Leadership #34

Shall we pray.

Heavenly Father we know that You’re the same yesterday, today and forever. As Jehovah-Elohim You have not changed. Your Word has not changed. You have not changed. The ministry has not changed.

There’s nothing changed. But actually, Lord, we know there has been a greater manifestation of It all and a greater understanding.

And that’s what we desire this morning, is that greater understanding of what is transpired in our day, Lord, concerning Yourself, especially in… It is true, perhaps, It’s the only thing that there is to even think about, that which concerns ourselves from Yourself, Lord, and what You’ve given us.

And we know that, Father, in the resurrection, when Jesus came back here upon earth in a glorified form, we believe that He was the same one who went away; he hadn’t changed except in another figure, bodily structure.

He was still not the one who was omniscient and omnipotent; he was the one who was still under complete obedience, but entering into a new office, where he would be the mediator and the intercessor as the great high priest of the Melchisedec order: the man between God and man. We appreciate that.

We know that he still maintains that office, that he still is doing what he is supposed to do, according to what You Yourself have laid down as the infinite God. And yet, Lord, we know that also, when he came back he opened their understanding.

And this is what we know that John the Baptist came to do, and we know what Jesus, Your son, did by Your Own Word and life manifested within him and now, at the end time, we know that it is the same thing again, the opening of the understanding.

Help us to understand as never before, Lord, and understand and walk in wisdom and stature.

We give Thee glory, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

You may be seated.

Now, what I’m going to talk about this morning on ‘Leadership’ might well have been given to begin with. However, it’s good to be giving it this morning at a conclusion, and I hope I can get through reading all the Scripture that I have outlined here.

Now, this is number 34, then, in ‘Leadership’, and I trust this one could be the finish of it.

In order to truly understand this Message on ‘Leadership’, we must fully analyze or at least study very carefully to understand what leadership actually means, especially in the sense of how a Christian would consider it, as applying to himself and other believers, who with him would constitute the true Church or the Bride or Body of Christ.

Now, in other words in plain English, leadership will mean different things to different people. It will be how you look at it that actually gives the impact of this Message.

Now, no Word of God is void of power, and we know the word ‘leader’ is in the Bible; we know the word ‘lead’ is in the Bible; we know the word in the past tense, ‘led’, is in the Bible. Now, what is it really about?

To begin, ‘leadership’ is defined very simply. It means ‘the office of a leader’. It’s an office. In other words, leadership has a position.

And the position that it assumes by virtue of the fact of what it is, brings us guidance and control. Guidance and control is what leadership actually is, of a leader within his office, assuming leadership.

Now, right away at least ninety-nine percent, maybe ninety-nine hundred percent, of the so-called born-again Christians would reject the thought of control.

Advice, guidance, help, giving directions yes but control, no. Yet, if a leader is not in control, in other words, the people do not listen and follow… If he is not in control, how can he lead or fulfill his office?

Now, to be in control does not necessarily mean that the leader has by force taken authority over anyone and by his dominating, by his personal domination, his will becomes that of a dictator using force.

He can be a leader, and therefore, in control through only designated authority. And yet without him, there is no guidance and control so that the church becomes a motley crowd that’s diverse like many colors in a row, everybody going his own direction.

You think… There’s a very famous group of rock singers, “Motley Crew”. Is that right? Notice, everything what the Motley Crew is telling you, we do it our own way and we do our own thing, each one’s an individual, take it or leave it.

They become a motley crowd. I know I had the right word; look in the dictionary. Each has his own ideas, thereby going his own way. Huh?

Now, listen carefully to what I am saying, because I wrote this all down, and everything I said is right to the point and very accurate.

And though all are supposed to come together into one place, now the motley crowd, each has his own idea or ideas, and thereby, going his own way, and in the end they’re all supposed to come together into one place called the Millennium. They will not make it.

And being directionless without a director, or guide, they become wandering stars reserved for blackness forever, roaring waves of the sea, foaming out their shame.

“The gate is narrow and the way is full of trouble, and it is hard to find.” That is a literal translation to what Jesus said. And it is so. Yet there is an antidote.

And the antidote is Ephesians the 4th chapter, in spite of Ephesians 1:17. For Ephesians 1:17 does not cancel the fourth chapter, but the fourth chapter is that which guarantees the efficacy of Ephesians 1:17.

Now, we’re talking about a five-fold ministry at the time of the descent and presence of Jehovah-Elohim.

Now, keep in mind carefully what I am saying, and think about it. If you complain you have nothing to talk about in your Friday night meetings, I say this morning, you have paralyzed your hearts, your minds, your spirits, and your soul.

I gave you enough right there, whether you can sermonize or not; you don’t need to, but to think about It as you never thought about It before.

Ephesians 4 is where the Holy Spirit deals with the church through a ministry bringing you up to complete headship where you walk in the truth in such an unwavering way because you have such a perfect and true revelation that you will come face-to-face with God in His reincarnation in Christ at the Wedding Supper.

Now, we are talking of leadership: ‘Who will take me there?’

Now, since leadership or the office of a leader comes from the word ‘leader’ we ought to look at its definition.

