Christ is the Mystery no. 33

Christian means Christ-like

October 21, 2012

Brian Kocourek

 

This morning I would like to continue with brother Branham sermon “Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed” and focus on paragraphs 74 and 75 where brother Branham hones in on what it really means to be a Christian. Let’s just read for ourselves what he says here.

 

74 But the only way that you can actually be a Christian is for Christ to identify Himself in you. How... We got some a stinger there. I hope everybody on the tape gets that too. See, see? You say, "I'm Pentecostal." That don't mean a thing. It's Christ identified in you; that's when He has recognized you.

 

Now, before I read on I want you to know what brother Branham is telling us here is very Scriptural even though the Fundamentalist and Pentecostal will deny this. But Paul tells us this very plainly in Romans 8:16  The Spirit itself  beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: Notice he tells us that “The Spirit Itself is who bears witness with our spirit. And of course we know there is only One THE Spirit and that is God’s own spirit. And brother Branham tells us very plainly and straight forward the only way that you can actually be a Christian is for Christ to identify Himself in you…. It's Christ identified in you; that's when He has recognized you.

 

Notice He recognizes you, not you recognizing Him. The whole world recognizes that God is God, but they will not make Him the Lord of their life now will they? We even have that problem right in this Message. People living no higher than a denominational Baptist.

 

When I was in High school, I remember the days that the Baptists didn’t go to school dances, or to the movie theatre or bowling alley, and yet today we have believers in this Message who have let down the bar and will not take to heart what Brother Branham said about it.  Let me just read you a couple quotes from brother Branham on that subject.

 

Jezebel religion 61-0319 P:16 Them young girls so drunk they couldn't hardly stand up, and in the room all night with them boys, and awfullest dirty talk you ever heard in your life. I put pillows over my head like this to try to go to sleep. Out in the floors, drunk, and running up and down the floors like that, religious...Now, I can expect these sinful people like now, that call themselves sports, out here in the bowling game. One of my kids would start towards a bowling alley, I'd run him out of the country (uh-huh). Call that sport; that's not sports. What's this... If you want to be right, get right with God. True.

 

Wisdom verses faith 62-0401 P:144 How can the true Word of God grow on these bobbed-hair, short-wearing, cigarette-smoking, bowling alley-hangers, church-joiners? How can it do, when such pleasure-loving, seeking crowds as that, hang out, and love such things as that, and loving of the world, how can the love of God come in? How can the seed of God grow in such a ground as that? It'll never take root; it'll never bring any life to it. It'll lay there on them old dusty denominational rocks and rot away, but it'll never bring life. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Pleasure-seekers, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God--terrible, yet they're smart. They're twice as smart as the other class. See? Sure. Smart, educated, wisdom-seekers just like Eve was, and they got the same dose she got, just exactly. It's the truth.

 

The Baptist’s in the 70’ wouldn’t drink, smoke or chew or go with them who do. They were more committed to living a Christian life than kids in this Message today. Ah, but you say, “By Grace are we saved and not of works”. Well, that may be true, but if you have the Spirit of God living in you won’t do those things because He won’t go to those places. So who is controlling you?


Br. Branham continues in paragraph   75 You  “Say, “I spoke with tongues." Devils does, too. "I shouted." The Mohammedans, Buddhas, and everything shouts. The Indians scream at the snake dance. See? Sure. They all do. Cults, clans and everything else scream and holler. They holler and shout at a baseball game. But when Christ is identified in you, identifying Himself, then you are Christ-like; which the word Christian means to be Christ-like. There's your identification. All right. Now... And since He is our identification, then we should be identified with Him by living for Him.

 

Jesus said in John 6:57As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” 

 

So I have a right to ask the question, by whom are you living by and for?

 

Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Now, that word IF is a very big word here because he is telling us that IF we live in the Spirit then we will also be walking as the Spirit would walk if it has control of our bodies.

 

Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?  And how do we subject our spirit to the Father and Live? By taking heed to His Word, and not just showing it aside as so many do and say that was for another age.


And listen, you can not expect to avoid the curse of God if you do not take heed to His Word. That’s a promise of God.

