Satan’s Eden no 12

Pre-tribulation Delusion

October 31, 2021

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

 

Last week we read from paragraphs 5 and 6 of Br. Branham’s sermon where he read from Genesis chapter 3 concerning the serpent and how crafty and deceitful he was. We showed how the apostle John identified the father of Cain as being that wicked one, and showed how he named a couple identifiable characteristics of Cain and showed they were attributes of the devil.  Then we read where brother Branham said in paragraph 6 quoting from Luke 4:4 and Matthew 4:4 where Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."And then he added, “So read the Word; study It. And study It with the eyes of God to give your intellectuals understanding of how that we should live in this present day.”

 

Now, this morning we will continue with that thought on the deceivableness of the wicked one and move on to what the apostle Paul had to say in 2 Thessalonians 2 where the Apostle Paul warns us that this spirit of deception will be paramount in the end time as a main condition or characteristic of the lat days which he says is all about deception and delusion.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:10 “And with all deceivableness (notice he says all, that’s a.l.l. deceivableness of un-right-wiseness in them that are perishing; (not those who will perish, but those who are in that act of perishing, (them that are Present tense perishing) And it shows you or identifies them that are in the act of perishing because they are also expressing full blown deception. Therefore by watching this attribute of deception being exposed, you will be able to identify who is perishing and who is not just as John was able to identify that Cain’s father was that wicked one, the devil.)And Paul tells us they are in the act of perishing “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie:”

 

Notice it say The lie, and what was the same Lie the serpent told to Eve in the beginning? And it is the same lie being told in this hour. You say what lie is that? “Take this, do this, and you will not surely die.

 

And the Apostle Paul says here, 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in un-right-wise-ness. 13  But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14  Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory (the doxa of God, which comes by the shout) of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

From the First seal 63-0318 P:44 Brother Branham is also reading from this same Scripture and he says, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness... (deceiving people by un-righteousness)... in them that perish;... (not this Bride, in them that's looking for such a thing)... because they received not (Ok, so what creeds do they prefer over the Word of God. You’ve got to believe in a Trinity to be saved? YOU have to believe in Oneness to be saved? You have to do certain things or rituals to be saved? Like not eating meat?  You have to attend a certain church to be saved? You have to believe a certain doctrine to be saved?

You see, their creeds can be a whole host of things my brothers and sisters because the word “creed” simply means “a belief”. The actual definition is: any system, doctrine, or formula of religious belief, as of a denomination. any system or codification of belief or of opinion. an authoritative, formulated statement of the chief articles of a Christian belief system, such as the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, or the Athanasian Creed.

 

So basically a creed is any belief or codification of belief outside the Word of God. Just adding a jot or tittle to the Word of God can nullify its intended meaning. 

 

So we hear brother Branham quoting the apostle Paul from 2 Thessalonians 2 saying, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness... (deceiving people by un-righteousness)... in them that perish;... (not this Bride, in them that's looking for such a thing)... because they received not the love of the truth... (And Christ is the Truth, and Christ is the Word, but they'd rather have a creed.),... that they might be saved. And for this cause God has sent them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:... (It should be translated there, as I looked in the Lexicon, "the lie," not "a lie"; "the lie," same one he told Eve.)That they... might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

 

Look people, I am not making this stuff up. That is “thus saith the Lord” through God’s vindicated prophet, and he said it was the same lie the devil got Eve to believe.

 

From his sermon, God of this evil age 65-0801M P:33 brother Branham said,  Making a strong delusion, as the Bible said it would (II Thessalonians), how this man of sin would come into existence and set in the temple of God, showing himself he was God and caused the people to go into strong delusion to believe a lie; and believe it will be damned by it. That's the same thing he did to Eve, give her... Never told her the Word wasn't right, but give her a strong delusion that she believed a lie. The spirit of delusion is of the devil, devils now working in the children of disobedient. Disobedient to what? What's the children of this day disobedient to? Like Eve was at the beginning: the true Word of God.

 

Now, what brings on the delusion? By rejecting the truth of God’s Word. In other words, God said, “Let evey mans word be a lie and mine truth, saith the Lord.

 

Now, you think a person can turn down what a vindicated prophet taught as truth and not be open to delusion? God said that is the very reason for sending the delusion.

 

Brother Branham said how they turn down the Truth. In Christ revealed in His own Word 65-0822M P:58 “To dislocate the Scriptures, you might put His body together wrong, the foot where the head should be or something.

