Return Ministry
August 19th, 2007
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
Ecclesiastes 1: 9 The thing that hath been, it is that which
shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no
new thing under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which
is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
Let us bow our heads
in prayer.
Dear heavenly Father we have read from Your Divine
word this morning and we know the author of those words was not Solomon but
You, and we see that there is a certain wisdom and warning in those words, and
so we ask that you might help us to apply them in our lives as we look to Thy
Holy Word for our daily bread.
You said also in 1 John 1:7 that if we walk in the Light
as you are in the Light we have fellowship and the Blood of your son will
cleanse us from all our sin. So help us to keep walking
in the Light as You are in the Light, so that we will always be walking
in your present tense Word with your present tense Presence. Then we shall know that we are being cleansed
by the Precious blood of your Son. Be with us in our study this morning, Dear
Father and help us to me mindful of Your Presence thus keeping us humble as we
do walk with Thee. Help us Father to understand the subject that we are taking
for our study this morning for we ask it in Jesus Precious Name, amen.
Now in our text this morning we read, That which hath been
is now; I believe the Alpha and Omega principle we have been studying
helps us with Solomon is saying here. Because he also said, there is nothing new
under the sun. And then he
said, and that which is to be hath already been; but
the thing that I do not want you to miss is his conclusion, and God requireth that which is past.
Yes, God requires that which is past.
And if God requires
that which is past then all who claim to follow and believe the Message are
going to be held accountable for what they claim to follow and believe. Al that
we know about the Message and Messenger of this day, and the great sacrifice he
made on our behalf to bring to the world the revelation of Jesus Christ as
given to him, and we will be held accountable for what we are doing with what
we have been given.
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.
You were not held
accountable for the Message until God revealed it to you, and now that He has
revealed it to you it has become your Message. Then what are you doing with it.
You all know what happened to the man that was given a talent and he buried it.
That which was given to him was taken away and given to another to invest.
So what investments
have you made with what you have been given?
The problem that I see
in many believers who claim to be following the Message is that they do not understand
the Message. They know a few things about William Branham, God’s servant and
Messenger, but they do not know what his Message was, and God requires that which is past.
Yes, God will call the
past to account, and he will enquire of what they knew about it and what they
did about what they knew. And yes, they will be judged for claiming to believe
the Message when they do not.
Oh, they know brother
Branham had a Message, and they claim to believe that message, but when it
comes right down to it, they do not know what the Message is, and therefore do
not believe it. And that is a sad indictment of the mainstream message follower
today. Now, I do not say all, but I do say many are in that condition and do
not even know it. When we should be living our lives ever so carefully, not
knowing if each heart beat will be our last, and yet we are so careless and carefree
concerning the Message that has been given to us, and the prophet of God gave
His life for you to receive this Word, and yet we take it all for granted
everything that has taken place in this hour.
I Know - 60-0417 1S
And if Job by a vision could
stand so firmly upon a promise, how much more ought we to do, after Christ has
raised from the dead and become the First Fruits of those that slept, and sent
back the Holy Spirit as a seal of promise, upon us, that we too shall live.
"Because, I live, you live also!" Seeing His great Presence among us,
working, doing the same signs and wonders that He did on earth, giving us a
hope. And we come to the resurrection, and then remain on our ash heaps?
Let's get off the ash heap today, with a new vision, with a new Power, with a
new determination that we see God in His Power. We see the resurrection of the
things coming.
Now, For the past three
months we have been studying the Alpha and Omega comparisons between the Three Exoduses
under the Pillar of Fire. The First Exodus was the Pillar of Fire using Moses to
take the people out of Egypt which was a type of the world church, and then we
saw that same Pillar of Fire remain on the scene and using Joshua to bring the
people into the promise for that hour, and to positionally place the people in
the promise.
At the Second Exodus,
we again saw the Pillar of Fire come on the scene and indwell Jesus, and
through God’s Son, the people came out of that ecclesiastical system, but then
God took Jesus off the scene just as He took Moses off the scene, and yet the
Pillar of Fire did not leave, for we see that same Pillar of Fire that Indwelt
Jesus remain and use the Apostle Paul to bring the people into the promise for
the hour. And so Paul, just as Joshua had before him, positionally placed the
People into the promise for that hour.
