God Identified By Characteristics #01

Shall we pray.

Heavenly Father, we’re grateful again to be in Your House, Lord, giving us enough health and strength and energy, Lord, and above all the desire, knowing as in the sense that we will come to worship together and so much the more as we see the day approach.

Knowing also that there lies strength and stability, there lies that love and that unity Lord, the coming together, O God, that we assembling ourselves for the purpose of knowing Your Word, for knowing You.

For knowing each other, for knowing Lord the things that are coming to pass, that presently, Lord, and how we are involved with them; in fact, we are that which is coming to pass Lord, we are Your Word, Lord, we’re written epistles, human flesh, O God.

We thank You tonight, Lord, that its all of grace and we appreciate that so much.

Now be with us as we study Thy Word a bit; we carefully give You the praise, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

You may be seated.

Now we won’t take much time tonight, because we’re going to have to sort of build up into where we have a little more ability to endure.

And I’ll just read a little bit tonight starting in God Is Identified By His Characteristics. And that’s a sermon Brother Branham preached in Beaumont, Texas.

Characteristics, dealing distinguishing trait, feature, quality or peculiarity. Helps to identify because it is peculiar to that thing.

So you see what a characteristic is, it’s a distinguishing trait of some particular feature, some quality, some particularity. It helps to identify, because it is peculiar to that thing.

So when he talks about God’s characteristics, he’s talking about what is peculiar to God and strange to say, very peculiar to people. It’s not peculiar to the peculiar people but it’s peculiar to the peculiar people.

All right, over here we’re reading in the second page:

God Is Identified By His Characteristics, 03/11/64

[09]  Now I wonder if we would stand up [you don’t need to of course,] while we read His Word, from the Book of Hebrews, the 1st chapter. The reason I ask you to stand, is in honor of this Word.

I believe the Word is God, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever,” that’s the theme of our campaigns. Therefore, when we read His printed Self here on this Word, we stand.

Now I want you to notice the phraseology there, because people get a little confused you know, about you talk about this being the Word and that’s God. Well that’s right and it’s not right. See, it’s beyond the sacred page.

Like one time I said, “This Book is no different from any other book.”

Well that’s right, if you’re going to talk about a printing press. But when you talk about contents, then again it’s a little different from some books, because it’s philosophical, spiritual, and needs revelation.

But when this Book is revealed, ah, now that’s something entirely different. See, we’re dealing with a different thing there then.

So when you watch what he said:

[09]  Therefore, when we read His printed Self here on this [page], we stand.

That’s we stand in tribute. And so what he says about this then,

[09]  …His printed Self here on this Word, [and so he calls this like God in print, a printing of the Lord.] When we pledge allegiance to the flag, when our flag passes by, we stand in honor of our flag, our nation, we should do it. Then, how much more should we stand when we read the Word of God! Hebrews 1:1-3, as we read.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers in the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken to us in his Son, whom he has appointed heir over all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being in the brightness of his glory, and the expressed image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

[10]  Let us pray. How many now, with bowed heads and hearts, would like to be remembered in prayer, that through this meeting, somewhere, God will grant your request? Just lift your hands. And the Lord will see your hands.

[11]  Our Heavenly Father, so far as my human eyes could see, there was a complete mass of hands. Surely Brother Green’s revelation and my desire to come, was right. Now, Father, give them their desire, according to Thy Word and Thy promise. We commit them to Thee.

And may our lives be so fitted with the Word, that the Word will become flesh among us and will give the people faith to draw from their account in Heaven, which Jesus settled for them long ago, for their sins and sickness, as they are in the journey.

Bless us now, we pray, as we wait on Thee to reveal to us Thy Word, and make It flesh among us. For we ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Now you notice in two times he says, “Make It flesh among us.” So a little quote back here, put my hands on it. Oh my. It’s got to be from Harvest Time.

The Son of man revealed. “The Son of man is the Word living Itself again amongst the people.” He also says about the same thing in The Token. “The Son of man is the Word living Itself again amongst the people.”

So he’s asking here that this Word come to life, this Word here, come to life. Now lying here it is, that’s just the printed page, that’s just God in a print, you might say, it’s a printout.

But when it comes to life, in other words, what is said and put in here actually begins to form Itself amongst us. Or literally take on what you might say It’s manifestation, It’s performance. Then what is that? That’s the Son of man revealed amongst us.

He’s saying therefore, “May the Son of man be revealed amongst us.”

[12]  Now I would, if you would just try to, don’t move around any more than you would possibly help, I mean getting up and going, till just forty-five, fifty minutes, something like that. Now, the str-…

[13]  The thing is this, we want to know what is Truth. And that’s the only one Truth that I know, is the Bible. Now, God is going to judge the world someday, we believe that, and each one of us mortals is going to be brought into His Presence for judgment.

Now of course you remember that there’s different judgments. And when you speak of the Bride, the Bride cannot be judged, because the sins have been sent on beforehand. There’s no way she can come into the judgment, she’s there judging with Him.

So this will be I believe like in the Bride, where Brother Branham speaks of the presentation. Where he saw men being presented and so on, and they were able to give a testimony, and what have you, which is more what the Bema is actually like.

[13]  …is going to be brought into His Presence for judgment. I have a few notes written out here, the Scriptures that I want to refer to in a few minutes.

[14]  Now remember, if I should ask tonight, “Is there a Catholic here?” “Yes,” they’d say. And… “Well, what will God judge the world by?” They’d say, “The Catholic church.”

