God Identified By Characteristics #02

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we sing about the impossibility of You failing, and the great possibility Lord of all things being possible, of course meaning scriptural, or we realize that it is true, and as in the same category, Brother Branham said, “If we’re not Bride, there’s a Bride out there somewhere.”

And Lord if we don’t see all the promises manifested, that we have personally, then that’s something to do with us, not with You Lord, because we know that every promise that has been manifested, some individual has received it, but greater than that Lord, every promise in this Book, which is epical and for a season, has been manifested Lord and we believe we’re now at the end time.

Help us in the meditations of the message that the prophet brought us Lord, in this little sermon of God Identified By His Characteristics; we pray, Lord, You’ll give us the understanding and the ability to delineate upon them, and may it cause us to grow in grace and knowledge, real faith God, real faith, real knowledge, real revelation, reality all the way.

In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

You may be seated.

Now the message of course, God Is Identified By His Characteristics; now first of all we took last week characteristics: distinguishing traits, features, qualities or peculiarities.

So the characteristic is really a distinguishing feature, that’s what really you’re talking about, something that is personal to or pertinent to or actually definitive to the very thing you’re talking about.

Now these characteristics help identify because they’re peculiar to certain things. Brother Branham used the illustration of two birds, the yellow hammer and the jay bird, he said they look quite a bit alike but they have different flight patterns.

And so this opens the field that many things, you know, may look alike, but there’s a difference. There’s difference in birds, just the way they nest.

Some nest in an open field, I guess the meadowlark does – I even saw a robin build a nest on the ground one time, which is very strange – others go to wooded areas, others go to reeds where there’s water and so on.

Now the characteristics deal with appearance and conduct and quality. Now the thought of quality there is that that’s the actual substance itself.

You take like there’s hard coal and soft coal, there’s sulfur coal, and there’s coal that doesn’t have much sulfur. There are trees that are hard wood, soft wood and some that are knotty, some that have twisted grain, and others have straight grain, like a cedar tree, just take an axe and almost falls apart.

There’s the balsa tree that’s very soft and very light wood. So there are characteristics. The characteristics then, you know, actually make up a picture, or they tell you what that certain thing is like.

Now the idea that Brother Branham is presenting is that there are certain features that never fail to identify the object or thing if one is only aware of those features or characteristics. Now that’s what the idea is.

There’s a way to have a never failing identify of an object, if you really know the characteristics, but you have to know them. And those characteristics, if known, positively will differentiate. In other words, like he said the jay bird and the yellow hammer.

So the thought comes, what about God? He is Spirit and cannot be seen, so how can Jehovah be identified to us so that we can know for a certainty?

How are we going to know for sure it’s God, because He cannot be seen? On top of that it speaks of two spirits in the last day, one of which is the Spirit of God, and those spirits are so close in their characteristics, as to deceive all but the very elect.

So how can we know for sure? Well there’s a way that you can tell. And of course this way that you tell is in Deuteronomy 18, and to tell the truth, this in itself is something that a person would not really think too much of.

This would not be a tremendously great identifying mark. And it can’t be in this hour, because they’re going to run afoul of it. Verse 15.

Now he’s talking about that great Prophet coming. And of course he’s talking about any prophet also in a sub, in a sort of a subtitle.

Now there’s the premise that is set. You’re running into the understanding here now of how that you’re going to have an identification with God.

As Brother Branham said, God has certain characteristics, really I might call them certain premises, certain principles that He’s laid out. And this is what you go by.

All right, now you got a vindicated man here that’s a prophet. And you’re going to have then a vindicated Christ, and that vindicated Christ, of course, then could never change.

No matter if He’s in the human form, Pillar of Fire form, whatever form He’s in, and we’ll talk about that a little later on.

So all right, we got a premise laid out here before us. The way to be sure. And it becomes, as I say, hard at the end time, because of the two spirits being so close.

Now Brother Branham illustrates immediately concerning the characteristic of God by using two nations, one of which was Israel, one Moab.

And you’ll notice they had identical worship, because they had the altars, the sacrifices, and so on, and they had prophets.

But with Moses’ case, and not in the case of Balaam, God in a Pillar of Fire was only with Moses and Moses only had the Word of the hour, for Moses had Abraham’s promise, Balaam did not.

Now the Word of the Lord then will be with one person. I don’t care if there’s a hundred prophets, it will be with one. Like Micaiah and four hundred other prophets, there was one that the Word was with.

And so there’ll be one prophet, like Brother Branham said, always only one major prophet, that has to be, that on the scene at a time. I suppose it may be that there could be an overlapping at some area, I’m not quite sure of how that works out with in the time of Jeremiah.

But anyway, there’s one to whom the Word of the Lord comes, and that person will be vindicated, and the other person can come right close, but the Word of the hour will not be with that person.

