Desperation no 51

Understanding Communion no. 1

September 11, 2016

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

This morning as we close down this study of Brother Branham's sermon Desperation that we began studying February 28th, 2016. we will examine the thoughts that the Apostle Paul lays out concerning the communion service. I think it is beautiful the way brother Branham closes this sermon out by going into a communion service and in these last 9 paragraphs he explain the importance of the communion service to us.

Now, we will read through the last nine paragraphs first and then we'll highlight several thoughts about communion that I'd like to review before we close out this series.

So let's pick up reading now at paragraph 117 Now, our services just involve one thing right after the other. Now, we're going to dismiss the audience to those who have to go. And best I can see, it's about eight minutes until 10 o'clock; and if you have to go, we're happy you were here, and we want you to come back and be with us. The rest of you, after we stand, will be seated again and those who are going, go just quietly as possible. And then we're going to have the Communion service immediately after that. You're invited to stay if you can. If you can't, God bless you. Pray for me. I'll pray for you. And remember, keep the Token applied and be desperate to press to the Kingdom of God. Amen! Now, we're going to sing our dismissing song, if we can and... "Take The Name Of Jesus With You," as we stand. ... Name of Jesus with you, Child of sorrow and of woe; It will joy and comfort give you, Take it everywhere you go. Precious Name (Precious Name),... (O how sweet!) Hope of earth and joy of heaven. Precious Name, O how sweet! (How sweet!) Hope of earth and joy of heaven.

118 Shake one another's hand, say, "The Lord bless you, my pilgrim brother, sister." Deeply, sincerely, reverently... And Christian friends in times of fellowship, shake one another's hand, brother and sister. God bless you altogether. Wonderful. I love Him, I love Him, Because He first loved me, And purchased my salvation On Calvary's tree. Till we meet, till we meet, Till we meet at Jesus' feet; Till we meet, till we meet, God be with you till we meet again. Till we meet, till we meet, Till we meet at Jesus' feet (till we meet); Till we meet, till we meet, God be with you till we meet again. Just sweetness and fellowship of the great Token of God, the Holy Ghost, may He richly abide with you all until we meet again. God's grace go with you, smite death's ways before you, making your path clear, that you might see Jesus always before your face and you shall not be moved.

119 Heavenly Father, we commit this service and the service this morning, those services and what's been done, and all glory to Thee, giving Thee thanks and praise for saving people, and for healing the people, and for giving us Thy great grace that we all look to save us. How we thank You for this. Be with us now until we meet again. Meet with us in the Communion. Be upon the wheel of those who drive, Lord, to their homes. Guide them through these reckless holidays that no harm and danger may come to them. In the Name of Jesus Christ we ask it. Amen. (All right. "Take The Name Of Jesus With You," again.) Take the Name of Jesus with you, As a shield from every snare; When temptation 'round you gathers, (What do you do then?) Just breathe that holy Name in prayer. Precious Name (Precious Name), O how sweet! (O how sweet!) Hope of earth and joy of heaven; Precious Name, O how sweet! (How sweet!) Hope of earth and joy of heaven. At the Name of Jesus bowing, Falling prostrate at His feet, King of kings in heaven we'll crown Him, When our journey is complete. Precious Name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven; Precious Name, O how sweet! (How sweet!) Hope of earth and joy of heaven;

120 Now, just before you set down, while the crowd's getting quiet now for the Communion service... If I'm not mistaken, isn't this Brother Blair, the minister that I met over in Arkansas not long ago? I thought it was; I wasn't sure. You had up here for dedication of child, a little one this morning. I thought, "Didn't I meet you not long ago here at Hot Springs, Arkansas, with... Yes, something was about to happen and the Holy Spirit called it out. Was that right? Good. I just... I happened to think back now; I thought, "That's that brother." I'm so glad you're here, Brother Blair. Now, I'm going to ask Brother Blair if he will (1) pray for God to make us clean now for the Communion that's fixing to take place. Will you, Brother Blair? [Brother Blair prays, Brother Branham agreeing as the brother prays--Ed.] Yes... Yes, Lord... Grant it, Lord... Yes, Lord... Yes, Lord... Yes, Lord... Yes... Yes, Lord... Amen. You would be seated now, each one.