And here, again, we find the definition quite simple: one who leads, guides, conducts, directs, or controls. He is a director or a conductor, a chief or a commander: he is first and foremost.

“Bless God, I don’t need nobody.” [Brother Vayle says sarcastically.]

So, Brother Branham preached this sermon, and we’re learning what a leader is. He is first and foremost, the most prominent in any relation.

Now, the word ‘prominent’ comes from the ‘prominence’ I guess, or ‘prominent’ which means ‘a jutting out’, like a sore thumb or a large boil on your nose. Prominent.

What does the word ‘prominent’ mean? ‘Stands out so to be easily seen; conspicuous, which is especially noticeable, standing out beyond the adjacent’. What’s ‘the adjacent’? Five-fold ministry and the true bride of Christ. Here’s a man who is above and beyond.

Now, of course, you can settle right in and think for one minute about it: man is the head of the woman, the head of man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God.

Man ought to love his wife as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it. He’s the head by virtue of the fact there’s nothing he can do about it. Sovereignly he is the head.

He takes precedence; he takes precedence; he takes precedence. He comes right in and he takes over by virtue of superior qualifications or influence; he’s got what nobody else has.

He directs and conducts, not necessarily by virtue of personal power to dominate, but he himself can be a conduit and thereby, conduct, lead, guide, and be in control.

That’s what a leader is: he’s in control. And he sticks out like a sore thumb; can’t deny that he’s got something that nobody else has.

Now, when you look at dictators you have to realize that those men had something nobody else had, or they’d have been disposed. That’s how Khrushchev got booted out.

Brezhnev, the bully, finally died in his drunken stupors… cirrhosis of the liver, I guess. Well, have a good time, buddy, you asked for it. Gorbachev played a line that it would have been nice, if he could have fulfilled it.

But the Scripture is one hundred percent against it; he tried and he fell flat. Oil and water can’t mix. Fascism was swallowed up by communism. It will exist to the end. See?

Now, of course, since we all know that, as ‘leadership’ comes from ‘leader’, so also, we know ‘leader’ comes from the word ‘lead’. What is it ‘to lead’?

‘To lead’ is ‘to go before, to go before, prominent, conspicuous, separated, has what no one else has, an authority, in charge, controlling, guiding, directing,’ even if he gets his orders from somebody else; a leader with a superior leader over him.

‘To go before’ is ‘to guide, to guide the steps and the movements, to guide the steps and the movements, walking in the light and how to do it.

To precede or go before or just even accompany’, which the fact of the matter is he would have to accompany them, because if he wasn’t ahead of them, he couldn’t lead, and if it was simply with them, his voice would be no better than anybody else’s.

And it’s a cinch he couldn’t trail and be a leader. ‘To take the lead, to command as an army, make the first move, out in front with all others to see and to follow; to cause, to act, to influence, to inspire others to follow’.

And anybody that follows anybody in this Message without a vindicated leadership… a vindicated Word, is a complete… you name it.

‘To guide in a mode of thinking or action’: in other words, by way of exegesis, ‘to explain thoroughly’, to bring it out so people can see it, and thereby, understand, as Paul the apostle said, “Be followers of me as I am of Christ.”

Now, for anybody to make that statement outside of vindication, he’s a bluff and a buffoon. And anybody to listen to anybody, outside of vindication, is a complete failure.

Now, it goes without saying, and yet we will say it: leadership can be righteous or evil. Huh? Right from the Garden: it can be good or bad, right or wrong; take you to the Millennium, or lead you into the Great Tribulation and death and the Lake of Fire.

And that is exactly what Brother Branham presented to the people when he preached this message.

And he said, “This Message alone has life, and you dare not add or take a word from It.”

You don’t even dare illustrate except in perfect continuity with the Word or even by your illustration you will fool people.

I sat… I was in a line to go into a cafeteria, no breakfast, when a certain brother attacked me on doctrine. And then he said, “Well, Lee…”

I said, “No! No way! You are off the Word.”

He said, “I’ll illustrate.”

I said, “I will not listen to your illustration. There is no illustration needed.”

Where is that man today? Married, divorced his lovely wife, who had about five or seven children; and the second wife is running up and down the aisle and the platform, floozying around, prophesying, yakkitty, yakkitty, yak.

And if anybody wants to say one word about the vindicated Message, the women run up and down the aisles screaming, prophesying so-called.

His illustrating took him completely away from God and his life shows it. Leadership means ‘I will lead, and you will follow’.

As Brother Branham said, “You say that you love me; why don’t you listen to me and do what I say?” or maybe he used the word, “You say you believe me.” I think that’s the word he said. “You say, you believe me, then why don’t you do what I say?”

All right. Let us consider the actual understanding of the majority there that night. What do they think definitively? What is their reaction? What is their gut reaction? What is their mind made up to? How do they understand the very word ‘leadership’?

According to the raised hands, almost all claimed to be born-again Christians, and were Pentecostal and charismatic in majority. Now, how do you suppose they receive leadership?

