23-1110A_THE IDENTIFIED CHRIST OF ALL AGES Pt-2 (IDENTIFYING HIMSELF BY HIS CHARACTERISTIC)
Heb 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
Heb 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Heb 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
Heb 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Heb 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Heb 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
*WE'RE LIVING ON UP TO THE RAPTURING
TIME, FOR THE COMING OF THE--THE END TIME.
43Now we find out, that now we
find our Pentecostal brethren are living in the glare of a Pentecostal age, and they still miss It.They're trying to interpret the pentecostal age, when we're plumb past
that.We're living on up
to the rapturing time, for the coming of the--the end time.But that's the way man does, it's just be that way. 44We got so much that's allotted to each age. The Bible is allotted out
that way, and that's the way we have to have it. That's the way it has to be. *THE UNCHANGEABLE GOD, WITH THE
UNCHANGEABLE CHARACTER, AND HIS CHARACTERISTICS REMAIN JUST THE SAME.
45The unchangeable God,
with the unchangeable character, and His characteristics remain just the same. He cannot change His
characteristic. He cannot do it. Anything is known by its characteristic.
46I don't know whether you all have yellowhammers
down here or not, jay... we call them thicker, and a--a jay bird. They're both about the same size. You watch a jay bird flying, if he's in a distance and you watch him,
he'll make a B-line when he's flying. But, a yellowhammer,
he'll go up-and-down as he fly. See, that's the characteristic of the
yellowhammer. You can tell him by his action. *REMEMBER, YOU ARE IDENTIFIED BY
CHARACTERISTIC.
Watch a man use his right or left
hand. He's a chara-... 47We got women today that wants to be man. They
dress like them, but they're still... Watch them
walk and what they do, they're still... Their characteristic shows that
they are women, yet, just the same, see, because it's just that way. We'll get
to that later. But, however, we're on something else right now. Remember, you are identified by characteristic. *AND GOD IS IDENTIFIED BY HIS GREAT
CHARACTERISTIC, THAT, "HE CANNOT CHANGE."
48And God is identified by His great characteristic, that,
"He cannot change." He said, in Malachi 3:6, "I am God, and I
change not." See? He absolutely doesn't change. His characteristics
are the same.
49Each time He appeared on the earth, at the
end of an age, He always sent a man and anoint
him with the Holy Ghost, Christ.The
Holy Ghost is Christ, "the anointed," the Logos, and It
went out, and It comes to identify the--the Words of that age. "The Word of the Lord comes to the
prophets," the Bible said so, and identifies
that age. See, He does nothing outside of man. Now He can't do it in a
group. You can't do it. It just never has been done. He never did use a group;
never did. He uses one single person. You're
not...
50Israel was saved as a nation, but you're going
to be saved as an individual.
51And one person He deals with. He had a... He didn't even have a--a--a
Moses and Elijah, the same time. He couldn't have Elijah and Elias, the same
time. He couldn't have John and Jesus, the same time. He has always got one, because He gets that one person into His Divine will. *NOW, DON'T FORGET THAT, HIS
CHARACTERISTIC IS IDENTIFIED IN THAT AGE.
52If we started tonight, and I got
one man, some man here that I'd pick out, and we'd agree on doctrine, just
perfectly, we'd start a little group. In a year from today, we'd have so many
Rickies in there, why, it'd be a shame. That's right, they just come in like
parasites. You can't keep them out. So, therefore, it
never was God's system.
53God cannot change. He deals, same, one individual! He did
it through the ages.
He has always done it.
54And His characteristic is identified to that age. Now, don't forget that, His characteristic is identified in
that age.
55Look in the days of Joseph, the
prophet, how that Jesus was perfectly identified in
Joseph. He was born, loved of his father, hated of his brethren, without
a cause. He loved his brothers. But they were self-starched Phariseeic, like,
and they had nothing to do with him, and hated him because he saw visions
and--and so forth. But the very characteristic in him
showed that it was Christ.
