Who Is This Melchisedec? # 20
Bro. Lee
Vayle
October
23, 1988
Shall we pray? Gracious Heavenly Father we want to thank You again for Your love, mercy, and grace, which You’ve extended toward us in this hour. Showing of Yourself as not having been shown for two thousand years, Lord, except little glimpses here and there, little parts but now at the end time drawing into full manifestation of which we’re very grateful.
We pray that we may come to such a
place, Lord, that our sincerity and reverence will be as it ought to be and
should be Lord, yet how can it be unless Lord You reveal to us and give us
strength in the inner man, something, somehow Lord that we’ll be able to
apprehend that for which we are apprehended, O God, in this particular hour and
then show forth some how Lord in our lives, our demeanor, our spirit of
worship, our gathering together, Lord, the study of Your Word, that we really
do believe and are believers, O God. Sanctify us we pray by Thy Word for Thy
Word is truth. We give You the glory in Jesus’ Name. Amen. You may be seated.
Now, we’re still in this message of
Bro. Branham’s, Who Is This Melchisedec? and from the title of this
message it is hardly possible that one would have any idea that Bro. Branham
would teach upon the true identity and destiny of the sons of God and would
answer such questions as, “Who are we? Where did we come from? What are we
doing here and why are we doing thusly? Where are we going and what will it be
like when we get there?” And then, “What is our ultimate end, the ultimate
destination and what is it like?” And this message then deals with us and with
Jesus Christ from eternity to eternity. That is what we’re looking at and to
simply announce this subject title, Who Is This Melchisedec? would never
have lead us to believe that actually Christ and ourselves, if so be we are
true sons of God, would be identified in this particular message from eternity
to eternity, to show us exactly how that we come--except for a minor
deflection--just like Jesus Christ.
Now of course we know very well that
this is something that will be fought by our minds because of our circumstances
and because of our inward natures being such as to;
l. Disbelieve
God.
2. The
disbelief is fortified by the very actions that we allow ourselves, or perhaps
disallow ourselves, but still go through in the light of what the Scripture
says we should not be going through but rather another channel going through
for the glory of God.
In other words in plain English, what we experience in lives and the experiences we go through because of the very nature of man to be more sinful than righteous, even actually when a person calls himself born again, we are a little bit, not a little bit but greatly prone to turn aside from believing that we had our beginnings in God, because to look at the beginnings in God and to really believe our beginnings were there we look at life as it is and we say, “Well I just don’t know that that is possible.” But Bro. Branham does answer the question of who we are. Where did we come from? What are we doing here? Why are we doing it? Where are we going to go as soon as we die? What happens after that? What are those conditions like? And He deals with us as I said, the same as He deals with Jesus Christ, from eternity to eternity.
Now to begin lets consider question number one and we look at it in the singular, “Who am I? Who am I or who are we?” But it’s “Who am I?” because we all have to answer that particular question. So, “Who is this person who speaks of my life, my body, my destiny?” The person who is a possessor or an owner. David said:
(11) Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and my soul, why art thou disquieted within me? (Speaking again. My soul) hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him,
Now notice, he’s possessor of a soul
and he’s instructing his soul. That’s Ps 42:11.
Jesus said:
(38) My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death:
Matthew 26.
Also in Jn 12:27 He said:
(27) Now
is my soul troubled;
(46)
Mary
who said, My soul, (my soul) doth magnify the Lord,
(47) And my spirit (my spirit) hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Lk 1:46 said. And Paul prayed for
the Th in 5:23.
(23) And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and your whole soul and spirit and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, there is no doubt that you and I
spoken of in Scripture is a triunity. A composite of three parts that make up
the entire person; and there is literally, physically no functioning of one
apart from the other, they are all of necessity here at one time, body, soul
and spirit, though if it is time for the body to decease the spirit will go
first, the soul will linger, it will leave, and the body of course will grow
cold and dead, put in the ground where it will decay, go back to gases, ashes
or whatsoever. So, looking at this fact then that we are a triunity, we are a
composite of three parts, yet we cannot help but know from Scripture that you
and I can escape from this body and still be a living reasoning entity
as Paul said in Phil 1:21-24, and we could use many Scripture on this but I
just want to use this one. Paul speaking to the Philippians concerning himself,
21-24, and he says:
(21) For
to me to live is Christ, but to die is gain.
