Rising of the Son no 21

Death by Tradition

December 3, 2016

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

Let us open our Bibles this evening to the book of Mark and chapter 7 and we will begin reading at verse 1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2  And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashed, hands, they found fault. 3  For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4  And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables. 5  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6  He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

And what are these commandments? Listen to what he says in the next verse.

8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold to the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso reviles (speaks abusively to) father or mother, let him die the death:

Oh, my we could stop right there and preach on that for the next hour or so. But let's first take a moment and go to the Lord in prayer.

Now, we've been listening to Jesus quoting Moses, and he tells those Christ rejecting Pharisees, that they throw out the Word of God in favor of their own traditions, and then Jesus quotes Moses as saying "if a child even speaks disrespectfully to his parents he is to die the death, take that child out and stone him to death.

Now, if the world kept that law given to them by a vindicated prophet of God there wouldn't be enough children make it to adulthood today to keep the world population.

Do young people understand how serious a thing it is to speak disrespectfully to their parents? Now, it matters not what you think of them whether you think they are right or wrong, what matters is that you are commanded by God to be respectful of your parents at all times. And Jesus never does say there is an age when you are no longer the children of your parents. Therefore, this is a life-long commandment from God, and it is one of the ten commandments as well.

Exodus 20:12 tells us... "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

Notice there is a promise associated with this commandment of God, and that is long life.

Deuteronomy 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Notice not only is there a promise of life, "long life", but also a life uncomplicated by failure and distress. and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The Hebrew word for "well with thee means literally happy and successful."

The Wuest translation words it this way, "For Moses said, '"Be paying due respect and reverence to your father and your mother. And the one who is constantly reviling father or mother, let him come to an end by death."'

Now, back to what Jesus is saying...11  "But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, '"It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free"'.

In other words he's talking about this 21st century attitude that says, hey, I didn't ask to be born, you brought me into this world, so whatever you get out of me consider it a gift to you." And Jesus says of that one, 12  And ye suffer him (you encourage him to) no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. 14  And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: 15  There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. 16  If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 17  And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. 18  And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19  Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? 20  And he said, That which cometh out of the man, (out of the heart) that defileth the man. 21  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Now, this evening I would like to examine this thought on traditions of man making the Word of God of no effect, because many a person that calls himself Christian today is no more Christian than the Mohammedan is saved. Christian means Christ Like, because you have Christ Life. But most people have filled their lives with traditions and have left off the True meaning of the Scriptures.

In the Book of Colossians 2:8 we read, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

A man that claims to preach the Gospel without a true Baptism of the Holy Ghost and without a true calling from God to do so is nothing more than just a philosopher.

I would like to read this Scripture from a couple more translations.

From The Voice Translation Colossians 2:8 "Make sure no predator makes you his prey through some misleading philosophy and empty deception based on traditions fabricated by mere mortals."

And from The Message Translation Colossians 2:8 ^8-10 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.

Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

And again we see this same thought brought out by Jesus in Matthew 15: 1  Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2  Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4  For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5  But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Notice the key here is Jesus reply to the Pharisees. Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Why do you allow your commandments to take preeminence over God's Word. That is the real question, because anything that gets between you and God is death in the pot.

So many people today think because we go to church, and because we pay our tithes, we are members in good standing in the Message, and that makes us believers in the Message of this hour. But your church attendance doesn't make you a Message believer, no more than your listening to tapes makes you a hearer of the word of God. But a life filled with Christ and obedient to the Word of God is what makes you a true believer.

A life that is worthy of the gospel is what makes you a true believer in the Message of the hour. A Holy Ghost filled obedient life. Nothing more and nothing less.

