Desperation no 16

Emergency throws you into desperation

April 10, 2016

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

This evening we will continue in our study of brother Branham's sermon Desperation and we will begin reading at paragraph 32.

32 "Now, when you seek Me with all your heart, then I'll be found." And He promised that He would return and bring the people, from scattered all over the earth after those seven years, back into Jerusalem where they left from; and He did it just that way like. That's right.

33 Now, we're going to talk on Desperations for a few minutes now. Usually it takes a state of emergency to throw us into desperation. See? It's too bad it has to do that. But human beings are so slothful in their mind, that it takes an emergency, Something arises, and when they do, then it throws them into that desperation. And really, in doing that, in desperation it brings out that real thing that you are. It shows what you're made out of in the time of desperation. It usually pulls out all the good things that's in you.

34 In time of death, I've heard people when they knowed they were dying, and things that they kept secret all their life, they In desperation they were trying to confess it. See? And trying, "Take this... and... make it right. Go!... Please. Go... Do!" See? In desperation. They ought to have done that beforehand (See?), not wait till the time of emergency. "Will you do so-and-so for me?" The emergency causes desperation when we ought to do it without the emergency.

Notice brother Branham's words. He said, Usually it takes a state of emergency to throw us into desperation. And then he says, in desperation it brings out that real thing that you are.

Now in order to perhaps make these two statements become very clear to our understanding, We will examine a story that Jesus tells his apostles, because in this story or parable you will see an emergency arises in the life of a particular person, and then we will see this persons response to that emergency, and the response brings out the real character of this person.

We find this parable in Luke 15:8-10  and the theme for this parable is a Bride who found herself in an atmosphere of desperation. an emergency arises because she has lost something fo value, and must find it before her husband returns.

Jesus tells us in this parable a story about a bride who has a headband, crown, tiara or whatever they called it in those days. In her tiara were held "ten silver coins". This was a Hebrew tradition, and each coin represented a certain virtue.

But Jesus tells us in this parable that this Bride had lost one of the coins in her headdress.

Now, this was very serious condition and thrust her into desperation, because of her husband's imminent return. Therefore an emergency (the imminent return of her husband) brought forth a state of desperation in this little bride.

If her husband returned and finds one of her coins missing, he might become suspicious that she had the coin taken away because she was caught in adultery. That was the Hebrew tradition.

In their tradition concerning such a headdress worn by a bride, the ten coins represented ten different virtues, and if one was missing she would be considered to have lost her virtue.

So let's read this parable concerning the atmosphere of desperation created by the lost coin and the imminent return of her Groom. And in reading this, let us never forget that William Branham Vindicated Prophet of God in his sermon, Shalom 64-0119 pp. 92 said, "all the new testament speaks of this hour". Therefore as we read this parable which deals with the Bride in a state of desperation, brought on by an emergency, I want you to think of the Bride of Christ at this end-time, because we are waiting for the return of our Groom as well.

Now, before we read this parable, I want you to understand that the central character in this parable is a woman, And remember, a woman always represents a Church. And the scene that takes place concerns this woman’s frantic and the painstaking measures to find her missing piece of silver coin which represents one of her virtues, to ensure her virtuous status with her groom.

So let’s open our Bibles and read this parable for ourselves of the woman and her ten pieces of silver, and as we read, I want you to notice that I've broken this parable down into 12 specific details to consider in order to understand what this parable is all about, because, as brother Branham said in his sermon Shalom, " the entire New Testament speaks of this hour."

Let's begin reading at Luke 15:8 What (1) woman having (2) ten (3) pieces of silver, if she (4) lose one piece, doth not (5) light a candle, and (6) sweep the house, and (7) seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, (8) she calleth (9) her friends and her neighbours (10) together, saying, (11) Rejoice with me; for (12) I have found the piece which I had lost.

Now before we go any further, I want you to understand that this parable speaks of the Second coming of Christ. And with that in mind, let's see what God's voice to this generation had to say about the second coming of the Lord.

In his sermon with those very words as his title, "The Second Coming Of The Lord  57-0417  William Branham vindicated prophet of God tells us in pp. 17 "Now, in the blessed Word, I wish to read just a verse, or a line or two, out of St. Luke's Gospel, and the 15th chapter, the 8th verse: 'Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she shall lose one piece, does not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she has found it? And when she has found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost'. 18  Now, that may seem like a very odd Scripture for the second coming of Christ, but it's speaking of the second coming of Christ."