They were already positive and convinced by their teaching, either what they gained on their own or what they got from their organizations; they were positive they already had it on the grounds that they were confident they were full of the Holy Ghost, Who was promised to lead us.

They gave God credit for leadership to the extent that they said, “We listen to God alone, and we reject men because we have the Bible.”

“I have the Holy Ghost; don’t try to tell me.”

It’s very strange, the same people who said “Don’t try to tell me,” Already have a massive amount of information they gathered from some other source than themselves.

They don’t even understand the first principle of education: you go from what you know to what you don’t know.

And you must be very careful of what you do know, leading you to what you don’t know, so that you know it correctly, is made very firm in your mind, and you understand the principles therein.

Because the old theory of transference is a lot of bunk; which means if I can learn to be a good mathematician, I can learn to be a good artist. Hogwash!

I am a good mathematician, I loved it. Had I gone on to college, which I could have gone on if I wasn’t so lazy. I’d be a top expert in it because I loved it. I even dreamed it.

Ask me to draw a picture… Now, I can draw water with a bucket, but I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. So, don’t ask me to do art work or sing. See, they don’t understand.

You’ll notice that religion is the most… And I’m speaking now of a people that tend to be spiritual, outside of a true leadership and a definitive revelation, understanding and strength to go through with it… they are the most… what would you say? rebellious, ignorant, bullheaded, darkened people in the world.

It’s, as Brother Branham said, “Their ear has been taken to the jam of the door… the door, and an awl has been pressed through, and they’ll never hear anything ever again but what they heard or what they thought, what they thought up, and that’s got to be it.”

Now, let’s go the Scripture and see what these people really believe leadership to be.

Now, as Paul said, “If you began in the spirit, you better continue in the spirit and finish in the spirit.”

That’s a good Scripture. I have nothing against it, except one thing: they won’t read where It says, Paul said, “You’ve got another Jesus, another spirit, and another word.”

“Oh, bless God, we couldn’t have that. I’ve got the real Holy Ghost.”

Who said you have the real Holy Ghost? There’s another one out there, and he’s an angel of light, and he’s got convincing ways. Except for the very elect at the end time, he can fool everybody in anything.

Well, let’s look at the Scripture. Let’s start over here where you begin in the spirit. Who told you to get carnal? John 3:1-8, well, here’s where Nicodemus came, having seen the miracles.

“You’ve got to be a teacher. You’ve got to be telling us something. There’s something we need to know. Hey, I’m smart enough to know that,” said Nicodemus, “when I see these miracles, what does God want to tell me?”

And here’s what God told him:

That’s pretty stupid. Why didn’t he say, “Can he go back to his father’s spermatic bank?” That’s where he really came from.

Of course, ‘born’ means ‘to issue forth from’: to ‘beget’ is what the father does and ‘borning’ is what the mother does.

There’s a great mystery there. Now, if there’s a great mystery in rebirth, then there’s got to be a great mystery in the rest of it.

“Well, I don’t know about that!”

Let’s go to,

Now, let’s go further, the Scripture said It, and nobody took what the Scripture said because Jesus’ vindicated interpretation was one hundred percent different from what they said.

As Brother Branham said, “The Messiah came according to the Word, but not according to their understanding of it.”

And we go to chapter 14, and we read, starting with verse 16.

He says:

Now, listen; “even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not.”

In other words, it doesn’t recognize him when it sees him. But they see him; they don’t know him. They don’t stick around to get acquainted.

They just deny the Lord and walk off. We’re looking at vindication again.

And then, over in,

And John 16:

Acts 1: and beginning at verse 4,

Acts 2, and we would read all the way to verse 21, but we don’t need to. This is the time of the baptism with the Holy Ghost, the historical account of how He came and what transpired at that particular time.

And they thought they were nothing but drunks and so on.

And then, we go over here to Ephesians 1:13-14, and It says:

And they go right on believing that verse 17 belongs there, but it runs out. It doesn’t belong there.

Now, over here in,

And we go to 1 Corinthians 12:1-13. We don’t have to read It all.

1 Corinthians 6, notice what It says in verses 19 and 20.

You go back to John, Jesus speaking in,

And again back to John 14, and in John 14:16-20, watching again.

“The Father will send in my Name and to bring everything to remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.”

In other words, he’s going to be a real crutch, a real help, and so on, right down the line.

Now, let’s go quickly to Romans 8, and in Romans 8:1, It distinctly tells us:

Now you’ll notice, that these people here because of these verses say, “Well, I’m baptized with the Holy Ghost. I know I’m baptized; I speak with tongues. Absolutely the gifts of the spirit are amongst us; I see all these things fulfilled in my life and our lives here, so therefore, we know, that positively we have the Leader. We are being led by the Holy Ghost.”

And Paul the apostle admonishes positively that people be led by the Holy Ghost.

Now, let’s go also, and we’ll find the Scripture back in the Old Testament starting with Psalms 23, how that God Himself leads and guides.

Now this, of course, is God the Holy Ghost doing it; we must remember that very carefully. We’ve got three gods here; chop them up in three pieces, and so, all right.