 

And the word dislocate means: to put out of place; put out of proper relative position; displace:The glacier dislocated great stones. The earthquake dislocated several buildings. to put out of joint or out of position, as a limb or an organ. to throw out of order; to upset the order; disorder:

 

He continues, Just the same as a... In other words, you might have Jesus teaching Moses' message. You might have, or even Wesley teaching Luther's age. You might have now, our age teaching Pentecost, the Pentecostal message. You see what a mess it would be in? Pentecost has already showed its colors. Luther's already showed his: went off into denomination; it died right there. The age struck; there it went. Notice, just as soon as it was organized, it died. Now, just see if that isn't right. Look back through the pages of history. Every time it organized it died right there; there never was no more to it. It become a worshipper of the god of this world. It went off into organisms, and organizations, and denominations, and illusions. A bunch of Rickys got into there and put their own objections into it, or injected their own thoughts, rather, into it. And what did it happen? It become a mess. Going to head up in the god of this world where they'll throne Satan himself, thinking that they're having a great world leader to bring them peace.

 

Now, first of all he tells us that to preach a Pentecostal Message today just makes a mess out of everything. So why are people who claim to believe God sent Him to straighten out the whole mess want to continue in that mess. Then he tells us that “by interjecting our own thoughts into it will only bring us an illusion.” He further calls those people who want to bring back a Pentecostal Message, those little Ricky's who are interjecting their own thoughts into it, thus making it just an illusion.

 

Now these words describe pseudo-ministers who come along with their Pentecostal illusions", Like the false doctrine that the “Fullness of the Godhead dwells in the bride”. That is purely a nonsensical idea, that there is no more God, and that all of God is now in the bride. So who is holding the entire universe in orbit? Who is making sure the moon doesn’t get too close to the earth to cause major flooding. Who is controlling all things, and making sure everything is held together?

 

I showed you a few weeks ago how their own lack of understanding the sovereignty of God opens them up to such delusions as that.

 

The Apostle Paul said in Colossians 1:16  “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

 

The Apostle Paul  did not say in them, he said “in Him should all fullness dwell.”  The Apostle Paul did not say they are before all things, he said He is, The Apostle Paul did not say by them all things consists, he said By him.

 

And William Branham who made it very clear that he only taught what Paul taught, never taught that hogwash,  but those who believe that  just can’t read. He said “the fullness of the Godhead is among the bride”. Among, that is a far cry from dwelling in. He said we have a measure and Jesus had it without measure. 

 

Things that are to be 65-1205 P:24 Jesus was the Fullness of God manifested. He was the Fullness of the Godhead bodily; …

 

Thinking man's filter 65-0822E P:16 He is the Head of the church. He's Head of the Body. There's nothing like Him anywhere. He made all things by Himself. He made all things for Himself, and without He there wasn't nothing made. He has all authority in heavens and earth, and everything belongs to Him. And in Him dwells the Fullness of the Godhead bodily. And the Word was God and made flesh among us, and He was the One Who revealed the entire secret of the whole plan of salvation that all the prophets and wise-men had spoke of. He alone was that wigged One and supreme authority.”

 

So he is talking about God, not the man Jesus But all of God came into that man Jesus, the son of God.

 

Paradox 64-0418B P:60  “God could not take a human's place, being His Spirit. So God created a blood cell which was His own Son, Jesus Christ. And God came in and lived in there, and lived, identified Himself in Christ. That was God Emmanuel. Jesus said, "I and My Father are One. My Father dwells in Me," (See?), God in Christ reconciling the world. Jesus was the Body, the Tabernacle, God was the Spirit that lived in Him.  61  Now, for instance, we have the Spirit by portion. He had It without measure. He was the Fullness of the Godhead bodily--God. But we have it by measure. Now, for instance like the little gift that we have among us now. Now, that's like taking a spoonful of water out of the ocean. Jesus was the whole Ocean, but this is just a spoonful. But remember, the same chemicals that's in the whole ocean is in this spoonful; only there's more of it out there. See? He was God. We are not God. We are not God, but together...

 

Three kinds of believers 63-1124E P:35 God said, "I'm the Lord, heals all thy diseases. I am God and I change not." Amen. And God is Word, and if God don't change, how's the Word going to change. See? "I am God, and I change not." The Scriptures says that; God said it Himself. And if He cannot change, then He is the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (the unchangeable Word). And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Amen. Yes, sir. God raised up bodies all down through: Moses, and Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, and Isaiah, and Elijah, all down where His Word temporarily come, but the full Word was made manifest in this Man Jesus Christ; which He was God in the--God in the Fullness of the Godhead bodily. There He was made flesh. I believe that, every word.

