RAPTURE #23
Bro. Lee Vayle
February 5, 1984
Heavenly Father, we're grateful to know the Presence
of Yourself in the form of the Holy Spirit, which You are, veiled in the Pillar
of Fire which we know is the garment You wear.
Knowing also that all things are possible but we know that possibility
only extends to the very realm which you have allowed yourself to extend, which
is defined by Your Word.
And we can believe now that everything for this hour
shall be fulfilled in a people that has been promised to her as the prophet
said, Thus it has been spoken, thus it
will be. And we thank You for that
Lord, today we have confidence and rest in it, so that we know as we approach
Your Word, and the subjects which are for this hour, that it is going to be
understandable and we are going to be a part of it and it a part with us. Safely shall be removed out from this earth
Lord into the great and wonderful Kingdom of our God which shall materialize
shortly. We praise You for this, for
this great knowledge. In Jesus'
Name. Amen. You may be seated.
[Section missing] ...recap on the strange subject of
the Rapture. Now two weeks ago, I guess
it was January the 22nd, we took over two hours on the phase of Bro. Branham's
teaching on the Rapture. When the
prophet himself said, in paragraph 27.
(27) I want to speak on a real strange subject;
the rapture.
Now we noted he did not say this to be
sensational. He tells us he is not
saying it to be sensational. Paragraph
31, and paragraph 156.
(31) And I think that in speaking I just don't
try to get up here to say something that I think would please the people. I've never been guilty of that. I want to get up here and say something as I
feel led to say it, that I think would be a help to you, something that would further
your experience with God if you are a Christian, and if you're not a Christian,
make you so ashamed of yourself that you will become a Christian. And that's the purpose that I've always tried
to line up my thoughts as the Lord would lead me.
(156) You're not blind people. Your sensible people, and if I stood here and
said these things for prejudice...I say it because it's Life, because I'm
responsible to God for saying it. And I
must say it. And my message...All the
time knowing back there under healing and so forth like that, was just to catch
the people's attention, knowing the Message would come. And here it is.
All right, we heard what he said about being, or not
being, sensational, or ear tickling or ear tingling, or titillating in some respect
to the hearers when he teaches on this subject.
However, you cannot help but understand he is going to say something
startling. Now you can't help but
understand that as he develops his theme.
Thus the subject must be sensational but not for the
sake of sensationalism. Now that's
right. You've got to understand that
this subject is sensational, but not for the sake of sensationalism. It's for the sake of letting people know the
path of life, life in Christ, and how to get out of here. The utter uniqueness can only be meant to
alert the people. To jar their thinking
toward his understanding and to anticipate that this subject will be
controversial as soon as he brings it.
So we ask a question: is this man saying that he knows
something about the Rapture that is not given to be known by anyone else? Or is he settling seminary differences and
indicating who is right amongst the denominations as to their particular
beliefs and understanding of the Rapture?
Or can it involve both? Well the answer
is, it does involve both. He is going to
say something that positively is not known by anybody else and further more he
will be settling differences amongst those who believe, and we are amongst
those who believe denomination or were; he'll be settling the differences as to
certain phases and putting everything right.
Furthermore, we go to paragraph 27 again. Just the first sentence, and he says:
(27) I want to speak on a real strange subject.
So the Rapture is not only strange, it is real strange. The Rapture according to Bro. Branham is thus
literally mind boggling, which means that according to the real truth of it,
which is his revelation, it will be so far from the accepted revelation the
churches have, that it will be eerie, literally eerie and repugnant. You might as well admit it, repugnant to
those who have the denominational understanding and it will be turned down
because of it’s seeming disorientation from the rest of the Scripture. In other words, there is no way this will
line with their Scriptural understanding.
See?
All right, we go to paragraph 30, and he said:
(30) Now, on speaking on this subject. Now some of you may differ from the avenues
that I take, but how many in here believes the Bible teaches there will be a rapture
of the Church? That's right! A catching away of the church. Whether you're a Methodist, Baptist,
Presbyterian, or whoever you are, Pentecostal, there will be a catching away.
Now he said, You
people, you believe in it. And he said, This
message is going to be real eerie to you.
It's going to not just sit with you.
Okay? Let's see something what he
says in the Seven Seals that are along the same line. He says on the Seventh Seal when there's
silence in Heaven:
[Pg. 557]
(2) No angels singing, no praises, no altar
service, no nothing! There was
silence--Hushed, deadly silence in Heaven for a half hour. All the host of Heaven was silent for this
half hour when the seventh seal mystery in the book of redemption was broke
open. Think of it; but it's broke. The Lamb breaks it. You know what? They were awed by it, I believe. They didn't know. There it was; they just stopped. Why?
What is it?
(3) Now, none of us know; but I'm going to tell
you my revelation of it. Just like
this.
Now I'm not prone to be a fanatic. If I am, I'm ignorant of it,
see. I'm not given away to such
‘delirious’ carrying-ons, and imaginary things.
I have said some things that might have been kind of strange to some
people, but when God comes around behind and vindicates it and says it's the
truth, then that's God's Word. It may
seem strange that way.
Now they didn't take that, they're not going to take
this. So , this man's a very strange
person when it comes to teaching. Let's
go to 567 of the Seals, number four.
(3) Now, when that gets on tape, What he was
saying, see, on the Seven Seals, which it did. that will probably send 10,000 of my friends away from me because they
are going to say that, "Bro. Branham is trying to put himself and make
himself a servant, or a prophet, or something, before God." Now, it's going to trickle down, don't
worry. Huh? Trickle down to you and me. We're going to get the ax too. Let me
tell you, my brethren, that is an error!
I'm only telling you what I saw and what has been told to me, and you do
what ever you want to. I don't know
who's going to...what's going to take place.
I do not know. I just know that
those seven thunders holds a mystery that Heaven was quieted.
[568-569]
(5) This has been a tremendous week for me. I'm tired; my mind is tired, because it was
the best that I could do. And something
strange going on every day;
Now what was that strangeness? An angel coming and bringing a Word. What do you think brought this? Who is responsible then for this very, very
strange Message? It is not the prophet,
he was only a voice, it is God Himself.
