The Masterpiece 87
Standing Alone
October 1st,
2006
Hebrews
11:1 Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For
by it the elders obtained a good report.3 Through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that
things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.4 By
faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he
obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it
he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was
translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had
translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he
pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him:
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that
he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.
This morning I would like to speak again from The Masterpiece
and this will be number 87 in our series. We will begin reading where we left
off several weeks ago before I went to
THE
MASTERPIECE 64-0705 161 The Word, living and in action, the Bible
Bride, not some manmade Bride, the
Bible Bride, smitten and afflicted of God, no
beauty we should desire Her, but yet we did esteem Her,
smitten and afflicted of God. That's right. She stands alone. She's
smitten from all of the denominations according to Revelations 3. She's smitten out of the Laodicean church
age that She was raised up in. See?
Now, there are several thoughts that brother Branham says here and it
would behoove us to look into all of them.
First of all he speaks of the Living Word, which means one that is in
action, and he calls that the Bible Bride.
Now, we read from Hebrews 11 for our text that Faith is the Substance of
things hoped for. And yet Paul tells us in Ephesians Chapter Four that there is
only one Faith, and One Lord, so that One Faith if it is a revelation is the
Revelation of that One Lord.
Now, when we are told that Faith is the substance of things hoped for, we
must know what the word substance means. The Greek word used that the English
word substance was translated from is Hupostasis, and it is translated most
often in scripture as the word confidence, but it is also translated as the
word person as well.
So we see that Faith is the confidence
of things hoped for. Yet we can also say that Faith is the Person
that we hope for. And that Person is God Himself. For God is a person, and that
is where the Oneness really have a problem. They do not really believe that God
is a Person, or else they could understand that his Person if He is a Father
could not be His own Son.
And the Son could most certainly not be His own Father. That is such a
preposterous thought that brother Branham could not even begin to describe it
with words. You would have to be mentally deluded to even think such a thing.
But Faith is a person of what we hope for, and our Hope is in God. We read in Hebrews
1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high; 4 Being made so
much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more
excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the
angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And
again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
So we see that Jesus Christ, the
Son of God was the expression of God’s person. The Very image and out raying of
the Devine, which word Devine speaks of God Himself.
Now, we know that Faith is a revelation, but what I want to show you is
that there is a passive Faith and there is an active Faith. There are two types
of Faith. Passive Faith is what we must have before we can have an Active
Faith. Passive Faith is what we see by Revelation that God is doing or what God
has already done.
Now, remember brother Branham taught us in the Rapture message, that
“Faith is a Revelation, it is something that is revealed to us.”
Now, when Peter received the revelation that “Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God”, that was what we call a passive revelation. He did nothing to
receive that revelation. It is what God
did for Him.
When God comes down and performs before man showing them that His
Presence is with them, that is not something we have anything to do with, We
are just observing what God is doing. And that is called passive Faith.
But when we respond to what God has done, our response is also an act of
Faith such as Noah building the ark, and Abraham taking His Son up for the
sacrifice, etc.
These are called acts of our faith, but the action that we do is in response
to what God has already revealed to us, therefore they are an active Faith. And
Active Faith is a response to the passive faith. And we must have a
passive faith first before we can
respond to it, otherwise we are acting on our own and not in or by the
revelation which God has given.
For if God has not revealed something to us to respond to, then our
actions simply do not mean anything to God.
For the pattern that the Son of God set is that He did nothing unless
the Father showed Him first what to do. And if we do when God did not show us,
then what we do is based on our own will and not the will of God. And thus Proverbs 16: 25 tells us, There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death.
Hebrews
11:6 But without faith it is
impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him.
Now, we see here that god rewards our Faith. Therefore
if God shows us something and we respond to what he shows us in a way that
coincides with the thing He shows us, then that Faith, which is an active
Faith, is rewarded by God. He said, we know that God is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.
So we see then that active Faith must always follow
passive faith which comes from God. And when we act on our own without it being
His will, we can not expect anything from our actions as far as reward from God
is concerned.