56Joseph was a prophet. He foretold
the things. It
happened just exactly the way that it happened.The way he spoke it, that's the way it happened. And he interpret dreams, and he
never just give a wild interpretation of it. Every time he said it would be
that way, that's just the way it was. He
was born, a prophet, for that age. Exactly right. Now,we find that God displayed His
characteristic in Joseph. *EVERY ONE OF THE PROPHETS DISPLAYED
GOD'S CHARACTERISTIC…
57Every one of the
prophets displayed God's characteristic, because it picked up the Word for that
age and identified it.God interpreted His Word, of that age, through the man.
Now, no one can find fault with that. That's the Scripture.
58Well, if it always has been that way, won't it have to be the same
today, if He is the same yesterday, today, and forever? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed.]
59God interpreted His Own Word! He said, "This
thing will happen in a certain age, and this thing will happen," and
He comes down and does it. Now, He don't need no interpreting to it, 'cause it
does itself.He doesn't need anyone to interpret Him. He
is Elohim, the self-existing, all-sufficient. He needs no help from nobody.
See, He is God, and He does as He will. *AND GOD IS IDENTIFIED THROUGH HIS PROMISED WORD AT AN AGE.
60And
there is one thing that we are sure that He can't do; He can't go against
His Word, and remain God. He has to keep His Word, because the Word is God. It's... And God is identified through His promised Word at an age.
61In a certain, in the days of, now what, in the days of Moses? He was
identified. He was identified because He was identified
by His Word. He told Abraham, "Your
seed will sojourn in a strange land for four hundred years. I'll bring them out
with a mighty hand." *BY IDENTIFYING HIMSELF IN HIS CHARACTERISTIC, IN THE SUPERNATURAL.
62Now, when this great big sign
happened, as a big ball of Fire in a burning bush. Moses was a chemist. He was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.
What if Moses would have went by with his--with his educational stand, and
said, "Look at that funny tree! It's on fire. It's burning. The leaves are
popping, and there is nothing being destroyed, being consumed. Now, after
that gets through burning, I'll pick some of the leaves and go down to the
laboratory and find out what kind of a chemical it's been sprayed with"? It would have never talked to him! But when he took off his shoes, walked up humbly!
63That's the way we find God, when we take off our pride
and lay it down, and walk up in the Presence.
64Listen to that voice identify. "I AM THAT
I AM. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob. I remember My promise, and
I see the condition is right. I have come down, and I'm going to speak.
And I'm sending you, and you'll be My voice." Oh, my!
65That's the way He does it. What
did He do it? By
identifying Himself in His characteristic, in the supernatural. The supernatural sometime is so phenomena, It gets plumb away
from the people. The people get to be good people, nice people, but
sometimes they misunderstand. *SHE HAD AREPRESENTATION OF ONE OF GOD'S THOUGHTS
75The Pharisees, that had a little bit of light. They was good people,
lived a good Christian life, or a good religious life, had a little light about
them. They had organ-... organized, and a priesthood. They had a little light.
But down in the bottom of their heart, they had no Eternal representation in
Glory. So when they seen that supernatural done, they said, "This man is
Beelzebub, a devil." And what happened? That put what light they had out.
76But here was a little, ill-famed
woman, a prostitute. Down in her heart, well, she had a
representation of one of God's thoughts. There she was, weighted in sin.
But when she seen that happen, she said, "Sir, I believe You're a prophet.
I know when the Messiah cometh He'll tell us these things." What did it
do? It cleansed her life. He was the Redeemer, to her,
because He could lift her up where she had come from.
77But this Pharisee, think of it, religious as he could be, and Jesus
said, "You are of your father the devil, and his works you'll do."
