Spoken Word #17
“Misunderstood
Motives Misunderstood Word”
Brian Kocourek
April 20th, 2008
Now, we
are going to read several paragraphs this morning so please bear with me as we
begin with paragraph 10
where brother Branham said, And now, O Lord, Who separated me from my mother,
Who's fed me all the days of my life and has brought me to this hour, by Thy
grace, feeling it was Thy will that I
should explain to the people why that I have acted and did the way I have done;
may it be in such a way that people will have a better understanding, Lord, of the peculiarity of Thy servants. Grant
these things, Father, these Scriptures and a text and words that we have
written here through the week, praying and studying. May they fall on good
ground everywhere they are heard, a ground that can hold them and nourish them,
and then all praise shall be given to Thee, for we ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.
11 To the
people out in the cars who can't get in, I'm attaching a little
instrument here now, and turn on your radio to 1150 and you'll get the message
right on your radio in your car. Now, is this... The
connection here it's on is it, for the tapes?
12 Now, to all my friends
both here and wherever these tapes may travel, I feel that I owe it to the
people for an explanation of many things
that I have said and done. So many times people has come to me and said,
"Our pastor says, 'Why would you do
that,' Brother Branham? Why did you say this? And what makes you do it this
a-way?" Now, with all my heart, everything that I have done, I have
done it with the best intention I know how. And everything that I have said
I've said it from my heart. And I've did
it for a purpose; and I'll try this morning by God's help to explain from
the Bible the purpose and why I have done it.
13 And now,
there perhaps, in a group of people this size, there's probably many ministers
setting here, and there'll be many hear this, and I wish we had enough time to
put all that I had thought of and brought the Scriptures to the people. But to
my brethren: even though that you might've disagreed with me... Now, I'm
speaking both here and for the tapes, you might've disagreed with me much
because of my stand towards what I think to be right. And you have a right to
disagree with me as you may see it different; but I hope that me, by the help
of God this morning, I'll be able to show you the reason why that I have took
this stand.
14 And I have
never,… there's been many times that I have scolded
churches, denominations, the dressing of women, the acting of men. I think I
have thoroughly supported that by Scripture. And never one time, God knowing my
heart, have I ever had a bad feeling towards anyone. No matter if they
disagreed with me as far as the east from the west, I still loved them. And as long as I have the Spirit of God in me I'll always love His church, His people.
No matter what they do, or how they
treat me, that won't have anything to do with it. I still love them.
Now, I want you to notice what Brother Branham is saying here is no
different than what the Apostle Paul said to the Galatians after many had
turned back from what he had taught them, not understanding his motives for
teaching them so strongly concerning the Grace of Christ. And in reading you
will also see that the reason for the people slipping back into the law from
whence they came out is because false brethren had come in amongst them, and
turned them from Paul’s teaching.
Galatians 4:12 Brethren, I
beseech you, become as I am; even as I became as
you are: you have not injured me at all. 13 Ye
know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you the
first time I came to you. 14 And the test to which you
were subjected and which was in my flesh, you did not loathe nor utterly
despise, but as a messenger of God you received me, as Christ Jesus. 15 Where is then
the blessedness you used to speak of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been
possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. 16 Am I therefore become
your enemy, because I tell you the truth? 17 They
zealously have affected you, but not well; yea,
they would shut you off from hearing me, that you might covet them. 18 But
it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not
only when I am present with you.19 My little
children, of whom I travail in birth again, for I am longing that Christ be formed in you and
openly manifested in you, 20 I desire to be present with you
now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
Just like brother Branham, Paul was saying that the ministers were having
an influence on the people and were questioning the motives of Brother Branham
as to why he was so strong on the issues of holiness that he brought out here
in his opening statements after his prayer.
The same thing has happened to me not only here among those who left us
years ago, but also among some ministers in some of the places where I have
gone to teach. They say, “why do you speak so strongly against
organization?” “Why do you come and
stir up our people?” “Why do you
cause such a division among us?” And yet, all I teach is the Doctrine of
Christ right from this Bible, and from what William Branham taught concerning
the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
And it saddens my heart to know that the truth causes so much animosity
in the people. Don’t they know that William Branham said, “I am only teaching
what Paul taught? Didn’t the People know that what Paul taught them came right
from the Old Testament Scriptures concerning Christ?
