Events Made Clear By Prophecy #01
#0885
Let’s just pray, shall we?
Heavenly Father, we’re again grateful to be here in this place You’ve set aside for us to worship Your Name, study Your Word, Lord, to grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to practice, Lord, to be one with each other in the sense, Lord, we need together, gives us communion with each other, with You.
We praise You, Lord, for every promise that You’ve given us and we know there’s not one word shall fail. We don’t count on our faithfulness, Lord; we count on Yours, especially since You said our faithlessness all the more clearly shows Your faithfulness.
You cannot deny Yourself. We might be deniers but You will not deny Yourself. You will bring Your purposes to a successful conclusion, Lord, and it will be for Your honor and glory, and we’re satisfied then that that’s just wonderful.
All things are working together for our good because we love You because You first loved us. Now we commend ourselves to You tonight for this service in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
You may be seated.
Well, it’s certainly nice to see the folk here and see Anne’s mother, Sister Friesen. We’re not going to have Menno with us on Sunday because he done got an appointment down south, but Brian will take the service 10:30 Sunday morning and give Brother Klassen’s group a chance to hear him. Brian’s a very good little preacher.
Now we’re going to get into Events Made Clear By Prophecy which actually is in the same mold and with the same type of teaching that Brother Branham gave us, God Identified By His Own Characteristics.
In other words, it’s a scriptural presentation of where you find the prophet and God visiting this hour the Laodicean Church which is in a very bankrupt condition, the same as it was before Sodom and Gomorrah.
And so he starts reading over here in Luke 24, so we might as well do that. We’ll start there. That’s actually on page 3 of the books, rather than on page 1. We won’t be starting there; we’ll start on page 3, and, let me see, chapter 24, and he said the 12th verse, down about to 34. All right.
(12) [And] Then… Peter [arose], and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
(13) And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. [A furlong, well, that’s about six miles, I guess. Ten furlongs a mile.]
(14) And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
(15) And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
(16) But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
(17) And he said unto them, What manner of communication are these… [you] have one [with] another, as [you] walk, and are sad? [Now you’re finding out who one of the disciples was.]
(18) And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
(19) And he said… What things?… they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
(20) And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
(21) But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
(22) Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;
(23) And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said… he was alive.
(24) And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even… as the women had said: but him they saw not.
(25) Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
(26) Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? [Now that’s a good question. And, of course, that’s the question that Israel would never believe and doesn’t believe today. Now watch the answer.]
(27) And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
(28) And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as thought he would have gone further.
(29) But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
(30) And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
(31) And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
(32) And they said one to another, Did not our heart[s] burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
(33) And they rose up the same hour… returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,
(34) Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
(35) And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in [the] breaking of bread.
Now, all right. Now over on page 5, Brother Branham says, “Let us pray.”
[12] Now let us pray. Dear Gracious Father, we thank Thee for Thy Word, for Thy Word is Truth, Thy Word is Life. And Thou, O Lord, and Thy Word are One. So we pray tonight, Lord, that You will come among us in the power of Your resurrection and…
…show forth to us tonight, like those that came from Emmaus, that we too would return to our homes, saying, “Did not our hearts burn within us?” Grant it, Lord, it’s towards evening time again. For we ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
[13] Now [he said] I want to speak concerning the Bible. [So therefore, he’s going to talk about the Bible, the actual Word Itself that’s in a book called the Bible. He’s going to be talking about It and he said,]
[14] Now, the Bible is a different Book from all other sacred books.
Now, I think you’ve heard me say some time back that the Bible’s no different from any other book, and I’m speaking concerning revelation that, if you don’t have the Spirit of God open the book to you, this Book is no different to the individual than any other book is.
And no individual is truly affected by this Book, its contents, unless it is spiritually given to him to receive the promises, but, collectively, now that’s a different story. Collectively, the whole world is judged by It, even the individual, whether It’s read or not.
Now you don’t even have to read it, you don’t have to know about it, but the world will be judged by It, because It’s the plumb line, It’s the Judge on the bench, It’s the source of light and Life, and It gives you the source of Life, its origin, its destination, it gives you the history, six thousand years, and much of it is prophecy and much of It is fulfilled prophecy.
So, It’s a very different book from all the other books.
[14] Now, the Bible is a different Book. [Now, he said, it’s different because] It is a Book of prophecy, foretelling future events. It’s also the Revelation of Jesus Christ. [So, all right.]
He says the two things here and, of course, more also, but he says it is full of prophetic events that have passed or are coming to pass now or in the future. So It’s a book of prophecy, it deals with that which is predictive, foretelling the future.
And then he says also that It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. So we see there then that it is all about Jesus the Christ. He also says here now:
[14] All the way from Genesis to Revelation, brings Him out in His fullness, what He was and is. And the whole complete Book, Revelations 1:1- 3, [verses 1 to 3] said the Book is a Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which is the Word of God. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Word of God!
Now, you notice in here that this Book never changes but unfolds Itself and just keeps on moving so that you get more and more of the same thing. The Bible’s not a book that changes its theme in Genesis down the road. Brother Branham said if it’s not in Genesis, you can’t find the seed, you better lay it down.
So it’s a Book that starts in Genesis and completes itself in the Book of Revelation and that’s as far as we know because it doesn’t carry history any further than that. Whatever God has beyond that is fine; that’s up to Him.
But he brings this out to show us that It is that which reveals and It is revealing the person, Christ, and, of course, He is the Word of God which means God literally expressed, not just the Bible here but it’s in the Bible in this form that the expression is in words and then you see this all takes place.
Now it’s all about Jesus Christ then. No other book can do this, he tells you in the 15th paragraph.
[15] Now, all other books, sacred books, are only a code of ethics, a code of morals, or a code of theology… How many ever read the Koran, the Mohammedan Bible, …or the book… on Buddhism, and so forth? It’s just a code of ethics, what people should live, how they should live, but it doesn’t prophesy, doesn’t say anything about these things or about… special gifts being given to anybody, anything to take place. Just like joining a lodge or something. Therefore, when churches come to the place that they make their church just a lodge to join, then they’re plumb off of the Word…
Now, no other book then can do what the Bible does, so they are not living records, but they’re dead issues that actually they’re lies, only the Bible is the truth which is reality. And no other religious or sacred book can prove itself by itself.
Now that’s something that you’ll find every student usually makes that statement, that a book cannot prove itself by itself.
Now, you could take a good textbook in certain fields of geometry and it could prove itself by itself when the fact of the theorems and so on, principles, but you come to a book itself, no book can prove itself by itself. See? But this Book does prove Itself by Itself; It makes statements that form truth that proves out by manifestation.
No book can be written by anyone but God and know the contents of the future will be fulfilled. See now you’d have to have a source of power at your benefit so that if you did predict something, and it would come to pass, it wasn’t because you said it; it would be because there’s a source of power behind you and that’s right.
Now even the devil fails in this regard. Now, I know that spiritism can predict certain things but after a certain point it loses its punch. It can’t be fulfilled. Nothing can compete with the Bible for reality.
And he said,
[16 ] For the Bible is a living, foretold witness of Jesus Christ.
Now looking at the word “living”: “The Bible is a living, foretold witness of Jesus Christ,” in other words, the life beyond the printed page that gave the page, in giving it, prophesied of Jesus and produced Jesus the Christ.
Now it’s not that the Bible Itself did that; it’s the life beyond the Bible, but the Bible is the record.