Religious man, belonged to fine, high orders. And Jesus
called them, "Snakes in the grass, and devils." They rejected the
Light of the hour. That's exactly what it was. *IT'S THE GERM, SEED WORD FROM THE
BEGINNING…
127There is that real filtration of all the sin of the world, and the love
of the world is dead, and this soul is drawing only one thing. Here it is,
don't... Remember! Don't forget it. All you out there on the telephones, set
this down in your mind. When a thinking man begins to
think Who he's going to stand before, and what the Word of God is; when he
begins to think, then when he draws through That, there's nothing can get to it
but the Holy Ghost.
What is it? It's the germ, seed
Word from the beginning, that you was in God at the beginning, standing here
drawing the seed Life. The seed is in your heart, by foreordination. Hallelujah!
The seed is already in there, by the foreknowledge of
God, predestinated. And when it draws, it can't draw through nothing else but
the Word.
And then it's the taste of the thinking man, the
righteous man, the holy man who sees the Bible, that Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and forever. What comes into that place down there? That Word, that's in the heart. "I've hid Thy Word in my
heart, that I sin not against Thee." What is it, when it's drawing through the Word? There's only one thing will pass through the Word; that's the
Holy Ghost. That's the only thing that can pass through the Word, is the
Holy Ghost. And a thinking man's Filter gives a holy man a taste.
128 Then, he's tasted of the Heavenly things; he's
got the Word of God in his heart. He sees It manifested before him, and his
whole soul is wrapped into It, and the world and all things is dead
around him.
Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Heb 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Heb 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
Heb 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Heb 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Heb 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
***THE ONLY WAY THAT WE'LL EVER KNOW,
TODAY, IF WE WANTED TO IDENTIFY HIM, TODAY, AND, I BELIEVE THAT HE RAISED FROM
THE DEAD.
13 So many people have different
opinions of Christ. As I travel in--in different parts of the country, and
around the world, I find that so many people have their different opinions. You'd be surprised to know what some of their opinions are. Some
of them thinks that He's just a wonderful teacher. Well, now, He
was--He was that. That's just exactly. And many thinks that He was a great
philosopher. Which, He was that. He, certainly, He was. And then
some of them think that He was a--a good man. He, He was that. But, see, He was more than that. He was all of that, plus.
Some of them think that He was a prophet.He was
a prophet, but He was more than a prophet. He was what the prophets was, plus. See?
So, what, how would we know now? If He was teaching of His teachings, He was a
teacher and He was a great philosopher.
14 But the--the only way that we'll ever know, today, if we
wanted to identify Him, today, and, I believe that He raised from the dead. I believe that with all my
heart. And I believe that He's promised here, that, "He
is the same yesterday, today, and forever." "And I am with thee
always, and I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee." *AND WE TALK ABOUT HOW GREAT GOD WAS, AND
THEN DON'T SAY HE'S THE SAME TODAY, THEN THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG… AND, THAT,
THAT'S A--THAT'S A FALSE CONCEPTION OF WHAT GOD IS.
15 Now, those Words are, they're
either true or they're not true. And if They're not
true, then what are we doing here tonight? We are--we are wretched people,
we're people that's--that's, well, we are deceived; the whole Christian world
is deceived if He isn't the same yesterday, today, and forever, if He isn't alive
tonight and with us as He promised. "Lo,
I am with you always, even to the consummation, or the end of the world. I'm
with you always." Now, if that isn't the Truth, then there is
something wrong, and we are--we are found false witnesses. Not only are we
making ourself miserable, under a false pretense, but we are deceiving others.
We are found deceivers, of something we're talking about, which isn't, if He's
just a myth or He's just a historical.
16 What good is a historical Christ if He isn't the same today? What good
is a God of Moses if He isn't--isn't the same God today? What good does it do
to take your--your canary bird and feed him fine vitamins, to make him have
pretty feathers and good strong wings, and then keep him in a cage? See, it
doesn't do him any good. And we talk about how great
God was, and then don't say He's the same today, then there is something wrong.
We're caged up somewhere. And, that, that's a--that's a false conception of
what God is.
