Romans 42

The New Way of the Spirit no. 2

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.

 

 

We have been talking about preparation lately, not only being prepared for the natural events which are coming, but being prepared also for the Spiritual things which are on there way as well, which is a Rapture for the elect. Now, when we prepare for the oncoming storms, we should prepare for the worst and yet be hoping for the best. This morning I would like to speak to you about this preparation that has become such an important event in our lives. But this morning I want to speak of this preparation, not from the aspect of the physical preparations, but from the spiritual side of things… I believe that God showed us His thoughts of the neurosis that is coming upon the earth for a reason….and He gave us that warning to help us in order that we might have a balance in our preparations, and how we prepare.  Now, if we did not have a promise of deliverance, then we would have reason to worry. But we have a promise that the Bride will not go through the judgment, so we must keep reciting those words as we approach the meltdown of the worlds financial system. We must not let the devil rob us of the peace and joy of Christ’s Presence, for God’s Word tells us “our joy comes from His Presence and Knowing “that He will never leave us nor forsake us.” God has always been there when His kids needed Him most, but He doesn’t always let you know it, until the very last second. Look at Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego, and how they went right up to the mouth of the furnace before the Son of God appeared with them. 

 

Ø      PSALMS 16:11    Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence [is] fulness of joy; at thy right hand [there are] pleasures for evermore.

Ø      I THESSALONIANS 2:19  For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Are] not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

Ø      JUDE 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

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.

 

Now, here is the key to what I am trying to tell you this morning, He said, “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”.

 

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.

 

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.

 

ANGEL AND HIS COMMISSION  47-1102

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.