Well, there must be then something
beyond the life in this body, somewhere, someplace because what profit would it
be to simply leave the only thing you’ve got going for you--though it might not
be going for you too well because actually nobody wants to die; even the case of
suicide the person doesn’t really want to die he just wants to get out of the
mess he’s in hoping there’s something much better than what he’s into. That’s,
I mean, that’s certainly the way it goes. But he says here in 22.
(22) But if I live in the flesh, (Now notice, he’s placing it.) if I’m living in the flesh, (Now then there must be a place other than the flesh to live in or he wouldn’t have said that.)
(22) Now if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I know not. (So this man is above and beyond the flesh. Watch.)
(23) For I am in a strait betwixt two, (I want to get out of here to be with Christ;)
(24) (But I think maybe it’s a good thing if I stay here and be with you.)
Now he said, “If I get out of
here, or I don’t get out of here.” Now if he gets out of here he leaves his
body here. If he doesn’t get out of here he’s got to stay with his body because
it doesn’t do any good unless he’s in a body; you couldn’t communicate.
(24) Nevertheless to abide with you in the flesh is far more needful for you.
So you notice he says here, “I am literally apart from my flesh when it comes to this existence of I, me, myself.” Now remember Jesus said, “Into thy hands I commend my Spirit.” And again remember, He died physically and also it is told in Ecclesiastes, “The spirit goes back to God, who gave it.” And Bro. Branham tells us that spirit is given to us at the moment the baby drops from the mother’s womb and life enters into that child by reason of the spirit. So you have the tripartite being and one cannot function without the other when it comes to this life here in the flesh but you’ll notice that though the body cannot function without the other two, it is certainly true that the other two can function without the body. See?
Now the point is, what we’re looking
at if we’re looking at something--over here we’re looking at the fact that
Jesus said, “Into Thy hands I commend my spirit,” and also the Scripture that
says, “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy
One to see corruption.” So you’ve got Jesus going three different ways and He
speaks to all three in the terminology of I and mine. You understand what we’re
saying? Perhaps you don’t, it’s all right, we’re going to look at it anyway because
that’s exactly how we use our own language, we follow the biblical language,
and remember you have to follow a language of philosophy because science cannot
do one thing for you. Science doesn’t have a clue and the minute you try to
relate theology or true understanding of the Word to anything in nature you’re
going to run into problems. You can’t do it. The Scripture is our authority.
So, “Into Thy hands I commend my
spirit. Thou will not leave my Soul in hell.” Two different places as far as
the east if from the west, or as high as the heavens above the earth, the
Spirit went back to God who gave it, the soul went into Hades, the body went
into the tomb. Now, it also says that Jesus went to preach to the souls in
prison which is evidently hell--upper and lower sheol. Now we can go there to 1
Peter, the 3rd chapter and we come up with verses 18 to 20.
(18) For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Now you notice...now that’s not his
own spirit because his spirit went back to God. He’s going to be quickened by
God and he’s going to come out of Hades, his body quickened come into Light.
(19) By which also (Notice) by which also
In the realm of the spiritual, not his body, but in the realm of the spirit. Now that’s not the spirit, “Into Thy hands I commend my spirit,” that’s the soul part and remember, man is two thirds spirit as against one third material. See? And then of course when you get the baptism with the Holy Ghost you’ve got four parts and so therefore it is easy for us if we only believed to bring the flesh under subjection. See? Now, by that by...in the spirit--that’s the soul.
(19) he went down to preach unto the spirits in prison;
Now what spirits are they? Again the
thought is souls--he’s talking about the spiritual part, because the spirit
goes back to God who gave it. The spirit is of God it’s...I beg your pardon.
The spirit is allowed of God, being given by God, but it is not of God. Now
there’s got to be something then that is of God and will be...we’re looking at
it but don’t worry about it we’ll get to it. All right now, he went down in the
part of his triunity to meet with those in a part of their triunity.
(20) Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
(21) The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
(22) (Now who is not down there anymore) but he’s gone into heaven.
Now the thing is, in what shape did
he go into Heaven? He went into Heaven fully united in body, soul and spirit
and he’s there now, not on the mercy seat behind the throne, but since the
Seals were opened, because he opened the Seals, the One on the throne came down
here in Rev 10:1, and he is on the throne fulfilling perfectly the Melchisedec
priesthood--serving man as he’s never served God previously...as he’s never
served man previously or served God. That’s Jesus doing that. Now:
(22) ...and
all are subject unto him.
