Christ is the Mystery no. 110
Chronology of End Time Events part 5
Resurrection
Aug 21 2013
Brian Kocourek
1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him. 15 For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead
in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with
the Lord. 18 Wherefore
comfort one another with these words.
1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the
gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in
memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
Now, this last statement lets us know there will be
some who actually come to the place where their belief is in vain. He tells us
the Gospel, the good News which I have preached unto
you will be for your salvation, if you keep it in memory what I preached unto
you, that is unless you believed in vain. Now to believe in vain, means that
your belief or faith took no effect upon you, made no changes in you.
The Message Bible puts it this way, "Friends, let me go
over the Message with you one final time, this Message that I proclaimed and
that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which
your life has been saved. I’m assuming, now, that your belief was the real
thing and not a passing fancy, that you’re in this
for good and holding fast."
We find Jesus speak of these kind of
believers in Luke 8:13 "They on the rock are those people which when they hear, they receive
the word with joy; but these are those who having no root, so they do believe
for a short while, but when the time of
testing comes they are the ones who will fall away."
So we see the Gospel
which is the Good News, (the Message), is sown to many, and many at first
believe, but when trials come because of the Word, those without any roots in
the Word fall away, they loose sight of what the Message is all about, and cave
in to the pressures of the trial and they loose it all.
Luke 8:14 "But that Word which was sown among thorns are those persons which
when they have heard the Word, go forth and are choked with cares and riches
and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to perfection."
Again we see that there is another group altogether
who hear the same Word, the same Good News, the same
Message, But their focus is not on the Message but rather on the cares of this
world. And so God will allow the cares of this world to overcome them. And
these are the persons who bring no fruit to perfection which is maturity. They
will sit in this Message a life time but because their focus is on things, and
materialism, they loose site oft he bigger picture, and never come to maturity
and their fruit in their life proves it.
That's the one that is scariest because you can sit
here and listen and rejoice but unless you take it home and make it a part of who you are, and allow the Word to change your life, you can
loose it all to your things. And you can't take your things with you. why do you think William Branham could turn down a check for
1-1/2 million dollars. He was fearful of what that could do to him and those in
his family.
Luke 8:15 "But that which was sown on good ground are those persons which
in an honest and good heart having heard the word, they keep it, and these are the
ones who will bring forth fruit with patience."
Now, let's return to 1
Corinthians 15 and continue with the Apostle Paul's letter.
1
Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; 4 And
that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of
above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto
this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of
James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen
of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the
apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I
persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am
what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon
me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly
than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Therefore
whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so
ye believed.
Now, notice in these
few verses we see that there was a period of time that Jesus was seen after his
resurrection, by various people over a period of time somewhere between 40 to
50 days after his resurrection.
Now, you might say,
"where do you get that number from?, I've heard you say it and brother
Vayle say it, and brother Branham says it, but how do you come up with that
number?
Well, He was seen If
Jesus was crucified during the pass over and ascended ten days before Pentecost
which is fifty days after passover,
that leaves 40 days wherein he was seen by many witnesses.
Now, we all know the story of the passover and hopefully we
know what it means. for those who don't it was the day that Moses had commended
the people to make bread in haste with no time to leaven, so leaven or yeast
was applied to grain, and the unleavened bread was cooked and they were
instructed to eat it after the angel of death passed over. That is where you
get the feast of unleavened bread or the (passover)
meal. They were also instructed to slay an innocent lamb and place the blood on
the door posts and lintel of the door which represented the sign of a cross,
which would signify which way Messiah one day would
die. Now, let me read a few Scriptures to make sense of all this.
Hebrews 11:24 24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years,
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 Choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is
invisible.28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that
destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Mark 26:1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished
all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, 2 Ye know that after two more days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man will be betrayed and crucifed. 3 Then
assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the
people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 And consulted that they might
take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. 5 But they said, Not on
the feast day, lest there be an uproar among
the people.
Notice that Jesus knew the day he would die on the cross. He said, Ye know that after two more days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man will be betrayed and crucifed.
