Shalom #9
Revived Work
Shall we pray. Heavenly Father, we
know that Your Own Word coming through Jesus said, “I am the light of the
world.” And Bro. Branham bringing us this message concerning the light coming
upon earth, darkness pressing, light pressing, to bring us peace, and we
believe that’s true Lord, in this our day. We know Neville Chamberlain said,
“Peace in this our day,” and it only brought forth war. And now there’s going
to be peace in our day for us, who are the sheep of Your pasture, the flock of
Your hand. We are looking forward to that day, Lord, when the dead come out of
the earth, so to speak, bringing forth tabernacles unto Thee, immortal bodies,
and we ourselves changed, going to the Wedding Supper.
Help us therefore, Lord, to study
Your Word as the prophet gave It, that Your Name might be glorified. In Jesus’
Name we pray. Amen.
You may be seated.
1. Now we’re at number nine in this
message of “Shalom.” And, after Bro. Branham has launched into his message of
peace from God, (Because that’s what ‘shalom’ is: ‘peace from God’.) which he
says comes during a time of chaos, wherein light is pressing against darkness,
or the truly vindicated Word is being given, even to those who oppose It. He
stresses in paragraph 45, that unless one uses this Message under the right
motivating spirit, it is best not to even talk to anyone about It. He speaks of
the spirit of Christ, when he was being crucified by His Own creation, and he
said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And so today, the
people are in such a chaotic and unknowing state, that they can’t even realize
the Word is being manifested and vindicated. After thousands of vindications
the people just sit there and carry on as usual, and no changes are made,
except for the worst in most cases.
2. He, then, speaks of their disregard of
the Message, as we will read on page 8, paragraph 48. But, before we read it,
it’s only right to set forth the principle of ‘Alpha and Omega’, and thereby
see that the same Spirit that was on Jesus was on William Branham, so that in
referring to the right attitude in bringing this Message, might not always
apply to us, but actually could apply only to him. And the reason I say that
is, that Bro. Branham said in speaking about this Message, that he had to have
the proper motivating spirit that made him realize the people were in gross
darkness, and they were blind, and they were deaf to the things of God. But, as
Jesus said, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do,” even he must
have that same spirit.
Well, that’s true when you realize
that the Spirit of this hour, or the Elijah of this hour, is the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself—not man, but God; but it comes by a prophet. So, the other
morning, Sunday, when we took that particular paragraph… I don’t remember where
it was now. It might have been, oh, any one of these, back on page 7. Speaking
of the fact that he had to be properly motivated, I would believe as I spoke on
that, that we took it to the point where it became a devotional message in
order to understand a little bit more about deacons in the church, whose
object, though Bro. Branham said was to be a police in the building, that was
to make sure order was maintained, and discipline correctly kept according to
the Word of God, yet under no consideration do we find that people are to be
confrontational or to be obstreperous, or to be in any way physical concerning
the work of the Lord. It’s a matter of turning the other cheek, and doing those
things that Jesus said, especially on the Sermon of the Mount, not to deny that
Bro. Branham said, “Just because you’re a
Christian, doesn’t mean people will walk all over you.” Now, you’re looking
at two different things entirely. When he said, “Just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean people will walk all
over you,” that doesn’t mean that you’ve got to give into every whim and
fancy of every crook and everybody that says something, you know, or does
something to you. That’s not true.
3. We’re talking in terms where the Gospel
of Jesus Christ is presented, and Christ is an issue, and the Word of God is an
issue, then there is always a necessity to turn the other cheek, to walk the
extra mile, to give the cloak, to do those things we wouldn’t do normally,
because it’s for the sake of Jesus, yet it never at any time, denying the Word
or our stand for the Word, which could lead us into imprisonments, and
whippings, and God knows what—even death.
So, we were looking at that Sunday
morning in order to bring a pastoral message. But the actual fact of the matter
is, because Bro. Branham placed himself in that particular instance, in
bringing forth that dissertation, I can see where this is the omega of the
alpha. Once more we see the Christ being crucified, that is the Son of God, crucified
afresh to mankind.
4. Now, so we go on back to page 8 for a
second, where Bro. Branham says in paragraph 48:
[48] Like,
for instance, concerning the fact that people are in gross darkness, and
they just can’t seem to understand. Crossing the nation around and speaking, and the
Lord identifying, and vindicating His Word and showing it’s exactly right, and
never let anything be said unless it comes to pass exactly what He said,
speaking it right into existence, and so forth, as He's been doing. And people
sit and look at that, and continue right on in the same condition. See?
Now they continue right in that same
condition. Now, since the people are seeing and hearing a vindicated Word, is
it possible that something doesn’t happen? Well, it’s true that something does
happen! They’ll either reject or accept It. And in rejecting It, we don’t know
what their end will be exactly, because there’s two kinds of believers outside
of the real believer. There’s the foolish virgin. And then, there’s the other one;
he’s nothing but a make-believer. Then, of course, there’s one that doesn’t
believe at all. We don’t know who they are, but there is this possibility that
people can see something and never recognize it, and it doesn’t faze them one
bit. It does nothing for them, or they completely misunderstand it all.
5. Now
Bro. Branham in paragraph 49 says:
[49] Now,
See, now he’s going to illustrate this, what he’s saying. See, not disregarding
anybody, but like our sisters now, speaking about them, many times when I speak
to them about wearing those clothes, and cutting their hair, and little things.
And men, how they'll continue on into their creeds, and serve under those
creeds and things. And they're good people. They're fine people. But yet, it
seems that they can't understand; looks like they can't get it. Why? I go back
the next year, and, instead of being any better, it's worse. It continues on.
Here's a sister that once had lovely long hair; she’s cut it off. Here's a man
that once looked like he took his stand and went out for the thing that was
right; he's right back like a dog to its vomit—hog to its wallow. See, goes
right back out into it. It seems like there's something that has struck our
people; (And I think he’s speaking of
Now, what I’m looking at here is
that you’ll notice that the women are chided for their lack of understanding,
their dress, and their hair. And they are not chided as the men, because the
men are chided for turning down the doctrine. The men are not taught about
their dress. They aren’t told about their conduct. They’re not told about their
behavior.
