Romans 41
The New Way of the Spirit
Brian Kocourek
Romans 7: 4-6 Wherefore, my brethren, ye
also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be
married to another, [even] to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did
work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we
were held; that we should serve in
newness of spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the letter.
NIV Romans 7:6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we
have been released from the law so that
we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the
written code. This morning I
would like to subtitle this message, we should serve in newness of spirit.
Now, why do you suppose he says that He is able to
keep you from falling and He will present you as faultless at His Presence? It
is because we are ordained to go through a real trial and testing during the
time of His Presence, and the world will not be able to come out on top, but they will fall a thousand at you
left hand and ten thousand at your right.
I PETER 1:3 ¶Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, 4To an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you, 5Who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 ¶ Wherein ye greatly
rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations: 7That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with
fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him]
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory: 9
Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls. 10 ¶
Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied of the grace [that should come] unto you: 11 Searching what, or what manner of time
the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 13
¶ Wherefore gird up the loins of
your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought
unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the
former lusts in your ignorance: 15But
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation; 16Because it is
written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Now, God has not asked you to give your blood. He
just wants your love and trust and belief in what He has told us through a
vindicated Message. Now, remember when we read about the oncoming depression?
Do you remember what Brother Branham said about that time? Well, I have been
saying all along that if we want to know what to do and how to do it we should
go back and see what was done and how it was done in the Bible and then we will
know what to do and how to do it in a way which will be pleasing to God.
Remember, we have a promise of a rapture in this hour and we know that Enoch
was a type of the Raptured saints. Now, what was Enoch’s testimony? That He
pleased God, right? Then we know that if He is a type of the Bride of Christ
who will also be raptured, then we must have the same testimony as Enoch. Therefore, our testimony should be to please
God. Whatever we do, we should do it as unto the Lord, and with the motive to
please the Lord in the thing we are doing.
For that is the same way in which Jesus conducted His own life. He did
nothing but what pleased the Father, and He said, the Son can of Himself do nothing,
but what the Son seeth the Father do, that the Son doeth likewise.
Therefore, I would like to
read to you from the Message where brother Branham talked about this oncoming
storm of judgment which will bring on the greatest depression this world has
ever seen. For I have been praying about having a balance throughout this
trial, because I do not want to do anything that would not be right and that
would not please our Father. And if we
are to keep our balance about this whole affair we se on the horizon, then
there has got to be an example for us to follow, that we might have a pleasing
testimony throughout this oncoming storm. Therefore, let’s go to the Message Jezebel
Religion which Brother Branham preached right up the road in
Middletown, in 1961.
106 066 Then after the days of his prophecy, what happened? The church
languished, the great terror of Jezebel;
she took them all in herself, gobbles them all up, took them in herself,
and build groves and everything else.
But one day, God called him out again. Here he come out. Listen close
now, and don't get angry with me. I'm saying, THUS SAITH THE LORD. When he come
out, what did God do? He sent him to a widow woman. She once had a--a man power
over her head, but it took death to set her free so she could believe the
prophet's Word. You notice that? She had a husband that guided her this way and
that way in one of the schools down there. But during this great drought, he
had been gobbled up; death had took him. She was no more hooked in any
organization; so she was ready now to hear the Word of the Lord. A woman,
meaning the Church, a widow, that her husband, the organization, had died, and
she was just barely think she's living herself. And God said, "Go down to
her now; she'll hear you. I've commanded her."
108 067 Oh, we think sometimes, you
little group there that's so faithful and do everything you can to have a
meeting to try to show to the people that your heart's right and you want them
to get right, you think you're having a hard time. But remember, God's got His
eye on you. You love Him. I know you love Him, you wouldn't set here; you
wouldn't attend any such a thing. God's got His eye on you. Yes. And when he did, her husband had died, her
organization died, so now she's ready to hear the prophet's Word. So when the
prophet come to the gate and asked her for a--a little water, she went to get
it. Then he said, "Bring me a morsel of meal." And she turned and said, "As the Lord
lives, I don't have nothing but just enough."
111 068 Now,
it looked like that he was sent to take what little she had, but it was vice
versa. When she was willing to give what she had in
support of the Word, God fed her. And if
you're willing to give what Spirit you do have, what Spirit that God's give you
to support of the Word, then God will keep you alive. Hallelujah.
O glory to God. Do you see it, church? Don't think I'm beside myself; I'm not.
But what you have got, what little you do believe in God, what faith you have
got, place it on the Word, not on organization. Put it in God's Word; He'll
keep you alive. She was ready then,
'cause she couldn't before, 'cause they wouldn't let her. But now she's ready.