121 And now, on the organ, sister, we always play "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood," and you can start your...?... there...?... All right. The reading... Now, if we'll just get quiet just for a moment. [Brother Branham talks with someone--Ed.] Yes, sister. All right, sister. You just look through here till you find it. That'd be all right, whatever it is... That's it. All right, sister. All right. Now, Brother Neville will read (2) the order of the Communion. And then, the ushers will be coming, if there's strangers here, to each seat, and bring in aisle by aisle as we come, and row by row for the Communion.

122 And now, may you meditate now. Remember, (3) Israel eat it in desperation, and (4) through the journey there wasn't a feeble one among them in the end of forty years. This is Divine healing also. Lord bless you, Brother Neville.

Brother Neville reads I Corinthians 11: 23-32 For (1) I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: (2) this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also (3) he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death (4) till he come. Wherefore (5)whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But (5a) let a man examine himself, and (5b) so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. (5c)For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, (5d)not discerning the Lord's body. (5e) For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (6)For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

(7) But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

(The Lord bless the reading of His Word.)

123 I hold kosher bread, wrinkled and broken, (5) representing the Body of Jesus Christ. Through this riven veil we have access to the holiest of holies. Our heavenly Father, this bread has been prepared to represent that broken and torn Body. May each of us as we receive it, may it be as though we literally had did this act. And (6) may we have the forgiveness of our sins, and the access to the holiest of holies, to live in Your Presence in our future life, and all the days that we shall live here on earth, and be with You in eternity forever. Grant it, Father. Bless this bread for that intended purpose, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

124 The Bible said, "After He had taken and broke the bread, like manner He took the cup, and when He had supped, saying, 'This is the cup of the New Testament in My Blood, which is shed for you.'" May the Lord grant His blessings upon this as we pray. Lord Jesus, I hold here the blood of the vine, the juice from the grape. (7) And Father, it's to represent that precious Blood that cleanses us, that from there came the Token. I thank Thee for It, Father, and for this symbol. You said, (8)"He that eats and drinks this has Everlasting Life, and I will raise him up again at the end time." We thank Thee for this promise. (9) And Father, we pray that You cleanse our hearts together, that we will be worthy by our faith, knowing that in ourselves we are not worthy, but our faith will not fail, that we're accepting perfectly the Blood of Jesus Christ. Grant it, Father. And sanctify the wine for its intended purpose. (10) May whosoever drinks this wine tonight and takes of this bread, have strength for the journey that lays ahead. Grant it, Lord. May they be healthy, and strong, and filled with Your Spirit till Jesus comes. Amen. [Blank spot on tape--Ed.]

125 (11) I believe that communion is one of the most solemn, sacred, sweetest worships there is in the church service. (12) There was three things left us to do, that's order and ordinances. So many try to say if we got a original nail, we got a piece of cloth. But there was three things left us. Lord's supper, baptism, feet washing was the three orders that was left to the church. And we...Tonight seemed to be a very special time for me. As I stood here and just watching, usually I'm constantly in prayer. But tonight, watching the different things, and see some of them families that's come here since I was a boy preacher standing here with sawdust floors, and I... And some of them are new, but watching the men come with their little wives and family, and see how they prefer one another and the sacredness of that, how they watch their children, see the little lady and her hands reach out and think, that little hand washed, wiped the tears from the baby's eyes... Then I seen the families come up that I been in their homes when they were sick and fevering children, the Lord Jesus made their children well. I seen them when they had family trouble; the Lord's helped them to get it smoothed out, see them happy again. And I just think how it would be when we go to that wedding supper. I'm so thankful that the Lord has let be a friend to you and help you. I... That's what I'm here for.

126   And Just think how long, how many years... This is about... I started preaching about 1930. And this is about thirty-two years for me now, thirty-three years I been preaching. Then in all the struggles and trials and, looks like though when we come up, it's all forgot. You just seem like it's something about communion just takes all of the twists out of things, taking the communion. Lord bless you. The elder now is going to read Scripture for the feet wash service.

Amen, now, if you've noticed while we read these 9 paragraphs, there were actually 12 things brother Branham mentions in his short discourse on communion.

And if you've noticed as well, there are 7 things that the Apostle Paul mentions in his discourse concerning communion.

