Faith no 62
Faith Made perfect through the Sign of
Messiah
January 24, 2018
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
This evening I would like
to address another subject in our Faith series showing like Vindication which we
preach on last Sunday in which God vindicates Hi own Word or "thus Saith the Lord" by bringing
what He said to pass. This Evening I want to show something that even goes
beyond Speaking in the name of the Lord, I want to show you how Faith is made
perfect through His Sign of Messiah.
Now, we know the Sign of
Messiah was given to only one person in this hour, and that was God's
vindicated prophet. No other man had it, because Sign of Messiah is the Sign of
Messiah, that He is here and that His Word has been placed in that vessel.
God has a one man ministry,
and the Word of the Lord comes only to that one man for each age, and then from
that One man it goes out to others by those who that one man Faithfully taught.
Church
Age Book Chapter 4 - The Smyrnaean
Church Age P:140 In
every age we have exactly the same pattern. That is why the light comes through some
God-given messenger in a certain area, and then from that messenger there
spreads the light through the
ministry of others who have been faithfully taught. But of course all those who go out don't always learn how necessary it
is to speak ONLY what the
messenger has spoken. Remember, Paul warned the people to say
only what he said, I Corinthians
14:37, "If any man think himself to be a
prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you
are the COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD. What? came the Word of God out from you? or
came it unto you only?" They add here, or take away there, and soon the message is no
longer pure, and the revival dies down. How careful we must be to hear
So we see the plan of
God is to send one man, and then faithfully teach men who are faithful to hear
and listen and pay close attention to what that one Messenger has to teach.
Notice his wording again, the light comes through some God-given messenger in a
certain area, (In this last hour it happened to Come to One
Man, William Branham who happened to be in the United State. That is the God-given messenger
in a certain area that we are looking at in this hour.) and then from that messenger there spreads the light through the ministry of others who have
been faithfully taught. But of course all those who
go out don't always learn how necessary it is to speak ONLY what the messenger has spoken.
Here we are looking at
this one Messenger who faithfully teaches others who are faithful to shut up
and listen. So we see the plan of God for each age is the same.
Now, if people want to
debate this we can sit down because we have a list of 7 Messengers and how they
came at certain junctions of time, we call that a Church Age, and then there
were men who were close to that Messenger who learned at the feet of that
Messenger. I can also show you other men who raised up in those days and those
men didn't understand what the messenger had brought by way of the Word of God,
and so they went off in their own direction. And I can also show you examples
throughout the ages of men who sat at the feet of the Messenger but got what he
said wrong and therefore went into fanaticism.
Such is the case of
Carlstadt who studied under Martin Luther and then went into fanaticism as soon
as Martin went into hiding while he translated the Bible into German. He had to
come out of hiding to stop the fanatical destruction that some of the followers
of Martin's Message had gone into following the leadership of Carlstadt in
Martins Absence.
Martin Luther never
set up Carlstadt to lead in his absence, just as William Branham never told the
people to follow any man in his. God never works that way. He leaves it up to
the people to have the correct discernment to follow the Holy Spirit (Through
the leadership of the Pillar of Fire, His Presence).
So we must understand
the difference between Spiritual Discernment and the Sign of Messiah
because they are two different things and show forth their fruits in two
different ways.
The Sign of Messiah that
Brother Branham refers to throughout his entire ministry was first seen when
God came to visit Abraham in the form of human flesh, that Angel that came to
Him and spoke to him and after reassuring Abraham that He would fulfill the
promise He had given Abraham about being blessed with many seed, Sarai,
Abraham's wife laughed within her heart,
and he called her unbelief out. This was the first time the sign of Messiah or
the Sign of God's presence was seen in a man. The first time we see it in the
invisible God was in the garden of Eden when God again discerned the thoughts
and intents of Eve's heart, and called her out for lying to him.
Brother Branham spoke
on this subject of the sign of Messiah many times during his 33 year ministry.
So what is the Sign of Messiah? And
how does it perfect our Faith
of make our faith come to maturity and rest?