17 The Bible plainly says, "He's the same," and
that means He's the same. He's just as He was. He hasn't changed one bit, and
He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. *AND WHERE YOU HAVE
JUST ONE UNBELIEVER OR A SKEPTIC SETTING AROUND, THE HOLY SPIRIT JUST CAN'T
WORK, HARDLY.
1g The Holy Spirit is timid, very,
very timid. And--and where you have just one unbeliever
or a skeptic setting around, the Holy Spirit just can't work, hardly. Remember,
Jesus led a man plumb out of the city, to heal him, one time, get him away from
unbelief. He come into His Own city, and the Bible said, "And many mighty works He could not do." We
don't want to think it that way, but the Bible said He couldn't do it. See? He cannot do nothing against your belief. You've got to
believe it. *IT'S ONLY TO BELIEVERS, THEY THAT
BELIEVE. "ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THEM THAT BELIEVE."
Someone has told me, many times, saying, "Brother
Branham, I don't care what would happen; I don't believe It." Well, It wasn't to that person.
It's not to unbelievers. It's
only to believers, they that believe. "All things are possible to them
that believe." Unbelievers get nothing. And
so they--they just don't believe nothing, so they get nothing. If they
just got a cold theology, that's what they get. But
those who believe in God, and believe that Jesus Christ is just as real today
as He ever was, that's what they receive. "Just according to your faith,
be it unto you." *WE'RE BORN A CHRISTIAN. AND YOU DON'T JOIN IT. YOU'RE BORN INTO IT. THEN
YOU TAKE THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST.
1k And so, Divine healing, the main thing is Divine healing of the soul.The Body of Christ, it needs healing worse than anything that
I know of, is the Body of Christ. It's been so broken up by men's
theology and denominational differences, until it's a sick Body. And I... And I
tell you, it--it's needs healing, great healing. So I--I trust that the Lord
will do a great thing towards the healing of His part of the Body that's in
here.
We believe that there is one, one Church. And we never
join It. Next Monday, I'll be fifty-five years old, and the Branham family
never did ask me to join their family. I was born a Branham. That's how--that's
how I am.
Now, that's how we're Christians. We're born a Christian. And you don't join it. You're born into it. Then you take the character of Christ. *EVERY ATTRIBUTE THAT HE DIED FOR, AT
CALVARY, IS OURS FROM THAT TIME ON, EVERYTHING THAT HE DIED FOR.
We don't heal the people. They're
already healed. Every person is already healed. How many believes that?
[Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Now let's see how our congregation
has been taught. There is two-thirds of them believes it, anyhow. Now, that, "He was wounded for our transgression; with
His stripes we were healed."Every
attribute that he died for, at Calvary, is ours from that time on, everything
that He died for. "He was wounded for our transgressions; bruised for our
iniquity; chastisement of our peace upon Him; with His stripes we were
healed." We were healed, past tense.
Every sinner is saved. From the day that Jesus died on
the cross, He forgave every sin of man. ***AND IF YOU'VE EVER GOT ETERNAL LIFE, YOU
WERE IN GOD'S ATTRIBUTES…JESUS CAME AS REDEEMER. AND REDEEM MEANS "BRING
IT BACK TO WHERE IT STARTED FROM."
1p Now, God
is a great--a great... like a great Being. "In the beginning
God..." See? We... He wasn't even God, to begin with. God is "an
object of worship." And He was called... There wasn't nothing, to worship.
He was self-existent Elohim, and there wasn't nothing to worship Him. When He
created Angels, then there was something to worship Him.
But in this great God, Elohim, was attributes. There was
attributes in there to be God; attributes to be Father; attributes to be Son;
attributes to be Saviour; attributes to be healer. All these attributes was in
God. And if you've ever got Eternal Life, you were in
God's attributes, because you got Eternal Life. Jesus came as Redeemer. And
redeem means "bring it back to where it started from." Right. You were in God's thinking. He might have to breed this with
that, and down here and down here. ***HE IS NOW IN YOU. YOU ARE HIS
ATTRIBUTES.