 

Be not afraid - 62-0620 All that God was, He poured into Jesus. Do you believe that? He was the Fullness of the Godhead bodily. And all Jesus was He poured into the church: The Holy Ghost. Is that right? So it's God in us. God in you. It's not... It doesn't make you anything. It's not the holy mountain or the holy church. It's the Holy Ghost, not the holy people, the Holy Ghost. See? It's the Holy Ghost in the people; not holy people, Holy Ghost. See? And that's the thing

Then others will say, the fullness of the Godhead dwelled in William Branham when he repeatedly said “what I have is just a measure.But you see what creeds will do? They will take some here and some ofrom over there and make up their own belief system.

 

But why do they say it? Because they dislocate the Words of God’s servant William Branham. 

 

Now, let's just stop here for a moment and look at this thought here of the Message, “by having little Ricky's interjecting their own thoughts into it, it has become just an illusion.” So what is an illusion anyhow? And what is the difference between an “illusion” and a “delusion”.

 

According to Webster’s Dictionary an illusion is: “something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality. the state or condition of being deceived; In Psychology. a perception, as of visual stimuli (optical illusion ), that represents what is perceived in a way different from the way it is in reality.

 

So an illusion speaks of deceiving, and misleading. While a “delusion” is defined as ‘a false belief or opinion:”

 

Although both illusions and delusions are false; illusions pertain to the mind and delusions pertain to a belief.  So God will send them a strong delusion is sending them a false belief. Whereas Illusions can be said to be what fools the mind; but delusions are things that an individual perceives to be truth even though it is contrary to all evidence.

 

And the Bible says that God will send them a strong delusion because they love not the truth. So it is God who sends the delusion. And if a delusion concerns the beliefs which are contrary to evidence and facts, then what causes them to believe something contrary to evidence and truths? The Illusion of something they see or hear. And remember an illusion is a “misleading impression of reality”.

 

William Branham said in the Unveiling of God 64-0614M P: “And each time, if you who take the tapes and listen, and I hope and trust that you have had a spiritual understanding of what that God has been in trying to get over to the church without saying it right out. See? It's a thing sometime... We have to say things in such a way, that it might thin down, it might bring some to go out, some to leave, and some to ponder over. But that's done purposely. It must be done that way.”

 

And so in the way words are spoken sometimes, we find people take them and misapplying them or dislocating them, and then like in putting together a jig saw puzzle, they get the cow up on the tree eating grass because grass and the tree are both green, and since the puzzle cutout might have a similar look, they place the cow in the tree eating his grass. Although the puzzle cut out may fit partially, most often a cow eating grass in the tree is because the person pushes it in to make it fit because that is what they perceive. That is what they believe. 

 

Now, look. In the quote we read where Brother Branham is telling us that this is what becomes of the Word of God when the Little Ricky's inject their own thoughts into it. He said, it becomes an illusion and then he said it’s a mess.

 

Now,  as I said, Webster’s Dictionary tells us that an illusion is: a false idea or conception; belief or opinion that is not in accord with the facts. And that is what Brother Vayle said about the Two Lords Creed, he said “Two lords is a fallacy”. And he said, but they use it because they can see where the Bible says in Matthew 22:44, “The Lord said unto my Lord.” But it also says it in three other places of which it was actually stated “Elohim said unto adonai.” So the illusion was placed their by Trinitarian scholars who wrote the King James Bible. And so brother Vayle said, “because it’s in there, they use itbut that doesn’t make it right. It’s still a fallacy, it’s just an illusion that leads to a delusion. Brothers and sisters, you must run doctrine from Genesis all the way through Revelations to make sure you have it correct. And if Moses and Zechariah, and Jesus and Paul and William Branham all preached “One Lord”, then “Two lords” is a delusion based upon an illusion you read in Scripture without doing your homework and checking it out.

 

An illusion is a deception that is not real, it is a misleading appearance or image. A false perception, or conception, or interpretation of what one sees. A misleading image resulting in a wrong impression.

 

So we see that these thoughts come as a result of a false interpretation. And Brother Branham further called them an illusion which means the Word is interpreted in such a way as to make it appear to be different than it really is. Like a mirage in the desert that you think you see water but it is not really there.

 

We hear the prophet Isaiah speak of this in Isaiah 29:7 Then all the nations that fight against Mt Zion,  will be like a dream; all the nations that ·attack her will be like a vision in the night.

 

And remember Mt Zion speaks of the bride of Christ.