Now so we find that a characteristic of God is that He uses a prophet to reveal Himself in the supernatural through the prophet. That’s what He does.

He reveals Himself through the prophet by means of the supernatural, and then He vindicates of course by the supernatural what the prophet tells them.

And that is God speaking to the people; like it or not, that’s God speaking to the people. That’s Deuteronomy, that’s the premise that’s set up, you can’t change it, you’ve got to go by the Word of God.

Then he continues and uses the fact that Jesus was a Prophet, or the Prophet, the God Prophet, God in the prophets, formerly, but now this Jesus is the God Prophet, but the pattern is the same: a proven Word ministry, and a Voice of God to the people.

Now that’s what you’re… not up against, but that’s what you’re looking at.

Now we’ll go back here then to page 8, and start a couple paragraphs back from page 9, where we left off at.

[57]  Now, that’s how “God dealt in sundry times,” the Bible says, “in divers manners, [that’s various manners,] He spoke to the fathers [that’s actually… to the fathers in the prophets, though through the prophets is right too,] but in this last days through Jesus Christ, His Son, He speaks.”

Now he’s leveling this thing to the point where you got to recognize that we’re going to be dealing with Jesus Christ the Son. We’re going to be dealing with the Son. We’re not changing anything from the Scripture.

Now he says, the next verse:

[58]  Now, Jesus said, in John 10:37, “If I do not the works of My Father, then don’t believe Me.”

Now remember he’s talking about a ministry and a message. Now you can easily separate the two for in your minds, and you can begin to throw verses like this into a plurality or groups of people. But he’s making this very definitive. Very, very definite.

Now the Son is speaking at the end time and He’s going to have a ministry that qualifies Him to speak and the only way He can speak is through a human vessel, and He’s not here as a human vessel, if He should speak in the last day.

Now this is why I say this is pretty hairy for anybody that doesn’t let his mind go and believe the Bible. If you want to believe your own bible, then you’re a perfect candidate to be fooled.

[58]  See, they said, “You’re a Man, making Yourself God.”

Now this is the people that said, “Let Moses speak. Let a man tell us.” See? “Now that’s going to be God to us.”

Now they really get thrown for a loop when God Himself takes on a human form. But you know, God says, “I’ll raise up a Prophet unto you.”

And God is the original Prophet, so where could they get an interpretation that would forbid God from raising Himself up? See? See where your mind goes when you’re denominational? You can’t be fluid. You can’t let your mind go.

[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 light. You… like to walk in his light for a season.

Now John said, ‘I must go out; He must increase.'” He was the Light of the world, because He was the a-vindicated, identified Word made flesh. [Now John wasn’t, Jesus was.] See, He was God with us. [That’s Emmanuel.]

Now, watch carefully, this paragraph 60.

[60]  The prophets were God with them. Jesus said so. He said, “If you call them who the Word of God comes to, ‘gods,’ [and that’s right, that’s not just the psalms, that’s a premise,] how can you condemn Me when I say I’m the Son of God?” [“How can you make Me condemned?”]

So where the Word that’s been spoken by God is vindicated, then that is God making Himself known by His characteristic, which is the fulfilling His Word. It needs no interpretation. It’s already interpreted, Itself, proves what It is.

All right, let’s go over it again.

See? Where the Word that’s been spoken by God is vindicated, [I don’t know, that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter where It’s coming out of. See?] then that is God making Himself known by His characteristics, [which is a principle, how He does things, and man agreed to it,] fulfilling His Word. It needs no interpretation. It’s already interpreted, Itself, proves what It is.

Now you’ll notice in here that this, in Brother Branham preaching, this is a plea to the people to recognize a true prophet in the Word and now manifested.

Now what he’s doing so many times, he’s doing the same here, is in a veiled way he is presenting William Marrion Branham, the Elijah of this hour. God to the people.

And he’s doing it in a way that people just can easily walk by it. It’s one of the biggest curves he ever threw. It’s how God does things.

All right, we’re starting, paragraph 61 is where we will start tonight.

[61]  Just the same as He said “let there be light” there was light, you don’t have to say, “Well, what did that mean?” It means just, there it is, that proves it. It’s already come to pass.

All right, God said, “I’ll raise up a prophet, vindicate him, you listen.”

Hey man, I’d better listen. Look what’s going on here. That’s what the Bible says. Then he narrows it down to an hour, or an age, which is fine, we’ll get to it.

[62]  Now Jesus said that, “If I do not the works of My Father,” or other words, “if I don’t have the characteristic of My Father…

See the works. In other words, no man spake like this Man, and no man could do what this Man could do. That’s what Nicodemus said. He said, “I’ve had my eyes on You.”