 

Deuteronomy 28:1  And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 3  Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4  Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5  Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.  6  Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

 

Notice he said if you hearken diligently, and that means you listen intelligently with an ear to hear the instructions so you might do them. To pay close attention to do so you might know. And now let’s read what happens when we fail to hearken or pay close attention to the Voice of the Lord. Let’s jump ahead to view just a few of the curses.

 

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16  Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17  Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18  Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19  Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 20  The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

 

So don’t think “well, everything is ok, I go to church, I pay my tithes, I support the work, so I am ok. And besides I have great health and a good job, so I am blessed. Listen, this nation was blessed at one time, and at one time according to the blessings of God she was the head but now that she is under the curse she is the tail. At one time we were the most lending nation of all time, and within one generation we are the most indebted nation of all time.

 

Now, I’m not up here to make you feel little, that’s not my purpose, I want you to be conformed to the image of the first born son. But if you are chasing the world, it shows the Holy Ghost doesn’t have pre-eminence in your life.

 

Look, according to the Word of God, our very lives are supposed to be written epistles. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

 

The early church were called Christians because they were so much like Christ in the way they acted and talked and conducted their lives.

 

QA Image of the beast 54-0515 P:32 There's only one way to be a Christian. The word "Christian" means "Christ-like." And you can't do it; you can't work it in yourself; there's no way at all you can do it. You have to forget yourself, die out to yourself, and let Christ come in and live the Life of Christ in you.

 

Again from his sermon Images of Christ 59-0525 P:17 Brother Branham said, “It's been told me by authorities, that before they had the days of the smelter to take the dross out of gold, take the iron and the pyrite. The pyrite is so close like the real gold, till it's called the fool's gold. But the way they got all that out, that they beat it out with a hammer. The Indians used to do that. And the old goldsmiths used to do it. Beat it with a hammer, and turn it over and over, and beat until all the dross was out of it. And the only way that they knew that it was down to the gold, was when the beater could see his reflection in it. The one who was beating could constantly look until he could almost shave by his own reflection in the gold that he was beating. And when the Holy Spirit of God begins to beat on us with the Gospel hammer, until all of the things of the world is beaten out and we can reflect the image of the Lord God, then I believe we become Christians. For the word "Christian" means "Christ-like," and to reflect Him.

 

And from His sermon An Absolute 63-1201M P:49 “I asked him if he was a Christian, said, "I'm an American. How dare you." Like that's got anything to do with it? See, they're tied to a nation. The other one's tied to an organization, dogmas. But a "Christian" means "Christ-like." And only way you can be Christ-like is for Christ the Word to be in you.”

 

Again from his sermon Images of Christ 59-0525 P:39 he said,Church membership is all right. I have nothing against it, or any of those things. But, brother, to be a Christian means to be conformed to the image of Christ. We want to be living images, not pack an image, but be an image of the Lord Jesus.”

 

The Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:13 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.

 

Now, before we go further into what brother Branham was talking about in paragraphs 74 and 75 of Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed, let’s step back a moment and read his words own that built up to these statements that he makes on being Christ-Like. Let’s begin with paragraph 65.

 

  65   Now, here He says, "Search the Scriptures; they testify of Me. In them you think you have Eternal Life (and that's true), and they are the one that bear record of Me, and I'm bearing record of them. And if I do not the works that's promised that I would do, then don't hear Me. But if I do the works and you can't believe Me, believe the works," because they testify that He is the Word. Oh, it looks like it couldn't be any plainer. See? All right. Now, search the Scriptures. He said Moses and all the laws and so forth, and the prophets, and Psalms spoke of Him, and again He said the Scriptures testify of Him.


  66   He is the principal Theme of the entire Bible. If you read the Bible and don't see Christ in every verse of It, go back and read It again. See? If you can't see Christ in every verse of the Bible, then you read It again, because you've missed something. The Bible is Christ. He is the Word. When you read, "In the beginning God created..." there's Christ. See? Every... From that to the "Amen" in Revelations is every Word testifying of Jesus Christ. That's why these added books that's called II Book of Daniel and the Book of the Maccabees, Agges Purgatory, and stuff like that... See, it's not spoke of in the Scripture. See? It doesn't theme up with the rest of It. There's no place to place purgatory in there. There's no place to place intercession of saints, and things; there's no place in there for that. There's no place for denomination. There's no place for creeds outside of the Bible. See? So when you see those things, they just don't come into the picture.