Like the old song said about the… “I seek thee, Lord, beyond the printed page.”
That’s right. If you don’t seek God beyond the printed page and get to the God who wrote the printed page, what good is it? You’re just a legalist trying to fight your way through, you know, the dense growth of this Word. You can’t do it.
So it’s the “living, foretold witness of Jesus Christ”, the Bible is. Now that’s what makes the Bible living is not this book itself; it’s what’s behind it, because Brother Branham will tell you later it’s written by God.
See, that’s the point. God is Life. God is Light. You don’t have one without the other. And when you have manifestation, it comes in through Jesus Christ your Lord.
Now, “foretold witness”, well, that’s all the types and shadows, everything pointed to Him and so described Him that indeed the Bible is a revelation of Jesus Christ. You find Him right back in Genesis. So the Bible is a living, foretold witness of Jesus Christ.
The Bible witnesses to Him, tells things about Him before even he was on earth, the things come to pass. The Life that was responsible for this Word is actually that Life that is manifested because John tells you that. We saw that life manifested.
Now:
[16] And as the earth has growed into (its) fullness, and also vines grow into their fullness, the day grows into its fullness, the Bible was manifested in Its fullness in the Person of Jesus Christ.
All right. It’s fullness, as Brother Branham said here now. Every prophet received added revelation to Genesis 3:15. Now let’s go back to Genesis 3:15 because there’s a purpose in it. Now you all know what it is, of course; it’s God talking to the woman and He said, and now in verse 15:
(15) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed;
Now who’s the first prophet? God is the first Prophet. Now, God Himself is foretelling Jesus Christ. So everything else then that is in reference to the seed that is going to disarm the enemy and undo the works that the beast caused or Satan caused through the beast.
This Redeemer, everything said about him, is going to amplify the statement and bring it out until you see not only the fact of the Redeemer produced but the Redeemer in marvelous glory and ruling it all under the Pillar of Fire at New Jerusalem.
So it certainly is what the prophet said, a full revelation as the things in nature grow, vines grow, the world history of God grows, you see a growing understanding and manifestation and a fullness of the Christ through the Life that wrote it all, starting in Genesis going to the Book of Revelation.
Now:
[16] He was the Word of God revealed, the whole complete book of redemption. [Now you notice in here then that He would have to be the Redeemer if it’s a book of redemption which it most certainly is.] The Bible is God’s Word, foretelling the future events.
Well, now, did it tell about the Rapture? Well, it certainly did tell about the rapture. But how well did it tell about the Rapture? According to Brother Branham, if you didn’t have a revelation which is discernment for this hour, you can say, “It’s Rapture. There’s going to be Rapture.” That’s all you know about it and your guessing will be wrong without a doubt.
And remember, that Rapture must be a further unfolding of Jesus the Christ, and the Bible said we’re going to meet the Lord in the air. “The Lord shall descend with a shout and meet the Lord in the air.
And when that Spirit that’s in the midst of us is incarnated to us, we’ll crown Him King of kings and Lord of lords.” Now nobody believes like we do because it’s impossible. Nobody could guess this.
I know certain people think that what Brother Branham said has been previously said. Believe me, there’s certain things Brother Branham has said that have not been previously said.
I’m sorry; you’ve just lost your place in the kingdom. I mean, if anything, if the Word of God is going to hold good, because somebody’s trying to second guess God.
And I can’t imagine God letting anybody second guess Him. You can’t in the face of revelation, you can’t in the face of 1 Corinthians, you can’t in the face of Paul, you can’t in the face of Moses, you can’t in the face of a man like Micaiah, you can’t in the face of John the Baptist or William Branham. See?
[16] The Bible is God’s Word, foretelling the future events. Its believers are commanded by Its Author to read and believe every Word of It, not just part of It. One Word, to disbelieve It, you might as well quit trying until you believe that Word.
[Now that’s true. In other words, you’ve got to accept It. Some of the things the Bible says are terribly foreign. So, all right, you don’t understand It, just let it sit there. See?] [Now,] Every Word is absolutely a part of Almighty God; made manifest, wound into His Word, to show forth Who He is. [Okay.]
Every Word gives His attributes. He shows them to us and all are in harmony with all the rest of the Word. Now most people think the Bible have contradictions because they cannot align Scripture with Scripture. They don’t understand It.
[16] We are commanded, as believers, to believe every Word of It. And It’s written by the Author of God Himself. There’s nobody can add… to It or take anything from It.
[Except God. And what did He do? He sealed the Book. He said, “I can’t add or take.” He’s bound by the fact of His sealing.] There’s nobody can add … or take … from It. If it would, it would be a freak body of God. It would have, maybe like six fingers on one hand, …three arms, or something, or add something… take… away something from… be short one arm… one finger…
[And so on. You notice a lot of gods are pictured that way, you know.] It’s the complete form… It’s the complete Body of Jesus Christ. [All right. That’s true.]
No other book has this revelation of Him and God brought Him forth exactly as the full Word and He became flesh as prophesied and did actually as spoken. That’s exactly right. It’s absolutely complete. It’s a complete body.
In other words, it’s a complete story, the complete setting forth of Jesus Christ to bring forth the complete Person Himself and to bring forth completely all the works that were in Him that He started and now has to be consummated because, remember, everything going on was foretold and predestinated, and we know of nothing else that’s going to happen in the realm of anything more predictive added to it or taken from it.
It’s got to be fulfilled. And, in short, Christ, now watch His body.
[16] And in Christ, being the Male, the Groom, the Bride is represented in Him also. And these two are One. “At that day you’ll know… I am in the Father, the Father in Me, I in you and you in Me.” What a complete picture!
Now, he’s telling you here then that this Word is unfolding and it’s not unfolding merely as to revelation; It’s unfolding as to manifestation because you cannot have revelation apart from manifestation which in turn must be interpreted to receive a complete understanding.
So he’s telling you all this is going on and he wants you to know that the Bride doesn’t need to worry because if there’s a complete revelation of Him and we’re in Him, then there’s a complete revelation of us. So that he doesn’t miss one point of being fulfilled and manifested, then we will not miss one point of fullness and being manifested.
And if you cannot add or take from Him and we are in Him, how could anybody come in without being preordained to it and how could anybody get out if he thought he didn’t like it? Of course, they all like it. There’s no way you can get out of it. See? It’s what you call rigid control.
You talk about, today with quality control, mass production, and all, they didn’t have a—well, they’re just—haven’t even been born alongside of what we find in Jesus Christ. All right.
[16] What a complete picture! [He said. See?]
[17] And the true believers in this Word, who accept It that way, believe It, and with patience wait for Its prophesied promises, every one of them to be made manifested in its age. Every believer has watched for it. Every believer has to be on the toes, watching, is the one that It’s been revealed to.
Now, you’ll notice in there, what’s going to be revealed to? The promises! The revelation of Jesus Christ and the relationship through grace by redemption. The curses don’t go to him. The judgment doesn’t go to him.
See, remember the fan is in his hand where he thoroughly purges the floor to get to glean the garner; he turns around and burns up the chaff.
So all right. So that’s why I said awhile ago, when you deal with the individual, this book could mean nothing, although It does, but when you deal collectively, this book has the broad spectrum of the whole world.