Will she receive it? God sent a prophet her way. Will she receive his Word?
Will she receive this prophet? Yes, she did. And he told her, said, "Now,
what little life you have got, place it in here, bring it to me first."
And what happened? When the rest of the world was
languishing and dying in hunger, her and her children and her household all eat
three good meals a day: Divine revelation on the Word. I hope you see it,
friend. What went on? He stayed there until the famine was over, living with
this woman, this Church, that received him and believed his Word. And he kept
her alive, kept the Church alive by the Word of the Lord, because he said,
"THUS SAITH THE LORD.
And that is what we see Paul
tell us in Romans, “that we should serve
in newness of spirit.” Look, the
Bible tells us that the trials, or squeeze is to come upon everyone who dwells
on the face of the whole earth. But it is Revelation of God’s Word that makes
the difference between us and the world, and how we conduct ourselves in our
spirit is the evidence of whether we truly have a revelation or just a mental
conception of this Message.
Can you imagine Moses
getting all nervous about the rains that were coming. He knew the rain would
destroy the earth. He knew that he would never see the people of the earth
again. He knew it was to be the end of everything as he saw it and a new
beginning. He knew all these things, yet he worked steadily for 120 years
preparing an ark for the saving of his home. I don’t think he panicked. I don’t
think he rushed things. I think he just steadily set out to prepare his ark for
the saving of his house.
And what about Moses? Did he
panic? At first he did. He tried to do it his way and all he got for his
efforts was one dead Egyptian. But once God got a hold of him, and got Him to not move except he move when God
says move, then he settled down and never panicked again. No, not even when he
went to Pharaoh and brought down miracle after miracle, and then Jannes and
Jambres duplicated. He didn’t get
flustered, he simply went back to God
after each embarrassment and said, “Ok, God, I never expected this, so what do I
do now?”
EVERLASTING LIFE 54-1231 Now, there's just two things. Look. You're either an unbeliever or a believer. It's either daytime or
it's nighttime. Is that right? Now, I can't say, "Just this much of this
is nighttime. Just what I see through that window, that's what's
nighttime." No, no. The whole thing's nighttime. That's right. Now,
smoke... As I've often said, smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and drinking
whiskey, that isn't sin. That's the attributes of sin. You do that because you're an unbeliever. And living righteous, and holy, and peaceful, and calm, and quiet, and
lovely, and sociable, and so forth, that isn't 'cause you're a Christian.
That's just the attributes of Christianity. It's because of what's in you,
makes that. And if you're impersonating
it, or doing it because you're supposed to be a Christian, you're a hypocrite
(That's right.), if your life isn't
lived sweetly. Because in you something comes out. It makes it, makes you
feel that way. You'll go through trials, and troubles, and ups-and-downs, and
misunderstood. That doesn't have one thing to do with it. When Israel backslid
and went down into Egypt, they was backslid. They never lost their covenant. They lost their joy of their salvation. David didn't say, "Restore to me my salvation." He
said, "Restore to me the joy of my
salvation." His salvation had to remain the same. But he went off the wrong end and lost the joy
of his salvation. See what I mean?
102 023
When did you get saved? When did you get sanctified? When did you get
filled with the Holy Ghost? When you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. For you
received there, Everlasting Life. But then, from then on, you started growing.
You started growing. You growed through sanctification, through the Holy Ghost,
and through speaking with tongues, and through all these things here. But you
received life when you believed. See what I mean? And now, that doesn't... Some
people's already got life, and you're trying to get them to do something here,
when they haven't even reached that place yet. And Pentecostal people has
never--has come to the place where the church is getting now to the adoption,
or the placing of sons.
JAMES 1:2 ¶ My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers
testings; 3 Knowing [this], that the trying of your
faith worketh patience 4 But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and
entire, wanting nothing.
VICTORY DAY 63-0421
When it looks like everything's gone wrong, God's giving you a trial.
He's got confidence in you. He don't have to baby you around. You're not a hotbed plant, a hybrid. You're a real Christian. God's giving you a test, see what you'll
do about it. Amen. No wonder Peter
said, "These fiery trials, why, count
it a joy. It's--it's more precious to you than gold." And many times
we hum and haw, "Oh, well. If I just..." Well, that--well, that's
something God give you to overcome. He--He--He knows you'll do it.