He said, “You’re different.” And he didn’t recognize Him as Messiah for quite some time. He said, “You’re different.” He said, “Man’s words won’t do what Your Words do, God’s got to be with a man like You.”

He coming a long way, but he hadn’t come quite far enough. But he did, my understanding. So this is the characteristics.

They identify My character, Who I am. If you can’t believe Me, then believe the identification that God has given. If My character doesn’t identify My position, then don’t believe My claims.” [Jesus began to do and to teach. Prophet will say something, it will come to pass, if he right with the Word of God, then you listen to him.] See?

You get it tonight? How many understands, raise your hand. See? “If My character does not identify Who I claim to be, …then… If you can’t believe Me, why, just believe the identification of the character that I am.”

Now that’s the place you start. Now back in Matthew 12, they said, “That’s Beelzebub.” Why they said, “How’s this man doing these works?”

Why they said, “The devil’s doing those works.”

Now you see where you go when you go off the Word. Here’s a group of people that said, “We don’t want to have anything more to do with the Pillar of Fire and the Voice of God; we’re going to raise up a Prophet.”

And the promise of Messiah was going to be a Prophet. He was also going to be God with us. That’s your identification, God in a man. Now here He is, fulfilling every single claim. Doing, speaking.

And they said, “Ah, he’s a devil, forget it.” And they got the same thing right today; people call Brother Branham a devil.

[63]  John 14:12, “He that believeth” Jesus said “on Me, the works that I do shall he do also.” Now look, “He that believeth on Me,” a true believer, “the works that I do shall he do also.” Notice. In other words, like this, “He that believeth on Me, shall be identified by My characteristics, the works.”

Now, that’s what He did. He said, “If I don’t do the Father’s works, then don’t believe Me.” [Now he’s putting believing right with the Word. He’s laying a foundation for faith in the Word.]

And the Father spoke to the prophets, and that was their characteristic, identification. So it was with Jesus. [So then he can’t change.] And promised it to him that believeth, [and watch that singular there,]

…”My characteristics shall I do in him just as it did in Me. And if I do not the works of My Father, then don’t believe Me. But if I do the works, and you can’t believe Me, then believe the works, because it’s spoken of, it must be.”

Now John 14:12 here, you got to watch pretty close, reading from End Time Evangelism. He says,

[50]  Same thing today, when you see His work. Now, we have already seen and are witnessing the appearing of the Lord. Now remember, appearing and coming is two different words, to appear and then to come. Now is the appearing, He’s already appeared in these last days. Right here with us in the last few years.

Now, it’s a sign of His Coming. He’s appearing in His Church, in the form of the Holy Spirit, showing it’s Him, ’cause people can’t do these things that you see the Holy Spirit doing, so that’s the appearing of the Lord. Now remember, it spoke in both places, “appearing” and “coming.”

Now right there you see he uses the plurality. He says, “They.” But now listen,

Anointed Ones At The End Time. 07/25/65M

[269]  Now, I want you to know this is sure, and you that listen to this tape. You might have thought today that I was trying to say that about myself, that I was packing this Message. I have no more to do with It than nothing, no more than just a voice. And, my voice, even against my better judgment;

[Then he says,] I wasn’t the One that appeared down on the river; I was only standing there when He appeared. [There’s hundreds also standing there.] I’m not the One that performs these things and foretells these things that happens as perfect they are; I’m only one that’s near when He does it. I was only a voice that He used…

So there again now you got to watch when Brother Branham, what he’s really saying. He’s presenting himself to the people, letting them know what’s going on. The Presence of Almighty God in the prophet, just like there it is right there in a picture. See?

[64]  He said, “Search the Scriptures, for in Them you think you have Eternal Life, and They are They that tell you Who I am.” [See, identification.] That was Jesus, see, God manifested, showing Himself. “They testify Who I am.”

That makes Hebrews 1 now, “God in sundry times spake by the prophets,” clearly identifying the characteristic now of the resurrection of His Son. [See? You got a true premise here. Search the Scriptures. Can’t be changed. Now,]

God spoke by the prophets then, through His Son now. [Okay.] The unchangeable God, [just let that rest there, the unchangeable God,] the same characteristic, “The works that I do, shall you also.” God, known by His identified characteristic. That’s how you know.

How you going to know? You’re going to have one that has to stand head and shoulders above everybody else, it’s got something that nobody else has got.

He’s got to have the characteristic of God. That will be the ‘THUS SAITH THE LORD’, the miracles, the ability to give forth the Word. All right.

[66]  I’m talking about the Word made manifest and identifying this Life, the characteristics of the promised Word for the age.

All right, what did he start with? Hebrews 1:1, “God in sundry times, spake through the prophets.” He’s still got to have a man. So God had to become a man.

Now,

[66]  I’m talking about the Word made manifest and identifying this Life, the characteristics of the promised Word for the age.