“End Time Evangelism,” paragraph 123 and on.
(123) Now notice in these times, intellectual age.
“Heady, high minded. lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” So what, He’s present. What's it do
for you?
Intellectual? Sounds
stupid--blind. Stay home on Wednesday night to watch some of
those old vulgar plays like, “We Love Lucy.” That wasn't really vulgar, that was just kind
of ridiculous. So you know he's referring
to what's coming up in our time. Or what all that stuff is, woman married a
dozen times living with men.
We hadn't gotten to the soap operas yet by the time
William Branham died. Those new
serialized, filthy ones. I haven't seen
any myself but I guess there's...well I think I saw a bit of one, one
night. It was a parody on one, it wasn't
the real thing, it was a parody. I don't
know that it was worth watching but that person sure hit him exactly right who
parodied the whole thing. Just how stupid
they were.
(123) ...You'd rather stay and watch that than
attend prayer meetings. “Lover's of
pleasure more than lover's of God.” Let
a ball game come to town or Colonels against the Giants, or whatever happen to
meet out there somewhere, they closed churches to get to attend it. Let Elvis Presley come down here in the
street with his guitar, go swinging it back and forth, and some of them guys,
on a Wednesday night, the prayer meeting would be closed. “Lover's of pleasure
more than lover's of God. Heady, high
minded, incontinent, fierce despisers of those that do good. Having a form of Godliness.”
You say, "They're
communist." No they're not.
(124) They're church members having a form of
godliness. But what? Denying the power thereof! Having a form of God, but say, "God
doesn't do these things. See? There's no power to it. You just accept this and do that.” See?
No change of life, nothing. Just
belong to church.
(125) “Having a form of Godliness but denying the
power thereof. From such turn
away,” the Bible said. "For this is the sort that go from house
to house, and leads silly woman laden with sin, led away with divers
lusts." That's exactly what the
Bible says. Now we're living in exactly
that age. “But do the work of an evangelist, make full proof your ministry.”
Now he's telling you in there, there's going to be
absolutely a scoffing concerning these things that he is involved in. That they’re not going to want it, they’re
going to turn from it. But he said,
"You still keep on moving. Win all
the souls you can."
Now make no mistake about it, the prophet is actually
saying here, "There are things involved in this Catching Up that you are
unaware of. Things or events involved in
this Rapture that must be known and reckoned with." Now, to miss the truth then, is to miss the
event. Now that's what he's saying. Now people are going to say, "Well now
just a minute." Now you just a
minute me. Say, "Well this thing is
going to be according to election."
That's exactly right, but the Elect are brought into a knowledge.
Now, let's understand that this is the Omega of John
the Baptist in the time of Jesus. And it
says concerning John:
[Lk 1]
(17) And he
shall go before the Lord God of
The people are already prepared but they've got to be
made ready. Now that's what John
did. Now how much readiness did John
do? He whopped everybody on the skull
and on both sides of the face. And after
he got through whopping everybody on each side of the head, knocking them
dizzy, publicans, and soldiers, and Sanhadrian, the whole bunch, calling them
what they were. He said, "There is
the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world," and walked
off. And everybody says,
"Marvelous." He made them
ready. Well did he, or did he not? Look, I just room and board here on earth--my
home is above. I can accept it.
Jesus categorically said, He said, "You void my
Word by your traditions." They
voided the entire Messiah concept by a wrong understanding. Then can you void the Rapture by a
misunderstanding? Yes. Then how does the Bride not void it? “All thy children shall be taught of God,”
and they'll miss nothing. Jesus said,
"If you had been aware of the times you wouldn’t have done this." The prophet said the same thing and people
still stand back and say, "Well it's how we've got it figured." Hogwash.
Fap. How much figuring you ever
done is worth a plug nickel. You need to
get your head jarred and your teeth knocked in.
Serves you right, and I was one of the crowd.
Now listen, what the prophet said here concerning the
Catching Up could be very legitimate. If
they're able to discern from the Alpha and Omega precept, so that they would
know what is present; had the precedent of the Word of God, for what God does
He does forever, and what is done now has been done previously and what will be
done has already been done. Just the
same as God cannot changed.
And yet the same people say, "Well there's no
mystery at all to the Rapture because we know all about it." To them, simply the Rapture doctrine is set
forth in three parts that they all accept.
There will be a Resurrection of the New Testament saints. There will be a change to immortality in the
living saints. There will be a taking up
to the Wedding Supper which is in the air.
It is accepted by all believers that these three events
are consecutive and that there is absolutely nothing happening, or will happen,
or must happen at that particular time that is necessary outside of the rebirth
to instigate this Catching Up. Now
that's what they say.
Now, Bro. Branham does not disagree with those three
divisions. He accepts them as absolutes
as do others. Resurrection, change and
Catching Up. However, we know that among
believers there are differences of opinion as to whether the Bride is the
Church, or a segment of the Church. Whether
the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation, during the Tribulation, at the
Tribulation, or at the Millennium.
But the prophet has already expressed himself in no
uncertain terms many years ago concerning these issues. And his stand is well known; that the Bride
is only a part of the Church and she comes out of the Church, and the Rapture
is before the Great Tribulation.
Furthermore, those who believe in the Rapture and the return of the
saints to this earth for the Millennial kingdom designate, 1 Th 4:16, as the
Appearing of the Lord to the saints, and Rev 19:11, and Jude 14, as the Coming
of the Lord with His saints. One is the
Appearing and one is the Coming.
At this point we must admit that Bro. Branham denies
their accuracy, as to their understanding of these events because he says, The coming and the appearing is not
understood by these men.
All right, we go to “End Time Evangelism,” page 10,
paragraph 50.
(50) The same thing today, when you see his
work. Now, we have already seen and are
witnessing the appearing of the Lord.