Now, we have seen the
same thing repeat once again. That which has been is now. And at this Third
Exodus under the Pillar of Fire, we saw how that God used the man William
Branham to call the people out organization and after he delivered his message
to come from among her and be ye separate saith the Lord, then God took that
prophet off the scene, and yet that same Pillar of Fire has remained on the
scene to bring the people into the promise for this hour which is the placement
of sons.
We have a promise to
be conformed to the image of God’ first born son, getting us ready for the
change of the body which is the adoption as Paul called it. That’s Romans’ chapter 8.
Now, this morning I
would like to address another subject altogether, and that is a certain question
that seems to come up no matter where I go in the world. As you are well aware,
there are many people who follow the Message of Brother Branham who are looking
for him to be raised from the dead and come back to finish his ministry. Those
who teach this call it “The Return Ministry”.
Now, there are many different
versions of “this Return Ministry teaching” but the main theme in all is that
(1) “Brother Branham will come back from the dead”, (1) “he will have a tent
meeting” and (3) “he will use the Third pull in this ministry”.
Now, that being the
main threads that tie all versions together, let me say that some people go so
far as to believe Br. Branham will need an airplane to move his tent around, because
they had a dream about it. They say that Br. Branham told him this. I do not
know what Brother Branham told that person and frankly I do not care, because
all I really care about is what is on those tapes and in those visions. I have
dealt with people in all walks of life for a long enough period in my life to
know that what people think is said many times is only their own imaginations.
For instance, you tell a person that you would like to do something. That
person might say, well then do it. Now that does not constitute that persons
approval of what you are doing. Billy Paul testified that his father gave a
couple a certain advice on a certain thing, and then the next couple that came
to his home he gave the opposite advice. When he questioned his dad, his dad
said, the second couple were going to do it anyway, so I just told them to go
ahead.
The same way for a
minister who felt led to go to
And some even believe that
the man will fly this airplane to
The problem I see is
that people are always looking forward to what God is going to do, and they are
always looking back at what He did do, but they fail to see what God is doing
right now.
Identified Christ of all ages 64-0401 P:31 Man is always praising God for what He
done, always looking forward for what He will do, and ignoring what He's doing.
It's always been that same thing. And everybody's got his own private
interpretation. God is His own Interpreter. God don't need no one to interpret.
The Bible said It's without interpretation. It don't need man. God interprets
the Bible Himself. God said, "Let there be light," and there was
light. That settles it. God said, "A virgin shall conceive," and she
did. That settled it. When God says anything, and vindicates it, that's His
interpretation of it. He said He'd pour out His Spirit in this last days, and
He did it. There's no interpretation to it; it's already interpreted.
Unbelievers might rise, and skeptics might stand, and whatever they might do,
but God did it anyhow, because He said He would do it. He doesn't need anybody
to interpret Him. He does His own interpretation. He made the promise, people
believe it, and He interprets it to them. He's the Lord that heals all of our
diseases. I can't tell you how He does it, but He does it. He said He would do
it, that He would do it. So it's up to our faith.
Now the thing of it is,
brother Branham said that is the way people miss what God is doing. By looking
forward and looking backward they miss what God is doing right now.
God in simplicity 63-0317M P:65 Many
miss Him by the way He reveals Himself. Now, man
has their own ideas of what God ought to be and what God is going to do;
and as I have made the old statement many times that man still remains man. Man
is always giving God praise for what He did do, and always looking forward to
what He will do, and ignoring what He's doing. See, see?
Now, the next thing I
would like to say is that this concept of a return ministry is not a new one.
2000 years ago in
We would see Jesus 58-0612 P:55 Look. When He was here on earth, how many
knows that that was the Pillar of Fire
that followed the children of
And That same Pillar
of Fire was still on the scene in the midst of the people after it left Jesus and
so Paul not only observed the return ministry of the spirit of Jesus in the
form of the Pillar of Fire first hand, but he so entered into that ministry
that the man and the ministry became one, and Paul’s ministry became the
manifested Word for his hour. And God was able to use Paul mightily because he
so recognized the Presence of Holy Spirit while the others just sat around
bickering about who was in the Message and who was not.