 

  67   And that's why people has added those and got their jigsaw puzzle all mixed up. See? They can't make it right "same yesterday, today, and forever." But if the thing's put together right, there's the entire picture of the fall and regeneration, the whole picture of creation, and God's whole plan revealed right in Jesus Christ. Amen. That's the whole picture set together, every little crook and corner. It's just like... Now, I don't mean to be sacrilegious by this, but it's just like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. That's why we've got pictures today that looks horrible: say, "We are believers," and a cow picking grass up in top of a tree. It don't work. That's when they say, "Yeah, He's every way, but just of a certain... He's the same yesterday, today, and forever all but a certain thing." See? Then you ruin your picture. The Bible said He is the same.


  68   St. John 5 or St. John 14:12, He said, "He (he, anybody)--he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.” "Well, that was for another age." There you got your picture wrong again. You got a man fishing out in the desert for fish in a bunch of hot sand where there's no fish at. See? See, you got to bring him back to where he's fishing at Galilee, where there's plenty of fish. You see? See, you got to make the picture look right. It's God's great picture, and there's only one way you'll see it, that when you see Jesus Christ. There's the entire Bible. He's the principal theme of the Bible.


  69   Now, you realize that any of these places here you could take a text, and it's just hard for a preacher to hold his peace. He look like he want to keep going with it, but you got to get back to what we're teaching on. He is the principle theme of the Bible. He was in the prophets; He was in the Psalms; He was in the history of the Bible. The Bible is a prophetic Book; It's a historical Book; It's a Book of love. It's a Book of songs; It's a Book of Life, and in there you find Christ. He was in the prophets; He was in the Psalms; He was in the history; and He also in the Bible is the things that is to come. So He was before and for after. What does that make Him then? The same yesterday, today, and forever.


  70   And, you inject something in there that doesn't make Him the same yesterday, today, and forever, Brother Lee, where do you go to? You got an awful picture there. For He was the history (See?), and He is the Prophet; He is the Psalms; He is everything. And if you can't make Him everything and the same, what's your picture look like? Do you see it? All right.


  71   He is the same. He was the prophets; He was in them; He was in the Psalms; He was in the history; and He is the things to come, the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrew 13:8, if you're writing it down). He should be then... He should be the principal... If that's what He is, and we believe it, don't we? Then if He is that, then He should be the principal Theme of our talking, of our thinking, of our singing, of our walks; He should be the principal Theme of our life. If He's the principal Theme of the Bible, and the Bible is in us, then He should be the principal Theme of everything that we do, say, or think, should be Christ. Is that right? All right.


 72   Since we think this, since He's been made the Head of all things to us... The Colossians said so here. He's the Head of all things to us for He was made for us, which we are considered all things. You say, "What about the sinner?" He was made to be the Judge of the sinner, if he don't accept it. He was made the Glory for the believer who does accept it. So there thing... All things was made by Him and for Him. And it takes the night to express the glory of the day. It takes the vessel of dishonor to express the love and care for the vessel of the honored. It takes an evil woman that would wear immoral clothes and sell her morals to express the virtue of a decent genuine lady. See? It takes the crook and a thief in a man to express the genuineness of a real believer, a real Christian. It takes the hypocrite to show up the believer, what he is.


  73   So all things was made by Him. And since He was made--all things--made for all of us; all things was made for--by Him, then since that is true, we should make--our identification should be with Him. We should be identified, ourselves, with Him, because He has identified Himself with us. We should be identified with Him. How? By living for Him, not just a confession. So many people take a confession and say... I say... It's got to this place now: "Are you a Christian?" "I'm Methodist." Well, that's a long way from making yourself known as a Christian. Now, look what the Methodist does. "I'm Baptist." Look what the Baptist does. "I'm Catholic." Look what they do. See?