So, evidently we have a basic principle
here, which is the foundation and groundwork of this entire Message. Can the
men change their minds and come to the truth of the doctrine? They already know
behavior. But the women don’t! They’ve been taught it’s okay to cut their hair.
It’s okay to wear sexy dresses. In fact, the ordinary human male, in the male
society which we have today, which is still predominant over the women because
of their muscular force and other abilities which they have garnered over the
years and accrued to themselves and used, the woman are still looked upon as
sex symbols, and men don’t want to help themselves, to see that the women are
correctly placed where God has placed them. And I look down and… I’m like Bro.
Branham. I feel sorry for the women more than the men, because the men are
deliberately doing things they shouldn’t be doing, knowing that the woman is
the weaker vessel. But you understand what he’s saying here. He’s laid down a
basic principle where people start. Men go to the Word. Women listen to men in
the Word; and that’s all that’s necessary, is to present themselves correctly.
This is not too much to expect from anybody. Of course, in no way are we
bypassing the rebirth, which is foundational for both men and women.
6. Now that’s what Bro. Branham brought, a
very simplistic Message. But they’re under spiritual amnesia of some
description, and the more he teaches the truth, the more the men leave the
doctrine, and the more the women live in a grosser nature. That has to be!
Because men type the headship of the church, and women type the church. There
is no place where a woman can ever assume a headship. It’s just utterly
impossible. That ought to make her feel very happy. But, of course, if you go
with the Steinems and the rest of those women liberators, you just sink lower
into greater bondage. It just makes me sick thinking about them. Woman follow
them into so-called woman’s lib. It’s a most discouraging situation. See? And
all the time they think that they’re leading women away from the men, when
they’re just absolutely trapping themselves to the men. Stupidest thing I ever
saw in my life. Even a few women are beginning to see this. All right.
7. Now Bro. Branham, going on to paragraph
50:
[50] Just you notice men today, you don't find that genuineness in
men. You don't find it in women. The reason I'm basing this, is to get
"Shalom."
Now the reason he’s basing it this
way is to let you know that, under these conditions, there is still the
presence of God that brings peace. It doesn’t matter. It’s just like Paul on
board the ship that was about to be wrecked. The angel of the Lord appeared and
said, “The ship is going to go down. Everything on board is going to go down,
but there isn’t going to be one person lost.” And so, that’s what we’re looking
at here, in this time and condition.
Now evidently, Bro. Branham is
setting forth here the power of moral decision and staying with it. There just
isn’t a reality and a genuineness in them to stay where God wants them to be
put.
8. Now paragraph 51:
[51] But
you notice the women in our day, they don't seem to have that ladylikeness they
once had. It’s just like they want to, but there's something won't let them
have it and do it. It seems there's a heaviness. You tell a lady that she
should not do such-and-such a thing, and the lady looks upon That and believes
That, she wants to believe That, but there's something that presses her the
other way in spite of it. See? Poor thing. I feel sorry for her. She's so
caught in such a web of Hollywood, and the advertisements in television, radio,
and newspaper, and on the streets, in the store windows, with modern dress and
so forth, and the way that other women meet her. And it seems to be that there
is something they just can't pull away from—our young people, our old people,
our middle age.
Now Bro. Branham is warning here
and, you might say, giving that warning very gently. But, remember; the warning
he’s giving is the Voice of the One from heaven, and It’s thundering very loud
in people’s ears.
9. So, let’s take a look at 2
Thessalonians and see where we are according to this hour, which, whether you
know it or not, is the hour of the antichrist; because, when Christ was
unveiled, so was the devil; so was the antichrist. Of course, John spoke of
that in the first century.
Now in 2 Th 2:7 It says:
(7) For
the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he (that) letteth will let,
until he be taken out of the way.
In other words the brakes are put on
temporarily by the Holy Ghost. And, when the brakes are taken off by the Holy
Ghost, everything sinful and everything horrible is going to turn loose upon
this earth. And, if you think it’s bad now, you don’t want to be here when it
comes, as Bro. Branham, who certainly believed in that portion of writing that
has been set forth as the oath of the Knights of Columbus, Catholic
organization… He said, absolutely, that he would rather have that perpetrated
upon him than five minutes in the Great Tribulation. And, remember; according
to Bro. Branham, what was upon earth in the days of Noah was brought upon the
earth by the people themselves. And we’re talking about the greenhouse
condition; we’re talking about the ozone holes; we’re talking about all these
things. So therefore, the day will certainly come; and, as we well know, (I think
it was Bro. Gene who was telling me. I hadn’t read the article. I haven’t even
come across it where the earth had shot out and spewed out as it hasn’t been
known in human history to the extent, causing radiation and many other things.)
that the sun will actually at one time be blackened. And, before it is
blackened, there will be heat upon the earth and such a terrible condition that
men will literally be burning under it and cursing God, gnawing their tongues
with pain.
10. So, as there is no way that people are
turning to God under this Message, but turning further and further from it,
there will come a time when they will bring upon themselves the very things we
spoke of so many times, according to the Book of Romans, chapter 1, where
they’re doing these horrible things and all the results come back upon them. We
see that already happening. And, if it’s happening in the human body, because
they deserted God and turned to homosexuality, (And you can see the fruit of
it.) how much more will it be when God destroys those that destroy the earth?
In other words, when they set nature loose upon themselves to this extent,
where they’re actually rotting and dying, how much more will it be when nature
has been set loose upon them by their own folly?
Well, you know what we’re talking
about. It’s going to be terrible. So, Bro. Branham, I would say, is one hundred
percent correct in his assessment that it’d be far better to have anything
perpetrated upon you that man can devise than to be in the Great Tribulation,
or any part whatsoever, where It says, “In that darkness where there’s weeping,
wailing, and gnashing of teeth,” and so on.
11. Now, over here in Gen 2:16-17, you will
notice at the time of the unveiling of the antichrist is the time of the
unveiling of the Christ. And that’s the time of the Tree of Life again.