And we also know that the conspirators, got together to plan his death during that
time as well, only they wanted to avoid the exact day of Passover.
But Passover was celebrated for seven days, or one week.
John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover,
when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this
world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved
them unto the end.
Luke 22:7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be
killed. Notice the Passover that must be killed is the paschal lamb. YO do not
kill a loaf of unleavened bread. And
notice that God timed the death of His Son, the Lamb of God, with the feast of
the Passover pronounced (pascha)
when God saved Israel from the angel of death that swept through Egypt.
1 Corinthians 5:7b For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
But in getting back
to 1 Corinthians, we notice that Paul listed a whole bunch of believers here.
He says, "he was seen of Cephas, (That's
Simon Peter) then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred
brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but
some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he
was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
We find others in
Scripture who also met Jesus after his resurrection, such as the Two on the
road to Emmaus, and John and Mary and then twice in the upper room.
All of these
appearances took place in his humanly form for about a 40 day period or
approximately six weeks. Then a couple
decades later he appears to Paul in the form of the Pillar of Fire while Paul
was on the road to Damascus.
Then after Paul lays
out that background of all those witnesses, he goes on to say, 12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from
the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
How much we see the
same skeptical spirit in our day as well. Those mockers who would question
everything that took place in this hour, because it is not reported in Google
or some modern worldly communications module.
13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be
not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your
faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and
we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he
raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead
rise not. 16 For
if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And
if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are
fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we
have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
So we can see the
deleterious effect of such a profession would have on all believers.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. 22 For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Notice, but since
Christ has raised from the dead, he says let me tell
you all about it. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ
the firstfruits; afterward they that are
Christ's at his coming.(Parousia
Presence). Notice Paul is speaking of an order tot he resurrection, and Just
like God, there must be an order to all things God is involved with. That's His
very nature.
So we see the first half of the first resurrection is
when Christ raised up and the saints which raised with
him then, and then he mentions the second half of the first resurrection when
he says, and they that are Christ's at his Parousia.
Now, watch the order
here, first resurrection, now verse 24 Then cometh
the end, when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have
put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he
must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Then Paul tells us
who's placing all things under the feet of whom. 27 For he (God) hath put all things under his (the son of God) feet. But
when he saith all things are put under him, (the son of God) it is manifest that he (God)
is excepted, which did put all things under him. (The Son of God). 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, (The
Son of God) then shall the Son also himself be
subject unto him (God) that put all
things under him, that God may be all in all.
Now let's skip ahead to verse 31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in
Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. Notice this gives
evidence to his saying in Galatians 2:20 when he says he is crucified, present
tenses, this here shows that it is a daily crucifixion.
32 If after the manner of men I have fought with
beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me if the dead rise not? let
us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
In other words, if
there is no resurrection from the dead then what is all the sacrifice all
about? what a waste of life in martyrdom.
33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt
good manners. (evil
companionship destroys moral habits)
34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some
have not the knowledge of God: I speak this
to your shame.
Now, this next verse
is where I want to get us to tonight. He asks the question, 35 But some man will
say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body
do they come?
Then Paul goes on to answer that very question.
36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest
is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which
thou sowest, thou sowest
not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some
other grain: 38 But God
giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to
every seed his own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there
is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh
of beasts, another of fishes, and
another of birds. 40 There are also
celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial
is one, and the glory
of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory
of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42 So
also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown
in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is
sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown
in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It
is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living
soul; the last Adam was made a
quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit
that was not first which is spiritual, but that
which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The
first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man
is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are
they also that are earthy: and as is the
heavenly, such are they also that
are heavenly. 49 And
as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly.
50 Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold,
I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed, 52 In
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up
in victory. 55 O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be
to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.58 Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye stedfast, unmoveable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Now, in getting back to this order of resurrection,
when Paul says every man in his own order then he goes on to explain how we
have this earthly body that dies and is buried, like a seed buried in the
ground. But just as a seed buried in the ground, doesn't come up another seed,
it produces a completed body full of seed life itself. And so then he compares
the physical body to the spirit body. And he says we have both. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual
body.