   74   But the only way that you can actually be a Christian is for Christ to identify Himself in you. How... We got some a stinger there. I hope everybody on the tape gets that too. See, see? You say, "I'm Pentecostal." That don't mean a thing. It's Christ identified in you; that's when He has recognized you.

 

Notice he doesn’t say you being identified with Christ, He says Christ Himself is identified IN you.

 

First the Apostle Paul tells us in verse 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.


Now, what he is telling us here is that if God’s Spirit, because it was God that raised up Jesus from the dead, so if God’s spirit is in you, it will quicken your mortal body. That means you will become alive to God’s Word in your body not just in your soul.

 

Look, this word “quicken” means to make alive, and what is it that he says will become alive? He says your mortal body. Now the mortal body is the body you are living in right now. I disagree with those who say we must wait until we get a body change, or we must wait until the millennium to have victory in this flesh. What in the world did Christ die for if not to give us that victory. Victory comes by overcoming, and that overcoming produces character.  And overcoming is not a gift, it is something that is worked at. 

 

Church Age Book  Chapter 4 - The Smyrnaean Church Age P:18 Why does He stand by? The reason is in Romans 8:17-18, "And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Unless we suffer with Him we cannot reign with Him. You have to suffer to reign. The reason for this is that character simply is never made without suffering. Character is a VICTORY, not a gift. A man without character can't reign because power apart from character is Satanic. But power with character is fit to rule. And since He wants us to share even His throne on the same basis that He overcame and is set down in His Father's throne, then we have to overcome to sit with Him. And the little temporary suffering we go through now is not worthy to be compared to the tremendous glory that will be revealed in us when He comes. Oh, what treasures are laid up for those who are willing to enter into His kingdom through much tribulation.

 

Why do you think we have failed to see much of John 14:12 in the church although William Branham said it ought to be there just as sure as it was in the first church age? It’s because we don’t have the same sacrifice, the same suffering, the same character as was displayed in that early church.

 

Darkest hour Jesus comes 55-1114 P:22 Now, God gave Him the Spirit without measure. He gives it to you and I by measure. He measured me out a spoonful. But when He measured it out to His Son, He measured the whole oceans. See what I mean? But notice, the same chemicals that's in this spoon is in the whole ocean. And all the chemicals in the ocean is in the or a measure of them is in this spoon. It's the same kind. See, it'll do the same thing. It'll do the same works. It'll produce the same Life. Don't you believe that? That's what makes us Christians.

 

The Fundamental Foundation for Faith 1953 "Now, if we could throw yourself completely to God and to His will and be lost to our own thoughts, and just let the mind of Christ be in us, them same operations of the Spirit would work through us just as the natural things does, just the same thing. Because we were first created for that purpose to control, to rule, and to praise God and to live for God."

 

Christ is the mystery 63-0728 P:122 If a man says he's born again and try to place these promises of Christ in this last day to some other age, making Him Christ yesterday, but not today, then that man or that person has been in a delusion by Satan. And if that man says that he believes that, and it doesn't manifest itself through him... Jesus said in Mark 16, "These signs shall follow them that believe... into all the world and to every age." Casting out devils, and speaking with tongues, and all of these great manifestations of gifts that would follow, that they shall, not that they maybe, they ought to; they will. And heavens and earth will pass away, but His Word won't.

 

Brother Branham said in his sermon, Blind Bartimaeus 55-0818 P:14 Those Pharisees read the same Bible that the apostles read, but they didn't have faith to put into practice what they read. Every denomination today reads the same Bible. But what I want to see, somebody's got faith enough, that'll step out and take the word of it. Amen. That's what we need, somebody to practice what they believe. Faith without works is dead. Doesn't do you any good to have faith. You say, "I believe that's the Bible." Well, if it is the Bible, It's got promises. And if you believe that's true, well, the only thing you have to do is to let your faith loose with it. Practice what you believe. Every bit's a seed.