So, God’s going to take you there; no problem: you’ve got the Holy Ghost; you’re bound to get it. Now, that’s true, if you have the Holy Ghost. Do they?

Psalm 31:3 It says:

“Hallelujah, I’ve got God’s eye guiding me. It says right here in the Scripture. So, don’t try to tell me something different. I’m not a fool. I can read the Bible.”

And in Psalms 48:14, It says:

Now, let’s run over here to Isaiah 49, and we’re going to look at verse 10 and where It says:

And we go to the Isaiah 58:11. I trust we’re going to… That’s the verse.

Okay, that’s very good. Let’s go quickly, leaving our thumb in the Old Testament, right over to,

Now, listen; if that isn’t Jesus Christ in Spirit form, then you tell me what is? This is not… sovereignty now.

You’re not looking at someone setting the rules and forcing them. You’re looking here at a helper. You got to watch these things; be very careful. All right.

Let’s go back to Psalms again… and here we’re finding about leading because He is a leader. And so, in Psalms 5:8, we’re going to read.

Now you can know… I’m just reading the thought here. You can cogitate on this yourself.

The Psalms 31:3, and It says:

And in Psalms 61:2, It says:

And Psalms 139:24, It says here:

Now, over here to,

And, of course, we have the ‘led’, l-e-d. And we go to Psalms 78. We don’t take too many of these. And in verse 53, It tells us.

And in Isaiah 55:12, It says:

Also, let’s take a look at Isaiah 30:21. It says:

He said, “Now, you’ve got the leader behind.” Now, he’s not behind. He’s just telling you, keep the way you’re going because you started out with the Scripture, now stay with the Word of God.

Now, okay. Where do we go from there? I was onto Isaiah 30 and 21 and the next one, of course, is over here in the New Testament, and It is,

Now then, Brother Branham positively agreed with them on this first step; only they did not go far enough, for though they loudly proclaimed Hebrews 13:8, “Jehovah is the same, yesterday, today and forever,” and believe it with all their hearts.

They could not associate Hebrews 13:8 with the literal presence of God, Who was Elohim, Jehovah, now coming down to head up His Bride, lead, guide and control her personally and apart from the baptism with the Holy Ghost and His personal leadings in every day affairs of a Christian walk.

They had wrong doctrine by wrong division of the Word. They couldn’t understand the office. They couldn’t understand the role. To them, leadership was their personal lives as individuals being helped by the Spirit of Christ which came into them at their rebirth.

So then, though they endorse in great faith the following Scripture they could not, and now still cannot, believe what God did millenniums ago, and what He has done, He is doing this very day.

Now lets go back and see what they know to be true but they completely reject that at hand as though it could happen today and we’ll find out what they believe… what they want to believe back to,

They know that this is a true encounter of Moses concerning Almighty God. In the same chapter: verses 16 and 17.

They agree to that. They say God came down and dealt with Moses, and that’s how it is done.

They say, absolutely, it came to pass; no one has any doubt. That’s exactly what God did. Where Israel failed to believe it continuously, we believe it. Absolutely, it is true.

Psalms 78:

These verses all line up in,

Now, they know that. They know that. They know that. They know that. They rest on that even greater than Israel does. They have no problem with it.

They said, “That’s exactly true. We can take that, and we do take it.”

Now, all of this is based on Deuteronomy 18, and here’s where they start to fail. The test of the true prophet; he comes in the name of the Lord; he comes vindicated; on the integrity of God Himself that God will not back up a lie.

Because they know the Scripture says: God cannot lie. God cannot change His mind. Now they don’t believe that one. They think God can change His mind, and they can force Him into it.

The Catholics got a better deal: they’ve got Mary to twist the arm of Jesus. After all, “I’m your mother, son, you better do what Momma says.” Phttt.

That’s what the Catholic Church says, “To the Protestants, come home to Momma; we’ll tell you what to do.”

See, they’re guide to the blind. You bet. And that’s one of the things a leader is; a guide to the blind.

The blind latches on to his arm and every place he goes, the guy… “Watch this step. Watch that step. Go here. Go there. Come on, come on, come on.”

Listen; nobody should grab a blind person and shove him. No, you hold your arm out, and they pitter right along. They’re blind. A blind person has to be terribly trusting. In spite of all his fears, he’s still trusting.

“Is this right? I know that, but I got to with you. I’m blind.”

Now the church doesn’t say that, but I’m saying it for them.

Now, listen carefully. Those same people rejoice in the following Scripture and dare to believe that any one of them and the churches today could qualify for the experience told therein.

Did you hear what I said? They believe the one, but totally reject it out of hand as though it could happen today, but they pick up other experiences, that they say “Now, this we go for.”

Well, let’s go for it. We go to 2 Chronicles. Now, don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about, buddy. You’re looking at an old, Pentecostal buzzard here.

One of God’s eagles transformed, thought he was a buzzard. He hopped with the stinking buzzards and ate all their carrion.

You know what happens when the buzzard gets scared; he pukes on you. That’s what these guys do. They puke on you. All right.

2 Chronicles 5:

That was okay then, but it’s not okay now. The temple today is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bride. You think for one minute she’s filled with smoke?