In the message Seven
Church Ages - preached May 12, of 1954 brother Branham spoke about
the order of the resurrection, He said,… "Behold He cometh with
clouds." Now, let me stop here just a moment. Clouds
doesn't mean that He's coming on a big thunderhead as mama, bless her
heart - she's sitting here somewhere. I remember her voice, she used to set and
tell me, said, He's coming on a great big cloud, gonna
raise someday and God's gonna come on. Now the Cloud
that He's coming is, if we just had the time to get this back, and get the real
background and the whole thing. Now the Cloud He's coming in is not a cloud,
like a thunderhead, but it's a Cloud of Glory He's coming in. See? Now, when
Jesus was overshadowed by God on Mount Transfiguration, Clouds overshadowed Him
and His raiment. See? And when Elijah would come down, a
cloud come down and received him up, not a not a thunderhead, but a Cloud of
Glory. His great glorious Presence will strike the earth. He cometh in Clouds! Oh, I love that. Clouds, there'll be
wave after wave of His Glory will come across the earth - and the
resurrection of the saints shall come. That blessed Holy Spirit that's
lived in their hearts and they're dried with their corpse laying there and the
pierced veins over their cheeks and things like that and they're placed back in
the graveyard. A great wave of that same Spirit and a
sshhewww, wave after wave - He that was last will be the
first. He that was first will be last. I'm kinda
see that way...that's the order of the resurrection. I won't
know nobody in the generation before me or the
generation after me. I'll know those in the generation with me. Every
generation will come successfully right as it went down. They which were last
will be first. Sure, that's me. See? I'll know my people, the next
time my dad and his people, my grandfather and his people, on down like
that, wave after wave after wave after wave. And the saints will rise from
everywhere. Won't that be wonderful, Amen. That makes the old people feel young
again, yes.
Paul also speaks of this order of the resurrection in I Corinthians 15:20 But
now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them
that slept.
Now, notice that the use of this word first-fruits shows
there is an order to the resurrection. Christ first, then the rest.
21 For since by man came death, by man came
also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive. 23 But every man in his own order: So there is an order to the resurrection, and as
each phase of the Appearing has taken a certain period of time to accomplish,
so too shall the resurrection take a period of time.
And notice what that order of the resurrection is? Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at
his coming (Parousia).
Now we know there was an order to the first resurrection, and as Paul
taught, Jesus was the first fruit and then the rest could come after he came.
And if I can get any one point across in this study it is this, each phase of
this End Time Appearing takes time, each is a separate End-Time Event within this
End-Time season. We have four season in the year and
each phase is marked by certain events that take place, and the resurrection
will be no different.
Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when he
had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was
rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the
rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which
slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went
into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Notice that Jesus cried with a Loud Voice
and the graves opened, and the saints which slept arose, but notice that they
did not come forth as resurrected beings until He came forth. So the order of
the resurrection is a very important thing. And look, what is a resurrection
anyway? Isn't it a coming back to life? Isn't it a re-awakening of the body
that was asleep in death? And doesn't it have to do with Life coming back into
the body? And if the body was at one time active, and then it fell asleep or
went into such a deep sleep that it was constituted as dead. But a resurrection
is a coming forth with the same life that it had before it died. Not a
human coming forth with a gorilla life, or a cat life or a goat life. And not
with someone else's life either. But their own life, the God-Life that they had
as born again sons and daughters of God, that was ordained in God before the
world was framed coming back into that body again and raising it up. And there
is only one life that will do that, and that is the God life you had in Him before
the foundations of the world.
Jehovah
Jireh pt. 1 JJ
37-72 -- 62-0705 And then, remember, if we go before He
comes, we will be up and in His Presence, or, raised before the
others are changed. "The trumpet of the Lord shall sound, the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which alive and
remain shall be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and then be
caught up together with them, to meet the Lord in the air." Look at the order of the
resurrection. See, God knows that we long to see our loved ones. And if
we got there to meet Him first, we'd be looking around to see if mother or dad
and the rest of them was there. But see how, the Holy Spirit in His wisdom?
