Christ Is The Mystery Of God Revealed #07
Blessing And Cursing#3986
Shall we pray.
Heavenly Father, again we want to express our gratitude, our appreciation Lord, and our love toward You Father, for Your grace and mercy extended to us in this hour, that you should choose us from before the foundation of the world, that we would see this revelation as brought forth by the prophet in your own way.
To accept it all from you Lord, and by Your grace and by Your power to crucify to ourselves that own mind that we have Lord, and get it plumb out of the way, and have Your mind Lord, which we believe we are gaining day-by-day by the study of the Word.
And we appreciate Lord, Your help in all of this and trust there shall not be one of us fail of the grace and mercy of our God. It doesn’t matter what things look like Lord, it’s what things are, because You said the things which appear are going to pass away and things which don’t appear, what we look for, what we hope for, those things which you set forth in Your Word we receive by revelation, they’ll endure forever.
Even as You showed in the prophet the outer man perishing, the inner man being renewed day-by-day. And that’s true Lord. So help us in the renewing of our minds, dear Lord God, that we might be transfigured into Your image, and depart this land.
Now humble us down Lord, and calm us all down tonight, that we may have Your thoughts, Lord, and understanding, our minds tonight might not be quick to think thoughts that are our own thoughts, and solutions and those things trying to put two and two together.
But may our mind be quickened unto You tonight so that we are able to grasp what is said and has been said by the prophet, and apply it in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
You may be seated.
Now of course, Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed. I think the other day I said Christ Revealed in His Own Word, because we took that first of all, but… I believe this will be number 8 tonight, in Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed.
Now just before we begin to read on page 45 and paragraph 2, we want to consider this subject in the light of Revelation 10:7. Now, of course you know the subject is Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed.
And in Revelation 10:7, after that mighty angel came down, we find that John says:
(07) But in the days of the voice of the seventh [messenger], when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared [the good news of the gospel by]… his servants the prophets.
So evidently that which had been set forth already by the prophets concerning this mystery of God is going to come to a conclusion, which means there’ll be no more added to it, and it will be perfect in its refinement so that it is a perfect revelation.
And so, here we see then, at the time of the advent of the mighty Messenger that comes down from heaven, which we know already is the same as in Revelation 1, about verse 13, and Revelation 5:1, which was that great One, which is definitely the Holy Spirit in a form, coming down at the end time upon the earth.
That the mystery of God according to the prophets of the gospel would be concluded, and which would be then completely revealed bringing to pass, of course, 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 where It says,
(09) For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
(10) But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
And you know of course, It says when the completion of parts has come and there’s seven church ages and seven messengers and seven messages, that’s the Bible. And so therefore completion lies in seven.
As the Scripture says, as the earth receiveth the rain that fall oft upon it, often is seven times. You don’t have to guess because God does everything in sevens. And when He starts over it could be number one or number eight. Number one then repeat would become number eight there.
So therefore we see that there is no more prophecy to come. It is finished as far as the gospel is concerned. From that time on you literally make your own way immortal with God. So what do you need the prophets for? You have the prophet.
And you are then in the position that you will not at any time thwart or destroy what God is doing, because there’ll be no sin in His Holy Mount as far as you’re concerned, either this side of New Jerusalem once you are changed, or the other side. So you see what we’re drawing from in seeing the picture here.
Now, let us look at this mystery according to the Apostle Paul, because Brother Branham actually… we’ll read this tonight, perhaps we’ll get that far. I don’t know how far we’ll get. We’ll see this mystery in the Bible.
So we go first of all to Paul in the book of Ephesians. And this is the great book, you know, that we love to go into, and we’ll start reading in Ephesians 3:1-12, and then we’ll get over to Colossians 1:24-29. And we’ll just read them and then we’ll come back to them.
(01) For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, [Now there’s the messenger from God to a people, right? Understand.]
(02) If [you] have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: [In other words, Paul has a special time and a special place to give something by grace to the people.]
(03) How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
(04) Whereby, when [you] read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
(05) Which in other ages [generations] was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
Now this gives the lie to anybody who thinks that God does not have an unfolding revelation. He can start with something and then keep on adding to it. That does not add to the Word, that magnifies the Word and gives understanding.
(06) That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
(07) Whereof I was made a minister…
Now you notice that Paul magnifies his office and he constantly puts emphasis and preeminence in the limited degree—the qualified and accepted degree that he is allowed by God—putting it upon himself through a ministry.
Everybody cheers Paul on, and anybody also would cheer those on that have gone on before, but nobody ever believed in a man that was living. They’ve always done despite to the spirit of grace in that area. We read that in Acts 13, we’ve read that many times. Now:
(08) Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
(09) And to make all… see… [But not all men, but to make the Bride see. How are you going to make all men see? Fap! They wouldn’t see it if it was a baloney four feet in the end of their noses. You know that’s the truth. See?]
(09) And to make all… see [That’s the Bride] what is the fellowship of the mystery,
There’s the fellowship there of a mystery. The fellowship, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us.”
There is a fellowship, and the fellowship lies in the depth of the understanding or your understanding, in that hour of that revelation given for that hour. So therefore you walk in the light as He is in the light.
Now Christ could not be in the light of this hour several hours back, nor could He be in the light of this hour under Luther or under Wesley. He cannot be. And He cannot be the light of the Lamb on the Throne.
You’re in a great transition period here, see? Like Brother Branham said, “in between the time when He is Priest and King, there comes this break of a Judge in there.” Okay, just keep these things in mind.
(07) I’m a minister according to the gift of God, [and so on]
(09) And to make all… see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from [before times eternal]
Now remember, Brother Branham categorically said in this message here that he was going to bring us something from before the times eternal, or before there was a speck of stardust, see? Okay. So Paul is talking about this very thing that William Branham is bringing us. All right.
(09) …to make all… see what is the fellowship of the mystery,
Fellowship, I and my Father are one. See, and the saints are one and the Blood is cleansing. That’s why I say all this talk about the Blood on or off the Mercy Seat, it doesn’t mean… it means little or nothing to me. I’m not concerned. Why? Because I’m not in that category.
I’m not sticking my nose in somebody else’s business, I’m not sticking my nose back in somebody else business. I’m not sticking my nose ahead in somebody’s business, I’m sticking my nose in my business. And if you’re wise, you’ll stick your nose in this business. See?
So, “You walk in the light as He is in the light; we have fellowship with one another, and the blood cleanses.” It doesn’t matter if there’s Blood or no Blood if you’re not in the life.
And the very Blood condemns you, because it cries out against you like Abel’s blood cried out against Cain, because you see, you don’t take the revelation.
Why did Jesus die? Because they turn down the revelation. See? He could have established His Kingdom on earth. You say, “What twist would that have taken?” Well I don’t care to even think about it, I know it was all predestinated. But I’m letting you know there are certain qualities in there that could have happened had this or the other thing happened. All right.
(09) …the fellowship of the mystery, which from [before times eternal]… hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: [Now, see what you are looking at now. The very thing that was in God is placed in Christ.]
(10) To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places [or in the heavenlies] might [made] be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Not only known to the Church, but by the Church, because they must take the very Word that’s brought to them. As the messengers, the carriers… the Church becomes the carrier. It becomes the carrier as the unified body and as unified members individually within the body.
(11) According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Okay. We’ll just swing to Colossians. We’re going to read more in the 3rd chapter later. Colossians will be the 1st chapter, and 24-29:
(24) Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
(25) Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God; [Notice the very same thing, that dispensation. A certain time, a certain purpose, a certain privilege been given by God.]
(26) Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, [and is now] made manifest to his saints:
It’s made manifest to them. And that’s not simply somebody come and declaring something as you will see later on. Anybody can talk. Anybody can say anything. The world’s full of it. This is something that is proven. Now people don’t have to take the proof.