And also we might note what Jesus
said in Matthew the 10th chapter, twenty-eight, and he said.
(28) Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Now that’s when hell gets moved up
upon the earth we notice the
Now from these Scripture, it is very
evident that “I”--the real person, the true entity can be narrowed down to the
soul, because, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” So, “my” is somewhere and
spirit is gone. “Into the ground my body was placed.” There is only one portion left and that’s the
soul. So, “My soul, you will not leave there.” So, “My,” and “Soul,” are
related no matter how you look at it. So, narrow it down to the soul. So that
within the soul and inseparable from the soul is a source force,
s-o-u-r-c-e--f-o-r-c-e--a life. That without it there would be no body,
b-o-d-y, and therefore no necessity for a spirit. Do you follow? Well it
couldn’t be a body it couldn’t be a spirit if it weren’t for the soul and yet
spoken of in the soul he says, “My soul.”
So there will be a life force, a
source-force. You notice how, I didn’t see the show that one...what is it
called? ET or something? You know, what did he call it? The extraterrestrial individual--they say
he’s pretty cute. And in there they use the word, “The force be with you.” See?
You can’t get away from reality of source-force. You can’t do it. Now,
source-force is identical with God. Now, will source-force or life concerning
us be identical with God? That is the question we’re looking at. And the answer
of course is, only in some instances. See?
Now, so necessity, there is no
necessity for a spirit or a body without the soul and this is correct as seen
in Scripture for as the Scripture says: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
So what ever is contained in the soul is in a sense of the word viable, and yet
not really viable, it is what you might say, there is an alternate, an
alternative. There is that which cannot stand up to eternal existence and there
is that which can stand up to eternal existence because evidently one can die
then the alter, or the alternative distinction is; one will not die. “For the
soul that sinneth, it shall die.” The point is; what would cause it to sin?
What does it mean death?
Also notice in Mt 16:28, no. Well...that’s not the one I wanted. I’m ahead of myself there but don’t worry about it because what I’m thinking of is here and I just put a miss passage down here. [Mark 8]
(36) What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
You’re getting into Luke really,
what it is.
(36) What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Now you’re talking in the strictly
material. Here is a man who is living in a body, he has a soul, he has a
spirit; and all he’s thinking of is material possession and some time or other
he gets, if it’s possible, to gain the whole world. Now what is it profitable
to him if in the process--now notice it doesn’t say soul and spirit--that
wouldn’t be bad if he lost it. See? That’s not so bad because that’s not what
we’re looking at, it’s the soul. See? So therefore whatever lies within the
soul or beyond the soul--that particular thing could not exist, could not be
without a soul.
Now I know you’re looking at the
fact, or the thought; is it possible the soul and the life is one and the same
thing? Not necessarily. However, what is the origin of that life in the soul
because we’re going to stick to that understanding of somebody that’s wrapped
up in a triunity and he comprises a triunity and the soul and the life are
absolutely inseparable.
Now what kind of a life is it? We go
to Ephesians the 1st chapter and we can see that life absolutely and it has to
do with lives, l-i-v-e-s, just as it said, “God breathed into Adam the breath
of lives.” Not the breath of life, “He breathed into Adam the breath of lives,”
and that was into the body. Adam per se was already living in the form of a
spirit form and we’ll look at it in a little while. Eph 1:3-4.
(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
(4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
(5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption (placing) of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
The genesis of these people, the
beginnings, is in God Himself and therefore somehow is a part of the life of
God. In Gal 4:6.
(6) And
because you are sons,
Not: will be sons, are not made
sons, something happened so that you will be a son. And this talks to every
single person of the world and say, “Well what if I’m not a son of God?” You’ll
never be born again. That’s all. Some people never hear the gospel it goes
right by their noses. Like a very lovely dear man, he said, “I have never seen
a miracle.” He said, “I don’t know what a miracle be. I’ve never seen it.” Yet
his own wife watching the television set under Oral Roberts was healed of
tuberculosis. But he’s never seen the vision. The man’s crazy.
Have you ever seen a chrysanthemum?