[15]  Then I’d say back, “What Catholic church?” They disagree. There’s plenty of disagreements. One’s a Roman, the other Greek, and Orthodox, [I think it’s Chaldean,] and so forth. [I know there’s splits.] We have plenty. If I’d say…

[16]  The Methodist would rise up, and say, “He’ll judge it by the Methodist church.” Well, if that’s so, then the Baptist hasn’t got a chance. And if He judge by the Baptist, then the Methodist doesn’t have a chance.

Now right there of course, you would not think that that was a very correct statement, because these people, when it comes right down to it, though they’d have to take their stand with their denominational corruption, and their word that they have, you know, gone astray on, they would have to show charity.

And say, “Well, they really do believe this and we believe that, and that’s really the thing that counts, so maybe over here.”

But yet they’ll fight like cats and dogs, because the Baptist will tell the Methodist the reason he backslides is because he hasn’t got an anchor, and the Methodist will tell you flat, if the Baptist backslides, he’s going to hell, because they’re…

So you know happy days are here again. It’s one beautiful dog fight going on. Not calling anybody a dog, but let’s face it, there’s a bit of a ruckus going on. But you know yourself that you’ve apologized for your doctrine, if you’ve been saved any length of time, like I have been.

I’ve had to apologize for my doctrine, and say, “Well they’re… well, well, well, the Pentecostals sure going to make it because they spoke in tongues, but you know… Well you know there’s some good Baptists, and I think maybe secretly they spoke in tongues and they didn’t know it, you know.”

And we’d name some cases. “And well he’d be saved, he’ll be all right, you know.” And you know, it’s very charitable. Ah charity, sweet charity.

Now,

[17]  Because, remember, one little misquoting of the Word, one (not all it, just not all of one verse), just one little iota of misbelieving the Word, caused every death, every sickness, every sorrow.

Now that’s a literal true statement. I mean I don’t care where you go, or where you come from, or where you’re trying to go, and trying to get back, or anything else – in other words it matters not to me about anybody’s position – that is a true statement. That did it.

I don’t care what anybody else says. That did it. Because you see the thought was the parent to the act.

[17]  That was Eve, in the garden of Eden. Now if all this cost that, for just one lady misunderstanding the Word… She didn’t do it willfully, she was “deceived,” the Bible said.

“Deceived,” by the Word, caused this all, [in other words, she was deceived because she didn’t understand the Word, and it caused it all,] then you and I are not going back with anything less than the entire Word.

Now watch that statement, see? If that did it, then you will never get back with anything less the entire Word. See?

In other words, the Word is what kept them there; the Word in It’s entirety, the Word in total without misconception, any misplacement or whatsoever, It kept them there. See?

And just as soon as they went off, that same Word forced them out. Now listen, they didn’t go out by themselves, you never saw a cockroach leave an apple pie by itself. They didn’t go out of the Garden of Eden by themselves either; the Word is what put them out. See?

Now I want you to notice also that… and this is something that’s interesting in the light of Brother Branham’s constant repetition of the Word of the hour. How much Word of the hour, or how much Word did they have? Well I don’t know. They were getting it.

Now they were absorbing, because they were in the Presence of God, and having conversation, communion with God.

And He said, “Now you can eat all of this around here, but there’s one thing you better not touch, you better not touch what I’m telling you not to touch, or you die.” That was the Word of the hour.

Now she misunderstood that Word, so I want to just take you back now to Luke 1, and it says here about John the Baptist, the presenter, the forerunner, the explainer, the expeditor of the One to bring the true Word:

And disobedient does not mean disobedience as a willful act contrary, or a willful non-act, so the person doesn’t act, it means ‘misunderstanding’. So the misunderstanding back there, also there was a misunderstanding when Jesus came.

See, the kingdom was back there. Because God was reigning over these people and it was just marvelous. Now there’s a Kingdom coming in sight again with Christ on the scene.

John said, “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And He’s there to deliver them from misunderstanding, showing that Brother Branham is right, that you will never get back unless the Word is right.

Now everybody wants to get right, and they’re talking about blood and propitiation and experience, and I’m not against it, but I got a Bible that says, “This is the condemnation that Light has come into the world, and men won’t take the Light.”

And that’s when the sacrifice was completed. You notice that you can never ever get away from the word ‘light’, I don’t care who you are, so you might as well just buckle down to it, and understand what Brother Branham said is the truth.

[18]  Now, I believe, the Bible says that He won’t, I don’t believe God will judge the world by the Pentecostal church, [in other words he said,] “I don’t believe the Bible says anything about the Pentecostal church judging the world.”

Now let’s understand this. If the Pentecostal age were the last age, and it was the finality of the Revelation, then what they brought forth would judge the world.

Now let’s face it, if there’s a Message in this hour and we’ve got it, this Message is going to judge the world, and whatever is not of it is going to die right here.

Well that’s what happened in the first place, it’s going to happen in the last place. Because after the judgment and the destruction, we’re going to go back to the Garden of Eden.

[18]  [He won’t judge] by the Methodist, Baptist, or Catholic. He’ll judge it by Jesus Christ, He said so. And Christ is the Word, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Now he’s telling you right there that’s here’s a judge. All right. Now you know and I know that the judge must know the word. Because he can’t make a decision.

We saw that back in the time of Moses. Moses was the law-giver and the Word was there and you must not do anything on the Sabbath.

So they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath and he was going to make some food with it, make a little fire and cook something.

And so they said, “Now isn’t there something here that’s amiss.”

So they brought the man to Moses. And Moses was a prophet. Now he’d already given the Word. See? But he went to God and he said, “Now what are we going to do?”

Well they had to put the man in quarantine and then you stone him with stones till he died, because he broke the Word of the Lord.

Now you see they couldn’t possibly let the man get away, because then he would have been an example of his disbelief and willful disobedience, flouting that in the face of God, so that God would become a mockery.