(27) To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: [Now that’s pervasive and continuing. That’s your rebirth.]
(28) Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
(29) Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
Now, we’re going to return to the 3rd chapter of Ephesians, and I sort of made a few remarks about it. And 9 and 10, and 11 to 12:
(09) And to make all… see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from [before times eternal]… hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
(10) To the intent [that’s to the end] that now unto the principalities and powers in [the heavenlies] might be [made] known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Now angels and principalities and archangels and everything outside of the human race must stand back and wait to see this in a Bride. It’s like they said, angels never knew, you know, the joy that our salvation brings. They cannot know.
And God Himself has to stand back, to see His work, and in this hour, when Christ comes to be admired in His saints. An admiration He could not have before. In other words, God continually magnifying Himself, and giving the Bride a chance to magnify herself. Everything going on and on and on.
Now notice he says here:
(11) According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Christ then is literally the mystery of God revealed, and it’s revealed to a Bride, which in turn will then reveal to the experiential knowledge and the upcoming status, having imbibed from Him that life, now, revealed in many lives and in the great Church without spot, without wrinkle, you see?
Now, we go a little further here, and we read from verse 14 in the third chapter.
(14) For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, [The same thing he said over there in the first part, the 15th verse of the 1st chapter.]
(15) Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, [Those that have gone on before that are glorified, first half of the first resurrection, join with these here waiting for the great glorification.]
(16) That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
(17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
(18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
(19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that [you] might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now it tells you there that based on the fact that Christ is being formed in us by the begetting of the Holy Spirit, the baptism; you may look forward to this.
That’s where Brother Branham took through the ages, a stature of a perfect man, where every age began to add to itself, not only in numbers, but add revelation, starting with faith and virtue and knowledge and right up on to line, until you come to the place of brotherly kindness one step from God Himself sealing a Bride in. See?
Now, same thing as he mentioned in that first chapter. There is something here in the potential, the available potential that this Church is striving for, and hopefully it’s going to get. Now notice, it’s based upon the baptism with the Holy Ghost. Same thing in first chapter:
(13) In whom ye also trusted, [verse 13] [Or hoped,] after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
(14) Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
(15) Wherefore… after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
(16) Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
(17) That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you [who are full of the Holy Ghost] the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
And remember that is never, never, never, never, never, never, never to the individual members of the Church, it is to a person who dispenses it to the people, because revelation does not come by mixed congregation or any congregation, it comes by a specific.
And when we go into this tonight don’t you forget it, because this is the danger of never understanding Brother Branham’s Message, because your mind becomes foggy with what you’re to do and what another man is to do. And we’ll see more of that here. We just keep our lines in order.
Now, so, we read a little bit further. Now, verse 18.
(18) The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that [you] may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Now you know the body is full of life only if the eye is single. And this is the eye age. There is only one eye for this age, and that is designated by God who that eye is… what that eye is.
All right, now, this has to be, as I’ve said already, 18 and 19 of chapter 3. Notice how the verses just even come together, same name, same number.
(18) [That we] May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
(19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that [you] might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now Paul is not speaking to individuals, he’s speaking to the Church. “Unto the messenger of the Church which is in Ephesus,” he’s speaking collectively.
Every time there’s a collective Message, and the entire church is made up of three kinds of believers, so therefore the Word goes out, but only the Very Elect will get that Word and nobody else will.
You can sit in the congregation and you can hear me hundreds of times, I don’t care who you are and I’m not trying to level anything against anybody, this is just a solid truth. And you’ll go away with your own Pentecostal or Baptist or Methodist thinking.
And there’s some sitting here right tonight, and you know that you did that though you heard me preach from 1977 on. You never caught it.
And there’s preachers right today who aren’t catching it. They’re not ever going to catch it. It’s not given to them to catch it. It’s only given to elect… a certain elect people to know the mysteries of God.
Now that’s Bible, that’s Matthew 13. Now you can’t get away from any Bible. There’s no way you can do it. You say, “well, I hate to think that.” Well, it doesn’t matter what you think. It doesn’t matter what I think.
See, we are all here for a purpose. What the purpose is, even the very non-elect are here for a purpose. Says that concerning Pharaoh and those men, that the wrath of God may be known. What if God willing to suffer these men all… He’s long suffering. His wrath may be shown, His grace and mercy shown the other way, see?
Well Brother Branham kept saying, “Let your thinking go.” And I say the same thing, let your thinking go. And this is your great battle, you’ll have a battle. But you got to get your lines of distinction clear, what has he said concerning a certain doctrine, a certain thing.
And then when you know that, you stick with it and you don’t care what is said, you wait until the Holy Spirit helps you place it. We’ll see more of that tonight, see?
Now, I don’t care if I get very far in these messages. If you learn certain principles that I’m trying to teach you from what Brother Branham taught us, then we’re going to be getting places very fine. All right. Now:
(19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that [you] might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now notice, all the fullness of God. In other words, what God wants to pour into the church. There’s coming a church that’s going to get it, because, you see what it is, you don’t throw away what you’ve got. You never lose it.
See, Paul’s hour was not allowed to go on to perfection. There could have been a Rapture, but the Church was not complete and had to fall in the ground and die, to fashion after Christ. Now they start coming up back after the Dark Ages, justification, sanctification, baptism.
Justification gave way to sanctification. Sanctification gave way to the baptism with the Holy Ghost. And whether you believe it or not, the baptism with the Holy Ghost period has given way to the Holy Ghost Himself, and the Token of this hour is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. That does not obviate the giving of a token to you and me.
Everything is predicated on your rebirth and my rebirth by the spirit of Christ, that life. Till Christ be formed in the Church, coming from the feet up. When it’s all poured out there’s nothing left but Head.
Now let’s look at that in Ephesians 4. And Paul is speaking of this very thing from chapter 1 and he says:
(01) I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, [that’s the calling]
(02) With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
(03) Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
(04) There is one body, and one Spirit, even as [you] are called in one hope of your calling; [There’s one gospel, see? One Spirit, God.]
(05) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, [That’s baptism of the Holy Ghost.]
(06) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Oh he says one Lord, one God and Father. What Lord is that? That’s our Lord, the Head of the Church. Christ is the Head of the Church, God’s the Head of Christ. Man’s head of the woman, Christ’s Head of man, God’s Head of Christ.
I don’t know how people can get rid of Christ. They think I’m preaching two God’s. I preach the Bible, same thing Brother Branham preached. He went far deeper than I’ll ever go. I’ve just given up worrying on this other facet, of the pre-incarnation. I’m not interested, because one God, that takes care of it. Who cares?
When that Spirit’s amongst us becomes incarnate to us. Where? You and me? Forget it. In Him. The body. That’s a part of God, I showed you that. I’ve gone as far as I can go as far as I am concerned, except God wants to show me something else, He’ll show me. That will be for your sake, not necessarily mine. I’m just solid sitting there.
(07) But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. [The measure of Christ. You’ve got the grace to receive for that hour. If you haven’t got any grace, shows you ain’t got it.]
(08) Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. [And it says, 11th verse:]
(11) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
(12) For the perfecting of the saints, [That’s for the final polishing off, just bringing them right to that peak] for the work of the ministry, [There’s a ministry involved.] for the edifying [the building] of the body of Christ:
(13) Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: [No more Bride. Now listen:]
(14) That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, [Then at that time, they were, with every possibility.]
Now listen brother/sister, if I don’t have one bit of cake to give you and you never heard of the word cake to begin with, and there was no such thing as cake anyway, why would I bother talking about cake? Then why would he talk about coming to this if they already had it, or if there’s no such thing as coming to it?
What I’m trying to show you here, bring your thoughts in line and quit looking at this Bible as some little trifle or something that you can fool around with. Zero in on things. Zero in on the doctrine. You’ll never understand where Brother Branham’s going until you know the doctrine, I don’t care what anybody says.