 

From his sermon Future home 64-0802 P:177 brother Branham said, Listen, let's just read it. Look here. And in that day seven women shall take ahold of one man saying, We'll eat our own bread,... wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach... (That's the end time where we're living now: marriage, divorce, and prostitution, and whatevermore.) In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious,... the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely... them that... escaped of Israel... (How that you escaped all that damnation. See?)And it shall came to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that's a remnant in Jerusalem, shall... (Let's see.)... in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: (See?) Wherein the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughter of Zion,... (Remember that's always the Bride. See?)... and shall have purified the blood of Jerusalem... (That's the remnant of the Jews plus the Bride. See?)... and in the midst thereof with the spirit of judgment,... (Fire, that's always God's judgment. When He makes His final judgment, calls you, justifies you, and brings you to redemption, then His judgment breaks forth upon you, and the Holy Ghost and Fire cleanses away the sin. Then you're His. Same thing He does to the earth when He purges it with fire.)... and by the spirit of burning. (Now look listen, are you ready?)And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assembly, a cloud of smoke by day, and a shining of... fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

 

And from his sermon Spoken word original seed 62-0318E P:186 he said, “Then in the latter rain there will come forth a Mount Carmel, a showdown: Bible fulfilled to the letter. John the Baptist, His messenger before His face in Malachi 3, planted a former rain and was rejected by the churches, the denominations, the Pharisees and Sadducees in his day. Jesus came and had the Mount Transfiguration showdown. This forerunner of the last days will sow for the former rain. Jesus will be the showdown between denominations and creeds (which is His Word). When He comes, the showdown, the rapture of His Bride... The first was Mount Carmel; the second was Mount Transfiguration; the third will be Mount Zion. Glory.

 

So we see then that in Isaiah 29:7-8 speaks of the illusion and delusion that comes against those who fight the Bride and they will come like a dream of the night, a delusion,

 

And then Isaiah explains this night vision or dream. And here we see the scripture warning us about what will happen to those who are found fighting against the elect Bride. Isaiah 29: 8  They will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating, but when he awakens, he is still hungry. They will be like a thirsty man who dreams he is drinking, but when he awakens, he is still weak and thirsty. It will be the same way with ·all the [the multitude of] nations who fight against Mount Zion. Which is those who fight against the bride of Christ.

 

So we are looking at this illusion that brings on the delusion that God promised to give to all who do not Love His Appearing, which is His Parousia. Notice then that these men are living in a delusion. They eat from the Bread of Life but it is only in a dream. When they awake from their dream they will still be empty. Why?, because they are living in a delusion. Deceived by a false vision or false creed or belief. And what has caused this? Their own opinions are held in more esteem to themselves than the Word of God. Notice that in verses 9-12 we are told that they will be in slumber, and the Lord will have brought on this deep slumber and their dreams will not produce anything for them.

 

When men look for vindication aside from the Word of God, they will often jump at any Scripture they think might fit their belief. And that is exactly what happens, that is why they get the cow eating grass up in the tree.

 

From CHAP. VIII.--HOW THE VALENTINIANS PERVERT THE SCRIPTURES TO SUPPORT THEIR OWN PIOUS OPINIONS. 1. Irenaeaus wrote, “Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles delivered, but of which they boast that beyond all others they have a perfect knowledge. They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures;(4) and, to use a common proverb, they strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavor to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. In doing so, however, they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures, and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth. By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions.

 

Now, before we move ahead, I would like to ask a question, how can you weave ropes of sand? You can't. By its very nature when you pick up sand it falls apart. And if it were possible to make a rope of sand by pressing it together in some way, you still could not bend it, because the moment you tried to tie it or weave it, it would disintegrate. And so Irenaeus has painted a picture for our minds to see the futility of these people endeavoring to make something work and fit that has no possibility of working or fitting. And then he adds, “while they endeavor to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions”. And I want you to get what he is saying here. "while they endeavor to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions", and that is the key. It is their own peculiar assertions that they are stating. They are not interested in proving God's Word, but they are only using God's Word to declare their own notions or ideas.

 

Irenaeaus goes on to say,  “Their manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skillful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed; and should then maintain and declare that this was the beautiful image of the king which the skillful artist constructed, pointing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first artist to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred by the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king's form was like, and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king. In like manner do these persons patch together old wives' fables, and then endeavor, by violently drawing away from their proper connection, words, expressions, and parables whenever found, to adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions. We have already stated how far they proceed in this way with respect to the interior of the Pleroma (which means Fullness.)

 

Now, remember the indictment to the first church age is that they left their first love for the Word. And here Irenaeaus who is the second Church Age Messenger comes on the scene and tells us how they fell away. And that is exactly what brother Branham is telling us in Satan’s Eden.

 

And thus we see the in Isaiah the same scene acted out in his parable.