So we see here that brother Branham tells su this parable he just read has to do with the second coming of Christ. And as you see we read it as our text and pointed to 12 symbols or events that take place in this parable that we must understand what each of them means if we are to understand the significance of this Parable and how it speaks of the condition of the bride in this hour. And notice how this ties in to the thoughts of brother Branham's in his sermon "Desperation", "Usually it takes a state of emergency to throw us into desperation. And then he says, in desperation it brings out that real thing that you are."

The first symbol Jesus mentions is a actually in the form of a question he's asking. He says, “what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, does not light a candle and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she finds it?”

Now, notice in this Bible there's a question mark showing us that this is a question Jesus is asking a question.   “Who is this woman?” or “What does this woman represent?”  Because that is exactly what Jesus is asking us. He says, what woman or who is this woman that would act out this scene given these set of circumstances?

Therefore to understand this parable, We've broken this parable down into 12 specific symbols and actions for us to consider. When we understand each symbol and action we will understand how it ties to this hour.

Number One: We must Know who this woman is, who she represents? For if we do not understand who or what she represents, then we cannot even begin to understand the parable itself, and how it might apply to this hour. 

Number 2: We understand that she has ten pieces of silver and therefore we must understand why she has ten, and what that means? Why not 7, or 8, or 9? What is so significant about that number ten that Jesus purposely used it in this parable concerning the pieces of silver.

Number 3: Since We know that she has silver pieces, therefore we must know what these silver pieces represent?

Number 4: Since she has lost one piece and has become painstakingly diligent in her search for it, we must ask ourselves the question, what does the missing piece of silver represent, and why is she so desperate to find it?

Number 5: In her search for this missing piece of silver, she lights a candle. Why a candle? Therefore, we must ask ourselves, What does lighting a candle signify?

Number 6: and in the course of searching for this missing piece of silver we find her sweeping out her house, and so we must ask ourselves, What does sweeping the house mean to us in this hour?

Number 7: Since she seems to be so diligent in her search for this missing piece, we must ask ourselves what is so important about this piece of silver that she turns the whole house upside down in her searching for it. Why is she so desperate to find it before her husband comes home. Why is she so desperate about searching for this missing piece of silver? What are the circumstances that cause her to go into what would appear to be a panic condition, a desperation to find this lost piece of silver.

Number 8: Once she has found her missing piece of silver, we must understand the significance of her calling her friends and neighbors together. Why does she call them? what does this mean?

Number 9: Then we must ask “Who are these neighbors and friends that she calls?”

Number 10: and why did she call them together? Why together? What does this signify, calling these people to gather together?

Number 11: What does her rejoicing signify in this parable?

Number 12: Why are the words “I have found that which was lost?” so significant to the story.

Now, that we have laid out many questions that need answering, so let’s begin our study with point number One: which is, “Who is this woman?” Now, that's a very good question, and since Jesus doesn't tell us her name, we must assume therefore that she is mentioned in type to represent some group.

Now, from his sermon, Why We Are Not A Denomination?  58-0927   31 Brother Branham tells us “Now, a woman, in the Bible, represents "church." How many knows that? We are a Bride; the Church is a Bride.” 

Therefore, we will assume that this woman Jesus is speaking of in this parable is a church, or more specifically a Bride.

We must then ask ourselves, “what church does she represent here,” because there is a true church and there is a false church. The true is called The Bride, while the false is called a whore, because a whore is a woman that is unfaithful to her husband. And thus we begin to get a clue as to the peculiar behavior of this woman and why she is so diligently searching for this piece of silver.

In the parable of  “The Ten Virgins”,  all ten of those Virgins represent the church in it's purity with no man made creeds among them. They believe the Bible alone. They Believe "Sola Scriptura" as Martin Luther spoke in his stand against the Catholic Church.

Now, the number "ten" which we find in the parable of the "ten virgins" as well as this parable of "ten silver coins", represents according to E.W. Bullinger in his Book "Numbers in Scripture, said, "Ten is the end of a divine order ". This we understand because we have basic numbers 1-9 and then we start over again at 10. That ten is the end of a cycle or Divine order.

Number 2: We know that she has ten pieces of silver and therefore we must understand why she has ten, and what this means?  Why does Jesus use Ten Pieces of Silver for his parable, and what does that mean? 