You can quote yourself plumb into hell like every Seventh Day Adventist and every Methodist and every Baptist and everyone that Brother Branham says are in witchcraft, by quoting the Bible.
And you can quote the prophet in the polygamy, and this kind of soul and that kind of soul and this kind of thing and that kind of thing, until you come to the conclusion it’s so erroneous you might as well forget it. You’ve done blasphemed yourself plumb out of something or other, or you should be on the trail of doing it.
Now it says here:
(14) That we henceforth be no more [Never mind the word henceforth, that we be no more] children, [That means grown-up. No more] tossed to and fro, and [no more] carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
(15) But [holding] the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head,
Coming right to the head. And you can’t come to the head until it’s time for the head. There’s no way. Now we’re not… we’re sort of like, we’re not formed like we are in the womb. Now the head starts to form in the womb, it doesn’t start after everything else is complete then God puts the head on it.
We’re called a body but we’re built like a pyramid, which is layer upon layer, so that the chief Cornerstone becomes the chief Builder to be the capstone. So the same Holy Spirit, giving the revelation from Almighty God starts it and then finishes it. So you got to come up to headship. From where? Cornerstone.
Paul was cornerstone, when it comes to manifestation, revelation to Gentile, William Branham, Elijah—never mind William Branham, call him Elijah—he’s got to be capstone, headstone. Not that he’s literally, but he is, talking the physical.
(15) But speaking [holding] the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
(16) From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, [Every age, seven ages] according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
So after the seventh measure, there are no more measures, but Head Himself. That’s when Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, comes down, sets Himself at the Head of the Church in order to raise the dead. That’s what the prophet said, do you believe it? Then Who’s here? Did He come down?
“Oh, He couldn’t have come down,” people say. “Well that’s a dimension.” Call it what you will. “Been coming down; coming down.” He’s certainly doing something He hasn’t done for two thousand years, the prophet said so.
I don’t understand people, I’m not here to understand people, I understand a little bit of God. Do you see what we are saying here? This is that perfect stature, you’re coming to it.
Well, let’s go back. That’s in 1 Peter I think, isn’t it? If it isn’t 2, one of theirs, 1 or 2 Peter, who knows? I never know. Must be 2 Peter, it’s sure not 1 Peter, doesn’t look like it. I’ll find it first. Okay, 2 Peter. That’s more like it, because this bring you right into the heavy, heavy part of the Second Coming of Christ.
Okay, he says:
(04) Whereby are… [Verse 4, 3rd verse:]
(03) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us [by] glory [not to glory but by glory] and virtue:
(04) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, [Now notice, you get to be partakers through a revelation.] having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
(05) And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
(06) And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
(07) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Now remember, they are all birthed into you, Brother Branham said, except you know that last one is God Himself. Now that last one, as Brother Branham puts it, is not the love of God, it’s the God of love.
The love of God and the God of love are two different things, although one comes from the Other, so that you have the modicum of one. It’s the same as the spirit of God is not God the Spirit.
You don’t get God the Spirit, you get of the spirit of God, of God the Spirit. He has given us of His Spirit, see? Language is a big thing, you got to watch it. All right.
So, we go back to Ephesians the 3rd chapter again, and we look at verses 9-11.
(09) And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,
There’s a fellowship, see? If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, God and man. And the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses. All of one mind.
Paul said, “Be ye all of one mind.” Coming to the last time, when God Himself seals in a Church. And remember, the Seals were Christ. All of these things come together, not clichés, but all of them actual word of a prophet.
(09) And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from [before time’s eternal] hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: [In other words, brought it all into being.]
(10) To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be [made] known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
(11) According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
That all heaven may see, God Himself included, see this wonderful rich grace of the mystery that God put in Christ Jesus, and see it brought to a consummation. See? Now, what is that? Revelation, preeminence, and back to an original.
And the reason it’s going back is because it was in the mind of God, He being what He was, He must bring this to pass in a form which He designated as the human form in order to bring out all of His attributes.
And that doesn’t mean put all His attributes in us, it means giving Him the opportunity to manifest His attributes. And thereby we give Him a part of His exceedingly great and wonderful glory.
Okay. Now we can turn to page 45, beginning at the top paragraph:
[45-1] Notice, God holds this key alone. [As to how this revelation is given.] No theologian can tell you. It’s not known; [Not known how? To the theologians.] it’s hidden from them. They know nothing about It…”Well,” you say, “I got a Ph.D.” To me and I believe unto God and to any real, true believer, that means you’re just that much farther away; you just backed off. God is not known by education; He’s not known by how to explain it.
In other words, in the person, how to explain it. Now, “God holds the key alone.” Now as to the how the revelation is given, in this case it has to be a prophet. So fellowship will be… So, rather, what follows in his teaching from what we’re going into now, will be the prophet receiving the revelation for the people.
Now, he says here that, “Nobody can get it, only God can give it.” And that’s the truth. And if God doesn’t desire to give it, nobody’s going to get it. But if God desires to give it, then there’s somebody there to get it.
So therefore it’s an exclusive revelation to an exclusive person, to an exclusive people. A one-to-one to several. Then several back to the One, which is God. Now he says:
(18) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth [down] in unrighteousness; [That’s what Cain did. His unrighteous act was to go against the revelation. And he held down the truth by killing Abel.]
(19) Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it…
Which means to bring unmistakably to their attention that that is God. So it tells you there that God deals with His own revelation. It doesn’t tell you how much He gives it, but it tells you He lets people know it and most of them turn it down. All right, now:
[45-2] God is known by simplicity and the revelation of Jesus Christ in the most illiterate person.
Now, starting up here he tells you, God alone holds the key. It’s not given to the theologian, see? It’s not given to this person or that person as an explanation, it is a decided revelation. Now he’s telling you about it.
[45-2] God is known [to whoever he gives it to] by simplicity and of revelation of Jesus Christ in the most illiterate person.
Now he nails it right down there from the Scriptures, says God takes the common things, the weak things, the base things as against the high and the mighty and the wise. So he’s letting you know that God is not going to deal in any top echelon where man has put the emphasis.
Now if there’s a man up there that’s in that echelon according to man, God will knock him down, step on him, and bring him down to the bottom of the ladder. Certainly, because Jesus came in that form and took the bottom of the ladder. And how can a servant be above his master? All right.
[45-2] See? Not your theology; it’s a revelation of Jesus Christ. “Upon this rock, I’ll build My Church.” No other rock’s are acceptable, no other thing’s accepted; no other Roman rock; no Protestant rock; no school; not anything.
[45-2] But on exactly the revelation of Jesus Christ in a new birth. [All right.] He is born in there and injects His own Life, and your life is gone, and the Life of Christ is projecting Itself through you with the preeminence’s [That’s the Christ and its projecting through you.]
…to the people [This is kind of abstract but it is in fact to the people] that they see the very Life, and works, and signs and wonders He did and is now doing the same thing through you. Outside of that, the rest of it’s not even called to at all.
Now, right in there I’ve warned you already that you’ve got to watch where you’re going, because right away he’s putting the you there, and you can take that as a plural and put it upon the Church. But he’s talking about a revelation given to the prophets. You follow me?
Now what carefully… you’ll muff it every single time, your heart will go pitty-pat.
You’ve got to relax and say well, I see this truth. I care less what I think I hear him say. I care less than anybody says. The revelation came in this hour through a prophet. I don’t care what he says about manners. I don’t care what he says about morals.
I don’t care what he says about good works. I don’t care what he said about virtue. I don’t care about fruit. I don’t care about gifts. I know one thing, it comes by a prophet. And the prophet is no garbage, let’s get that flat. You follow me?
If you don’t get your minds in the channel, you’re gone. You might as well go home tonight and forget it. Nice having had you here but, not that you’re a weight upon me or bothering me or anything, but you are uncomfortable and you aren’t having any fun like the rest of us.