9. Be surprised and amazed. Blind yourselves, so that you cannot see. Become drunk, but not from wine. Trip and fall, but not from strong drink. 10 The Lord has  made you go into a deep sleep. He has closed your eyes. (to The prophets.) He has covered your heads. 11 This vision is like the words of a scroll that is closed and sealed. You may give the scroll to someone who can read and tell that person to read it. But he will say, “I can’t read the scroll, because it is sealed.” (that’s like those people who believe the seven seals are still sealed) 12 Or you may give the scroll to someone who cannot read and tell him to read it. But he will say, “I don’t know how to read.”

 

Now we know a mirage is just an illusion. Webster tells us that an illusion is the same as a hallucination. And he also tells us a hallucination is the same thing as a delusion, or a mirage.

But mirages are not harmless, they are very dangerous because they give you a false hope, but you can't quench your thirst by drinking from a mirage anymore than you could get warm sitting by a painted fire. That is just a false illusion. Isaiah says,  When they awake from their dream they will still be empty, because they are living in a delusion. A false vision of deception.” And what has caused this? Their own opinions are held in more esteem to themselves than the Word of God.

 

But the good news is that the Apostle Paul who spoke of this end time or pre-tribulation delusion also spoke of the Mind of Christ being in Gods Elect.

 

Philippians 2:5“Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”

 

And he also said, in Philippians 3: 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

 

So what gives us the ability to be “Thus Minded” is Revelation that comes from God.

 

Now, any child who follows the ministry of William Branham should be able to quote from  Matthew 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock (of revelation) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 

Now, as I said, just about anyone who follows William Branham’s Message has heard him say this enough that they should be able to quote it and even talk intelligently about revelation, what it is, and how necessary revelation is to the believer. But why do the majority of the ministers who claim to believe His Message refuse to believe what Peter said that brought such praise from Jesus.

 

In  verse 13 Jesus had asked the disciples the question, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Then Jesus called Peter blessed and said those notable words, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. and upon this rock (the rock of revelation),  I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 

But Peter had just called Jesus the Son of God, and the majority of the ministers who claim follow the ministry of William Branham do not have that same revelation as Peter had, that revelation given to Peter by God the Father as Jesus pointed out.

 

So, this morning we are going to examine the difference between Revelation and Delusion, because  both are very powerful influences in the world today, and not only in the World but amongst those who claim to believe the End-time Message of Malachi Four. And let’s face it, I am not interested in the world. It is a lost cause. They rejected the Message in 1956. But what I am interested in looking at this morning is the rest of them that claim the message but actually turned it down.

But what I am interested in is the Sons and daughters of God who are sitting under false representations of ministries who have no more revelation from God, than the Oneness Pentecostals do. 

 

Now as I said earlier, to understand the difference between Revelation and delusion, we must know what the two words mean. Because as brother Branham said about the difference between the Appearing and Coming, he said they are two different words and they mean two different things.  And so does Revelation and Delusion.

 

Now we’ve already discussed the words illusion and delusion, but let’s look at the word Revelation as well. The word Revelation means: The act of revealing or disclosing. b. Something revealed, something not previously known or realized but is made know or realized. In Scripture it is a manifestation of divine will or truth.  

So we see that Revelation is something that was hidden that God had before hand hidden, but then God uncovers or discloses or manifests so as to reveal or make known that truth unto men. Therefore it is a making known by the manifestation of Divine Truth. It is essentially God interpreting His Word by the bringing it to pass.

 

Now, let’s contrast that to Delusion, for delusion comes from deception, the act of deceiving, and to deceive you must take a truth and do something to it to hide it from men. So revelation takes that which is hidden and reveals it while Deception takes that which is revealed hides it from men. And the result is delusion.

 

So we can say revelation reveals or manifests while deception hinders or covers up truth. In other words, then a delusion is anti or the opposite of Revelation. Let me say that in a way you may remember better. Revelation Reveals, Delusion Conceals.  

 

Now, I have taught the Message Doctrine to a more than 3,500 plus ministers face to face around the world, and I will not in any way say that all that I have taught have opened their minds and hearts to the doctrine. It all depends on your frame of mind when you hear the Word whether you will receive it or reject it.

 

Br. Branham said from his sermon Blasphemous names 62-1104M P:56Number one, coming to you, your mental faith, right here, comes the Holy Spirit, coming down into your mental faith making it a spiritual faith. Then the spiritual faith only recognizes the Word. Now, and number two--three: Then you'll have spiritual, you'll  have the Holy Spirit, and will seal all these things into you, as that Holy Spirit covers this. From your faith up to the Holy Spirit seals you in with Christ; then you become one. Amen. You become one. See, you and Christ live together. "At that day you'll know that I'm in the Father, the Father in Me, I in you, and you in Me." See? Then that's a sealed unit of the Lord God. Now, and then they are vindicated and placed. When that time takes place, they become vindicated sons and daughters of God.

