. Now, listen, at the time of this fornication at Baal-peor which God never did forgive them; they died. The curse did not stop, no sir. The curse did not stop the open fornication, and AIDS will not stop it now.
There are no Phinehas’s left. There aren’t because the world is completely open to every diabolical thing and you send your kids to school and there’s no voice to tell them the truth at school. No voices left.
So they’re just… tools in the hands of the devil. I have no faith in teachers, period. Oh, there might be one or two but ninety percent or ninety-eight percent are a bunch of dogs. That goes for the pulpit, too.
In fact that goes for the upper strata so-called where influence is pedaled. There’s not one percent left of the lawyers, the doctors, the teachers, the preachers or any of them. And all you got to do is see the heads of vast organizations, Greenmail, blackmail, sell outs and buyouts, and no jobs created, under the table.
What is it? What is this outfit, General Dynamics? Who’s got all those contracts? Okay, how many times has it been brought into court? And how many times just a pat on the wrist? They don’t care. They’ll put you and me in the poorhouse and care less. The higher up you get the worse it is.
Newspaper men the same way: oh, how they spout it off; they say, “Oh, there’s no way about it it’s been proven absolutely get rid of the… capital punishment because it doesn’t deter crime, it doesn’t deter murder.” Look at England.
Now suddenly the statistics came out ten years ago about it. Oh, listen, they took away death penalty, now look at people killing, even in England and all around the country. Now the media’s got to reverse itself but the media thinks it’s God.
We had one person who came as God and that was the prophet. Everybody should listen to him day and night. The world’s too late now; it’s not going to… they’ll never change now. So you see what happened. Okay.
He’s talking about 2nd… let’s go to 2 Timothy 2… alright maybe what I want is… I think it’s 1 Timothy 2:11-15.
(11) Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
(12) But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over a man, but be in silence.
(13) For Adam was first formed, then Eve. [Now that’s very good there. That’s the way, that’s Headship. But watch!]
(14) …Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. [Now Brother Branham explained that, he said, “The woman was outside the original creation,” which is true.]
(15) Not withstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith… sobriety [and holiness] with sobriety.
Now you know as well as I do that a woman could not have eaten an apple because eating apples do not make you pregnant. And this has to do with pregnancy. And there’s only one thing makes you pregnant, and that’s male sperm.
You can have by actual injection of the male himself, or you can have it through a test tube or a doctor doing it or anyway you want, but it’s going to take that. That’s what childbearing is all about.
I don’t care how you do it, that’s what it’s going to be. So she was caught in an act with the serpent, plain as English. See, look at the curse it brought.
Now, what’s the woman stand for? The church and she’s caught in her shame because she’s been committing fornication with all these prime ministers and the big shots, the big organizations, industries, nations, everyplace in the world, she’s in there with her politics, this, that, and the other thing and, so therefore, the church is caught in her venereal diseases.
She’s a filthy harlot before God. She’s stricken now with all immorality. She can’t get out of it. She loves it. There’s no way she’ll turn from it. And she will die in her sins.
And if you can’t understand what I’m saying then on the grounds of how they’re trying to prevent AIDS with a mechanical instrument instead of just recognizing you must confine marriage to where it belongs.
There’s only one thing left that’s death, then die. Now you people know enough about passion to understand this; that they’re simply not going to use those things anyway.
So what do you think the church is going to be? Do you think the church is going to take a prophet? Do you think the church is going to believe the Word of God? It’s not going to believe anything.
Listen! It was a prophet that brought this on. It was a prophet that brought this on. A true prophet, then withstood by a false prophet, and they went with a false prophet, and it brought this on. Do you think we’re going to escape? Hogwash!
This nation is going to die, brother/sister, and the whole world’s going to die with it and that’s the Word of God, that’s the Bible, cover to cover, and then people try to change it. That’s Hebrews 13:8. That’s the Word of God, not some junk they’re being preached in other pulpits.