I will lay out those important statements and we will start with Paul's statements and then go to brother Branham's after that.

I Corinthians 11: 23-32 For (1) I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:

What Paul is saying is this is not my opinion, what I am giving to you is what God gave to me. And we would do well to believe that, because to reject what he tells us is to reject the God who told him to tell us. And there is a curse upon those who would reject the Word of God Paul gave us and Moses gave us as we showed last Wednesday night.

And Moses taught us there is only One Lord in: Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

In the following Scripture Like the Apostle Paul after Him, Moses warns the people that if they say anything contrary to what He taught, they will be cursed.

Deuteronomy 28:58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59  Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60  Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61  Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 62  And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. 63  And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

We also see Paul tell us the same thing, because Paul did not preach contrary to Moses, but he brought out the true teachings of Moses.

And the apostle Paul taught us the same thing and told us to reject what he taught will bring upon you the curse in Galatians 1:6-9.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7  Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9  As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Therefore when Paul says, I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you...and then Paul goes into his teaching on the communion service. That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:

(2) this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also.

Now, the Apostle Paul did not teach as the Catholic church teaches that the bread is actually the body of Christ. He taught us it is just a representation of the body of Christ which was broken for us. And then point number 3...

(3) he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death.

So we are commanded to do these ordinances which Christ Jesus left for us to do, not only to do them in remembrance of His great sacrifice for us, but as we do them we are showing by symbolism the Lords death. And we are to do them he says, until....

(4) till he come. So we are to continue doing them until the actual return of the Lord, which he uses the word here "erchomai", and not the word "parousia". So this speaks of the second coming and not the Presence of God. I remember in 1982 at brother Vayle's convention in Memphis a question was asked of the ministers, "Since the Lord has come, do we take communion anymore." And a certain minister who had a very big name got up and answered that and said, "oh it means more to me now than ever." But that did not settle very well with the person who asked it because it did not answer the question. The reason the question was asked was because many were teaching that the parousia was the literal coming of Christ. They did not understand who came down at that point, so some ministers began to teach that since the Christ had come, we should not take communion any longer. So I was to answer the next question, and I said, I would like to add to what our brother Said, and then explained that this word "coming" was not the parousia of Christ but the literal second coming of Christ, as Jesus said in

Mark 14:25 Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Matthew 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

(5)Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, (or irreverently) shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. So this is a very reverential thing we are doing when we eat and drink of the Lords supper.

and we are commanded that we must do it with all respect and reverence. Therefore the Apostle Paul continues by listing five things we must do to ensure reverence remains in taking of the elements.

(a) But let a man examine (dokimazo) himself, The word examine here is a Greek word that means to examine and discern in order to find approval. Thu we are commended that before we come to the altar to partake of the bread and wine that we do a full inventory of our life to ensure we are not coming with sin in our hearts.

Like Paul also said in, 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove (dokimazo) your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? In other words, you had better know whether Christ is in you or else you are a reprobate.

(b) and so (after this self assessment and examination) let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. Therefore, you had better come to the altar in reverence and having fully checked your life, and your motives and your objectives, and if you know there is any sin or unbelief in your heart, you had better go make that thing right before you come to the altar.

(c) For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself,

Brother Branham spoke concerning this in his Questions and answers COD 61-0112 P:189 For instance, if they caught Brother Neville, or Brother Junior, or Brother, some brother here, one of the deacons or trustees, or something another, doing something wrong, I believe the thing to do is for the church to get together and pray for this brother. If he still don't straighten up, then let a couple go with him, go to the brother to be reconciled. And if then if he don't receive it, then tell it before the church. Then if they don't receive it then, that's the time for the whole church then (See?); that's for pastor, elders, and everything else to do it. I don't believe that any deacon board has a right to throw anybody out of church, or any trustee board, or any pastor has a right to do it. I think if anybody was to be disfellowshipped, would be because of immoral living, or something like that, that he wasn't a fit person, like a man coming in here defiling our girls or--or insulting our women, and things like that, and still professing to be one of us here... See? Now, if he's out somewhere else coming in, why, we have to do something about it, but, when it comes to a person like that, a immoral person trying to make love to our wives, or--or insult our daughters, or, you know, something another like that, or do something immorally around her, or taking our little boys out and making perverts out of them, or something, those things should be taken up, and then that fellow should be excommunicated from the fellowship and not permitted to take communion with it; because we're not supposed to do that. We're not. "If any eats unworthily, is guilty of the Blood and body of the Lord," on that person.