Don’t they know that what brother Vayle taught is exactly what William
Branham taught? Don’t they know that I can do no other than to teach what I
have been taught from an indicated Teacher and a vindicated prophet?
As Paul said, “when I came to you at the first
you were overjoyed to see me. Why is it that when I began to teach you the
truth, you have become so distanced from me?” And then Paul tells us what it is that is
doing this to the people.
He tells us that the ministry has turned the people against hearing him.
And what do you think the motive is for the ministry to do such? Well Paul said
that it had to do with a sort of courting of the people. In
other words, popularity. And why popularity?,
Because popularity means control. Let’s look for ourselves in the Scriptures at
several times where the wrong motive was used to control the people to do evil
against God’s servants who were teaching the truth of God’s Word.
Acts 6: 9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue,
which is called the synagogue of the Libertines,
and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.10 And
they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. 11 Then
they suborned men, (they bribed men
to commit perjury or false witness) which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words
against Moses, and against God. 12 And they stirred up
the people, and the elders, and the scribes, (they deliberately
provoked the people, elders and scribes to come to action against Stephen) and came upon him,
and caught him, and brought him to the council,
Acts
Chapter 13: 42 And when the Jews were gone out of the
synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the
next sabbath.
43 Now
when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes
followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue
in the grace of God.
44 And the next sabbath
day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45 But
when the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy, and spake
against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold,
and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken
to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying,
I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest
be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were
glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to
eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. 50 But the
Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women,(now, listen, if you want to cause a stir against the
Word of God, or the ministry that God has sent, then just get the most
religious, self-righteous women involved. They’ll jump on the band wagon every
time. And Paul also said,…) and the chief men of the city, (that’s those men
who want to be leaders, as brother Vayle said, it isn’t the true Five-Fold
ministry that cause any problems, it’s those elders who want to control
everything that cause the problems, and they will jump on the band wagon to try
to bring down God anointed preachers every time, because that’s their nature to
control, and when they loose control over he people because of the Word setting
them free, they will do everything they can to gain back that control evening
inducing to evil actions and speech against those who are expounding the truth.
You can’t tell me any different. It’s the elders who have cause
me more grief than any minister has been able to do. It is the elders that
caused brother Vayle and brother Branham their problems.) and raised
persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of
their coasts. 51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against
them,… 52 And the disciples
were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.
Acts 14: 1 And it
came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together
into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also
of the Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil
affected against the brethren.
Again we see in Acts 17: 13 But
when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of
Paul at
Acts 21:
27 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which
were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and
laid hands on him,
Acts 19:
23 And the
same time there arose no small stir about that way.
God
being misunderstood 61-0728E 70 You
know, misunderstanding gets us in a lot of trouble. Many times that people say
things that they repeat after somebody else, where they misunderstood them. That
gets a person in trouble. I believe it would be good for us if we just, well,
wait till we understood what we was talking about.
Don't you think so? I know it would be for me, a very good for me to find out
first and then say it. See? But we're always, seem to be, misunderstood. And
here David is speaking of Israel misunderstood His miracles when they were in Egypt.Now, to misunderstand is just not to say, "Well,
I didn't hear what he said," but to see something done and misunderstand
what it's for, that's a--that's you're missing the boat all completely then.
71
Now, God doesn't do miracles just to say, "See, I'm God." God does a miracle for an understanding.
See? God does it for a purpose.
And did you notice the reading of the Psalms
here in this 7th verse? I think it's so
beautiful; I want to read it over again. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt;... (see, they didn't
understand it)... they remembered not the multitude of thy
mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even... the
74 That's
what God was doing to
75 But a
man that's willing to understand, that's willing to set down ("And
come let us reason together," saith the Lord)
now, that man is on the line of learning
something from the Lord. But people who always are associated with God and
God's power... You can hardly be associated with God without being associated
with His power, because when you're associated with Him you are acquainted to
Him, or a relative to Him, and then you have His power in you. That's the
reason that people cannot believe in miracles today, because they don't have
anything in them to believe with. They've got to have something in there to
believe with. And when the Spirit of God is in a man, he will say
"amen" to every Word of God and every miracle of God. But as my
mother used to say, "You can't get blood from a turnip, because there's no
blood in it." So that's the same way; you can't get belief out of unbeliever,
because there's nothing there to believe with.