[18] Now look in the days of the coming of the Lord Jesus. [Now that’s the First Coming which has to do with mortal flesh. You see, the Second Coming of mortal flesh, immortal flesh, is in the Rapture, meet Him in the skies. The third is when we come back together and we set foot in the Millennium.] …look in the days of the coming of the Lord Jesus.
[That’s way back two thousand years ago.] Why didn’t those people recognize John, when the Bible plainly said by Isaiah, “There will be a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’”? Their last prophet they had which is Malachi 3, said, “Behold, I send My messenger before My face to prepare the way.” Why didn’t they see it? Because they were looking upon something that had been done, basing their thoughts upon some message that had gone forth beforehand, and failed to see the present manifestation of God in the day that they were living. [All right.]
The Bible is a living book but some of it is not current. You have to know the Word of the hour especially for the Rapture. See, you’ve got to have It given to you. Peter warned us in 2 Peter which we won’t read; we took that on the Rapture.
We are repeating that the fourth ministry of Elijah, exactly, that’s the one today, where John was the third, runs exactly parallel to John’s ministry in main, now you don’t have to take every part of it but you can see the actual thread of it, the true outline of it, but people can’t see it because of false teaching.
One of the false teachings is that John the Baptist was Elijah. Well, the earth didn’t burn. I’m sure John didn’t stop it from burning. So Elijah’s got to come at a time when the earth is going to burn just before the fire falls in Sodom because there’s where you get your fire.
Don’t take it back to Noah; that’s flood. You can’t take it back to Moses because that’s simply crossing over into the Promised Land typing the Millennium. You’ve got to take it back to where the fire fell in Sodom. That’s what’s mentioned. So, all right.
Now, we keep reading.
[18] …”There will be a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord'”? Their last prophet they had, which [was] Malachi 3, [he] said, “Behold, I send My prophet before My face to prepare the way.”
…Why didn’t they see it? Because they were looking upon something that had been done, basing their thoughts upon a message that had [gone] forth beforehand, and they failed to see the present manifestation of God in the day they were living.
That’s true. But remember also, they had an understanding from Ecclesiastes that God not only remains the same but His ways remain the same; so therefore, the people in this hour knowing those things would look for somebody like John and, back in Jesus’ day, they would have to look for somebody to forerun him because somebody’s got to do it because the Bible said so.
Now, the 19th paragraph.
[19] And Christians, everywhere, that’s exactly where the world stands tonight. [Now, he’s running the parallel I mentioned.] Without contradiction, that’s the truth! Christians, everywhere, we’re trying to look back to some code of ethics [or some doctrine, dissertation, I suppose you could say] that… Luther wrote, or Mr. Wesley, Sankey, Finney, Knox, Calvin; which, none of us can speak evil of, but that was in a day past.
Now the hard part I think for most everybody to receive, when it comes to taking Brother Branham at face value for what he says is that there is a Word or Message or a portion of the Bible for each age. Now they recognize that in a way but they don’t recognize it all the way.
They simply do not do it. So, now, the way they recognize it in a way is this: “Well, the Bible says so, it’s down the road.” See? The Bible said so, it’s in the back of us. But to see it in front of them, forget it. They just don’t have that ability.
It’s always been that way except for the Elect. The Word has a continuity but only the Spirit can reveal through ordained channels and only the Elect see it. Now these same people that deny a present hour truth, they will confirm continuity, but they wouldn’t know what they’re saying.
They’re simply saying, “Well, the Bible does run in continuity and event follows event.” Say, now well, just a minute, how about picking out the event for this hour? Tell me what’s going to go in continuity now.
Now listen! Continuity means that it had to start somewhere and it continues the same. They like to hack it up into pieces, seven dispensations; there’s only three. The three dispensations are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but they’ve got seven of them. There’s seven church ages and that seven church ages is the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, that’s the Son.
Even in this present hour, the Pillar of Fire is the Son of man and the Son of man in flesh is being revealed. Those are kind of tricky sayings but they’re not all that tricky. If we get time we’ll go into some of them.
[20] The Pharisees looked back to see what Moses said, and they said, “We have Moses. We don’t know whence Thou comest.”
Well, Lutherans look back and say, “We know Luther. We don’t know these bunch of Wesleyans.” Wesleyans look back and say, “Well, you know Wesleyans; where are these goofy Pentecostals heading in at?” See?
We look back at the Pentecostal’s and we say, “Hey, we know where we came from, where we’re going?” It’s a little different story with us; it came out. We came out to go in, not to hang around this place.
[20] “We don’t know whence Thou comest.”
[21] But remember, when Moses was here, they didn’t know whence he came. See? And now they… No wonder Jesus said…”You garnish the tombs of the prophets, and you are the ones that put them in there.”
Same spirit, same seed, twins. Let’s just take… to check that out a minute. Let’s go to 1 John 4:6. I won’t keep you too long tonight. All these take a whole lot more time than I like to put on them but it can’t be helped.
(06) We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
Now It tells you right there the only way anybody can know the truth is spirit and error, differentiate between the two of them, is by hearing somebody. Now, who are you going to listen to? Now, that’s a dilly right there.
Well, it really doesn’t matter because God’s going to send somebody and those that are ordained to listen will listen, because that’s His way of doing things. We took that up in God Identified By His Own Characteristics.
We’ll get the same thing in here, too. See, it’s not a replay but it’s a, you might call it, a further amplification. They’re the ones that put them in there.
[21] After their Message is gone! A Message goes through, the people see It, they make fun of It (the world does). And then after the messenger is finished and the Message is done, …they build a denomination upon the Message. And there they die right there, never come to Life again. [All right.]
This shows what word, what he said here, you garnish the tombs, shows the guilt of the people trying to protect the truth or a former revealed position, portion or a formally revealed portion, only to lose it by organizing it as a protection.
Now, organization is based upon denominational formula, which is “we believe this way, now we’re going to organize and we’re going to keep it this way.”
Now only two ages had the power to do that and they don’t denominate and organize. That’s the first age and the last age, because the first age had It right and the last age cannot go anywhere except up. And they cannot organize or denominate because there’s too much difference. That’s right.
This message that Brother Branham preached is just as tough as Paul’s that many people wrest to their own destruction.
Now why do people denominate and organize? They denominate which means they formulate what they believe to be the truth and at that moment it was. The next thing is they say, “We are going to protect it.”
So we organize to keep those out and to keep those in; they should be one with each other and so they have a nice little club all lined up, you know, shake hands and that’s the end of it.
See, they die right there. Why? Because they should have left a comma or a semicolon and a dash instead of a period. See? They put an ‘amen’ there and no, God could not reveal any more Light. See now this age here closes out with the Light, returning to Israel.
Now the only thing that could happen is Brother Branham come back in the first part, of the second part of the first Resurrection and deal with us concerning things in the kingdom. I don’t say he won’t do that but I can tell you one thing: when he does come back and if he does do it, it’s going to be too late for anybody except those that are already in. See?
He has something to do, no doubt he will. I don’t see any reason for him coming back if he didn’t have something to do even, unless it’s just to tell us all about some good things. Jesus spoke concerning the things of the kingdom when he came back from the dead, so I don’t put it past Brother Branham.
I don’t say he will; I don’t know. I like to leave things open if they’re to be opened to us. All right.