Listen, we’re preaching the prophet’s message, Word by Word, that’s why it counts in this building here. We don’t move off the prophet’s message. Okay.
[125] They just went on… the same. [They kept committing their fornication.] It’s predicted that they’re going to do it. And they’re going to do it, for it’s THUS SAITH THE LORD they’re going to do it. [In other words, it’s in the Bible and the prophet came by with vindication and said it again. So what… who are you trying to fool?]
Do you think these denominations will ever break up, their denominations and come back to the Word? It’s THUS SAITH THE LORD, they won’t! [Certainly they won’t.] Will they go into the antichrist? Exactly. It’s THUS SAITH THE LORD, they will! “So what are you hollering about?”
I have to be a witness, and so do you, all believers. [Now not to recognize this hour is the surety of being in the antichrist system. Biblical vindication gives Brother Branham the right to say this.] …Watch. …silly women laden with… divers lusts,
[126] “Well, all the rest the women do it, so why should I?” [You see, encouraged by these false prophets, dead denominations.] False prophets! Now listen. False prophets, I’m speaking of. [likely speaking to, too.] Now what will they do in the last day? …lead captive silly women… led away with divers lusts, “Well, …all the rest of the women do it.” It’s all right, go ahead.
Did you ever look at the 700 Club? Don’t bother. But if it suddenly flicks on the screen, it was bad enough and now they got this woman on there.
Yi, yi, yi, I thought Catherine Kuhlman was a sight for the blind, you know, and all, and not a man with his eyes open. Oh brother, this one they got now. She’s in there with her cut hair, floozed up eyes, and man, she looks like something…
No wonder Brother Branham wanted to go and pray for the woman with her… thought she was all cankered. He was going to say, “Lady, I’ve seen a lot of bad things over there in Africa and places, …you look like you’ve got a bad disease, should I pray for you?”
They said, “Hey, that’s eye shadow.” She’s got her eyes shaded all right.
You know, Jezebel painted her eyes and face, that’s not true; she painted her eyes. It’s a mistake to believe that Jezebel painted her face because the Bible doesn’t say that but she painted her eyes.
Yeah, and you know what’s that going to do? That contributes to that eye condition where the Bible says, “You better get some eye salve.” See? All right. It’s okay, they say.
[127] What’d I just say… before this big happening here in California? “You people here in Los Angeles, ever year when I come back there’s more bobbed-haired women and sissyfied man than there were before… in the first place, more preachers going to organization.
Now remember that’s the last visit in California; I was there and they just, “Hee, hee, hee,” they laughed, they showed their insanity.
You’re not without excuse! [but you’re… You’re not without excuse! You’re without excuse, rather, because you can’t have a double negative.] You’re… without excuse! If the mighty works had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah that were done in you, it’d be standing today. Oh, Capernaum, thou that callest yourself by the name of the angels, Los Angeles!” See what’s happening?
She is going right on to the bottom of the sea. When? I don’t know when it’s going, but it’s going. You young people, if I don’t see it in my day, you watch. She is gone!
That’s like the White Throne, see. Now the church is bringing the curse, not the world. And maybe people twelve years or so are going to see this under the ocean.
Ever learning,… never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. [In other words, they’re looking in the wrong place for reality. That’s what it is.] Now here is the shocking… part. Listen to this. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth:…
Now you’ll notice it doesn’t say that these men resisted William Branham. They went right along with him on the miracles and signs, said, “Hallelujah, we can do it, too.”
And they said, “William Branham when it comes to truth, you stink. You are just a dumb bird.
Now as the prophet you do very good in this field here but when it comes to the Word, you are not a prophet.” That’s exactly what they did. So they resisted the truth because what is a prophet all about? Not the signs and wonders! Your bankbook is not the cash, the cash is in the bank.
You show the bank-book, “Here, I got something.” The prophet displays the signs and wonders; they don’t mean anything except to point you to something. What? The Word! So they resist the truth and how do they do it? They just copy the prophet.