You’re not being stimulated. It’s not going to rub off on you. I don’t want to say you got to go, but the thing I’m driving at, I’m trying to show you the seriousness of this, what I believe.
All right, let’s look at this:
[45-2] God is known by simplicity and the revelation of Jesus Christ in the most illiterate person.
Now, this statement pertains to and describes the one to whom revelation is given, in the hour that the revelation of what is to be revealed and made known to the Church. I’ll build my Church.
Now you as individuals will get a revelation from this if you are elect, but this is to the church. It has to be because this man is come to the church, he didn’t come to Lee Vayle. I came to him, then he came to me. Now I don’t mean that meant anything coming to him, just telling the sequence… of the chronology of how we got to know each other.
Now, number two, it tells how it comes, which is in 1 Corinthians 2, which we won’t read, Brother Branham reads it a bit later on.
Now, notice, he said it won’t come any other way but revelation:
[45-2] …but on exactly the revelation of Jesus Christ in a new birth.
Now, the principle person who gives the revelation must be born again, and so also are all those who receive the revelation through him. This man is no exception.
If he weren’t born again he couldn’t get it. He doesn’t become born again by getting it. By getting it after being born again, he grows up into… See?
Now:
[45-2] He is born in there [that’s Christ is born in there,] and injects His own Life, and your life is gone, and the Life of Christ is projecting Itself through you [See?] with the preeminence’s [unto Christ]
And that life projecting Itself through you to the people that they see the very Life, and works, and signs and wonders that He did is doing the same thing through you. Outside of that, the rest of it’s not even called to at all.
Outside of that strict definition, there isn’t anybody’s got it. And he’s not referring to church members. In other words, this man is a duplicate of Paul. 1 Corinthians 2: we’re going to read it anyway.
(01) And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
(02) For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
That’s not today! That’s over. It’s not that you do away with it, you do away with nothing in the truth. But that’s not the thrust. The thrust is the Appearing. How do you get immortal?
A lot of people think, say “oh, this is just going to take place, hallelujah.” Why don’t you smarten up? God’s not some kind of an idiot to deal on the planes of idiots, He wants to bring us to His level.
Let’s get up there. You get there by the renewing of your mind, to get rid of those veils which are on your minds and hearts, so you can stand there with a glint in your eye. You can’t be pulled off course by your foolish teaching you’ve had before. The worm-eaten word.
The hybrid word which destroys you. You got to get rid of it, get your soul cleansed of it, your mind, see?
(03) And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. [So will the next fellow be.]
(04) And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
And that’ll throw the people for two loops. One loop is to say well, he can’t be a servant of God. Like one fellow years ago said, “Well I know that Brother Branham was not that prophet.”
“Why, what do you mean?”
“Why, he told us, he said to bow our eyes when devils were cast out.”
Oh, I said, “Hogwash.”
Some big mouth. Some little… what, one millionth part of a two-bit piece. Well he said, “well, Brother Vayle, he couldn’t be a prophet, he called children kids.” I said, “So what?”
Well he said, “Kids are goats.”
I said, “Not necessarily. We got a kindergarten. It’s been called a kiddy-garten.”
Maybe it’s a corrupted word from kindergarten meaning kiddy, which meaning a child in German. Child’s school. But he knew it all. Fap!
I get so fed up with that hogwash and nonsense. Can’t produce a thing but they sure can flap their big mouths. I’ll tell you one thing, brother/sister. We better watch our words, one day we’ll give an account for them.
I’m not worried about my language, I’m standing with the Word. You do what you want, you make your own little phrases. I got my way of doing it, you do it your way. Don’t try to copy me and I won’t copy you. You better leave it, forget it.
The other bunch saw the demonstration of power, they ran with it. Critical, critical, critical, critical, critical. So like the health food diet—triticale, triticale, triticale.
Instead of wheat oats and porridge and things you got to think triticale, that’s some kind of wheat I guess it is. There’s got to be nuts everywhere. Health nuts, sick nuts, spirit nuts, the whole bunch.
(05) That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
(06) Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are [knowledgeable, come to a certain place. They’re inducted, they’re in the Bride, face it.] yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to [nothing]
(07) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [Tells you flat. You can’t get it unless the spirit of God is in you.]… which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
(08) Which none of the princes of this world knew:
Not one theologian, not one sage, which is a wise man. Not one scribe. Not one knew it of themselves. The only way Simeon and Anna knew is because God showed them. The only way John knew is because God showed him.
(08) …for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. [See? We’re given these things through the mind of Almighty God.]
All right. Outside of That, a man like that, what like That? The life of Christ is in him and is projecting Himself, giving God the preeminence, always blowing up God and boasting on God, never pointing to himself, that the people see the very life and the very works and the very signs and the very wonders that Jesus did when he was here in flesh and is now doing the same thing through that man.
That’s not you and I. Not one sign you do qualifies you. Not one thought you have qualifies you. Win a million souls, it doesn’t qualify you. They all may go to hell and you go to hell with them. Let’s get that flat.
End up foolish virgin, maybe. Now we’re going to preach with what Brother Branham said, we’re going to stand with it, see? Now this cannot be said of the Bride except in a very limited sense.
When the Bride has the revelation she’d approaching unto Christ the Headstone, she becomes a super, super, super race. And she’ll have the Word of God and know what to do with It.
She won’t speak until she has the Word of God. And then that becomes Thus Saith The Lord. It doesn’t say she has Thus Saith The Lord of herself. That’s the prophet.
But when she’s got what Thus Saith The Lord amounted to and gave, then that is Thus Saith The Lord, which is the true revealed Word, see? Understand that. We cannot deal with the peripheral, which is Mark 16, that’s just a part of it. All right, let’s go to the next verse, it says:
[45-2] Outside of that, the rest of it’s not even called to at all.
What’s that mean? That means anything you and I got or anybody else has got, except this definitive of chapter 12, Luke 17:30, the proof of Deuteronomy 18 right down the line, nobody has a word to say about it, but every mouth should be dumb.
He said that’s nothing at all to do with it. But who has to do with it? The false anointed, with their signs and their wonders. That doesn’t bother us, it’s the teachers that come by. We’ll get that later on. All right:
Now:
[45-3] Watch God’s great revelation unfolding. By lack of this revelation is why we have so many different divisions among us and so much mockery, so much division among us, is because the people lack that revelation. See, they lack that revelation: [then he puts ] the teachers…
Okay. This lines exactly with the apostle Paul.
(04) For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. [Now, Paul’s saying that. He said I got something from God.]
Now,
(04) I thank my God always on your behalf,
[Blank spot on tape]… verse. Now, I thank God that I… no, it’s too many here. I’ll start at 11.
(11) For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
(12) Now this I say, that every one of you saith, [Look what they are saying:] I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
(13) Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
(14) I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
(15) Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
(16) And… the household of Stephanas:… [also and maybe somebody else, I forget, kind of.]
(17) For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
And then he tells about how you can enter in on your own, with your own foolish Greek ideas and your Jew ideas and miss the whole thing because God does not call people the way people think God ought to call them. He does it His own way.
(29) [In order] That no flesh should glory in his presence. [And it’ll bring everything else to dust and ruin and decay and it will never see the light of God’s Day unless it’s of God.]
(31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
And now he says:
(01) And I, brethren, when I came to you,
Now he says, “Look it, you are all discussing and saying, ‘I’m of this and I’m of that.’” And then he shows them, “You had better be of me or you’re finished.”
I know people that didn’t like that. People come to me and said, “Well you know, I couldn’t understand Brother Branham.” He used to scare me off because it sounded like nobody had anything but him.
That’s exactly right, nobody had what he had. And you can tell if you had what he had in your own measure by receiving It, because he that receiveth whomsoever God sends, receives God. That’s vicarage. You can’t help it. That’s the legacy.