[22] Look just a moment, to some of you people, and especially I speak to you Catholic people. Do you realize, have you ever read the actual history, the history of the Roman Catholic church? How that on your martyrology, since Saint Augustine of Hippo, how many million innocent people that the church put to death! I forget, can’t recall the exact number…
[He said sixty eight million under Smucker’s Martyrology. Okay.] …that the church put to death! …but it’s up in the millions, since Saint Augustine of Hippo, of Africa, made it a declaration that it was absolutely the will of God to put…to death that anyone… that protests the Roman Catholic church.
Now he got that from Paul going to Damascus, raging against God and the Christians, so God struck him down and made him a Christian, so therefore, the church can strike down anybody, even in death, to make them a Christian.
That’s why the Spanish came over here to South America and places and poured molten lead and things in people’s mouths; they turned them to God in a hurry.
But what happened when they did it? They did just what Ahab did when he married Jezebel; the Roman Catholic religion does not have a pure religion. They’re liars from their socks to the top of their heads: liars, liars, liars. They don’t have a pure religion. No way, shape, and form. They’re all full of it: heathenism.
Go down to Haiti and they got Haiti bunk in there. You go to the Philippines, they got Phillo bunk. You go to Japan, they got Japanese bunk. It’s all wrapped in their creeds and their dogmas. I don’t care what their Latin books say; nobody can read them but a bunch of people trained in Latin. Who needs it? Even doctors don’t use Latin as far as I know anymore.
They’re the most ignorant people under God’s high heaven because they won’t read. They’ll just read Cedric, he’s dead now; they’re on the road to a snake pit. Read Cedric, book called The Magic Isle.
I think I might have it at home here yet. I gave mine away one time to somebody, they knew I regretted it, so they found me one. It will tell you what he saw down there.
Where do you think bingo came from? The gambling hall. They’re not the worst; they’re not the whole cheese being rotten but let’s face it. And it’s not the Catholic people; it’s the organization, what the priesthood does and then some of them inveigle into it, you know, to become their willing helpers.
[22] Do you realize that in that, that Saint Patrick was never recognized till after his death, as a Roman Catholic? He protested the pope and all of his doings, and the Catholic church itself killed tens of thousands of his children. Did you know that the Catholic church burnt Joan of Arc, that little sainted woman, at the stake, for a witch, said she was a witch.
…Two hundred years later, dug up the bodies of the priests, when they found out it was wrong, and cast them into the sea, without burying them in the sacred ground, to do penance. [That’s a great way to do things. I don’t know what good it will do.] Don’t let the day pass over your head, and be foolish. [See?]
[23] How them priests would like tonight to come forth, that condemned Jesus. The only thing, they never seen the prediction of that hour. If they… Jesus said, “Search the Scriptures, for in Them you think,” or rather, “claim that you have Eternal Life, and the Scriptures is what tells you Who I am,” for that hour.
Now Brother Branham said, that’s where all condemnation comes, and that’s the truth because that’s what John 3:18 or 19 says. “This is the condemnation in spite of the fact of the blood covenant.” They’re still condemned because they won’t come to the light to see if their deeds were evil.
Now, the organization dies. It becomes killers of men’s souls and bodies and God prophesied it so knowing evil will increase and it does and what an evil end time ecumenism brings on.
Now, He knew that there would be all these martyrs and murders going on and He also knew that at the end time they would come together and talk about love.
You know here was a story told years ago by the fellow that he’s going down the road and he met a snake that was very—he was very cold and very stiff.
And the snake said to the man, he said, “Oh,” he said, “I’m so cold and miserable.” He said, “You just put me in your bosom, and you can warm me up.”
He said, “Do you think I’m a nut?” He said, “You’d bite me.”
“Oh, no, no,” he said, “no, no, no, you misunderstand.” He said, “I know snakes do but I am cold and I am miserable, and you put me in your bosom where I can get warm, and I will not bite you.”
And the guy said, “Well, you know, that’s pretty nice, you know. I guess he got converted, if the cold converted him, that’s all right.”
So he put him in his bosom and the snake got in and said, “I’m going to bite you.”
He said, “Just a minute.” He said, “You said you wouldn’t bite me.”
“Ah, but you forgot, I was a snake.” Better watch that. Yeah, better watch it. It’s the same rotten spirit that started way back there. I don’t care what it looks like; it’s still a snake.
I said now also he said here how those priests would like to be able to do something about the fact of what they had done to Jesus. But remember, the rich man lifted up his head in hell and he repented but it was too late. See?
Now, these people were condemned because they refused the light of the hour which was the role of Christ in flesh at that hour, and that was his own body at that hour.
Now remember, John the Baptist was already in a role of Christ because he was born from his mother’s womb full of the Holy Ghost. Everybody’s got a role in Christ, especially the prophets but also every member, so today. The role was in a prophet for God does not change because the Bible says God is in the prophets.
[25] Now, there’s one chance out of a thousand that a man might make a prediction that something another is going to happen, and it would happen. [And] …if he places where it’s going to happen, that cuts him down to maybe one chance out of ten thousand. If he says the day it’s going to happen, that cuts it down, one chance out of about a million. And who it’s going to happen to, that brings it down to billions of chances.
I don’t know if it really does it mathematically but I’d like to see the guy that can do it, especially tack a THUS SAITH THE LORD on it. So, you see, no one but God can do this.
[26] But the Bible tells you exactly who, when, where, and what to look for, [that’s very thorough] and never has failed one time. Therefore, in a little discussion not long ago, with a priest of the Sacred Heart church up here, he said, “Mr. Branham, you’re trying to argue the Bible.”… “That’s the history of the church.”
Boy, you talk about a statement that’s made out of the thin air.
I said, “It’s not a history, it’s God, Himself, in print.”
Now, the Bible actually is not only a book of history per se, because It does record some history, but when It does, It is only proving out what was foretold and did happen, how It happened, and what the people did with It, then how God met that situation.
Now, you’ve got records, in that respect it is a history but it’s not the history of the church. It’s the history of God dealing with the people, see, through redemption. Now, if proving out what was foretold did happen that makes the Bible for sure God in print. See? All right.
[26] I said, “It’s not a history, it’s God, Himself, in print.” [Now that’s a good statement to remember. That’s what the Bible is; it’s God in print. It’s His own words concerning Himself.] He said, “God is in His church.”
Now when did the church ever have prior knowledge and foreknowledge? When did the church write down and write a book? Not even the Mormons have got that. They had one fellow get all loused up with the devil and he wrote a book and they took what he said about the book of Mormons, about Mormons, Moroni, whatever his name was.
[27] I said, “God is in the Word. [See? Because It foretells, foreknows.] And anything contrary to It, let it be a lie. [Well, it would have to be a lie.] For He said, ‘Let My Word be true and every man’s word a lie.'” He said, “We’re not to argue.”
[28] I said, “I never asked you to argue, but the Bible [says] does say, ‘Come, let us come together and reason….'”
Yeah, all right. Men can’t reason when blinded by the spirit of error. See, who does the church listen to? Not to the Bible. If they do, they listen to the Bible corrupted; try to get a man though that isn’t corrupted; that’s the tough part. That has to be God all the way through doing it. All right…
[29] It foretells the Author’s doings before He does it. Therefore, telling that, then that puts every man and woman, at the judgment bar, without any excuse. [That’s what I said at the beginning. Whether you read it or not, that Bible’s going to come to pass just like It says. Now, how could it be otherwise?] …puts every man and woman, at the… bar…
[Because it’s already foretold because that’s due process of law. See, that’s how the law goes; they’ve got to tell you first.] If you take what the Methodist say about It, the Baptist say about It, what the Catholic’s says, …Pentecostal says, or any other church, you might find some disappointments at the Judgment.