Now the number ten is one of the perfect numbers and it is significant because it "represents the entire numerical system coming to a completion." Therefore the number ten signifies the whole cycle is now complete. 

The number ten is also used throughout Scripture to depict the end of a cycle, such as God completed the cycle of man in the antediluvian age with Noah. Noah was the tenth Generation from Adam bringing in a new covenant from God,  and Abraham, was the tenth generation from Noah bringing in a new un-conditional covenant from God. 

Then, there are the ten commandments, and the ten spies that Moses sent to spy out the land. And there were ten rows of ten silver  talents which made up the base of the tabernacle in the Wilderness. Tithes is a tenth, which represents the whole which is due God, showing His claims on the whole, and  there were  ten plagues upon Egypt which brought the cycle of world power in Egypt to its end.

Therefore we see the number ten represents a conclusion, and refers to coming into a full cycle. And here in this parable we see there are ten pieces of silver that Jesus refers to.

Now, ten speaks of the end.  Therefore we see in this parable Jesus is speaking of the end of something. And since the number ten refers to the pieces of silver in this parable, we must understand what silver signifies in Scripture in order to know what is coming to its full cycle, and thus to its end.

Now, since the ten pieces of silver concerns this woman, we must understand whatever it is, it is so important to this woman that she becomes desperate in her attempts to find the missing piece.  And since it has to do with the woman, we must find out what silver represents so we can understand her reaction to not having it. Because if ten represents the conclusion of something, and this concerns the woman, then it may tell us why she is so desperate to find it.

And never forget a (woman) represent the church.

Number 3: We know that she had pieces of silver, and therefore we must know what these are and what they represent?  Now, in the Scriptures Silver represents redemption by refining.

Redemption means to bring back to its original condition, and refine means to bring to purity. Refining represents the process whereby the dross is removed from the silver that it may be displayed in its purity. The dross is that which is not a pure part of the silver. It is the impurities that are found in silver or any precious metal. And dross represents sin in our life. Those things which make us impure, and which need to be refined out of us.

In I Peter 1:18 we read,  "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:"

Again we read in Psalms 12:6  The Words of the LORD are pure Words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times, which represents seven Messages for seven ages.

Psalms 66:10  For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.

And so we see that our being tried by God is like silver that is refined. So silver represents the fiery trials of redemption. And it is interesting that the USGS United States geological Society has informed us that silver in the earth will be totally mined out by 2020. So we are living in a time when the cycle of silver as a mined precious metal will become no longer available. That ought to let us know also that the refining fires of God's redemption is just about over as well.

The natural does type the positive as we understand through a vindicated prophet of God.

So we see that this woman had these ten pieces of silver which represented the end of the cycle of purity and refinement. They represented all her virtues that she was to her husband and in losing one of these coins, we can see how this would have a great significance to her relationship with Him. If He came home and she was missing just one of the coins, He would not receive her as His own. So these coins represented not only her refinement but her redemption. And the word redeem means to buy back or to bring back to its rightful position.

Therefore, when He came, her having the ten pieces of silver represented her making herself ready to be brought back into his Presence and to receive her rightful position by his side. But to be missing one piece of silver meant rejection, dishonor and separation.

Again from his sermon, Second Coming of The Lord  57-0417   54  brother Branham said, "It's later than we think. We don't come to church to occupy a pew; we do not come to church to hear a good sermon, or come to church to hear good music. They all got their place, but what we better come to church to do is check up with God and our souls salvation, for the day of redemption is near. Jesus Christ God's Son likened this, He said, to a woman. And in our subject tonight we find this woman, her husband had gone, and she had lost one of the coins out of her tablet. Now, I will try to explain that. 56 Today, if a woman is married, she should wear a wedding ring as a sign that she's married. That's to keep other men from having anything to do with her. They look and they see she's a married woman. In those days, they didn't have wedding rings; they had a tablet They call it "tablet." they put on their head. It had ten coins, and it went around their head. And that was a sign they were a married woman, and no man was to fool with them; no boys was to flirt with them. They were married.

