Spoken Word #16
“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?