 

Brother Branham spoke of St. Martin in his sermon Christianity verses idolatry 61-1217 P:9In studying in the early history of the church, Broadbent's, and Hazeltine's, and many of their comments on it, Nicene Fathers... And yesterday I just wound up with the complete life of Saint Martin that the Catholic church refused to canonize; God did that. So they... Of his great life, and how that the same signs and wonders followed that man right down through his life, how he raised two dead people, cast out evil spirits, spoke in unknown tongues, and seen visions and things, and what a great man. But yet, in the very secret of his power was in humility before God. And we find today that the church, yet teaching its power and teaching the signs to follow the believer, yet we find them puffed out, "big me, little you," and that. it isn't like the early Church. You see? They were humble, and kind to one another, and sweet, understanding. And it's so much different today. And I wonder if a lot of this hasn't sidetracked us from the real kernel of the Message, that we want to humble ourselves. Keep yourself... The more humbler you can be, the better God will use you.”

 

From his sermon Smyrnaean church age 60-1206 P:8 said, “Another thing that I'd like to read you, it's found in the book: "How Did It Happen?" by R. C. Hazeltine, the history of the early churches. And here on page 180, "The spiritual Gifts In Irenaeus' Time, A.D. 177 to 202." Now, the reason I'm quoting this, it's going on tape (You see?), and it'll be taken off on books." It was in Irenaeus' time that most of the apostolic church of France had all the gifts of the Holy Ghost." That was from him teaching. See? "Irenaeus' church members at Lyons (That's Lyon, France.) spoke with tongues. It was not uncommon to see someone dead brought back to life. Healing was an everyday occurrence in all the evangelical churches everywhere. (That Irenaeus knew how to teach.) Miracles were frequent. In fact, those churches were never without a miraculous manifestation of God's Presence either by vision, super-extension of the elements of nature, and a miracle, to remind the evangelical Christians of that day they was His beloved disciples. But from the history of the past, we cannot glean a single instance of raising the dead in the first Roman church."

 

St. Columba manifested mighty works of Christ and also raised the dead as did the Apostle Paul.  Brother Branham spoke of Columba many times and in his sermon, Messiah the 61-0117 P:27 I wonder where people that don't believe in signs and wonders following the believers... How would you ever read the history of the church and think it ceased with the apostles? In the church ages... I read the Nicene Fathers, the Nicene Council, oh, all the ancient writers I could think of, reading Hislop's "Two Babylons" and many of the other ancient books. And all the way down to the early Catholic church... Down for the first six hundred years after Christ, there was Irenaeus, St. Martin, Columba, and all of those; every one of those saintly men. They preached the baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ. They preached the remission of sins. They preached speaking in tongues. They raised the dead; they healed the sick. Signs and wonders followed them plumb on to the Dark Ages, and through the Dark Ages. There's been a little minority all the way down, keeping that Gospel Light shining. What was it? Messiahettes, ones holding forth the representation of the Messiahic Kingdom. Jesus never failed. He did just exactly what He was commissioned to do. And He come to establish a Kingdom, and He did it. The Kingdom of God comes into the heart by the power of the Holy Ghost, brings God's Spirit upon anointed church to perform signs and wonders as He did, to prove that Messiah is King of His Kingdom. Amen.

 

  75   Say, "I spoke with tongues." Devils does, too. "I shouted." The Mohammedans, Buddhas, and everything shouts. The Indians scream at the snake dance. See? Sure. They all do. Cults, clans and everything else scream and holler. They holler and shout at a baseball game. But when Christ is identified in you, identifying Himself, then you are Christ-like; which the word Christian means to be Christ-like. There's your identification. All right. Now... And since He is our identification, then we should be identified with Him by living for Him.

 

In the Church Age Book  Chapter 2 - The Patmos Vision P:32 31 Brother Vayle in full collaboration with Brother Branham wrote, “In John 15, Jesus said, "I am the Vine, ye are the branches." He is the main Vine, that which comes out of the original root from the original seed that has the life in it. Now the vine does not bear fruit; it is the branches that do that. Now watch this: You can take a citrus tree such as an orange tree, and graft into it a grapefruit limb, a lemon limb, a tangelo limb, and other kinds of that variety, and all those limbs will grow. But those grafted limbs will not bear oranges. No sir. The lemon limb will bear lemons, and the grapefruit limb will bear grapefruit and so on. Yet those limbs will be thriving off the life in the tree. But if that tree ever puts forth another branch of itself it will be an orange branch and bear oranges. Why? Because the life in the limb and the life in the trunk are identical whereas it wasn't so with the grafted limbs. Those grafted branches had their sources in other kinds of life from other trees, from other roots, from other seeds. Oh, they will bear fruit all right, but they won't bear oranges. They cannot because they are not the original.