[Well, you might be happy to find some of them, the way some of them teach, but he’s right, you would be disappointed.] But if you just watch what the Bible says is going to happen, and when it happens, then you recognize what happens.
Now this alone should cause all people to read the Word and claim It rather than turn against It, yet in the face of Its fulfillment, people explain It away, they legislate It away. The state is running things but one day the state is not going to run things; it’s going to be a religious state.
Let’s go to John 13, I’m sorry, Revelation 13.
(01) And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns [were] ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. [Now that’s what you see right there, that’s what comes up out of the sea, that’s people’s. But watch what comes up out of the earth. The eleventh verse.]
(11) And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he [has] two horns like a lamb, …spake [like] a dragon.
Ecclesiastical and civil; that’s North America. So you see America’s going to be a religious state. They started out as a religious state. They came over here to get away from religion over in Europe and have freedom of worship.
That’s what it’s all about. So they’ll revert to it on a complete malformed basis, complete perverted basis, I guess that’s the way to put it. See? All right. Now remember, they built the image to the beast and so on.
Now, he says in here also:
[29] …the Bible says is going to happen, and when it happens, then you’ll recognize what happens.
To recognize the living Word of the hour is the sign of a believer. Remember we read last—a few weeks ago, maybe last week even from,
God Identified By His Own Characteristics, 03/20/64E
[70] That’s the genuine identification of God in any hour, is His identification. [In other words, any identification—any genuine one is what God Himself does, not what somebody says.] That’s what it is, the Scripture that’s promised made identified by the characteristic of the promise which is God, and God is the Word. And the characteristic of that promise being identified, that makes the believer.
In other words, if you can pick up what God is doing at that particular time, that particular hour, you are a believer; anything else, you fall short of being a believer. See? Now that’s not going to go over with anybody but a bunch of people like us and we’re not very many. Okay.
Now paragraph 30,
Events Made Clear By Prophecy, 08/01/65E
[30] Now, it isn’t right out in plain view that all people can see it, for Jesus thanked God for hiding it from the eyes of the wise and prudent, and would reveal it to babes such as would learn.
Now, it doesn’t mean that the manifestation wasn’t out there in front; they couldn’t recognize it because of the fact there’s no spiritual discernment. They couldn’t connect it. And yet if they’d have gone to the Bible, they could have found it there but they just said, “Why, hey, I don’t believe that means that.”
How many people say I don’t believe Brother Branham was really Elijah? Well, that’s their business; they can think what they want. I believe he was.
[30] Think of Almighty God sitting in His Own Word [Now listen!] …sitting in His Own Word, with power to blind the rich and impudent, and educated scholars, blind their eyes so they can’t see Him, and open the eyes of the poor and illiterate.
Well, that’s the way He does it. Revelation as the rebirth is only for the Elect. I don’t care if you’re rich, poor, miserable, or in between; spiritually discerned by no others.
[31] …He said their understanding of Him was withheld. They talked to Him and didn’t even know Him Who it was, all day long. God can do that, for He’s God.
Why, certainly He’s God and can do that. The Bible categorically said, “Esau have I hated, Jacob have I loved,” before the children even had any… before they were born. He just simply had to follow out and saw what was followed out concerning them. Now,
[32] That’s exactly what He did to those priests, those scribes, because It was written that He had to do that. God blinded their eyes so we would have a chance.
[That’s true.] Notice, they couldn’t see, no matter how much scholars, how much priests they were, what they’d done, they still could not see It, because they were blind. Their sight might been twenty-twenty, physically. But their spiritual sight [was wrong! Why? Because God blinded them.]
Let’s just take a look at that if I can find it. You know Brother Branham says some pretty tough things but I think we can find it over here. Romans 9, he said,
(18) Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
(19) Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
(20) Nay but, O man, who art [you] that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
(21) Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
(22) What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
(23) And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared [to] glory,
Now in the Greek here it shows you that the vessels of wrath fitted themselves, but in verse 23, it doesn’t say the vessels of mercy fitted themselves; it was God that fitted them. Follow the picture. All right.
[33] The same thing I was trying to say this morning about the adultery of women, dressing the way they do now. They are adulterers. In God’s Book they are guilty of adultery every time they put on sexy-looking clothes. Their soul, not knowing it. I believe them women, many of them, thousands of them, are innocent, and would by no means commit adultery. And the poor women, with somebody who will let them get by with it, without exposing it and tell the truth, commit adultery.
Now listen! Now back in our town who wore their skirts up past their knees? The United Church minister’s daughter and she’d sit in the car and, of course, the boys would make passes at her knees and she’d laugh and think it was great sport. Well, she’s an adulteress right there.
Brother Branham used to not sing that song but tell you, “Roll ‘em, girlies, roll ‘em.” I remember that one, too. “Roll ‘em down and show your pretty knees, don’t let people tell you that it’s shocking, paint your sweeties picture on your stockings, laugh at ma, laugh at pa, give ‘em the ha, ha, roll ‘em, girlies, roll ‘em, roll your own.”
That’s mild sex. Today it’s the bees do it; the birds do it; let everybody do it. They’re talking about the natural sexual act. Now let’s face it; it comes right out of the church.
If the church hadn’t sanctioned the cutting of the hair there’d have been a brawl. There would have been a long time, a long, long time women would still… just a few of them cut their hair.
Now, today, you’ve got a real rebuke, where the women out in the world that look just like a… almost like a hunk of dog’s meat brought in, you know, out of the back alley and they got long hair.
Yet some of them look very nice, too; they look like they came from a decent home and they got beautiful long hair. It’s just pretty and female as can be.
Now Brother Branham says now, he said, “They wouldn’t expose them to the truth.”
[33] Which, the Bible said, “The whore that sat upon many waters, that all the kings of the earth and the peoples of the earth, and the churches and so forth, committed spiritual fornications with her. And she was the mother of harlots, denominations.”
Now why’d he say that? Because the woman cuts her hair, she shears it, let her be shaved bald, which says her husband is dead or she’s a prostitute. In other words, you put away Christ. See? Women’s dress is an example of blindness caused by denominations. And he said the organized type and get away with it.
How come back when I was a kid, women had long hair in Pentecost? Now today they’ve got their hair chopped off, this way, that way. I suppose, I suppose, the only reason some of them got their hair long is because they figured they looked nicer, the rest of them, phtt, they don’t. It’s just a… it’s not… it’s nothing to do with those Scriptures; it’s just a whim.
[34] We watch the Bible, for God doesn’t leave us in darkness. He sent the Bible to foretell us the events before they happen, and the very nature and time they would come.
Now, you see, this Book here; it’s pretty hard to pervert this Book. The Catholics tried it when they put the Diaglott. As much as Brother Branham used the Diaglott, let’s face it, the Diaglott was taken from the Latin, which was taken from the Greek and is one of the poorer ones. See?
The Sinaiticus is about the best one. Tischendorf had most of it.
Now, God does not leave us in darkness. Now, I could tell you about that one, the Diaglott; there’s no way that the Roman Catholic can change that Bible enough to make it a Roman book because the truth is everywhere.