He's--He's--He's put his trust in you. And that is what Wuest translation tells us as
well. “In which last season you are to be constantly rejoicing with a joy that
expresses itself in a triumphant exuberance, although for a while at the
present time if perchance there is a need for it, you have been made sorrowful
in the midst of many different kinds of testings in order that the approval of
your faith, which faith was examined by testing for the purpose of being
approved, that the approval being much more precious than the approval of gold
which perishes,…
118-1
SMYRAEAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK.CPT.4
The cloudy skies and storms of life are no signs of God's disapproval.
Neither are bright skies and still waters signs of His love and approval. His
approval of any of us is only IN THE BELOVED. His love is elective which He had for us before the foundation of the
world. Does He love us? Ah yes. But how shall we know? We shall know because He SAID SO, and manifested that He did love
us for He brought us to Himself and gave us of His Spirit, placing us as sons.
And how shall I prove my love to Him?
By believing what He said, and by conducting myself with joy amidst
the trials that He in His wisdom allows to come to pass.
345-3
LAODICEAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK.CPT.9
God says this church of the Laodicean Age is "wretched". That
word comes from two Greek words which mean `endure' and 'trial.' And it has
nothing to do with the trials that come to a true Christian for God describes a
Christian in trial as "blessed" and his attitude one of joy whereas
this description is phrased as "wretched and miserable". How strange.
In this age of plenty, in this age of progress, in this age of abundance, how
can there be trials? Well now, it is strange; but in this age of plenty and
opportunity, when everyone has so much and there is so much more to be had,
what with all the inventions to do our work and so many things to give us
pleasure, SUDDENLY, we find mental illness taking such a toll as to alarm the
nation. When everybody ought to be happy, with really nothing to be unhappy
about, millions are taking sedatives at night, pep pills in the morning,
rushing to doctors, entering institutions, and trying to drown out unknown
fears by alcohol. Yes, this age boasts of its tremendous stores of worldly
goods, but the people are less happy than ever. This age boasts of its
spiritual attainments, but the people are less sure of themselves than ever.
This age boasts of better moral values and it is more corrupt than any age
since the flood. It talks about its knowledge and science, but it is fighting a
losing battle in all fields, for the human mind and soul and spirit cannot
comprehend or keep abreast with all the changes that have come upon the earth.
In one generation we have gone all the way from the horse and buggy age to the
space age, and we are proud and boastful about it; but inside is a dark void
cavern that is crying out in torment, and WITHOUT A KNOWN REASON men's hearts are failing for fear and the
world is so darkened that this age could well be called the age of neurotics.
It boasts, but it cannot back it up. It cries peace, and there is no peace. It
cries that it has a great amplitude of all things, but it keeps burning with
desire like an unsatisfied fire! "There is no peace," saith my God to
the wicked. "They are
miserable." That means that they are objects to be pitied. Pitied? They
scorn pity. They are full of pride. They vaunt what they have. But what they
have will not stand the test of time. They have built upon quicksand rather
than the rock of the revelation of God's Word. Soon cometh the earthquake. Soon there will come the storms of the
wrath of God in judgment. Then comes sudden destruction, and in spite of all
their carnal preparation they will still be unprepared for what comes upon the
earth. They are those who in spite of all their worldly efforts are
actually opposing themselves and don't know it. Objects of pity are they
indeed. Pity the poor people who are in this last day ecumenical move, for they
call it the move of God, when it is of Satan. Pity those who do not know the
curse of organization. Pity those who have so many beautiful churches, such
lovely parsonages, such grandly trained choirs, such a show of wealth and such
a sedate and reverent form of worship. Pity them, don't envy them. Back to the
old store buildings, back to the dimly-lit rooms, back to the cellars, back to
less of the world and more of God. Pity those who make their great claims, and
talk about their gifts. Feel for them as objects of pity, for soon they will be
objects of wrath.
And God always cause troubles, mostly always, to bring the people
together. Did you know that? I believe
there'll be a time when there won't be any more division amongst the people of
God, such as "I belong to this church, and I belong to that church." I believe the persecution will run all the
big ransomed Church of God together, and we'll be one in Christ Jesus. And then
He will take her home. Now, we won't argue whether this doctrine is right
or that.
EARLY SPIRITUAL
EXPERIENCES 52-0713A Brother, one day when the persecution comes, you'll see the great ransomed Church of God stick together like that, stone
will go to stone. You'll forget whether your a Methodist, or Baptist, or
whoever you are, when the persecution rises, and communism sets down, the
Church of God will run together, stone by stone. That Solomon cutting the
temple, one stone was cut this way, and one cut that way, and all this way. But
when they went to putting her together, she went placed in together like that,
that made the Church of the living God. You're little differences will be all
forgotten then.