“Well, bless God, it’s okay, if the smoke’s of God.”

Now listen, don’t… Don’t talk like idiots. Don’t talk like idiots. Get with the Word. The prophet said, “Falling down is a wrong spirit.”

So, if the guy with the granny with the hot-cross buns has them falling down with the rest of them, he’s not of God. I don’t care what he says; preach the Word of God like an angel; love Christ just like Judas did. Judas didn’t hate Jesus. He loved him as a person.

How could you be with Jesus and not love him? Supplying you with fish… No bacon now. Let’s get this flat. Fish, eggs, bread, giving you tax money, teaching you, intimate; here’s a man nobody ever like him or ever will be again.

Judas loved him, but he couldn’t take the Word. He had two things; the love of money which is the root of all evil and sin; he couldn’t take the Word. He couldn’t adjust his stinking money to the Word, like this rich young guy couldn’t.

He can’t… Look; I’ve told you time and time again, there’s nobody ever going to tell me that, if you’re wrong on the unrighteous mammon, you can be right on the true. I just proved it again. All right.

They’re going to say… Now, listen; that’s what they love.

This is the stuff that Pentecostal people eat up. Now I’m not saying this is not in the Bible. I’m not saying it didn’t happen. But I’m telling you it doesn’t happen today.

I ask you another question: When did it happen again? It happened only when the Pillar of Fire came down and invaded Jesus and took Him over completely.

And even then, there were two persons: two personalities and one subservient to the other. Do you know that Jesus could have actually committed adultery or even actually got married?

He’s a human being. This celibacy wasn’t Roman Catholicism, because he endorsed marriage and loved it. The first miracle was at a wedding, just like the Garden of Eden; he endorsed it. Oh, I don’t know when people are going to smarten up and believe the truth.

All right, with that we go to,

“Oh, bless God, Solomon had it; I can have it, too.”

1 Kings: you think they don’t? You think that these people don’t go for that and say, “Hey, I… I… I… had a dream from God; I had a vision of God.”

Like this old gal, she saw three gods, so she knew that she was a Trinitarian. That proved it.

I said, “She saw the three bears.”

And I want to tell you, they were ready to kill me. If she can make fun of God, I can make fun of her. You bet your sweet life I will. Three gods, my foot. There’s one God.

Let’s go look at,

Oh, beg your pardon, let’s see, 1 Kings. It doesn’t matter; it’s the same line, anyway, of thinking of what happened back in those days. All right.

Let’s go to Isaiah. We’ll get that one for sure. It might have been 2 Kings, but I’m not going to worry about it. Isaiah 6 is another one we sing about:

What these people don’t understand, that what we’re talking about here are prophets. They’re in a prophetic category.

When God can appear in dreams, and God can appear in visions, and God can back these men up, no problem. But everybody is not a prophet. Why, everybody doesn’t even prophesy.

We go to Jeremiah, and in,

Now, here’s what I’m trying to bring to your attention. We go to Ezekiel before we do, though. And we go to,

So, what I’m trying to show you here is that these people identified themselves with these prophets and great men of the Scripture that God used as though they themselves could positively, now, by the rebirth, enter into position where God, if He had to would supernaturally by vision and by dream or some tremendous thing, lead them personally.

Now, that’s where the Pentecostals are, and all the Full Gospel, and the fundamentalists don’t go that far.

They say, “Bless God, the Bible’s written, it was vindicated: who needs anything more.” That’s where they go.

Now, what we are seeing here is that these people do not understand Deuteronomy 18 and Numbers 12. They fail to understand prophets and prophets.

There’s one of a different stature: dreams and visions and THUS SAITH THE LORD, and then, there’s the others who see God apparently, face-to-face, in an actual form which is visible to them but not to others.

Although in the case of the apostle Paul it was, because, though he was stricken blind and the rest were not, they saw the fire: God in a Pillar of Fire.

They failed miserably to understand 1 Corinthians 14, which is the true order of precedence over the church:

He’s rebuking them because they’re out of church order. Not that they were doing sinful things, like at the Lord’s Table, desecrating it.

But they were doing things that you could put your hand in the Scripture and say, “Well, this is okay for us; we’ll do it this way,” when Paul said, “You can’t do it that way.”

He said, “You’re out of order.” There’s nothing but confusion.

“Now, if you want to act stupid about this [said Paul,] you and I are finished. Good-bye.”

“Oh, Brother Vayle, you shouldn’t write off a person like that.”

Who said I shouldn’t? I gave some people twice to prove they were heretical. The Bible said, “Once is enough.” So, sit here gingerly this morning; I don’t have a word of my own. My word is the prophet’s word, and he got It straight from God.

Now, Brother Branham was like Moses and Paul. And you know from what I read about a leader being preeminent and prominent one. Not just preeminent, but prominent.

And by being prominent he proves that he was preeminent. The church should have conformed to his teaching.

The church should have been put in order, but they listened to William Branham the same as they listened to Paul: “Ha, ha, ha, who needs you?”