 

So notice that brother Branham is telling us here that when the Holy Spirit comes into your mental faith, he anoints that mental faith and it becomes a spiritual dynamic Revelation, and then it is sealed in there and no one could ever take it from you, and he said it makes you one with Christ. And notice he said when we come to that place, we are ready for the placing as sons and daughters of God. In other words, we must be in that condition where our mental faith has been anointed with the Spirit of God and it has dropped down into our soul sealing us in and making us One with the mind of Christ, and we must come to that condition in order to be placed in the adoption of sons.

 

Again from his sermon  Blasphemous names 62-1104M P:53 The biggest part of our faith is mental faith. By hearing the Word it brings us to a mental recognition of God. But if this coming from above, oh, brother, if it ever strikes this, there is a godly, spiritual faith. Then what does that faith do? That faith recognizes only the Word. No matter what anything else says, it only recognizes the Word, because "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (And the Word's still God.) And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us." And when the word Itself is pouring into our faith, our mental faith becomes a spiritual revelation. "And upon this foundation I'll build My Church," (See?), not upon a mental conception of church joining, a mental conception of that, but upon the revelation. When them streams of grace has poured into that mental faith that you've got, then upon this, a spiritual revelation, "I'll build My Church and the gates of hell can't prevail against it." See? That shows they would be against it, but it'll never prevail. Oh, what a glorious thing.

 

Now, notice how brother Branham tells us that the Holy Spirit comes and anoints our mental Faith and then it becomes a spiritual revelation that builds upon Word upon Word upon Word.  Then brother Branham says “When them streams of grace has poured into that mental faith that you've got, then upon this, a spiritual revelation.”

 

Now, Peter. The one who Jesus praised for receiving the Revelation of the Godhead, that there is One God and He had a Son, and Jesus was that Son of God. In 1 Peter 1:13 he tells us “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;”

 

Notice he says at the end time there will be a certain Grace that will be brought to you at the time of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  And in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 we read,

 

1 Corinthians 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 4  I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

 

Now, notice what this Grace is to do.  5  That in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance,(that word utterance was translated from the Greek word Logos, which we know as Word, but also it means doctrine or teaching) and in all knowledge; so we see that this Grace is to enrich us like fertilizer does to the seed planted in the soil, and it is to enrich the doctrine and knowledge in order to produce a fully manifested crop of sons and daughters.

 

Then he tells us why. 6  Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7  So that ye come behind in no gift; (the word is charisma and it speaks of an “endowment” as in mental acuity or ability to understand..

 

So God sends a special anointing of Grace in order to anoint our minds to the doctrine so that we come behind in no understanding) waiting for the coming (the apokalupsis or unveiling) of our Lord Jesus Christ:  8  Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

 

So you see this grace that brother Branham was talking about is the same Grace that Peter and Paul spoke of that would come at the time of the apokalupsia or Unveiling of God. And it was to produce in us an anointing upon our minds moving that understanding down into our souls that we might understand our own role as sons giving us the same mind that was in Christ and readying us for the adoption as obedient sons.

 

So we see the important of revelation to the believer. Revelation is what seals us in. Revelation is what takes all the teaching handed down from a vindicated prophet and re-taught by a true five-fold ministry and anoints our mental faith with an ability to take Word upon Word upon Word, bringing it to a supernatural dynamic revelation that seals us into Christ the word, and readies us for our adoption.

 

The Apostle John speaks of this in 1 John 2:20  But ye have an unction, an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21  I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. 24  Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 25  And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 26  These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

 

So we see that the Holy Spirit is our teacher and the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the believer is what allows you to know and understand the deep things of God.

 

In fact the apostle Paul taught this in 1 Corinthians 2:9 where he says,   But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God knows. 12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15  But he that is spirit filled judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.  16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Chris

 

So we see that the problem we have even among us with many who claim to be Message believers, is because men have received their learning from men, but not from God. And please don’t tell me about this message church or that message church, because there is only one Church and that is the body of born again believers. So individuals make up that body and not church bodies. I have never liked that idea of calling churches message Churches, because many are not.

 

That’s like calling all who believe in justification Lutherans, yet many who believe in justification, That the just shall live by Faith or revelation, which was Luther’s Message, but many who believe that are not Lutherans.  You may call people end time believers, but not all people who believe we are in the end time are believers in the Message that God brought down with a Shout, and neither are all who listen to the tapes of William Branham, believers in the Message of the Shout because they deny what he taught.