You see, they were so
focused on the man or the vessel that they missed the God who had used that
Vessel.
Therefore the return
ministry concept is not new to Christianity, and it is not confined alone to
Christianity either. The Mohammedans have been looking for Mohammed to come
back on a white horse and to conquer once again. And I believe that those
extremist Moslems that are trying to conquer now in the name of Mohammed, are
doing so with this in mind, hoping to set up his kingdom and to rule and reign
once again.
But that does not
concern me. What concerns me is what is taking place in this Message today.
Now, I know that what I am going to say this morning will be misunderstood by
some, but I am not concerned with that, what I am concerned with is this. If we
are so focused on what is going to happen in the future, or what has already
taken place in the past, then you are missing what God is doing right now. And
since He is the God of the I Am or present truth, then if you are missing what
he is doing now, you are out of the picture altogether. You’ve missed it. You
are through, unless you repent and wake up to what God is doing right now. Now,
we already read where Brother Branham said, 65 Many miss Him by the way He reveals Himself… so
if they miss Him they miss Him. And He said many will miss God that way, by
looking forward or looking backwards.
Brother Branham taught
us that God Interprets His Word by bringing it to pass. So if you do not want
to be guilty of misinterpreting the Word, then be careful what you are saying
about the Return Ministry....
Now, the question then arises, what do you believe
concerning the tent and the time of the resurrection. Well, I believe exactly
what William Branham taught about it. As
for the tent, he told his wife Meda not too long before God took him home, he
said, “Meda, I am going to have that tent even if it is for one meeting.” So do
I believe there will be a Tent? Yep! For how long? I don’t know but I believe
it will be for at least one meeting.
Now, the best thing is that if we take everything back
to Scripture then we can’t go wrong. Brother Branham said he checked every
vision with the Scriptures, and if he had to then what about you and me?
You see as for a resurrection ministry, Jesus had one.
In Matthew 27: 50 we read, Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up
the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple
was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the
rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And
came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city,
and appeared unto many.
Now, notice that when Jesus cried with a Loud Voice
the graves opened up and many saints which slept arose, but notice they did not
come out of the grave until after Jesus arose, that it might be fulfilled he
led captivity captive. Jesus was the first fruits of the resurrection so the
others would by necessity have to follow after he arose.
Now, do I believe that this will happen again? Well,
if you believe that Alpha must repeat in Omega you will.
You see, in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul speaks of there
being an order to the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15;20 But now is Christ
risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits
of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came
also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But
every man in his own order: Christ
the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his parousia. So
if every man in his own order, then there is an order to how they will come up.
Then Paul tells us a little bit more about the resurrection a few more verse
into 1 Corinthians 15.
1
Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed,52 In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall
be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory.
Now, what did brother Branham have to say about this? The
same thing Paul said.
Jehovah
Jireh #1 -
62-0705 And then, remember, if we go before He
comes, we will be up and in His Presence, or, raised before the others are
changed. "The trumpet of the Lord shall sound, the dead in Christ shall
rise first. Then we which alive and remain shall be changed in a moment, in a
twinkling of an eye, and be caught up together with them, to meet the Lord in
the air." Look at the order of the resurrection. See, God knows
that we long to see our loved ones. And if we got there to meet Him first, we'd
be looking around to see if mother or dad and the rest of them was there. But
see how, the Holy Spirit in His wisdom? We meet one another first, and then
when we get there and sing "Amazing Grace," that's when there's going
to be a time of worship.
And from a sermon he preached called the Seven
Church Ages - 54-0512
brother Branham said, "Behold He cometh with clouds." Now,
let me stop here just a moment. Clouds doesn't mean that He's coming on a big
thunderhead as mama, bless her heart - she's sitting here somewhere. I remember
her voice, she used to set and tell me, said, He's coming on a great big cloud,
gonna raise someday and God's gonna come on.
Now the Cloud that He's coming is, if we just had the time to get this
back, and get the real background and the whole thing. Now the Cloud He's coming in is not a
cloud, like a thunderhead, but it's a Cloud of Glory He's coming in. See?
Now, when Jesus was overshadowed by God on
Questions and Answers 1
64-0823M 982-Q-276 276. Brother Branham, will the Bride go through
the persecution as the early apostolic church did? No, I just explained that a few minutes ago.