All right, let’s keep reading. We go to James 3:1, it says:
(01) My brethren, be not many teachers]… [So you better watch the teachers.]
We go to,
(02) And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
Now there’s two things there. You are to tell everybody the vindication of the Apostle Paul, and then tell them what Paul said, that came forth from the vindication. So you don’t add or take one word from it.
Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 4. I was reading in there.
Now:
(01) Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
He said, “Listen to me. You had better listen to me as a minister of Christ.” Now he puts others in there too, like Brother Branham.
But Brother Paul did not hold little confab, a little consortium, or a little preacher get-together, said, “Let’s decide the issues here.”
I always get scared of things like that. Preachers get together, going to decide something. Ha! Hogwash! Just decide you ought to blow your nose, that’s where the brains are.
(02) Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
(03) But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of [all of] you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
Says, “I don’t bother to look at myself. I know who I am, where I came from.” Brother Branham brings it out about Paul, brings about John the Baptist, rather. Don’t worry about what a man said. I know what I got. Forget it. If people can’t recognize that, fine, who gives a rip?
Ho, you ought to see the stuff people recognize. Oh brother. Yi, yi, yi, yi, yi. I told you about that press I’ve got, even a goat won’t eat the pressed-out carrots. Can’t even get a goat to eat that pulp.
They’ll eat this pulp? The life gone out of it? The word of another age? Why is it a word of another age? Because it’s not the Word anymore. It’s not the Word of the Rock of Ages, it’s the word of an age.
It’s been hybridized. If any hybrid grain comes up, look at the runty, junky stuff it is. Look at the church. Does that look like the original Church?
Remember, the spirit of the animal, the creature, goes with the age you’re in, too. Now people get carried away on that again, too. They want to go to the lion, they want to go to the calf, the face of man.
They can’t water themselves down to that revelation, the eagle. I’m standing on a revelation. All the other stuff is there, too. But remember, it’s sublimated. Doesn’t say it’s not there.
Now if it’s seething under the surface to get out, you ain’t one of them, because you are content to be what you are. So if you want to a whirling dervish, running around, just be my guest.
I don’t care what anybody does. You know, it’s a wonderful life we live in; wonderful age we live in. Freedom of the press, freedom of everything. All right.
(04) …but he that judgeth me is the Lord. [Therefore… You can’t judge a prophet, only God judges a prophet.]
(05) Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
Now, it’s at that time of discernment, this hour, this is the time the Judge is on the scene.
(06) And these things, brethren, I have… transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.
(07) For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
(08) Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. [In other words, he figures these people are gone.]
(09) For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. [That’s right. Heavenly powers and authorities.]
(10) We are fools for Christ’s sake, but [you] are wise in Christ; we are weak, but [you] are strong; [you] are honourable, but we are despised.
(11) Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place;
(12) And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
(13) Being defamed, [Now this is beautiful.] we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. [Now Brother Branham brings it about Paul. All right:]
(14) I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. [No sons, father.]
(15) For though [you] have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
Which he got and he alone by revelation. And though Peter had some and John had some, Paul had it for the Gentiles, and he was the one with the guts to stand there and face anybody down. Willing to die for it.
(16) Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
(17) For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every- where in every church.
(18) Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. [They were puffed up under John.]
(19) But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. [And John said the same thing about that in the presence of God.]
(20) For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
What does it mean, there’s no Word at all? You go your own way without power? No. No way. There’s one Kingdom, one Word. Let’s find out. Back to Ephesians 4th chapter. What does it say?
(04) There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
(05) One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
(06) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
But seventeen Gospels. No, it doesn’t say that. There’s only one hope of your calling. How do you get called? You get called through a Word. All right. Let’s keep moving.
[45-4] Paul, after his great revelation of Christ, said in I Corinthians the 2nd chapter… Be sure to read that as you write it down. Watch. Oh, he said, “I never came to you with wisdom.” Look at that man who did have the wisdom. Look at that man who had the scholarship.
“I never come to you with them kind of a word.”… Well, let’s just read it. “I, Paul, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech, of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God I never said, “I’m Dr. So-and-so. For I am determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” What would he know—what would he tell you today?
“Here He is, the same One I preached.” Form of the Holy Spirit, doing the same thing. What do you want? I preach it there, I preach it now. He’s the same here, He’s the same here. What do you want? I told you over here and I told you over here, and now here it is.
He’s coming, He’s coming, He’s coming. He’s here, He’s here, He’s here. He’s gone, He’s gone, He’s gone. That’s always been the way it is.
He’s coming, He’ll do it. He came, He did it. Now He hasn’t finished His job, just the Shout. Next is Voice, next is Trumpet, does all three.
[45-4] And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling… my speech and–and my beseeching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and… power–of the power:
[46-1] There, see there’s the Gospel. See? Jesus said, “Go ye in all the world and preach the Gospel.” Didn’t say, “Go teach,” He said, “Go preach.” In other words, demonstrate the power, and these signs shall follow them [that believe]. Just teaching doesn’t do it. It takes the actual Spirit Itself demonstrating these signs.
Now he puts this down to himself and to the people. But remember, the continuity of revelation coming by a prophet. Now watch, then he goes on:
[46-2] That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God.
Now listen. Here’s a bunch of people come by and they turn down the prophet. I don’t like to… I’m not fussing… Look it, please understand, I’m not fussing on men like Tommy Osborne and those men. God bless them.
If I had half of what they had and be sweet and nice and all these things I could say something. But look it, I’m talking about a prophet and I’m talking about the Word of God.
And I’m just a bystander here in a certain sense of the word, bringing things to your attention. This is not my ministry anyway, you know, to do what they do. Now he said:
[46-2] That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God.
All right, look it here. Those men, what they’re doing and they’re preaching, is vindicated to them by the fact that they’re performing. So what’s he saying? He’s talking about himself with the vindicated Word.
These men are not vindicated, they are gifted. And they’re not prophets of God. You understand what we’re saying, see? All right.
This, in other words, is the message on the Anointed Ones of the End Time. They are false to the Word but they are true to the gifts. And they’re true to the power of it, because they built upon a faith-premise.
[46-2] Oh, my. See, to change the man… [Now this is given to change men.] Not what I can explain away and say, “He’s not the same,” when He is the same.
Now he’s got those who will try to tell you He’s not the same. Now the same people with that power in gifts and manifestation will not understand Hebrews 13:8 as we understand It as the prophet gave It.
And they’ll say yes, He’s the same here, notice the signs and wonders and healings. But He’s not here, which is before Sodom, and that’s how He does it. They will not admit the Jehovah of the Old is Jesus of the new, except pedantically.
There’s no revelation there’s one God. And yet they can quote you the tenth chapter of the book of First Corinthians… the Rock that followed them. All right:
[46-2] …Surely a man tell me that, would show me he [doesn’t] have the revelation, the threefold revelation of God.
So what’s he talking about again? He’s referring to himself. “Now, see, to change the man…”
Okay, let’s say that Brother Branham is that man for this hour. Now, he’s coming with the manifested Message that’s vindicated to God. And he wants to change something. Okay, what’s he want to change? Let’s go back and find out.
(14) And unto the [messenger, unto William Branham] of the church of the Laodiceans [yes, he’s the messenger of the end time, this age.] write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
(15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would [you were] cold or hot.
(16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
(17) Because [you] sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and [don’t know] that [you] art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Now they don’t know that so somebody’s got to tell them. Now then, that’s a condition. He reveals it. What’s the next thing? Council. Come to me. Where is He? Outside the church. Get out of Babylon.
(18) …buy of me gold tried in the fire, [a faith that is truly a faith of the Word. Latter day faith.] that [you may] be rich; and white raiment, [they don’t have it.] that [you may] be clothed, [you’re naked] and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear;
That’s caught in your adulteries. Ashamed of His Appearing. The prophet came warning, concerning the Coming there and the Seven Seals, which designated the official Presence to the people, before He was present.