He is now in you. You are His attributes. If you've got Eternal Life, your
life always was. And you was God's thinking: the color of hair, whatever you
are, you was God's thinking, and you're just
materialized.
And that's what God was when He was materialized in
Christ; God, displayed, manifested in flesh, in Christ. He became material; God
that we could touch. First Timothy 3:16, "Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness:
for God was manifested in the flesh."See?
See? It was God being manifested, getting ready. *BUT GOD HAS MADE AN APPOINTMENT, AND MAN MUST DIE AND FACE THE
JUDGMENT. AND YOU'RE GOING TO KEEP THAT APPOINTMENT, FRIENDS. JUST REMEMBER
THAT.
The food you eat makes blood cells. Blood cells builds
your body. Every time you eat, you renew your life. When
you were one year old, on up, on up till you got about twenty-two. And then,
now, you're eating the same food. I'm eating the same food I did at sixteen. At
sixteen, every time I eat, it built muscles and big and strong. I got my full
matured. And then after fully matured, I'm eaten the
same food, and better, and more of it, and I'm getting older and weaker, all
the time. But every time I renew my life, then I wouldn't have to die.
See?
But God has made an appointment, and man must die
and face the Judgment. And you're going to keep that appointment, friends. Just
remember that. And
while we're here, tonight, we want to remember those things, that we've got to
meet that appointment. There might be many you'll stand up and get away from,
but that's one we're sure, every one, to meet. And now,
in that, it's appointment that God has made with man.This body must, because it is yet negative. It's subject to
death. *SO DOES YOUR PHYSICAL BEING DIE, TO BE FORMED AND MOLD INTO THE IMAGE OF
HIM.
1t So, He gets the
Eternal Spirit, His attribute displayed in that body, then, like any picture in its
negative form, it goes into the darkroom. There it's
developed. It comes out to the perfect picture. And we go into the darkroom,
but to come out after the negative has been a perfect picture, in the image of
Christ. We go into the dark grave, into the darkroom for developing. It
takes death to develop it.
Just like it takes death, to yourself, to develop
the picture of the image of Christ, the life of Christ in you. You have to dump your own out, so
that Christ can come in. You have to die to your self. So does your physical being die, to be formed and
mold into the image of Him. But
there is still that attribute that cannot be destroyed. It can never be
destroyed. It's God, in the beginning. It's God above us, God with us, God in
us. And it's all the attributes of God: Eternal Life to
the sons of men. *ALL AGES HAS BEEN THE SAME. HE IDENTIFIES HIMSELF UPON THE EARTH, IN MAN.
26 And then, usually, man gets It
so twisted up, and the world gets in such a shape, until He has to send some
man, anointed. All
ages has been the same. He identifies Himself upon the earth, in man. God does
nothing without man. The Bible said so, you know. See? He always takes
man, 'cause it was man He had to use, and let the man... Put him on free moral agency, knowing that he would fall, in
order to display His attributes as a Saviour, for there was nothing lost. And,
therefore, He chose man. He could have chose stars, He
could have chose trees, but He chose man.
27 One time, standing, looking upon the harvest; Jesus, He said, "The
harvest is ripe. The labourers are few. Pray the Lord
of the harvest to send labourers into His harvest." And He was the Lord of
the harvest. See? "You have not because you ask not. You ask not
because you believe not. Ask abundance, that your joys might be full."
See? He is depending on you asking, and believing that
you receive what you ask for. *REMEMBER, THE BIBLE SAID, "HE'S THE
SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER. WELL, IF HE WAS THE WORD IN THE BEGINNING,
HE'S THE WORD TODAY, BECAUSE HE ALWAYS IS THE WORD.
19 Remember, the Bible said,
"He's the same yesterday, today, and forever." So we'll have to find what He is, out of other ages; to know
what He was in the age that He walked on earth, the age before He walked on
earth, and the age after He was on earth and left the earth. We'll have
to find out what He was, to know what He is today, always, 'cause He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Now, but, in otherwise, we'll have to go back
and search out, to see whatever He was.