Now when you say here Jesus is the Judge, and He is the Word, that’s what it is, the Judge is the Word to the people, and let’s just take a little look at this over here in,

Son of man, what’s that? Prophet. All right, what’s a prophet? One to whom the Word comes. Not only does the Word come to the prophet, but he is a revealer or an interpreter of whatsoever comes.

So therefore Jesus is the Word, and the Revealer and the Interpreter, the Manifestor and the Prover, so therefore He’s going to be the Judge. And that’s true, He will be.

Now:

[19]  The whole thing is the great Eternal. Eternity never did begin and never can end. Therefore, in this great Eternal One were attributes, to be Father, to be Son, to be Saviour, to be Healer, all these things were in Him. And only thing that’s happening now, is displaying His attributes. That’s all.

And what was it in the Cloud? He was the Judge. So what do you do? Brother Branham categorically stated, he said, “Now you ministers,” he said, “the people can come to you and ask questions, and the ministers then, if they don’t have the answer, go to Brother Neville.”

But he said, “You’ve got to have an absolute, and Brother Neville doesn’t know, you come to me.” There’s a prophet. The prophet then is the living Word of God to the people, made manifested, just like the prophet said in Feast of the Trumpets.

All right? So:

[19]  The only thing that’s happening now, is displaying His attributes. That’s all. [Now he’s telling the people right here that something is going on.]

And they’re going to say, “Well, we know something’s been going on, been going on for years. Our great Pentecostal heritage, we began speaking in tongues back about 1906. And we prayed for the sick, we’ve had tremendous meetings, in fact we’re revolutionizing the world, turning it upside down. We’re the fastest growing, soul winning organization that there is.”

Well I’m not going to argue with them, it’s just they’re not right. See? God’s displaying His attributes, this hour.

[20]  Now, our names were put on the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world. And when the Word strikes that, if it’s any light there that’s been ordained to Life, Jesus said, “No man can come to Me except the Father draws him, all the Father has given Me will come to Me.” So, you see, it’s the Word, constantly, the Word, the Word, the Word.

Well over here in John it says,

So if that little Light wasn’t in there – now remember that’s what came out of God first, and that’s what came and divided at Pentecost, and that little something in there in that seed form, that’s down in the soul, that inner soul, if there’s something in there, it’s a little bit of Light.

When the Holy Spirit strikes it, you watch that begin to fan out and go right toward God for eternal life.

Now that’s what you’re born with, you come into the world with, and if you didn’t have representation back there, before the world began, you don’t have it now.

If you weren’t in Him back there, you aren’t in Him now, there’s just no way. So it’s Word, Word, Word, Word, Word.

[21]  Now, I want to speak tonight upon the subject, drawing from a context out of this text that we read, God Is Identified By His Characteristics. [And that’s certain things that make you to know what’s there. Identification marks.]

[22]  Now, most everything we find can be identified by its characteristics.

That’s true. See, people you can’t see a gas, by I tell you one thing, you can identify it by its characteristics. What smells like rotten eggs? Sulfur dioxide, right? Am I right on that? I think so.

Sulphur, yup, I think it’s sulfur dioxide, one of the sulfur’s anyway. We used to make that in school in test tubes, and they wave it around, and everybody, “Open the windows!”

[23]  Now, we notice, like in animal life, you take like in bird life. Now, a yellowhammer, when he’s flying, and a jay bird, look a whole lot alike. But the characteristic of the yellowhammer, he flops his wings and drops, then up and down, up and down.

That’s the characteristic. [That’s of the flight. That’s so his flight pattern can help identify him if you see two birds at a distance and you don’t which it is. Now what’s the jay bird?] …the jay bird flies more in a beeline.

So you got one up and down like this, up and down, then you got straight across. So you know that. That’s what do you call them here?

They’re white and black, they’re not crows, but they’re magpies. They’re hard to hit because they have a wavering flight.

Yet there’s a fellow used to shoot and demonstrate for the dominion – what do you call them? – ammunition company for Canada, when I was a kid, man that fellow he could just raise that gun, bring that thing down in a hurry, that magpie.

[24]  You watch the quail when he comes up, the bobwhite, how he flies. Watch the Gambel quail when it comes up, you hunters. You see, there’s a difference. Watch the jacksnipe and the Wilson’s snipe, the characteristic determines what he is.

[25]  A great sheep standing on the mountain side, if he had his back turned, the back part of the rump is white, the other part is gray. If you didn’t know the characteristics of that sheep, it could be a deer. See? See, you have to know the characteristics of them, to detect what is and what it is not. Many things we could go on telling you about animal life.

I guess that’s why people go out and get killed by some of these hunters that don’t know what they’re looking at. Couldn’t tell the farmer’s mule from a deer, I guess, till he got him home.

[26]  Then we come down to the human life, the characteristics between a man and a woman. There’s a difference. They’re both human beings, but the characteristics of the two sexes detect them. I was reading sometime ago about one of the problems that was put to the test of Solomon, by the queen, she had women dressed like men. Solomon had them to walk and do a few things, quickly he said, “Those are women.”

Well you can tell women by their walk, most of them have a sort of a swivel hip, and there’s nothing in the physiology, physiological makeup of a woman that makes her walk that way.

That’s what I read now by doctors that know what they’re talking about. She’s literally no different from a male, and she could walk like a man, but she doesn’t. She won’t do it. That’s part of her characteristics. But you know, he talks about the women dressing like men.

What about the book, what it Tom Sawyer, when he ran away, or was it Huckleberry Finn, dressed up like a girl.

And so he went down to the riverboat, and went to a certain town, and he came in acting like a girl, and the woman thought right away, “That’s a little boy runaway, that’s no girl.”