“Now we have already seen and are witnessing the appearing of the Lord.” Now
remember, appearing and coming are two different words, to appear, then to
come. So therefore Bro. Branham does
not put the Coming in Revelation 19, although that is the coming back to
earth. He also places it very
distinctly, then he must in the fact that we should meet Him in the air. Now we've got to figure that out, which we
will.
(50) ...To appear, 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 that it's Him, because people
cannot do these things that you see the Holy Spirit doing, so that's the
appearing of the Lord. Now remember it's
spoke both places appearing and coming. Now
he said, It's spoke both places,
appearing and coming. You better
know what is being talked about when those words are being used. When Bro. Branham uses them you better know
from what he teaches what he is saying.
Understand? Okay.
(51) Now He upbraided them because of the
hardness of their hearts. And so
on. That is, they didn't understand that
appearing either.
Okay, page 11, 57-66.
(57) Jesus said, "You must be born
again." In order to be born again,
it's letting yourself go and die, and the Spirit of Christ comes into you. Then you're no more yours; it's Christ in
you, see the Holy Spirit. Paul said,
"I die daily; yet I live, not I, but Christ lives in me." See, Christ.
(58) And if I've told you the spirit of John
Dillinger was in me, I'd have guns and here and be an outlaw, because that
would be his spirit in me. If I'd told
you the spirit of an artist was in me,
you'd expect me to paint the picture as an artist.
(59) If I tell you I am a Christian, and the
Spirit of Christ in me or in you, then we do the work of Christ. Jesus said in John, "He that believes on
Me, the works that I do shall he shall do also." Now he put that in the singular. Then he
said here, "These signs follow them that believe.
Now there's signs that follow them that believed, but
when you come to those works that Bro. Branham spoke of, there was Christ in
that man doing those works and it went out of peoples heads. Because I'm going to tell you something
brother/sister, my hand does not do what my foot does. When I have a body that's completely under dominion
of the Holy Ghost like the Bride of Christ could be, then that is Christ moving
in a one member, though many membered body.
Now when you see the fullness of the Godhead once more
represented in a man, you see an individual member doing it under the Holy
Ghost, a complete filling and a complete dominion. Let's understand that.
(60) Now, here through the age, there has been a time that these signs has not
followed the believer. That's
right. The prophet spoke of it and he
spoke of it in Zachariah, he said, "There would come a time neither day nor night but in the evening there
shall be light."
So when the prophetic ministry broke on the scene,
that is the evidence of the prophetic ministry, Light struck. That's right, Light struck. Somebody said, "Heh, something's going
on." Number one--Light. Next things is, right to the Word--second
Light. Next thing, right to the
Presence--third Light, Thee Light.
Rising of the Sun? Come on go
back over it, were in to it. That's
right.
(61) Now, the sun rises in the east and sets in
the west. It doesn't change, it's the same
sun. Doesn't say that about a
Bride--said, “Sun.” Bride's not the sun,
she reflects; Bride's the moon. Now when the Holy Spirit came, Jesus, the
Son of God, He's come in the east on the eastern people. It's been a day...as it's traveled, as
civilization's traveled with the sun coming from east to west and now we're at
the west coast. We cannot go any further, we're back east, until
everything denotes His coming. Right?
"And if I go away I will come again, receive you unto
myself." Huh? "Where I'm there, you'll be also."
We're at the evening time.
Everything shows it is over.
(62) Now the prophet said. And no prophecy can be privately interpreted.
As
Jesus said, it's exactly what it says.
"It shall be light in the evening." Then the same Son that came upon the eastern
people and showed His works and His blessings, it was prophesied that there
would be a dismal day; neither day nor night, that's a gloomy day, that light
hazy. And you can't see the sun but the
sun yet gives enough light that will get you by. Something like it is out there
now, maybe a little darker. And we've
had enough to join the church, put our name on books, and so forth, but in the
evening time that same great power of Christ that come upon His church like it
did back there on the eastern. In the
western it would be the same again. So that's why I want to speak on evening time
evangelism.
(63) Each age has it's message and
messenger. All through the times, every
age has packed it's message with a messenger.
God, in every dispensation, is sent forth, someone anointed with the
Holy Spirit, to bring His message forth for that age, every time.
Then why would it be strange if Bro. Branham says, That his message foreruns the second
Coming? I brought that out the last
time. There's no strangeness to it. It's axiomatic.
(64) Now, we could start to back, it up a little
bit. Even from the beginning God was the
messenger at the beginning, to tell Adam and Eve, "You shall eat this but
shall not do this." That was the
message. And when man stepped across the
message of the hour it brought death and chaos to the whole human race. Now, that's how much the message means. Now he's talking about the Alpha to the
Omega--God being His own messenger. And
when you step across it you bring in chaos.
You bring in complete purging, everything goes down, everything gives
way.
Remember that it wasn't just complete blank denial of what God said,
that Eve believed, it was taking what God said and whitewashing it over, or
just misconstruing it a little bit, or adding a little bit, or taking a little
bit away.
(65) That's the reason that I believe the Word is
the truth. If our creeds and
denominations don't completely comply with the Word then it's wrong. And if God would not permit, and His Word was
so important, to just misquote one word of it caused all death and that ever
happened, every suffering, and every baby crying, every funeral procession,
every grave on the hill side, every ambulance that ever screamed, every blood
ever shed, all the old age and starvation, trouble like that, just because
God's Word was miscalculated, caused all this.
Will He excuse at the end time if we miscalculate it again? The answer is no.
One Word in His presence brought it all on. Then what if they cross the border line this
last, that's Hebrews 6, then if misconstruing one word brought all that, what
will the right construction on the Word at the end will bring it all back. Now can't people see that? No they can't. No, it’s already fixed.
(66) So, you see, Christianity is an important
thing. If it's cost all this six
thousand years of trouble, because of one word being misused, now we're not
going back with one other word misused.
It's got to be exactly with the Word, with nobody's interpretation, just what the Word
says! So many men will get together and
say, "This is this," and agree together. Say, "That's it."
What did Peter say?
Said, “I'm going to tell you
something. There's going to be a prophet
come on the scene just before the Kingdom arrives, just before you see the
glorified person--the Lord Jesus Christ."
