Almost Persuaded
WHO IS THIS MELCHISEDEC 65-0221E
140-141 60 Now,
notice again. There was only three races of people. You've heard me say I was a
segregationalist. I am. All Christians are
segregationists, not segregation of color, but segregation of spirit. A man's
color of his skin has nothing to do with him. He's a child of God by birth. But
a Christian, God said, "Separate Me; come out from among them, and so
forth." He is a segregationist of filth, between right and wrong.
Acts 26: 27-29 King Agrippa, believest thou the
prophets? I know that Thou believest. Then Agrippa
said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a
Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that
hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these
bonds." Let's pray.....
I would that all who hear my voice
would be as I am except without these bonds. Oh, what a declaration. Oh, what desire fills the soul of those who
love God. Wednesday Evening, we read from pp. 273 where Brother Branham
taught us that it is more than just water Baptism that you need to enter God's
Only Provided Place of Worship. You must be baptized by the Spirit of God! In
PP. 273 He said, "You want to see
who the door is? Where did God put His
Name? In Jesus. How do you get in His Name? How do you get in
there? By being baptized in there! How?
By water? By Spirit! "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." That's Holy
Ghost baptism. "The water baptism just put you in fellowship with the
people, that you recognized that you have accepted Christ. "That's the
Truth. But it's Spirit baptism." I can call the Name of Jesus over you and
baptize you, that doesn't make it so. ] But when once that Holy Spirit
really... genuine Word comes into you (the Word, Jesus), then, brother, the
Message is no secret to you then; you know It, brother, It's all lit up before
you.
So we see here that Brother Branham
is telling us that the difference between being baptized in water verses being
baptized by the Spirit of God is that when you are baptized by water that just
opens up a fellowship among the believers, but when you are Baptized by the
Spirit of God which is the Genuine Word of God,
coming into you and taking over your life. The Spirit of God by His Word
quickens you to the age which you live and the Message s no longer a secret,
but it becomes all lit up before your very eyes. W e know according to [ 1
Peter
Now there are many who have heard the
[ Matthew 25: 1-13] Then shall the
kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went
forth to meet the bridegroom. Now to this point we do not see yet a distinction
between any of these virgins. They are all considered virgins which means they have
not been with men, and have not been pregnated by
mans dogmas and creeds. Now we know according to [Mark
So then, these ten virgins which are
virgins in deed, have not been corrupted by man's seed or man's doctrine. And
also I want you to notice that all ten have lamps. Now in [ Psalm 119:105] we
read, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path," So
we see that the ten virgins are Bible toting Virgins. Now remember, a woman in
the Bible always types a church. So we see that these ten virgins represent the
Now this word "wise" that
Jesus uses here is a Greek word Phronimos which means to be prudent or sensible in a
practical sense. We see Him use the same
word in [ Matthew 7:24-27] Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them,( in other words, puts them into practice) I will liken him unto a wise man, which
built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded (
it's foundation ) was upon a rock.( and we know that this rock is Revelation,
and Paul told us that no other foundation can be laid than what is already laid
and that is Christ.)
And so we read on, And every one that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,( does not put them into
practice) shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ( You'll notice here that he
has no foundation) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
In this parable we see that the Wise
are those who not only hear but put into action what they hear. This is
considered the prudent or sensible thing to do. And of course we see the
foolish are those who also hear, but they do not do, and because they do not
put into action what they hear, they are not considered wise or prudent, but
foolish, because they could have taken action and saved their home, but they
did not, and therefore their homes were destroyed. Oh, how many believers today
are watching their own children going down the wrong road and are headed for
destruction only because they did not apply the Token. Brother Branham said it
won't do you any good unless you apply it, it must be applied!, and that means
it has got to be put into use or it won't do you any good. Now the only difference
between the Wise and Foolish is that One had their foundation built on The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, while the other didn't. The same winds of doctrine
blew down upon them both, they were both
subjected to the same rain and wind and flooding which [ Isaiah 59: 19 ] warns us that "when the enemy comes in
like a flood the Spirit of the Lord
shall lift up a standard against him".