(16)
And
(God’s) commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat:
(17)
But
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in
the day thou eatest thereof (dying) thou shalt surely die.
And with that we go over here to Gen
3:4-6. It says:
(4)
The
serpent said unto the woman, (You) shall not surely die.
Now that’s exactly what they’re
saying now! Millions now living will never die. In fact, the church world is
trying to convert everybody to some kind of organization, which they feel will
save the poor deluded person out there. And so, what they’re saying then, “Now,
if there’s a billion people can come in, praise God for a billion.”
And now that opens the door for the
Roman Catholic Church to get her spirit upon the Protestants, which could
certainly come upon them, where under Augustine they said, “As God heard Paul
raging against the gospel of Jesus Christ, He smote him down! And by smiting
him down deliberately, literally impaling him, making him suffer, until Paul
cried out.”
So, if God could force someone to
come into the fold, by force, even unto death, the Roman Catholic then devised
the understanding, “We can force anybody and make anybody come into this fold.”
Well, you can see that’s going to happen down the road.
12. I don’t know just all what’s going to
happen; but, if the Mohammedan thinks he can talk against the Word, and
Khomeini, the leader, thinks that he can defy the truth, let me tell you this:
the Christians can absolutely devastate and destroy anybody anywhere, if
there’s only one billion Christians, and six or seven billion of those. Then,
the one billion Christians will annihilate, or force them—subjugate them,
because they’ve got the power. Let’s face it. If the black man tried to take
whitey with him, he’s very foolish, because there’s nothing in the records
where he’ll do it. And I’m not a racist. I’m simply telling you what’s in the
Word of God. The Christian church, so-called, brother/sister, is going to have
the power, and the antichrist is going to be over it—the power of the enemy.
And he’s going to be ruling his own universe completely for that time. You
watch what he can do. Don’t ever fool yourself. These people are living in a
fool’s paradise. The rage of people is turning against the Arabs. It’s too bad
it’s turning against the Jews at the same time—because we will turn on the Jews
in America at some future date.
So, you watch it come. You’re not
going to get away from the Bible, brother/sister. “You shall not surely die,”
said the enemy.
(5) God
know(s) that in the day (you) eat thereof, your eyes (will) be opened, and
(you’ll) be as gods, knowing good and evil.
There’s coming a day when the
world’s eyes will be opened too late for having turned down the Word.
(6) The
woman saw (it) was good (to eat,) good for food, pleasant to the eye, tree to
be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit, gave (to) her husband
(also, and they) did eat (and so on).
So, what you see here in this hour,
when the Tree of Life is being unveiled before us, and man has the opportunity
to pass into immortality, he is so confused, he doesn’t know what to do, and
the opportunity slips out of his hand. It’s all over. It’s a pitiful situation,
for the tree of knowledge can only condemn.
13. [52] There
seems to be something amongst men. Men don't seem to have that masculine touch they used
to have. See, women are no longer feminine. Women don't have that
feminine touch she used to have. You take men today; men don't seem to be burly
like they used to be. They want to wear suede shoes with purple. (I think
he’s thinking of Elvis there.) And they want to act like women. Now, that is true. It seems to be, more or
less, like a perversion. Hormones are mixed up. A woman wants to cut her hair
off and act like a man. Man wants to act like a woman. See? And yet, you can
talk to them, and this is the truth! As much as I don’t like to admit
it, I have admitted it previously, that every time I see a man with long hair,
and these goofy beards and things, I just go bananas. I don’t have… well, I
guess I come almost literally murderous in my thinking. And yet, some of those
people are just the nicest people. They’re really nice people. But, where do they
stand? Nice to
talk to, nice people, friendly, sociable people.
Of course, you’ve got the Johnny
Cashes, so-called Christia—and June Carter, so-called Christian—who make up
their songs and condemn people who condemn those men who have long hair, when the
Bible forbids it. Women should have long hair, uncut, and men should certainly
have cut hair. In fact, there’s too many preachers that don’t cut their hair
short enough as far as I’m concerned, and I think it would be very nice if the
Lord did them a favor: He just let them all go bald. At least it’d be a favor.
They’d have a hair cut—a permanent one.
14. [52] What’s caused this? he said.
What is this going on, in the light of thousands of vindications, where the
church had to know something, and yet they passed it by? It’s gross darkness upon
the people. It's something that’s pressed into them.
All right. This amounts to an actual
spirit, like mass hysteria. It’s a definition of universal pressure. It
pressures people in a common direction to destruction; and yet, they’re
apathetic about the destruction that they’re going into! Now, that’s just the
truth.
Science tells us of peer pressure.
Science tells us that they’ve made a study of human behavior: what it could be
like as they took animals, and they put too many into too little a space, under
very oppressive conditions. And they could tell how the animals reacted. Some
got nervous, thin, and died. Some tried to destroy others. Others, their hair
dropped out—everything terrible happened to them.
And they said, “See, that’s what
could happen to people.”
And that’s exactly right.
And you know as well as I do that,
when God talked to Eve, one thing He said was her conception would be
multiplied. And, you know, that that didn’t happen to Eve; and it didn’t happen
to the race of God’s people, as long as Adam and Eve’s children married. It was
the serpent race, the animal race, that was prolific. It was only down the line
you saw all these births come into existence. Just read your Bible. Man married
137 years of age, had one son; 500 and some years of age, have another son or a
daughter. But now you’ve got the proliferation of the human race.
And I know that people,
well-intentioned people, are trying to stop abortion; and so they should. It
shouldn’t have to be a necessity for abortion in the first place. But they’re
trying to sell a bill of goods that the earth is not getting over-populated!
Now that isn’t so, because, if part of the problem that was engendered in the
Garden of Eden is happening down through the ages, and that is multiple
births—which shouldn’t be in the first place—then, you see, the people that
tell you these things are just liars. They’re pseudo scientists. Yes sir.
You’ll find that.