These are two questions I wish to address tonight. We hear brother
Branham talk in terms of the "Sign
of Messiah", the
"Messianic sign", or the "Messiahic sign". All in all br. Branham mentions
these terms for "the
Sign of Messiah" at least 219 times. In all the various forms where he
mentions this "Sign of Messiah", brother Branham is very clear in what he is
referring to, and in almost all of them Brother Branham illustrates this "Sign of Messiah"
either from Genesis chapter 18, where God revealed the thoughts of Sarai; or from the
Gospel of John chapter 4, where the Jesus reveals the sins of the woman at the well
and she recognizes this revealing as "the sign
of Messiah" in Jesus; or in John chapter 1 where Jesus saw
Nathaniel under the tree praying.
Now, let's go to the Scriptures to see for ourselves these three
instances of the sign of Messiah that brother Branham refers to.
Genesis 18:1 And
the LORD appeared unto him in
the plains of Mamre: (so the scene is
set with the Appearing of the Lord) and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And he lift up his eyes and
looked, and, lo, three men
stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to
meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
3 And said, My Lord,
(Now, notice that he saw three of them but only recognized one of
them to be Lord)
if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: 4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched,
and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your
hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant.
And they said, So do, as thou hast said. 6 And Abraham hastened into
the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal,
knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. 7 And Abraham ran unto the
herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it
unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. 8 And
he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree,
and they did eat. 9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10 And he said, I will
certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; (now,
notice here that God said to Abraham, "I will
return you to the time of life" which we know is sometimes
between 16 to 20 years old. That is the time of life, when we are at our best.
And then after he promises to change them in their bodies back to younger life,
he promises them a child through Sarah) and, lo, Sarah thy
wife shall have a son. And Sarah
heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were
old and well stricken in age; (I hope you
caught that, they were both old and well stricken in age) and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner
of women. (she passed her menopause, she couldn't
physically have any children.) 12 Therefore Sarah
laughed within herself,
saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
(Now notice, Sarah did no t laugh out loud, the Bible says Sarah laughed within herself.)
13 And
the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a
surety bear a child, which am old? 14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD?
At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life,
and Sarah shall have a son.
Now, most people read
this and say at
the time appointed I will return unto thee, and they stop right
there expecting that somewhere down the road God will return again. But that is
not what he said. And that is the problem with people, they do not read what
God said. They gloss over it and read right over what he said.
He said, I will return
unto thee, according
to the time of life, The Hebrew word Shuwb does not say "Turn again unto" thee, as if God was
coming back Himself to bring the promised son. This word Shuwb
means to "turn
back", therefore rendering this as "I will return
thee back, according
to the time of life. Halelujah, The Lord
is the same and changes not.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and
forever, and we are going to get our body change before we go to
receive the promised Son, just as Abraham and Sarah got a body change before
they could be ready to receive the promised son.
Listen to what Br. Branham says in his sermon Possessing gate of the enemy 64-0322 P:11 Now, in here watch
what He did. Now, Abraham and Sarah was both
old, well-stricken the Bible said. Now, it
wasn't just because they were just people lived longer there. The Bible
said that they were well-stricken
in age. Now, notice. Immediately after this Angel appeared, we
been talking about, which was Elohim, God... And He said, told Abraham, "I'm going to visit you, according to the time of life."Now, watch. All down through they were a type of the
church, all the way through. Now, look. Here's what happened. Now, He just
didn't patch Sarah up and patch Abraham up. He turned them back to a young man and woman.
Now, that may seem strange, but now watch the rest of the Word and put it
together. The Word is inspired. You have to be inspired with the Word. Now,
remember, Immediately after that, immediately after the appearing of this
Angel...I can just see that gray hair of Sarah, little grandma with a shawl
over her shoulder, and a little dust cap, holding a stick going around. "Me, having pleasure with my lord, and him old too?" See? And here was Abraham, his long beard, holding on
a stick, as he was well-stricken in age. And I see the next morning his
shoulders begin to straighten up; the hump come out of his back. Her hair begin
to turn. They went back to a young man and woman, just showing what He's
going to do to the royal seed of Abraham (See?), when we're changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and
be caught up together.
15 Then
Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not;
for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but
thou didst laugh. Now, why
would Sarah deny laughing if she had laughed out loud? She laughed within
herself and thus tried to justify herself in that she suppressed the outward
laughter by laughing within herself. But it was the same spirit of unbelief
whether she had done so outwardly or inwardly. That is why Jesus said if you
look upon a woman to lust after her you have committed adultery with her in
your heart. God looks upon the heart, and Jesus said "Judge not
according to the outward appearance but judge righteous judgment."