He said, "Get this through your head and understand it
flat." He said, "The Word that
was given by the inspiration of a prophet must be interpreted by the
inspiration of God in a prophet."
And he said, "What it is, you watch the false teachers come on the
scene and you watch what happens."
Now brother/sister, I'm reading what the prophet
said. I am not so well educated I know
everything that the prophet said because education will not do it. I would have to be in his skin to understand,
or I would have to have the same Spirit that he had that gave it in order for
me to understand. I believe I
understand.
All right. Now,
“Elijah and the Meal Offering,” paragraph 127.
(127) But I'm so thankful tonight, to know,
friends, that our Jesus, (and every promise He made) is the Truth. If I could heal anyone here, I'd do it; if I
wouldn't do it, I'd be a hypocrite. But
I can't. But God has given a gift to the
church, that He promised.
(128) That during the days of Luther, we lived by
justification. During the days of
Wesley, by sanctification, the church become in a minority. In the days of Pentecost, they lived down
through the baptism of the Holy Ghost and the restoration of gifts. Now we're really in a minority, and the
coming of the Son of God. Here they
believe by faith; here they shouted under sanctification; here they spoke in
tongues by a gift;
Now watch what he said took place. They believe concerning this great
Coming. They said, “We ain't going to miss it because after all,
we here, we're justified. See? We've got faith.” The next bunch shouted. They felt something. That's sanctification. The third bunch spoke in tongues, they said,
"That's it."
Now watch:
(128) ...But now the negative and the positive and
the cap’s coming on the pyramid, and it’s the end time, when Christ and His
church is so much alike till it's going to call the dead from the Methodist,
Lutheran and all those back there, and there'll be a resurrection. Them that fell asleep in the first, second,
third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh watch, will rise one of these days, to
meet Jesus in the sky.
Now see, that's the Coming because we're going to
meet. This is the receiving down here.
That's the receiving up there.
We'll touch that. Bride receiving
Christ is not Christ receiving Bride.
This is uniting time and signs.
All right.
(128) The hour's arrived friends, the coming of
the Lord is at hand. Now that's meal
offering, see?
(129) Now we look at
(130) I shall turn my backs to you, not just so that
you'd see. Now remember it was not the man.
The man sitting there was just
made of calcium potash, petroleum and sixteen elements of the world that God
went...blew together, stepped into it was living.
(131) Jesus Christ was the same thing. He was the Son of God. He was God manifested in flesh, but His flesh
was man, and His Spirit was God. Now you
understand that. Then He promised the
last day that He would come into His church, "A little while and the world
seeth me no more; yet you'll see Me, I'll be with you, even in you. The works that I do shall you do
also." See? Now the great physician is here. Malachi 4, "Healing in his
wings." Remember?
(132) He said, "The sign of
(133) Now God showing His signs, too, as we've been
preaching about. Now, if this Bible is
true, which it is, I'm ready to die for that purpose. The Bible is true. Jesus Christ lives. We are His Church, filled with His Spirit,
then His Life in us will produce the same Life He lived in the Son of God if
the Holy Spirit--the Holy Spirit of God lives in us.
(134) For God's glory and the sake of the church,
and for your sickness, you that’s sick and afflicted touch the hem of His
garment and see if You can cause Him to say through me, as His servant, call
you like He did the woman that touched His garment. May the Lord grant it. Would it make you believe great, and accept His healing?
How many believes they could accept their healing if God would call on
you like that, or see Him call? Raise
your hand, the Lord grant it. We're
playing the Great Physician.
Now see, there again speaking of the Presence, proving
that that Presence is the original Presence which is manifest in flesh because
it does the same thing through an individual.
And that individual being a part of the church therefore the church does
it.
But you see, when Bro. Branham talks this way people
go completely haywire. They say,
"Well if Bro. Branham discerned, I can discern." He came to show us the great thing that could
be done. He did not...Stay away from that Pillar of Fire, and stay away from that
ministry. People come over here from
Now, the same Appearing he speaks of, this Appearing,
is the predicted Coming of Jesus Christ in the form of the Holy Spirit to the
Gentiles and doing the same thing He did when He was here in flesh, which He
did to
Now let us understand, it is in this Appearing to the
Gentiles--now to appear He has to come.
He's got to be here and He is here, constitutes an Appearing. This truly secret sudden Coming to them,
which evolves into the identification, or the identified, an identical ministry
of Jesus in the flesh. And then gives
way to a prophetic ministry or message; is the part of the prophetic
description of the descent of the Lord that causes all commentators to admit
they can only surmise what it means.
Now, they don't understand nothing about what I just
said, but they do know there's a descent and they cannot figure that business
of Shout, Voice and Trumpet. They're
lost concerning it, and I'm telling you from what the prophet said, this is 1
Th 4:16. Which is what was prophesied in
Isaiah. Reiterated in Jesus; built upon
a graphic demonstration in
But wherein He was seen in the street and raised His
voice and cried, and was vehement and contended, and fought, and strove,
breaking the bruised reed, putting out the smoking flax. When He comes to the Gentiles He won't be in
the streets to raise His voice, to strive and to be heard. He’ll do it by the Holy Ghost in a prophetic
ministry. And when He comes He will not
destroy what we have, He will revive it because He said, "Except I sent
Elijah I would destroy." And when
Jesus came He destroyed--flattened
They haven't had a sacrifice yet and they're not going
to have one. They're going to cry,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” one of these days. That's after the Bride is gone. I want to tell you,
So we see that the real strange subject of the
Rapture, is the revelation of it that God gave Bro. Branham and he in turn gave
us, what took literally months and years to come to pass in this descent
starting June 11, 1933. And then he
said, Here it is, this is what it was all
about and you didn't know it. And I'm telling you now, the same as
when he opened the seals and he said, I
couldn't tell you now but I wondered if you'd catch it. And nobody caught it then and we're only
catching it now.
That's why I preach as I preach because this is the
thing that's pertinent to the Bride.