TOKEN THE
63-1128E
77
039 And today the Holy Ghost is God's Covenant with God's covenant people.
The Holy Ghost, the Life of the
resurrected Christ, has got to be displayed in the church amongst the people,
making Him the same yesterday, today, and forever. No matter how loyal a member you are. You might be whatever you
may be, a good man or a good woman. That sure is fine. We appreciate that. But only the Token will keep you alive,
God's Token. You might be a student of the Bible. You might be a good
person. You could even be the President. You could be anything you want to be.
There's no excuses. When God started
the exodus from Egypt, calling out Israel from Egypt to His promised land,
there was no excuses. Every man had to display the blood.
80
040 And today, the exodus is calling out of the systems into the Bride.
No matter how much system you're in, it
still requires the Token of the Life of Jesus Christ again. Nothing else
will work. Still the Token is required. Every man, no matter if he was a loyal
man. He might've been the Pharaoh of Egypt, and he was the most important man
of the day, but the token had to be applied to him, no matter how important he
was. Whether he's a bishop, priest, whatever, president, king, potentate,
monarch, that had nothing to do with it. God only recognized the token, the
covenant people. Same thing today, the Holy Spirit will only recognize the
covenant people.
82
041 We find that death was
ready to strike Egypt at any time now. God had showed them His grace, power,
and signs. I want you to know that
that's followed every revival: grace, power, and signs: Grace to come to the
people; power to make Himself known; and the sign of the time, just exactly
what He's done today, another thing. He's done it in many ways. You could take
that one Scripture there and run it around and around for ten weeks here and
never leave it.
84
042 How it would symbolize the
three stages that we've come through. It would symbolize the three mercies of
God, through Luther Martin, and Pentecost--Martin Luther, and--and also through
Wesley, and Pentecost, the three stages of the journey. The three stages of
Israel's journey, the three messengers to Sodom, all these different things it
would symbolize. It would symbolize the ministry of today. It would symbolize
the message of Billy Graham, of grace to the world; of Oral Roberts, as power
to the world; and of the Presence of Jesus Christ, as the last sign to the
world. For Sodom got their last sign, the Church spiritual, the one that was
called out, got their last sign before the Gentile world was burned. Jesus
said, "So shall it be in the coming of the Son of man," the same
thing. 86 043 And we find out
that these great things had been displayed in Egypt, and still their desire was
not to repent or believe the message.
And if that--and if that ain't the world today, I don't know the world.
They have had grace, power, and seen the signs of the age, the signs of time:
God writing, and with His hand in nature, great fearful sights in the skies
that they don't know, flying saucers they call them, and everything; sputniks,
and whatever you want to call them, astronauts flying in the skies; fearful
signs, earthquakes, divers places, sea roaring, men's hearts failing; fear,
perplexed of time, distress between nations... All the things that He has
promised, we have seen those handwritings on the wall. We have seen it with our
eyes. We see in the church where grace
has went forth to call them. We see where power has been demonstrated by the
Pentecostal group to bring back again the baptism of the Holy Ghost, power. And
we've seen the supernatural power of the identification of Jesus Christ Himself
standing in our midst among us and doing the things that He did in the
beginning, the very same witnesses, exactly.
89 044 Israel coming out, just as a sign like it
is today. Watch what Israel got in their exodus. The first thing they got to
thoroughly identify that the hour was at hand was a prophet with the message.
Moses came down with the message. The Word of God was with Moses.
The next
thing, Moses had to be identified. And he was identified by a Pillar of Fire.
That identified his work that God had sent him. And Moses had the Word of God,
even to create things and to bring them upon the earth. And the token that God give them by the
blood was the identification, or the assurance, rather, that they would be
passed over in the time of death. The
same thing has happened today, same thing. The Word of God has been brought to
us; the Pillar of Fire is among us, identifying Jesus Christ raised from the
dead, the same yesterday, today, and forever; and the assurance of the baptism
of the Holy Ghost upon our hearts, putting our love to God. The exodus is on
again.
94 045 Israel coming out, as I said, is a type
like the Church coming out, or the Bride coming out of the church. The Bride
will be the remnant, will be the little group, the selected, the predestinated.
When a woman
lays out a piece of goods, lays her pattern upon it, the way she's going to cut
it, and she's got her own way of making a choice. But what's left out of that pattern
is the same kind of goods that was in the pattern, but it was ordained for her
to take this. She fixed it herself.
God did the same. "And the remnant of the woman's seed that was
left upon the earth..." Today is the calling-out of the Bride out of the
church, the exodus for the rapture. For the church truly goes through the
tribulation period, as you Pentecostal brothers has preached it. I believe
that. The church goes through it, but not the Bride. No, sir. 97 046
Someone discussing that with me not long ago, said, "The church
will have to gothrough for--for a purification."I said, "That is
true, because she rejected the Blood."