  32   That's the way the church is. The vine has been split and limbs have been grafted in. They have grafted in Baptist limbs, Methodist limbs, Presbyterian limbs, and Pentecostal limbs. And those limbs are bearing Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, and Presbyterian fruit. (Denominational seeds from which they produce their fruit.) But if the vine ever brings forth another branch of itself, that branch will be exactly like the vine itself. It will be the same kind of a branch that was brought forth at Pentecost. It will speak in tongues, prophesy, and have the power and signs of the resurrected Jesus Christ in it. Why? Because it's thriving on the natural resources of the vine itself. You see, it wasn't grafted into the vine; it was BORN in the vine. When those other branches were grafted in, all they could do was bear their own fruit for they were not born of that vine. They don't know about that original life and original fruit. They cannot know for they were not born of it. But if they had been born of it, that same life that was in the original stem (Jesus) would have come through them and manifested through them. John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." 33   Denominations which are man directed cannot be born of God; for it is the Spirit, NOT MAN, that gives life.

  34   How thrilling it is to think of those seven lamps drawing life and light from the resources of that main bowl because they had their wicks dipped therein. Each church age messenger is depicted here. His life is on fire with the Holy Ghost. His wick (life) has been immersed in Christ. Through that wick he is drawing the very life of Christ, and by it gives out light to the church. What kind of a light is he giving? The very same light that was in the first lamp that was lit. And right on down the ages to the present time of the last day messenger the same life and the same light is manifested by a life that is hid with Christ in God.

  35   Not only can we speak thus of the messengers, but every true believer is dramatically depicted here. They are all drawing from the same source. They have all been dipped into the same bowl. They are dead to themselves and their lives are hid with Christ in God. They are sealed in by the Holy Ghost. Ephesians 4:30, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." No man can pluck them out of His hand. Their lives cannot be tampered with. The visible life is burning and shining, giving light and manifestations of the Holy Ghost. The inner, invisible life is hidden in God and fed by the Lord's Word. Satan cannot touch them. Not even death can touch them, for death has lost its sting; the grave has lost its victory. Thanks be unto God, they have this victory in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen and amen.

 

Faith once delivered to the saints 57-0610 P:46 Now, if Jesus Christ, God's Son, said, "These signs shall follow them that believe. The works that I do shall you also. These things that I do, you'll do it also. I'll be with you even in you to the end of the world," then the disciples followed right behind Christ, doing the very same things that He did. That's right. Exactly. When they found out that Peter and John were ignorant and unlearned men... They wasn't educated, neither was they smart. But they had to take notice that they had been with Jesus, because the Spirit that was in Jesus was in them doing the same things Jesus did, taking the same kind of a motive. And everything that Jesus had, that's what they had. You don't have to be smart, you don't have to have an education. You just have to have a willing heart. God sends His faith down, His power. Faith is power.

 

New ministry 59-1115 P:85 When he was here on earth, He told Peter, "On the revelation of the Word of God," He said, "upon this rock, I will build My Church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against It." Isn't that right? All right. When He was... 'Fore He left, in Mark 16, He said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." Did He say it? "In My Name they shall cast out devils, speak with new tongues, take up serpents, drink deadly things." He also said, "The works that I do, shall you do also." Is that right? That's the signs that's to follow His Church. It's not a denomination. It's a ordained of God, Holy Ghost filled, heaven born Church that comes out of all denominations, a real believing bunch of people. Don't you see what the greater thing is? That's the greatest thing that could ever happen was to impart Eternal Life to people. 56 What is Eternal Life? The Life that He lived, the Life that was in Him: impart that to othersCan a man do thatA Son of God can. … There's the greater works.