20 Now we find out, in Saint John the 1st chapter, beginning with the
1st verse, it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God."Now that's the attributes, His Words; they're thoughts now,
they're not expressed. See, "In the beginning is, was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
In the beginning was the Word!"Well,
if He was the Word in the beginning, He's the Word
today, because He always is the Word. *WE FIND OUT, IN THE DAYS OF MOSES AND ALL DOWN THROUGH, THAT HE--HE
IDENTIFIES HIMSELF EACH TIME BY HIS PROPHETS.
28 Now, then, in the beginning, we
find out that He lotted His Word. We find out, in the
days of Moses and all down through, that He--He identifies Himself each time by
His prophets. The Bible says, "He does nothing till first He
reveals it to His prophets." And, remember, God is unchangeable God. He
never changes. He remains the same, yesterday, today, and forever.
29 Now we find out, in each age,
that man gets into God's program. They draw up their own mind, and it looks
good. It looks good, very fine. And
sometime it's so close there might be one word different, but that one word
means the difference between death and Life.
30 It was one word that started
this whole ball a rolling, when Eve disbelieved one phase of God's Word.
Remember, she didn't... Satan didn't just kind of throw the whole thing off. He
said, "Oh, surely This will be this way, and This is that way, and God
so-and-so, but surely He won't do this." *BUT HE SAID HE WOULD DO IT, AND, WHEN HE SAID HE WOULD DO IT, THAT
MAKES IT SO.
31 But He said He would
do it, and, when He said He would do it, that makes it so. See? Just, you must believe
every phase of It. No matter what It says, believe It
anyhow. If you can't explain It, believe It anyhow. You cannot explain
God; no one can. God is known by faith, not by science. You believe God by faith, because He said so, and that settles it. As long
as He said It's so, that cures the case. He said so; don't make any
difference how much science says It's not.
32 Noah, Noah couldn't explain how
water was up in the sky, 'cause science said there was none there. But if God
said so, He is able to put water up there, so that--that settled it. See, he
just believed God.
33 Always, the man who is anointed with the Word, believes what God said. Regardless of whether he can prove it, or not, he believes It
anyhow. God does the proving. *GOD IDENTIFYING, INTERPRETING HIS SCRIPTURE FOR THAT AGE, AND IT'S
ALWAYS CHRIST. IT'S CHRIST IN EVERY AGE.
37 Now, the trouble with people,
today, we find them living in the glare of another age. Just like Jesus found
when He come, He found them living in the glare of the law, and ignoring what
was to take place in His age. You know what's the matter today? What's the
matter with the...
38 What was the matter with the
Lutheran? Well, because they were living in the glare of the Lutheran age, when
John Wesley found the secret of sanctification. They couldn't go, because they
were living in the glare of Luther's age. What happened to the
Pentecostals?
39 Why, Wesley was so organized,
until he was living in the glare of another age, they was in Wesley's age, when
the baptism of the Holy Ghost fell upon the Pentecostals. See, they were living
in what Wesley said, sanctification. It was hard for them to believe the
baptism of the Holy Spirit, the restoration of the gifts. They was living in a
glare of another age.
40 And that's what
they was doing when Jesus come. Said, "We have Moses. We, we have
Moses."
41 He said, "If you'd have
knowed Moses, you'd have knowed Me. Moses wrote of Me. Search the Scriptures,
for in Them you think you have Eternal Life, and They are They that testify of
Me." That was the Scripture that was supposed to be.
42 God identifying, interpreting His Scripture for that age,
and it's always Christ. It's Christ in every age. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. It's always been Christ.
Luk 2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Luk 2:27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Luk 2:28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Luk 2:29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: Luk 2:30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Psa 121:1 A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. Psa 121:2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. Psa 121:3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Psa 121:4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Psa 121:5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. Psa 121:6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. Psa 121:7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. Psa 121:8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
*THAT'S WHAT THE CHURCH TODAY LACKS, IS THE WARNING OF MAKING READY.