16 And
the men rose up from thence, and looked toward
Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. 17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham
that thing which I do; 18 Seeing
that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For
I know him, that he will command his
children and his household
after him, and they shall keep the
way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring
upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Now, the apostle Paul told us this blessing of God
to Abraham and his seed was not for the physical seed but the Spiritual Seed as
we see in the following Scriptures.
Romans
4:13 For the promise, that he should be the
heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through
the righteousness of faith. 16 Therefore it is of faith,
that it might be by grace; to the end
the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of
the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Galatians
3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds,
as of many; but as of one, And to thy
seed, which is Christ.
And if
we are in Christ, then the promise is unto us.
Now, brother Branham speaks of this scene in Genesis that we just read and he ties it to the
term "the
sign of messiah" as we see in his sermon, The Second Seal 63-0319 P:96
Notice,
count it. Now, there was one come to this church spiritual, the Bride, Abraham,
that wasn't in Sodom to begin with. And watch what He did. He never done no
preaching like they did. He taught them, but then He done a sign before them.
He done the
Messiahic sign. He had His back turned to the tent, and He said,
"Abraham..." Now, remember his actual name a few days before that was
Abram. But He says, "Abraham, where is your
wife, S-a-r-a-h?" A few days before that
it was called S-a-r-r-a. Abraham said, "She's
in the tent behind You."And He said,
"Abraham, I (There's your personal pronoun again.), I am going to visit you according to the promise that I've
made you." You see Who it was. See? A
Man with dust on His clothes, eating the meat of a calf, and drinking the milk
from the cow, and eating corn bread (Yes, sir.): God, Elohim, manifested in
flesh: promised in the last day to manifest Himself in flesh again. Notice.
"Abraham, where is your wife, Sarah?""She's in the
tent behind You."He said, "I'm going to visit you."
And from his sermon Jehovah
Jireh 55-1117 P:50 brother Branham said, "Abraham was a young man yet. Sarah,
immediately, after that, more than a year or two, had the baby that had been
promised all the time. Notice...Now, you said, "That's what He done
to Sarah, but what about Abraham?"Even after Isaac died, or I mean, after
Sarah died, when Isaac was way up a young man, old enough to be married,
around forty years later... "Why," you said, "they
lived longer in them days, Brother Branham."Now, wait a minute.
The Bible said "they were both well
stricken in age". That's right. And
Abraham married another woman after the death of Sarah, forty something
years later, and had seven boys. Hallelujah, it's our God. He
showed in Abraham and Sarah what He's going to do to you and your wife, some of
these days: turn you back, young again. Now, if that ain't a blessed
hope, I don't know what is, brother. When He appeared there, got Himself a handful of material that makes human beings
and just spoke it into existence, said, "Come here," with another
handful, and put two Angels in the side, and walked down and talked to Abraham
and turned him back too, to a young man and proved what He was going to do.
Hallelujah. We're the seed of Abraham on our road to the promise.
When little Isaac was born... Oh, my, do I have to quit here? Give me just another
five minutes, will you, ...
Marriage and divorce 65-0221M P:72 When Abraham took Sarah down into the Philistine
country, there was a king down there named Abimelech. And Sarah was a
hundred years old (right at it), but she had been changed back to a
young woman and been made beautiful. You know that? All right. And Abimelech
wanted her for a wife. You remember my message on it? Abimelech wanted
to take Sarah for a wife. Probably had a harem.
Ok, so now, let's move forward to the New Testament in the Gospel of John
and turn in our Bibles to John
Now, What
did a vindicated prophet say about The
Messianic Sign? He
said it was the knowing the very thought and intents of the heart as Spoken of
in Hebrews
From his
sermon, Show us the Father
61-0521 P:90 brother
Branham said, How many
knows that He perceived their thoughts and knowed all about them? That's right. Now, that was sign of Messiah."
Notice he
specifically tells us that "knowing the thoughts and intents of the heart" is the Sign of Messiah which is Hebrews 4:12.