76 A man said, "I don't
believe in Divine healing, no matter what you'd
say." Certainly, it's not for him; it's
only to those who can believe. If you're going to get blood, get it out
from something that's got blood in it. If you're going to get faith, get it out
to something that's got faith in it. And that's the way; God uses something that's got faith in it. He don't
send you out here in a healing campaign when you ain't got faith enough to
believe it. How is He going to send you out in a miracle-working revival when
you ain't got faith enough to believe it? He
wants something that's got something in there that He can produce something
with. So the people misunderstood.
77 Noah was very much misunderstood in his day. Noah, acquainted of God,
a servant of God, a believer in God. And when you become a believer in God, you
do things so contrary to what people think that's right till they think that
you're crazy. And Noah, warned of God, prepared an ark for the saving of his
household. And the people thought that he was crazy. He was not crazy; he was
just misunderstood, because he was following the direction of God. Amen. I like
that. He was mis-understood. "How could a
man..." Though You say, "There's never no
rain come from the sky. What is rain?" Never had rained; God irrigated the
ground. "Noah, where's that rain at?" "I don't know."
"Show me where it's at." "I can't show it to you."
"Well, how do you know it's going to come down from up there when there's
none up there to come down?" said it's coming down, He's able to take it
up there and then bring it down." So that--that settled
it. If God said so, that's all there is to it. See? He was misunderstood
because he was following God.
78
Elijah... I could stay on these subjects a long time, but I've got several of
them here I would like to come to quickly. Elijah was misunderstood by his nation.
Elijah was an Israelite; he was a Jew, and he was misunderstood because he was
always condemning his nation, condemning the king, condemning the queen,
condemning everything there was around, and condemning them. What a crackpot he
seemed to be. Why, my, everything, it came "THUS SAITH THE LORD. God's going to punish you, you Jezebel, you so-and-so."He was
misunderstood. Why? He was following God. It was not Elijah they misunderstood;
it was the working of the Holy Spirit in Elijah that they misunderstood.
79 How could a man raise up
against his own nation? Blasphemed his own nation, corrected, and put the
curses of God upon it, the very nation, the very people that he lived with. His
own race, his own color, his own creed, his own kind, and yet predict the
judgments of God and called a famine upon them. He was misunderstood, because
it wasn't Elijah; it was God in Elijah
that they misunderstood. It wasn't Elijah being misunderstood; it was God
leading Elijah, and they misunderstood that God was a holy God and He cannot
in-tolerate sin. And no matter if it's on your brother, sister, or mother, no
matter who it is, it's sin in the sight of God and the judgment will come upon
them for it. Misunderstood...
80
Daniel was misunderstood when all of
the rest of the children of Israel bowed down to the image, but he and Shadrach
and Meshach and Abednego
refused to bow down. Well, they said, "What's the matter with him?"
The whole nation said, "What's the matter with this crazy guy? Well, all
the rest of the Hebrews recognized our god; they recognized it; they bow down
when we play the trumpets, and sound the trumpets and play the psalteries, and
so forth, and sound the flute. They all bow down, but what's the matter with
this crackpot? What's the matter with him; he won't do it?" Because he was in contact with God. That's what's the matter. He was misunderstood. He was supposed to
be "Crazy, or had lost his mind. Well, they was a
bunch of cranks." But they were only following the leading of the Spirit.
That's the reason they were misunderstood.
81
All the prophets of the Old Testament,
how they rose up and prophesied against their nation, how they prophesied
against the people, how they prophesied against the thing, putting curses upon
them, and doing things like that. They
misunderstood. Why? They were God's servants; they were doing the will of God.
They were doing the service of God; therefore, they were mis-understood.And
anybody that follows God is misunderstood. Jesus, our Lord, when His birth, He
was misunderstood. The Magi, they were misunderstood; they were following a
supernatural sign to find a King that was born King of the Jews. They knew
there was a star rising out of Jacob, according to the prophecies of Daniel.
And they knew this King would be a Saviour; He would be the King of
82
And nobody knew nothing about it. It was a strange
thing that the King of the Jews was born and people hundreds of miles away knew
about it, and right here in the city where He was born, and the place He was
born, amongst the people He was born to, and they knew nothing about it. They
misunderstood the Magi. They said, "There's no such a thing as the King of
the Jews. We got a king up here, Herod.” He was misunderstood in His birth when
He was born. And Mary was to be mother before she was married to Joseph. Misunderstood... They thought It was born out of holy wedlock; they did not know that the Holy Ghost had conceived this Child in
her. But it was misunderstood. It was a act of God, and
people misunderstood it. They still misunderstand it,
an act of God is usually misunderstood.