15. How in the world could you have
everybody be a farmer that’s in this world? Five billion people farmers? And
we’re all supposed to be farmers! Didn’t God put man in the garden to tend the
garden and take care of the earth? He certainly did. What’s it going to be in
the Millennium? Build great big cities? Like that man down there in Miami,
Havak Hagapian?
Oh, he really was scared of me when
I visited him. He knew I was a bad man. So, I strung him along, until he told
me how his vision showed that, during the Millennium, there’s going to be big
plastic bubbles—air-conditioned. I thought his head was a plastic bubble that
needed air conditioning. I didn’t say a thing though.
I just said, “Well, that’s
wonderful.”
Then, he told me you go into a
telephone booth and punch the numbers, and you’d be there where you dialed.
And I said, “Hey that sounds like
something.”
I didn’t buy any stock in it,
though. It was all blue chip at a very low price. But I walked out. That was
the end of him. So much for an Armenian who claimed to believe he was Jesus
Christ just because he dressed like Him; he had a flowing garb on, and gown and
all. And he had a beard and everything else. He was Jesus incarnated. But I
couldn’t see that for fifteen seconds, because I knew very well he was not
Jesus incarnated. He was anything but.
16. Now, okay. Page 10. We’re up here in
paragraph 53.
[53] Like the Jews were in the days of Jesus came to the earth,
Isaiah prophesied of it, this pressing darkness, this condition. “Eyes that couldn’t see,
and ears that couldn't hear.” In other words they couldn’t place what was
going on and, therefore, make use of it.
Now the point comes up, was this
back in Jesus’ day and in the days of the prophets really real? All right. The
question comes up. What about the time of the ark? Was there an ark, or wasn’t
there an ark? Well, if Noah was building the ark and preaching all those years,
they had something they could have gone into. But you know, since they didn’t
go into it, God let the animals come in. That was a whole lot better anyway.
17. [53] Now, that’s the reason Jesus
prayed their forgiveness, because it had to be that way to fulfill the
Scripture.
All right. Let’s just see how far
you can take that. You know, I’m not too good at taking everything Bro. Branham
said just hook, line, and sinker, letting it sit there, without comparing
everything else he said. Because you do that, you’re going to have a cross
fight in your life like you never had before.
Now, to have this spirit of
compassion is great. But, how far do you carry it? How far do you go at the end
time? We’ll take Mat 12:18.
(16)
(To
the Gentiles) Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my
soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, he shall shew judgment to
the Gentiles. (In other words He’s going to come and judge or avenge.)
(17)
He
shall not strive, nor cry; neither any man hear his voice in the streets.
(18)
(The)
bruised reed shall he not break, smoking flax shall he not quench, he send
forth judgment unto victory.
(19)
In
his name shall the Gentiles trust.
All right. That took place back
there. And it’s supposed to happen to the Gentiles. That’s alpha back there.
Then, to the Gentiles is omega. Now, watch in verse 22: they brought deaf and
dumb; and the mighty miracles that substantiated Jesus’ claim to being the
Messiah, the Son of God, they turned them down and said, “This is of the
devil.”
And Jesus said, “Now, just a minute.
If Satan cast out Satan, he’s destroyed himself. And Satan is not stupid. So,
you know yourselves that it can’t be the devil.”
What about the Church of Christ when
they say that? And the rest of them? And they do say it.
18. Now He said, “Listen. Let me tell you
something.” Verse 31.
(31)
All
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
(32)
And
whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man (That’s the Lamb of God, the
Messiah, the man in whom God dwelt, the sacrifice to be given. He had not yet
shed His Blood, and was going to shed His Blood. You can say what you want
about Him; it will be forgiven you!)
Now that was back there. What about
here in Matthew 18, which is not the man but the Holy Spirit, when He comes!
What is the Holy Spirit given to the church for? That is 1 Th 4:16!—and to
fulfill this, which is a substantiation or the vindication of 1 Th 4:16. Now,
what’s going to happen today? One word spoken against the Holy Ghost shall not
be forgiven either in this world nor the world to come!
So now, what we’re looking at is
this: the delivery of the Word of grace is always in the Spirit of God, which
is meekness and loving and kindness and self-sacrificial. But, when you stand
with the Word, the people who come against It will commit the unforgivable sin.
So, that’s where you carry what Bro. Branham’s saying: stand with the Word no
matter what It costs you. But, know this one thing: that though you speak with
the Spirit of Christ, and you are not judgmental, let me tell you this: the
Judge is already here and has already judged, because this is the judging Word.
They crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh. All right.
19. Now. Paragraph 54:
[54] And
it's returned again to us. What’s that? Gross darkness upon the people. The Bible spoke of this
day in which we live, and said these things would come, “gross darkness upon
the people.” Not just darkness, but gross darkness. And we see it, that
there’s something that just, simply, the people want to but they can’t.
Now, I remember years back, when I
was recognizing Bro. Branham as the prophet, knowing who he was, there was a
very, very, fine brother, that understood the doctrine of predestination and
sovereignty as very few people ever have or will understand it. Now his message
was so effective that, as he preached it, people could end up in hospitals
under such terrible conviction.
This would happen by him simply
preaching, “Listen, you can’t come, even if you wanted to. And, if you’re not
seed, this is over your head. It is not for you.”
And he sat in Bro. Branham’s
meetings; enjoyed them to the fullest. He happily just smiled and laughed.
He said, “It’s all over my head,”
but he said, “I think it’s great.”
The man was not able, sitting there
as a minister, to know this much: What in the world is going on? What is this
pointing to? Is there a sign? Is there something here? Because this is not
normal! Two thousand years is gone by. This is super normal. It’s not abnormal;
it’s super normal. It’s supernatural. It’s miraculous. Now I appreciate the
fact that the man would not say a word against it. But here is a minister
understanding sovereignty, himself sitting there, and the light could not
strike him, at least with a definitive knowledge that he could receive.
20. Now this is the sad place that the world
is in. It’s like it’s an atmosphere of darkness that the church has created.