But if the tribulation period catches the Bride, His Own Wife, in the
tribulation? No, sir. The Blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin,
and there's no more purifying. And the Blood of Jesus Christ, and that Token,
as identification that it has been purified (Amen.), that's the Token of the
Bride wearing the ring.
99 047 Moses' ministry of Israel, was all his congregation was gathered into
a place for prayer and worship. When these things come, as he was reading
tonight, they had to stay and keep up. So is the congregation of the Lord
assembling themselves together out of every creed and doctrine in the world. It
come from all parts of Egypt to where they'd been gathered into one place. We
here, we could read Hebrews 10:26,
and see it mighty plain.
100 048 As we
see the great end-time signs in the earth, warning us the time is at hand, we
should love one another more than we ever did in all of our lives. There should
be such a hunger to get to church. There should be such a hunger for us to
get to one another. It should be a love affair.I can't hardly wait to get to
Tucson. Oh, God healed my little wife. She's part of me. I can't hardly wait to
get there. The hours, I'm counting the days and the hours, when I can get there
to be with her. That's the way the Church ought to be. Just seeing that the
power of God, what It's done for us, we should be counting the moments, getting
together in love, that we can fly away someday to meet Jesus.
103 049 Somebody said, not long ago, said,
"Brother Branham, you scare the people, saying that the coming of the Lord
is so near."I said, "They shouldn't be worried about that. That
should be the most happy thing we know of." Uh-huh, yeah. "And He
will appear the second time to all those that love His appearing," who
love and longing for it. It's a love affair. And how we ought to love one
another, because we're fellow citizens in the same Body. We should have love
one for another.
106 050 Warning us, the time is at hand...
Believers should be separating themselves from the things of the world, the
cares of the world. That's the reason I hammer at women and so forth the way I
have. And then separate yourself from these TV programs. Separate yourself from
this Hollywood evangelism. Come back to deepness and sincerity. We stand in the
pulpit, and jump up-and-down, and laugh, and holler, and carry on, and women
dance over the floors, clothes on them real skin tight, and all kinds of
jewelry and stuff hanging on, with bobbed hair, and some of them with makeup
on. And they got a intellectual pastor there, a preacher that can put the Word
together so perfect. That isn't it. We don't come to the altar of God,
laughing, carrying on, and cutting up. We come to the altar with sincerity and
deepness, because there we're dying. You don't go to death, laughing and
jollying, if you got your right mind. It's an insane person that does that.
107 051 Here a few weeks ago, when I was watching
a--a program, out of one of the filling stations I was standing in, of our
great brother, Billy Graham, when he was making his greatest revival he had, or
had the greatest revival in California. I was watching; the television was
catching the face of them coming to the altar: kids punching one another, and
fighting, going along the altar, and laughing and cutting up, no sincere,
chewing chewing gum, looking all around. Go right in there and say
"yes," they make a confession and come back out. Billy said he can
have thirty thousand of them, and in one years time, he ain't got thirty left.
There's no sincerity. There's no more sincere.
People is not ready to confess. They want to pray, "God, You heal
me, do this, or do that, do that." But when it comes to dying out, and
confessing your sins, and getting right with God, it isn't seen no more. That's
the reason we don't see no more healings than what we have. That's the reason
I'm preaching these things. Let's get things ready for a healing service.
You've got to get the thing working first. God heals you for His glory. And we
must be ready for His glory.
109 052 Now that's what Egypt had to do. Remember,
they tested the lamb for fourteen days. Egypt... He said, "Get all the
filth out of your house. Put every--all the leaven out." You can't have no
leaven. When this mark is come into your house, this Token, you cannot have a
leaven in It. That's the world. You can't love God and mammon, the world, at
the same time; all the cares of the world, all the cares, and your creeds, and
your fusses, and your difference. You're coming to Jesus Christ.
111 053 Could you imagine a Jew in the Old
Testament, coming down with his lamb to make an offering? He was obeying
Jehovah, what He said do, to him. That went on. He accepted the sacrifice. He
seen the lamb die. His hands was bloody with the dying lamb. He went back home,
justified, because he come in sincerity. That was fine. But after while it become a tradition. And
man said, "You know, this is the passover time, we better go do this, and
I've got to offer a lamb." It become a place you could buy a lamb, get
somebody else to offer it for him. It become a creed. It become a dogma in the
church. And God said the very sacrifice that He required become a stink in His
nose, because it was offered without sincerity.