(d) not discerning the Lord's body. Now, this one will take us a little while longer to go through. Because we want to understand what discerning the body of the Lord is.

Again we go to brother Branham's Questions and answers COD 59-0628E P:36 for our answer. "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Now, you see there? Comes right back to the Christian that's trying to take communion, that's not in Christ, not fellowshipping in the Spirit; he isn't worthy of taking it. And when he does take this communion, he's eating and drinking damnation to himself, if he's going out smoking, lying, stealing, committing adultery, or something like that, or not living a Christian life. And people see the kind of life he's living, and then coming in, taking this order of the death and body of Christ, taking into him a symbol that he has received Christ the Word in his heart, and taking this symbol in there behind it. He said he eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."

From his sermon, What does thou here 59-0301E P:57 Brother Branham says, "Now, all that wants to stay for Communion, we'd be glad to have you in this time of fellowship. Now, you have I Corinthians, I believe, 11th chapter there. I'll have you read it right then, Brother Neville, if you will. [Brother Neville reads I Corinthians 11:23-32--Ed.]That doesn't need any explaining. It's just this. If we eat and drink unworthily, we eat and drink damnation to our own self not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause, many are weekly and sick among you, and many are dead. See? When we come to take Communion... Every Christian should take Communion. It's your duty. It's a showdown. See? Jesus said, "If you don't take it, you have no part with Me." See? "But he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eats and drinks damnation to himself." That is, if you're still out with the world and doing things of the world, and people see you taking Communion, you're doing wrong. You're only bringing disgrace to you, and it'll only harm you. It isn't that it'll harm God; it'll harm you. And so a person should examine their selves."

And then from his QA on the seals 63-0324M P:136 26. he says, "Could it be that the reason many are sick, because we did not discern the Lord's Body? (Correct.) but now revealed by the opening of the Sixth Seal... Could it be that the reason many are sick, because we do not discern the Lord's Body? (That's--It's got a question mark at the end of that.) Well, the Scripture says that many are sick and weakly among you because of the discerning of the Lord's Body. That's exactly right, because (See?), the Lord's Body is the Bride, and many of them go off and they don't go with it. That's true. See, and they don't know how to behave themselves, lives any kind of a life and take communion and things, that's not right. See? When people take communion that lie and steal and drink, and... That's-- that's terrible. You shouldn't do that. See?"

And from He Careth for you 60-0301 P:27 brother Branham says, "I read in the Scripture some time ago, where It said, "Not discerning the Lord's Body." And I thought, "What a statement," found in I Corinthians 11.... not discerning the Lord's body. And for this cause many are sick and weakly among you...The Lord's Body is the Church. And we do not have spiritual discernment enough to care for one another. How can we care then if we can't care for each other? How can we care for the lost and the dying? What hospital can we take them to? "Cast our cares upon Him, for He careth for you."

Then the Apostle Paul tells us what happens as a result of not discerning the Body of the Lord. (e) For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

And brother Branham define what that means in his sermon, Discernment of spirit 60-0308 P:12 But if he has a gift of God and he's trying to edify the Body of Christ, then I don't care what he belongs to. You're not discerning the man, you're discerning the spirit, the life that's in the man. And that's what God told us to do. Not one time was we ever commissioned to discern the man's group. But we was constrained and commanded by God to discern the spirit in the man, what he's trying to do, what the spirit in his life is trying to lead him to. And then if we can find out that he's trying to lead the people (not to break them up, but to bring them together) and to bring the church of the living God, not all to one denomination, but to a understanding, a fellowship, a unity of spirit. Then if he is former rain or latter rain, or whatever it is, his spirit and his purpose is right. And the spirit that's in him, no matter what move he belongs to, the Spirit that's in him is trying to point the people to Calvary, away from himself or away from anything else, but his only achievement he has is to point them to Calvary. He doesn't care whether he's even knowed or not. He doesn't care whether even his own movement... which is fine (See?), it's good, if he is a Methodist, or a Presbyterian, or a Roman Catholic, or whatever he wants to be by denomination.