No, next thing is a rapture now. Remember, we're at the promised
land; we're at the border. You understand the march of
JUST ONCE MORE LORD63-1201E 151 Brother, sister,
I don't know, in my Bible, of any other thing God promised to do before the
Rapture of the Church.. The next thing left is for the Rapture of the
Church. It could come at any time, and not disrupt any Scripture in the Bible,
as far as I know it.
Now, we know the Rapture is
already in Process because a vindicated prophet told us that the Lord does
three things in His descent, a Shout, A Voice and a trumpet. And he told us the
Shout is the Message, that is the “Kalusma” which is a military command, all
things in subjection. Well, frankly Paul said we are all things in Christ, and
I do not see that we are all in subjection yet to God. The next thing is the
Voice which Brother Branham said is the Resurrection, the same voice that
raised Lazarus from the Grave. And that was not the voice of the Son of God,
but God that was indwelling His Son. He said Lazarus come forth and he did.
The last is the trump which
is the catching away. And that is what takes us out of here. So there is a time
element to the three phases of the Rapture.
Rapture
the 65-1204 P:75 Three
things happen, a voice--a shout, a voice, a trumpet, has to happen before Jesus
appears. Now, a shout. Jesus does all three of them when He's--He's--He's
descending. A "shout," what is a "shout"? It's the Message
going forth first, the living Bread of Life bringing forth the Bride.Now, God
has a way of doing things, and He never changes His policy. He never changes
His... He's the unchanging God. In Amos 3:7 He said He would do nothing on the
earth until first He revealed it to His servants the prophets. And just as
certain as He promised it, He'll do it.
Rapture
the 65-1204 P:93 Therefore,
the Message calls the Bride together. See? The shout and the trumpet, the same
morning with a loud voice He screamed out with that shout, and--and voice and
woke Lazarus. With a loud voice He cried, "Lazarus, come forth." See?
And the voice wakes up--wakes up the sleeping Bride, the sleeping dead.And the
trumpet, with the sound of the trumpet, and when it does, it calls... Always a
trumpet called
Rapture
the 65-1204 P:89 The
next is what? was a trumpet. A voice--a shout, a voice, a trumpet. Now, the
third thing is a trumpet, which always at the Feast of Trumpets is calling the
people to the feast; and that'll be the Bride's supper, the Lamb's supper with
the Bride in the sky.See, the first things comes forth is His Message calling
the Bride together. The next thing is a resurrection of the sleeping Bride,
the--the one that's died back in the other ages. They're caught together, and
the trumpet, the feast in the heavens--in the sky. Why, it's--that's the thing
that takes place, friends.We're right there ready now. The only thing, the
church coming out has got to lay before the sun to ripen. The great combine
will come by after while. The wheat will be burned, the stalks, but the grain
will be gathered into it's garner. See?
GOD IN SIMPLICITY 63-0317M 42-1 {267}. But you know Jesus
didn’t come contrary to the Word; He come according to the Word, But contrary
to their interpretation. See? He taught things that was against their
ecclesiastical training about Him.
TITUS 2:11 11 ¶ For the grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and
the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Letting off the Pressure 62-0518 E-112 What's the
matter with people? Can't you see we're at the end time? It's all over. The
next thing will be a sweep will...?... that little group together. In a
month or so she'll be gone, as soon as she's gathered together
So I do not look for a very
long period of time when the resurrection begins. In the book of acts we se
that it was about 50 days is all. And Alpha must repeat in Omega.
I was associated with the return ministry group 30
years ago and all this is nothing new to me. However, There is a danger in
running headstrong after this teaching. Most of them professing the return
ministry have rejected the doctrine that brother Branham taught and have almost
deified Br. Branham as a man making him God. When you hear them talk, they do
not speak of the Word of God or the doctrine that separated brother Branham
from all other ministries. What they talk about is the supernatural. But,
brother Branham made it very clear that the supernatural was only the bait to
get us to see who is here.
But that
is what they reject. If they believed The Presence they would not be looking
down the road. They do not teach the Presence of the pillar of Fire is here leading the Bride,
nor to they affirm the Godhead.
Be very
careful not to get too involved with this teaching. I speak from experience.