Now, we read from brother
Branham’s sermon on the Masterpiece this morning and notice he said, 161 The Word, living and in action, the Bible
Bride, not some manmade Bride, the
Bible Bride, so we see that He is
talking about the Bride here is the Word of God in action. Therefore she is not
only laying in the Presence of the SON to ripen, but she is doing something
that shows that she fully understands the revelation or faith which God has
given to her. And she has become the Living Word in Action, and that action is
in response to what God has shown her.
We are told in the Book of James 1:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
So we see that to have passive Faith only without a
response to that which God has revealed to us shows that we are spiritually
dead. And then James gives us some
examples of passive Faith moving out into an active Faith.
James 1:21 Was
not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son
upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And
the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was
imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Notice here that James is associating the works that
Abraham did with the Fact that he truly believed what God told Him by
Revelation or else he would not have performed those things which God looked at
and credited it to Him as having true Faith. So what he is saying is that if we
have a true passive Faith, then it will respond in a way that shows in our
actions that we truly do believe.
It’s like I hear all the time, people quoting brother
Branham as saying, “the evidence that you are born again and have received the
baptism of the Holy Ghost is that you believe the message of the hour.” And
these same people will say, “Say what is on the tapes, and say only what is on
the tapes”, yet these same people will not say what is on the tapes. They love
the sign from God which is the prophet but they reject the Voice of the sign
which is the doctrine that He brought. And in fact, brother Branham said, they
claim to believe Paul yet they won’t teach what Paul taught. Now if you claim
to believe the man and won’t preach what he taught then you really don’t
believe it at all. And the same holds true with our faith. If we claim to
believe the Message of the Hour is our evidence of being born again, then there
must be a way of expressing that belief or else that belief is not a genuine
belief. And that Faith is not a genuine revelation from God.
Now, a parrot can quote the message if it is taught
the words to say. And a tape recorder can play back the message but it has no
life. A tape recorder is not a living being.
And a parrot can not be born again. So to just quote the words of brother
Branham without that word being truly made alive in you is not what brother
Branham was talking about.
So they say, you do not have to understand what you
believe. You only have to believe it. And that makes about as much sense as
saying your believing in One God saves you. The devil believes in One God and
he is lost eternally. So there goes your argument.
James continues by saying, James 1:24 Ye
see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works,
when she had received the messengers, and had sent them
out another way? 26 For as the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Notice, For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also. So
he is typing works to spirit here and as he is saying you can have a body, but
if there is no life in that body then it is only a corpse, and it is dead, and
so is your Faith if there are no outward show that it even exists.
When brother Branham
said, “Say what is on the tapes” he said what he means and he meant what he
said. But people will not even talk the message much less quote it the way he
said it. But we must say what is on the tapes. That is the reason why the
understanding of what the Message is has been blown so far away from what He
said is because they com together and listen, but until they actually say what
he says, they do not know whether they are getting it right or not.
Those people who will only listen to tapes are the ones who will not live
what brother Branham preached. Everyone of them has a television in their home
and everyone o them has a wrong understanding of the Godhead.
Listen, the Devil is a Oneness. He believes in One God and He is lost.
And you can claim to believe the sign all you want to but to refuse the Voice
of the sign shows you do not believe the sign. And brother Branham told us in
the Token message that the voice of the Sign is the Doctrine.
Now, we read from brother Branham’s sermon The Masterpiece and the first
thing he said was The
Word, living and in action, the Bible Bride, not some manmade Bride, the Bible Bride.
So then what is the
action that he is talking about. What is
the action in the Bride that makes her the Living word in this hour? It is her response to the revelation that God
has given us in this hour, and that would be in response to what the Message is
all about.
William Branham said, “My ministry is to
declare Him, that He is here.” From that Time.
So if that is what the ministry of William Branham was all about then her
action would have to be in response to that revelation.
Then any response that is not related to what the message is all about
would not be active Faith, but rather doing God a service without it being His will.
Now, the next thing brother Branham says, concerning the Bride is he
let’s us know that she is identified with Christ in such a way that as he was
smitten so she too is rejected and smitten.
The Word, living and in action, the Bible
Bride, not some manmade Bride, the Bible Bride, smitten
and afflicted of God, no beauty we should desire Her,
but yet we did esteem Her, smitten and afflicted of God.
That's right. She stands alone.
She's smitten from all of the
denominations according to Revelations 3. She's smitten out of the Laodicean church age that She was raised up in.
See?