113 054 And we Pentecostal people are getting in
that same stage. That's right. We come down till the sincerity's gone among us.
We come in and try to take in people into the church, like the other church
does, to get big crowds, and so forth, in our churches. We should never do
that. We've got to come to sincerity, and there die as dead as we can be, that
the Blood of Jesus Christ and the Token can come upon us. It makes a person a
different person. A woman can get up from there and go away; she wants to obey
every Scripture is in that Bible, regardless of what takes place; a man, the
same way. No denomination, no creed or nothing else can ever separate him from
the love of God that he found there at that altar, if he'll continue to follow
in the way of the Lord. But today we don't have the sincerity to it, we just
take it as just a tradition, "Our fathers did this."
WATER OF SEPARATION
55-0121
E-10 010
But now notice, all the time that when you're producing life in here,
keeping you alive, something has to die constantly to keep you alive. Did you
know that? "Well," you say, "what about it?" The steak you
eat tonight, a cow had to die for it. Is that right? The fish you eat tonight,
the fish had to die for it. Is that right? The kale you eat tonight, or the spinach,
the spinach had to die. See what I mean? The potato had to die. Something has
to die, and you eat the dead remains of something to make you alive. It makes
corpuscles, and... It makes blood cells, rather. It makes... And so you're
constantly eating something dead to keep you a living. See? Life physical can
only come out of--of death. And life spiritual can only come out of death.
See? Christ had to die to make us all
alive: quicken us. Is that right? So it's only through... No matter what church
you belong to, how many times you've shook hands with the preacher, how many
names you got on the book, or how many churches you belong to, it doesn't mean
that. [Brother Branham snaps his fingers. Ed.] You've got to absolutely accept
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only that, but you've got to die
yourself. You've got to die to every thought of the flesh so that you can
receive the mind of Christ and walk from henceforth, not of your own, but of
His mind: the mind of Christ in you. That's the only way you can stay alive.
That's the only way I can stay alive. That's the--all I live by, is by the Holy
Spirit. God said, man... Or Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." He was tempted by His appetite. And He said
that, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes out
of the mouth of God." Because as a physical man has to live by bread, so
does the spiritual man have to live by the Spirit. Before the physical man can
eat bread, wheat has to die. Or barley, or corn, or ever what the bread was
made out of, it has to die. And before the Spiritual man can live, Jesus Christ
had to die, to eat if the man could live by Christ. See? So that makes it
perfect.
BLIND BARTIMAEUS 56-0407
E-61
061 Now, prayer card...
[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... the Spirit of God is on me, I feel strong. Couple
hours later, I'm all right. It isn't when you're in It, or when you're out of
It; it's coming between the two, that's what it is, when you drop down. See, like Jonah, when he was in the belly of
the whale, God sent His anointing to stay alive three days and nights, and come
out and give a message to a city, oh, almost the size of Saint Louis, Missouri.
And they--they--they all repented. And then when the Spirit left Jonah, he
wanted to die. How many knows that?
UNCERTAIN SOUND
60-1218
115
052 Now, uncertainty of the--of
war, we don't know what time. Listen on the radio. You hear them say on the
radio, "Get so much stuff in your basement. Get enough water, on account
of fallout. Get you a radio in there and take it easy." I see in
magazines, they're advertising little buildings to get into to set in your
basement or in your yard, or something. If the--the bombs start coming, and you
survive it, the fallout will get you anyhow, so you just don't have to worry.
They could drop a bomb down in New Orleans, and the fallout would get you here.
So it doesn't matter; you would die anyhow. "So stay in, and stay alive a
little longer," or something like that. Oh, my. I don't even believe it. I
believe it's nonsense to even try it. That's right. But the Church don't have to worry. You ain't going to be here
then anyhow. That's one thing sure. You're not. 'Cause the certainty of God's
Word promised us so.
IF GOD BE WITH US
61-1231E
190
083 And then he seen God's
miracle. Somehow, oxygen came into the whale. He just breathed normally for
three days, and took a nice little rest and ride, so he could take this forty
day's journey across the wicked city down there to preach the Gospel. Got all
freshened up with some new oxygen out of heaven. It couldn't come out of the
whale, and it couldn't come out of the sea, so it had to come from God.
Oh, breathe on
us tonight, Lord, that Oxygen of the Word of God in the power of His
resurrection, that we can stay alive in this last wicked day. Breathe upon us,
O Holy Spirit. That's it, brother. Breathe, Lord, fill us with Oxygen.