83
Only by spiritual believing people,
people who believe the Spirit... But it was misunderstood; the Magi was
misunderstood. Herod misunderstood it. When Herod said, "Well, you
tell me where the baby is, and I'll go worship Him too," he was a
hypocrite; he was lying. What he was afraid of... He didn't know the Scriptures
that there was supposed to be a Messiah come, a King of heaven. And Herod
thought it would be an earthly king, and he wanted to kill Him to get rid of
Him. It wasn't an earthly king; He said this earth is not His kingdom, "If
this was My kingdom My subjects would fight for Me,
but My Kingdom is of up above." Herod
misunderstood it; he thought it was an earthly king.
84
That's the way they say today, "What church do you belong to if you're a
Christian? What denomination?" "None."
They don't get it. See, they can't understand it. They think a denomination
means a Christian. It's vice versa, very much so. But it's misunderstood by the
people. Now, we find out that Herod misunderstood it; he couldn't understand
it. Nicodemus couldn't understand it, the new birth, when he came to Jesus by
night. Someone condemned him. I don't condemn him. He was a good man; he wanted
to find out something. He was busy through the day, maybe he was at his
priest's office, or something another; he had to come by night. Anyhow he got
there; he done a lot better than a lot of people does now. They won't come day
or night. He finally arrived; 'fore you condemn him, have you? He finally got
to Jesus, and let's not condemn him if we haven't been
there. And if you get there, then I don't think you'd condemn him. No, he--he
got there. And he come by night; maybe he was busy.
Anyhow he come. Maybe Jesus was too busy out praying
for the sick and things, only time he could catch Him for this interview would
be at nighttime. But he finally got there; he stayed there till he got an
interview with Jesus. And when Jesus said...He said, "Rabbi, we know that You are a man sent from God, for no man could do these
things that You do except God be with Him."
Jesus said, "Except a man be born again he cannot enter the Kingdom, not
even see the Kingdom." And the great rabbi, master in
85 Like, say, a doctor say, "Oh, I do not
believe in Divine healing. I don't believe there's anything." I heard a
doctor tell a woman in an office one time, said... And she didn't know... He
wanted to know what become of a growth she had. She said, "Brother Branham
prayed for me, and the Lord healed me." He said, "I do not believe
it." He said, "I can never--I can never believe anything like
that." Said, "Tell me who took it off."
Said, "Find the scar." Said, "What did
you put on it?" Said, "Nothing, not at all."
Said, "He just called me out of the meeting and the thing left." And
I was setting right in the next room (That's right.), setting right in the next
room listening. She didn't know I was in there. And he didn't know I was in
there, 'cause he didn't even know me. See? And there I was setting in there.
And he said... Taking somebody else to a doctor's office.
That's exactly right. And I could overhear what he said; I got--I got the
patient and got out of there when I found that, that
he didn't believe. So he said, "I don't believe one word of it."
Said, "I've never seen anything yet that could do anything like that. I
just don't believe it." Said, "I've got to see it before I believe
it." She said, "Well, what about my--my growth?" He said,
"I'd have to see it leave before I'll believe it."
86
See, seeing is not believing. "Faith is the
substance of things you don't see." See, you believe it first and then it
happens. So the--the man was not a believer, so therefore it was all a mystery
to him. He didn't know what he was talking about, because he couldn't
understand it; it was a riddle to him. People say today, "Oh,
I don't believe in that Divine healing. I don't
believe in that Holy Ghost. I don't believe in that
speaking in tongues. I don't believe in that shouting. I don't believe in all
this stuff like that. I don't believe in it." Why? It's a mystery. You're just misunderstanding. It's God;
here it is in the Bible. Here it is bringing the same results that the Bible
spoke of bringing; then it's got to be God. You just misunderstand it; that's
all. God is misunderstood.