The first thing you to notice here is that brother Branham is actually
quoting scripture about Jesus but he is inserting “her” instead of Him, and he
is speaking about the Bride of Christ in the place of Christ himself. Now, I
believe that he is doing this to show us that as Jesus came so must we come.
And also he is doing this because it is the Word that is despised and rejected
of men. And just as the Word was in Jesus it must be in the Bride at the end-time.
Jesus the boy and then the man, was not rejected in his life until God Himself
came down and entered into Him at the river Jordan.
There are no records in Scripture of Jesus being despised and rejected
until God the Word entered into Him. At first after God entered into Him, he
began to do many miracles and healed many sick people. And he was popular then.
When the miracles began everyone wanted to know this young Rabbi, but when He
began to preach the doctrine God gave Him to preach, then no one wanted to have
anything to do with him.
John 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said,
My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
So it is the doctrine that they hate. And that comes
from God. And if it is from God then they will have to hate it, for they will
never hate their own. But if you receive the doctrine of Christ, then the world
will hate you even as it hated Christ as we see in John
17:14 I have given them
thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
So you see it is the Word
that the world hates and thus it is the word of God that is despised and rejected.
Jesus, the man was not “despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief” until after God entered Him at
His Baptism in the River Jordan. Up to that point all we know is that people
were amazed by his ability to talk the Word with even the best teachers in
And we read this morning
brother Branham quoting Scripture about the Son of God, and yet he applied it
to the Bride of Jesus Christ at this end-time.
He quoted as “smitten
and afflicted of God, no beauty we should desire Her,
but yet we did esteem Her, smitten and afflicted of God.
That's right. She stands alone.
She's smitten from all of the
denominations according to Revelations 3. She's smitten out of the Laodicean church age that She was raised up in.
See?
Now, remember in revelations chapter 3 the scripture tells us that the
Word is rejected and is cast out of the church at this end-time Laodicean age.
Now, he is on the outside knocking and she hears the midnight cry and she
also goes out to meet Him.
Revelations 3:20 Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.
So we see that Christ the Word is on the outside of
the church trying to get in, but they won’t let Him and so when the midnight
cry goes forth, she the Bride comes out to meet Him. He does not go in to meet
her.
Matthew 25:1 Then
shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their
lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And
five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were
foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But
the wise took oil in their vessels
with their lamps.
Now, we know that the
oil represents the holy Ghost and the lamp represents the Word of God as David
said in the Psalms, “Thy Word o God is a lamp unto my feet and a
light unto my Path.
But I want you to notice that it was the oil in her
vessel that is spoken of here. And the vessel represents the body of the
person. Paul told us in 1 Thessalonians 4:4 That every one of you should know how to
possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
So we see
that the wise Virgin had the Oil in her vessel. She was born again while the
other virgins, the foolish virgins were not.
5 While
the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And
at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; come out to
meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and
trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto
the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered,
saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us
and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, (the tapes) and buy for yourselves. 10 And
while they went to buy, (the tapes) the bridegroom came; and they that were ready
went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward
came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But
he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man
cometh.
So we see here that the Bridegroom does not go into
where she is at, but rather He is on the outside and never does go in to where
she is at. But His cry goes forth and she comes out from where she was at. Now
this is important for us to understand, because as the Word is rejected by the
churches in this hour, and is on the outside, so too she must come out from
among the church if she is to come into His Presence. And so in our reading
from the Masterpiece this morning brother Branham identifies the Bride as the
Living Word in Action and says she is rejected as Jesus was rejected and she
must stand alone as He stood alone.
So we se in this hour that not only is the Word on the outside of the
church trying to get in, but so too the Bride is on the outside because she
came out in order to come into His Presence, the Presence of the midnight
Shout. And we know that it is the Lord
Himself that descends with a shout in this hour and that Shout has been
rejected. And they claim to love the prophet but hate his message. They built
the tombs of the prophet but they are they that put him in there.
QA on
the Holy Ghost COD 59-1219 P:43 Now, when the Holy Spirit comes in and
reveals the truth of anything and proves it by His own Presence and by His
Word, you can't expect the Pentecostal people to say, "I'll agree with
it." You've got to stand alone like
Luther did, like Wesley did, and like the rest of them did.