 

Never forget there are three kinds of believers in every congregation, so churches in general have three kinds of believers. Therefore to call them all Message churches, is not only a fallacy, but it is organizational in scope and denominational in viewpoint.

 

And let’s face it, that kind of talk is organization, which lumps everyone who claims to follow a certain teaching into one group, and that’s wrong. The wise virgin and foolish virgin all heard the same midnight cry which is the shout of 1 Thessalonians 4 which we know is the Message, but all did not believe. And that Message was “Behold he is here, come out to meet him”, and some did come out to meet him while others went out doubting he was actually there. So they missed Him because they looked for a vessel, not understanding the difference between the Appearing and Coming, that they are two different words and mean two different things.

 

Brother Branham taught us in his sermon Voice Of The Sign 64-0321E   E-33 The elected listens to the voice. But the unelected ignores and says, "Nonsense. Go on. We'll take the same old school." That's the way they did in the days of Luther.”

 

And to ignore it means to refrain from noticing or recognizing. That is the actual definition of ignore. Therefore, although they may push play and listen to the tape of the voice with their ears, yet they do not  recognize what is being said, and therefore they do not act up what was said. And that is exactly what the foolish virgins did. They did not recognize and act upon and go into the wedding feast, so they went off to them that sell.

 

And from his sermon God Who Is Rich In Mercy  65-0119  191 “If a man comes out with an odd peculiar ministry, that's found in the Bible to be the Truth, and that man stays right in that same old denominational doctrine, forget it. Nothing to it. God don't do a thing like that. That thing, that's rotten manna that's got termites in it, or wiggletails, or whatever you want to call it, from forty, fifty years ago, still trying to eat that old manna that fell way back years ago. And the children of Israel on their journey, new manna fell every night. That's right, you couldn't keep it over. We don't live over some other age gone by. We're eating new Manna, fresh Manna out of heaven, in our journey as we go on.”

 

Then why do men keep preaching the same old denominational Oneness doctrine and claim to believe the sign. They see the prophet, so they see the sign, but why do they keep preaching the same old watered down doctrine that they held back in Pentecost?

 

The Token 64-0308  77 “He displayed His sign as Messiah, and so forth. And they, many of them, said, "Yes, I could go for that." Well, now, if that was a sign, there's got to be a voice of that sign. What was the voice behind it? When He begin to teach His doctrine and call them a bunch of snakes in the grass, He wasn't popular from then on (See?) when the voice came with the sign. The sign went first.”

 

And we know the prophet is the sign, but the voice of the sign is the doctrine he taught. So we see that the doctrine is vitally important, because it is the water upon the seed  that brings the seed into manifestation of the life that lays within it. As Moses taught us the Rain upon the seed is God’s doctrine in Deuteronomy 32:1-2  And Jesus said they did not want his doctrine, they wanted the doctrine of men instead, He said “by teaching for doctrine the commandments of men they made the Word of God of  none effect to themselves.

 

And if you hear but do not learn it is because you might have heard but you did not believe. Or else what you heard you really did not hear, or understand and what you heard, so they did not see nor did they perceive or understand lest God would have to heal them as Jesus quoted. So by hearing and not hearing and seeing and not seeing it shows they had preconceived ideas already of what it was they were hearing and seeing, but their preconceived notions were wrong. That is why they heard and did not hear, and saw but did not see, nor did they understand.

 

That is what the apostle Paul told us in 2 Thessalonians 2:10 because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

 

Now, a delusion is A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence. And no matter how many hundreds of Scriptures you may give them showing them the truth of the Message Doctrine, and no matter how many hundreds of quotes from Brother Branham you may give them, they still refuse to believe what the Prophet of God taught us concerning the Word of God. Therefore to claim they follow the Message and do not understand it nor take it back to the Scriptures is one strong delusion. I have talked to these men and they tell me they believe every word brother Branham said, yet they will flat  out deny and disagree with what our prophet taught us.

 

So instead of Revelation that feeds Word upon Word upon Word, they receive a strong delusion that feeds upon what other men have said, and thus they would rather “believe the Lie” than The Truth vindicated by Scripture and Prophetic utterance of “Thus Saith the Lord.” 

 

If revelation is to anoint our mental faith and create in us a supernatural understanding and bring us into a readied state for adoption, then deception has to do the opposite. It will cause a falling away from The Faith which is The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

Now, you can’t tell me that these men do not intentionally hold to error rather than the Truth. Jesus said, John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

 

The Bible tells us that they lie in wait to deceive. Paul said in Ephesians 4: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

 

And, why do you think men would travel half way around the world to just to try to squash my meetings, and influence men to stay way from my meetings. Jesus said, Matthew 23: 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

 

And again we hear Paul say the same thing in, Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

 

Now, that word “hold  was translated from the Greek word Katecho and it means to hold down, to withhold or to hold back. In other words they suppress the Truth.