You can take the same Bible and do your best to think you can mess it up; it will pop right up and smack you right down; neither can you take and make one word the same word all the way through the Bible, or you’ll end up contradicting yourself and cutting your throat, because some words have as many as thirty-two different meanings depending on context.
Then you sure do need someone to come along that has something from God to let you know what’s going on. That’s why He had always a messenger for each age. You see that makes the messenger for each age very clear. All right.
A study of church history proves that God does not leave us in darkness. The Roman Catholic Church, which was the Dark Ages, everybody knows that; it’s right in the Bible; the church fell in the ground and died, has always been protested through the ages by somebody that rose up like Saint Francis or some other person, but it wasn’t time for them to get out.
It wasn’t time to be a reformer, that is a true reformer like Luther and Wesley, coming on. Luther was the great one. But they always had those that protested the church. Saint Martin protested the church. Saint Patrick protested the church. They all protested those things.
Look it, Chiniquy in America here, protested the church left and right, beat them on their own grounds in church history and the church fathers, and the Catholics had determined to take over the United States of America by bringing in thousands of Roman Catholic French and all out of Canada and settled them in the Chicago area in Illinois and up in Massachusetts.
And God raised up old Father Chiniquy to see a burst of light and he took out thousands and smashed the thing—kabloom.
Praise God for God. That’s what I don’t mind shouting tonight. But if you ever want to read the book Fifty Years in the Church of Rome; used to be called Fifty Years in Hell. Fifty Years in the Church of Rome is one of the more scholarly books ever written by anybody and don’t think he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Boy, he sure does. I haven’t even read all his books myself but that one is a masterpiece. Lays it out there. See? They’ve always had protestors. See? God sends somebody, see, to help out.
And when we see Bible prophesied events taking place that is the light to lead us to the light that leads us to Him who is the Light. See? Now that’s what you’ve got to understand.
That’s very necessary to know that. He foretells so the darkness will not envelope us, so the light will get to us, and the light will be the very nature and time of that event.
So that event taking place is a light to lead us to the light, that’s the prophet, that leads us to Him who is the Light, which is God. See?
Now you just go over again that sermon Brother Branham preached, There’s Someone Here Who Can Turn On The Light. John the Baptist could do no more than point out Jesus and Jesus turned on the light. He was the Light. Okay.
Paragraph… let’s see now, let’s read 35.
[35] Now, it’s something like looking on a calendar to see what date it is. If you think, say that this is … “Is this Saturday, or Sunday, what is it?” Look on the calendar. The calendar will tell you what day it is. When you see the actions of the people, maybe going to church, …hear the bells ringing, you wonder what day it is. Look on the calendar, it’ll tell you what day it is.
Why? Because some churches have a special holy day and they ring the bells anyway. Say, “Hey, what is this? Is this Good Friday or Sunday?” Well, look on the calendar. Now that’s letting people be pretty dumb, isn’t it? But that’s an example of paragraph 34.
[36] And when you see the church getting worldly, like it was in the days of Sodom, see the church… all going into the… worship “the god of this evil age,” and seeing that; then seeing a little minority group gathered out under the inspiration of God, producing again the Life of Jesus Christ, by the Scriptures that’s supposed to happen, you know what hour you’re living in.
Now I’m going to tell you something right there; I’d like to find a theology book that said that. I’d like even one preacher who dreamed it. I know maybe somebody didn’t run across it, but that is not known. It is not known. See? All right.
Today, today is discerned from the past as God never changes which is… Let’s read it, Ecclesiastes 3:14. He said… now let’s take a good look at this one here because this is a very, very strong Scripture. I don’t think Brother Branham ever used this one. I’m not sure. I’ve used it a lot myself.
(14) I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
In other words, you see something that you know has taken place, you’re right in His Presence and you become very sincere and very fearful. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Now, if you fear God, He’ll start to smarten you up.
(15) That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
All right. With His essence, plus the way He does things, that makes Him Hebrews 13:8. Now, the point is this: what was it that took place formerly? Okay.
Matthew 12. Now he’s in the depth of his ministry and he doesn’t bring himself before the public, doesn’t want to make himself known.
(17) That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, [Now watch what’s being said. Now he healed the multitude and he could not be made known. The charge.]
(18) Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he [will] shew judgment to the Gentiles.
(19) He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. [Hogwash! He strove. He cried. He was in the streets. This is to the Gentiles. This is the Son of man role played by the prophet. See?]
(20) A bruised reed… [he shall] not break, [He did over there. He had no staff to lean upon. The reed is a staff; they make a staff out of it. It gets brittle and it will break and go into your hand. Become a weapon of injury instead a weapon of help. Try to fool with the law today over there; it’ll destroy you.] [The] smoking flax… [That’s a little bit of flax because the oil’s drained out, and the flax is smoking. He picks it out. The law was until John. It’s over. What about us? Hardly anything left, rich, miserable, naked, blind. Jesus Christ kicked out. A little tiny oil, what’s he do? Renews the staff, pours in the oil. See? Doesn’t do it even back there.] …till he send forth [victory] unto [judgment].
Till he positively proved the truth and then can be the judge which He’s there: Brother Branham said that’s the Judge. I didn’t say it; he said it. He said, “There’s the way. Go on, do what you want with it.” It makes him Judge.
What did the prophet say? He said, “Pure, righteous, sinless Bride. I don’t pray for America anymore. It’s finished. It’s gone. Good-bye.” Boy, that sure cut the mustard. They didn’t like it, did they? Okay.
Let’s go to Luke 17. Here’s your goodies right here. It tells you about the days of the Son of man.
(20) And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: [He said, “It’s going to come all right, but you won’t even know when it’s there. You won’t know when it’s happening.”]
(21) Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is [in the midst of] you. [It wasn’t in their hearts of those Pharisees, I can tell you that. It’s in the midst and it’s in the hearts of the people that believe it.]
(22) And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when [you] shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and… shall not see it.
(23) And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. [Now listen now! This is to the disciples of this hour because he said,]
(24) For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. [Now this is the Son of man, the light that rose in the East is going to come to the West.]
(25) But first… [he must] suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. [Then this light is going to be in another generation. See, he’s not talking about those days back in Jerusalem when he’s 30 to 33 years of age.]
(26) [But] as it was in the days of Noah… [That’s the end time. The Son of man reappears.]
(27) [Paraphrasing: They’re eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, as the day when] Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and [took him away]…
(28) Likewise… in the days of Lot; [Paraphrasing: eating, drinking, bought and sold, planted, builded];
(29) But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Now what’s he talking about? He’s talking about as water covered the entire earth and as fire hit one spot. Now fire would hit a lot of it; the whole world goes up. See?
(30) Even thus… it [will] be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
It tells you right there. Now, you show me any theologian or anybody… anybody Langy, Strong; I forget all their names now. I used know all, had to have piles of books, long time since I went down and looked at them, the library had them. Barns, you name anybody, anybody at all that ever took anything up in this line.
You show me one that got that straight. No, they said, “Ah,” because they couldn’t figure it. It’s meant to be that way. If the theologians could figure it then that would annul everything Jesus said about the wise and the prudent not getting it but the babes and the ignorant and unlearned getting it, and getting it from Him. See?
We’re on 36, weren’t we? All right. You know from this hour what it’s supposed to be. How would we know? The prophet had to tell us. Do you think we would know this by ourselves? Fiddlesticks!
It’d just make you stand back and say, “What’s going on?” and say, “Well, that’s fine. The Lord will take care of us anyway,” and that was right. He sent Elijah or we would not have been taken care of.