Okay, that’s where you find it over here in the Book of Matthew 12. Fully identified. He said… that’s verse 15:

Now you tell me He didn’t strive, didn’t cry? Didn’t preach in the streets? Well this time He won’t do it; this is to the Gentiles. See? So how’s He going to do anything for the Gentiles? Send a prophet.

That’s what throws the Gentiles for a loop, they don’t understand this. They just think, “Well that just speaks of the Holy Spirit coming, and that’s great, you know, that’s fine.” But it says,

Now come on, the Gentiles didn’t have anything to break in the first place. They didn’t have any smoking flax, Israel did. But this time He says, “Come out from among them and be ye separate.”

So He doesn’t break the reed and He doesn’t quench the little bit of Light that’s smoking. That’s what the Gentiles have.

Didn’t say in Him personally, as a Person. It’s the Name. One coming in His Name. So all right, the prophet could do all those things, but Jesus couldn’t, because this speaks of Him coming in the form of the Spirit.

And that’s what that Pillar of Fire is. Not Son of man, not Son of God. In the form of the Fire. Originally in the Old Testament it was the Fatherhood. This is Sonship. I’ve showed you that before from Brother Branham’s tapes. All right?

[66]  I’m talking about the Word made manifest and identifying this Life, the characteristics of the promised Word for the age. [This Life, what Life? Eternal Life, which is Christ Jesus.]

[67]  Those Pharisees knew the Bible as good as anybody, better than any of us clergymen know ours today. They had to live by It. Their great-great-grandfather were priests. They studied It, day and night, and they failed to see the identified Word.

[68]  Today, Luther said, “When you believe It, you’ve got It.” Methodist say, “You shout, you got It.” [Pentecost say,] “Spoke in tongues, you had It.” We find all that wrong!

Some of them said, “The fruit of the Spirit’s got It.” And it’s wrong! The only evidence is, is when the vindication, when God Himself identifies Himself in the promised Word of the hour. There it is.

Now let’s watch this very carefully. He’s not talking about the baptism with the Holy Ghost. Now everybody’s pretty well is going to get drawn away and say, “Well now he’s talking about the baptism with the Holy Ghost.”

Brother Branham said, “You Lutherans only potentially had the Holy Ghost.” He said, “You Methodists, only potentially; you Pentecost’s only potentially.”

He was talking about the Person, he’s talking about the Person in this message. And God doesn’t have a prophet that gets all scrupled up. He keeps His cards in order, His cue cards in order. See? Now,

[69]  Who had any more fruit of the Spirit than the kind old priests, circumcised the children and blessed them, and everything else? And here this guy Jesus was, come around… in anger, beat them, run them out, no identification of nothing.

The Scripture is His identification! He had no fellowship card, belonged to no organization. But God spoke of Him, and that was His identification!

All right, now he’s talking about today. Now he’s talking about what Jesus was back there. Well they hated Him internally. See my language is very nice when I have to be. Thank you. Got to be meek, and be meek and mild.

All right, what’s He going to be in this hour manifesting through a prophet? Elijah! The nature and characteristics. Short, bald-headed, fuzzy worm, ruddy, woman-hater. How many times did you hear Brother Branham talk about Elijah that way? He’s describing himself. Certainly.

There’s identification. That identification was for Matthew 12. A prophet coming on the scene. And when he came, he would restore the Bride and bring back the Holy Ghost. In a true baptism and a true Word.

The smoking flax would not be quenched. It would be trimmed and the oil poured in. He didn’t do that with Israel. Mm-mm. Nope. Israel, it was all over. Law is no more. See?

Even though under the Fifth Seal they come in through ignorance, through election. That’s how John the Baptist could be full of the Holy Ghost before he was born. Predestination, foreknowledge, election, the whole thing.

All right.

[69]  But God spoke of Him, that was His identification!

Okay, He was in the prophetic Word, He was the prophetic Word made flesh. He had to be! Because He got to be a Prophet!

Prophet’s not a little goose out here, or a chicken or a buzzard or something, or a pretty little deer or some very fancy gimmick or something.

You’re dealing with the frailty of humanity. But this would be virgin born, so that would bypass the frailty. So we have an incubator.

Question came up, “Did Mary contribute anything to Jesus, because Brother Branham said she contributed nothing?”

And one day… I’d been preaching all along that she was the chemical factory. And Brother Branham said the same thing, but didn’t use the terminology.

He said, “Christ became flesh from the earth through the woman, what was in the earth.” See, in other words, everything was there; all it had to do is be fed. All right.

[70]  That’s the genuine identification of God in any hour, is His identification.

Or what he’s talking about. God’s going to prove Who He is, just the way the Scripture said, it’s going to come by a prophet, like it or not, that’s it, check it out, you got the Bible, to make positive identification.