The church in its energies has produced smog-like California smog! Have you
ever been out there and seen it? Thick, grayish, yellow. Eyes smart, utterly
dangerous, and can be incapacitating. However, you all do know what can happen
in the time of a volcanic eruption. And, if you’re in the right place, the sun
can be absolutely darkened to you.
So, when the church has begun to run
its course at the end time, it has produced a gross darkness that the people
cannot see through. It’s upon the people, and it’s a spirit.
[55] Nicodemus expressed it one time before the Lord, "Rabbi,
we know that You are a Teacher that came from God.”
In other words he’s saying this, concerning this gross darkness
that the people are in bondage to; they know something is there. They would
like to be participants, but something just leaves them in a place of, what you
might call, inertia. It’s like the time Nicodemus went to the Lord, and he
said, “Look, I’m going to tell you something. I know you’ve got to be from God,
and you’ve got to have something to tell us, because God never wasted His time
in manifesting in this condition without something being pertinent to us.” And
he turned away and walked away. He did come back, however. He was a born-again
man, later on, because he said, “God’s doing this thing.”
21. Now you know as well as I do that, until
a few years ago, there wasn’t any group of people, except those extreme,
radical serpent seed bunch, that dared to lay a finger on Bro. Branham and his
ministry. They knew there was a reality there that nobody else had.
Pentecostals never had it; nobody had it. But now they wax very bold, as they
have never done before, and they’ll continue to do so. So, there’s greater
darkness than ever, because the Message has gone forth.
22. Let me just check over here. I wrote a
little note down here, Matthew 21; and, if I’ve got something here…maybe.
Matthew 21:23:
(23) And
when he was come (to) the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the
people came unto him as he was teaching, and (they) said, By what authority
doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
(24)
And
Jesus answered and said, (I’ll) ask one thing (of you), which if (you) tell me,
(then I’ll) tell you by what authority I do these things.
(25)
The
baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or men? And they reasoned with
themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; (he’ll) say, (Well, why
didn’t you) believe him?
(26)
(And)
if we say, Of men; we fear the people; for (they think John’s) a prophet.
(27)
And
they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell.
Now that’s what the people are like
in this day. Now, if you think those fine men that you’ve maybe looked up to
over the past, these godly priests, these godly elders, these godly pastors, godly
evangelists, oh, fine great men… They are no different from this bunch of
buzzards. They’re the same cloth. Come on, the world church has nothing to do
with God. He said, “That bunch of hypocrites, see. I’ve got no part in you;
you’ve got no part in me.” And He said, “The reason there’s no part between the
two of us is that you’ve got no place in you for the Word.” And, if you’ve got
no place in you for the Word, you’ve got no place for the Holy Ghost.
I don’t care what you say tonight!
You can jump up and down in this pulpit, and you can scream and dance and put
on a show and cut up. That doesn’t mean one thing just because you’re agitated,
you’re happy, you’re enthused or something else. It doesn’t mean one thing.
23. Let me tell you this: the Holy Spirit at
the end time doesn’t raise His voice in the streets. He doesn’t put on a show.
He even came to Bro. Branham and sent His mighty angel and said, “Listen
Branham. I want to tell you something. You’ve made a sideshow of the ministry I
gave you.”
William Branham should have kept his
voice lower, perhaps.
You say, “Well, I don’t like him
stiff and starchy.”
Perhaps you don’t know what stiff
and starchy is.
A little girl years ago came to this
church, her father being a oneness preacher, and she said, “Why…” She said,
“Going to that church…”
I wasn’t pastoring at that time.
She said, “It’s like playing
church.”
And I said she made the terrible
mistake of judging the Word by the spirit instead of judging the spirit by the
Word. She wanted some hoopla. Young girl literally blaspheming the things of
God—some preacher’s daughter. Because you’re a preacher’s daughter or some
relative, you think you’re somebody? You better stop it. Just stop it.
Two preachers right now are saying,
“My dad’s a preacher. I’m a preacher. My brother’s a preacher.”
That means something? Stand up and
tell me it means something! Explain it and prove it. Where’d you get that
nonsense?
24. I’ll tell you what. Did you ever notice
when Bro. Branham turned to the people and said, “I take every spirit in this building under my control, in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, for the glory of God,” how much jumping around was he doing at that moment? How did he
raise his voice? You tell me. He lowered his voice; you could barely hear him
on the microphone.
He said, “We’ll ask Him to come.”
Did he start screaming, jumping down
with the Word: “Hallelujah, we can say this, bless God. I’ll show you how to
use the Word of God!”? He shut up like a mouse in a corner.
And he said, “He’s here.”
What happened to William Branham?
Well, think it over. He’s a man like you and me. Do you think when I’m home, my
thoughts coming together, I’m screaming and jumping? When I sit here waiting
for the anointing to strike from all of you people waiting for me, am I running
around? I can get excited up here, yet that doesn’t mean one thing. So, what is
the Word of God? These people sold out for excitement, for a mess of pottage,
for a few little signs and wonders that they could produce, because gifts are
manifested even in the tares.
25. And I want you to notice something: when
Korah, Dathan and Abiram, elders under Moses, (because they were of the
Levitical priesthood, (See?) priests unto him with gifts of prophecy)...
They came in the camp, and they
said, “Bless God, let me tell you. Moses thinks he’s got it all. We’ve got
something too.”
You know what happened? Every single
one died. Moses just stood there—calm, quiet Moses.
“Lord God,” he said. He never got
excited, but he was angry. He said, “If these men are right, You’ve never
spoken by me.”
The same authority. [Bro. Vayle
points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire.] Same authority, brothers, and
their quietness, manifestation. How quiet the people got. The Spirit of God
began to move under discernment and the power of God. Of course, afterward they
could let loose, and scream, anything they wanted. That was great. There’s a
big difference, brother/sister, in being a sideshow and being God’s husbandry.
Let me tell you that. If you’re God’s husbandry, you might be a little old,
kind of a lily of the field, and the little old poppy of the field. You
wouldn’t be some great big climbing, rambling rose, you know. Or some big, what
you might call, what are those? bird of paradise plants, or some fabulous six
inch orchid, and so on. No. You’d be more like a little pansy growing in the
shade. All right.