 

From the beginning it wasn't so 59-1125 P:3 Jesus said at the beginning, "The works that I do, shall you do also." That's the way it was at the beginning. What kind of a works did He do at the beginning? The same works that He's doing now. What kind of a church did He have at the beginning? A church that was filled with the Spirit, that healed the sick, and prophesied, and great signs and wonders. And it wasn't ashamed of the religion. They shouted and danced under the Spirit like drunk men, and had cloven tongues like fire set upon them. And they done signs and wonders, and exploits followed them. That's the kind it was at the beginning. That's the kind it'll be in the middle. That'll be the kind it'll be at the last. You say, "My church don't teach that." Well, it wasn't so from the beginning. You say, "I'm a Methodist." It wasn't so from the beginning. "I'm a Baptist." It wasn't so from the beginning." I'm a Lutheran." It wasn't so from the beginning. They were baptized saints of God with the Holy Ghost. That's what the beginning was: signs and wonders. You say "My church don't believe in it." It wasn't so from the beginning. "My church don't believe in seeing visions." It wasn't so from the beginning.

 

Messiah the 61-0117 P:62 They look like him. They act like him. They are his flesh, his blood, his spirit. Amen. That's the way God's church is, His Eaglets, His Messiahettes. They look like Him; they act like Him; they preach like Him; they do the works that He did. "The things that I do shall he also. More than this shall he do, 'cause I go to the Father." Amen. "These signs shall follow My eaglets." Amen "They'll do just as I do. If My Spirit's in them, then they'll do the works that I do. If they don't do the works I do, it's because that My Spirit's not in them."

 

Be not afraid 63-0607 P:42 And Jesus said, "Who can accuse Me of unbelief?" And, "If I don't do the works of My Father, then don't believe Me. But if I do the works, and yet you can't believe Me, believe the works that I do." So, you see, here He was doing the same thing that God did. Now, I want to ask you brethren, if the life of Jesus Christ is in the church, then surely the church would do the same thing He did, because the same life is in it. If here stands a peach tree, and I take all the peach life out of it, and put apple life in it, what kind of a fruit will it bear? Apples. That's the kind of life that's in it. Well then, if the life that was in Christ is in us, it'll bear the fruits that He bore. It's got to.

 

God's gifts always find place 63-1222 P:36 Notice now, we find that if He identified... The works that He did identified that He was Deity, showed that He was. For He said, "If I do not the works of My Father, then don't believe Me." And could not the Christian say today, "If I do not the works of my Saviour, believe me not"? See?" As the Father sent Me, so send I you." And if you did the works, creation works of the Father that sent Him, then it's a creation... The Christ the Creator that sends us, does the works of Christ the Creator. See? "As the Father sent Me, so send I you. And if I do not the works of My Father, believe me not." Then the Christian today has got to do the Life that Christ did or we have a right to say, "It's not so."

 

Be certain of God 59-0708E P:49 If I had the Spirit of Christ, I'll do the works of Christ. Jesus said, "If I do not the works of My Father, then believe Me not." And if the church does not do the works of Christ, then don't believe that church. Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." And we've perverted it by works of man, doctrines of man. The Bibles said, "In the last days, they'd be heady, high-minded, and lovers of pleasure more than of God, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, and despisers of those that are good." You say, "Them's communists." No, them's Christians, so-called, and church members. "Having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Saying, "Oh, God did that in another age, not this age." The Bible said, "From such, turn away." We're living in that day.

 

Love 58-0313 P:62 Any spirit, anything, any life will bear record of itself. Now, if that Angel of God Who's picture you see here, if that Angel of God is the Christ, it'll bear the works of Christ. How many knows that? It'll bear the works of Christ. If it don't bear the works of Christ, then it isn't Christ. If I had the spirit of John Dillinger, I'd have guns; I'd be a...?... character. Whatever spirit you are, that's what bears your record.

 

Perseverant 64-0305 P:44 No, she wasn't a hybreed, as a so-called crop of believers is today. What did she do? She admitted He was right. The Word and faith always admits the Word is right. Amen. If your faith don't punctuate every Word of God's Word with "amen," there's something wrong with your experience. The Bible said He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. If it don't say "amen" to that, then there's something wrong. Jesus said, "The works that I do shall you do also." If it don't say "amen" to that, then there's something wrong. If it don't punctuate every Word of God's promise, with an "amen," there's something wrong.