61  Oh, if there ever was a time that the church ought to take inventory to find out if you've got all the coins on, it should be now. It's getting dark. The very haunts and clouds of destroying civilization is hanging over the earth, sin and debauch on every hand. We're living in a tremendous time, when there's wickedness, people who go to church just for a sham, people who go to church to try to hide from their meanness, people who go to church and profess Christianity and live like the rest of the world, drinking, smoking, gambling; women immorally dressed, wearing clothes that they oughtn't to wear in their own dressing room, out on the streets before public. And brotherly love is a thing that's passing, almost. We have not lost one coin, but we've lost practically every one of them.

62 And it was getting night, and remember, her husband would return. And if he found her with one of those coins out, it showed she had been marked a harlot. And if she had defiled herself in any way, and it was seen by the people, they brought her before the priest and brought witness that she'd been found such, and the priest seen that she was a married woman took the coin out of her tablet that she'd been doing wrong by. If she had marred her virtue, they took that out. If she had been flirting, showing that she wasn't true to her husband, they took that one out. Whatever it was, they took it out. And when her husband returned, he found that she had been marked, and he would divorce her immediately and have nothing to do with such a woman. He did not want such a woman. So it was getting along towards dark when she realized that she had lost something, time for her husband to come, and it's getting late.

70 And look, the church is lollying. The church has no conscience no more. You can hardly wake them up. The Bible said they would come in that condition when they'd say, "'Lo, our Lord delays His coming.' And they'll be devouring and biting one another, and so forth, and fighting around." It's just exactly that hour. Everything's ready. The pages is turned, as it was like that, and it's ready, the coming of the Lord.

Again notice how brother Branham is letting us know here that this parable ties right to this hour and the condition of the church.

Now, in the Old testament there was "the law of the jealous husband", and if the husband came home and was suspicion that his wife had been unfaithful while he was away, there was a certain thing that he could do, and we find this in Numbers the 5th chapter. By the way, for those of you who have been with brother Vayle since the early 80's you may remember when I preached on the Law of the jealous Husband more than 20 years ago for br. Vayle's church when he was ill.

Numbers 5:11 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 13  And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; 14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: 15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; (in other words Barley green) he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: 17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor (in other words body toddy) of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: 18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causes  the curse: 19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: 20    But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: 21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; 22 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. 23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: 24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. 25 Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar: 26 And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. 27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. 28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. 29 This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; 30 Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. 31 Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.

Now, I think it is interesting that a certain group of people actually partook of this law of the jealous husband and did not even know it at the time. They took the barley green and dust called body toddy and didn't know at the time they were taking "the bitter water that causeth the curse".

Notice here that the water is called "bitter" and in the King James Version it is said that the water causeth the curse. But what actually causes the curse was explained in the Scripture as whether the woman was guilty or not. For the water does not cause the curse, but what she drank was only a catalyst that brought into manifestation what was already there. Just like the washing of water by the Word, brings into manifestation what seed a person really is. As Paul says, what makes manifest is light, and Jesus the Word is the light of the world.

Now, if the woman was innocent, then there would be found no curse upon her, only blessing. Just like the waters of the flood. The same waters that destroyed the wickedness of man from the earth, and washed clean the earth from man’s sinful ways, is the same water that lifted Noah up and above the earth and away from the death and destruction that lay below.

And the bitter water represents the washing of water by the Word, just as the bitter scroll that the prophet ate also represented the Word of God, sweet to the taste but bitter to the stomach.

Number 4: What does the missing piece of silver represent, and why is she so desperate to find it? Why is she concerned that she only has nine of them?

Brother Branham also said from Second Coming of the Lord  57-0417 Each one of those coins... If we only have time but I haven't, I'm going to try to keep my word as close as possible, I could tell you what each one of those coins meant. It was placed in there, and each coin meant a certain virtue of that woman. The first, meaning her love to her husband. Second, her pledge of virtue to live clean for him. And the third and fourth and fifth, on to the ninth and tenth...

59 If you want to look it up, look in Galatians 5. You'll find out that that woman represented the Church, and the Church is an espoused Wife to Christ. And the tablet that the Church is supposed to wear is found in Galatians 5, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness, patience. That is the tablet that's supposed to be wore in the Church: brotherly love, kindness, fellowship. And this woman, when it... It must have been along about dark that she realized that she had lost one of those coins.

Notice he said It must have been along about dark that she realized that she had lost one of those coins. That would make it about the evening time.