You see, this is helpful for understanding what we spoke on Wednesday night showing that Br. Branham's and Br. Vayles ministries fell under the early rain which is the teaching rain, and we showed you that there is a harvest rain that is to follow. And brother Branham is saying here that it should not matter to you whether a brother falls under the early rain teaching or the latter rain harvest teaching, what matters is his motives and objectives. And we must never forget that. He even said, I don't care what movement that brother belongs to, it's not about a movement, it's about a person's spirit, and whether or not he has died to self and is pointing the people to Calvary. Because if we are pointing people to Calvary that means we have died and by our own life others can see Calvary.

From his sermon, Contest the 62-1231 P:34 he said, "And they had a token, that when the death angel came by, that there must be blood on the door, or the elder son, or the elder child died in the home. The thought was, and the real meaning was, first to apply the blood. Did you notice how Paul placed it here? "If any eat unworthily, he eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body," which means the same thing, that death, spiritual death, rest upon the person that would partake of the Lord's supper unworthily. That would be, out drinking and carrying on, and living like the world, and come to the Lord's table. We shouldn't do that. Now, let us cleanse our hearts and cleanse our hands and our minds from evil thinking, that we might come to the Lord's table, reverently and holy, as we know that we're connecting ourself with our Sacrifice, Christ Jesus, Who is our only Salvation.

Uncertain sound 62-0714 P:107 Jesus said, "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he also." Nothing uncertain about that. "These signs shall follow them that believe." That's right. "He that believeth on Me, though he were dead yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." Nothing uncertain about that. Resurrection is sure. Right."He that eats My flesh and drinks My Blood has Everlasting Life, and I'll raise him up at the last day. But he that eats and drinks It unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's Body." No uncertainty about any of it. Right. If you eat it worthily, walking in the Word, in the faith, God promised the resurrection. If you eat it unworthy, you're dead right then when you're living. The Bible said "the woman that lives in pleasure is dead while she's alive". Exactly. The Bible said that. That's the infinite Word of God. It can't change. Certainly. Oh, no uncertain sound.

And remember a woman always represents the church. So these churches where the people think it is alright to drink alcohol and smoke and carry on and tell dirty jokes, and it's ok? They are dead while they live. That is a dead church.

From his sermon, Hebrews Chapter 4 57-0901E P:63 brother Branham said, "Oh, I take the Lord's Supper. Sure, we do it in our church. Jesus said He would raise us up in the last days if we took the Lord's Supper." "But he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's Body. For this cause many are sick and weakly among you, and many are dead," old, dead, formal churches. The Spirit of God's gone out of you; the Pillar of Fire ain't there no more. You deny Divine healing. You deny the resurrection. Oh, you say, "Oh, He arose from the dead historically." But what about Him being the same today if He rose from the dead? You say, "Oh, that ain't so." Now, there you are. You have the resurrection the way you want it, and God's got it the way He wants it. But the thing of it is, the Bible said (what we know is the Truth) that He would confirm the Word, and, "These things that I do shall you do the same", and I'll be with you always, to the end of the world: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever." That's what the Word says.

So to deny These Scriptures or any Scripture brother Branham just mentioned, such as John 14:12 which he quotes first, or any other Scripture for that matter, it shows you are dead while you are living. You are not discerning the Body of the Lord, nor the power of the resurrection in the life of the body of Christ.

And from his sermon, Remembering the Lord 63-0122 P:10 brother Branham said, "Now, communion has many times been the great dispute down through the ages between Protestant and Catholic. They say the Catholic takes this communion, and they take it in hopes that they have did something to merit some good thing, that their sins will be forgiven by doing it. The Protestant takes it as, "in remembrance" that Christ has already forgive them, and they take it in rejoicing that they're already forgiven. Paul goes on to say in here how to come to the Lord's table. If there is anything wrong make it right before we get there. "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." And now, we are very, very much to be in prayer when we take communion.