 

Christ is the mystery 63-0728 P:212 Notice, notice. And the "Father that sent Me" went with Him. The Father that sends--the Jesus that sends us goes in... "A little while and the world won't see Me no more, yet ye shall see Me, for I (personal pronoun, 'I 'the Person, Jesus) will be with you, even in you to the end of the world. The works that I do shall you do also." Now, go back and see what He done; then see what you do, and then compare yourself.

 

Absolute the 62-1230M P:66 Then when we know that our actions is exactly with the Word, we know our teaching is perfect with the Word, adding nothing or taking nothing, just the Word; and we see the same results that others who anchored to the same Word living up in our life, then your anchor holds. The Life of Christ being reproduced in almost an incarnate way through you as it was in Christ, because it was God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. And you see God in yourself holding that same keel on the Word, just exactly the way Jesus did, and you see His Life..."The works that I do shall you do also. He that believeth... (Not him that maketh believe, he that thinks he believes, but he that believeth) He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he also." Why? He's anchored to the same Rock. What was the Rock? The Word, always. You're anchored there.

 

Love 58-0313 P:62 Any spirit, anything, any life will bear record of itself. Now, if that Angel of God Who's picture you see here, if that Angel of God is the Christ, it'll bear the works of Christ. How many knows that? It'll bear the works of Christ. If it don't bear the works of Christ, then it isn't Christ. If I had the spirit of John Dillinger, I'd have guns; I'd be a...?... character. Whatever spirit you are, that's what bears your record.

 

God's gifts always find place 63-1222 P:36 Notice now, we find that if He identified... The works that He did identified that He was Deity, showed that He was. For He said, "If I do not the works of My Father, then don't believe Me." And could not the Christian say today, "If I do not the works of my Saviour, believe me not"? See?" As the Father sent Me, so send I you." And if you did the works, creation works of the Father that sent Him, then it's a creation... The Christ the Creator that sends us, does the works of Christ the Creator. See? "As the Father sent Me, so send I you. And if I do not the works of My Father, believe me not." Then the Christian today has got to do the Life that Christ did or we have a right to say, "It's not so."

 

Be certain of God 59-0708E P:49 If I told you I had the spirit of Al Capone, you'd better call the police in and arrest me; I might have his gun. If I told you I had the spirit of some famous artist, you'd expect me to paint these hills out here just as natural as they are. 'Cause that's what the artist would do if I had his spirit. If I had the Spirit of Christ, I'll do the works of Christ. Jesus said, "If I do not the works of My Father, then believe Me not." And if the church does not do the works of Christ, then don't believe that church. Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." And we've perverted it by works of man, doctrines of man. The Bibles said, "In the last days, they'd be heady, high-minded, and lovers of pleasure more than of God, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, and despisers of those that are good." You say, "Them's communists." No, them's Christians, so-called, and church members. "Having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Saying, "Oh, God did that in another age, not this age." The Bible said, "From such, turn away." We're living in that day.

 

Mark of the beast 61-0217 P:38 When God sends something and you fail to walk in it, then you're out; that's all. You either do or you don't. That's the way it was. All that didn't get in the ark, drowned, and that was all there was to it, no matter who they was. That's the same thing, all that's not in Christ today will perish without Christ. It's true. So you can't say, "I'm a Methodist, or Baptist, or Pentecostal, or anything else; you've got to be of Christ. And if you're of Christ, you do the works of Christ. That bears record and proves that it is. It's just as clear as the Scripture, I know how to say it. That's just as plain as the big nose on this face of mine.

 

Have faith in God 58-0510 P:50 Any vine bears fruit through the branch of what it is. If it don't do the same thing Jesus did, then it's not Jesus. Certainly. If God told you the spirit of John Dillinger was in me, I'd have guns, and I'd be dangerous. If God told you the spirit of an artist was in me, you'd expect me to paint the picture of the artist. If I say, "The Spirit of Christ in me," then it produces the works of Christ. He promised it.

 

Let us pray…