Now notice, that this was done in Egypt. See? So therefore, right at the start before the people could get a chance to come out, Jannes and Jambres rose up, organization and the miracle workers like Oral Roberts and Tommy Osborne and those men, rose up to see that the people never got out of organization.
Now you’re going to learn something later on. We won’t hit it now it’s too late. But you’ll find Israel in Egypt was not a church, only when it came out it was a church.
Now watch! Now,
[127] …resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, …concerning the faith that was once delivered to the saints, of course… concerning the faith. “And he shall turn the faith of the… children, back to the fathers.”
Now these people repudiate the doctrine, they’re reprobates concerning the faith. Now notice, he says, he’s… verse… paragraph 128.
[128] “Reprobate concerning the faith.” …You know what reprobate means? …get a Scofield Bible, there’s a “h” there. Right… there, says, “apostasy.” You’re an apostate, and that’s what it is.
Now I won’t read anymore of 2 Thessalonians because you know that in 2 Peter the same way because it would take too long to do that.
But Brother Branham’s message actually brings on the antichrist for there is nothing left to hinder him because once they turned down the truth they’ve got to believe the lie because you’ve got to believe something. There can’t be a vacuum. So what happens? Unbelief rushes in and that ties the whole thing up.
[129] Now, just a minute. I want to look up something here. I think I wrote this down right. I’m not sure, but I want to say it, and look it up before I say it. Now, just one minute. “Reprobates concerning the Truth, no, reprobates concerning the faith.” [Reprobates concerning the faith.] …there is only one faith. That’s right. “Concerning the faith, reprobates!”
Now he’s looking in his notes, what he’s doing and he’s letting you know there is one true revelation, and as he looks at his notes he wants to read you something from Luke 18 that’s important to him concerning the Faith which is from the Truth, which is based upon the vindication of a true prophet which everybody fights with their champions of unbelief as the false prophets. Right? It’s exactly what he’s going to do. So listen.
[129] …I want to read Luke 18. Just a minute. …And he spake a parable unto them… to this end, that men ought… always to pray, and not faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, nor regarded… man: And there was a widow in the same city;
Now that’s remember, Revelation 18:7, she said, “I sit as a queen, I’m no widow.” So a widow is a woman that has no husband. And evidently this is jubilee year and she’s supposed to have a redeemer get her land back for her.
So she is owed something, a promise that is hers, an allotment, and she’s supposed to get it back. Now how’s she going to get it back? Now watch this. This is the picture of it.
[129] …and she said, Avenge me of my adversaries. [She came to the judge. In other words, she said, “Vindicate me, I want what’s coming to me.” See? But he won’t give her any attention, even though the law says it’s jubilee time, she’s got a case here.]
…he would not for a while: but afterwards he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her coming, continual coming she weary me. [Now she wanted what was hers and she was determined to get it.]
And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said. [In other words, I’m going to give it to her, not because I know she really deserves it but I’m going to give it to her.] And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said. …shall not God avenge his elect,
In other words, Brother Branham said, “We have the devil’s answer.” The avenging of God, the repudiating of God, God coming on the scene, and vindicating the Bride. We’ve got the devil’s answer.
…shall not God avenge his elect, which cry… to him day and night… though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Now, what is this widow supposed to have at the end time in order to get her inheritance? Elijah. She’s got to have him come.
Okay, what’s he going to do? Turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers. He’s going to restore the faith which is what the people cannot have because they don’t have the truth.
Now he says, “At this time when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” Now, brother, we keep on going with Brother Branham.
[130] Now that’s the question. Here is what I want to get to, it’s Revelations 10. [So Luke 18 is Revelation 10. That’s what he’s saying.] We’ll get to it in a few minutes, and another Scripture…
“In the days of the Message of the seventh angel, the mystery of God ought to be finished.” Here is the question then,… if you follow in that line in this hour, will it be finished? “Will I find… faith?” Will Malachi 4 be fulfilled at this time, “Restore the faith of the children, back to the faith of the fathers, the original, …Word”?