So well she said, “Sit down, honey,” and whatever the name was, and so and she said, “I bet you’re hungry. Here catch this.” And so she threw an apple, and right away the boy brought his knees together.

She said, “I thought so.” She said, “Little girls spread their skirts,” she said, “they pull their knees apart.” That’s how they catch apples.

And so that’s something I learned, I guess Mark Twain’s a much smarter observer than I was, and you can see I’m no Solomon. No Solomon. He said,

[26]  …those women dressed like men. Solomon had them walk and do things, “That’s women.”

[26]  See, because he could tell the way they did, that the characteristics of those were women. There’s something about it, you can’t hide it, it’s a woman because her characteristic denote her to be a woman.

In other words she’d have to be, my she’d sure have to practice a long, long time, from a baby, to ever get rid of what’s in her, just… neither could a man be any different.

[27]  It’s just like right hand and left hand on people. They’re both people. You watch, one of them is right-hand and the other left-handed. Watch the way their characteristics detect them, you can tell whether they’re right-hand or left-handed. See?

Well you can tell a baby could be left or right-handed, you just put the child down, watch which foot he puts forward first. And he hasn’t come to the… you know, without knowing how he’s doing things with his hand or not.

There’s certain things that they will do, that the right handed child will not do. And yet they’re the only people in their right mind.

Because you see the left hand works on the right mind, and the right hand works on the left mind, so therefore they’re the only people in their right mind. I’m sure that’s the reason that it’s that way. You know, I’m just kidding you of course there.

[28]  I might drop a little something here. Jesus said, in Matthew, 24th chapter, “In the last days, the two spirits would be so close together till it would deceive the very elected if it was possible.”

Now that would tell you right there that the two spirits would have the characteristics so close and so many so alike or the same, that you would have to have a source of knowledge to detect it.

Now what he’s doing is showing you that there’s characteristics that instantly will let you know what’s what. Now you’re coming to a place where, no way. It’s just not that easy. It’s going to be quite tricky.

[29]  Now, that’s just like looking at right hand and left hand. Both got thumbs, fingers, nails, small fingers, middle fingers, so forth, index, all are different fingers. They, both have thumbprints, one’s just turned one way from the other, both same print, made the same way, thumbprints.

Everything is identically alike, the only difference is the characteristic of it. [Well that’s true. There’s something about it though that gives it away.] One is left and the other is right, that’s the only difference.

[30]  And that’s just the way the spirits will be in the last day, they will, just the characteristic of it will detect whether it is of God or not.

So therefore must be some way for people to judge the spirit. There must be some characteristic that is different about the one from the other.

One of them will be right and the other one will be wrong, you’ll only know it by the characteristic of God. Just perfectly, it’ll have to be that way. [Well because God’s a Spirit, what’s the other spirit? See?]

But right hand, we’d say is “right,” and left hand was “wrong,” see, or vice versa, one of them. They’re determined by their characteristics. Only can you know it by its characteristics.

So there’s a standard somewhere to judge the spirit.

[31]  As Israel was in its journey, coming up out of Egypt.

Now he’s illustrating here, and this doesn’t get maybe to the point as hard as we’ll get later on.

[31]  As Israel was in its journey, coming up out of Egypt. Now, God was with Israel, He had showed them a great sign down there, sent a prophet to them and identified His written Word. And as He brought them up, we watch His characteristics, how He met Moses, and the things that He did.

Now how did He meet Moses? Met him in a burning bush, and the bush burned not. Then right away He met him on the Word. Took him right to the Word. And what was the Word? It was the Word of the hour, a Word of promise.

And on his… the road up, [that’s on his road up] they came to another nation, which was Moab. Now Moab was a great nation, now, not a heathen nation, by any means. They were Lot’s daughters’ children, and they were believers. Now, watch the two nations. One of them is a recognized nation, and the other is a sojourner.

And why is Israel recognized today? See, that’s what all the squabble is about. Those Arabs, the Ishmaelites, they’re not going to recognize Israel…

Now Egypt has done a little bit about it, and a couple others, but actually, according to the Word of God, Israel’s not numbered with the nations, what’s she doing there?

Do you know you got some people so strong in Israel that are conservative, that they say that “This is not right, God’s not in this thing, because God is going to make us a nation, not these Zionists that made us a nation.”

But the point is you see, the wrath of man will praise God. And God’s using the Zionists. There’s no problem, they’re back in the homeland, but they’re right.

God’s going to deliver a hundred and forty-four thousand, that nation born in a day. See, they don’t know the Word.

They didn’t know the Word back there and they don’t know the Word now. And they would never come to a Gentile to find out. Well that’s perfectly fine, you know.

[31]  One… recognized nation, the other… a sojourner. And now they come to the place that this great nation of Moab lays right straight in the line of their path of duty…

Now listen carefully, listen to those words. “Their path of duty.”

You say, “Well that’s no path of duty, that’s a great… oh man, that’s a privilege. That’s a hallelujah, you know, milkshake, we’re getting to the promised land. Milk and honey and all the goodies.” Now he said line of duty.

[31]  …the path of duty, to go to the promised land. [See?]

[32]  Look two nations, each had a prophet. [Two.] One was the great teacher and prophet, Balaam. The other was Moses. Now Balaam comes down to curse Israel.

Now right there you see you got a characteristic. See? That spirit’s a wrong spirit. But you watch, now watch how closely they are united in their thinking.