Now, brother Branham refers to Galatians 5:22  concerning these ten pieces of silver she wore in her tablet. So let's read for ourselves. "But the fruit of the Spirit is 1) love,  2) joy,  3) peace,  4) longsuffering,  5) gentleness,  6) goodness, 7) faith, 23 8) Meekness, 9) temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

Now, notice that this is just nine fruits of the Spirit, but the most important fruit, the tenth fruit of the Spirit is missing here. And without that fruit, you could have all nine of the fruits of the spirit that are listed in Galatians five, and still be found as an adulterous, just like the woman in our parable feared.

Brother Branham said in his sermon Paradox 64-0206BP:78 We Pentecostals put our evidence upon speaking in tongues, and how bad we've been fooled in that. And how many of them says the fruit of the Spirit is the evidence, how badly you're fooled by that. No, sir.

Now, remember the woman had 9 silver coins left, which brother Branham told us was the nine fruits of the spirit, and yet she was fearful because she was to have ten. That one missing coin would show that she was ruled an adulterous woman by the priest.  How many soft spoken meek mannered peace loving gentle spirited people have turned down the very God from heaven who has come down with a Shout.

Sirs We Would See Jesus 64-0304 38 Brother Branham said,    Those Pharisees could show ten times the fruit that Jesus could. Did you know that?

God identified by characteristics 64-0311 P:23 Some of them said, "The fruit of the Spirit's got It." And it's wrong. The only evidence is, is when the a-vindication, when God Himself identifies Himself in the promised Word of the hour. There it is. Who had any more fruits of the Spirit than them kind old priests, circumcised the children, and blessed them, and everything else? And here this guy Jesus was, come around, kicked over their sacrifice blocks, looked upon them with anger, beat them, run them out, no identification of nothing. The Scripture is His identification. He had no fellowship card; He belonged to no organization. But God spoke of Him; that was His identification. That's the genuine identification of God in any hour, is His identification. That's what it is, the Scriptures that's promised made identified by the characteristic of the promise which is God, and God is the Word. And the characteristic of that promise being identified, that makes the believer. Jesus said so, and that settles it. Amen. Notice, now we find out, the characteristics identify Him. As He said, "If it doesn't do it, then don't believe Me." Now, Jesus spoke that it would identify Him.

What shall we do with Jesus 64-0126 P:48 Christian Science said, "Love, and you got the fruit of the Spirit," but they haven't. They deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ. What is the evidence of It? When that spirit that's in you can punctuate every promise with a "amen," and God will confirm it. That's exactly the way it was with Jesus Christ. Oh, yes. They had more fruits of the spirit. They had all kinds of evidences. You can't pin any evidence down to anything but God Himself manifests His Word. That's the only true evidence that there is that you're a Christian.

Who do you say this is? 64-1227 P:103 The evidence of the Holy Ghost is believing His Word, always been, every age, if you can receive the Word. Those priests had Jesus beat a million miles when it come to fruits of the Spirit: gentle, and peaceful, and meek, and lowly. He tore up churches, kicked them over, and tore the people out, and called them snakes in the grass, and everything. See? But He was that Word. He was that Word. That's it: believe God. God is the Word. Believe It.

Now, we have shown you here that to have nine fruits of the spirit still does not mean anything when the Groom comes for His Bride. If she is found to be lacking that tenth fruit, then she is still turned out, divorced as a harlot and separated from His presence forever.

So then what is that tenth fruit  that is so crucial, that without it you have not the One that has come for you? It is a Fruit of the spirit but not one of those mentioned in Galatians chapter 5.

Brother Branham tells us what that fruit is in his sermon, Anointed ones at end time 65-0725M P:42 Notice. But it's what they produce that tells you the difference. "By their fruit," Jesus said, "you shall know them." And then he said,  What is the fruit? The Word for, the fruit for the season; that's what it is, their teaching. The teaching of what? The teaching of the season, what time it is, man's doctrine, denominational doctrine, or God's Word for the season.

In other words, man’s doctrine? Denominational doctrine? or God’s Doctrine! Then what is the tenth fruit, or the tenth piece of silver that refined who this young woman was? It is the doctrine of Christ, the one doctrine that the Bible says, If you don't have this doctrine you do not have God. It's the one doctrine that without it, separates you from the Presence of the Lord.

It has to be, because this woman knew if her Groom came home and she did not have it, she would be put out from His presence, and she would not have him any longer.  He would say to her, “I used to know you as my wife but I do not know you as my wife any longer.”  

And the Apostle John told us in 2 John 9 "He that has the doctrine of Christ has God." 