We meet one another first, and then when we get there and sing "Amazing Grace," that's when there's going to be a
time of worship. You think I act funny now, watch me up There! It's going to be
a wonderful time for me and all of us when we get There.
Now, here is the thing
I want for you to understand. So far we've looked at the mechanics, the order
and all. But now, we must look at the dynamics, because without the dynamics
the mechanics won't work.
Romans 8:10
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead
because of sin; but the Spirit is
life because of righteousness. 11 But if
the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit
that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are
debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For
if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify
the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Easter
Seal - 65-0410 And now, if that same Spirit that was upon Him to be the
Redeemer in that age, that we have accepted... Now, the promise of in this last
days what would take place, if you become part of that Word, you are
redeemed with Him, because the same Spirit that dwelt in Christ is dwelling in
you, quickening your life to this age. And it will also in the end time
quicken your mortal bodies, resurrect them, bring them up again. That takes the
gloom away when we look at it in that, and that's the truth. Romans here, Paul has proved it to us. See?
"If the Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, it will also quicken your mortal bodies." This is the same
Spirit that raised Him up that quickened the true believer to Eternal Life. The
Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells into
the believer, quickens the believer to Eternal Life.
Also we see in Ephesians 2:1 And you [hath he quickened], who
were dead in trespasses and sins;
Now, I want you to
notice that Paul is speaking of a people who have
been quickened. They
have already been made alive to God and His Word, and His plan.
Now, Ephesians 2:1 should be read in the context of Ephesians chapter one
where Paul speaks of a people who are elect and were in Christ before the
foundations of the world and who have been predestined to a great plan and
purpose of God who wanted to have children, and these children would come in
like fashion as His Only begotten Son came, which is also Roman 8 as we have
read.
Notice
Paul speaks of this plan which calls for a quickening by the baptism of the
Spirit, which Paul calls the earnest of our inheritance, or the down payment.
2
II Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this earthly body we groan, earnestly desiring to be
clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be
found naked. 4 For
we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would
be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of
life. 5 Now he that hath wrought us for
the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the
Spirit. 6 Therefore we are always
confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from
the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not
by sight:) 8 We
are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be
present with the Lord. 9 Wherefore we
labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of
him who works all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his
glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Now, a down payment we also call an
earnest payment because it shows we have made an earnest or sincere commitment
to honor the contract. And when we receive a portion of God's Spirit, by
receiving His Word, we receive in us the sincere pledge by God to finish the
work that He has begun.
Now, the word
quicken Paul uses here in Ephesians 2 is
the Greek word which means to restore again to life, to animate
or rather to re-animate. That is why brother Branham could say in
the message, Future Home 64-0802 34-3
"You wasn't saved on
any day. You was always saved. Amen. Jesus just come to redeem that, but you was saved from the beginning,
because you had Eternal Life to begin with."
In fact the word redeemed means to buy
back, and how could it be redeemed or bought back if he did not own it to begin
with. And how could your Life and Soul be redeemed if
you didn't have it to begin with. You see, what we
are here is only a reflection of what we are somewhere else. I
believe we are dealing with a dimensional principle that we know so little
about. But, brother Branham said those very words.
Questions and Answers 54-0103E 143-191 What you are here... Get
this in your mind now. I'm going to close. But what you are here is a
sign that you are something else somewhere. You've always wanted to be in
perfection, you Christians. There is a perfection,
and that perfection is not in this life. But every man and woman here that
is a Christian, every person that is a Christian here now is already
glorified in the Presence of Jesus Christ. And you've got another body.
You won't have some other time; you have right now. Right now there's
another body waiting for you if this one should perish. Could you think of that. Study that just a minute.