But the thing I want you to notice is that the same trials will come
upon both the wise and foolish alike, but the wise won't falter during this
testing time because they have a foundation built upon Revelation. The Catholic church and the government can
take your material possessions, they can take your home and your cars and your
books and your belongings, but no one can ever take this Revelation of Jesus
Christ from you. It's sealed into you by the Holy Ghost Himself.
[ Luke 22: 34] Be careful, or your
hearts will be weighed down with spending too much time and energy on indulging
yourself with pleasure, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life which is (worry
and apprehension about what may happen), and that day will close on you
unexpectedly like a trap or snare. For it will come upon all those who live on
the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be
able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand
in the Presence of the Son of
Man." And then in [ Luke
Now, the rich young ruler did all
the commandments of God yet when it came time to surrender all that he had in a
final gesture of total commitment to
Christ, he could not depart from his material possessions. He almost made it. Almost, but one word off is
Satan's kingdom. The Bible even tells us that Jesus loved him much, but later
Jesus tells us the story of how this rich young ruler had died and was burning
up in hell, and asked Abraham to send the beggar Lazarus with a drop of water to quench his thirst. And
looking up from hell he pleaded with Abraham to send some one to warn his
brothers, But Abraham said, "Though one be raised from the dead they won't
believe Him!" And I tell you this morning, that One has Raised from the
dead and is standing in your very midst today and yet you believe him not!
It was King Agrippa who said to Paul,
"You almost persuaded me to be a Christian." How many almost
Christians will there be in that day. How many almost Christians do we have
hanging around the Message. How many almost Christians will go through the
Tribulation because they were almost Christians. They were almost there, but
they didn't quite make the roster. How many here this morning and those who are
not here this morning who fit into this category of Almost Christians. Almost
won't count when the Rapture takes place and the Fully committed and fully Revelated Christian are taken out of this pest house.
"Thou almost persuaded me", they'll say. "Thou almost persuaded
me." And what good will Agrippa's words be when he lifts up his eyes from
hell and his words echo over and over in his ears , "Paul, Thou almost persuadest me to be a Christian."
And yet we must ask ourselves,
"What is an Almost Christian?" And if I were to tell you the answer
many of you would fall to your knees in shear horror because even we who claim
to believe this Message with all of our minds would seem to come up so short if
we were to know what an almost Christian is. Jesus defined an almost Christians
when he asked the Rich young ruler if he obeyed the Ten Commandments and he
replied that he believed and practiced them all. An Almost Christian Believes in One God and
has nothing in his life, no idols, or toys that he worships, nothing but that
One True God. Secondly the Almost Christian
Honors God by honoring His Sabbath. He doesn't work on the Sabbath. He
honors God's day. The Almost Christian
will not worship any graven image nor does he speak God's name in a vain and
useless fashion, He honors his father and mother, and he does not lie, nor does
he steal, nor does he kill, nor does he commit adultery, or bear false witness
against his neighbor, nor does he covet what his neighbor has.
Paul tell's
us more about this Almost Christian, he says that he has a form of godliness.
John Wesley said, "The Almost Christian does nothing which the Gospel
forbids. He taketh not the name of God in vain; he
blesses and curses not; he swareth not at all, but
his communication is, yea, yea; nay,nay. He profanes
not the day of the Lord, nor suffers it to be profaned, even by the stranger
that is within his gates. He not only avoids all adultery and fornication and
uncleanness, but every word, or look, that either directly or indirectly tends
thereto such as movies and television. Even all idle words are watched and he
abstains from backbiting, tale-bearing, evil speaking, and from all foolish
talking and jesting and from all conversation that is not "good to the
edifying" and that consequently grieves the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye
are sealed until the day of redemption."
"The almost Christian abstains
from strong drink, from revellings and gluttony. He
avoids as much as in him lies, all strife and contention, continually
endeavoring to live peaceably with all men. If he suffers wrong, he avengeth not himself, neither returns evil for evil. He is
no railer, no brawler, no scoffer, either at the
faults or infirmities of his neighbor. He will not willingly wrong, hurt, or
grieve any man: but in all things acts and speaks by the Golden rule, "
Whatsoever thou wouldest not he should do unto thee,
that thou doest to another." And in
doing good, he does not confine himself to cheap and easy offers of kindness,
but actually labours and suffers for the profit of
many, that by all means he may help some. In Spite of toil and pain,
"whatsoever his hand findeth to do, he doeth it
with all his might." Whether it be
for his friends or his enemies, for the evil or for the good. He is not
slothful in this or any business, as he
"hath opportunity" he doeth all manner of good, to all
men." He reproves the ignorant,
comforts the afflicted, labours to awaken those who
sleep, and he constantly frequents the house of God, as well as stirs up those who are saved through
faith. And when he approaches the table of the Lord it is not with
lightheartedness, nor is it with a careless behaviour,
but with an air, gesture and deportment which speaks nothing else but "God
be merciful to me a sinner."