I think it--it should be--we should all be warned of the
things that's come--coming. That's what the church
today lacks, is the warning of making ready. I believe really, the church was
in better condition forty years ago for Christ to come than it is today.Forty years... I was speaking on that
the other day at the Westward Ho, at the Full Gospel Business Men's Convention,
of how that the church in forty years lost ground just like it did in the
wilderness. But it's the time now when the old fighters is dead, and
we ought to get ourselves together, and get
started on for the Kingdom of God, and go over and possess the full blessing.
*NOW, THAT SAME SPOKEN WORD OF GOD, THE
HOLY SPIRIT CAN MAKE ANY PROMISE OF GOD MANIFEST, IF YOU'LL JUST BELIEVE IT.
EXPECTATION_LONG.BEACH.CATUESDAY_61-0207
E-24See, you've got to come right
back to know this Word's the truth. Now, that's exactly
what gives me my bold stand in Christ, because I believe that Word is truth. It
just cannot fail. It can no more fail than God, because it is God. "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us." Hebrews 4 tells us that
the Word of God
is powerful, more sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting both ways into the
asunder and the marrow of the bone, and even a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart. When Jesus looked upon the audience and
perceived their thought, what was it? He was the Word. "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God."Well, they ought to have knowed it, that He was the
Word of God made manifest. Now, that same spoken Word
of God, the Holy Spirit can make any promise of God manifest, if you'll just
believe it.
*IF YOU WANT TO HAVE REAL EXPECTATIONS IT
MUST BE BUILT UPON THUS SAITH THE LORD.
EXPECTATION_LONG.BEACH.CATUESDAY_61-0207
E-25Now, expectation,
it has to be built upon something that got a faith behind it. Because if
you're expecting something is because something's been promised or some way
like that. So if you want to have real expectations it
must be built upon THUS SAITH THE LORD. Look at Noah. It was...
Sometimes God asked you to do things that's
ridiculous to your own human thinking. Now, remember, if you're going to enter this revival
trying to figure out something, you might as well enter out to begin with,
'cause you can't do it. Remember, God does not know man by--or God... Man does
not know God, rather, by his head. He knows Him by his
heart. In the garden of Eden, why, man was divided between God and
Satan. Satan took his head; God took his heart. With his intellectuals he tries
to reason out things, but by faith in his heart through
God will make him believe things that reason won't even vindicate. "For
it's the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
See, it's... He's got to believe God's Word. Oh,
brother, if you could just get that down good and sunk in your heart, it'd make
every devil jump and leave right now. See? So... Oh, it--it does it.
*MAKE PREPARATIONS AS LONG AS YOU HEAR
GOD'S WORD, THEN MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR IT TO HAPPEN AND WAIT UNDER EXPECTATION.
EXPECTATION_LONG.BEACH.CATUESDAY_61-0207
E-26Now, when Noah was asked to
build an ark by God, why he moved with fear, knowing... Could you imagine what
the critics was saying? Noah was expecting it to rain,
because God said it was going to rain. Now, it never had rained on the
earth. Could you imagine the critics saying, "Oh, look, poor old fellow's
kind a little off at his head. But he said... "Where's that rain at Noah?
Tell me where it's at; I don't see any of it up there. There--there's no rain
from up there, never has been, never will be."
But Noah said, "God said so.
That settles it. If God said so, He can create rain up there if He wanted
to." So he was expecting it to rain, so he made preparations for
the rain. Oh, I like that. Oh, make preparations as
long as you hear God's Word, then make preparations for it to happen and wait
under expectation. Oh, that makes me start feeling religious to begin
with. See? To think that... God said so, then make--be expecting it.
*I BELIEVE JESUS IS COMING… I'M EXPECTING
IT, SO I'M PREPARING FOR IT; I'M WAITING FOR IT EVERY DAY BEING READY.