Then from
his sermon, Convinced
Then Concerned
62-0118 P:98 brother
Branham said, "How did
they know that that was Messiah? How
did the woman at the well know
that was Messiah? When He told her that she had five husbands. How did Nathanael say,
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God"? Because
He said, "I saw you when you were under the tree." See? That's how they know it. That's what's "the sign of the Messiah". That is
true. Just ask anybody.
Look through the Bible. That's what it is: "the sign of Messiah"."
Again we
understand by God's vindicated prophet that the Sign of Messiah is the discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He
called it in 142 places "the
Messiahic Sign",
in 10 places "the
Messianic sign"
and in 63 other places he called it "the Sign of Messiah". If you check all "Sign of Messiah" quotes, "Messiahic
sign" quotes and
all "Messianic Sign" quotes, for a total of 219
quotes, you will find he mentions, the
woman at the well, or
Nathaniel praying under the tree, or even Elohim before the tent talking to Abraham about what Sarah was thinking. And in all
219 quotes his focus is on the discerning of the thoughts and intents of
the heart.
Again in
his sermon, Unchangeable
God 62-0120 P:55 "Now, Jesus when He grew up, He proved He was that Messiah that
they'd prayed for. He showed them His sign of Messiah. He proved that He was Messiah by the
signs that He done. Look at the woman at the well when He told her, her sins,
that she had five husbands. "Why," she said, "Sir, we know when Messiah cometh,
He will tell us all things." But
she didn't know Who He was. He said, "I'm He." Look at Nathanael, when he came back with Philip, and he
walked up in the Presence of Jesus. And Jesus told him who he
was, where he come from, what he'd been doing. Oh, my. It
proved... He said, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God. Thou art the
King of Israel."
My, sure. Because what? He's proven."
Now, this
is Hebrews
Now, this
is not the same as 1
Corinthians 12 the gift of
discerning of spirits that is a gift of the Holy Ghost. It is not so much a
gift as the Giver Himself. But the gift in 1 Corinthians 12 is: "To another the working of miracles; to
another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation
of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as he wills it. 12 For as the body is one, and hath many
members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are still one body:
so also is Christ.13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one
body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether
we be bond or free; and have been all made to
drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many.
Any
Christian may have that gift to discern between a Godly Spirit and an evil
spirit. And Hebrews
Let's just read Malachi 3:16 for ourselves, "Then
they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened,
and heard it, and a book of remembrance was
written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of
hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him. 18 Then shall ye return, and
discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and
him that serveth him not."
Again any
Christian filled with the Holy Spirit of God should be able to discern between
righteousness and wickedness. In fact the Scripture alludes to the fact that
you can teach yourself to discern certain things.
Hebrews
5:14 But strong meat
belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern
both good and evil.
Now, what does that
mean exercise their senses to discern? Now, think
about that. We just read our Bibles so casually without even thinking of the meaning of what we just read.
Well, what are the
sense's he's speaking of here? The Greek word means your perception and judgment. So Paul says we can exercise our perception and judgment to discern.
And notice how he says we do it. But strong meat (In
other words deep teaching of the Word of God)
belongs to them that are of full age, (teleios
full age, have reached maturity, ready for adoption) even those who by reason of use. etc.
Notice he tells us
right before this in verse 12 For when for
the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God;
and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that uses milk is
unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, (that Greek word is Teleios which means to
be of a mature age) even
those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and
evil.
And we
see the same Greek word used again in 1 Corinthians 14:20 Brethren,
be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in
understanding be men. (men, teleios,
of full age, full maturity ready for adoption)
So he is saying, when
you just feed on a milk toast Gospel and watered down Word so you won't offend,
he says, you can never expect to come to a proper discernment between righteous
and wickedness. You can never expect to come to full maturity, ready for
adoption.
And that is why
brother Branham taught his children to listen to what the ministers on the
radio are saying and then discern what spirit is behind what is being said. He
would have them listen for five minutes and then they had to tell him what
denomination was behind that preaching.
And I think that is a wonderful way to teach your children. Show them
what others believe and then show them in the Scripture why those things are
wrong.
Jesus basically tells
the Pharisees the same thing in Luke
In other words, you
can look at natural things and discern or make judgments based on what you are
seeing with your physical eyes, but why are you so dull in your spiritual eyes
that you can't see what God is doing in your day?