Now, as we continue with our study of "The Rising of the Son" we hear brother Branham say in paragraph 14 As people today are trying to say, we should wash feet once a year on Thursday, and on Friday we should take the communion, and all different doctrines of... They argue about whether it should be this day or that day, or whether it should be a sabbath day or the first day of the week or... All these things are just merely tradition. What good would any of it do you, whether you had Lent or not Lent, if there's no Life in you. It's only a memorial, which there's nothing against it, but they have certainly carried out their traditions but left off the main thing. Satan doesn't care how religious you are, or how right you are in your doctrine; if you miss that Life, you won't come up anyhow. No matter how religious, how good, how many churches you've belonged to or will belong to, it doesn't matter one thing unless you have been born again. Therefore, if God raised up Jesus from the dead, did He raise Him up for a memorial, and is this resurrection morning only a one day in the year or a certain day that we celebrate this? Or are we benefactors of His resurrection? What does it mean to me? What does it mean to you? Now, we believe by faith that He raised from the dead, but what has that got to do with me? That was two thousand years ago.

Therefore, we can see that traditions can actually do more harm than good if you are not truly born again. Because many people misconstrue traditions and the Church associated works they perform as evidence they are believers, when it is no more an evidence of being a believer any more than Satan is a believer. And he is. Satan led in the worship of God, he actually did, and Satan believes God and he trembles.

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. That's Bible truth.

So Satan is a believer in that sense and yet what good does his believing do him because he doesn't have God Life in him, He is not born again, he's just got religious traditions.

Brother Branham said in his sermon, God's power to transform 65-0911 P:99 One day when the world was again in all kinds of religions, washing hands, pots, wearing different robes and bonnets, and so forth, it lay in the midst of another chaos. The genuine Israel of God had been so perverted from the laws and statutes of God, Jesus said, "You with your traditions make the Word of God of no effect to the people by your traditions." And look at them holy priests, they call them; and Jesus said, "You are of your father, the Devil, and his works you do." See, that's exactly what He said.

And yet no man could tell the Pharisees that they were children of Satan. They lived every tradition they could make from the Word of God to the best of their ability. They studied where every jot and tittle of the Word was located, and they knew the Word of God to such an extent that they could quote it forward and backward, yet they had no clue God was in their midst in the vessel of His first and uniquely born son.

The Bible says in John 1:10 "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not."

And brother Branham said in his sermon What is the attraction? 65-0725E P:22 Now, in the Book of Zechariah, in the 9th chapter, and the 9th verse. Zechariah, one of the prophets, spoke in the Spirit, saying this: Rejoice greatly, O daughters of Zion; shout O daughters of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon as ass, upon the foal, a colt the foal of an ass. Now, what was the matter with those scribes? What was the matter with those priests? What was the matter with those religious people? This was wrote four hundred and eighty-seven years before it happened, by a vindicated prophet, and was already put into writing and called the Bible, the scrolls of the Old Testament. Why couldn't they see that that's prophecy being fulfilled? The same reason they can't see It today. They have took the Word of God and made It of noneffect to the people, by teaching (for traditions) for Doctrine the traditions of man. And if scribes, preachers, ministers, spiritual man (so-called), anointed ones, would only read the Bible, they wouldn't be wondering what's taking place, they would know what It is. God fulfilling His Word!

So you see the scene is no different today than it was in Jesus day, and in William Branham's day, and even now 60 years later, we have the same thing taking place. There are certain promises of God in Scripture that are supposed to take place in this hour and the people miss it by their traditions. They miss "being conformed to the image of the first born son," and have no clue what that even means because the traditions of their Church camp doesn't preach on it. They miss the promise of God to His Elect sons that "the Son of God will manifest as sons of God" because it's not in the tradition of their camp to preach on those things. They have missed altogether that only the right kind of son will be adopted as a son because that is not the main tenet of tradition on their church camp, and so they do not teach on the adoption and placing of sons.

And how are you to become aware of these great end time promises if no one will teach them to you. It's all over the place in Scripture and in the Message of William Branham but the camps are focused on their own creeds and traditions, how God sent a prophet, and the miracles that God did back then and they're always looking backwards and always looking forwards and failing to recognize what God is doing right now. And thus they are not focused on further promises of God in His Word to the elect because they are wrapped up in the traditions of their church whether it me mission work, or sending out books and tapes, or whatever their tradition might me.

From his sermon, God in simplicity 63-0317M P:65 brother Branham said, " 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?