I believe Jesus is coming. Science is proving they can
take a little pollen from something and some mucus, and put something in it and
so forth like this, and they can almost make human life, they claim. Oh,
they're so smart they can--got a sputnik up in the sky and a human heart
beating in it. That don't bother me a bit. They say, "Well, one of these
days you'll find out all the religion you're talking about is crazy." No,
I won't. Jesus will be here. We'll have a millennium. We'll go home to glory. I'm expecting it, so I'm preparing for it; I'm waiting for it
every day being ready. "When will He come?" I don't know, but
if He isn't here today, I'll be looking tomorrow. I'm
expecting it, just 'cause He said so, and I live daily under those
expectations. That's right. You must have expectation, certainly. Noah
did.
*I'M EXPECTING THE HOLY GHOST TO COME
DOWN AND SET IN ORDER A CHURCH THAT'LL GO TO MEET HIM
EXPECTATION_LONG.BEACH.CATUESDAY_61-0207
E-50"Sons of God are led by the
Spirit of God,"not led by some other fanatics
or some organizations or something or another, they're
led by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit was given to the church to be the
Overseer, the Tutor that was to raise the children of God, not our
bishops, and cardinals, and so forth, but the Holy Ghost. I'm expecting the
Holy Ghost, not denomination, not a bishop, not a Catholic priest, not a
Baptist preacher, or a Pentecostal preacher; I'm
expecting the Holy Ghost to come down and set in order a church that'll go to
meet Him, filled with the power and the resurrection of Christ. I'm
expecting that; I believe it. God promised it, that
there'd be a church there without spot or wrinkle on it. I'm expecting it because God said it
was so.
BROKEN.CISTERNS_JEFF.INV-5 N-13SUNDAY_64-0726E
15And so He come, first, to redeem His Bride. He comes, second, as a
Rapture, to take away His Bride. He comes, third, with His Bride, King and
Queen; after, that's when many people are expecting the Coming.
But when He comes this time, hardly none but those
who are ready will know when He comes. There'll just be an absence of people. They won't know
what happened to them. They'll just be caught away, in
a moment, and that they just come up missing. "Changed in a moment,
in a twinkling of an eye." So just be ready for that. It'd be horrible some morning to miss a loved one, no one can
find them. Wouldn't it be too bad to know it's done past and you missed
it? So just keep before God.
*IF YOU GOT THAT BURNING DESIRE IN YOUR
HEART, THE HOLY SPIRIT'S OBLIGATED TO LEAD YOU TO IT…
EXPECTATION_LONG.BEACH.CATUESDAY_61-0207
E-59Now, the Holy Spirit was
obligated then, to lead him to that fountain. Amen. Oh, if you're expecting it, the same Holy Spirit leads you to that fountain.
It's got to open up somewhere. If you got that burning desire in your heart,
the Holy Spirit's obligated to lead you to it, right to that fountain filled
with Blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins, where sinners (That's
unbelievers.), plunge beneath the flood, lose all their unbelief. That's right.
Oh, you want to be to a place to where you can surpass any doubt in your mind.
Don't you want to be that way? Well, there's a fountain somewhere to do that.
You're searching for it, searching for it.
Now, then at that time, if you've been searching for it,
testifying about it, expecting it because it was a promise... And every promise in the Book belongs to you, so you've been
searching for it, then if it was close to him, it was the Holy Spirit's
obligation to lead him to that place to where Christ was. That's the
Holy Spirit's obligation.
Now, if you believe in healing, it's the Holy Spirit's
obligation to lead you right up to the fountain. Now, you don't have to get in,
but He will lead it up, show you. If you're seeking the
Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit will lead you right up to the place where you
can receive the Holy Ghost, if you just let Him lead you.
2Th 3:1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:
2Th 3:2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.
2Th 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
2Th 3:4 And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
2Th 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
Php 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
Php 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Php 1:22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
Php 1:24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
Php 1:25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
Php 1:26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
Php 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Php 1:28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
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