[33]  Now, notice, both of them absolutely fundamental. [See, common ground, but still a difference. See?] The prophet, fundamentalists from Balaam, “Build me seven altars,” that’s exactly God’s number. “And offer each altar a clean sacrifice, a bullock,” [that’s Balaam doing this now]

…which exactly the same sacrifice they had down in the camp of Israel. And he said, “Upon each altar also offer a ram,” speaking of the coming of Christ. And down in Israel they offered the same sacrifice.

[34]  Same altars, same God, but one of them was wrong and the other right.

Now that’s enough to blow your mind, when you’re on a fundamental lineup. “Ah this Baptist, he believes in the blood of Jesus Christ, this Methodist believes in the blood of Jesus Christ, the Pentecost believes in the blood of Jesus Christ and speaking in tongues.

The Roman Catholic believes in the blood of Jesus Christ plus the Pope, plus Mary. Plus about everything else. Ah, you know. I don’t know why they don’t just make up prayer with some blowing prayer wheels.

If I had to have their religion I’d just go back and be a Buddhist or something. That’s not the ones that’s blowing a prayer wheel. That’s the Lama’s, the guys over there in Siam, Thailand, wherever they are. Be much simpler.

How do you remember which ones, which saints you’re going to remember on each day? Just pick your own favorite saint, I suppose. No.

[34]  Same altar, same God, [same sacrifice, see?] one wrong and the other right. Now the only way that you could tell which was… When it come, fundamentally, to the Word, both of them were right. [Now what do you think of that?]

But, you see, one, his motives was wrong, he was trying to cut off his brother from the line of promise that God had given him.

And that’s what denomination will do every single time.

When a man says, “I think I see something, I’m going to go, good-bye,” they just do their best to hogtie him and hold him down, and make him two-fold child of hell, and say, “Well brother, God bless you, you see light? Praise the Lord. Tell me about it, and if I don’t see it, you go tell somebody else.”

Now you’d have to be inside an institution for the insane to say that, you couldn’t be in a church. Or at least not very many of them. And if you did, they’d call you insane anyway.

[35]  Another thing, the prophet of Balaam, was fundamental, but the prophet Moses was identified by the characteristics of God. There was the Pillar of Fire, supernatural Light hanging over them. There was great healings in their camp, supernatural God showing supernatural signs.

They were staying exactly with the Word of promise that God gave Abraham back in the time that both nations started. But, now, Moses had Abraham’s promise, going to the promised land. [Now you notice he’s talking about that time back there. That wouldn’t hold today.]

Because you can see Pentecostal men, like Oral Roberts, and some of these mighty, wonderful men of God that God has raised up, and they’ve duplicated just about every single thing that the prophet William Branham had.

Except they couldn’t duplicate the visions, the ‘THUS SAITH THE LORD’ and taking every spirit under his control and get the picture taken with the Pillar of Fire.

They couldn’t get caught up with a ring of angels. There’s enough identifying characteristics, you see, but then again people say, “Well that’s not God.” Oh yeah.

Now,

[35]  Balaam, also a prophet of the Lord, standing down there. And the only way that you could identify, not from their fundamental teaching, but by the characteristics of God.

See? Same with Brother Branham right today. What’s the Word for the day? The Word for the day is Malachi 4. No, they don’t want that, they’ll say, “That’s for the Jews.”

Well, I just robbed the Jews, brother/sister; they ain’t going to get it.

[36]  There was the sound of a shout of the voice of the King down here with Israel. The atonement was in effect, a Brass Serpent, a smitten Rock. [Well that’s right today. But you see it’s not effectual if you’re off the Word.]

And God was with them, identifying Himself in a supernatural Light, healing their sickness and diseases as they went on. [Now that wasn’t happening down there then, but it’s happening today. But they don’t have the Light though.]

The characteristics proved what He was, staying in line of the Word for that age, for the age that they were living in. [Now he’s illustrating it, see? Coming up to our day.] God’s characteristics identified Himself with Moses.

See, the characteristics of God identified with Moses. The Pillar of Fire, the atonement in action, the supernatural, smitten Rock, they… also  had the Brass Serpent, speaking of healing, and then— [and] then again they were in the line of duty, of the promise of God.

That’s the Word for the hour. The line of duty then was to go down there and get into the Millennium. The line of duty right today is to lie in the Sun and get into the Resurrection. See? The line of duty today is to rest on the promise. Is to follow the Word.

[37]  Again, God’s characteristics are not natural. God’s characteristics are supernatural, because He is a Creator. He is Supernatural.

And when God’s characteristic begins to display themselves or itself, it’s so unusual to the modern thinking that it throws them off the line. They cannot understand It, yet He never gets away from His promise. God in all ages, I’ve said, allotted the Word.

Now this as I’ve said before is where the fundamentalist and most people have their greatest problem. They simply cannot believe this real stinger that Brother Branham throws out, that there’s a Word for every age. They say there’s one Word for all ages and that’s it, period.

Now they evidently don’t understand prophecy. Because there is a Word of prophecy concerning ages. And certainly the atonement and those things hold.

But they don’t know wherein lies continuity and wherein lies disruption from the continuity, that takes them away from the continuity of what is truly fundamental.

Now you didn’t get that, but I sure hope you did. What I’m trying to tell you is this: there’s certain things that hold true. The Blood of Jesus Christ is always the Blood of Jesus Christ.

The baptism is always the baptism with the Holy Ghost, but when you do not receive the Word of the hour, in other words, what God has prophesied for that age in which you live, that which is continuous and you think you’ve got a hold of it, as something continuous that saves you, you haven’t got a hold of it at all!

See, now I just tell you what, brother/sister, you’re not going to beat the Word of God.

John 3:17-19

In other words the Word of God goes into darkness! All right, now then when the Light comes, they turn it down flat! So the continuity of the atonement and the baptism, though being there, is nullified! See? Word of the hour.