You know what happened? They became Gnostics. The minute they rejected Paul, they said, “We have a higher revelation; we’re ahead of the apostle Paul.”

The Full Gospel Businessmen stood there, and Pentecost stood there and said, “We’re ahead of William Branham. Ha, ha, women can have short hair and wear their skirts anyway they want. And the men don’t have to put them in order, their home or anything else.”

And I don’t know of a more adulterous bunch of people than Pentecostals.

Even go so far as to say, “We must have been okay in the sight of God. We couldn’t have been committing adultery. We spoke in tongues while we did the act.”

Now, don’t think I’m just lying to you; don’t think I’m kidding. I could name you names. One woman, she was a little movie starlet. I think I remember her name.

I might remember the name of her boyfriend, who was a married man, but he could sing so beautiful in the Spirit, say, “Well, hey, it was just nothing to fall in his arms.”

Make what they call a… Beautiful. An anointing: a real anointing. The Holy Ghost tells you now to commit adultery? when He said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”? Gnostics. Gnostics. Do we have Gnostics sitting here this morning? I trust not.

Neither do they see and understand Hebrews 1:1-2. Now they say they do, and they’ll swear by it, that it’s the truth. But according to them, it’s their own truth or their own way.

The last three days that were left. See, I didn’t mean, I thought there were only two. There were two, but there’s a third one coming up in the Millennium. And then, it’s all over.

And yet he was only a prophet. When it came right down to earth here and numbered amongst men, he was the Son of man. Though indeed he was the Son of God, my Bible tells me, he laid that all to one side.

He completely stripped himself of it. Gave it all up and took upon himself a human form. He was a prophet. And that’s where people are still making their great mistake.

And Israel is finally wakened up, and they said, “Well, we’ve made a mistake; we killed a prophet.”

And Jesus said, “You always kill all the prophets, right here in Jerusalem; and furthermore, you take those that I sent as wise men that can handle the Word of God, and you booted them out.

And then the scribes came along, laid it all out, just letter by letter, let you look at it and say, “We can’t take that. We can’t take that, and threw that out.” Yet the Gnostics go right along thinking they got it all.

Neither do they see and understand Hebrews 1:2 and Its relationship to Revelation 10:1 and 7.

Who is in the Pillar of Fire? Jehovah-Elohim. He has a little book that he took out of the hand of Jesus, who ripped it open and gave it to the Father, came down on earth. What’s on earth?

That’s the literal translation. This is wrong in the Bible. In other words, this man comes behind and he tells you everything about the prophets; he himself is a prophet, and he just lays the whole thing open.

So therefore, he’s got to be like Moses; he’s got to be like the apostle Paul. They cannot put it together.

Now, the literal, personal presence of God except at the meeting in the air, at the Wedding Supper, is not just a mystery but a doctrine that is totally rejected as heresy and garbage.

Now they’ll talk about William Branham being the vindicated prophet; blah, blah, blah, smile, smile, smile, everything is great.

And you say, “Listen, God, Revelation 10:1 came down and here’s William Branham, and that is the Seventh Seal, Revelation 10: 1-7 and the opening of the Seven Seals and the hearing of the Seven Thunders, and correcting the errors and everything to put you in the Rapture; this man, Brother Branham, himself said, “I’m vindicated, vindicated, vindicated,” thousands of times vindicated. “When did It ever fail?” God!

And these people in the Branham Message, and I’ll take it right back to Jeffersonville, do not have a clue to anything except the baptism with the Holy Ghost.

And Brother Branham said, “It runs out. Justification gave way to sanctification, sanctification gave way to the baptism with the Holy Ghost, and the baptism gave way to the Holy Ghost, Himself.” Brother Branham, quoting him.

So, the literal, personal presence of God, except at the meeting in the air at the Wedding Supper, is not just a mystery but a doctrine to be totally rejected as heresy and even called, garbage, quoting the pastor down yonder.

Now, let us consider the fact that God Himself is here personally. He still appears only to prophets and by them alone is leadership given, for He’s the same, yesterday, today and forever.

Let’s go back now to the Book of Genesis, and we’re looking at Genesis 49:3, and It says here:

Now he certainly didn’t go to his mother’s sister. This would be a concubine of Jacob. Now, we always kind of thought that he had… Well, he did have four wives and two handmaids. It could have been one of the two handmaidens.

Now, you’re looking at the fact of spiritual adultery. And you’re looking at self-willed people who no more had leadership than nothing, though they were prominent in the sense that they were well-known, and they were even patriarchs. But that did not justify or qualify them under any considerations to be what they purported to be.

Now we’re going to go to Psalm 107. Perhaps I should have read this first, then taken these others but it doesn’t really much matter. Just keep in mind what I’ve said:

Now, that city of habitation has to be what Abraham was looking for, because the promise was to Abraham.

Canaan’s land was not a city of habitation. You’re looking beyond that. You’re going right over to the… past the White Throne into New Jerusalem.

Now, with that, we have to take up Numbers chapter 16. We haven’t got time to read It all, but you this we’ve discussed It different times.