So therefore, Brother Branham is telling you right here that Luke 18, the avenger of the widow whose husband is dead, old denominational church is plumb gone, she can marry the new Bridegroom, the Word, she can get her inheritance and she’s being kept from it.
But will she be kept from it? The answer is no. She will not be kept from it. There’s no way you can stop her because Luke 18 is Revelation 10 is Malachi 4 is 2 Thessalonians 1:7. So there’s your point. Is she avenged? Okay.
We’re going to close right with this. We only got this one, couple, about a minute left, and it says in 2 Thessalonians, it says here,
(07) …when the Lord… shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
(08) In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, …that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
(09) [They’re going to] be punished… [they’re going to be destroyed]…
(10) When he shall [have] come to be glorified in his saints, …to be admired in all them that believe…
And that’s the exact time that’s what it is when Christ who is our life shall appear, we’ll appear with Him in glory. And this is the One that came down and He’s here to bring the dead out of the ground and to transform a Bride that’s absolutely vindicated and he said, “Will He find faith?”
He didn’t find faith when He came, no, and He’s not left, but the faith is here because Elijah has turned the hearts of the children back to the fathers and no longer a widow. Yup. Why?
Remember the message, the spiritual union at the end time that’s preached in Shreveport, in ‘65, ‘The Invisible Union of the Bride of Christ, 65-1125’ “The husband must be dead.” Now that’s the church when she came out, she wasn’t a church, but when she came out.
Now then with those coming out and they’re all coming out, a lot of them mind you, then who is Bride? Now you got Jannes and Jambres trying to keep men, then you got the other ones, Balaam and those trying to take them over but you got a Bride that’s going on, a called out of an out. How’s it done? It’s done this way.
And where do you stand? Perfectly vindicated before Almighty God. That’s about all the time we’ve got. We couldn’t take too much time on that last little bit. The Lord bless you.
Let’s just rise at this time and be dismissed.
And by the way, on Saturday night, seven o’clock in the Civic Auditorium in Lima, Billy Paul will be speaking. So if you want to go, one night only, seven o’clock, March 21st, Lima Civic Center, that nice new center, I think it’s in room seven, or something like that, is speaking.
Let’s bow our heads in prayer.
Gracious heavenly Father again we want to thank You for the time of fellowship we have here, going over this Word that You gave us.
And Lord, we know that it is very, very deep in other Scripture and we want to take our time, Father, as you help us to take our time to the end we may take this slowly and in such a way that it might become all pervasive and then as we try to take it over Lord, the life will take us over, so that this understanding that lies in this Word here Lord, will become such a definitive revelation to us that it will be an actual simple life and we’re looking at it, we’re seeing it and we’re living it, we’re a part of It.
Help us Lord, today because we know in our hearts we believe Father, that there’s no way out but the way out that You prescribed and set forth for us.
Help us Lord, therefore, to get rid of all thoughts and those things which are not compatible which would bring us down, even as your own Scripture said in there, we are companions of Him. We are right with Him as long as we keep what has been committed to us which is this Word. There’s where our faith stands.
So Father, we know that to backslide is not what a lot of people think. They don’t understand what Eve did; she got away from that Word before she hit the skids.
And Lord, we know that’s the absolute truth, therefore Lord, if we are with this Word we believe there is no way we will not make it and we realize that that is the truth for the hearts have been turned back.
And You said, “Out of the heart is what fills the mouth”, and therefore Lord, we know that our mouths are filled with Your Word when it comes to the Word.
So Father, we just commend ourselves to You with joy and may there be greater joy and greater peace and greater power.
Bring us together Lord, on Sunday again we pray, with more evidence in our hearts of the yearning toward You, and a faith toward You to get this living Word within us, oh God, until we become those living epistles.
That’s what we want and we thank You for it in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
The Lord bless you.
‘Take the Name of Jesus with you.’