[38]  Let’s just take, for instance, one. There was Joseph, the husband of Mary. Now he was engaged to this young lady, and they were to be married. But then before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

[39]  Now, we all believe that, if we’re Christians. We must believe that in order to be Christians. That’s the Bible. You got to believe every Word in the Bible, to be a Christian. Now, because if the Holy Spirit is in here, [and no doubt he pointed to himself and his heart,] It’ll punctuate every Word and every promise with an “amen.” [All right.]

[40]  Because, now, Joseph was a just man, he was a good man. And no doubt Mary had told him the visit of Gabriel, and how that she was to be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and was to conceive and bear a Son, and His Name be called “Jesus,”…

Now he’s not saying this in future tense, he’s telling how the angel came and said the Holy Ghost was going to do it, and the Holy Ghost had already done it.

…how that she must have told that to Joseph. And Joseph could look in her [Brother Branham’s a very romantic person. And Joseph could look in her] big brown eyes, and he could see the innocence of it, and he wanted to believe that.

And he wanted to believe it with all of his heart, yet it was too unusual, and he was minded to put her away, privately.

Now he’s telling you how things work out with the ages of God. When the Word comes on the scene, and we’ve come to a juncture, turned a corner like we have today, well you say, “Well I’d like to believe that, but man, that doesn’t line up with us.”

Well isn’t that great, when did God ever line up with us? Talk about hogwash. What He did, He died for us, and we line up with Him. Now listen, watch.

[41]  Now, if a man is sincere in it, God will make some way to show that man that it’s Truth. He’s obligated, if you’re sincere. If you see It, and walk away from It, then you’re to be judged. But, if you’re sincere and see the Truth!

Okay, let’s go back here to Hebrews again, 6th chapter. And he said…

Now there’s your baptism, there’s your Blood, what have you done? You’ve thrown it out the window.

So you see the continuity, although lining and still in continuity, is not in continuity with fundamentalism! Isn’t going to work. How we were reading this Scripture here.

[41]  Now, Joseph was just “minded.” He said, “It’s so unusual!”

[42]  That’s the way today, that good people, good men, fine men, good charactered men, fine ministers, many of them, priests and so on, are good men, but the supernatural vindication of the promise of this day is so unusual, it throws them off their balance.

All right, what have we got for this day? Acts 3. And it says in the 22nd verse… well we read the 19th:

Now it tells you right there that at the end time, just before the coming of Jesus Christ, you’re going to have a change through prophetic ministry.

And they’re going to come along and they’re going to say, “Well now, I’ll tell you one thing about it, that man William Branham was sure full of the Holy Ghost.” …after making sure.

But after they said he’s full of the Holy Ghost, then they turn him into a devil. Most remarkable. That’s people for you. See?

[42]  …throws them off balance. It does that because it’s displaying the characteristic of God.

Now right there we got a characteristic. That whatever God does is so unusual it throws the fundamentalist right off of balance. Can’t take it. See?

How many men seeing a fire like Moses, what would they have done? Well, who knows. Hardly they would have done what Moses did.

[43]  Now, Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not willingly to make her a public example. He couldn’t believe it; he tried to. But while he thought on these things, the Angel of the Lord spoke to him and told him.

[44]  Now, God doesn’t always have to speak in a dream, [see, because a dream would take a prophet unless it’s a literal dream.] He can reveal Himself [now listen how He does it. He reveals Himself] to you by the Word, and show you that It’s right, if you’re sincere enough to look into It and see if it is God’s characteristics that’s displaying itself, but always in every accord with the promised Word.

Now I never did get fully convinced from Brother Branham, so I went to the Bible and began matching things up.

When I became an adherent, and began to understand that he had the infallible ministry for this hour – of course I was looking at the Scripture and watching him – then I went right to the Word, from that time on everything began dovetailing. See?

So God can speak to you through the Word if you just let that Word, you know, give It a chance. Why? Because the Spirit of God takes hold of this printed page.

If this is God in print, or a printout of God, which would be like you might say a blueprint, a delineation, a description, an understanding, although perhaps not understood, you let the Holy Spirit then, that wrote this Book, begin to reveal it to you.

Well then you become convicted, absolutely, see?

[45]  …another thing, the Word of God always corrects the error. You believe that? The Word settles it. When God vindicates that Word, it settles it.

[46]  Now let’s, just one in my mind I’d like to think.

Now Brother Branham is talking about God vindicating, and He’s going to vindicate this hour. Now what did God really vindicate? God vindicated the Message of William Branham.

Now I’m not perhaps telling you that I’m right on what I’m going to say here, but when Brother Branham said there’s going to be a quick short Message come out of the west, I wonder if that wasn’t The Rapture.

Because he went the furthest west in Arizona he could possibly go, which was Yuma. And in there he preached The Rapture, and it was a short quick message, a short quick work that came out of the west.

And that ended it all up, because that put the whole thing right down, and it told you before the devil could do anything about it, and he said, “Now I’m going to tell you something, whether you know it or not, you are already into it.”

He said, “It’s started.” He said, “He appeared down there on the river.” And we couldn’t catch it.

It took The Rapture tape to put the whole thing into perspective. God vindicating The Rapture. I believe that with all my heart, because that’s the hour for it, to get out of here.

[46]  Now let’s, just… think. We won’t talk too much, because we want to pray for the sick. Jesus, being the Word… The Bible said He was the Word. We all agree with that, that He was the Word. Notice when He was twelve years of age.

Now, we have no record of Him going to school. But a little twelve-year-old boy about so high, they, His parents, Mary and Joseph went up to the temple… up to worship at the Passover.