Matthew
16:3 And in the morning,
It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites,
ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the
times?
And what was the signs
of the times? When the sign of Messiah was being
presented and God was operating in such a supernatural way through the ministry
of His Son, why were they so dull in
their spiritual eyes not to be able to see that no man can do what was done
except that God be with him.
Notice he is comparing
natural discernment with Spiritual Discernment.
Again in 1 Corinthians
" Discerning body of Lord
59-0812 P:46 Let's
discern the Body of the Lord, discern the times that we're living in. We'll
die spiritually if we don't do that. And if this is true, and the Holy
Spirit is with us, and we've got the last sign of the coming of
the Lord just before He come... Remember, that was just before Sodom burned,
just a few hours before it burned.
Let's go
back to 1
Corinthians 11:28 because
I have read this for the past 35 years at least once a month to you at
Communion time. "But
let a man examine himself,
and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's
body. 30 For this cause many are
weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of
the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come
together to eat, tarry one for another. 34 And if any
man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation.
And the rest will I set in order when I come.
The Apostle Paul had
to deal with a situation in the early church in Galatia because the people did
not have a fully developed ability to discern between what was right and what
was wrong, and they allowed themselves to be influenced away from the truth by
those brothers from Jerusalem who came in and influenced them away from the
liberty they had in Christ back to circumcision.
This same Apostle Paul
said in 1 Corinthians
So if they
are spiritually discerned, then doesn't it take the Holy Spirit in us to know
when what is taking place is of God or not? Either of God or just of man?
What Paul
was telling them was that when he came teaching them the Revelation of Jesus
Christ they rejoiced, but when he started to discipline the church concerning
wrong activity that was taking place among some members, they got really upset.
So we see
there is to be a certain amount of discernment within each believer and it all depends
on the amount of Word they have and the exercise of that Word.
But when
brother Branham speaks of Discerning
the thoughts and intents of the heart, only God
Himself who is the Anointer, the Christ, the Messiah Himself, is able to discern between the thoughts
and the intentions of the heart.
In Jeremiah 17:10 we
read, "I the LORD search the heart,
I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to
the fruit of his doings."
Psalms 44:21 Shall
not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Psalms 139:23 Search
me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Acts
15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare
them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Romans
8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth
what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God.
Hebrews 4:12 For
the word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is
there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we
have to do.
Does God
change His mind 65-0427 P:62 Now, she wasn't like them priests, they said, "He's got a
devil. He's a fortuneteller or something." She turned, and she
said, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Now, we haven't had one
for four hundred years. The church hasn't been used to such as this. But we
perceive, I perceive that You are a prophet. Now, I know that we're looking
for the Messiah. And when the Messiah comes, that's the thing that He'll
do. "Now, the Bible said He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. If
that was the anointed sign of Messiah back there to the Samaritan and to the
Jew... Now, it never was done before Gentiles. Nowhere in the Bible
did Jesus ever do it before Gentiles. They had four thousand years of
looking for a Messiah; we've had two thousand years with their training
also, to look for a Messiah. Now, if that was His identification just before
their day was finished, it's got to be our identification; because
He promised the Son of man would reveal Himself again in the day that the world
become like Sodom again. And anybody knows we're there. See?
Ok, so let's read
When
their eyes were opened 64-0212 P:65 Now, this lady here is a stranger to me. Now I'm going to
talk to her. Here comes back St. John 4, where
Jesus talked to a woman and told her what her trouble was. And she believed
that was the sign of the Messiah. If that was the sign of Messiah then, it's
still the sign of Messiah, 'cause He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Sir we
would see Jesus 63-1112 P:79 Watch that little woman. You know, she could teach ninety percent of the clergy
today the Gospel. See? Why, why did those priests stand
there and call Him Beelzebub, when their very Bible said that's what He would
do? Is that right? And here stands a prostitute, a woman of ill fame, and as
soon as He said that to that woman, she never said, "Why, you're
Beelzebub." She said, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet."
Uh-huh. Now, watch her quotation. "We perceive. I perceive that You are a
prophet. We know that when the Messiah cometh, which is called the
Christ; we're looking for Him to come, and when He comes, He's going to
tell us these things. This is what He's going to do." That was the
sign of Messiah yesterday. That's the sign of Messiah today, the same. See?