What do I worry about Zachariah and something down there for the
Jews? What have I got to worry about the
trumpets? God told Bro. Branham,
"Keep your nose out of it, that's for down the road." What have I got to worry about those things I
have to have answers? Get your answers
now.
Oh my, how they project down the road. The government and all the economist, all the
dim bulbs and burned out bulbs that are there in
A little
whimsical thought if you've got a few bucks go and spend it. I'm not saying you should, I feel like it
myself. Gone--it's gone and
Now I want to read a certain Scripture that could be
the exact parallel of this sermon by Bro. Branham when Paul was in
(15) And they
that conducted Paul brought him unto
(16) Now while
Paul waited for them at
(17) Therefore
disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in
the market (place) daily with them that met with him.
(18) Then
certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered
him. And some said, What will this
babbler say? other some, He seemeth to
be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the
resurrection.
(19) And they
took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new
doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
(20) For you
bring certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these
things mean. (See, strange things.)
(21) (For all
the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else,
but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
They must have had slave labor or a lot of robots
pushing buttons. Well, I tell you what
would have solved the whole problem. Ma
Bell and her telephone system.
(22) Then Paul
stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of
(23) For as I
passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription,
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye
ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. (And that's true, people worship
God in ignorance of God and plum ignorance of what worship is all about.)
(24) God that
made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and
earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
(25) Neither
is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth
to all life, and breath, and all things.
(26) And hath
made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,
and hath determined (all) the times before appointed, and the bounds of their
habitation; (See, He was a sovereign God.)
(27) That they
should seek the Lord, and haply they might feel after him, and find him, though
he be not far from every one of us:
(28) For in
him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets
have said, For we are also his offspring.
In other words he's telling you that everything comes
from God and is kept by God. That's
all. We don't live and move and have our
being in Him as though everybody's a born again Christian or something. Everything is of God, from God, will eventually
go back to God.
(29) For as
much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the
Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's
device. (He's bringing them up to the
manifestation of God in Christ, the human being.)
(30) And the
times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where
to repent. (To change your mind.)
(31) Because
he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world (That's the
inhabited world.) in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof
he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Now it tells you right there, the inhabited world is
going to be under judgment by Jesus Christ.
That's when He appears to the Gentiles.
And Bro. Branham said,
(32) Now, when
they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We
will hear thee again of this matter.
Do you think maybe if some of us go around and tell
people, say, "The resurrection is on, I know it," they say, "Ah,
pbbt." It can happen. Listen, when people sneer over the fact, and
the chaff separates from the wheat on the grounds, “I and my Father are one and
we know it.” I'm going to tell you
something, let's get this and understand what I preach here. You cannot identify with Jesus Christ as a
Son of God, no way, shape or form. You
have got to be a son of God. You can
only identify in His death, His resurrection and those things, He meritoriously
worked out for you.
But Bro. Branham said, If you weren't in God in the beginning, you don't have representation
or identification. You're shot. So I cannot say that Jesus Christ, I'm
identified with Him as the Son of God as all the rest of the people say. I am a son of God, and have always been a son
of God. And I have been identified by
Him as a son of God by coming under the Blood, being full of the Holy Ghost,
and proving it by the Word of this hour, and I expect to be manifested in a
resurrection flesh.
Now we're getting somewhere--that's the Bible. Anything else, you've got yourself a dogma.
You've got yourself a confession ain't worth a plug nickel. You might as well go back to saying,
"Well woman, if you put lumber boot shoes on you're born again." Fap.
Through a bunch of sawdust and hogwash.
They mocked, "We'll hear you again on this
matter." People are waiting to see
if what Bro. Branham said is going to come to pass. Ha!
It's already come to pass and when the Rapture is over they're going to
say,
"Wasn't so and so suppose to happen?"
They said, “It did happened. What are you talking about? You want the record?"
"Oh that.
Ho, so what."
You do what you want.
I'm doing what I want.
(33) So Paul
departed from among them.
(34) Howbeit
certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the
Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and a few others with them.
It is now very evident that this strange subject is
strange to the church because no one ever had a clue that this is exactly what
would happen at the end time. This is
the true Elijah ministry of restoration--exactly what it is. We have been restored. See?
Who would have known even though we had a precedent in
an example that the Lord would descend from Heaven and come right down to earth
and remain here from 1933, even till now, and then we being changed and caught
up, would still meet the Lord in the air.
Why they say, "Now hold it, that can't be true." But it is true because they don't understand
the Scripture that said, "The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right
hand." And it is the Lord that said
to our Lord, "Sit." That's the
Lord that came down here to get us ready to take us up there to our Lord. Because headship of the Bride is Jesus who is
the Christ. And the headship of Jesus
who is the Christ is God.
So, God as usual according to type has dickered for a
Bride for His Son--and come and got her too.
Now I use the word ‘dicker’ because you know what I mean. It takes the parents to get together and
decide, "Well I think my son, he's college educated. He's a fine boy, the best you can do is have
a daughter at least who is, you know she's at least a nurse and pretty good in
stenography because you know, she could work with my fine educated boy which is
a doctor and she could fit in right there until enough money came
in." You know how the Jews
are. The Armenians are no different than
the...Indians are no different, it takes the east. And getting over this way you've got a few
Italians that know how to dicker also.
From there on we're just a bunch of dickerless slobs.
So I can see where God came down to get a Bride for
His Son. And I'm going to tell you
something: that Bride had to come out of the same blood lines. Yes.
Isaac and Rebecca, Abraham and Sarah; half brothers, half sisters. I'm a half brother to Christ in the sense
that I've got a little different flesh from His but got the same Pappy,
100%. Same Father. We're not a bunch of mules that can't trace
ancestry.
All right, now notice how Bro. Branham brings this in,
the Rapture, paragraph 157-160.
(157) When them Seven Seals opened, those
mysteries and showing those things is what's happened.
Not what's going to happen, what's happened. Then based upon the correctness of the
knowledge of what has literally happened, showing and proving all things, you
know that the record being produced today has to be inerrant and applies to
this hour. And somebody else, if there
is an hour, is going to look back and say, "Heh,” and they are, but it's
going to be too late.