That’s what it is, the Scriptures that’s promised, made identified by the characteristic of the promise which is God, which is the Word. [God on the scene identifying Himself, what was spoken of, here it is.] And the characteristic of that promise being identified, that makes the believer.

Without that you couldn’t be a believer. Whew. Man, we got the tough one right there. You’re not going to get very many people sit around and enjoy that one. “I’m a believer, bless God.”

That’s like a fellow; I went one time to get an ad in the paper. And they let me have the ad for Brother Branham, and nobody knows who gave me the authority, but they allowed us to print this great big ad.

So I went to get another ad for another man. And so what it was, I mentioned, you know, that I had an ad. “Well,” he said, “I don’t know how you ever got it.”

“Well,” I said, “sir, there’s a possibility,” I said, “you know, people need help.” And I used some kind of a word, and he misunderstood me.

And he said, “You blankety-blank-blank-blank-blank so-and-so, you say I’m not a blankety-blank-blank Christian?” And that’s what he was all right. Oh, he cussed me out good.

And I said, “Yes sir, yes, yes sir, yes, yes, yes.” And I was laughing inside. Wasn’t hard to know who was being fooled.

See that makes a believer. Now if you can’t identify, or come up with the faith through the understanding of what has been set forth in the Word made manifest, you’re not a believer.

I like what Brother Harold Marcando was quoting Brother Branham, and he said how that Israel believed in God and worshipped God. And a little later on, they had no trouble still believing in God, but not believing in the man that God sent.

What Word did they believe? Zilch. See, it just comes to nothing.

[69]  Jesus said so, and that settled it. Amen. [Why he said, “You believe the works.”]

[70]  That’s the genuine identification of God in any hour, is His identification. [I read this again.] That’s what it is, the Scriptures that’s promised, made identified by the characteristic of the promise which is God, which is the Word. And the characteristic of that promise being identified…

In other words, God manifesting His Word, interpreting It by bringing It to pass, here It is, right in front of you. And you listen, you see, your attention is caught, God has curried your favor by what you’re seeing, now He talks to you through the prophet.

You say, “Hey that’s right.” You’re a believer. You say, “Hey that’s wrong, I’ve got my doubts,” you’re an unbeliever. Or a make-believer or something in between somewhere.

[71]  …now we find out, the characteristics identify Him. And He said, “If it doesn’t do it, then don’t believe Me.” [That’s fair enough.] Now, Jesus spoke that it would identify Him.

[72]  And now remember, that in these days, these last days, said Hebrews 1:1, “God, in sundry times and divers manners, spake to the fathers in the prophets. In this last day has spoke to us through His Son, Jesus Christ.”

Well did He? Who wrote the epistles of Paul? Paul. Who gave it to him? Same Pillar of Fire brought the Word. So what’s going to bring the Word now? Same Pillar of Fire to a prophet.

That’s not hard to understand, Alpha’s Omega. And remember, the more you hear Brother Branham, the more you understand Alpha and Omega.

See? Identification of God Himself manifested in the same manner as He did in foretime, using His same characteristic. Amen.

Hebrews 13:8, says, “He’s the same yesterday, today, and ever!” [Sundry times. See in other words, can’t change.] His same manner, His same way, same characteristics, everything is the same!

Now, you understand right here now that you’re dealing in the intrinsic God Himself. See, this is where you’re dealing right with God, I don’t care how it’s coming into view.

You’re absolutely dealing with God, personally. Not just like a sinner coming to God for salvation, this is an end time Word.

…same manner, same way, same characteristic, everything is the same! God, the unchangeable God can no more get away from that characteristic than He can get away from His Commandment(s).

In other words, He’s got to fulfill His Word. He can’t get away from His Word, so He can’t get away from fulfilling it.

That’s what He is, He’s the Word. He’s the Word for the hour. He’s the Word when He created the world, [what was He? He was the Word. “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, all things are made by Him.”]

…that was the Word. When He created man, that was the Word, His attributes. [See? In other words, performing, He’s a performer.] When He created Christ, that was God, Immanuel.

And when He made Him a Saviour, that was His attributes. …It’s the Word always being identified, the identified Word by the characteristics of God. Notice the manner, He always, He never changes.

[73]  Look at the three men…

Now from this point on – and I won’t have too much time left, because I’m not going to take too much time – what you’re going to look into now is typing for our day through the Scripture.

Look at the three men that came to Abraham, sitting in his tent that day. We’ll look at him there for a few minutes. He had come, he had been called out of the land of Chaldea, Chaldeans, the city of Ur.

He had been turned out of his city, by the Commandments of God, he separated himself from all unbelief. That’s the first characteristic of God, separate yourself from unbelief, when He calls a man!

Now that’s the first thing you got to do is to totally accept the way God does things, and totally accept what He is doing, the way He said He’d do it.