And from his sermon, Reproach for the word 62-1223 P:68 Man are always the same as ever. Now, I'm going to say something again, and I want you... And I don't know whether it's being taped or not, but if it is on tape, I want you to listen at me, you on the tape. Don't you miss it. But study it. Men now is like he's always been. He's praising God for what He's done, looking forward to what He will do, and ignoring what He has done and is doing. He praises God for what He has done; He looks forward to what He will do; but he ignores what God's a-doing, and there he misses the whole thing. Hope they get it. See? Ignoring what He's doing... He knows what He has done, and he knows the promise what He will do, but he fails to see what He's doing. Oh, you Pentecostals, if you're not example of that. You're looking forward for something to happen; it's already--it's happened right under you, and you don't know it. "How oft would He have hovered you, as a hen does her brood; but you would not." You thought more of your traditions and denominations than you did of His Word and His Spirit. Yes.

You see, that is what Jesus said, He said you miss Him by your traditions, you make the word of God, the promises of God of none effect by your traditions and creeds. You focus on the past, what God did 50 years ago, or you focus on the future and you miss what God is doing right now. That is what William Branham was saying. The Pentecostals were focusing on what God did 50 years before at Azusa Street which was 50 years before and they missed what God was doing right then. And so has the Message people missed it again. Because God has promised is a transformation by the renewing of the mind, and they have become so enamored by the past and focused on the past that they do not see what God is doing in the present.

Doors in door 65-0206 P:21 Now, my people are Catholic, as you know, being an Irishman. Now, we... Now, they talk about Saint Patrick; the Catholics claim him. Why, he's just about as much Catholic as I am. They talk about Joan of Arc. They burnt that girl to the stake for a witch (We all know that.), because she was spiritual and seen visions. 'Course, a couple a hundred years later, they dug up them priests' body, and done penance, and threw them in the river. But that ain't what it takes. See? They always miss it. Man is forever praising God for what He did do, looking forward for what He will be, and ignoring what He's doing. That's just the nature of man. And he hasn't changed his nature, the man of the world.

And so, it is not just a matter of knowing it is true. It is a matter of it being real to you. For to just know it is true could still place it in a historical perspective as it does to the nominal Christian. But to know it is real, it then begins to live out in your very life. When you are filled with the Holy Ghost you will read this Word and you can actually see it manifesting itself all around you. Why? Because you are quickened to life by the Word of God for the hour. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you and has made you alive ti his Word.

Because after all, Gods Prophet said, "God interprets His Word by bringing it to pass." And so when you read His Word, and see it taking place, you are actually living out that portion of God's Word. He then shows you various promises of His Word coming to pass and you being a part of that Living Word, and the recipient of those promises.

A living dynamic Word which is continually moving ahead. In fact from Anointed Ones at the end-Time where brother Branham said, 233 Anointed Ones At End Time 65-0725M "For it is impossible for those which were once enlightened and didn't move on with the Word as it come to pass..." They're dead, gone And so, we must continue to move on with the Word of God as it continues to come to pass or we are dead, dead, dead.

In brother Branham's sermon Anointed Ones At the End-Time 65-0725M he repeats this theme over and over again throughout the entire sermon, "Notice! Come up to the borderline and quit. Pp.195 Going to their home, and when they come up to the place to cross over, they doubted the Word!........What happened? They perished in the wilderness. They stayed right there and organized themselves, and died, every one of them,........ pp.198 "Where the carcass is there will the eagles be gathered......Where the fresh meat is, the Word of the Season, there the eagles will gather." But after it's rotten, then the vultures will swarm to it. See, see? See what I mean? When a kill 's made here comes the eagles, but after it lays there and rotten, then here come the vultures. The eagles won't have nothing to do with it. Jesus said, "Where the carcass is, where the manna fell, the night the manna falls fresh, there the eagles will gather for it." That's the manna for the day. See? Pp.214 Notice! But after it gets rotten, maggots get in it, then here comes the vultures. They can't smell it till it gets rotten. Pp.215 Said, "I AM sent me." I AM, not I was, or will be, I AM, present tense, the Word now. Not the Word that was or Word that will come, the Word that's now. pp. 219 Now, you go back and try to live again --go back after that old shuck's dried up, ever go back and live in it again? It never does. "For it is impossible for those which were once enlightened and didn't move on with the Word as it come to pass..." They're dead, gone".