Jesus Christ
the same 55-0116E P:10 In this time Jesus had done great things in
these early days, in His early ministry. He was misunderstood as most everyone.
Did you ever come to think of it, that most
men who ever do anything great for the
Melchisedec
the great prince 55-0109M P:31 Whether it's popularity, whether it's our
church, whether it's our friends, our associates, whoever it may be, whether
it's our doctor, whether it's our priest, who... it's our preacher, all other
grounds is sinking sand: Christ alone! And every
man that's ever amounted to anything in this great battlefield of strife, has
been men and women who stood alone on them convictions. When everything
else failed and fell around them they still stood. Abraham Lincoln, of old, was
convinced that he was right. He stood
alone on his convictions, but he proved it and sealed his testimony with
his own blood. Jesus Christ stood alone
in His day as an example to every man upon his convictions of God's eternal
Truth, that will take his stand positionally and stand, will stand alone, but not alone, with God, the invisible Companion
Who follows us through life's journey down through the shadows, of the valleys
of shadows of death and into eternity, He will still go with us and be God.
It
becometh us to fulfill 61-1001M P:64 It was becoming to Elijah as
a prophet, that he stood, and he stood alone. Said to God, "They're all
gone but me, and I stand alone."
That's as far as he knew. God said He had some more that's taking the same stand;
maybe not in the place that Elijah was, because he was the target to the
nation. They didn't get criticism like he did, because they was all firing
right at him, because he was the prophet. But it was becoming to him in the
midst of trial, in the midst of criticism, in the midst of indifference, it was
becoming to Elijah, as a prophet to take the stand of God and stand there. It
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. That great and mighty man,
foreshadowing this day when the Jezebel religions and things is raising up now,
things that we have today, trying to take over. It's becoming to a servant of God, no matter what anyone says, what
takes place, stand, because it's becoming to us that we stay with the Word.
Enticing
spirits 55-0724 P:69 If you've got the nature of God in you,
you'll go to holiness; you'll go to the right thing. You'll stand for the right
thing. You'll do the right thing; you'll
think the right thing. You'll live the right thing. If you're a duck you
like water. If you're a Christian, you'll like Christ. If you're a devil,
you'll like the things of the devil. If you're a buzzard, you eat dead things.
If you're a pig, you'll root manure. Where are you at today? Right. You
claiming to be up here eating the things of the Lord and then go down and root
with the devil. There's something wrong with it. Quit listening to them
spirits; they're devils. No matter if
you have to stand alone. Men and
women that's ever amounted to anything nearly, has been men and women who stood
alone with God.
What
hearest thou Elijah 59-0609 P:26 Men are afraid to speak; they're afraid to
take a stand. They have to have something behind them to back them up, some
great denomination, or organization, or some great band. What would men... God
called man needs is a Holy Spirit behind him to back him up. You stand alone. Today, we won't do it.
We stand as a organization. We stand as a move. We stand as this, that, or the
other. But God wants men to be individuals, like Elijah was. He was the only
one left so far as he knew, but he stood for the right principles. Noise and
the shakings didn't bother him. He waited till he heard that still small Voice,
then he answered. We can have gatherings across the country. We can have great
stadiums full of people. We can have all kinds of things going on. It'll never
help until God speaks individually to the human heart, the only thing that'll
change man. It's the only thing that'll make him wrap himself over his own
face, and walk into the Presence of God. The church needs it, friends. That's
the kind of condition we want.
Finally in closing, let’s read from the next couple
paragraphs of The Masterpiece as see what brother Branham is saying about our
standing alone like Christ had to stand alone. The Apostle Paul said when you
have done all you can do to stand, then make your stand and place your trust in
the word of God.
The
Masterpiece PP.162 This
church was raised up in the
163
And you remember... You said, "Well now, there's a lot of tassels hanging
on; there's a lot of this." Yeah. There been Methodist, Baptist,
Presbyterian, Lutheran, Church of Christ, all these other little things that
fell on to it, leaves and everything else was hung on to it; but the original
was the reformations. Now. See?
164
Stand alone, like the Bridegroom, rejected of men,
despised and rejected of the churches. The Bride stands that way. What is it?
It's His Masterpiece. See? It's the
Word that He can work through, make manifest--rejected.