And then you know right there you’re separated from unbelief. You’re ready for anything. Might not understand it, might not… but you’ll grow in It. See?

Now:

[74]  And He gave him something was absolutely, totally impossible to the natural mind, to believe it.

All right, over here in 1 Corinthians 2. Let’s see… Verse 14:

Okay? And he’s talking about this hour.

[74]  He said, “Abraham,” He was seventy-five years old, Sarah was sixty-five. That was his half sister, they had lived together all these years with no children. He said, “I’m going to give you a son by Sarah, and he will, by him, I’ll make you a father of many nations.” Now, he believed it.

Okay, this was just before the royal son Isaac was to come in mortal form. Before the burning, just after the burning of Sodom. At this time.

Okay, the natural mind is going to be up against something in this hour that it simply cannot take.

[75]  Time passed, no change in Sarah. See? she was past age, past menopause. Sixty-five, had done went past that. Abraham, seventy-five, his body as good as dead. Her womb was good as dead.

Abraham never staggered at the promise of God, through unbelief. He kept believing, because God said it, and was persuaded, “If God said it, His characteristics will produce what He said!”

In other words, He can’t help producing the Word, there’s just no two ways. You know, just like a chicken is going to lay eggs, that’s the way it’s going to be.

There are dandelions going to come up, just sure as you’re alive, and they’ll bloom and they’ll spread millions of dandelions around the place.

Now, we’re supposed to be children of Abraham, the Seed of Abraham! On, twenty-five years lapsed. No difference in Sarah, nothing, only she was older, stooped down, he also. But still Abraham believed it.

[76]  One day, when God saw His servant was determined to be an example for people of today, [the people of today,] and through him He was going to bless the nations, one hot morning about eleven o’clock, three men came walking up to him. They talked to him. He invited them to sit down.

There was something about them that seemed different from men. Spiritual things are understood by spiritual things. Notice, they came up and sat down.

Abraham looked them over, and said, “My Lord.” [And it’s one Person. Just he addressed them one person, “My Lord,” not “my lords,” you know. Not Father, Son and Holy Ghost.] What must he do?

[77]  Two of them went down and preached in Sodom, which is a modern testimony today. [Now do you think people are going to believe this? Do you think that those three are going to type three men in the world today?]

There’s your three classes of people: Sodom, and the church down in Sodom, Abraham the Elected is not in Sodom. Two messengers, a modern Billy Graham… Remember, all these messengers to the church, there’s never been a man went out of that church nominal out there, ending his name with h-a-m, before.

Well isn’t it funny that Billy Graham was saved under Mordecai Ham? Yup. Mordecai Ham was the preacher; met him once, very fine man. As he’s been dead for many years now. Billy Graham saved under Mordecai Ham. Interesting.

Been Finney, Sankey, Knox, Calvin, so forth, Billy Sunday, everything else, but Graham, G-r-a-h-a-m, ending with h-a-m, which means “father of nations.” There he went down there, preaching. Look at the hour! [There’s your] make-believers, unbelievers, and believers.

These three men came. [Where’s your third one? You know he’s speaking of Billy Graham and Oral Roberts.] …Oral Roberts amongst the people, preaching. The setting, Jesus referred to.

As he said… Like in Sodom and Gomorrah, that would be end time.

Now what Brother Branham is doing here is setting you up to understand that he’s got seven letters and three names: William Marrion Branham. All seven. All got seven.

And remember his name was changed to get the seven letters. Bringing Abraham, representing God.

[78]  Notice, the Elect was coming on, sitting on the outside up there here, Abraham and his group. And when this Man that stayed with Abraham, watch Him, He displayed the characteristic of God, for He said, “Where is Sarah?”

Her name was Sarai, day before; now it’s Sarah, S-a-r-a-h. He said “Abraham,” not Abram, “Abraham, where is thy wife, Sarah?” And he said, “She’s in the tent behind You.”

[79]  And He said, “I am going to visit you.” Then Abraham listened to that speech. “I’m going to visit you according to the time of life.”

[80]  And Sarah laughed, as it was, up her sleeve, to herself, and said, “Me old, and my lord old, that we shall have pleasure again like young men and women? As far as human relationship, perhaps, has past many years. Me?” And she laughed.

You’ll notice in here Brother Branham in a round about way repeats what he’s always repeated, that children are never born without sexual desire. That’s how they come. She brings the thought in here herself.

[81]  And the Man, looking at Abraham, Sarah in the tent behind Him, said, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘How can these things be?'” He identified Himself.

Now, you know that’s pretty corny when you realize that even a familiar spirit could do that. But you know what these people forget is a familiar spirit can’t come and say, ‘THUS SAITH THE LORD’.