87 His disciples couldn't
understand His miracle that night when He come into the boat, and he said,
"What manner of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey
Him?" They misunderstood that He
wasn't a man; He was God. That's what's the matter today
with people. They want to make Him a little mascot boy, or something
another that carries the bat. They want to make Him just a little fellow around
the camp. He wasn't a little fellow around the camp; He was Jehovah God. They misunderstood it. They expected Him to be
just one of them. He wasn't one of them; He was God among them. He was more
than a man. As I've often said, He was a
man when He was hungry, but He was God when He fed five thousand with a
biscuit--two biscuits and some pieces of fishes. He was a man when He was tired on the back of a boat, but He was God
when He ceased the winds and waves and made them obey Him. "What
manner of man is this?" He wasn't a manner of a man; He was God manifested in a man. They misunderstood Him. They thought
Him to be a man, Mary's son, a carpenter, but He was God manifested in the flesh.
Amen.
88
The Roman soldiers misunderstood Him when they had Him set in the court, and
put a rag around His eyes, and hit Him on top of the head, and said, "Now,
if you are a prophet... They all say you're a prophet; come tell us who hit you
on top of the head." See, they misunderstood that Jesus said, "I do
only what the Father shows Me to do. I do what the
Father shows Me, and then I do what He tells Me to
do." They misunderstood it.
89
They misunderstood His ministry. The
Jews misunderstood Him: how He come to be their Friend and Saviour, and they
wanted to make Him a--a something was evil. They misunderstood His ministry. He
said, "The queen of the south shall rise up in the Judgment with this
generation and condemn it, for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to
hear the wisdom of Solomon. And a
greater than Solomon is here." But they misunderstood that He was
greater than Solomon. They thought He was just a man. Many of them thought He
was born out of holy wedlock, come up out of a bad family that had these
desires and so forth, and a bastard child. Which we just had the question, they
could not even... Why, they said, "Why, we know that you were born out of
holy wedlock. You got a devil on you. Why, you try to teach us? We're
rabbis." He said, "You are of your father, the Devil." See, they
misunderstood.
90
When the Roman soldiers went back one time, listening at Him, said, "Never
a man spoke like this. We never heard a man speak like this." It was not a
man speaking; it was God. Yes, sir. Man didn't speak like that. A man tells and
speaks the Scriptures; Jesus makes the Scriptures live. A man
don't live like this: "The Scripture says this here; here it
is." Man can say the Scripture says it, but that's about all he can do.
But Jesus could say, "I and My Father are One; My
Father dwells in Me. He that's seen Me has seen the
Father." Nobody else could say that. Amen. Hallelujah. That's right.
"He that's seen Me has seen the Father."
Nobody else could say that. No wonder them soldiers
said, "There never was a man spoke like this." He don't
speak like a scribe or a preacher; He speaks with authority. And even the
devils obey Him, and the winds and the waves obeyed Him. They thought He was a
man, but He was God. See, He was misunderstood.
91 Said, "Why, you're
born a bastard. You're born out of holy wedlock, and you try to teach us? Why,
we know you're mad and got a devil. You're a Samaritan, been over there and got
them devils on you. You're trying to teach us, us holy rabbis?" He said,
"You're of your father the Devil." Yes, they misunderstood Him; they
didn't know Who He was. That's what's
the matter today, people trying to make Him something that He isn't.
He's not just a man; He's God in man: no third person, He's the only Person.
Yes, sir. Sure, they misunderstood Him.
92 The Pharisee, that
Pharisee that invited Him down there that time for a dinner, a big banquet, he
misunderstood Him. He thought he'd just have Him down there. I preached on that
message out here not long ago at a breakfast, I believe, at
Simon said, "He's just a man." She said, "He's God, my
Saviour." He was misunderstood. He's still misunderstood.
93
The disciples at
94
Also the Pharisees, the priests, misunderstood Him, said, "If Thou be the
Son of God, bring yourself down off of there." The thief on His left
misunderstood Him, said, "If thou be the Son of God, take us off the cross,
save yourself and us too." But the thief on the right understood Him; he
said, "We have, and we've done evil and we deserve what we're getting, but
this Man's done nothing. Lord, remember me when You
come into Your Kingdom." Watch that Voice come back, said, "Today
shall thou be with Me in paradise." He understood
that that was God dying for our sins. The only way He could die, would be put
to death in the flesh. He can't be put to death in Spirit, because He's the
Eternal Spirit. And He had to be in flesh to be put to death, so they just
misunderstood. He understood it.