"And to this add family
devotions, and prayer and a setting apart time to worship God as a family. Now with all these things we have spoken
which are the attributes of an Almost Christian we have but one more and that
is sincerity. By Sincerity I mean a real, inward principle of religion from
whence these outward actions flow. And
indeed, if we have not this we have not even a heathen honesty. For even the
most wretched heathen will abstain from doing evil in order to avoid
punishment. If then a man does all these
things to avoid punishment or to avoid
loss of friends, or his reputation or even his gain, and if you do ever so much
good and show ever so much Grace to others, and yet we could not say this man
is never so much as an almost Christian if his motive if his motives are thus.
Sincerity therefore, is necessarily implied in being almost a Christian; a real
design to serve God, a hearty desire to do His Will. A desire to please God in
all things; in all his conversation; in al his actions; in all he does; or
leaves undone. This design if any man be
almost a Christian, runs through the tenor of his life. This is the moving
principle, both in his doing, his abstaining from evil, and his using the
ordinances of God."
"Yet you might ask, How could
it be possible that any man living could go this far and nevertheless be
considered by Jesus Christ, as Only Almost a Christian? What more than this can
be implied in being a Christian altogether? And I answer, yes, it is possible
to go this far and remain almost a Christian."
You ask the question, " What
more than all this is implied in being altogether a Christian? And I answer,
First, The Love of God. For thus Saith His Word,
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength." Such a love as this engrosses the whole heart, and takes up all
the affection, and fills the entire capacity of the soul, and employs the
utmost extent of all it's faculties. He that thus Loves the Lord His God, his
spirit continually rejoices in the God of His Salvation. His heart is ever
crying out, " Whom have I in heaven but Thee?” And
“There is none upon the earth that I
desire beside Thee!" And indeed
what can the altogether Christian desire beside God? Nothing of this world or
the things of this world, for we are crucified to the world, and the world is
crucified to me.
The Second thing implied in being
altogether a Christian, is the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy ghost. True Christian Love which knows no boundaries. For Jesus told us, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor even as thyself." And if any
ask who is your neighbor? We reply, Every man in the world; every child of His
Who is the Father of the spirits of all flesh. And this even implies our
enemies, for Jesus Said, we must Love those who despitefully use us.
And thirdly we can not leave out
Faith which is Revelation. For without it no man can know the Lord, and thus
without Revelation we would be only an almost Christian, no better than the
kind old priest or the liberal bleeding hearts. For Revelation is what
separates the sheep from the goats and the wise Virgins from the foolish.
Revelation is the key that was given Peter, and that which can only come from
God through His Prophets. And Once it has been revealed to us we become sole
possessors of it. The transfer of title takes place and we possess what has
been revealed and it belongs to us and our children forever.
Now in getting back to our study of
the Wise and foolish, we find in [Matthew
Again in [ Matthew 24: 41 - 51] we see Jesus use this word
"wise" in another parable in which He is trying to get us to see the
importance of applying what we know to our benefit in a spiritual sense of the
word. [42] Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
[43] But know this, that if the
Goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would
have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. [44]
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man
cometh. [45] Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made
ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? [46] Blessed [is] that servant, whom his lord
when he cometh shall find so doing.
[47] Verily I say unto you, That
he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
[48] But and if that evil servant
shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his
coming; [49] And shall begin to smite
[his] fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the
drunken; [50] The lord of that servant shall come in a day
when he looketh not for [him], and in an hour that he
is not aware of, [51] And shall cut him
asunder, and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now it is
very apparent by this parable that Jesus is letting us know through illustration that He expects us to be
busy applying what we know rather than being lax, uncaring, unsuspecting and
like fools, not ready when He comes. He says, those that are not ready when I
come will be placed outside with the hypocrites where there is weeping and
wailing and gnashing of teeth which we know is tribulation. We find that right
after Jesus tells us this parable, He then tells the parable of the five wise
Virgins and the Five who are foolish.