I’m looking at it but I’ve never seen a chrysanthemum. You say, “Bro. Vayle,
how stupid can you get?” Just that stupid, just that blind. You think there
aren’t people like that? You’ve got to be kidding. They’ll never see because
they’re not a part of it. How can a blind man see? Well you say, “The blind man
can go by touch.” That’s true. What are spiritually blind people going by?
Another feeling but they’re not feeling for God. Now remember there’s a feeling
for God and they’ll never have it. It’s a hard thing to say but I’m not going
to, I’m not going to bypass it. Now it says here.
(6) Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
In other words, the baptism with the
Holy Ghost to give you a complete renewal to bring you back to Jesus Christ, to
anoint you that you might do the works of God in the limited sense that you are
allowed by His predestinating power. Over here in Hebrews, we love Hebrews the
2nd chapter and in there it says, verse 9.
(9) But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, (Who became a little lower than the angels.) for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man (son.) (That word man should be in italics.)
(10) For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
(11) For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one (source):
See? Can anybody outside of being
conceived by the begetting of the male ever claim to be a true brother unless
that one begot him also? Can’t do it. You can be a half brother, you can be
adopted, but there ain’t no way, no way, there’s no way at all to have been
begotten by that person unless a genuine begetting took place by the person
himself. Neither can anybody absolutely be a child of God unless that person
has been begotten by the same source that Jesus the Christ was begotten.
Now that puts the emphasis what
we’re dealing on today and what I know many people don’t like because they want
the haphazard attitude of saying, “Well we’re all sinners, hallelujah, we’re
all reprobate, we’re all dogs, we’re all goats; but somehow God, by divine
alchemy, if we will just listen to Him, that’s all that it takes, we will turn
from a dog and a pig and a sow and you name it, into a sheep.” Hogwash. You
will get a monstrous hybrid and we’re getting them now the same as science is
splitting genes in the laboratory and bringing them together, and pretty soon
science will cultivate, I suppose, they’ll take a plant pretty soon, they’ll
take something out of the genes of a thistle and put it with the genes of a dog
and you’ll have a dog with prickles on it.
He won’t only bite, if he jumps on you, he’ll be a better watch dog he
will scar you to death. They’ll do something like that. You say you don’t
believe it. Just wait and see.
Jesus said in Jn 17:16.
(16) They
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
You say, “Well that refers to their
characteristic behaviour.” Hogwash. Such
nonsense. Those guys were a million miles away from the behaviour of Jesus
Christ. And they didn’t have two cents worth of real understanding most of the
time. He is talking of the source. He is talking of the source, absolutely. I
believe, when Jesus said, “They are not of the world even as I am not of the
world,” He was referring directly to the 1st chapter of John, 12 and 13.
(12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power (the authority) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
(13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And they weren’t born again at that
time. They were born by the will of God which says, “Chosen in Him.” And He
placed first of all, every son in every position that He wanted him. And there
wasn’t one that would be lost and not raised up. But there was another seed the
Heavenly Father had not planted which would have to be a hybrid, which is
exactly what Cain was because he was the seed of the Serpent because the
Serpent was a tall, handsome, giant structured individual, very dark featured.
Adam was, whether you want to believe it or not, was a chestnut brown. The very
word ‘Adam’ means: clay, able to blush. How many people can blush today?
Not many real human beings left.
There never have been any real human beings since Noah outside of Jesus Christ
and He wasn’t a real human being either because the egg and the sperm was
created by God, just nourished by Mary. Where did all the brunettes come from?
I’m not saying they’re serpent seed or anything like that, I’m just saying in
the original, you go back to ‘Adam’ means: of the earth, clay and able to
blush. How many people can blush today? Well the Serpent couldn’t blush, he was
too black for that. He wasn’t a black man like we know black people, that’s got
nothing to do with it. It’s way back there, way back in that day. Serpent seed,
you know there’s a hybridization. Satan has no way to cause to conceive seed so
he had to take an animal.
All right, so we see as far as we
can understand, “Who were born not of blood nor the will of the flesh.” Now the
will of the flesh absolutely is sexual intercourse which brings about the birth
of children because people want it, they can’t refrain from it. That’s why they
are going to die from Aids. See? Nor of the will of man, meaning, planned
birth. See? In other words, not man as a source, original source, but God as
original source and every one of those children were ordained to come by
natural election right down today and we’ll talk about that later.