95
One day about ten days after that, or about forty days after that, fifty days
it was, the disciples climbed up into an upper room, and they stayed up there
for ten days and nights until the fiftieth day come. Then all of a sudden there
came a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind. Because Jesus had told
them, "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you, but wait in the
city of
96
All at once, they was up there walking around, and there came a sound from
heaven like a rushing mighty wind, whirled around through there, and then licks
of Fire begin to set upon them. The doors flew open; the windows come open, out
into the streets they went. And they were misunderstood, insomuch that they
said, "Are these men not full of new wine? These people are drunk because
we hear them blabbering off something we don't know what they're talking
about." All at once they said, "How hear we every man in our own
language, are not an these Galileans?" They
misunderstood that it was the promise of the Father. Then God had a prophet
there who could stand up and speak, Peter said, "You
men of
97
He was misunderstood. He's always been misunderstood.
98
And they put them in jail, and threatened them that they "Should not
preach anymore in the Name of Jesus." And Peter said, "Who should we
listen to, God or man?" And they turned them loose, thinking because
they'd whipped them a little bit and threatened them that they'd hang them the
next time, or burn them, or put them on the cross, or something, they'd stop
it. But the next thing they found; they was out on the
street doing it again. Why? They misunderstood. It wasn't them people; it was
God in those people doing those things.
99
When they caught up little Stephen at the
100 See, people
misunderstood this enthusiasm. People misunderstand today. They misunderstand
the power of the Holy Spirit. They call it a bunch of holy-rollers. They call
it a bunch of people that ain't got their right mind. They misunderstand that
you had to lose your--what you call your right mind...?...
because you have the mind of Christ in you. You can't have the mind of the
world and the mind of Christ at the same time, one's carnal and the other one's
spiritual. "He that walks after the flesh is carnal;
he that walks after the Spirit is spiritual." Amen. So I'll lose myself
and find it, Lord, in Thee. Yes, sir. So God's misunderstood. It's not you
that's misunderstood; it's the Holy Spirit making you do that that they
misunderstand. Amen. They're not speaking against you; they're speaking against
Him. People are misunderstood. There they let them go, but they get right back
in the street and start again. The same today, they misunderstand the people.
They don't know what it is.
101
Today I'm misunderstood in my ministry, that He sent me to the people. They
misunderstand. Every one of them said, "We believe Brother Branham..."
I talked to a preacher awhile ago, said, "Brother Branham, we all know
that you was sent to the church, but, the idea is, how do you come baptizing in
Jesus' Name?" They misunderstand the Scriptures. They misunderstand it.
That's what He sent me for; that's my purpose of being here. "Why do you
teach the serpent's seed, and things like that that's contrary to what we
teach?" Well, brother, that's why I'm here. They just misunderstand it.
Amen. But God is bearing record by His Word and the signs of the Holy Ghost
in...?... No matter how much they may misunderstand it, God's confirming the
Word. Amen. God's always been misunderstood. And those who live with God are
misunderstood with God, because it's God working in them. Amen. You believe it?
I love Him, I love Him, Because He first loved me (Do
you love Him? Raise up your hands and say praises.)...
purchased my salvation On
102
Are you glad you're misunderstood? We used to sing a little song, saying,
"Now I'm marked, marked, marked, marked by the
Spirit Divine." That's right. People that once loved me, turn their back
on me now because I'm marked, marked by the Spirit. Amen. I lost my mind to the
things of the world to receive the mind of Christ; therefore, if I have the
mind of Christ, my mind seeks those things which are above. I'd like for
somebody to show me any different correct baptism besides the Name of Jesus
Christ. I'd like for somebody to show me a Scripture that says the serpent
didn't have a seed. I'd like for somebody to show me a Scripture that says
there's three gods. Then they say, "Well, what is it?"
103
God sent me His Message and bears record of it. He confirms the Word with signs
following. That's what the Bible said. They can't deny that; it's a fact. But
what did they do? They misunderstand it, because I didn't come in the name of
the Assemblies of God, the Oneness, or the Two-ness, or the Three-ness, or the
104 But I'm glad that we
live in a Kingdom that's not made with hands of men. I'm glad that we're going
to a Kingdom that man had nothing to do with. I'm glad that our Kingdom is
above. And if our Kingdom is above, we're born from above, then
we seek those things which are above, where Christ sets at the right hand of
God, oh, where He's not ashamed of us as our testimony. We're not ashamed of
Him on this earth, because we are pilgrims and strangers. We're not of this
earth; we're born of the Spirit of God. We're setting together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, washed in His Blood, born of His Spirit, filled with
His grace. That's it: misunderstood. But what do we care? We love Him. Don't
you love Him?