2 John 9 Whosoever transgresseth, (that's to go beyond the limits) and abideth not (or does not remain) in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. (he not only does not have God, but he does not echo God. So therefore, if they are not echoing God, then they are not saying what God has already said, which mean they do not have "Thus Saith The Lord.") He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath (echoes) both the Father and the Son."

I love how this all ties together. Notice what brother Branham says in this next quote about the Bride of Christ, and notice how beautifully it ties into this parable.

Spoken word original seed 62-0318E P:175 Notice, what harmony. Jesus never did anything until seen of the Father or the Father showed Him first: (Harmony between God and Christ. See? John 5:19) So will the Bride, and He shows Her His Word of Life (He shows Her), and she receives It. She never doubts it. Nothing can harm Her, not even death; for if the Seed be planted, the water will raise it up again. Amen. (Now, I got a great big "Hallelujah.") Here is the secret: the Word is in the Bride and the mind of Christ to know what He wants done with the Word, and She does it in His Name. She has Thus Saith The Lord. Then it is germitized; so the Holy Spirit waters it until it is grown and serves its purpose. They do only His will. (Amen. I'll believe that.) No one can persuade them different. They have Thus Saith The Lord, or they keep still. Then they will do the works of God. For it is Himself in them, continuing His Word to fulfill as He did complete in His day. All things when He was here, He did not complete all when He was here, for it was not time yet.

Notice if she does not echo Him, she does not have Him either. But if she echoes Him then she has Thus Saith the Lord, because she has what the Lord has said Thus.

And he also told us, in  1 John 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath (echoes) not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath (echoes) the Father also.

Many call us blasphemers because we call Jesus the Son of God. But the religious of His day said Jesus blasphemed because of the very same thing.  John 10: 36Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

John 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

John 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

Now, we know the tenth piece of silver was the doctrine of Christ because it is the doctrine that Jesus received from His Father and taught us. John Chapter  7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. And he also said, John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Now, if you are still not sure what this tenth fruit of the spirit looks like, brother Branham tells us in the sermon Sirs We Would See Jesus 64-0304 P:28 where he says,  “You want to see what the fruit of the Spirit is? Watch what the Bible promises for a certain hour, then watch for that to be vindicated. That is the evidence.”

There’s the evidence that you have received the fruit of the Spirit. To be able to see the Word of God manifested in the hour that you are living. And you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin.

Number 5: What does lighting a candle signify? Brother Branham tells us in his sermon, Second coming of the Lord  57-0417  P:37 65 "The church better be examining their self by the Word of God, our purity, our loyalty, our devotion. We've become tattlers, tale-bearers, cigarette smokers, backbiters, painted-up Jezebels, everything in the calendar that the rest of the world does; the Christian church is associating in those things today till you can't hardly tell the one from the other. It's time we took inventory. It's getting late. Now, in order... It was so late till she had to light a candle. And she got a candle. Not only did she get a candle, but she got a broom and she went to house-cleaning. Oh, brother, if there ever was a need of a time of a lighting of a candle, the sending forth of the Gospel Light, the Holy Ghost back into the church... Not so much for emotion, not for some fantastics, not for some emotional workup, not for a jump for joy, but for a heart-searching experience when men and women get right with God. Right. We're at the end time.

68 And she lit a candle to give her light. And, brother, every little candle in here ought to be lit tonight. ... Brother, we the Church of the living God, in these great hours that we're now living, it behooves us to check up, go before God, light the candle of the Word of the Gospel, and examine ourselves, and find out if we're not falling short, and especially when we see all these things coming. We're at the end time; the coming of Christ is at hand. There's not another hope in the world for the Church.

71  The Lutheran church lost her light. The Methodist church lost her light. The  Baptist  church  lost her light. The Pentecostal church lost her light. Every light seems to be gone. The Pentecostal people, the Holiness people is acting just exactly like the Methodists. The Methodist is acting like the Baptists. The Baptists is acting like the Lutheran. The Lutheran is acting like the Catholic. And it's all gone back to one great big conglomeration of sin. That's right. We're in the end time, the coming of the Lord.

Number 6: What does sweeping the house mean? Second coming of the Lord   57-0417 68 Not only that, but she got the broom, and the neighbors could see the dust flying. She had a real house-cleaning time, for her husband was about to come. And if he caught her with that one coin out, she was "a harlot." 