Now, the prophecy concerning Reuben was that he should have been the great force and factor in the lineage because he is the first born. And what did he do? Committed adultery; he blew it.

So, the Scripture says here, there’s no way you can have it. Now, remember; there’s two groups of people here. There’s the sons by birth of Reuben and the sons of Levi.

They said, “Look, we’ve got a hand in this, and we’re going to put our hand to it.”

Now this is Pentecostal, last day, Laodicean people’s rights, the democratic church, that says, “We are the Sanhedrin of the hour.” They won’t admit it; but they are.

“We are those who tell God, because, let’s face it, there’s a dialog going on.”

Now, where do you remember the word ‘dialog’? Lutherans and Catholics and Evangelicals are in dialog.

It’s called in the parlance of getting along together; it’s called ‘communication’. As long as we can keep communicating, It’s in politics, too, we might not have a war.

What if you’re like Hitler… stands right there and says, “Oh, Mister Chamberlain, never, my good buddy, we will never invade Poland or France; come, come, come, tut, tut, we are minding our business”?

And Neville goes home and said, “Peace in our day.”

And I can just see him with that stupid raincoat and stupid umbrella and that stupid English look he’s got. I should take that back, I guess, but I couldn’t help it.

And the next day about, Hitler invaded Poland, a couple of days later, whatever it was, I know because I had a complete vision of it, back in 1939.

So, here they are saying, “Hey, we’ve got our two bits to put in here.” And what happened was, that Moses got angry, and I mean before, when God wanted to destroy them, Moses wasn’t happy.

But this time he said, “Lord, you make a difference. And if these people die a natural death, I never was sent by you.”

In other words, Moses demanded vindication. There was a Mount Carmel showdown, right in the church.

Oh, what it would have been if those men would have come forward in Chicago and stood beside Brother Branham and said, “There’s three gods in one.”

They would have carried them out feet first. But God didn’t want that. Why? Because we walk by faith and not by sight; we are under grace, not under law.

So, don’t try to put grace under law, and law under grace. Now, of course, there was a day of grace when God did this. It was a special day of grace.

So, all right. We understand this chapter; we don’t need to read the whole thing because it becomes too cumbersome entirely.

Now, as this set forth in Numbers 16 and Psalms 107:7 and what I read over here in Genesis concerning the lineage… They were Levites and Reubenites, Paul declared as I read in 1 Corinthians 14:35-36, “Did the Word of God come unto you, or did it come by you?”

Now, these people, the Word did not come by them, it came unto them. And foolishly they thought they had the right to interrupt It and get the revelation on their own. And they started on the surmise, “Just a minute, Moses, we’re baptized in the cloud and in the water, and drink of the rock, the same as everybody else did. Where do you think you got any authority over us?”

Now, at the end time we find a total rejection of Revelation 10:1-7, where the Thunders are sealed, and Revelation 22:10, where the Seals are opened and the Thunders revealed, the Tree of Life is in sight, the division has been made by the Seven Seals opening and the revelation thereof.

So, from this time on there is only righteous and unrighteous, holy and unholy, filthy and clean, and those who are going to make the Rapture and those who don’t, the First Resurrection.

And at that time the Word comes forth saying; if any man adds or takes from this Book… Even Moses said it in the Exodus, they’re entirely cut off.

All right. This brings us to Brother Branham personally, as he told his vision of “Beyond the Curtain of Time,” the angel said, “You were born a leader.”

So, thus 1 Thessalonians 4:16, which is the Lord descending with a Shout, is definitely: Revelation 1:10, where God comes down and meets the prophet; Revelation 22:10, where the Seals are opened; Revelation 3:21, where God meets his prophet with the Word.

Yet, be it known that William Branham is not himself leading, but it is God using him as a conduit, for in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 It is not said to be the voice of God, but another one.

And Brother Branham said, “It was not William Branham, he was just a voice standing there when God appeared.”

And it’s God who came down in 1 Corinthians 15 to put the church in order and put it under the literal feet of Jesus Christ making up the entire Bride that goes into the Millennium and to the New Jerusalem. And I’ve read this before; I won’t read It again.

Now we all recall that Brother Branham passed away in 1965. But previous to his demise he warned us, and even in this last message, concerning his imminent death, and that is: when he was gone, the Pillar of Fire would lead us into the Millennium.

In other words, your baptism with the Holy Ghost secured every single thing that God Himself brought down here, as it did with Moses and with Paul.

Now, notice; when Moses delivered the full Word of God to the people, he was expendable. It was over for him. He was taken away.

So, with Paul in Acts 20: [Paraphrases verses 18-38] “For I have not declared failed to declare to you the full Word of God for a solid three years. Now I’m going away, and you won’t see my face again. I’m expendable.”

And now, Brother Branham entered into his rest. God took His prophet away. Each time when they go, God takes over, because the people are the heritage of the Lord.

But during the Church Ages, ages one to six, we do not find God Himself personally present, but only through the baptism with the Holy Ghost.

But that runs out according to Ephesians 1:14. Thus, in Ephesians 1:15 God Himself comes down fulfilling it, as we said, and as Revelation 10:1-7 and Revelation 3:20 with the outcome of Revelation 22:10-22.