Brother Vayle and I have talked and he plans to speak one more time and when he
does it will be to clear up a lot of misunderstanding concerning this
very doctrine concerning the return ministry of William Branham. You know it is
strange but when you listen to those men speak of Brother Branham coming back
it is as though the Lord Jesus Himself is returning.
Concerning
brother Branham's coming back in the resurrection, we must never forget that
what took place in the Alpha must be repeated in Omega. Jesus Himself did not
have His own separate resurrection. When he arose from the dead, the old
testament saints also arose, although he came forth first because he was the
first-fruits of the resurrection.
Many who
teach The Return Ministry” as their staple are concerned about the tent, and
yet brother Branham said he thought it looked more like a large auditorium, and
you do not take a large auditorium from one location to another.
Our focus
should be on what God is doing now, not down the road. As Br. Laurie Hudson put
it in our talks, 'we are not against the fact that brother Branham is coming
back, but there is a balance and that balance says, God will interpret His own
Word by bringing it to pass, and so we should wait or we could miss it
altogether"
So we must
wait for God to bring it to pass before we go to preaching about it or we may
find ourselves getting the people looking in the wrong direction and miss
what ever God has for us.
Mother's
Day
59-0510M 81 And as the
light begins to spread we'll know as we're known; we'll understand. And we'll
remember our acquaintance and the ones that's been there. And there'll be many
there that we didn't even think would be there, for you know it's at that time
that I believe that the bread that we have cast upon the human troubled waters
will return to us, on that day. When we see the effects of our testimony on
people that we didn't understand their actions towards it, will probably be
there. What a day that will be! And then the seeds that we sowed not even
thinking what they would do, but here they are. They brought forth precious
fruits and we'll see them on that day.
Mother's
Day
59-0510M 86 As that great light begins to spread all -
as we begin to look around, and the great circle will be getting and greater
and greater; it's all just reflecting the approach of Jesus. And after while,
as the song said, And I shall we see Jesus at last. He will
be waiting for me, Jesus so kind and
true, On His beautiful Throne, He'll
welcome me Home After this day is
through. Then as we see Him...and we'll not be as we are now. We'll know how to
love Him more. We'll not stand back with a little fear, because we'll be like
Him. He'll be more of a relative to us than He is now. We'll
understand Him better, because we're so far away in the mortal bodies. Then
we'll have a body like His glorious body. We'll know how to worship Him. And when we see what the Presence of His
Being has done to us, changed us, the old back young, all the deformed
straightened out, oh, we'll understand then why His power healed us. The
questions that's been in our mind, "How can He do it? What would
this?" somehow, mysteriously, they'll all fade away. The knots that's been
tied in the back of our minds, "Will it be this? How could it be?"
somehow, or another, majestic fingers will just untangle, unravel those knots,
and it'll all fade into the one big crown of love.
When
Their Eyes Were Opened -
56-0420 Soon
there's something greater that this coming; it'll soon be here. It'll be
marvellous then, if the Lord willing. How many ever read my last vision that's
been wrote up in the magazine? Wait till you see that take place. Then this'll
be minor, what the Lord's fix - you'll just keep on and on, on and on. Jesus is
coming. The time of the gathering of the people is at hand, and we must look
forward to great things to happen. How many read the sermon, "When
Omnipotence Speaks, Miracles Happen?" Did you believe that? Certainly!
Omnipotence spoke at every junction. And when the church cooled off then
Omnipotence spoke; miracles takes place. And this is the junction of all
junctions; this is the end time. The end of the whole history of the world is
right now at hand. So you can expect Omnipotence to speak, and you can expect
the greatest and mightiest miracles that's ever happened on the earth will
happen in the next few years to come, Jesus tarries. It will be!
Greater Than
Solomon Is Here - 58-
0625
So I pray that someday I'll see that great uniting together of all
the body of Jesus Christ coming together at one great big body; then the
rapture shall come
What Is The Holy
Ghost? - 59-1216 Now,
the Spirit of God has worked under Justification under Luther, Sanctification
under Wesley, the Baptism of the Holy Ghost under Pentecost; and here It is in
the last day performing and doing the very same things that It did when It was
in Christ! What is it? The Church and Christ has become One. And as soon as
They connect together, that last link, She will go through the sky shouting. Up
will come Wesley, Luther, all the rest of them back in those days there. He
that's first will be last; he that's last will be first; and there'll come
the resurrection.