So we ponder, “Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here?” And
we have the answers in this message, “Who Is This Melchisedec?” that Bro.
Branham preached and gave to us. And this brings us exactly to where we are in
Melchisedec page seventeen, for already we have studied what happens to us when
we die, we become separated from our spirit and our body and our soul which
contains the gene of God--goes back, goes to a place where it receives a form
which it should have received to begin with, bypassed it, will pick it up--and
that will be a wonderful thing. Now they can’t eat and they can’t drink but
they don’t need to. They’ll be just exactly as God foreordained it.
Then of course, and the Resurrection
just the same as Jesus who spoke to the souls in prison, in their particular
bodies and he in his particular spirit-body, came back and picked up his own
body, now completely changed and glorified. So did the others who came up with
him, David and Abraham, Joshua, all the others, the great Old Testament saints
of God--picked up their bodies and they’re in a glorified form. And during the
second part of the first Resurrection, every one in the Bride will come out in
that form, spirit-body, word-body, call it what you want, pick up his glorified
body, take it away in a Rapture. The remaining people here will catch their glorified,
that is their body of glory which is a spirit-body, in mid air on the way to
the Wedding Supper. Now that’s how it goes. That may sound like strange
theology but there it is, that’s what we understand.
So, we’re looking at what has
happened here to us and what is happening. And Bro. Branham has mentioned, on
page seventeen and paragraph seventy-nine, that we have come here not in a
word-body, not in that spirit form, that cannot be tempted by sin because look,
you’re not eating or drinking or doing anything else in that body. So how in
the world are you going to be tempted? Anything that could tempt you, which
cannot tempt you, but if it was there to tempt would be so below the concepts
of that person in that body it wouldn’t be a temptation.
There is no temptation for me to eat
beans under most consideration or especially frog legs. I would like to do it
in order to say that I like it and I enjoy it, and I know frog legs sautéed in
butter and garlic do taste good, but the thought of those things jerking in a
frying pan is more than I can take. So you see, you cannot tempt me with frog
legs.
How could you tempt then a person in
a body that is above temptation? That’s the Millennium. You could turn every
devil in hell loose and every temptation under high Heaven, it wouldn’t faze
you any more than a rock suddenly feels it ought to get up and run because
there’s a bigger rock going to fall on it. It doesn’t matter to him if the rock
falls and crushes him he’s got nothing...see in other words what I’m saying to
you here? But we have been sent here to be tempted in the flesh. And you’ll notice that Bro. Branham makes a
very pertinent statement which I feel is a hundred percent Scriptural. And that
is that: Jesus withstood everything thrown against him by the devil because he
had a memory of what things were previously when he was in that theophonic
form, or that spirit form, or that Word form. See? He remembered.
Now we know that memory goes with us
from here to the other side--we know that. Now, that memory is retained in that
form to which we go but you will notice in the Resurrection, there comes a time
when God wipes every tear from every eye and there is no more memory of
anything here. So therefore Jesus, having known all things from the previous incarnation
in a complete dominant adult figure could not sin and if we had been in the
theophonic form we would not sin either because we’d simply know what was there
and say, “Hey,” and be so discriminating as to make the proper choice.
Now listen, as much as I don’t like
beans I am prone to enjoy beans on the ground that I know they’re good for me.
That’s not exactly a lie. I’m trying to get a point across. It’s the truth, I’m
just not a dry bean lover but I could be sold a bill of goods to like beans and
rice, especially brown rice, because it’s a perfect protein and I could eat
them quicker if I was allowed a good tomato sauce but night shade plants are
very tough on my arthritis. Well anyway that covers the point what we’re
looking at here see now?
Now Jesus knew from previous and in
the comparison of what was, just didn’t want it. See? What He was in tune with
by reason of not having deviated from the original path that God set out but
designated only to the One Son, the Only-Begotten Son such as this and never
would be again--he could not, even though in human form, find himself
compatible with anything that existed because he was in a super human form. And
then of course when he was glorified--forget it, there’s not attachment.
So now, if we therefore, were it
possible, it wasn’t possible because God must work out according to His own
Godhood--we had to bypass that form, be put in a form of flesh and we’re going
to talk about it. I’ve got different notes written down here, we’re going to
talk about it and look at it.