All right, he said:
(157) ...I didn't know it, but there's a man standing
here right now, standing right with me when you all heard me preach that
sermon, Sirs, What Time Is It? And that
morning exactly where it said it would be, there stood seven Angels standing
right from the Heaven. Came down,
there he stood. And as they went up, and
that whirlwind taken them up there, we standing, watching as they went away, science
took the picture of it There it is,
see. Now that to that.
...Picture of it way across the nations, down into
(158) One day when I started to preach these seven
church ages, that's Patmos vision part, and
I called Jack Moore, a great theologian; I said, "Jack, Who is this Person
that's standing there, ‘There's One like the Son of man standing there, hair as
white as wool.'" I said, "He
was a young Man; how could He have hair as white as wool?"
(150) He said, "Brother Branham, that was His
glorified body."
That is not a glorified body, that is not a glorified
body. And Bro. Branham you'll find says,
In a symbol. Symbol?
Symbol. Now he said, He appear to
Now he's telling you--interjecting this in the Rapture
to let you know; you turn this down at your risk. You get your own ideas at your own risk. Now I told you what I went through but
merciful God I'm so grateful that something way beyond my own thinking took
over or I would have been just like a denominational who-done-it.
All right.
(159) ...That didn't ring a bell. But when I went to the room and started
praying, He let me know what it was.
A judge. The
One standing here for that, Son of man in the glorified form. One who came here. All right?
(160) See, I've always preached that He was Deity,
See how far, yes I'll get this next verse. not just a man; Now there's
no man there at all--and there's no man there at all. No. He was God manifested in flesh, God, the Attribute
of the God of love, the great Attributes that come down displayed here on earth
of God. Jesus was God's love, which
built a body that Jehovah Himself lived in.
He was the fullness of the Godhead bodily. What God was, He manifested through that
body. That body had to die so He could
wash the Bride with His own Blood.
See everything lines up. All right?
That One here then is Elohim, which is Melchisedec, same One. God coming down to investigate. God coming down to condemn
(160) I always knew He was Deity.
Okay? Let's go
on now, 161. Now notice, the last
sentence I'll read again.
(160) ...What God was He manifested through that
body. That body had to die so He could wash the Bride with His own Blood.
Jesus is the Blood of God. And notice the relationship, the Life is in
the Blood. The Life is in the Bride so
the Bride now is the Blood of God. Don't
carry that too far, just remember it was what was said.
(161) Notice, not only is the Bride washed,
forgiven, but justified. See? Did you ever try the word justify to see what
it means? Now if Bro. Green were to say,
I'd been drinking, I'd been doing bad things, then he found out that I didn't
do it, then he come and say, "I forgive you Bro. Branham."
(162) Forgive me?
I never did it. What are you
forgiving me about? See? But if I'm guilty, then I can be forgiven,
but I'm still not just, because I did it.
But the word justified is "though you never did it at
all"--justified. And then the Blood
of Jesus Christ cleanses us so from sins, till it's put in the book of God's
forgetfulness. He's the only One can do
it. We can't. We can forgive, but not forget.
(163) I could forgive you, but I'll always
remember you did these evil things.
Now listen, see this is where we got to come here,
what we're talking about last night. You
can recognize everything that's going on but it's not going to jar you because
you're above it now. You can cope with
it. There was a time when we couldn't
but there's a time now--I'm believing that time is here. Now you watch the devil step in and see if we
can hack it. I'm sticking my neck out
for me and for you both but these thing have got to be done.
(163) Now you'll always remember those evil things. Then you're not just, you're forgiven, but in
the sight of God the Bride is justified.
She never done it in the first place.
Amen. Standing there married to
the virtuous Son of God, never sinned in the first place. Why?
She was foreordained; See the
seed remaineth in you, how could you sin?
You never...that seed couldn't sin.
See? Could be led astray by the
flesh and what have you. She was foreordained; she was trapped into
this. And now when she heard the Truth
and come forth, the Blood cleansed her.
See, you can talk about the Blood all you want but you can't have it
apart from Light. And she stands there virtuous.
See? No sin on Her at all.
Now what a court room drama is unfolded before
us. God the judge of all the earth is
here; separating as in Matthew 24, 36:51, which you read. I won't go over it again. That tells you what's happening. That's the tares from the wheat. And that is exactly Mt 3:12, His fan is in
His hand separate the chaff from the wheat.
And the fan is Acts the 3rd chapter.
This marvelous ministry comes on the scene like a fresh revival breath,
and the people stand up and say:
"Heh marvelous, marvelous things God's
doing. Oh great revival. Oh the Coming."
Say, “Hold it.
That's exactly right. He's going
to come but there is no Coming until there is a restoration."
And the restoration takes place through an Elijah
ministry which is Christ Appearing, the Son of man, in the form of the Spirit,
prophet and Pillar of Fire, yes, and the Spirit in the prophet bringing forth a
perfect ministry, which identifies and brings a prophetic truth. Then it's all over. You say, "Why is it over?" Don't you understand when John the Baptist
came on the scene and that Word came, and the full Word was fulfilled that the
order changed completely. We're going to
have a change of order. Come on--come on.
We've turned the corner, Bro. Branham said. People stand around and say oh to well:
"So what?"
I say, "You've turned a corner."
"Oh isn't that cute."
They don't have any idea what he's talking about. Everything's a cliché. Everything is that stupid bunch of Greeks
down there in their coliseums, wherever they are, their gymnasium, all those
places, and they titillate each other with, "Oh did you hear this? Did you hear what the prophet said? Oh my the prophet said this. Oh my the prophet said that. And yickedy yack, yum, yum, yum, yackidy
yack." Bunch of cults.
The prophetic Word of the hour brother/sister, to a
lot of people is just a bunch of yackity yack, little tid bits. I'm going to tell you something. I don't care what the prophet said, as far as
you and I are concerned, unless we understand doctrine. I don't care how well a house is built that
comes in your yard that's already cut and pre measured and precut inch by inch,
if you haven't got what it takes to put that lumber together, then somebody
else comes along and puts the lumber together and you haven't got enough brains
to know it's a house. Now that's just
exactly what we saw here in this hour.