IT WASN'T SO FROM THE BEGINNING 62-0630B
E-72
072 Forgive our many
weaknesses, Lord. We don't intend to do anything wrong, Lord, but through flesh
we do make mistakes daily. So in order to stay alive in Christ, we have to die
to our own thoughts. So keep us dead to ourselves and alive in Him. Let our
bodies be so, and our soul so submissive to Him that people will see the
reflection of Christ as we go, or come, or whatever we do. Bless us together,
Father. Help us tonight in the service; help us tomorrow; help the Sunday
schools, the churches. And may there be a flame of fire of God in each church
and each heart until Jesus comes. We ask it in His Name. Amen. But you know
what? God don't have to improve. God gave His children, His soldiers, the very
best thing that could be given them. When He give them, what did He give them?
He give them His Word at the garden of Eden, and man was to fortify himself
behind the Word of God, and no devil can get him. Stay in the Word.
TRUMPET GIVES AN UNCERTAIN SOUND 63-0114
E-44
044 Now, the enemy spy, Satan,
tried to find out what could he do to break into that. So he--he knowed he just
couldn't come out and bluff her, so the only thing that he could do was to get
her on reasoning. And that's what God uses today to fortify His church is His
Word. And Satan comes around with reasoning power. Satan knowed that was a
loophole. That was a place that people would break the easiest, was at
reasoning. You say, "Now, let me just reason with you. Now is it
necessary?" If God said it was necessary, it's necessary, whether we have
to cry, and boohoo, and do all this. If God said that the baptism of the Holy
Ghost is necessary, I don't care how heavy it is, and how much of the world you
have to give up. You're going to have to use it one of these days to stay
alive. It's the only way of survival.
SIXTH SEAL THE 63-0323
427-4
{253} 090 Notice, after it went in the dark age of
the tribulation, what was it? There was nothing they could do. Rome owned
the--he had the religious power and he had the political power. Wasn't nothing
they could do, but just labor to stay alive and give theirselves for sacrifice.
It was an ox. That's all they could do. That's the kind of spirit they had, the
Spirit of God, the ox. Then here come the reformers, the head of a man, shrewd,
wise: Martin Luther, John Wesley, and so forth; Calvin, Finney, Knox, the rest
of them. Here they come forth, and when they did, they were reformers. They
come forth reforming--bringing the people out. And turned right back around
exactly like they did back there and married right straight back into her again
on the denominational system. That's exactly. The Bible said so. She was a
whore, and then she had harlot daughters. Just exactly.
QA ON GENESIS COD
53-0729
54-264
099 Now, these had the Holy Ghost;
and these were sanctified. These were sanctified plus the Holy Ghost, believing
all the phenomenals and everything of God's power. Everything God spoke of
here, they had it, believing it. These were taken out. And these said,
"Give us, to us, now..." Said, "We just got enough to get in
with," and away they went in the rapture. And it said, "Go buy some
from those who sell to you," they said. And they went to try to pray
through then, to receive the Holy Ghost, but the Gentile dispensation had been
finished and the persecution rose. And He said, "They were cast into outer
darkness where there'll be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." But
in the second resurrection they'll be the sheep that's separated from the
goats, but never the Bride, never the elect. That's the remnant of the seed of
the woman.
LAMB'S BOOK
OF LIFE 56-0603
E-28 028
Enoch... the... but--a Noah--Noah was a type that was carried over like
the sleeping virgin. But Enoch was translated just before the tribulation
struck. And Enoch was took up, and was found not, because God took him: the
type of the going forth of the going forth of the church. And Noah watched him.
When he seen Enoch go, he knew it was time to enter the ark, for to be carried
through the tribulation. The Bible said there was ten virgins went out to meet
the bridegroom, and five were wise; five were foolish. And they were all
virgins, every one of them. But five was wise. And they had oil in their lamp.
And they went out to meet the bridegroom. And the bridegroom came. And the ones
that had oil, went in. See, the translation, going with the Bridegroom. But
those who were left behind, they come and wanted in too just like those who
come and knocked on the door of the ark. "Noah, let us in." But God
closed the door. No, friend of mine, one of these days God's going to give you
your final call, then the door's going to be closed between mercy, and
judgment. Don't be left out. Get in now while you can. Don't pay no attention
to what the world says. Get into Christ, for those that are in Christ will God
bring with Him. See?
PHILADELPHIAN CHURCH AGE 60-1210
254
098 ... make them... the
synagogue of Satan,... (All right.)... And they shall know... come to your
feet, and... know that I... loved you. Because thou hast kept the words of my
patience, I also will keep thee in the hour of temptation,... Watch now, to
show this is not the Methodist age I'm talking about, yet it's the lapover.