We had to come by way of flesh and
consequently Adam sinned, Eve sinned, everybody sinned, we can’t blame Adam for
our problems because we sin on our own, absolutely. And the reason we sin is
because we cannot discriminate because we are not on the level to discriminate
so that we could stand right here and say, “Sin has no power over me, period.
It may tempt me, it may try me but forget it.” We weren’t in that form. How in
the world, if you were in that form could you even know what sin was? How could
you possibly even analyze it? How could you draw a judgement on it? Because all
things are pure to the pure in heart. Couldn’t be evil anywhere--no sir.
Now let’s get down to the
nitty-gritty. There is no such thing as evil anyway, it is what you do with the
good. If you go God’s way you’ll never have evil. If you go man’s way you’re
going to have. Anyway that’s...we won’t go into that because that’s a lot of
thinking that we don’t want to get into this very minute. It’s all right to touch
it.
Now, Bro. Branham said:
[79] ...That’s the reason Jesus knew all things
because He was Word before He was flesh.
That’s true. And you and I, our
names are put on the Lamb’s Book of Life, but we never became a Word-body
because the Word was not spoken to that end. The Word spoken to the end we came
to, “Let us make man in our image.” That was the Word spoken. See? So we
bypassed the theophonic form, we bypassed it. Now we’re down here in the flesh.
Now, Bro. Branham talking about us
before the foundation, we skipped the body, Jesus before the foundation, he did
not skip the body, the greater son of David, the great Son of God did not skip
it, we know that, but we did skip it. Now listen, “Later” he says, “We become the Word.” Later on down the road. Can’t get it
until you...time has come to get it.
Now, he said here, “Here.” Now when you use the word ‘here’ we are
talking in contradistinction to there. We were there, but were not in a
position to receive a receptacle whereby memory could function. No, we missed
the receptacle. Down here and in there, there is a receptacle in that eternal
form. There is a receptacle because Jesus had it. We left that receptacle to
gain this receptacle--the mind, that’s where memory is and that comes by spirit,
and spirit inundates the body to get the body moving out here in this realm and
therefore spirit and mind, though not synonymous, work together and our
knowledge and our information is completely erroneous because all we can do is
judge by what goes on out here. Then the spirit of God cuts in at the rebirth
and believe me He’s got a job and a half.
And unless we crucify to ourselves
our own self, not the Son of God now, but crucify ourselves to ourselves which
is the greatest battle ever fought, which is the battle Armageddon, to put the
Word ahead of all the senses until the senses are completely overcome by the
Word of God, then the flow reverses so we are no longer pouring out from what
we gain around here, but we’re pouring out the Word which is enlivened by the
Holy Ghost, then we come parallel to the form that we missed. But it’s still
not the same because it’s not the form. But you come to where now, though
having missed it, you and I are living in a place of victory but this memory is
there in contradistinction to what should have been there, that memory is gone
and then thank God the end it’s reversed.
Okay, listen.
[80] ...Here we are formed
Bro. Branham said to the Word image to be
a partaker of the Word, feed on the Word, by being predestinated since the
beginning.
Now, the question comes up: If God did this to us--which we don’t think is very fair--that He would allow us to bypass that body and put us in the soul, or a gene of God, down here now, without that memory--which is evidently so valuable and wonderful--so knowing nothing of it we’re in this particular condition.
Now watch what he says. In spite of
our own analysis, and in spite of our own conclusions, what form God placed us
in was predestinated to this extent that though we are in this form we can
partake of the Word of God and thereby be transformed to the image of Christ.
Now that’s a big order but that’s exactly what God’s Word tells us and that’s
the Bible. Bro. Branham hit it right on the head; he said, “Look, later on we’re going to become this Word. We’ll pick it up.” But he said, “Here’s the Word we’re into now:”
[80] ...We are formed to the Word image to be
partakers of the Word,
If you were born of God, if your
gene was in God to begin with, though you’re in this human body which is a real
mess--because there’s no true human beings anymore.
Remember the sons of Light according
to [?--Malek and Wilkinson] [end of side one] the true sons of Light were the
children of God. They were meek, and sweet and mild tempered, they were not war
like. And they believed in a kind and
loving God who took care of them. But you see, having already mingled the seed
with the Serpent seed, they became animalistic and being able to use their
senses over instinct, they became literally sex mongerers and that’s exactly
where the world stood. Just be honest. You look at history, men and woman,
always you’ll see men and woman they’re filthiest under God’s high Heaven and
the sexual question is always there.