It’s a presentation, pointing to the skies, behold the Lamb. Lamb what? That’s Spirit form. Oh He had to be crucified before the foundation of the world. See? Okay.
(18) …and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, [come and get it.] that [you may] see.
(19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. [He came to change the people’s minds. Not a world-wide revival, big revival like people want, but a change of mind.]
(20) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock… [and so on and so forth.]
All right. Now, how do we get our change? By the renewing of the mind. Romans 12 and 2 Corinthians. Notice how it’s written in 2 Corinthians, which was a tongue’s-speaking church. Oh they turned everything down flat. In the 3rd chapter and the 17th verse:
(17) Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
So who descends then? The Lord Himself is the Spirit. He comes down from heaven. Baptism gives way to the Baptizer. Now, so He’s here.
(18) But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, [Now we can’t see the Lord so we see the glory] are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 4:
(01) Therefore seeing we have this ministry… [What ministry? To present this to make a change in people’s lives. To be transfigured, to be transformed, being transformed or transfigured by the renewing of your mind.]
(02) But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, [not] handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
Now he tells you down here, that Spirit with the ministry of the Word has the power and the authority to do this, but it’s not time. The time when that takes place is in Ephesians 1 after verse 17, where verse 19 is the power of the Resurrection, see? Now you got to watch that. All right.
The three-fold revelation. What’s the three-fold revelation we’re into right now? Well, it’s always been revelation, now it’s the revelation. It’s always been preeminence, but now it is the preeminence. But it hasn’t been before restoration, and back to Eden.
It’s been looking to it. This is the new, this is what’s added. Now, number one and number two stand corrected, so therefore number three is in effect. Any time any moment.
[46-3] And howbeit… in weakness… [he said] among you that are perfect: yet we’re not with the wisdom of the world, but of the princes of this world, that come to [nothing]: [or the princes of the world] But we speak the wisdom of God in… mystery,… [and so on. Now notice, he said:]
…Which none of the princes of this world knew:…
Therefore it’s an exclusive revelation to one person; which revelation is number one: truth, brings preeminence, three: restores to Eden. Now this has been continuous, going on all through the ages, but could never bring us to this hour of itself. There had to be something added.
Okay. Now:
[46-1] You say, “You’re wrong about rabbis and preachers there.” as to Who crucified Him? [Now people say, “well, they didn’t crucify him, the Romans crucified him. Some-body else crucified him] On and, on and on we go; read it. [See?] save time, just… getting late we got plenty time here, for the Lord to tell us something however…
Now, those people of the theological seminaries and the teachers of what they call truth, [the established, state-promoted, designated, and favored religion] were the killers. Now Omega being Alpha, the religious ministry now will crucify Him to themselves afresh at the end-time.
[46-4] …And Paul, this great intellectual man, never tried to express his great theological terms [to] the people. He humbly accepted the Word of the Lord, and he lived the Word so that it expressed Itself. He lived so, so godly until they seen Jesus Christ in him so much, till they wanted his handkerchief to take it and lay it upon the sick.
There’s the Life of Christ. Not what some say… “Oh, you see, Elijah did that a long time ago, laid his stick, but oh, that was in the days of Elijah.”
Now if he’s talking about “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever,” and that comes by demonstrated revelation, or God interpreting His Word by manifesting It, and the prophetic office to explain It, then he’s not talking to a church, though the church is involved when it comes to Mark 16 but not Deuteronomy 18, and not Matthew 4, chapter 4, and not Matthew 12.
Let’s read Matthew 12 again. Oh leave it, you read it enough times, we won’t go to that. See? Now, this is a rebuke to those who claim truth and live in unbelief. They can’t even do anything that is demanded of the peripheral. So if they turn down the peripheral of Mark 16, how are they going to believe anything?
And those that make Mark 16 the center and not the peripheral, how are they going to believe for the center? You know, this Word of God will kill you, brother/sister.
You open this Word without revelation, you’re dead. It’s like a loaded shotgun, too much power and not enough to carry it, it’ll blow you. God showed that to the prophet, which is a lesson to you and me, even a prophet, came to a prophet.
[47-1] Now, the world thought that. The intellectual priest and [his kind], and churches of that day thought that, but to [those] believers, they knew differently. They seen the revelation of Christ that was in Elijah: [they could understand] same thing was in Paul, expressing the same kind of Life, ’cause he was a prophet.
[In other words, they saw the Scriptural pattern.] See? He foretold things that happened exactly the way it was, and they [knew] that was God’s identification of a prophet. And they [knew] that he was God’s prophet.
And what does a prophet do? Reveals. So what’s he talking about? He’s talking about his own vindication. You couldn’t shake them from it at…
Acts the 3rd chapter. Let’s go back again.
Look, we don’t even care if we ever get through this sermon or not. I don’t give a rip. I don’t care. We’re learning the fundamentals what you got to know until you can’t be shaken, until you can read without your… quivering inside, you spot it. See? Time for us to grow up.
Middle of verse 19.
(19) …when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
(20) [Even] he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
(21) [But the heavens got to keep Him back]… until the times of [restoration] of all things, [What restoration?] which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
How do you restore a Bible when you haven’t even got the original manuscripts? You don’t. You get the right revelation. You get the interpretation. You get the understanding. Some of you don’t need, you already got it. Some was to the Jews, forget it.
You’ve got a revelation of Gentiles. Everything else, the Old Testament, is as a matter of example and illustration that you may know more and understand more. But Paul had the revelation. Right. Demonstrated that That one that died rose again, that’s the individual.
Okay. The Word, the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began. Ha! Who’s the prophet there before it began? God. Holy Spirit, bringing that Word. Now He interprets it.
(22) For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
And what is that? Son of man. Now what if God presents to us His own son, Son of man, that’s what He is, in the form of the Holy Spirit? Got the same thing again. Him you’ll hear and all things, whatever he shall say unto you.
Now you got to hear Christ, hear ye Him. And He that speaks that’s in heaven will one day speak again. And remember the Thunders are on earth.
When do the Thunders thunder? When the mighty One comes down. Who is He? Revelation 1:12 and 13. Revelation 5:1. Right.
Elohim! Before the destruction. Magnifying His offices… the Pillar of Fire moves and rolls and out comes the Judge, comes back as Son of man come out; strong, and He moves back again. The King. The Executioner.
Watch, we’ll get back, watch, watch, watch, watch.
(23) And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
The Elijah of this hour, that’s prophet Elijah this hour, is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, not a man. God. But it comes by a prophet. In other words, I am not the Pillar of Fire. I mean, the Pillar of Fire is not the Son of man. I am not the Son of man.
It’s in the form of the Holy Spirit, absolutely. What’s happening? Revealing, manifesting. How? By a man. God in the prophets, God vindicating a man. God vindicating Himself. God proving Himself.
Like we saw last Sunday, God proving. And if He hated, and God in anger, and destroyed it that time, He’s not going to keep His wrath back now, because it’s over. This is the end time.
Now:
(23) And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
(24) Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after,
Notice, Samuel started discernment, as nobody else did. So this prophet here will be one in the likeness of a Samuel. And he kept quoting him, have I ever taken your money, have I ever told you wrong?
Have I ever taken an ass from you, or a sheep or a cow? Did I ever shear you? Show me where I had an organization. Show me one. Put your finger on my life. William Branham stood there and identified with Samuel time after time after time.
He only identified the Spirit of God moving in him as the Revealer through, as in Moses and in Paul and said, see, we haven’t had a prophet that spoke face-to-face with God as the Pillar of Fire since Moses, or like Moses, for two thousand years since the time of Paul until now. That ought to place what he’s talking about.