I don’t care if he can pick everything out of a fishbowl one hundred percent. Let him just try to use the Name – in the Name of the Lord one time and see where he gets off at. Just the same as Brother Branham blew that blue light in the séance.

He said, “I come to you in the name of the holy Catholic church, in the name of Mary, in the name of this, the name of God,” but as soon as he said the Name of Jesus, light went bing, went out. Watch those blue lights in the wrong places.

He identified Himself.

You say, “That’s kind of a poor identification.” That’s – human mind doesn’t go for it. See?

[82]  Abraham called Him “Elohim.”

And you know that’s the last sign the church gets, you know? That sign, that simple little sign, the sign of Messiah. “Oh,” they said, “oh there’s bigger signs than that.” Why sure.

The great healing ministry was leading up to that little sign that people think is so little. Sort of got the cart before the horse, they figure God must have boobooed and got messed up somehow. No, He’s not messed up at all.

He just brings you right down to see if you’re a believer or not. Now this is a sign right there. Yet people looking for mighty signs and this and that and the other thing, and they’re wondering around, wandering around.

The church has had its last sign. He said the church has, so the Bride’s had its last sign too, because she’s got the Word, she doesn’t need signs. Although God’s in her midst to work wondrously if she believes.

[83]  Jesus said, in Luke, 17th chapter, when in the last days (God in sundry times speaking by the prophets, in the last days by His Son),

[Now he’s talking about when the Son of man is revealed, He’s going to be a prophet.] now watch, …”In time when the Son of man is being revealed.” Watch, “revealed,” made known in this last days before the end time, when the Son of man is being revealed, this setting of Sodom will return again.

All right, now he said the Pillar of Fire is not the Son of man. What is it? That’s God in Sonship. The prophet is not the Son of man. It’s in the form of the Holy Spirit, it’s the Holy Spirit working in a prophet. Playing the role. God’s got to have a prophet.

So what have you got? You got a man that’s dealt with by Almighty God, so he can speak face to face, to bring the Word to the people.

“As it was in the days of Sodom, it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of man, when He is being revealed, made known to the Church, to the Elect (not Sodom not Sodomites, or the ones in Sodom), to the Elected.” Abraham was Elected.

The royal Seed of Abraham is the believers, through Christ Jesus the Word, and is the Elected. And when the Son of man is being revealed, that setting would be again.

Prophet and two angels going down to Sodom and Gomorrah. God with Abraham definitively speaking of the coming of the Son in human form and the world will burn before it. So the world’s getting ready to burn.

[84]  Look at the world today. If it ain’t a common Sodom and Gomorrah, I never seen one. Sodom and Gomorrah! Look at the church, like Lot sitting there and grieving his righteous soul as he saw the sins of Sodom.

A many a minister… A fine man sitting in his study, getting up his text and so forth, look out on the street and seeing women with shorts on, immorality and things, things going on like that, he can’t say nothing about it, his organization would put him out.

Lot didn’t have the audacity to stand up for That which was right, so is the modern Sodom and Gomorrah today.

[85]  But there are some of those who are outside of Sodom, that are born out there, not by the will of man, but by the will of God and the Seed of God.

Watch the identification, not just the preaching, but the sign identified the Word of God made flesh in a man. The setting returns back just as it was, and it’s exactly that day. Everything is perfect, everything sitting right in line.

Wish we had time to continue a few minutes, but we haven’t, so we’ll hurry. The setting is to be replaced again in the last days.

[86]  In Hebrews 1:1, “God, in sundry times, by the prophets, identifies Himself. [See, every time he goes there. He said,] “You won’t get one identification from God outside of me, and you’ll get the Word after that.” [Now they don’t like that.]

…making Him Hebrews 13:8… [See? Remember Mark 16 is just a part of Hebrews 13:8, just a small part.]

[87]  Notice, God, in sundry times, spake to Moses. And now, remember, He identified Himself by a Light, …And that Light, what did It do? It produced the characteristic of God, It spoke the Word, “I heard the moans of My people in Egypt.

I have seen their groans and heard their cries, remember My Word. I will come down, a Pillar of Fire, a Light, to go and to deliver the people. I’m sending you, Moses.” [God’s going to do it, how? Through the prophet.]

[88]  Watch the characteristics of God. Picked up a handful of dust and threw it in the air, turned to fleas. The Creator characteristic of God was in Moses. [Moses spoke the Word; William Branham spoke the Word, squirrels came.]

[89]  Moses spoke, in Deuteronomy 18:15, said, “The Lord your God will raise up a Prophet like unto me.” Now watch, the Word again, characteristic. God speaking through Moses, telling them that the Lord will raise up One like him.

Now notice how Jesus’ characteristics identified Him to be this promised Word. When Moses said it would be, the character of Jesus identified it.