In fact brother Branham said, in Just One More time Lord pp. 52 "Man is always thinking back on what God did, and looking forward to what God will do, but ignoring what God is doing".

And he also said in his audio letter to brother Vayle, " If they only see it in the hour past there's no hope for the church. The church must see it in the present tense. So God sends his prophet to manifest present tense of it."

Again from his sermon, Indictment the 63-0707M P:85 They didn't know that the vindication of God's Word wasn't standing up there in that day... Now, it was at one day, and that was right. It was at one day just keep them laws and things. But the same laws that was to keep them, pointed them to a time that when He would come and be this Man He was supposed to be. They had this part, but didn't take the other part.

That's like taking minerals but no vitamins that make the minerals efficacious. Taking calcium without Vitamin D3 won't do you any good, so you could load up on that mineral but if you have nothing to break it down in your body it won't do you any good no matter how much you take. So if you have a deficiency in the body caused by an improper dose of a certain mineral, no matter how much you try to undo it with mega doses, you need the vitamin that corresponds to that mineral to make it work.

Just like they had Malachi 4 and Luke 17:30 and Revelations 10:1-7 but they didn't have Romans 8:11, and Romans 8:19 and Romans 8:29, nor did they have Ephesians 1:5. All those are promises of God to this generation, they've got the mechanics of it, but are without the dynamics. So they got what is past but they have failed to see and take a hold of what is current.

We need Malachi 4 and Luke 17:30 and Revelations 10:1-7 tp get us ready for a resurrection and rapture to take place, but without Romans 8:11, and Romans 8:19 and Romans 8:29, and Ephesians 1:5 you won't be there yourself to partake of it.

Look, you can't mess around with only part of the solution, you've got to have the whole equation to make it work. You must have the complete Word of God in this hour. Just a part of it will not do. And as brother Branham said you've got to apply what you do have or it will do you no good.

"And that's the same thing they're doing now. They got a church and they believe in Jesus Christ, and say they do, and things, but deny the hour we're living in. Still brings the old proverb back again: Man always praising God for what He has done, looking forward for what He will do, and ignoring what He's doing , and being condemned by it. See? They think God's wonderful, how great He is. What He's going to do, He's going to come, and be a rapture someday and go home; and denying the very signs and wonders right here at the time that the Scripture says that He'll be doing it; miss the whole thing. "If the blind lead the blind," Jesus said, "they'll all fall in the ditch." Just pray God to open our eyes in this last days. All right.

God's provided place of worship 65-0425 P:17 Now, remember, He has a provided place, one place alone where He'll meet the believing children. Anywhere else won't work. Remember, Jesus said, when He was here on earth, talking to a bunch of people who was very religious, very fine, very cultured, a very zealous people of God, but Jesus said to them, "In vain you worship Me," teaching for doctrine their traditions of men. Remember how pious those people was, and how zealous of God? I believe if we were counting the people who were more zealous of today or that day, they would be more zealous than we are, far more. When it come to keeping the traditions and laws, and things, they lived by those. And they were very zealous of God, and they believed God. But Jesus, God made flesh among us, said, "In vain do you worship Me." Now, He didn't say they didn't worship Him. They was worshipping Him, but in vain. So anything in vain is of no avail, doesn't do no good. You should never do it, because you're just wasting your time. You're wasting your breath; you're wasting your efforts, until we come to know what we're doing.