What about then? The same now. What
It says here, was dark back there: “Blindness,
upon the Jewish race, that the Messiah might take” to Himself a Gentile “Bride. They had to reject Him,” for that reason. And now they’re going
to reject Him at the end time, so He can turn back to Israel. All right.
26. Let’s go to paragraph 56.
[56] And
that’s the gross darkness that’s the churches and things today, to fail to see
the Light that’s shining. Now Bro. Branham’s making a definition. Why
does he say the church has gross darkness upon it? Because they fail to see the
light that is shining.
See? See, there seems to be such a heavy press. That’s darkness. Against the
Word. We take some of the noted evangelists today, they are constantly
screaming for a revival, and working right against It; see, not understanding,
but without understanding.
27. All right. Let’s go back to Habakkuk 3.
[End of side one of the audio tape.]
(1)
A
prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
(2)
O
Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the
midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember
mercy.
Now, what does this man say here?
Bro. Branham says that, “The evangelists
are crying for a revival.” The word ‘revival’ is a thoroughly misunderstood
word. Amongst the people today it simply means, ‘We’re going to cast the net by
some kind of preaching and bring in a bunch of sinners’. Well, I don’t think it
actually means that. If you want a revival in the church, what you do is you
want the church to be ‘set on fire’, where people come back to the realization
of the glory of the former glory of God. And here is what this man is saying in
his prayer:
(2) O
Lord, revive thy work in the midst of years.
He said to Jesus, “Tell us what we
must do to do the works of God.”
And he said, “To do the works of God
is to believe on him whom God has sent”—to believe on him whom God has sent.
The people are crying for a revival.
There is only one hope for a revival, and that’s to find out if God has sent
somebody; and, if there is any hope, or any inkling that God might have done
so, you better check it out and find who the person is. Because that’s… Jesus
Himself taught what this man was saying. I don’t care what this man was saying,
and what people think this man was saying. I only care what Jesus said, when he
interpreted what this man said. “Bring on your works, O God, before wrath.”
It’s an end time utterance. What is the work of God? The same as it was under
alpha: to believe on him whom God hath sent. Whom did God send? He sent us:
(1) The
gift of His Son in the form of the Holy Ghost. [Points to the picture of the
Pillar of Fire.]
(2) He sent us a prophet.
Because the one without the other
doesn’t work, because God has confined Himself. According to the heart cry of
man, and the heart cry of God, there has been a contract. God will not speak
outside of a prophet. Now you can do what you want with it. And they did what
they wanted with it, back in alpha. And they’ll do what they want under omega.
They simply have always, and will always, hate the prophets. They can’t help
themselves. Read Matthew 23, and you’ll see it all laid out there. Every single
prophet. Then, the great Prophet, the Word Himself, of course, they crucified
Him. See?
28. Now he said:
[56] That’s that
gray darkness
that’s upon the church. They fail to see that Light. And all
the while, the
evangelists are crying and screaming for God to revive His work, and they’re working right
against It;
How? The same way Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram worked against Moses. Now you can’t take that to the age of Paul,
because Paul was not the leader of an exodus. No way. There are certain
Scriptures that sort of have a compound place in history. Like Jesus: he led an
exodus. Moses did. The next one is going to be ours under Bro. Branham. It’s
already taken place as far as the ministry is concerned and the ongoing working
of the Holy Ghost. The Word of the Lord was given to the apostle Paul, and he
wrote It. William Branham was given the ability to interpret It. That’s why It
says, “Beginning at Samuel and all the prophets.” William Branham cannot be
identified with Moses as a giver of the Word, because Bro. Branham did not have
a Word from God. He didn’t write a book. He didn’t write a letter. He didn’t
have to. It was already written. He was like Samuel. Samuel didn’t have to
write. He could write a history book. William Branham could’ve too. That’s
okay. He could’ve written about what happened. But, as far as the Word of God
was concerned, it wasn’t up to Bro. Branham to have that. He was here to
interpret. He said, “Just think, the same
Pillar of Fire that brought the Word to Paul, is here revealing the Word.”
And that’s what he said, and that’s what you go by. See?
29. Now that is in our day. But the people
have turned it down. Now then, God can only honor those who honor Him. Now,
what does the Bible say? Honor thy father and thy mother. Now, if your Father
isn’t God, there’s no way you’re going to honor Him. Therefore, there’s no way
He’ll honor you, unless you are a son. The Word of the Lord can only come to
the elect. That’s why Bro. Branham starts us off, “This message of peace, that comes through the vindicated Word, into
the human vessel. Bringing relaxation, bringing this great peace with God.” See?
Comes at this particular hour, through the vindicated Word, by a vindicated
prophet.
30. Now the people are working against the
prophet. And, how do they do it? They do it as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram did,
because every single church has within it the charismatics. There’s a branch of
Lutherans that practiced divine healing just left and right. The Catholic
Church, Methodist, Baptist, they’re all over. As Bro. Branham said, “The Methodists want the Baptists, the
Pentecostals want them all. They’ve got them all.” The Pentecostals own the
Catholic Church—literally. You watch and see. They’re all part of it. Now,
where’s your tongues going to go to? They are working against the very thing
that they are crying for, but they don’t know what they’re crying for.
It’s just as Bro. Branham said, “I was in the house of Bro. Moore,” the
man that wrote, The Herald of His Coming. Everybody knows it was the
finest paper in print for years and years.
Every single paper would have: “O
God send a prophet. O God send a prophet. People pray. People pray, O God send
a prophet.”
So, God sent the prophet, who sat
down and had dinner. He was right in the prophet’s presence. He ate and drank
with him. No doubt they discussed the Word. As soon as Bro. Branham’s gone, “O
God send a prophet. O God send a prophet.”