Look. Are you ready to listen? Everybody? Listen close now. Because thou hast kept
the word of my patience, I also will keep thee... (that little remnant)... from
the hour of temptation, when... The church is going to come to a place where
you're going to have to get in this organization or--or be... You're going
to--you're going to have it, brother. That's all. You're either going to be
organized or take the mark of the beast, or take... You're either going to
organize it, or go in the denomination (which is actually coming the mark of
the beast), 'cause it's a boycott. See? ... come upon... that shall come upon
the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly:
hold fast to that which thou has, that no man take away Thy crown.
256
099 Now, this great temptation,
the hour of temptation that shall come to try the whole world, goes into the
tribulation (Just in a few minutes we'll see it.), goes on into the
tribulation, and the tribulation did not come in the days of Wesley. So what
age are we in? What's this Door set before? It's between the Wesley and the--where
the church is headed right now, and already into, the Laodicean age. But this
little place right in here, that's been the last thirty-five, forty years, has
been an open door setting right before the people to come in, and God will take
the remnant and seal it off. And they'll go on into a lukewarm, and He'll spurt
them out of His mouth. The work will be cut short, up goes the church, and here
comes the antichrist moving in for destruction. Just perfect, fits with the
whole Bible right on around.
257 100 All right. Now. And here's the appearing of
the sleeping virgin. Also here proves that the last of the church ages moves to
the first part of Pentecost, for they go on into the great tribulation which
shall come in the--which did not come in the Wesley age. 11th verse, all right,
"a crown of Life." The--the 11th verse said.Behold, I come
quickly:... (What? Quickly after this now. See?) Behold, I... hold fast to that
which thou has... (Keep on to it.)... that no man take away Thy crown. What is
a crown? What is a crown? It's a--it's a--it's a... "Crown" means
that "you have--have a domain." You are a king if you're crowned.
See? And we are sons of God when we're crowned with Eternal Life, and our
domain is the earth: "Make you priests and kings unto God." Is that
right. So there you are.
260 101 And over in the New Jerusalem, how that the
kings of the earth even bring their glory into the city there. Oh, it's
wonderful. Let... If you want to take that... See, just like shine like stars,
crowns. And Daniel 12:3 gives a great, big description of it, if you'd like to
write it down. Maybe we'd have time just for a few minutes to get it. Let's get
Daniel, what he says here in 12th chapter of Daniel. All right. Let's start at
the 1st, at the 12th chapter: And at that time shall Michael... (See? Oh, you
know Who that is.)... shall stand up, the greatprince which standeth for the
children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble,... (What is it?
Right after this: tribulation.)... such as never was since there was a nation
even till that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every
one that is found written in the book.And many of them that sleep in the dust
of the earth shall awake, and some to everlasting life... (the crown)... and
some to shame and everlasting contemptment.And they that be wise shall shine as
the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness shall
as the stars for ever and ever.
Oh, brother,
there's your crown, that glorious crown of Eternal Life: a crown of Eternal
Life.
MAN THAT CAN TURN ON LIGHT 63-1229M
278
131 Looking, children... As I
say, I'm five minutes past time now, but let me say this one thing. There is a
Man present; don't get scared no matter what they say. I've seen it come to the
spot to where I didn't know where to move next. But He's always present. The
never failing Presence, He's always there. He can turn on the Light. Yes, sir.
He's just waiting, see what you're going to do. He can flip the switch any time
He wants to. Yes, sir. There's a Man here that can turn on the Lights. Those
who set in the regions of the shadow of death, some of them under cancer, some
of them under the death of denomination, some of them under creed's death, some
of them under traditional death, and all them kinds of death, and they have
seen a great Light. The Man that flashed the Lights then is the same One Who
said in the beginning, "Let there be light." That same God yesterday,
today, and forever, He's present today right here now. Don't get scared; He can
turn on the Light. When the persecution comes, don't get scared; there's a
Light said He'd catch His people away. She'll not go through the tribulation.
She'll never do it; He said She wouldn't. She'll be caught away. "How they
going to do it, Brother Branham, looks awful dark?" No matter how dark it
gets, if you can't see your hand before you, just remember, there's a Man here
that can turn on the Light, can rapture that church.
280 132
You say, "Well, I'm right..." Yeah, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego was right up to the fiery furnace, but there's a Man there Who could
turn on the air. Yes, sir. That rushing, mighty wind that come down on the day
of Pentecost, He turned it on again and fanned all the breeze away from them,
all the fire. There was a Man there; He's called the Fourth Man. There's One
here today; He's the only One. Hallelujah. He's got the light switch in His
hand.