Presence of God unrecognized 64-0618 P:7 It comes in and goes out, and people does not recognize it until it's passed, and because that it never fits their theology, it never fits the time of the day. You see what it is, they're always living in a glare of another age, always. The reason they didn't accept Jesus, because they were living in the glare of the law. And when Jesus came, was not contrary to the law, but come to fulfill the law, well, they couldn't accept Him because His Message wasn't exactly the way they had it all creeded out, and it was called then traditions. And He didn't come according to their traditions. He didn't keep their traditions. And really He upset it, and tore it up, and done things that was contrary to it, insomuch that they thought He was breaking up the churches. And they couldn't receive Him because of His Message. And we all know today that He come exactly in the line of God's prophecy, but they didn't know it then. And it could happen again, and we wouldn't know it. I imagine if He'd actually appear tonight, it would be so contrary to what we've got all figured up on our charts, and in our schools and things. It'd be a very few would recognize what was going on. He said it would be, that how He come.

Unveiling of God 64-0614M P:64 Now, it's repeated again. The traditions, how... Then on the day of Pentecost, the Word came and was in a form of Son of God. And they begin to organize it at Nicaea, Rome. And the first thing, it went to Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostals, and so forth. It's organized traditions; a man don't know where he stands. But glory to God, He promised in the last days what He would do: He would show His Word in plain view, open before us again (See?), open It up. If they'd have only knowed the Word, they'd have knowed Who Jesus was. If a man only knowed the Word of God, he'd know the hour we're living and what's going on. They just refuse to listen to that Word. Their traditions... What caused those Jews to see that? What caused? Looked like they could've actually seen, because the thing was tore open. It was tore open for a purpose.

And they missed that purpose because they were blinded by what their camp was allowed to believe.

Paradox 64-0206B P:72 John, dead six months in his mother's womb come to life, through the Name of Jesus Christ, the first time it was ever spoke by human lip, show that dead men would come to life by the Name of Jesus Christ. Still a paradox. "Not another name under heaven given among men, whereby you must be saved." A paradox, yes. John was a phenomena. Looked like he would've went and carried out his father's, went to his school where his father was trained at, being a Levite. Levite was the only ones could be in the priesthood. So John was a Levite, so it, ordinarily, it was, it was traditional for him to go to the school of his father. But God had a work for him; he was to announce the Messiah. His work was too phenomena for him to follow the traditions. I hope you're reading right. His work was too phenomena. He couldn't go to their traditions and take up with their traditions. Everybody'd be saying, "Now, don't you think that Brother Jones here is just the man to be the Messiah? We know that you're to announce Him. Don't you think he's just the right kind of a man?" It'd have been another Matthias.

Man that can turn on light 63-1229M P:68 "Oh," say, "oh, we have the Word." Why, the Word, everybody can pack a Bible that wants to, but when the Word is vindicated, made manifest...Why, say, "Well we believe." Yes, sir. They believed all the Word, well, so does Satan. Those Pharisees, who could condemn them not believing? But they didn't believe the Word for the hour. They were worshipping in a glare of something else. That's the same thing they're doing today. You're keeping up Luther's traditions or--or Wesley's traditions, and the rest of them, the Pentecostal tradition, but what of the hour? The Pharisees was keeping up their traditions, but behind their traditions was the true Word of God coming to shine forth. And when It did, It blinded their eyes. They couldn't see it, because they was watching something else. So is it today. May God let that soak in, till it really hits home to the people that should believe it. It's later than you think.

Ok, so he is excoriating the so called believers who should understand that God did not just send Malachi 4 and Luke 17:30 and Revelations 10:1-7 to put on a show, or to get us to look to a man. He sent the prophet to bring a Message. God came down with a Shout, a message for what? Well the shout is to bring forth the Voice and the Voice is to bring on Resurrection. But first we have to die to self, be filled with the same Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead, ad it will quicken our Mortal bodies.

So what I am trying to say is Ephesians 1:5, Romans 8:11. Romans 8:19 and Romans 8:29 are the result of the Message of Malachi 4, Luke 17:30 and Revelations 10:1-7 brought to us. But how many people focused on the Messenger instead of His Message which he was only an echo of what God brought down with Him.