See? God predestinated a people who
would feed on the Word and by the feeding on the Word be transformed to the
image of Christ. That’s exactly why Bro.
Branham said, “The evidence of the
baptism with the Holy Ghost was to receive the Word for the hour.” To receive an understanding, a revelation of
the Word of Almighty God.
Now listen...now we looked at
this. So here we are transforming in
physical form. There, we would not have needed it. See? But we are eternal
souls. Why? Not that the soul in itself is eternal but there’s a germ in it
because souls get destroyed. So some souls don’t have that germ in them,
they’re not of God. We as eternal souls, seed form sons of God, produce
flesh-bodies instead of Word-bodies and now feed on the Word to be conformed to
Christ.
Now let’s go and understand a little
bit about this. Now, to understand this is not existentialism by John Sartre,
but it is the fact we were born to suffer but suffering is not an end in
itself, it is a character reference. Let’s go to Hebrews twelve. Now, this is
where we’re going to look and this is where we’re going to quit this morning as
soon as I’m finished with this thought.
(1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, (That’s the heroes of faith.) let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, (That’s unbelief.) and let us run with patience the race set before us,
Gear yourself down. Who ever heard
of a person being patient in a race? You’ve got to be a fruitcake to believe
that. It’s telling you something. This life is so short, don’t ruin it by
impatience. Stretch it out, get to savour it, know it’s a good life. And here’s
how you savour it, with patience. This quick little life, a little fleeting
cloud, the grass today is a thrown into the oven tomorrow.
(2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Now just keep that in mind.
(3) For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
He said, “I am the Son of God. God
is my Father as He’s nobody else’s father. I am that Son of man, I am the
Messiah.”
And they said, “You are a no good,
illegitimate born, son of a Roman soldier by a prostitute--shut-up.”
No matter what He said and did,
everybody contradicted it.
He said, “Why are you stoning Me?
Tell Me what good work that you’re stoning Me about?”
“Oh” they said, “We don’t stone you
for a good work. In fact, if you want to stick around and raise the dead, and
feed us on loaves and fishes, and get us ready to knock the Roman army for a
loop, that’s wonderful. But don’t tell me you’re a son of God because we are
and we ought to know one.”
I’m going to tell you something,
anybody that believes that he’s the son of God in these days and takes that
stand, “That I am my Father are one,” he becomes absolutely anathema to any
body else and that’s why you and I are going to get hit on the head because we
literally believe that to be an absolute picture, as George G. Lacey, head of
the FBI said it is, of a supernatural being over the head of William Branham.
That a Pillar of Fire actually talked to him and in him and brought us the Word
of God. Well you say, “You guys are the craziest.” Thank you for being super
crazy, the rest are just crazy.
[Hebrews 12]
(4) You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (Jesus sweat great drops of blood.)
(5) Have you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My children, despise not the chastening (training) of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: (In other words, corrected.)
(6) For whom the Lord loves he corrects and brings pressure upon every son that he receives. (So that son will go on the right line.)
(7) (Now) If you endure correcting, God is dealing with you as sons; for what son is he whom the father does not correct?
(8) (Now if you deny correction it proves you’re illegitimate, you’re not sons.)
(9) (He said) Furthermore (your own nature tells you,) as you corrected your children, (it is only too true that God should correct you.)
(10) (Because He dealing in eternal verities while you are simply dealing with the impatience with your children hoping they’ll do something better than you ever did and God’s trying to bring us up to His standards.)
All right, now, we feed on the Word
to be conformed to the image of Christ and take our inspiration from Him
because we do not have the inspiration of Jn 17:5 but we believe it. Now
remember here’s Jesus.
(5) Now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
He remembered it because He went
through it: we were in it but don’t
remember it. See? Now keep that in mind.
Okay? We read Jn 17:5, now:
(5) And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory that I had with thee before the world began.
Now let’s go back to Hebrews 1. Now
you stay with me here because this is important to you, it’s important to me.
Watch what Paul said about Jesus.