The Entombment
- 57-0420 Our
own life is just a pattern. It's just a shadow, and not the real thing. It's
the negative side. It takes death to develop the picture, to put us back in the
theophany we come from. Then in the resurrection
we come in His likeness, a resurrected body, what a beautiful, not only
beautiful but it's the real, solemn truth of God's eternal Word, that we'll be
like Him.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did (already a done deal)
foreknow, he also did (another done deal) predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30
Moreover whom he did (done deal) predestinate, them he also called (again it is in
the past tense) : and whom he called (past tense), them he also justified (past
tense): and whom he justified (past
tense), them he also glorified(past tense).
Therefore it is finished. It's a done deal. You can't change the outcome, no
matter how hard you try.
The problem is you keep looking at the
body of this death, this flesh, and that keeps you from really understanding
who you really are, preventing you from the victory that is already yours in
Christ Jesus Who has already paid the debt. He's paid the price for your sin
and mine. He cried, "It is finished!"
I John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is. Notice he said, now we are. Not in the future, but
already are sons of God.
Explaining Healing and Jairus 54-0216 37 The devil's just trying to scare you out
of something. He's trying to put something off somewhere else, say, "Some
of these days you'll be this." You are now. Now, we're sons of God.
Now, we're seated together in heavenly places. Now, we have all
powers in heavens and the earth. See? Now, we have it. Not in the
millennium, we won't need it then. We got it now. We're... Right now we are the sons of God. "It does not appear what we shall be, but we know we'll be
like Him." What you are here is a
reflection of what you are somewhere else. "Those who He called, He justifies." Is that right? "Those who He justified, He has glorified." Already in the Presence of the Father, we have a
glorified body. Whew! Wasn't that deep? All right.
We'll find out whether it's right or not. "If
this earthly tabernacle be dissolved, we have one already waiting." Is that right? That's right. So right now, and what
we are there, is a reflection. Here, what we are here, is a reflection of
what we are somewhere else. So if your deeds are evil, you know where it
comes from. You know where your other body's a waiting.
God Rich In
Mercy 65-0119 42 Now, if you've got
Eternal Life tonight, if we have Eternal Life, then we always were, because
there's only one form of Eternal Life. We always were. And the reason we were, because
we are a part of God. And God is the only thing that's eternal. And like Melchisedec received tithes from Abraham, and it was 'lotted to his great-grandson, Levi, who was yet in the
loins of Abraham; paid tithes, for he was yet in the loins of Abraham when he
met Melchisedec. I want to speak on that over at the
other place, one morning: Who Is This Melchisedec?
Now, notice that. Way back, God knew this boy coming down. He
knowed all things. Now, we are a part of God. You always was. You don't remember it, because you were only an
attribute in God. You were only in His thinking. Your very name, if it ever
was on the Book of Life, it was put there before the foundation of the world.
He knew what you were. 45 I'm only
saying this, not to mix up doctrine, but to straighten it out, that we might
get away from this fear and scare: you don't know who you are. You are not
going to be, but now you are the sons of God. See, you always were the sons
of God. See? For when God had you in His thinking at the beginning, you have to
be, some part of you, your Life that's in you now, had to be with God before
there... Well, when you--before you even become material here on earth, before
there was anything, but God, you were one of His attributes. He knowed what
your name would be. He knowed the color of hair you'd have. He
knowed all about you. The only thing happened is when you, being a
sinner...
Now, we are
still talking about the order of the resurrection, but what I want you to see
is that you have already been quickened. You have already received a spiritual
resurrection which is an earnest of a body change. Them without us
can not be made perfect. They've got to have what we have, and that
is this message of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. So if they can not be made
perfect without us first being made perfect and mature, then it lays in your laps,
brethren.
Now
notice closely, for I come to you in a Cloud, and
every eye shall see Him, no matter how far back they died, they'll see Him.
Again in the message
Images of Christ 59-0525 61 Brother Branham speaks
of the order of the resurrection. "Now, this
is the order of the resurrection. "We which are alive and remain shall not prevent them which
are dead; for the trumpet of God shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first; we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them..." Meet one another before we meet Him,
meet one another before we meet Him... "Be caught up together with
him--with them to meet the Lord in the air." All
together. He knew that if we got there first to worship Him, and then
we'll go to look around, wonder where baby is, and where mother is, and where
this one or that one; but (You see?) He lets us meet one another first. So when
you go up to worship before the Lord on that day, she'll be with you. See?