And
so we pick up this parable of the wise and foolish virgins at verse 3...
[3] They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: Now
what good does a lamp do without any oil to light up the darkness with. A lamp
without Oil in it is useless. In [
Exodus 29:7 ] we see that Oil is a type of The Spirit or anointing of God. Then shalt
thou take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head, and anoint him Again we see the oil is used for anointing
in [ Leviticus 8: 10,12] And Moses took
the anointing oil, and anointed the Tabernacle
and all that was therein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled thereof
upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both
laver and his foot, to sanctify them. And he poured of the anointing oil upon
Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him. Since we know that Oil represents the
Anointing of God's Spirit in Scripture, we can then see that the Lamp (representing) the Word of God,
is without any anointing of God's Spirit
upon it.
So let's get back to the condition
of the church here in [Matthew 25] and let's pick up again at verse [4] But the
wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ( In other words, the Word was
anointed to them which makes all the difference in the world, because to those
whom the Word is anointed, it is a living Word, whereas to the others it is not
a living Word, but a set of rules and regulations in which they must
follow.) In [ Isaiah 28: 9-13] NIV we
see what happens to them who hear this Message but understand it not. Who is He
trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His Message? To children weaned from
their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do and do, do and
do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there. Very well then,
with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom He
said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest" ; and
"This is the place of repose"- but they would not listen. So then,
the Word of the Lord to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule,
rule on rule; as little here, and a little there- so then they will go and fall
backward, be injured and snared and captured." And so we see the foolish virgin whom did not
have the anointed Word of God when they realized how late it was they went to
those who did understand the
[Matthew 25: 5] While the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered and slept.[6] And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold,
the bridegroom; come out to meet him.( now I know your King James version says,
Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go out to meet Him, but this is a mis-translation. The original says, "Behold the Bridegroom, come out to meet
Him). You see, the Message is always
come out, not go out, for the one declaring the message is not inside with you,
but is on the outside saying come out from among them as we see in [Rev 3: 20
James 5: 9, 2 Cor 6: 17 Rev 18:4 etc.
Now lets continue Jesus parable of the virgins
with verse [7] Then all those virgins
arose, and trimmed their lamps. ( Now I want you to notice, they all heard the
[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, and buy for yourselves. [10] And while they
went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to
the marriage: and the door was shut. ( Now, I want you to notice something
here. While the others who were considered foolish went out looking to try and
find some anointing in order to
understand this Midnight Shout, the others went into the Marriage in the
Presence of the Bridegroom as it says, They went in with Him.) [11] Afterward came also the other virgins,
saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. ( Afterwards, the other realized who it was
that was knocking and who it was that was Present, but it was too late then,
they missed Him because they had not been ready. The Word had not been anointed
to them and they missed the Revelation of Jesus Christ. They were left behind
for the tribulation period.) [12] But
he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. This word know
here is a Greek word which means to fully know but in the context that Jesus is
using it, it would suggest that He's saying, "I never really had a
consummate relationship with you" and therefore, (as Doctor Hoyer from Wheaton Illinois who
was at one time considered the greatest U.S. student of the Greek said, "this should be translated as " I
used to know you as my wife, but I do not know you as my wife any longer.
"In other words, we never consummated our relationship together and
therefore I really never knew you in a conjugal sense of the word. Finally we
here Jesus speak forth words of warning concerning this parable and what it
means in verse [13] Watch therefore, for
ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. And of
course this word watch means to ever be keeping a vigilant eye, or spiritual
alertness for the Parousia of the Son of Man.
And remember, as we spoke last
Sunday, if this Midnight Cry or Shout is still a secret to you then it has not
been revealed to you, and as long as it has not been revealed to you then it
does not yet belong to you. For we read in [Deuteronomy 29:29] ] The secret
[things belong] unto the LORD our God: but those [things which are] revealed
[belong] unto us and to our children for ever, that [we] may do all the words
of this law".