And from his sermon, What does thou here 59-0301E P:50 Brother Branham tells us hw we should come to the table of the Lord., "Lord, in a few days I'm climbing into a cave yonder to wait. O God, help me, Lord. Blind me, and deafen my ears from the things of the world, for popularity, or for fame, or for any vain thing that this world could offer. Let me stay there, Lord, till I hear that still small voice; then let Your servant come forth, Lord, mounting upon the wings of an eagle. And grant it, Lord. Bless this little church. Bless our Brother Neville. Take that sickness from his stomach, Lord, and cast it away from him. Put him in the harness, Lord, and let him come back here renewed. "They shall renew their strength." Grant it, Lord. Forgive us of our sins, we're coming to the Communion table now, Lord. You said, "He that eateth and drinketh that's unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." Help us, Lord, to search out our souls, our hearts. And try us and see if there's any unclean thing about us. If there is, forgive us, O God, as we wait humbly upon Thee. We ask it in Jesus' Name, Thy Son. Amen.

And in his sermon Discerning the body of Lord 59-0812 P:53 brother Branham tells us how we should act as the body of the Lord, "I want to awaken you, shake you a little. We're at the end. Not having discernment of the Body of the Lord, separating ourselves not seemingly having the faith... If there ever was a time that we needed everyone of you, it is right now. You need me, and I need you. God needs both of us. Let's join our hearts and efforts together. Let's not think because we're Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, Catholic, Presbyterian, Pentecostals, or what we are; let's be Christians. Let's discern the Body of the Lord and reach out an arm even to the vilest of sinner and bring them into the fold. That's my humble prayer.

And again in his sermon, Discerning the body of Lord 59-0812 P:17 Brother Branham says, "They were called heretics, because they didn't rightly discern the Body of the Lord. That's the church of the living God. And the church tonight is called crazy, because the people doesn't have the discernment. If a man is born again, and you tell me that you have been born again, and you do not believe that Divine healing is a promise of God, and you do not believe that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is for the people today, then I'll have to say that your birth was of the wrong spirit. Because the Holy Ghost said that "this promise is unto you and your children, and to them that is far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call". You are accepting it by an intellectual conception. People are taking somebody else's word for it, and not got the discernment. They cannot discern between right and wrong.

In another place in his sermon Discerning the body of Lord 59-0812 P:14 brother Branham said, "The worst thing there is in the world is a person to try to impersonate something, and there's too much of that in the world today. Not only do we, in this day, are guilty of the same crime that Paul was rebuking the Corinthian church for, but of trying to do something that the Lord had commanded without discerning the Body of the Lord, and the Body of the Lord is the believers. But today we are doing things not discerning any of the Word of God. We should have a discernment on everything that we do. It ought to be measured by the Word of God. All that Christians do and say should be measured by the Word of God.

And one last quote from Discerning the body of Lord 59-0812 P:30 "We can't discern by what people think, what intellectuals tell us, what psychiatrists tell us; we got to go by what God says. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." "Not discerning the Lord's Body, many are weakly and sick. Many are asleep," dead, spiritually dead. The last plague that hit Egypt was death. The last plague that's hit the church is spiritual death. What we need today is a spiritual awakening, a spiritual awakening to discernment.

And in his sermon Ordination 62-1104E P:17 "Now, it's may be getting a little late, towards nine thirty. But now we're going to have the communion service. Now, we call it communion, but it isn't communion. Communion is to talk, to commune. Commune is when we stop and talk to the Lord, communicate. But now this is called, the Lord's supper. I wonder how some of these modernists that don't say "supper" anymore and calls it "dinner," how they're going to work that around. See? Yes, sir. It's the Lord's supper. We just believe the Bible the way It says it. And we want you to know that Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterian, Lutheran, whatever you may be, you're invited, and a brother with us if you're born of the Spirit of God, to stand here and take communion with us. We believe that these represent the broken body of Jesus Christ, and we believe that a Christian is duty bound to take it. We believe that a man that's not living right, that comes and takes it without being living right, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. That's why those churches calling themselves Christians was found in the Bible full of blasphemous names. You see? Because, taking the communion, and going out, and living any kind of a life brings a bigger stumbling block than all the bootleg joints that there is throughout the country.

And from his sermon Adoption or placing 60-0522E P:34 But a real Spirit-filled church, full of power of God, setting together in heavenly places, offering spiritual sacrifices, praises of God, the Holy Spirit moving among them, discerning sin, and calling out the things that's among them that's wrong, straightened out and making it flat and level... Because why? Always in the Presence of God is that bloody Sacrifice.