71 Now, she had a house-cleaning time. She scrubbed the floors; she swept the walls; she took down the cobwebs; she kept on until she found what she had lost.

82 That is husband and wife, which is type of Christ and His Church. And when you go to your church, you may have the best pews in the city; you may have the highest steeple there is in the city; you may have the best pipe organ; you may dress the best; you may sing like a mockingbird; but all of that, if you're kissing and flirting with the world, that kiss on the cheeks of Christ is a Judatarian kiss. He doesn't want nothing to do with you. He looks upon your wedding engagement ring, and He finds the tablet moved; He finds love has gone; it's a form. He finds loyalty is gone. You've committed fornications with the world. You go to dances, and boogie-woogie parties, and watch old dirty television programs. You are committing adultery with Christ, on Him, as calling Him your Husband. The Bible said, "You say, 'I am rich, I have need of nothing.'" But He said, "You don't know that you are naked, miserable, blind, poor, and don't know it." It's time we lit a candle and swept the house. The coming of the Lord is at hand.

Number 7: Why is she so diligent about searching for this missing piece of silver? What are these circumstances that cause her to go into a panic mode to find this lost piece of silver.

Enticing Spirits 55-072435 Last Wednesday night I was preaching on the woman that had the tablet over her head, or she lost one of her pieces of coin, and she was sweeping the house and trying to find it 'fore her husband come. And come to find out that that woman was an Oriental type woman and she represented the church. And the wedding band used not to be worn on the finger, it was worn across the head, with nine pieces of silver in it. And when a woman become a prostitute they took out one piece of silver and showed that she was a prostitute. And so this woman has lost one of the pieces, not a prostitute, but her husband had been away, and she was trying to hurry to find that piece to put it back in her tablet for when her husband come he would know that she has been caught in prostitution and it would mean a breaking up of home and so forth. And I applied that for a few moments to the church; lost a lot of great things. And it's time for Father to come, so we've got to hunt them up.

Number 8: What is the significance of her calling her friends and neighbors together. Feast of the trumpets 64-0719M P:108 Now, as soon as this Church, the Bride is drawed together, she's taken up; in that mystery of the Seventh Seal, or the Seventh Seal, the mystery going.

Satan's Eden 65-0829 P:18 People, ignorantly worshipping Satan, thinking they are worshipping God. As we're warned by prophecy in II Thessalonians that... Let's just read that: II Thessalonians, the 2nd chapter. Let's just get it a moment, if I can right away. I'd like to read that just a... I believe II Thessalonians. I got the Scripture here and say... Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming (that word is parousia) of the Lord Jesus, and by our gathering together unto him, And see the coming of the Lord and the gathering to Him, as God will gather His people to Him in the last days: the gathering of the people to the Lord, not to the church, to the Lord.... gathering together unto Him.

Number 9: Who are the neighbors and friends she calls? I believe that is all those people around the world that have been called by the tenth fruit of the spirit which is the doctrine of Christ, the teaching of the hour. They have been called to the wedding supper and are coming forth with the same excitement as the woman (church) who has found that which she thought she had lost. And they are rejoicing as though they too had lost their own piece of silver, and have now found it.

Luke 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Matthew 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

Brother Branham said,  “Now, she had a house-cleaning time. She scrubbed the floors; she swept the walls; she took down the cobwebs; she kept on until she found what she had lost. And when she did, she called her little sister churches to come now. I don't care if you're a Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, come, let us rejoice together. When that time come, when the church finds its brotherly love, when the church finds its holy decency, when the church finds its place in Christ, it'll call to the other members of the body, "Come and rejoice with us." God wants the church to love Him.”

Number 10: Why together, what does this signify, her call to gather together? It signifies a oneness of mind, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:10 ¶  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Number 11: What does rejoicing signify in this parable?  REVELATION 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints..

Number 12: what is significant about the words I have found that which was lost?

Remember, in Alpha she lost something too, and Alpha must become Omega. And what had she lost in that first church age? She lost her first love. And so too the Church has lost her first Love. And when God has come with a shout in this hour and restored to us that first Love,  we couldn’t hold our peace and we have called together the Bride from around the world to know what we know, to see what we see, to hear what we hear, and to share in finding our First Love again.