Now,
if this cloud of Glory has already come, then how close are we.
Be Not Afraid
61-0311 …watch
the order of the resurrection. The first thing, we get together, not until we
get together will we go together to meet Him. Mothers and fathers will meet one
another. Children and loved ones will meet one another, and then be caught up
in the air to meet the Lord.
Testimony
63-1128M 7 "The trumpet of God shall sound; the dead in
Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain..." Did you notice the order of the resurrection,
"Shall be caught up
together with them."
We meet each other before we meet Him. "Be caught up together to meet them - with
them, to meet the Lord in the air. See, He's God, and then when He wants to be worshipped,
that's what His very nature is, is to be worshipped, because He's God. And He
knows if we were there, be looking out of the corner of your eyes, see if the
other one's there, but, and then it wouldn't be the complete way of free
worship. When we stand there, and we know we've met each other first, and
greeted each other, and then to stand by Him Who caused it all, and sing the
songs of redemption. As Brother Jack has many times made the statement,
"When Angels will circle the earth, with bowed heads, not knowing what
we're talking about..." See, because they never been
redeemed. But we had to be redeemed, and how we'll crown Him the King of kings
and Lord of lords...
Uniting Time Sign-63-0818 We find that now the time comes when the Trumpet sounds, and those
sleeping saints back there that could not be made perfect without us (there's
many of those Hebrew brethren),(he's
talking about Paul, and Peter and all them back there) and when they come together, they unite with the living
ones. The Church uniting with the Word, then the Church
and the Word uniting together, being come one. The
dead saints with the living saints uniting together to be one; and all going
together to unite with Christ yonder, for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.
And to think of us standing, (in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, when
the world won't know what's going on), but all of a sudden, you'll see
appear before you, your loved ones that's gone on has come to unite with you
again. And we'll be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye; and be
caught up, together, to meet our Lord in the air.
Mother's Day 59-0510M 86 As that
great light begins to spread all - as we begin to look around, and the great
circle will be getting greater and greater; it's all just reflecting the
approach of Jesus… …Then as we see Him...and we'll not be as we are now. We'll
know how to love Him more. We'll not stand back with a little fear, because
we'll be like Him. He'll be more of a relative to us than He is now.
We'll understand Him better, because we're so far away in the mortal bodies. Then
we'll have a body like His glorious body. We'll know how to worship Him.
And when we see what the Presence of His Being has done to us, changed us,
the old back young, all the deformed straightened out, oh, we'll understand
then why His power healed us.
God In Simplicity -
63-0317 1M 58-5 God just speaks and the Rapture will come.
It ain't going out there and them
Angels come down and shovel out the grave and get out an old dead carcass here.
What is it? It is born of sin to begin with - but a new one made in its
likeness. If we have this, we will die again. See? Nobody can say, "The
graves will open. The dead shall walk out." That may be true, but not open
the way you say open. That's right. See? It won't be like that. It'll be a
secret, because He said He would come like a thief in the night. He's
already told us this, the Rapture, then judgments will
strike - sins, plagues, sickness, and everything. The people will cry for
death to take them from the judgment. "Lord, why is this judgment upon us
when You said that there would be a Rapture
first?" He will say, "It's already come, and you didn't know
it." God hiding Himself in simplicity. Oh, my! All right. "It's already happened and you knew it
not."
Questions and Answers
- 59-1223 whenever God's
people gets together completely, I believe the
resurrection will take place then. There'll be a rapturing
time when the Holy Spirit begins to gather it up. It'll be in the minority,
of course, but there will be a great gathering. Let's get ready Let's get ready for this midnight cry. It's coming in a hour when you think not. There'll be a cry, not amongst
the unbelieving world; it'll be a secret.
Going Beyond The Camp - 64-0719 2E
And
you know, we'll be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. Think of it!