Notice now, “The Lord your God,” that’s God, that’s the Word, “shall raise up a Prophet like unto me. Whoever won’t believe that Prophet, will be cut off from among the people.”

I preached that way, way, way back. Out of Acts 3. See?

…Whoever won’t believe that Prophet, will be cut off from among the people.”

And that word is ‘utterly cut off’ and that’s the same as in Malachi, not like before. See? Because the bruised reed, when He restores the bruised reed giving you light back and resilience, pliability.

And the oil and the light to the Spirit. See? They won’t be cut off. All the rest utterly cut off. That’s why the earth burns, see? Same as It says in Malachi.

Now watch, when Jesus came, then what kind of characteristic was He to have? See, notice now the promised Word, He was promised to be a Prophet like Moses.

[90]  Now, they’d had all kinds of teachers, all kinds of rabbis. They hadn’t had a prophet for four hundred years, since Malachi, all at once here comes a Man on the scene.

[91]  Now, there was a fisherman, two of them, sons of a man, and one of them, his name was Andrew, the other’s name was Simon. They had been told by their father how to watch in the days; there had been lots of false things raised up.

The old man… I read a little book one time, where, it might have been fiction, I don’t know, that he said, “Sons, now just before the coming Messiah, as we’re all looking for, there will be a time where there’ll be all kinds of things happening. But the way you’ll know this Messiah, it will be according to Scripture. He will be a Prophet, because the Word of God said He is a Prophet.”

Now that’s a great thing to remember, the characteristic of God, and His identification, what is a prophet. That’s the big thing to watch for. Because that’s what concerns us. We can’t get there any other way.

[92]  Andrew heard John. Well, only thing John was doing, was just prophesying. [That’s John the Baptist.]

You know, Jesus said, “You did walk in John’s light, but I have greater Light than John. I have a greater identification than John, for, the works the Father gave Me to do, they testify of Me.” John just preached, he just forerun, he didn’t do any miracles or any characteristics of God for the promise.

Now that lets you know there’s a promise then of the same One in the form of the Holy Spirit to come back to the Gentiles.

Of whom the Methodist and all the rest potentially had, they were full of the Holy Ghost, but the only potential; we have reality.

See, He came down to set Himself at the Head of the church and raise the dead.

But here come Jesus with the characteristics!

Then what about today then, you see? God is once more in human flesh in the role of a prophet, in other words, working through a prophet.

All right, we’ve put in about fifty… let’s see, it’s about forty-five, about fifty minutes or so.

That’s as far as we’ll go at this point then, and don’t forget Sunday service, ten o’clock with Brother Brian, and I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to hold up the way I feel these days, so I sure covet your prayers, as I haven’t for a long, long time. I just came tonight for our little study here, but it’s pretty rough.

So let’s rise at this time, shall we?

Gracious Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank You again for love, mercy and grace that You’ve bestowed upon us that we should know the things of God in this hour, so clearly identified, and Lord, we say again with Brother Branham, if we’re not Bride, there’s a Bride out there somewhere.

We know, Lord, that You have identified Yourself, You’ve done what You said, everything is exactly right and in order. We pray, Heavenly Father, gracious God of creation and God of humanity, great God of all, God over all gods, over all spirits, over all everything, nothing, Lord, that was made but You made it.

We know that You have visited Your people, and we have the understanding given to us, how it was done, and we know that You’re here to lead us into the Millennium, to raise the dead, even as You called out a Bride.

You brought us this Word, Lord; You turned the hearts back to the fathers. All these things, Lord, You’ve done, and we’re grateful. We thank You for it.

And, Lord God, we know that if we don’t make it, somebody’s going to make it, because there’s a foreknown, elected, predestinated people right in this hour, very few perhaps that will be standing right here to be changed immortal and caught up.

Perhaps there will be a great number pass on, as we see so many passing on, and we know that’s fine. We know, Lord, there’s a promise in this hour that some are not going to die, the promise is to live.

“He that liveth and believeth in Me shall never perish.” We believe that, Lord, we believe it’s for somebody; there’s a people.

And so we thank You, Lord, that we know this, and knowing this, Lord, we believe that we are believers, because that’s what the prophet said.

So here Your believers are tonight, Lord, holding up their hearts to You, holding up their lives to You and saying, “We believe. We do believe.” Help any unbelief, O God. Help us to clean everything out, total separation, get rid of everything that might hinder.

Father, just take Your Word, which we do, and we’re grateful for this opportunity, bless each one tonight, we pray, O God, and never let us, as the prophet said, forget the atonement is for healing.

O God, that Blood atones for sickness. So, Father, we accept the mercy for our souls and for our spirits and for our bodies. We accept it all.

And, Lord God, may it be manifested, in the Name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

All right, shall we go, ‘Take the Name of Jesus with you’.