That paper, as good as it was,
destroyed the very Presence and work of God. And that man would have the grit
to criticize the Roman Catholics and the heathen. Now, if that isn’t gross
darkness that Bro. Branham is talking about, you tell me what he’s talking
about. They’re befuddled. Spiritual amnesia. They’re confused. They look, but
they don’t see. They hear, but they can’t comprehend. All the while they know
something’s going on, and they want something else. You know what that sounds
like? People that have vegetated. There’s some little thing in the mind that
says, “Hey, there’s something there, but I simply can’t get it.”
31. Let me take you to Lk 1:17 again. Now
look, never ever underestimate what I teach you in the Scripture, especially
these strong, strong, Scriptures. This is John the Baptist.
(16)
(John
the Baptist shall go before the Lord God of Israel) in the spirit and power of
(Elijah), to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, (even) the
disobedient (That means people without understanding and proper comprehension.)
to (what is) wisdom (which is proper understanding and comprehension. What’s it
going to do? It’s going) to make ready (the prepared people).
Now you can say what you want, but
that’s the Gospel of God. That’s what took place. That’s what’s taken place
now. And they’re not taking It. Now, watch Bro. Branham, speaking of his
vindication here, knowing what he knows. Paragraph 57.
[57] And
I don’t say that in the motive of trying to say, "Now, we’ve seen This,
‘Glory to God,’ and they’re not in it. “I’m not trying to say that to get the
people to think, “Well, Bro. Branham, you’ve got the only Truth there is in the
world.” No, that is wrong. See?
That would be the wrong spirit. In
other words it’s not somebody presenting himself in his own spirit! It is a man
in the Spirit of God presenting God! Where Logos and Rhema are one. That’s why
William Branham was rebuked for his side show. I’d look around and say, “Hey.”
He said, “The angel rebuked me for it.”
You’ve got it right on tape. I
thought, “Well, I know Bill Branham. I don’t know a more reverent man in all
the world, or more sincere.”
He wasn’t hokey. He wasn’t a hammy,
emotional actor. Listen, that man was solid from center to circumference and
back again. I can begin to see as I read the very sermons that came out of Bro.
Branham’s mouth, where he as a man would have a problem, because he was a man.
But don’t ever sell it short, because I want to tell you: the same one who
prophesied, “They wounded my hands and my feet,” took a woman in adultery, no
doubt against her will, except she might have been flattered to lay with the
king. He got her pregnant; killed her husband. How do you like that? Now that
doesn’t turn you loose to think you can do anything, or turn me loose. I just
want you to know, brother/sister, God’s God. And don’t fool with Him and His
Holy Word.
32. Now Bro. Branham says:
[58] I am not trying to get your eyes on me. I am not trying to
tell you that I’m the only one that’s got anything. That’s wrong if you think
I’m doing that. What I’m trying to get you to see, is this: I’m saying these things in
the Light of the hour (That’s it.) that we’re walking in. In other
words there’s a certain Light today we’re walking in. And for the benefit of the
people who are trying to seek this Light.
Now the whole world may have a bit
of an intuition, or a feeling, that something is going on. And they are going
to miss it en masse, over ninety-nine percent. But there’s a part of a one
percent that’s got the yearning, that’s a magnetic attraction, to the great
One. In other words, “The deep calling to the Deep.” And the Deep will answer
back, and they’re going to get it. So, he said, “Don’t think I’m trying to present myself. I’m just trying to let you
to know, that all of you people, and you know within yourselves if something is
going wrong! You’re nervous. You’re high strung. Everything sets you off! You
know you’re at the end of the trail. Let me tell you something, I’m sorry for
you. You’re seeking something; you’re not going to get it, because:”
[58] Jesus
said, “No man can come to me, except my Father draw him.” No man will ever see
what I’m talking about. Only the predestinated Seed, and that only, is going to
receive It. But we’ve come to that place again, the place that the Bible said,
“You’re the light of the world.”
33. Now, let’s go back to Mat 5:14.
(14)
(You’re)
the light of the world. A city (that’s) set on an hill cannot be hid.
(15)
Neither
do men light a candle, put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; it giveth
light to all that are in the house.
(16)
Let
your light so shine before men, that (men) may see your good works, and glorify
your Father which is in heaven.
Referring to that Scripture for this
hour, you can positively see that Bro. Branham’s ministry had to be such as to
attract people to the Word of God, that he would not be confusing to them. He wouldn’t
add to their dilemma. That’s why he kept over eighty percent of his entire
sermons based upon his vindication, through the presence of God. So, they
couldn’t fail to see it! He died absolved! But the people still couldn’t see
it.
“Well,” they said, “Well, he’s
trying to make himself somebody. You know, when a preacher gets this kind of
power, he always goes potty. He always thinks, you know, that he’s something
great; and after all, God is the great One, hallelujah, and we wonderful great
ones know it. And you know, when a man goes that way, you see, he’ll be led
astray by those thoughts, and he’ll lead others astray.”
Stupid bunch of ignoramuses. I
wouldn’t give them five minutes of my time. And I’ve got to the place I could
even add this in maybe a sense of bitterness at their disgusting attitudes,
because there’s no way I think they could give me anything to guide me to
heaven; but I could almost say, even if I thought they had something, I’ll put
it this way, that if they could do something for me, I wouldn’t take it. It’s
like your positive thinking. This bypasses the understanding of the mind and
the positive thinking. This is the absolutely living, vibrant, as Bro. Branham
said, germitized seed of almighty God. You’re the light of the world! Those
people with the prophet are the only ones who are the true lights. What is the
light of the world? When it comes to that which we carry in our vessels? All
right. That’s the human vessel. He’s got to have the Word.
34. What Word’s he going have? Ephesians
1:17:
(17) The
God (and Father) of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give unto you
the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
(18) (To
open) the eyes of your understanding (the eyes of your soul); may know the hope
of his calling, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
Which is going to bring forth a
resurrection, an immortality, and put you in a rapture. That’s the light of the
hour. Okay.
Paragraph 59.
[59] The prophet said, “Gross darkness” (That means
‘thick, fixed darkness’.) “upon the people.” Then, he elaborates. Upon the people of the
world at this time. That’s exactly what we’ve got, gross darkness upon the
people.