[36] And when you see the church getting worldly, like it was in the days of Sodom,… “the god of this evil age,” …producing again the Life of Jesus Christ, [That’s a little group. Exactly true. The life of Jesus Christ is produced. It doesn’t say the body; it says the life and we’ve given you some Scriptures.] …you know the hour you’re [living] in.
What hour? Just before the flooding of fire over the whole earth. You say, “Why do you say that?” Because his fan is in his hand, he’s thoroughly purged his floor, gathered the wheat in the garner, and burns up the chaff. And in Malachi all the wicked burn, except the righteous taken up.
[37] This Bible foretells, by prophecy, what day… we’re living in, [It’s the last day, of course.] and what time we’re living in, [Last time, Seventh Church Age.] and what kind of events are going to… take place. It foretells it exactly to the letter, and has never missed one age, all the time. No, not one time has it ever missed, and it won’t, …for who are predestinated to see it will see it.
…Jesus said, “No man can come to Me except My Father draw him, [You have to see that to get drawn.] and all that the Father has given Me will come.” It’s the Word joining with the Word. It can’t do anything else. We know it, the day that we are living in. [It’s all coming together under the headship of the Spirit: Brother Branham said so.]
We go to Hebrews. I’m going to be closing.
(39) And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
(40) God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. [Which is completed.]
They’re already polished off and finished; they’re beyond sin. They’re in a place where you and I might not even go to. It will come down here, I guess, maybe at least the people there will come down here, the Bride. Now they can’t be made perfect without us.
Also,
(01) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, [by the Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, even our coming together, and Brother Branham said that was the Message.]
Who did he give… who does he bring the Message on? God, or give credit to. What was William Branham? Only a voice, and he admits it he was too ignorant to even want to be that.
Now also,
(13) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, [and you] sorrow not, …as [those that] have no hope. [He’s talking about those that are alive at the time the dead are supposed to come out of the ground. All right. Watch the hour.]
(14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring [forth] with him.
(15) For this we say unto you… [Now listen! There’s going to be a Resurrection and he’s talking to them. Well, they didn’t see it, so now he’s talking to us if this is the end time. See?) …that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not [in any way take precedence, that’s right, that would hinder, prevent, but take a precedence over] prevent them which are asleep. [Brother Branham said, “It doesn’t matter if you’re dead or alive; same difference.]
(16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, [does three things in descending] …with the voice of the archangel, …trump of God: and [then and only then shall] the dead in Christ shall rise [and they’ll rise] first: [Not out of the graves, arise ahead of us. We’ll all go up in an order. See?]
Now, what is the Shout? a Message. Okay. How does he do it? He uses a prophet. People won’t believe that. To do this is Revelations 10:1-7, when the mighty One comes down from heaven; with the prophet on earth, He opens the Seals and the Thunders come forth.
And Revelations 22:10 it says, “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.”
So It tells you at this time, when you see all of this, the Rapture is right at hand; it’s an ongoing process. Jesus Himself is doing it, not in flesh, but in the form of the Holy Spirit in a Pillar of Fire and the Son of man, now what about the Son of man, is not the Pillar of Fire, is not the prophet, but it is in the form of the Spirit, doesn’t say now with the Pillar of Fire.
It’s the Spirit in the prophet because God’s got to be in the prophet. That’s what it is. Not like you and I have the spirit. No way, shape, and form. This could be the fullness of the Godhead bodily. I don’t understand all these things. I don’t even pretend and I care less. I want to know the hour we’re in.
Now It says that at this time that that prophet is going to be on earth and that’s the time when time and eternity blend together, which means that something is going on now that ends time, and it’s eternal, then absolves time, and is eternal by itself. See? They’ve blended. See?
Word joining to Word is spiritual and visible union of Christ in Bride because she was in Him, was separated, has always come back by the Word, and now there’s a Word to bring the dead out of the grave.
The first Word is the Shout; the second Word is actually “Come forth” as he said to Lazarus; the third is the summoning’s which is a Trumpet, and the summoning’s is not the Rapture, it’s the summoning’s to, at the Wedding Supper, which the Rapture escalates us to it.
That’s when we get there; He incarnates Himself in the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, that’s just the body up there. Jesus is here in the form of the Spirit. See?
Now, both revealed to each other. What are we talking about: Bride and Bridegroom. See? Okay.
[38] But as it has been in every age, people let man put their own interpretation to this Word, and causes them to be blinded to the event that’s happened.
Now, what events already happened? The Son of man event which was necessary in order for people to know that the Lord had descended with a Shout which is a Message. See?
Look, let’s face it, if God’s in His Bible, God wrote It, and God’s doing It all, let Him do It all! Why are people so rambunctious and so energetic and so they think so spiritual that they’re going to make something come to pass.
Hogwash! I’ll tell you what people make come to pass: hell and damnation! Never made one decent thing come to pass yet. Don’t ever give that kind of junk that they did because the best of all was Joseph failed, Abraham failed, Isaac failed, the whole stinking bunch failed; I don’t mean stinking bunch but we all stink.
Brother Branham said, “We’re all born in to sin and come to the world speaking lies,” proven by the fact that Abraham and Isaac both lied, and Jacob lied, and old Joseph thought he’d caught Jacob in a lie. Good thing we have the Bible that’s true, bless God forever. [inaudible] You talk about being a privileged people. All right now.
[38] …it has been in every age, …[they] let them have their own interpretation of the Word and causes them to be blinded to the event that’s happened. Same thing it did with the Pharisees and Sadducees.
[Exactly right. Okay? The people’s interpretation of this age will bring about rejection. It certainly will.] Even when Paul stood there and tried to quote the Scripture, and one man smote him in the face because he called the high priest a whited wall.
[All right. Notice, people explain away the fulfilled prophecy like these birds are doing with Paul, or they make it a matter of unimportance or disbelief or even blasphemy and then try to kill or do kill the one God ordained to reveal the event.] And then they missed seeing God confirm His prophesied Word.
Thus they miss His prophecy that He confirms. The prophecy was already confirmed. See? But they choose to interpret it according to their understanding and they have no understanding. They have no understanding except the prophet, reformer; Brother Branham was a prophet, the rest were reformers. See? Okay.
[39] See, the Bible doesn’t contradict Itself, the Bible is God. There’s no contradiction in God; He’s perfect.
What is it? The Bible expresses Him and He proves He is living by fulfilling It. People can’t figure It and don’t believe when they see It and they say It is full of mistakes. They don’t understand.
[40] But the people, with their own interpretation! Now notice, let me show you, friends. The churches cannot agree themselves on the interpretation of It. The Methodist can’t agree with the Baptist, the Baptist the Presbyterian… [and so on.] And with about forty different organizations of Pentecost, they can’t agree with one another. So you see, there would be a Babylon again, which is confusing. [That’s right.]
We have a modern Babel, a modern Tower of Babel; we have a modern Babylon. That’s right. Ecumenism is going to bring it on entirely.
The Word is not in the church; the Word is in God and God… and is God and He proves It is so by out printing Himself, that’s bringing Himself in view and then, or putting Himself in print and then fulfills the very letter.
He put it all in a book called the Bible, a sacred Book that foretells, tells all about Jesus, tells all about events, tells all about you and me, commendation, condemnation, past, present, future, there it is. What people miss is the present.