Now, I want you to pay close attention to what brother Branham is saying here
because he is telling us that the sign of Messiah doesn't miss even if you think
it has. Br. Collins was in a meeting in Kentucky and brother Branham called out
a woman and told her where she lived, and two of her friends who were there said
he was wrong. He heard them talking on the way out so he went over to the woman
who was healed and asked he where she lived, and she told him it was the address
brother Branham had mentioned, then he said but your friends say you live at such
a such an address, and she said, "well
I moved from their last week." God's Word cannot fail, and I don't
care what unbelievers come alone and say he made mistakes, God's Word never fails,
you just got your understanding of it messed up.
It is I
be not afraid 62-0726 P:46 Matthew said, "Yes, I remember. (He's the one
that wrote it, you know.) Oh, yes. I remember it. My heart failed. I thought,
'My, my. Uh-huh. There's our Master
one time wrong,' (See?), because He told her she had a husband, go get
her husband, and she said, 'I have no husband.' And then He turns around and
said, 'You've told the truth.' Then we all were puzzled. Here He says, 'Go, get
your husband,' she said, 'I have no husband,' He said, 'That's right.'
"Look. "Go get
your husband."
"I have no husband."
"You're right." Now. "Oh,
we were all astonished, and our hearts beat, and we raised up over the bushes
behind Him to see what He was going to say next. Oh, He was wrong. She
said, 'I have no husband,' and yet we believed Him to be the Messiah. How
could that great Messiahic sign be wrong? And we knowed
He was Messiah, because He did the sign of Messiah. Therefore we...
(Messiah is God, the anointed. And the anointed
is the Word. And the Word was manifested. See?) We knowed that He
was Messiah. And here He was. Every
time it hit but this time. But now it had missed, for He said to the young
woman, 'Go, get your
husband,' she said, 'I have none.' He said, 'Thou hast said the truth.
You said well, for you've had five, and the one you're now living with is not
yours.' Oh." "And we noticed what that woman said. She turned with
startled eyes, and she said, 'Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.'" Now, that... Really, in the King
James is mistranslated. It's all right. It's okay like that. But if you'll take
your margin reading on that, and run it back in the original Greek (and many of
the scholars here read it), it said, "Thou art That prophet." See? That's the margin reading.
"Thou art That prophet. I perceive that Thou
art That prophet."
"Now, we know
that when Messiah cometh,
is called the Christ (That prophet, Messiah, Christ, all the same Person), when He comes He will tell us all these things." "And Jesus said, 'I'm He that speaks with you.'" "And that woman run into the city and begin
to tell all the men, 'Come see a Man that told me the things that I've done (Now, watch.), told me the things that I have done. Isn't
that the very Messiah?' And you know, we all went into the city
to find out what happened. And all the men in that city believed the woman's
testimony."
We would
see Jesus 62-0704 P:55 Notice.
Now, I got to nail this down, 'cause I got to quit. Look the difference between
that woman in that shape that she was in to those high-cultured ministers.
That woman said, "Sir,
I perceive that You are a Prophet." The priests and the educated said, "You are Beelzebub,
a devil, fortuneteller." This woman said, "Sir, I perceive that You are a Prophet. We
know when Messiah cometh, He'll tell us these things." If that was the sign of Messiah yesterday, and He's the
same yesterday, today, and forever, it's
got to be the same. She said, "We know Messiah, which is called the Christ, the anointed One;
when He comes, He'll tell us these things. But Who are You?" He
said, "I'm He that speaks with you." That was enough. She saw it.
Now,
listen to this quote here in Perseverance 62-0218 P:145 when brother Branham refers to the Sign of Messiah, he says,
"Well, if that was
the sign of the Messiah to the Jews, to the
Samaritans, wouldn't it be the sign of Messiah
to the Gentiles? Wouldn't the Messiah then, if He's raised from the dead and living in His Church, manifest Himself through,
wouldn't He do the same works when He promised He would
do it?
In closing we read from Hebrews 4:12 12 For the word of God is
quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart. 13 Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we
have to do. 14 Seeing then that
we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For
we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time
of need.
Let us pray...