World is falling apart 63-1115 P:39 What had caused this? I believe there was a cause for that. And I think it is because they had took the Word of God and made It of no effect by their traditions. Jesus said so. He said, "You, by your traditions, has made the Word of God of no effect." That's right. It wasn't effective, because it added and projected into It their traditions. And when...You can't add nothing to That. You can't take nothing from It. It's... That's just the way It is. That's the way God preserved It. We can't add creeds and dogmas and things, to inject in That. That don't need any help. That's Him, that's Him in letter form. And the Word is a Seed. And the seed in the right kind of ground will grow, if you don't dig it up every morning to find out whether it's growed or not. You just plant it, commit it to God, and leave it there. That's the way to let it grow, just to leave It the way it's in the ground. And that's where It's supposed to be, the ground of your heart. Faith is watering It, hourly, saying, "Now, God said so, it's mine." That's the way to do it.

Pardoned 63-1028 P:47 Traditions in them days--the great prophet cried out, and he said, "Your traditions are powerless. They stink before me. Have no faith in them." The people is offering these offerings without even having faith in what they're doing. Now, let's just ask ourselves the question. Isn't that something like today? As bad as we hate to say it, we've got to face facts somewhere. There's something wrong somewhere. Why, this church ought to be a million miles up the road to where it is now. Jesus is waiting on His church to get ready. His Bride has made herself ready. We got the potentials. The Holy Spirit is here. God is here. The power to heal the sick, the power to do all the things that Christ did, I've seen it demonstrated myself by the Holy Spirit. So the potentials are here. What God's waiting for us to get away from is our traditions, and come back under the Blood of His Son Jesus Christ, and become the church of the living God, where Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, whatevermore. "Whosoever will, may come and take of the waters of life freely." I believe that with all that's in me. We... God has sent down the Holy Spirit to do that. But we with our rituals, without sincerity... We... Going is because it's a tradition, and because it's a ritual. We go without sincerity, without really sorrowfulness of sin.

Only one way provided by God 63-0731 P:21 Now, God's got a way of doing things, and we must do it in the way that He wants it done. If it isn't, then it's not effective. Jesus found something like it, when He come in His day. He said, "You, by your traditions, has made the--the Word of God of non-effect, by your traditions." See, they had hybrid into, injected into God's commandments their own traditions, which made the commandments of no effect.Today, I know it's become the same thing. There is not a thing left, my Christian friend, but the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only hope that the church has. As far as it comes, if it ever takes up a denomination again, it's finished, because every denomination finished when it become a denomination. It's the very thing...

Greater than Solomon 63-0628E P:20 So now, Jesus was upbraiding these people tonight because of their unbelief, because they should been Scripturally taught. But the traditions of the day had drawed the people from the Bible, the Scripture. Jesus said, "You with your traditions has made the commandments of God of non-effect."And I wonder tonight, if He would stand upon this soil of the United States, if He wouldn't say the same thing to many tonight. With the traditions of men, you've took the commandments of God and have made them of no effect by preaching that, "just the days of miracles is passed," and so forth, as they do: "Having the form of godliness," that the prophet said would be in the last days, "but denying the power thereof."

Third seal the 63-0320 P:77 Now, see, they don't want it. They don't want God's Word. Because she held to her traditions, she kept the Word of God from being of non effect. The same now on spiritual Eve, she don't want... She wants to keep her traditions and get away from the Word of God. She holds again to the denominations and their creeds and traditions of her elders instead of taking the Word of God. And when the promise of the Word in the last days is brought to her, she will not receive it, because with her traditions, like the Hebrew bride did, the real Word, though manifested, proven, vindicated, she won't have it. Why won't she? Because there's her type. She can't do it. That's right. She can't beat her type. See? And it's predicted she would do it, so how you going to keep from anything...Now, the only thing to do is be happy you are in. That's all, be ready for it. All right. God promised in the last days that He would manifest and would vindicate His Word to her and still she wouldn't do it. All that God promised her by His servants, the prophets, God promised through Jesus Christ, God promised through Joel, God promised through Paul, God promised through Malachi, John, God promised through John the Revelator, all them prophets, just exactly what the last message would be to her.

Notice he said God already has shown us through Joel, Paul, Malachi and Jon and all them prophets just exactly what the last message would be to her.