Now, today the people are so politically correct that if the pastor calls out sin, they say, "who does he think he is? Who gives him the right to call that brother out? yes, I am afraid people who think like that need a good dose of the holy Ghost.

Now, remember, we went through it this morning. You wasn't saved by the Blood; you're kept saved by the Blood. But you were saved by grace, through faith, believing it. God knocked at your heart, because He predestinated you. You looked up, and believed it, accepted it. Now, the Blood makes an atonement for your sins. Remember, I said, "God does not condemn a sinner for sinning." He's a sinner to begin with. He condemns a Christian for sinning. And then because He has condemned him, Christ took our condemnation. So there's no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, that walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And if you do anything wrong, it isn't willfully. You don't sin willfully. A man that sins willfully, goes out and willfully sins, never come into that Body yet. But a man that's once in there, he's dead, and his life is hid in God through Christ, sealed by the Holy Ghost, and the devil can't even find him; he's so far back in there. He would have to come out of there before the devil can ever get in, for you are dead.

And one more quote, What is the Holy Ghost 59-1216 P:39 Do you want It? Wouldn't you love to have It? Let's see if It was promised. Now, let's go back to Isaiah, the Book of Isaiah. Let's get the 28th chapter of Isaiah. Now, we're going to Isaiah 28, and we're going to begin about, let's take the 8th verse: see what Isaiah said 712 years before It come. We could say a lot about this, go back, all the way back; but we'll just start right here and see if It was promised to the church. What day was It supposed to come? Upon the last days when there'd be a corruption. Now, remember, the word's in plural, days, the last two days, the last two thousand years. Now, now, the 8th verse: "for all tables are full of... filthiness, so that there is no clean place. Search around today to find it. Look around and see if we're in that day. All tables... Why they go to the Lord's Supper, and the first thing in the material line, take an old piece of light bread, or a soda cracker, and break it up and make the communion, when that's supposed to be made with Holy Ghost hands and unleavened bread. Christ is not dirty and filthy, and that represents Him. Another thing, they give it to people that drink, lie, steal, smoke, chew, just anything, as long as they belong to the church. Far be it. If a man ever takes it when we're eating this here, he's breathing and drinking damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's Body. If he don't live the life, keep away from it. And if you don't take it, it shows that your own conscience is guilty. "He that eateth not, has no part with Me," Jesus said.

And now we are getting down to the main point of the whole matter, (6)For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

From his sermon, What it takes to overcome all unbelief 60-0729 P:15 brother Branham said, "First is apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, pastors, those five God-given gifts in the church. So each of you people, who has a godly pastor, has a gift from God in your church, a shepherd. "Pastor" means "a shepherd," to watch over the flock, to teach them the Word of God. Then these other nine different spiritual gifts should be operating in the church to keep the church clean. Like the Ananias and Sapphiras and so forth, the Spirit of God rise up and call somebody out and tell them they're living wrong, and rebuke that sin openly, and that's what the Holy Spirit is in the church for, to keep the church clean and ready for the coming of the Lord. We believe that."

From his sermon, God's provided way 53-1201 P:10 "Now, a righteous man is not a sinless man. For you notice he said, "Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are." He had his ups-and-downs and his differences. And the Scripture of his life proves that he had his ups-and-downs like we do. And he had his times of wondering and his times that his temper got away from him, and he had a lot of things, that went wrong. But he was still a righteous man, because he confessed his unworthiness and believed in God. So that's what made him righteous. We're not righteous within ourselves; we're righteous through Jesus Christ. I cannot be sanctified within myself; I am sanctified through Jesus Christ Who stands in the Presence of God in my place. It isn't my holiness; it's His holiness. My holiness won't work at all, but His does. Because God done accepted Him. And in accepting Him He had to accept me, because I'm in Him. Amen. That's what makes it real isn't it. Then we don't have to depend on ourself. Now, that doesn't make us say we can sin. Brother, if you sin, you're just away from God. That's all. There's only one thing to do, is confess it and get right with God. As long as you desire to sin, the desire of sin's still in your heart, then it's time to stay down at the altar till that thing's taken out. Now you will sin. You're bound to sin 'cause you just can't help it, but not willful sin. "He that sins willfully after he receive the knowledge of the truth (See?), there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." But every day you're bound to sin.