It's too bad.
God revealing Himself, that He is doing it. Mt 24:23-27, now proving anything...not
proving anything Himself but God manifesting Himself by the Word of the hour
coming to pass. A veritable showdown,
man against God. Now Mt 24:23 and 27,
that tells you they'll say:
(23) ...Lo,
here is Christ, and lo there, don't believe it.
(27) For as
the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be.
Showing you exactly that positively there it is God
not trying to prove anything to anybody, as though proof was involved although
in a sense of the word it is, but it's literally God manifesting Himself and
the Word completely vindicated, because the Word has been fulfilled exactly as
God said. And this is the 1 Th
4:16. This is a prolonged period of
time. This is the Bride receiving Christ
preparatory for the Lord Jesus Christ to receive the Bride. The Bride getting ready.
Now let's go back to the book of Luke again, because
look, this thing is just so utterly simple it goes plum over people's
heads. They say, "Heh, I got to do
this, I got to do that." Like one
preacher said, he said, "You can revolutionize your church. Go home and make the preacher understand
this, we're going to play so many minutes per day. We're going to do this, and we're going to do
this, we're going to do that, and that'll do it." That's the biggest bunch of hogwash I've ever
heard because as far as I know that guy is so far off the Word it stinks. When you teach the people wrong, what have
you got? Now come on. That's what this Bible is all about. Now he said right here, verse 15.
(15) For John
shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink; (A Nazarite) He shall be
filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
(16) And many
of the children of
(17) And John
shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of
the fathers to the children, even the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; in
order to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Now if John the Baptist had not come and done this the
people would not have been ready. The very
Elect would not have been ready. That's
why He said, "If I do not send Elijah, I'll destroy utterly." And that's the very thing He says over there
in Acts the 3rd chapter, "When that one comes then He will destroy
utterly." Utterly destroy
what? Those that don't hear.
Now then, what
is it all about? There is something to
be heard concerning the end time which involves the Rapture. The Shout.
It went on literally from 1933 until 1965 almost to the end. Thirty-three to sixty-five is what? Thirty-two years and about somewhere in
there, that's what Christ lived. The
years of doing, the years of silence and all of those things in there, showing
exactly that's what it was.
Now till 1983 from 1933 is fifty year jubilee. And that's when the trumpet blows to sound
jubilee. Sound as you never sounded
before that this Rapture has got to be imminent. You say, "How long is it going to
be?" I don't know how long it's
going to be but it can't be long. The
signs are in. I'm not setting any dates
but I want to understand this thing is near.
So you...we in this Shout--the Bride is receiving
Christ preparatory for the Lord receiving her.
This is the real strange part of this doctrine but let's close off with
this thought: the mystery of 1 Th 4:16, which is, “The Lord Himself, shall
descend out of Heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel, the trump of
God.” Is not actually real strange as
you would interpret the word ‘real.’ We
interpret the word ‘real’ the way it is.
It is real and the reality is always strange to those that are strangers
to reality.
The ‘real’ is always strange to the dying creeds and
dogma believers, but to the Bride; I ask the question: Is this strange to
us? Are we uneasy? Are we not relaxed as it says we will be in 2
Th 1:7, when it says, "And you that are troubled rest with us when our
Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from Heaven?”
A relaxation taking over. No it
is not strange. It is the Living Bread,
the very Body Word of Christ that we are feasting on. We're not fasting we're feasting. Remember
The trouble is people are gluttonizing, not
eating. They wonder why they don't have
vitamins and energy for the journey. The
energy is not a physical thing and longer, it's a spiritual thing. What physical energy did Elijah suddenly have
that he could run down the mountain faster than the horses and go forty days in
the wilderness? It wasn't a physical
thing, it was a spiritual thing. God
gave him of the proper food. But the
Bride is at rest and is relaxing and she is maturing in the Presence of
Almighty God and we see signs of that maturity.
One of these days we'll be a whole lot closer where
Bro. Branham was. We'll begin to see the
evidence of those people who are under the same Holy Spirit, who know that
their guiltless before God, who have no fear.
Not something brazen but a reality.
The beauty and the mystery of it deepening until it becomes a beautiful
humble thing, and the Bride in His Presence, as Peter said, doesn't have the
adornments on the outside but on the inside shamefaced as it were. In other words, she's not proud. She's not vulgar. She's not made up. She's not thinking of herself and anything
that she has but she's looking at Him and she wonders, "How could this
be? But oh my, I'm glad it
is." There's nothing vaunting about
her.
You know people misunderstand what we're saying. Now we're going to keep being misunderstood
so we're coming to the place now where it’s time to forget the whole kit and
caboodle. Time to take our stand as
those that don't have any fear. The
Spirit of God is not regressive; we're not going back, we're going
forward. We're not going back anywhere,
we're going on. It's Onward Christian
Soldiers. That's the last song that Bro.
Branham heard as the Bride came back into view--this Bride. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to
war. Listen, that song was written for a
purpose because the word ‘Shout’ is a military command, and ‘subdue’ means to
put it in an order.
We’ve heard not just from our theophany, we've heard
from the General and Creator of all theophanies--the One that can bring the
dead out of the ground. The One that can
change us and take us all up. We're not
talking bed time stories anymore brother/sister. It's getting more real and more real and more
real and one day it will be reality because the negative which we have here,
and that negative simply means like a film, that's being translated into the
picture that God wants and that's going to be a living three dimensional
immortal Bride. Yes--it's coming
fast. Yes--coming fast. Let's rise.
Gracious Heavenly Father, God of the universe, God of
all creation, God of us, our Redeemer, our Savior, the Altogether Lovely, the
Rose of Sharon, Elohim, Melchesedec, Jehovah God, Elshadiah, all of it
today. Right now we in the Presence of
Him, Who is in our midst, the great Holy Spirit, knowing one time very shortly
the dead are going to come out of the ground because they are going to hear the
Voice of thee Son of God. They're going
to hear that Holy Spirit, God raise the dead.