And while they were up there, they started back home after the Passover, they had a three-day’s journey, that they could not find Jesus anywhere. And finally they found Him, after three days of looking for Him, in the temple, disputing the Word of God with those elders.

[47]  And listen to Mary now. Now to the people that take her to be a goddess, look. You see, the woman was deceived in the beginning. And watch her here. If you never noticed it, watch this.

She said, “Thy father and I have sought Thee, with tears.” Notice, she condemned the testimony (before those priests) that she testified of. And she said he was “conceived by the Holy Ghost,” and here she called “Joseph” His father.

[48]  Now watch that little twelve-year-old Boy, being the Word for that hour. He was the promised Word for that hour, the anointed Messiah. [That’s true, He was. Word of God in flesh.] Watch what He said, “Know ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?” The Word corrects the error. See, and the Supernatural, a twelve-year-old Child!

I do not think that Jesus understood what He said, but He was the Word, and the Word corrects the error. See, He corrected His mother, rebuked her in saying so. Now, if it had been—been His father’s business, He would a-been with His father, if Joseph was His father. [And Joseph, his father was a carpenter they tell us.]

See, now the Word corrects the error. Like the other day I said it helps. To correct something is to help it. Many people take correction as though it were a rebuke, a put down, and a liable, and some kind of sullying of the character.

It’s not that at all, it’s something to help you. And so the Word helps you out.

[49]  But, see, her all tore up and excited, like Eve was, and influenced, why, she said, “Your father and I have sought You, with tears.”

[50]  He said, “Don’t you know I must be about My Father’s business?” See the Word is corrective, It corrects the error. [Then if the error’s corrected, you’ve been helped out, you got along fine.]

[51]  Satan made a mistake when he tried to tempt Jesus. But He came back with His Own Word, and defeated him with the Word. [The Word of God.]

Now in other words, now you notice what God… God uses His Own Word in every instance and nothing can God ever use outside of His Word. And so that makes that Word pretty important.

So that if God uses His Word and nothing but His Word in every instance, and this was even in place of temptation, how much then should we be impressed to use the Word of God?

That’s what the Psalmist said, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.”

[52]  “God,” the Bible said here, “in sundry times and divers manners, identified Himself to His prophets, He spoke to the fathers through the prophets.” [He was in the prophets, that’s the Bible.]

Now, showing His characteristic of identifying Himself, see, to man, He spoke to the prophets. [Spoke in the prophets.] The prophets, their visions, vindicated, was God’s characteristic made known by the prophet’s vision.

That’s in Amos 3… well, get back over here. And it says,

And yet people take it right out of the Bible. They say, “Well you see, the Bible’s written.”

Well you say, “Then all right, then tell me some of these things I don’t understand.” Yeah. See?

[53]  Now, no man can explain a vision, there’s no way of doing it. It’s supernatural. It’s something that you see what has been, what is, and what will be.

And that was God’s way, of sending a man that spoke those things and showed things that would come to pass (not just tonight) every night, every time. Everything he said to be perfectly with the Lord, had to be the Word of the Lord.

Now Brother Branham is telling you right here, “What you saw in the other nights, you’re going to see tonight, and you’re going to understand that this is the characteristic of God.”

In other words how you identify whether God is here in the meeting or not and what spirit it is. And he takes them right back to Deuteronomy 18 is what he’s doing. Where there’s a prophet, ‘THUS SAITH THE LORD’, and the people are to listen to him, but they don’t do it.

Now,

[54]  By this, gifts and callings are without repentance. You can’t make your eyes brown when they’re blue. You can’t make yourself six-foot when you’re four-foot. “Who by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?” We are, both of us, what we are by the grace of God.

[55]  Now, gifts and callings are without repentance. These prophets were born prophets. Moses was born a fair child. Jesus was the Son of God, from before the foundation of the world, the attribute of God. Jeremiah… -twelve, seven hundred and twelve years, I believe it was, before he was born, he was the voice of one…

No, I beg your pardon, He was ordained a prophet to the nations, and was sanctified in his mother’s womb and ordained a prophet to the nation. John the Baptist, what I’m thinking of, being seven hundred and twelve years before he was born. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

[56]  See, it’s God placing. He sends a man, takes the Word of that age. But now before you can believe that Word of that age, He identifies Himself in His characteristics, see, by knowledge, by vision. He told things that would happen, and it happens.

And God said, “When that happens, then you believe that he has the interpretation of the Word, because the Word of the Lord comes to this man.”

Now you see people don’t want that. They say, “Well we don’t have prophets, we don’t need prophets to interpret the Word. Our pastor will do it for us.” Now he can get so far, but he can’t get any further than the Word of the hour, what’s been revealed. See?

[56]  …“When that happens, then you believe that he has the interpretation of the Word, because the Word of the Lord comes to this man.” And his credentials he is identified by being a seer, in the Old Testament. Just as plain as can be! His characteristics is identified, made known, his character.

Now people who claim to believe this is the Bible, that God Who wrote the Old Testament is the same of the New, they suddenly forget that there’s prophets to interpret the Word. They say they believe the Bible but they don’t. They turn it down.

[57]  Now, that’s how “God dealt in sundry times,” the Bible says, “in divers manners, He spake to the fathers through the prophets, [because He was in the prophets] but in this last day through Jesus Christ, His Son, He speaks.”

[58]  Now, Jesus said, in John 10:37, “If I do not the works of My Father, then don’t believe Me.” [Now you see, now watch. Get the two put together.]

Now, that’s how “God dealt in sundry times… in divers manners, He spoke to the fathers through the prophets, but in this last days through Jesus Christ, His Son, He speaks.”