Notice, Brother Branham said, "when you have been truly baptized by
the Holy Spirit, then the Message is no longer a mystery to you, it is no
longer a secret to you, you know it!" "It's all lit up before
you" I don't think you'll need to
have someone take you aside and tell you about tithing, or the need to be in
church, you'll just automatically be
there when those doors open, because it's real to you, and because you Love Him
so much that you can't get enough of Him. And because it is real, you'll hunger
and thirst for as much of Him as you can get. You won't need someone to hold
your hand and baby you through, because you're ready to Live, or Die, Sink or
drown, or whatever is necessary for His
Word's sake. You see, that is what the New Birth is all about. It's not just
coming to a fellowship. It's about being born again as a new individual, a new
Creation in Christ Jesus. Old things are done away and all things have become new. You don't
live for your job, you don't live for your vacation, you don't live for your
new car like the rest of the world does. You live because Christ lives in you.
You have no taste buds for the things of the world. I'm not saying that some of
those things aren't nice to have, but they
can't really satisfy. And there is only one thing that can satisfy, and that is
to know Him.
In closing let me teach you a song
about this hungering and thirsting for Him. I sang I to you on Wednesday night,
but let's sing it together this morning.
Just the time I feel that I've been
caught in the mire of self. Just the time I feel my minds been bought by
worldly wealth. That's when the breeze begins to blow, I know the spirit's
call, and all my worldly wanderings just melt into His Love. Lord, I want to
know you more, deep within my soul I want to know you , Lord, I want to know
you . To feel you heart and know your Mind, to look into your Word stirs up
within me, cries that say I want to know you, Lord, I want to know you more.
When - my daily needs - ordinarily - lose life and
song. - - - And when my heart bleeds - of sensitivity- to Him is gone. - - - I've run the race - but
I've set my pace - and face a shattered soul, One look to His Word takes over my heart and my hunger to be whole. Lord, I want to know
you more, deep within my soul I want to know you, Lord, I want to know you; and
I would give my final breath to know you in your death and resurrection, Lord,
I want to know you more, Lord I want to know you more.
Oh, brothers and sisters, to only
know Him in the power of His resurrection, that He is alive today, and He is
the same as He was yesterday, so is He today and forever. Jesus Christ, the Lover of our souls. And to just enter into fellowship will never
do. We must come into the Door and Christ is that door, and He is the Word for
the Hour. Come into Him. Empty yourself of all that you long to be and become
what He wants you to be.
"My beloved is mine and I am
His, His banner over me is Love, My beloved is mine and I am His, His banner
over me is Love, My Beloved is mine and I am His, His banner over me is Love,
His banner over me is Love. "He
brought me to the banqueting house, His banner over me is Love. He brought me
to the banqueting house, His banner over me is love. He brought me to the
banqueting house, His banner over me is love, His banner over me is love.
And what is the evidence that He has
filled you with His Spirit, that you have been baptized in the Spirit of the
Living God? , "when you have been
truly baptized by the Holy Spirit, then the Message is no longer a mystery to
you, it is no longer a secret to you, you know it!" "It's all lit up
before you". And if it is no
longer a mystery to you, then it has been revealed to you. And if revealed to
you then it belongs to you. You are a possessor of it as we read in
[Deuteronomy 29:29] ] The secret [things belong] unto the LORD our God: but
those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for
ever, that [we] may do all the words of this law".
Just the time I feel that I've been
caught in the mire of self. Just the time I feel my minds been bought by
worldly wealth. That's when the breeze begins to blow, I know the spirit's
call, and all my worldly wanderings just melt into His Love. Lord, I want to
know you more, deep within my soul I want to know you , Lord, I want to know
you . To feel you heart and know your Mind, to look into your Word stirs up
within me, cries that say I want to know you, Lord, I want to know you more. …….. When - my daily needs - ordinarily - lose life and
song. - - - And when my heart bleeds - of sensitivity- to Him is gone. - - - I've run the race - but
I've set my pace - and face a shattered soul, One look to His Word takes over my heart and my hunger to be whole. Lord, I want to know
you more, deep within my soul I want to know you, Lord, I want to know you; and
I would give my final breath to know you in your death and resurrection, Lord,
I want to know you more, Lord I want to know you more.