(3) Who being the out-raying of his glory, the expression of his substance,
Now what if you and I had been able
to do that? We could not be the out-raying and the substance--Jesus was. Now,
before there was a speck of stardust, before the foundation of this world, we
understand thereby that if anything came forth from God, any form, the
substance would have to be spirit because that which is born of spirit is
spirit. Right? That which is born of apples is apples, dogs-dogs, pigs-pigs,
humans-humans, God-spirits. So therefore Jesus had that peculiar particular
body that you and I could not have because God, as it were, simply dipped
within Himself and said, “Here,” and He plunked it in another form. Right? We
bypassed it. And He said, “I want that glory.” You understand what I’m saying?
Okay, let’s go to Jn 17:22.
(22) And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
In other words, the promise of that
very thing that they missed that Jesus had. See? Okay, with that let’s just
take a little picture here of what Paul says in 1 Cor 11:7.
(7) For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
Because the woman came entirely from
the man but notice how the man came. Now he is not the glory and did not have
the glory--Adam did not have what Jesus had, he had the full potential for his
own status. That’s right--he was made for it. The Scripture distinctly said,
“Let us make man in our image. And after the image of God created he, Adam and
gave them dominion.” And that dominion in the form of a spirit person could
absolutely contact and control all nature. What would Adam have done had he had
the theophonic form? He would have been literally God in his own rights that
God had transferred to him. Didn’t have to have it. We’re coming back to it.
Okay, let’s go to Romans the 3rd
chapter and notice in verse 23.
(23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
As Bro. Branham correctly said, “That the image of God in Adam was broken
and lost when the man sinned.” The
sin condition that man fell into broke that image, which image is going to be
restored and that very, very shortly. Notice in Romans the 9th chapter, the
23rd verse.
(23) That he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Now we find the promise here of the
restoration of glory. Now, remember the word ‘glory’ comes from the original
Greek meaning: an assessment. You say, “Oh look at the glorious sunset.” It means, in your eyes you have compared all
the sunsets you have ever seen and you say, “That, there’s nothing would touch
that sunset, I’ve seen them all.” You say, “This is the most glorious
experience I have entered into.” Of all your experiences this eclipses them
all. Then when you are speaking of the glory of God you are saying the same
thing. “This is my assessment.” That’s
why Christ is the glory of God and Christ is the mystery of God revealed.
And if we could ever get the real
understanding and insight that the prophet tried to bring us, what a people we
would be. As he says, “He was living up
here in that realm.” Now that he’s
gone you and I can attain to that realm. That’s ex...You say, “How is that?”
That’s exactly what Jesus said. He said, “You cannot be in my realm at this
time but when I am gone you can be
in that realm.” See. Why? Because I tell you, every prophet, bar none, had a
Word given to him which was not to him, and for him, but it was for others.
Others got it. You show me one thing Jesus did that he retained. He gave it all
to everybody else and thereby retained it because now it’s multiplied out there
for the glory of God. See? The great assessment.
Now, let’s look at some Scriptures
on this great assessment that you and I might know this tremendous glory that
lies ahead in this great theophonic form that the dead get when they get out of
here, that the soul picks up that was his in the first place. And let me tell
you something, the soul therefore will always be an orphan to any form until it
gets it’s own form.
Listen, you think a dog could be
happy with suddenly inheriting a human intelligence? You think you could be
happy if you could inherit suddenly with the human intelligence find yourself
in some kind of another form? No, you’re foreign to it. That’s why there’s so
many of these fellows that let their imaginations go, they have so many funny
ideas for movies. People get locked up in the wrong form. That’s why idolaters,
they believe a spirit can go into an image, it becomes a literal god. They’re
crazy. There’s no such thing as anybody being happy in a form that doesn’t
belong to him. That’s why a dog can always wag his tail and be happy if he
wants to be, he is with his own master. They don’t understand. We cannot be
happy in this form, that is truly happy, because no matter what there is a
longing for people to penetrate those things which are veiled or hidden.
Okay, let’s get into 2 Corinthians
here, the 4th chapter, and let’s look at this.
(7) But we have this treasure (This soul, this gene from God.) in earthen vessels, (Vessels that sin, that have indecision, that can’t make correct judgments.) that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Now there’s something tremendously
excellent coming up that will be bestowed in spite of the vessel of clay and
because of the treasure in the vessel which is the soul, with the gene of God. Right?
That’s right, just follow the thinking.
(8) We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
(9) Persecuted,
but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
(9)
Always
bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of
Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
(11) For
we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
Now that’s wonderful.