He’s telling the condition of the
world, exactly one hundred percent, what it is like. I made a little note in my
side here of Lk 11:29.
(29) When
the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil
generation: they seek a sign; there shall no sign be given, but the sign of the
prophet (Jonas).
(30)
As
Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall the Son of man be to this
generation.
(31)
The
queen of the south shall rise up in judgment with men of this generation,
(White Throne, you see?) and condemn them: for she came forth from the utmost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; behold, a greater than
Solomon is here.
(32)
The
men of Nineve shall rise up in judgment with this generation, and condemn it:
for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than
(Jonah) is here.
That’s you’re example. Gross
darkness. The people cannot take the vindicated Word of almighty God. They
cannot see It. They can quote you Jn 3:16.
(16) God
so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son… (and so on.)
35. Then, It says in 17:
(17) For
God sent not his son (to) the world to condemn the world; but the world through
him might be saved.
(14)
He
that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God.
And they stop
right there. They never go to verse 19. Yet, verse 19 is the crux of the whole
thing.
(19) And this is the condemnation, (In spite of the fact there
shouldn’t be any, because the Blood was shed!) light is come into the world,
and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
What has that
got to do with action? Everything! Because an action is dependent upon a
precept—or a commandment! As it’s necessary, judge, as to whether your action
is right. What is the action of this hour? Men believe the Word and stand like
solid Christians. Women, bring your dresses, your heels, right in line. Keep
your hair right. That’s what It says.
You say, “Ah,
I don’t like that.”
Well, you
don’t have to like that. I didn’t ask you to. It’s your business not mine. I’m
not here to persuade you. I’m here to preach to those that have ears and want
to listen to what the prophet said.
Gross darkness
upon the people. Right. They don’t love the light.
(15)
For
every one that doeth evil hate(s) the light.
Who’s the evil one? What was the
evil thing? The thing that Cain did: he tried to worship God outside of the
properly revealed and divided Word. He took things in his own hands.
36. Let me tell you something, people. You
think I’m rough at times; I know you do. I can tell that. I’m not ignorant of
it. But many times I keep warning: look, don’t go above where God placed you.
Stay where you are, and live the position that God gave you, because the minute
you step outside, you’re out of God’s Will. There’ll be problems, problems,
problems. I just want you to know this. There is a place where God has placed
us, and we must be careful to maintain those places. And there hasn’t been set
upon us a lot of rules of do this and do that, but the grace of God has been manifested;
and, if grace manifests to the man, that he is to be in the Word, and the woman
is to be in an action, or discipline, then that does it! And, of course, the
man represents headship of a church, and the woman represents the church. So,
it goes back and forth. Remember, the head of the Bride is Jesus Christ
Himself.
37. Now, paragraph 60:
[60] God,
in His great mercy, as I have always preached and tried to stand for, that He
always shows His events from heaven, His great major events, happen in heaven
before they happen on earth. He reflects Himself. In other
words He manifests that He is into an action and doing something to get
people’s attention, that He may speak to them. In other words, before Messiah came into a
place where His ministry would start, there came a Star out of heaven, guided
the men to the place where He was, those wise men. As you heard in my last
Message how that God dealt with the wise men, and in that day that He turned
them aside by a dream, and He told Joseph by a dream how to take care of the
welfare of His Own Son.
All right. You notice what Bro.
Branham is saying here: a star came out of heaven, and a star is a light
holder. So therefore, a light turned people to a light. [Points to the picture
of the Pillar of Fire.] The deeds done in William Branham’s ministry through
the Holy Ghost, turned the people to the Light Himself, which was 1 Th 4:16,
“The Lord Himself descended with a Message,” to put the church in order. That’s
revival right there. They didn’t want it.
“Lord
revive Thy Word, to believe on Him that He sent, and the work that He’s doing
in the church, to bring into perfection, so the Head can fit upon that
particular point.” Bro. Branham spoke of that flange.
And the flange must fit
perfectly—perfect Word. That which is perfect is come. All ready for it. See?
38. There was a dream given to this person.
[61] A dream is a secondary, something off to one side, because
people can have dreams that are not right. There was no prophet in the land in
that day, (See?) there was no prophet, therefore God had to use what was
secondary. And this teaches us that God can use every faculty and everything
that we do, if it’s consecrated to Him. But it first must be consecrated to
Him. Let your meditations, which really reflect your dreams be consecrated,
(See?) because it’s your subconscience. If you’ll watch a dream, you’ll see
it's something that you’ve been thinking of, or something like that. Usually.
You see? And let your mind be on God, then, (See?) so it reflects something for
Him. And whatever you are, let it reflect Him.
Now this here little interjection,
because what it is: I believe that Bro. Branham put this in here, because he’s
constantly dealing with Pentecostals who are always going to dreams and signs
and everything else. And he’s saying, “Listen,
there is such a thing that you can use a dream when there isn’t a prophet. But, when there is a prophet, dreams are
gone. They’re finished.”
Well, dreams always aren’t
consistent, because they come from your subconscious, which depends upon what
your activities have been engaged in and your mind absorbed in during the day,
or over the days, and something will wedge in there, if you’re really
consecrated—bring out something fruitful. But, don’t depend on it. It might happen
once; may never happen again.
39. Now he’s telling the people, listen, we
don’t have any secondary channels today. We don’t have any five-fold ministry,
we don’t have any people coming together, we don’t have any soothsayers, we
don’t have any dreamers, (Junior Jackson and everybody else included.) we don’t
have any of those men that can stand up to this! [Points to the picture of the
Pillar of Fire.] And Junior did stand up against it.
In fact, I understand he said in his
church one day as he threw the The Seven Church Ages book in the basket,
“This is file thirteen,” he said. “Throw it in the garbage.” And he said, “If
the prophet were here, he would admit I was right and he was wrong.”
Well, William Branham can come back
riding on a white horse, a green horse, and a pink elephant, and I’ll never
concede that man’s right, because I concede he is right. [Points to the picture
on the wall.] I don’t care what your dreams are. I’m not interested.