Questions &
Answers - 59-1223 Just now, Brother Mercier said he got the
best out of the meeting where we explained that when that Holy Spirit came into
the meeting and broke Itself up, and God dividing Himself amongst His people...
Well, that's just what It does. And then, when God's people begins to gather
back together, there's unity, there's power. See? And whenever God's people
gets together completely, I believe the resurrection will take place then.
There'll be a rapturing time when the Holy Spirit begins to gather it up. It'll
be in the minority, of course, but there will be a great gathering.
Uniting
Time & Sign - 63-0818 We
find that now the time comes when the Trumpet sounds, and those sleeping saints
back there that could not be made perfect without us (there's many of those
Hebrew brethren), and when they come together, they unite with the living ones.
The Church uniting with the Word, then the Church and the Word uniting
together, being come one. The dead saints with the living saints uniting
together to be one; and all going together to unite with Christ yonder, for
the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. And to think of us standing,
(in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, when the world won't know what's
going on), but all of a sudden, you'll see appear before you, your loved
ones that's gone on has come to unite with you again. And we'll be changed
in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye; and be caught up, together, to meet our
Lord in the air. Let's get ready Let's get ready
for this midnight cry. It's coming in a hour when you think not. There'll be a
cry, not amongst the unbelieving world; it'll be a secret.
How
Can I Overcome -
63-0825 1M Sooner
or later we're going to have to give each other up. But that won't hurt the
rapture now. See? No. They come first then. Them are privileged that's gone on.
They come first, See, we which are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord
will not hinder or prevent those that are asleep. The trumpet of God shall
sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then when our eyes behold our
loved ones, then we'll be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye, and
with them shall be caught up together.
Going
Beyond The Camp -
64-0719 2E And you know, we'll be caught up together to
meet the Lord in the air. Think of it! Missing people, they can't see you no
more, but you're getting together with the rest of the group. "They which
are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (or `hinder,'
the word is) those which are asleep." Not dead, no, Christians don't die.
They're just taking a little rest (see?); that's all. Oh, my! "And the
trump of God shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, appear to
many.." And all at once you happen to stand and look, and "Well,
there's a brother..." And you know it ain't long. In a few minutes we'll
be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye, and together with them be
missing on earth, caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Questions
& Answers - 64-0823
1M Then
you believe that Jesus Christ is that Word, and that Word is made flesh now
among us, fulfilling exactly what He said He would do in this age. Now, the first thing happens
when we're resurrected ... The ones which are a-living will just still remain
... The resurrection will set in first, the resurrection of those that are
asleep. There'll be a wakening time, and those which are asleep in the dust now
... will be awakened first, and they'll - these corruptible bodies will put on
incorruption in the rapturing grace of the Lord. And then we'll all get
together. And when they begin to get together, then we which are alive and
remain shall be changed. These mortal bodies will not see death, but just of a
sudden, there'll be like a sweep go over us, and you're changed. You're turned
back like Abraham was, from an old man to a young man, from an old woman to a
young woman. What's this sudden change? And after while you're traveling like a
thought, and you can see those then who are already resurrected. Oh, what a
hour! Then we'll gather with them and then be caught up with them to meet the
Lord in the air.
Yes, the Church will all be
together, but after, after the resurrection and the rapture has set in.
Luke 21:36 This
the third pull and is speaking the Word. It seems entirely possible for you to
speak the word and one would be completely and fully restored, placed entirely
ready for the rapture in the resurrection, the Son of man. This is so, or is it
not? And you would do this if properly pressed upon. Would you not "escape
all these things (it's got a ditto there) escape all these things and stand
before the Son of man"?
Questions &
Answers - 64-0823 1M Now, my dear friend. See? Now, I think here
that you got a good statement. Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Now, that would be so. You
said, "Brother Branham..." In other words, here's what I'm... I don't
think that it's... I can... I believe I... Not polishing up what you said, but
I believe I can make it a little clearer to people. See? You are believing,
because of the Spoken Words and things like that that He said about. And all of
you here witnessed the squirrels and all these other things that's been done.