We know that is going to happen.
We know that all these things are in Lord--we're at the very end time,
the very Capstone, the very Head, coming around the very Head Himself. We believe that Lord. We believe You're here. We do not believe for one minute You've gone. We believe You're going to take us into the
Millennium--we stand on it. And we thank You for it.
You may have disappeared from view in a certain sense
of the word. You may have passed from
Son of man, back to Son of God again at this moment--we do not have any doubts
concerning anything that You do. We just
glory in the fact that whatever we have seen done we begin to understand and
know because of Your grace and Your goodness.
We know who You are in the sense, You are God and there was none beside
You--One God, living everlasting.
And we know
shortly when the dead are raised and we are changed, the Rapture takes place,
You incarnate Yourself in the body of that One who is the head of us, who is
that man. Complete identification in
Him--complete brother in Him. And now
bone of bone, flesh of flesh, and the whole thing there one, even as we are one
now in the Spirit.
We praise thee O God for these things and Lord we know
that only You can impress them upon us.
Only You can make them real. Only
You can do it Lord and if there's a time be required, an element in there that
we ourselves can be more sober and sincere, then Lord we just believe that any
measure You take to make us more aware and more sincere, is not only legitimate
but it is the most merciful, kind thing that You can do and we depend upon Your
love knowing that You will do it.
Father, our times are in Your hands and we are in Your hands, all things
are in Your hands.
We exceed to thee as the great God, the everlasting
Father, the lovely One. We exceed you
Lord in all things and we know in many respects, in many ways, who You are and
we know You know that You know all about us.
Discerned our hearts, our thoughts, our minds--our thoughts speak louder
in Heaven than our words do on earth.
All of these things Lord we know and we are so glad for them. We are happy for Your grace, Your graciousness,
all of these things O God. We cannot
praise Thee enough. It's just marvelous
Lord what You have done for us and we here Lord and especially me in my older
age Lord, knowing that time really has run out and I hope it has Lord because
I'm standing strictly on a promise from this point on, and it is so good to
just stand on a promise. Standing on the
Promises.
And Lord here we are now in this last hour, perhaps my
last closing hours of life, to come to a place of the fulfillment which is only
in and through You--this is the most marvelous thing under Heaven. And knowing Lord, the God of all grace has
done it in eternal wisdom showing forth His love. And as Your own Word says, "Through the
mouth of Your holy prophets, your holy apostles," these men of God, that
we love You because You first loved us.
That is exactly true. The only
reason we see You is because You showed Yourself to us. The only reason we have anything is because
You have done it. And Lord that is nice
to come to that place, it is so good.
Over the years we wondered, over the years we were
flat with misunderstanding and feared within and without. But now it is so good to come to a place
where if You don't do it, it's not going to be done. And that's exactly the way we want it. Lord You do it, and then it will be
done--it'll be done right. For
whatsoever the Lord doeth, He doeth forever and no man can add to it, no man
can take from it. That's exactly the way
we want it. We want to just get
back. We're looking to it Lord, we
believe this is that hour. We praise
Thee.
May each one here, Lord God, stand in perfect health
before You. May that sweet Spirit
amongst us which is now growing more and more intensive, which we believe it
is, presaging the coming back of the dead amongst us Lord, and we're going to
see them. There won't be one that isn't
healed--not one. Oh with the grace, the
marvelous grace of our God, we praise Thee this afternoon. Now unto Thee Lord we ascribe the glory. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
We’re going to remain standing and bring little baby
up. And we shall dedicate the baby. I think I did use the word to
somebody--Chris--and I said, well we really don’t do that here, but I lapsed
back to the vernacular. All right this
is without a doubt Timothy Alexander [Lusk.?]
Right, this is the opportunity to...They thought I was the baby’s
grandfather at the hospital and I said, “Yes,” I said, “by proxy. I’ve got a lot of great grand kids and this
is one of them. And this is the newest
one.” And if I’d of really known what
they we’re saying, I could of held the baby.
But, however this is my hour.
Well, Hi little baby.
All right now this without a doubt is a sweet little baby they’re
waiting for. Now let me see, this is a
combination of Amber and little ol’ Caleb.
Now that baby’s yawning. How
about let’s get a picture like this here.
Hey look at that. That’s a smart
kid, he blinked and he smiled at me before the blinking.
All right, now this little baby we’re going to
dedicate to the Lord. The parents are
Christians so we have no problem there.
We saw how they’re raising the other three. Very highly commendable and we see their
lives and their service to the Church in the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ in
those things which are so appropriate and so desirable. So, we’re just going to dedicate the baby
because we feel everything is in order.
So let’s pray.
Heavenly Father we dedicate the dear sweet little baby
that you’ve given them. A fine little
boy, beautifully perfectly formed, we do believe with good health and
everything Lord at his disposal that you’ve bestowed upon him through a natural
election. So that little Timothy
Alexander Lusk, if time tarries will grow up to be a fine man. And we believe that will happen because we
dedicate him in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Actually to a ministry Lord if you would tarry and let
him have a part in the ministry. I know
he’s going to have a part anyway of some description, but maybe that this could
be a little child that would be possibly used as a father and maybe even
beyond. We don’t know, but we would
dedicate him to the very highest which is a real service Lord. Whether it be behind a desk or a pulpit some
way. But we dedicate him Lord atleast to
the full service of Almighty God and to the blessing and the Life and those
things which are contingent Lord.
We stand behind this lovely little boy and his family,
all of them; believing with all of our hearts and this wonderful time of
dedication. Receive him therefore Lord
in the spirit of love which he has been received from you to us and we give him
back in that same spirit of love and grace in the Name of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
I’ll give him to you and then you can give him back to
momma. All right that’s wonderful. So nice to dedicate the babys. All right that’s good because that’s the way
it’s done. All right, I’ll give you time
then to start singing ‘Take the Name of
Jesus with You’ and the brethren we don’t mind if you’ll come.