We now come to the place where we ask ourselves, how can the people of a Pentecostal age accept, a-c-c-e-p-t, or receive the personal presence of Elohim Jehovah and a prophet that, under vindication, identifies Himself with John 14:12, ‘The greater works’; with John 14:9, ‘he that sees me, sees the Father’; with Malachi 4, ‘Elijah turning the hearts of the children back to the Father’; Revelation 3:20 ‘a single man receiving the Word of God for the Bride, in order that she may sit with him in the throne;’ Revelation 10:7, ‘that he’s the mighty prophet that God communicates with, God Himself having come down’ Revelation 10:7’; Revelation 22:10, ‘the one that opened the Seals, when the Seals were closed’?

But we’ll read over here in John 15:

You’ve got the same thing happen right today under Brother Branham’s ministry. Let no man say otherwise.

Brother Branham was also in Acts 3:19-27, the one identified with Samuel in the restoration of the Word of Almighty God, when he says, “When did I ever lie to you? When did I ever do anything wrong?” even as Jesus said, “Which of you convinceth me of sin? Prove one point I was out on?”

Now, let us close in recalling that, when Jesus identified himself in Matthew 16, identification by the Holy Ghost through Peter, in John 16:25-33.

In other words, right there when Jesus actually identified himself, apart from the revelation of the Holy Ghost gave in Matthew 16, when Jesus said, “I came from the Father and I go back.”

When he declared himself, having vindicated himself, they said, “We now believe.”

In other words, they took what Jesus said concerning his own, personal vindication, exactly who he was. The disciples received it, and the door swung open to enter and inherit the kingdom of God and the full revelation of the hour.

So today, as we like them have taken the identification of Elijah from Brother Branham, the river has parted, and we are about to walk through Jordan and into the Wedding Supper, as Jesus challenged the serpent seed in,

The Laodicean answered Brother Branham the same way, “It is an evil spirit. He is not of God.”

Now, notice the power of the vindicated Word. As Jesus spoke in John 8:47 concerning that factor of his vindication, and those who believed were children of God… They believed the Word.

So 1 John 4:5-6, said, “He that believeth me, [believeth us] is of God, and he that doesn’t is antichrist,” shows the power of the scribe, or just the Word that Jesus left, and just the Word that Brother Branham left.

Now, exactly what follows today is found… And we’ll clear this up for you in Revelation chapter 10. This is after the opening of the Seals and all.

In,

And that’s the Word that is going forth right today. When I said, “Brother Branham, who is that man?” “No,” he said, “Lee, it is the Word.”

God taking His own Word through men; five-fold ministry, spoken pages, however it is done.

We find here that ‘leadership’, as Brother Branham preached it, was absolutely the Word of God and the Will of God. How many believe? It’s up to them entirely.

So, there we are. We can see from Scripture why they turned down Brother Branham and the way that God is dealing with people. It leaves them only one source, and that is: they will now receive the one that God did not send.

I’m sorry for them, but I’m not here to condemn anybody. I’m not here… I can’t save anybody. I can’t cast anybody into hell. My judgment has nothing to do with anything. This is simply the Word of God, and I trust you understand It.

Let’s rise and be dismissed.

Heavenly Father, we come to You again at this time of dismissal, Lord, we know that only because of Your grace and Your goodness are we here and able to stand in Your Presence, Lord, and know the things that are truly committed to us by vindication.

And we’ve accepted them, Lord, to the extent that no matter how we believe, in the sense, Lord, the depth and sympathy and sincerity, and all of those things that go with it, Lord, and our walk and all that, Father, which we see in the Scripture and do not deny, there’s one thing we know: where would we go for anything else?

This to us is the Word of eternal life; it is either life or it is death, Lord, and we admit it. It is “live, die, sink or swim.” And it is the truth that we have taken our stand therein.

And so, Father, we commend ourselves to You, knowing that we have by vindication this marvelous truth over all these years.

Help us, Lord, now to live in such simplicity and grace in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit, that we truly might be known as living epistles, written of God, but read of men.

And they cannot gainsay the truth as we have it in Christ, Lord. Let us not be simply those, Lord, who are always declaring and professing, and stand with the Word, Lord, as though they were something that we stood with, rather than that which is personal, and living and vital and real, standing, Lord, not as though it were not a part of us, but It being a part of us, we declaring It and It living Its life in us.

That’s what we desire. Bring us up to the full measure, O God. Heal the sick amongst us and help us, Father, to be more obedient, whatever, years we have left, whatever we do may it be in full conscious of faith serving you, O God, loving You.

Loving the people, thereby loving You from loving them, serving You by serving the people, in all things Lord, esteeming others better and trying to help, rather, Lord, than to hinder, to build up, rather than break down, that in all the time standing with the truth, meaning no man harm, but all men good.

And yet, Lord, if they cannot take It, we know that that’s in Your hands. It’s outside of our disposition. So, grant our prayer this morning to be answered, Father, in furtherance of faith and living a life.

In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

“Take the Name of Jesus with You.”