They say, “Well where is He? Where is He?” And they think a body of flesh. You know? Hands, feet, wounded side. Brow punctured. But he said, “He speaks.” Then he tells you how He speaks.

[58]  …“If I do not the works of My Father, then don’t believe Me.”

“So now then if you see the same works done, then I’m doing it because I’m going to talk to you.”

And they say, “Well just a minute now, no, no, no, no.”

And women preachers are my pet peeve. Because my wife and a woman preacher did me out of fifteen hundred dollars.

I said, “I’m going to put a mortgage on that building, because they owe me wages.”

She said, “Oh no, you can’t do that.”

So they sold the building, and they gave her the money, and she went down to the island. And when she shook she knew she had something.

Say, “Brother Vayle must be getting better, he’s as rotten as ever.”

No, I’m not rotten as ever, I’m just telling you the truth. I don’t care, I don’t care, I’m going to stand up here, I’m not going to tell you lies. I’m not trying to be dramatic; I’m just telling you the truth.

Now let’s see understanding. God in sundry times, He spoke through the prophets, and now through the Son. And they say, “There it is, it’s all over. We heard Him, we had Him.”

Say well all right, well what about the 12th chapter of the Book of Hebrews?

Well what was from heaven? His body wasn’t from heaven. So He’s here in the form of the Holy Ghost!

And the prophet’s work proved absolutely that the One that’s doing the works through the voice of the prophet is going to give us the Message through the voice of the prophet. God’s characteristics.

[58]  So, they said, “You’re a Man, you’re making Yourself God.” [Well what else could He make Himself? He was. See?]

[59]  He said, “If I do not the works of My Father, then believe Me not.” Now He said, “John was a bright and shining star. You… like to walk in his light for a season. John said, ‘I must go out; He must increase.'”

He was the Light of the world, because He was vindicated, identified Word of flesh. See, He was God with us.

[60]  The prophets were God with them. Jesus said so. He said, “If you call them to who the Word of God comes to, ‘gods,’ how can you condemn Me when I say I’m the Son of God?” See?

So where the Word of God that’s been spoken by God is vindicated, or a-vindicated, [going on, like Jim said, Jim Mayfield,] then there is God making Himself known by His characteristic, fulfilling His Word. He needs no interpretation. It’s already interpreted, Itself, proves what It is.

What’s God’s characteristic? In dealing in this subject, he said, “I want you to know, I’m telling you how you can know that God is right here in the form of the Holy Spirit and everything going on is the Son, man, the Son of man revealed, the Son of man ministry right back here on earth.

We’re playing a role, we’re playing the drama, and this is the Word. You can tell by what is being done, and you know before your eyes you got to believe what’s being done, it’s never failed once, the Word has never failed, then what I’m telling you is the Word of Almighty God.”

Now, the two spirits are identified, something’s going to come against it. From then on you can see the spirits will be identified.

Because here the Spirit of God is identified, there’s another spirit out there, that’s so close, and just like Moses had the Pillar of Fire and all those things down there, and they had part of it down here, and it looked pretty good, looked like the fundamental – why, you can’t say a thing against the fundamental.

“Fundamentals it, Blood of Jesus Christ, hallelujah. Water baptism, who cares, as long as it’s done. We’re on our way to heaven.” Come up against this, come up against that, what are you going to do?

Now he tells you how God ever did it, and God’s doing it right now, that’s what he’s saying. God is identified. Take it right through the Word, it’s proven. And that’s how it is.

Well page 9, verse 61. I’m quitting early, because it’s time to quit.

All right, shall we rise at this time?

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your grace and Your goodness to us tonight. We come together again to study Your Word, to see how that You did these works through a man, and You spoke through a man, God identified by His characteristics, God present.

One of the prophets said, “My ministry is to declare that He is here.” The gates of hell are against it. People still don’t want to believe God in a prophet in a different way than God in human beings, like the rest of us.

The Pillar of Fire hovering, man talking face to face, absolute vindication, the perfection of knowledge, and we, Lord, believing, yes believing every single Word, not understanding perhaps, inadvertently getting it out of our mouths wrong, some little cue here or there, but, Lord, we know one thing, the Word will correct the error and You’re the Word, You’re on the scene, Lord, here tonight to bring everything into line in a Bride.

And we, Lord, are going to get back to Eden. What kept them there is what we got now to get us there and to keep us there. We believe Your truth Lord, we believe You are the truth, the way and the life and all of us in it.

And just so good, Lord, to be back with the people, comfort us, help us, O God, lead us, guide us, direct us, and may the grace of God which is abundant be more abundant still till each one of us walks in the Light, walks with each other in the Light under the Blood, sharing in love and in fellowship and the Holy Ghost Lord, until it just becomes – I almost said a dream come true – but becomes the Word of God come true into full manifestation in a living, loving Bride, and living, loving Father. The whole thing of God.

Father, in Thy hands we commend ourselves tonight, as we go to our various places, to have rest and whatsoever. O Father, we remember the prophet prayed, never let the people forget the Blood that stands there as an atonement for sickness.

Lord God, tonight as John said, “I wish above all else you may prosper and be in health as your soul prospers,” we have the same prayer for each one of us tonight, Lord God, that that sweet Spirit coming into the church, Lord, we believe absolutely is here to be manifested, and healing abounding.

We thank You therefore for healing, thank You Lord for grace, thank You for everything, Lord God, that You’ve laid out before us, and we cannot thank You enough.

In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

So all right, is anybody sick? I’m not too well myself, come on up and I’ll pray for you. You know Jesus was dying on the cross when he prayed for a dying thief, so I’m up here as a dying thief praying for more dying thieves.

Is anybody sick, come on? Everybody okay? That’s fine.

‘Take the Name of Jesus with you.’