[41] But God does His Own interpreting of His Word. He promised the thing, and then does it Himself. He gives Himself the interpretation of it, because He makes Himself known in that hour. How far the Body of Christ is advanced, from the feet to the head!
Now that’s a very good statement. See? Now you notice in here what Brother Branham is saying. He said that God does His own interpreting in His own way and gives the Elect faith in It through His own channels.
His interpretation of the Word today is He is here and doing for the Gentiles in the form of the Spirit what He did back there in the body to Israel. And talking about the body, we have returned to Headship and this is the age of the mind: God’s mind, not man’s. As Paul said, “We have the mind of Christ.”
Revelation is here, light at the evening time, He is the head of the Church; He has to be to raise the dead. That’s the reason He does all three in descending. I understand [inaudible] I don’t understand word at all if He needs to come down, He needs to come down.
Now when didn’t God come down to earth to do things? Just because you’re full of the Holy Ghost do you think God didn’t come down to Paul in that great ball of fire and blinded… and almost blind his eyes and talked to Paul in the desert? I don’t understand people. There’s a part of God that God cannot give away.
I don’t consider the baptism of the Holy Ghost any more than sperm. I really don’t. You’ve got to get a microscope to see it.
How come God could take His Spirit and put It on Moses, then said, “Take seventy men of your choosing,” and take the spirit off of Moses and give that spirit to seventy men equally and then have more left on Moses then on those men and He Himself still God?
Nothing to it because He’s Life, He’s infinite. You don’t impede God, you don’t help God or hinder God, neither do you diminish God nor do you augment God. Just leave Him alone but pray that He doesn’t leave you alone. Don’t try to help Him out.
That’s as far as we’re going to go because it’s late already. It’s almost nine o’clock. I took a long time to get. All right, you can see I always do the same thing; we just don’t get half done, so we can do this in two nights, but we’ll take some more. But do you see how the trend is going?
It’s identical to God Identified By His Own Characteristics. Just laying the book out before you so that you know, look, something has taken place in our day and this is it. Stick with It! See? Don’t go looking at the prophet; start looking at God.
Now, before we go, I’ll just read this thing one more time to you.
Anointed Ones at the End Time, 65-0725M
[193] So, I want you to know that this is true sure. And you that listen to this tape, you might have thought today that I was trying say that about myself, being that I was packing this Message.
[This is the Anointed Ones, July 25th.] I got no more to do with the message than nothing, no more than just a voice. And my voice, even against my better judgment… I wanted to be a trapper. But it’s the will of my Father… I declare to do, and determined to do. I wasn’t the One that appeared down on the river; I was only standing there when He appeared.
Now where did He come from? They saw Him coming down. It was like a rainbow and a blazing star that came right over his head and people saw, and he said, “Bow your heads.”
So I said to Mede, I said, “Mede, did you see it?”
She said, “No, I always obeyed him. So when he said, ‘Bow your head,’ I bowed my head. But,” she said, “something funny,” she said, “though when I came home,” she said, “I said, ‘Bill, you know what? That was your voice that I heard.’”
And he just smiled and didn’t say anything. He said, “I’ll show you in Scripture where it is.”
And right here it tells you in the book of 1 Thessalonians, it does not say it’s the voice of the one that descends; it’s somebody else’s voice, and Brother Branham categorically said, “I was not the One that appeared.”
Now where was he? He was in the water. Now where was John when the Word appeared to him? In the water. He said, “I’m the One that came down.” Right? But was He down? He certainly was down. Come on, see how simple it is?
And the Word came to the prophet in the river, Ohio River. Then He must have been down because the prophet wasn’t up. Oh, brother/sister, up is down today and down is up, and who knows? Yippy yuppy.
I just feel what we need to do is a big Pentecostal powwow, build a bonfire, and have hog dogs and oh, goodie, goodie, goodie, we all got it. Play spiritual leapfrog down there on the beach with Lloyd and the rest of you.
You know, really, I’m going to tell you something, I can understand why the Scripture said that God spews out of His mouth and vomits when you begin to think of some things. Not that we’re proud and arrogant people.
But, you know, when you begin twisting Scripture to the extent, when up is down and down is up, and this is that, and that is something else; there’s something wrong with somebody’s head, brother/sister, because this is what the prophet said:
[193] I wasn’t the One that appeared down on the river; I was only standing there when He appeared. I’m not the One that performs these things and foretells these things that happens as perfect as they are…
He’s foretelling them, he’s saying them but he’s forth-telling them but he’s not foretelling them. What is it? The Spirit of God in the man. See? God moving.
[193] I’m only one that’s near when He does it… I’m only one that’s near when He does it. I was only a voice that He used to say It. It wasn’t what I knew… what I… surrendered myself to, that He spoke through. It isn’t me. It wasn’t the seventh messenger, oh no; it was a manifestation of the Son of man.
[He tells you what it is.] It wasn’t the messenger, his Message; it was the mystery that God unfolded. It’s not a man; it’s God. The angel was not the Son of man; he was a messenger from the Son of man. The Son of man is Christ. He’s the One you’re feeding on. You’re not feeding on a man. A man, his word will fail, but you’re feeding on the unfailing Body Word of God.”
Now listen! He said, “My ministry is to declare that He is here” and then over here he said, “The Son of man revealed…” What is it? “The Son of man revealed is the Word living itself again amongst the people.”
How can He do that without somebody? You can’t find Son of man without a prophet, Or he’s got to use the wind, and then who can see the wind?
“Neither you nor I, but the trees all bow down their heads when the wind is passing by,” something like that, the poet says. The wind blows in the bottle, “who, who”. Well, if the wind blew through a prophet, “Who, Who,” speaks with intelligent words. Do you see where we’re at?
We’re right where the prophet’s trying to show you the hour we’re living in, what’s occurring, it’s in the Bible, you’ve got no problem, you just believe It and walk on with It what you don’t understand, well, praise God, you just go ahead and keep going on because one of these days, if you don’t understand, no problem, you weren’t meant to.
But you get this far that makes you a believer. Brother Branham said, “If you get this far, you’re a believer.” Now what kind of a believer is how consecrated we are, sure, how much we can get out of the way, but if we want to let Him live or not, that’s the whole picture. Okay.
Sunday morning, 10:30, Brother Brian is going to speak forth. That gives a chance for Brother Klassen’s group to hear him. He’s a very fine preacher. We all know that so let’s just bow our heads in a moment of prayer, shall we, and then we’ll be on our way.
Heavenly Father, again we thank You for Thy Word, Thy Word is truth. We thank You, Lord, we can sit here in heavenly places in Christ and just go over what the prophet said, and remember a lot of other things the prophet said, go back and forth in Scripture with Your help and see these things that You brought to our attention so that we assure ourselves.
As John said, “We assure ourselves.” And Father, tonight, we just need the other assurance that You can help us with because that’s a cooperative affair and that is, not let our hearts condemn us, but we’ll walk with You in the Light and live our lives according to the Word.
That’s what we want, Lord; we want to walk in love according to the Word. Not some kind of love that somebody else says, but Your love, Lord, Your Word, Your Light, Your Life, You doing it all. Oh God, that we too might be in a tube, that we too might be bond slaves as we saw set forth in this day and the day of Paul.
Lord, we’ll give Thee glory, we’ll give Thee honor for Thou art worthy in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Okay, let’s sing, “We’ll walk in the light.”