Missing people, they can't see you no more, but you're getting
together with the rest of the group. "… "And the trump of God shall sound, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first, appear to many.." And all at once you happen to stand and
look, and "Well, there's a brother..." And you know it ain't long. In a few minutes we'll be changed in a moment
in a twinkling of an eye, and together with them be missing on earth, caught up
to meet the Lord in the air.
Questions and Answers -
64-0823 1M Now, the
first thing happens when we're resurrected ... The ones which are a-living will
just still remain ... 16 The resurrection will set in first,
the resurrection of those that are asleep. There'll be a wakening time, and those
which are asleep in the dust now ... will be awakened first, and they'll
- these corruptible bodies will put on incorruption in the rapturing grace of the Lord. And then we'll all get
together. And when they begin to get together, then we which are alive
and remain shall be changed. These mortal bodies will not see death, but just
of a sudden, there'll be like a sweep go over us, and you're changed.
You're turned back like Abraham was, from an old man to a young man, from an
old woman to a young woman. What's this sudden change? And
after while you're traveling like a thought, and you can see those then who
are already resurrected. Oh, what a hour! Then
we'll gather with them and then be caught up with them to meet the Lord
in the air. Yes, the Church will all be together, but after, after the
resurrection and the rapture has set in.
Questions and Answers -
64-0823 1M The time of
the rapture will be the awakening of the dead and the get together with the
living, for the rapture to take place. And Jesus can not come until a
church, a body of believers and the ministry that He once...?...
will have to be the same as it was then to... And then, that brings...
"Them without us is not made perfect," Paul said, Hebrews 11. "Without us they cannot be perfected." They must have this ministry to raise up the Lutheran, Wesleys,
and all them down through their ages.
Questions and
Answers - 64-0823 1M And then shall he send his angels, and ... gather together
his elect from the four winds, and the utmost parts of the earth to the
uttermost parts of heaven. That's talking of the resurrection, the translation,
going up. He will send forth His angels to gather. Did you ever think what the
angels are? Huh? Messengers. He will gather
them together, congregate them together (see?), bringing them, bind them
together from the utmost parts of the earth to the utmost parts of Heaven,
the Word that was been made manifest on earth. See? Get it? The Word's been
spoken; here It's manifested.
Rising of the
Sun - 65-0418 1M 50-6 And now (see?), now you are already
resurrected. When God raised Him up, He raised you; the Son is just now on
you. And now you're growing into a blossom Life like He was, to be resurrected
completely in that last day. Your potentials you have now. Why do you know? Your
soul changed, didn't it? Your body come in obedience
to It, didn't it? Into obedience to what? A Church? The Word, which is the Life.
Then you are now resurrected from the dead. You potentially have the Earnest,
the waiting. Now, when you get the Dynamics, you have been quickened from
mortal to immortality. It makes the whole body come subject to the Word. It'll
make you act different, look different, live different; It'll
just make you different.
Then notice, it's just like a little seed
laying in the ground. Now, potentially, you are
resurrected. You're resurrected when you receive the Holy Spirit in you; you're
resurrected right then. Your body's potentially resurrected.
Questions and
Answers - 64-0823 remember, I'm saying to you in the name of a prophet (see?)
- in the name of a prophet, the resurrection and
rapture will be general all over the entire world! No matter where you're
at, when that hour comes, you'll be caught up to meet Him! That's all! There's
nothing going to stop you, no matter where you are.
Questions and Answers -
64-0823 1M Across the world, they won't be gathered in one place to have things in
common. But little groups of them will be scattered all over the earth. I
believe, maybe if the Lord permits, this is a little group of It. Maybe another little group in Asia,
one down in Germany, one down somewhere else.
Letting Off
the Pressure 62-0518 Can't you see we're at the end time? It's all
over. The next thing will be a sweep of getting that little group together,
and in a month or so she'll be gone - as soon as she's gathered together.
We're at the end; there's no hopes left anywhere. Run to Christ, people!
Let
us pray...