So the Holy Spirit in the believer is Holy and being Holy "He will reprove the world of their unbelief and their unrighteous living." How? By the Life that He lives in the believer and the example he sets before the sinner.

Listen, people who are not born again do not like to be in the presence of those who are born again for very long because of their sinful nature. That is what we are told in John 1:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hates the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Reproved. Its not the doctrine they hate, its that Life of Christ lived out in a Holy Ghost filled man that they hate. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. That God is working in them both to will and to do.

He was to pass this way 57-0727 P:23 Now, and the world wants glamour. They don't want the old fashion preacher any more, the old hell-fire and brimstone, as we used to preach it. Today they want a little curly-headed, Hollywood type, with a little frocked-tailed coat on with, and I don't know what, and stand up and crack a few jokes. We're got too many jokes on the public today, the Arthur Godfreys and so forth, and all these little, what you call them's, and of that. But what we need today is the old fashion Gospel in the power and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and a clean-up in the church from the pulpit to the cloak room. That's right. We need it, men and women. We got too much Hollywood evangelism, a lot of acting and pertaining. We need the real genuine Jesus Christ. Amen.

Perseverance 62-0218 P:117 If a real church was ordained of God, really filled with the Holy Spirit, if sin would appear in the church, it'd be another like Ananias and Sapphira. When a real church... I'd like to walk into one, see all the women and men under the power of the Holy Spirit. If somebody had done something wrong, the Holy Spirit rise right up and reveal it. They'd have to clean up. That's gifts of the Spirit in the church. O God, send us a church like that; send us one like that. You believe it? Christ, is He dead? He's alive.

What it takes to overcome all unbelief 60-0729 P:15 Like the Ananias and Sapphiras and so forth, the Spirit of God rise up and call somebody out and tell them they're living wrong, and rebuke that sin openly, and that's what the Holy Spirit is in the church for, to keep the church clean and ready for the coming of the Lord. We believe that.

Convinced then concerned 62-0118 P:118 Let the Pentecostal church straighten itself up, get right with God, and I'll prove to you that the Holy Ghost will come right in. Why, The church will be so full of the power of the Holy Ghost there can't be one member do one sin. The Holy Ghost will call it right out, like Ananias and Sapphira. Right. But you can't do it when you won't even take your kindergarten training. Certainly not.

Discerning body of Lord 59-0812 P:38 Paul promised that in the last day, by the Holy Spirit, that the church would fall away, millions of them. "There'll come a falling away, for men will be heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, and despisers of those that are good: not the right discernment." Oh," you say, "that is the Communist." That is so-called Christians. Watch the next verse. "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof," no spiritual discernment. When you got spiritual discernment and the Holy Ghost is upon you, you have spiritual discernment. It says, "Amen" to every promise of God.

Presuming 62-0117 P:117 I'd like to walk into a church. I hope I get to see it before I die (in closing), walk into a church sometime, and walk through there, and just see, oh, how sin couldn't even set in that church. Any member would have to confess it before they even got there. The Holy Spirit would call it right out on the spot, like that (See?), just like, see the women setting there look like ladies, see men like men, really men of integrity, Holy Ghost-filled men, Spirit-filled. Let just one sin be in the church anywhere, the Holy Spirit call it right out. Like Ananias, Sapphira, have it right there before you. See? Oh, that's a church I'd like to see. I wished I could see it.

But today, when you get a Holy Ghost filled preacher who would do that, the people rebel against it and leave. Well, let them leave, because as Long as God is here this is where I will stay. And God hates sin. His Spirit is Holy, and if you have his Spirit you will be Holy and Live Holy before Him also. But the problem is people do not want to judge themselves by the Word. They are afraid to do so.

But Paul said, (7) But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

And that is where I want to be when he comes, I do not wish to be condemned with the world. And to get there I need to judge myself daily by the Word. For we read in Ephesiams 5:26 That "we are washed by the washing of water by the Word." And we also read in Psalms 119:9, "And how does a young man cleanse Himself? He takes heed to the Word of God."

Let us pray.