There’s where the revelation comes, see? Same yesterday, today, and forever. Now… oh yeah. I was going to show you something here.
How much time have we got? fifteen minutes? Oh good. I’ll be entirely wore out and so will you. That’s the way to leave ‘em. Fill them up fast, fill them up hard. Okay. Verse 6 of the 1st chapter of 2nd Thessalonians.
(06) Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
(07) And to you who are troubled [relax] with us, [that’s under the Seventh Seal] when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty [messengers.]
(08) In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
(09) Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the [face] of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; [Presence.]
(10) When he shall 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.
(11) Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of [His] faith with power:
(12) That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(01) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the [presence] of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [even] by our gathering together unto him,
Now, you as natural Bible readers cannot help but go negative, because we’ve never learned to be positive. And I can tell you right now, except maybe for the odd Roman Catholic sitting here that’s pretty positive because he didn’t give two cents about what the priest or anybody else said, because he had a very convenient religion and knew nothing of the Word of God at all.
You’re sitting here when I read, “Flaming fires taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not His gospel, punished with everlasting destruction”—your mind goes right there and blots out entirely the main crux which is to the people who are relaxing when He’s coming to be glorified in His saints.
Now, be honest with me; because that’s what you are doing, and don’t try to tell me you’re not. Because I’m the one here with the strongest revelation, been around the prophet more, and I’ve got trouble.
When I’ve got trouble, you’ve got trouble. And you’re not kidding me one little bit. Because that’s human nature. And the psychologists have proven that man deviates towards the rough and not towards the better in his thoughts. He remembers the evil and not the good.
And you got shaken up because you fully remember the laws of parallelism. Wherever there’s a blessing there’s a curse. Ebal and Gerizim. Blessing, cursing, blessing, cursing, blessing, cursing, blessing, cursing, blessing, cursing—always together, never separate.
But you want to separate them, and so do I. But I will admit it and you won’t. You will now though, because you’re stuck. Because you’re not, one of you… There’s not one of you that isn’t human, and you scare. And you can’t understand that very rule I’m applying, and I’m going to show you once more.
We’re going to go back to Isaiah 6… I’m not bawling you out. These goodies I’ve got to give to you, brother/sister, because God’s my Judge. If I don’t do it then I’m responsible.
(01) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
(02) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort [those] that mourn;
Blessing, cursing, blessing, cursing. See, you can’t help it. So over in 2 Thessalonians, this starts it. You don’t believe it? Come Malachi. Let’s get the thing ironed out tonight.
I could be preaching wrong, I’d sooner preach wrong than right if this is the case, how we are hitting close to the mark. I’m not right… wrong, I’m right, I can tell you that right now. I’m not kidding you.
All right,
(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 the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
(02) But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, [you shall become immortal and go forth] and grow up…
(03) And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this…
(04) Remember ye the law of Moses my servant [Upon Mount Horeb.]
One was the law, the next was grace. Two times the Word was given. One was all law, do, do, do, and this was take, take, take, take, take.
(05) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
(06) And he shall turn… the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Now let’s go and get back here. We go to Luke the 1st chapter, and begin to see what John did.
(17) And [John] shall go before him [the Lord God of Israel] in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, [even] the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
There, at the time right there, you see what happened? God Himself in His great and tremendous Day, right there. God down here in the form of the Holy Spirit and the Pillar of Fire. That same God, the God of Elijah, performed the same four signs to Elijah.
The earthquake, rather the whirlwind, the earthquake and the fire, and the still small voice. The earthquake was predicted, it hit. At the same time the whirlwind gouged out the rocks. The Pillar of Fire seen by hundreds in Sabina Canyon, outside of Tucson.
And the Voice of God brought back the word of reconciliation, you are My perfect Bride, it’s all over. Your whoredoms have been forgiven, you’re married to one man. Bride. God allowed all those divorces before. They held up righteously. But the Bride’s been brought back, see.
Blessing cursing; blessing, cursing. Understanding how God does things. All right:
[47-2] Even when they saw Peter foretell those things that came to pass, they said, “Just let his shadow pass over me.” Amen. That’s the Church. That’s the ones that believe it. Yes, sir.
Now notice, that’s the ones that believe it. What’s he talking about? Not somebody having Peter’s shadow, but those that believe it when the shadow of Christ is in our midst. When they see the sign—the vindication—they’ll take anything because they know there’s a life there.
Oh Israel was happy with the signs and wonders. “Oh great Rabbi, do more and more. I got a boy that’s been dead for a year, I know you can raise him. Come on, big Rabbi, raise my boy from the dead.
Oh yeah, I saw you turn water into wine. Wo wee that was good wine. I got a million jugs, we can make a billion dollars by the next ten years. Oh yeah, you got to be like dear old Elisha, that blinded the Israelites… I mean the Syrians. Take a crack at those Romans.”
So he opened his mouth and he gave the Word of God, they said, “oh you…” Oh brother. “Boy, we just about sucked in, that’s got to be the devil.” Sure, super power. With the Word of Almighty God. You’ve got to make it the devil, there’s no way out. See, somebody’s got to blaspheme, see? Now let’s go to Paul:
[47-3] It was revealed by… Why did Paul say? “Because I got a P.H.D., so forth they believe me”? No, he said, “I forgot all those things. The wisdom of man” said, “had to die. And I know Him in the power of His resurrection.
Now, that’s not the physical resurrection, that’s in the power of Him raised, at the right hand and now shedding forth His Spirit, which you now see in here. But this is He Himself. The Power, the giver of power. Not the dunamis of God, but God the dunamis. See?
Now, Alpha was based on the proof of His resurrection, so was Omega; to end it. Corner-stone becomes the Capstone. The same thing in two different positions, what was making it.
[47-3] That’s how I came to you as, with the demonstration of God’s power.” What was it? Making Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. [Sure. He’s the same.]
Now:
[47-4] The same works that Jesus did, Paul did… [Paul said so in 1 Corinthians 2:] And they saw God, the great Father, [I mean that] that had demonstrated in the burning bush, had demonstrated It to Paul,
Now watch what he says:
[47-4] The same works that Jesus did, Paul did… And they saw God, the great Father, Who had demonstrated Himself in the burning bush, [the same One now] had demonstrated Himself to Paul, and here it was being demonstrated [to them, and now today]; and He’s the same in every age.
God’s threefold manner: yesterday, today, and forever. What? Redeemer in His Church; preeminence in the coming Kingdom. Amen. You see it? Just as perfect as it can be.
So you got it. You’re back now to the end. The perfect revelation, That which is perfect is come. Each Word in this day brought into manifestation, now brings forth the Headstone, crying grace, grace.
[47-5] Oh, notice. The Holy Ghost is the only Revealer of the Divine revelation of Christ. There’s no school can do it; no scholar can do it, no man, how well educated, how godly or anything else; [There you are again. That’s your fruit and your gifts.] there’s no man can do it.
…I could sting hard here. How many Christians, borned again (raise up your hands), filled with the Holy Ghost? All right. Here we go then. (He’s going to sting.) All right.
[48-1] Notice, and He will only do it to the predestinated.
Separations. Word of God separates. That’s why Mathew 24:24 is the separation by the Word and Luke 17 is the Rapture. One sleeping in… two in a bed, one taken, one left. Two in the field, one taken, one left. Two with this, one taken, one left.
In both cases what was it? One taken with the Word, they divide, the next one. So it’s an individual case.
[48-1] Notice, and He will only do it to the predestinated. That’s exactly. “All the Father has given Me will come, [“And he that cometh will in no-wise cast out.”]
And that’s what Paul… what it says in the Book of Acts 13:48, as many as were ordained believed, and those that weren’t ordained to eternal life did not believe. That’s exactly what it says in Romans 11:4. We get it here quickly if that’s the right verse.
And It says here:
(04) But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee.