So what do Joel, Paul, John and Malachi all have in common? That a message of God would come to the people and along with that Message it would restore the hearts of the children to the Fathers, and would restore the signs and wonders that the early church had enjoyed. Joel said God would restore it, Paul said we would manifest as sons and be conformed to the image of the first born son, Malachi promised we would be have our hearts restored, and John prophesied the works that He did would be done in the church by believers.

Third seal the 63-0320 P:71 All right. They miss Him, the living Word manifested in the flesh by the Word that is promised. The Word promised to do these things. The promise was made, and it'll be like this in the last days. "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man." Now, watch what happened at Sodom. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man." See? Watch what happened then. See? Now, He said it'd be the same thing, and we live in that day where that it could be... I guess I could get six hundred promises of them like that out of the Scripture just referring to it. See? Now... But they rejected. She held to her traditions and substitute blood instead of the real Blood. Jesus, the Word said... When He was manifested to her... Because she held to these traditions, Jesus the manifested Word, said to the bride, Hebrew bride, "Because you hold to your traditions, you make the Word of God without any effect to you." It can't be effective.

Greater than Solomon is here 62-0725 P:39 Now, believe now. Now, Jesus was rebuking that generation for not believing His sign that He had proved to them that He was the Messiah. Now, we took that last night, and how He was the Messiah because He was the Word. Is that right? Now, "Messiah" means "the Christ, the anointed One." And then He was to be the King, the God prophet, and here was the Spirit in Him. Now, remember the ones who really stayed with the Scripture teaching, they recognized Him. But those who went off with the other church in their traditions, they missed it. See? And Jesus told those teachers. He said, "You with your traditions, you take the commandments of God, and make them of non effect." Now, what would they do with their tradition today, saying, "The days of miracles is past." That's a tradition. "There's no such a thing as Divine healing." That's tradition, not the Bible. I can show any man where Jesus ordained His church and commissioned it to all the world, to every creature, and these signs shall follow them that believe. Now, I want somebody to show me a spot of Scripture where He taken it away from the church. It's not there. It's still in the church. It's the traditions that's twisted it out. And that's the reason they didn't recognize Jesus. because their traditions had twisted away and got some...

I can show you where Jesus said "The works that I do shall (the true believer) will do also." Now you show me where he took that out. You show me where he decided that is for just one man, when the original and in every language he says "whosoever believeth on me the works I do shall they do also."

Things that are to be 65-1205 P:100 Ministers that would go to theology, some seminary, and take the things of man's word, which makes, by their traditions makes the commandments of God of no effect upon the people... By their traditions, saying, they should belong to church and that's all... Oh, God, do they realize that every word we say, scientifically proven, it's on a record, and it starts when we start living in this earth; it ends when we die; and it's put in God's album to be played back again at the judgment? How are we going to escape it, the damnation of God, if the thing has been made so clear before us and yet we turn it down. Oh, dear God, these words never die; they go on and on. The record will be played at the day of the judgment. You seen those hands that went up, Father. It'll be right there at the day of judgment. Also what their heart was thinking will be there at the day of judgment.

Pardoned 63-1028 P:68 Another thing, we find out in Hebrews 9:11, that pardoning produces purity, the worshipper having no more conscience of sin and has cleansed hisself from dead traditions. When we really come under the Blood, we are cleansed from dead traditions. The Scripture says so, Hebrews 9. Watch, "Cleanse your conscience from dead traditions..." Then, if you do that, forget that you are a Baptist. Forget you are a Methodist. Forget you are a Pentecostal, whatever you are.

Notice he said Forget you are whatever you are. That means forget you are a Message believer, forget you are anything... but His Elect bride Seed.

"And forget those dead traditions and come to the Blood. Come to that. Read your name in that and then do this. Then come to communion table. Then come and find out who's right and wrong, whether it's going to be a closed communion or not. See if you can shut your brother out. You can't do it. You just can't do it. There's something in you won't let you do it. There's just something. You see? Your name is read among those and you--you can't do it. It purifies you; it cleanses you.

Let us pray...