Letting Off The Pressure  62-0518  E-102    Our heavenly Father, we can see, Lord, that the church has lost its first love. We can see that the church in full, all over the nation, has dropped, not only the nation, but the world. We realize that You spoke the other morning and said the seeding time is over here, that the only place to sow seeds is in the foreign fields. This is a gleaning over the stubble. And, O God, truly them words was right.

368-1 Resume Of The Ages  -  Church Age Book CPT 10 In that age, the true church had lost its first love. That love was typified as the love of bride and groom at their marriage and early years of wedded life. There was a cooling of that complete love and abandonment to God.

77-1 Ephesian Church Age  -  Church Age Book CPT 3 The very name, Ephesus, has a strange compound meaning, "Aimed at", and "Relaxed". The high aspirations of this age that had begun with the fullness of the Spirit, "the depth of God", whereby they were aiming at the high calling of God, began to give way to a less watchful attitude. A less ardent following of Jesus Christ began to manifest itself as an omen that in the future ages the physical vehicle called the church would sink to the awfulness of the "depth of Satan". It had become relaxed and was drifting. Already the age was backsliding. It had left its first love. The tiny seed planted in that Ephesian Age would one day grow in the spirit of error until all foul birds of the air would roost in its branches. So inoffensive to human reasoning would that little plant appear to that New Eve the New Church that again she would be deceived by Satan. The Ephesian Age had presented to her the opportunity for God's best, and for awhile she prevailed, and then relaxed, and in that unguarded moment Satan planted the seed of complete ruination.

88-2  The fervent desire to please God, the passion to know His Word, the cry for reaching out in the Spirit, all begins to fade and instead of that church being on fire with the fire of God it has cooled off and become a bit formal. That is what was happening back there to the Ephesians. They were getting a bit formal. The abandonment to God was dying out and the people weren't too careful about what God thought of them as they began to be careful about what the world thought of them. That second generation coming on was just like Israel. They demanded a king to be like the other nations. When they did that, they rejected God. But they did it anyway. That is the history of the church. When it thinks more of conforming to the world instead of conforming to God, it isn't long until you see them stop doing things they used to do, and start doing things they wouldn't do initially. They change their manner of dress, their attitudes and their behavior. They get lax. That is what "Ephesus" means: relaxed--drifting.

89-1 That cycle of revival and death has never failed. All you have to do is recall this last move of God in the Spirit when men and women dressed like Christians, went to church, prayed all night, took to street corners and weren't ashamed of the manifestations of the Spirit. They left their old dead churches and worshipped in homes or old store buildings. They had reality. But it wasn't too long a time until they began to get enough money to build fine new churches. They put in a choir instead of singing unto God for themselves. They put gowns on the choir. They organized a movement and ran it by man. They soon began to read books that weren't fit to read. They let down the bars and goats came in and took over. The cry of joy was gone. The freedom of the Spirit was gone. Oh, they kept on with a form; but the fire had died down and the blackness of ashes is about all that is left.

89-2 A few moments ago I mentioned that John understood what it was to love God. That great apostle of love would certainly see it when the church began to lose that first love of God. In I John 5:3, he says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments (His Word)." One little deviation from that Word was a step away from Christ. People say they love God, they go to church, they even shout and rejoice and sing and have a great emotional time. But when it is all over, watch and see if they are in that WORD, walking in it, living in it. If they go through all the other and then don't walk in that Word, they can say they love God but their lives tell another story. I wonder if John didn't see a lot of that before he died; people saying they loved God but not obeying His Word. Oh, Ephesian Church, something is happening to you. Someone is trying to either add to that Word or take from it. But they are doing it so subtly that you can't see it. They haven't made a move so big you can see it out there in the open. It is under cover, and they are bringing it by way of reason and human understanding and it will take over unless you refuse it. Go back to Pentecost before it is too late!

89-3  But as usual people don't heed God's warning. That revival fire built upon the sacred Word is so wonderful, and the manifestation of the Spirit so blessed, that a little fear creeps in and a whisper in the heart says, "How can we protect this truth we have? What can we do to see this revival goes on?" That is when the "antichrist spirit" comes in and whispers, "Look, you have the truth now, see that it doesn't get lost. Organize and set up your creed of what you believe. Put it all in a church manual." And they do it. They organize. They add to the Word. And they die just like Eve did for taking One wrong word. It's God's Word that brings life. And it's not what we say about the Word that counts, but it's what God said.

Let us pray...