There you are right there, right down the line. And again It says over here… oh I can’t get the one right here, it’s in the 11th chapter, doesn’t matter anyhow. Maybe it’s the 14th chapter. Anyway, same idea, it’s all something that God does. And if it isn’t done by God it won’t be done. Okay.
[48-2] Look at them priests saying, “This man’s Beelzebub. He’s a fortuneteller. He’s a devil.”
All right, now. Brother Branham here, on page 47, paragraph 6, I read, and then in page 48, the first little paragraph here, he’s talking about no school can do it, nobody but God can get it. And notice, it’s only to the predestinated, all the Father gives, nobody will come but outside of those.
All right, he’s saying here now, he’s making an example here:
[48-2] Look at those priests saying, “This man’s Beelzebub.”
Now here is the kind, godly, loving old priest, getting along just fine, loving people, doing everything, nice, nice, nice, nice, educated, very, very wonderful; but their slant on the Word of God is pitiful, no revelation, no nothing.
And here they are, wonderful, wonderful people. And they turn down God flat. They crucify the Son of God, and God manifested in flesh.
Now here’s this wicked woman:
[48-2] …and Jesus said, “Go, get your husband and come here.” She said, “I have no husband.” Said, “Yes, you’ve got six. You’ve had five, and the one that you’re living with now is not your husband.” She said, “Sir…” What? That Light struck that Seed.
Now she was seed, see? The rest were serpent seed.
[48-3] When it struck them priest, they said, “This man is a fortuneteller.” See? No Life there, hybrid. They come up as far as organizations, but died from there on.
[48-4] But this woman was not a hybrid; she said, “Sir, I perceive…” [you see the seed sees, that’s the idea.] I can see her big pretty eyes shine up like that, tears running down her cheeks, said, “Sir, I perceive that You’re a prophet.
In other words, there’s discernment. She discerned his discerning, because he read her heart. Now discernment is by the Logos in a man. What is it?
God Himself, the Logos, revealing Himself to her consciousness through the predicated work of Almighty God, which is how God does things. That was the sign. And she, being seed, recognized the sign immediately when the rest turned it down.
Well they’d say, “Oh that whore… who is she anyway?” Like Simon, the old Pharisee said when the woman came in there, was wiping Jesus’ feet, washing with the tears and wiping his feet with her hair of her head. Why, he knew that was a prostitute. What kind of prophet is he?
So He said, “Simon,” he said, “I read her heart and I read your heart too, and she’s far better off that you are.” See? But he still called Him of the devil. See?
No wonder there’s got to be Judgment Day, brother/sister. Don’t you by… thing you’re going to bypass that Judgment Day, it’s going to be there, but there’s no fear for us.
[48-4] …said, “Sir, I perceive that You’re a prophet. I’m looking for a Messiah, and when that Messiah comes, He’ll do this very same thing. He’ll tell us these things.” He said, “I am He.”
She didn’t mind his confessing. People still can realize Paul’s confession, which I read here. Called an Apostle from his mother’s womb. God separated him, chose him. Understood all those laws of God laid down. Proved the whole thing back and forth by Scripture, by vindication.
And people say “Isn’t that wonderful, wonderful, wonderful; oh yes”
Then somebody comes on the scene; God doing the same thing… “Oh that’s the devil, that’s the devil.” Well if it’s the God over here, then it’s got to be the God here. If it’s the devil here it’s got to be the devil here, make your mind up! Oh, they can’t make their minds up… too bad.
[48-4] “Oh, Lord…” She left her pot, “Here He is. Come see a Man Who’s told me the things…” What was it? That Light struck that Seed. That Life was there. It come forth.
In other words, there was a little teeny bit of light from God, the germ was there. The Light struck it, it came forth. And that’s what happens if the rain falls on the seed and it’s in a good soil, never mind what it look likes, it’s going to bring forth according to the Word of Almighty God.
And that’s the principle that cannot change, brother/sister, because it has to do with Him in this hour with the Gentiles.
[48-5] Same thing today. But the theologians say, “Now, wait just a minute. I’ll find out if So-and-so… if Pastor Moody said or… What’s Pastor Moody got to do with this, this day? Pastor Moody lived in his day, but not now. Certainly not.
Luther lived in his day, but not in the day of Wesley. Wesley lived in his day, not in the day of Pentecost. Pentecost lived in their day, but they’re a long ways from this, in this hour. We’re in the last hour. [That’s 1 Corinthians 4:10] Sure. Their organizations and scrupled up proves that it’s not there. The Word has never been correctly vindicated just only in It’s strength.
[The Pentecostal signs and wonders has led the whole world astray with gifts and away from the Word.] Seeds, denominations… And they make denominations and then put them old jimson weed seeds in with that genuine wheat: died right out, crop went to jimson weed [That’s right.],
…green briars and nettles, uh huh see, went on back to that; it died right out. Then they broke the field up and started over again, planted some real seeds and some of them come up and it choked it out.
Now that’s… we’re going to stop right here. And that’s Hebrews 6, right there, the re-planting. Okay.
So, I trust we learned what we’re supposed to learn tonight. I took a lot of time on that to show you these laws and get them in your hearts. And I speak them just as right as I can to you when something comes across my mind.
Just on one telephone call today I realized I was doing the very thing I yelled at you for. And I wanted to do it that way to get your attention and make you see what I’m seeing. I caught myself and I suddenly realized as I talked to this brother.
Hey, I keep putting aside the very law that God gave me, the law of parallelism of Scripture—blessing, cursing; blessing, cursing, of blessing, the man’s accursed and accursed, the man’s a blessing in the economy of God.
Remember, even though it wasn’t said in the Scripture, when God said you take of this fruit, you eat it, you will die; He also was saying you don’t take it, you keep on living. Blessing, cursing, blessing, you see it?
Never forget, it’s there. And it’ll throw you every single time, but the elect of God will not be thrown. We’re on our way.
Let’s rise.
Heavenly Father, again we thank You tonight for Your love and mercy Lord. And we praise You for helping us, oh God, because we did come here for Your help. Now Lord, if anything has been done, anything has been said to help anybody, and I trust nothing has been said by… way it was said, how it was said, or when, where, whatsoever.
But Lord God, it would throw back upon man, then it’s no good at all. But Lord, I pray in Jesus’ name that You might have got a little glory tonight, somehow Lord, by helping Your people. All of us here together helping each other by being one heart and one mind.
Knowing there’s going to be a Bride at one time with one spirit, one mind, with that one letter, and that’s the love letter than God wrote that the prophet opened to us Lord.
All the Seals off, Christ Himself revealed. And we so in love with Him, it doesn’t really matter much anymore. We can afford anything and everything, it doesn’t matter, Lord.
Oh God, today when the ends of the world are come upon us, when all diabolical cunning is repeated in the enemy, we know that all in You Lord, was poured into a Bride, is here manifested, and You with us. Help us to realize that Lord.
Not singing old songs, “I’m on my way to Heaven, my sins are forgiven”—some little platitude Lord, some little thing there, which is good, we recognize that. It’s saying that You’re… but Lord, we with an understanding by revelation know something beyond, oh God.
Knowing that we’re not just marching to Zion, we are marching to Zion, that we are Zion. We are that beautiful City, Lord, because it isn’t the house, it’s the people in the house.
It wasn’t that great temple back there, it was God in that temple. It’s not a Holy Bride, it’s a Holy God that sanctifies the Bride. Lord, tonight help us to that end. Lord you can do it tonight.
Circumcise our minds, we pray. Circumcise our hearts, oh God. Take the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye and the pride of life right out of us Lord. Even Billy Graham’s come to that place Lord. There’s a humility crept in.
Father, I trust that something may happen to that man. That he’ll begin to look and see, there’s got to be something more. There’s got to be a Word. There’s got to be a climax, there’s got to be a finishing off.
[End of tape recording]