 

Notice that they hold down the Truth in un-right-wise-ness, which means they hold down the Truth by their incorrect understanding, that’s how they hold down the truth So you see by teaching error instead of the Truth they hold the truth back from the people. And in order to withhold the Truth from the people, they cause the people to stay away from the Truth. Now to do this they must lie about the truth of the Godhead, and so they say lie and say we teach 2 Gods, and thus they are able to suppress the knowledge of the Truth from the people, because the people become afraid to check into the Truth.

 

And isn’t that the main weapon the devil has, is fear? Is not that what the governments are doing all over the world in presenting fear to the people everywhere? But God promised us that fear if not from him, but rather “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of Love and a sound mind.” So then where does fear come from? The devil, and that is his number one weapon.

 

Now, in order to teach a lie they do not come right out and deny the Scriptures. No, Satan never did that. In fact he quoted them. But what he did was to mis-locate and dislocate the Scriptures placing them out of context and out of order.

 

Men who claim to believe the Message will not come right out and say they disagree with Br. Branham, but when you quote from the Scriptures and William Branham they say you are making it up, and twisting it. They say they believe him, and yet they deny what he taught.

 

From his sermon  Indictment the 63-0707M P:116 Brother Branham said, “You poor intellectual, spiritual deprived, rejected upon your own grounds, you read the same Bible that any other man can read; but you've turned down the Spirit of God, till the Bible said you'd “be given over to a strong delusion to believe a lie and be damned by it.” You actually believe that you're right, and the Bible says that you'd believe it and be damned by the same lie that you believe to be the truth. Therefore, I indict you by the Word of God. You are teaching the people a error and crucifying the principles of Christ, of holiness, and Life above as a person might walk out on the street and be a different person.

 

So, what is the best way to hide a real diamond? Put it in a room with a thousand counterfeits. And what is the best way to hide the Truth? Put it in a Message with a thousand counterfeits. Look, the counterfeit religion isn’t out there somewhere, it’s right in our midst trying to keep you from the Truth of the Message.

 

And how can you worship God outside of Truth. You can’t.  So they try to change the truth. And Paul told us how they do it. He said in Romans 1: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

 

And so instead of preaching about the Son of God and how he came and laid down his own Life,  they preach about the Bride, the Bride, and the Bride. In her is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. They preach of the creature instead of the creator.

 

And so they will not believe the record that God gave of His Son and in doing so they are calling God a liar. That is the Apostle John said in 1 John 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

 

And what was this record that God gave of His Son. John told us in John 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And again he said in verse 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

 

So the error of the wicked is to take the word of God and twist it in such a way as to distort it, so it does not say what it actually says. It means to lie about the Truth in order to cause the people to stay away from it. That’s how they suppress the truth. 

 

2 Peter 3: 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

 

And Jude tells us Jude 1: 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

 

And what was the error of Balaam? We’re all the same. That was the error of Balaam, We’re all the same, but we are not the same.

 

Jesus said in his Prayer to the Father, John 17: 14 I have given them thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 

And he also said, John 16:2  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

 

And again Jesus said in, John 15: 20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21  But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22  If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. 

 

Now, brother Branham warned us in his sermon Christ revealed in his own Word that people would lose their minds in the end time. He said, “In the Laodicean age the people were what? Naked (Are they?), blind. What good does light do to a blind man? If the blind leads the blind, don't they all fall in the ditch? Naked, blind, and don't know it. Even their mental faculties are gone, their spiritual faculties of mental--spiritual understanding. See? Heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, and despisers of those that are good, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, The power of revelation, they don't even believe in it. See?”) They don't believe in such things as prophets, and so... They don't believe in it.

 

Way of a true prophet 62-0513M P:118 The Bible said if they wouldn't believe the Word, He'd give them strong delusions to believe a lie and would be damned by it. That's exactly what these organizations and people of this nation's doing today: believing a lie to be damned by it.

 

God's wrapped gift 60-1225 P:53 God said He'd give them over to strong delusions to believe a lie and be damned by it. God said He would do it. You refuse right, you have to take wrong. There's no other way. You refuse to go right, you have to go left, go some other way beside right; so you can't go right and wrong at the same time. When they refused the Holy Ghost, they refused Christ, they refused God's program, they refused the messenger, they refused everything; so therefore, they're left in their sin. There's nothing left then but judgment.

 

Let us pray…