But did you notice, that was Sovereignly given! I never asked Him,
"Lord, let me do this, speak these things in like that, do these things
there." I never asked Him that. He by His own Divine will came to me and
said, "You go do this."
Questions &
Answers - 64-0823
1M The time of the rapture will be the awakening of the dead and the get
together with the living,
for the rapture to take place. And Jesus can not come until a
church, a body of believers and the ministry that He once...?... will have to
be the same as it was then to... And then, that brings... "Them without us
is not made perfect," Paul said, Hebrews 11. "Without us they cannot
be perfected." They must have this ministry to raise up the Lutheran,
Wesleys, and all them down through their ages.
Questions &
Answers - 64-0823
1M And then shall he send his angels, and ... gather together his elect
from the four winds, and the utmost parts of the earth to the uttermost parts
of heaven. That's talking of the resurrection, the translation, going up. He
will send forth His angels to gather. Did you ever think what the angels are? Huh?
Messengers. He will gather them together, congregate them together (see?),
bringing them, bind them together from the utmost parts of the earth to the
utmost parts of Heaven, the Word that was been made manifest on earth. See? Get
it? The Word's been spoken; here It's manifested.
Easter Seal - 65-0410 And now, if that same Spirit that was upon
Him to be the Redeemer in that age, that we have accepted... Now, the promise
of in this last days what would take place, if you become part of that Word,
you are redeemed with Him, because the same Spirit that dwelt in Christ is
dwelling in you, quickening your life to this age. And it will also in the end
time quicken your mortal bodies, resurrect them, bring them up again. That
takes the gloom away when we look at it in that, and that's the truth. Romans here, Paul has proved it to us. See?
"If the Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, it
will also quicken your mortal bodies." This is the same Spirit that
raised Him up that quickened the true believer to Eternal Life. The Spirit that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwells into the believer, quickens the believer to
Eternal Life.
Rising of the Sun - 65-0418 1M
50-6 And now (see?), now you
are already resurrected. When God raised Him up, He raised you; the Son is just
now on you. And now you're growing into a blossom Life like He was, to be
resurrected completely in that last day. Your potentials you have now. Why do
you know? Your soul changed, didn't it? Your body come in obedience to It,
didn't it? Into obedience to what? A Church? The Word, which is the Life. Then
you are now resurrected from the dead. You
potentially have the
Earnest, the waiting. Now, when you get the Dynamics, you have been quickened
from mortal to immortality. It makes the whole body come subject to the Word.
It'll make you act different, look different, live different; It'll just make
you different. Then (notice now, as we close;
notice this) notice, it's just like a little seed laying in the ground. Now,
potentially, you are resurrected. You're resurrected when you receive the Holy
Spirit in you; you're resurrected right then. Your body's potentially
resurrected.
Questions &
Answers - 64-0823
1M Now, the Bible said ... And if you call me a prophet, I don't say I am;
but if you call me that, remember, I'm saying to you in the name of a prophet (see?)
- in the name of a prophet, the resurrection and rapture will be general all
over the entire world! No matter where you're at, when that hour comes, you'll
be caught up to meet Him! That's all! There's nothing going to stop you, no
matter where you are. And I only hope that I'm there, one of them. I just only
trust and hope in God that I'll be one of them and each one of you will be in
the - in the same.
Questions &
Answers - 64-0823
1M Across the world, they won't be gathered in one place to have things in
common. But little groups of them will be scattered all over the earth. I
believe, maybe if the Lord permits, this is a little group of It. Maybe another
little group in Asia, one down in
Letting Off the
Pressure 62-0518 Can't
you see we're at the end time? It's all over. The next thing will be a sweep of
getting that little group together, and in a month or so she'll be gone - as
soon as she's gathered together. We're at the end; there's no hopes left
anywhere. Run to Christ, people!
The Entombment - 57-0420 Our own life is just a pattern. It's just a
shadow, and not the real thing. It's the negative side. It takes death to develop
the picture, to put us back in the theophany we come from. Then in the
resurrection we come in His likeness, a resurrected body, what a beautiful, not
only beautiful but it's the real, solemn truth of God's eternal Word, that
we'll be like Him.