Spoken Word no. 189

Why Pentecost Failed

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

September 15th, 2010

 

  47   “I went into a place, three brethren--two brethren and I, went into a place across from Springfield, Missouri, the other morning for breakfast coming from Arizona, and a little lady there that Brother Wood called my attention to that looked like our Sister Collins: blonde, with a big bunch of hair in the back, and he said, "Doesn't that look like Brother Willard Collins' wife?" I said, "It does." Here come an older lady out, and I said, "I imagine that's her mother. Look at the big bunch of hair." I said, "That's right here by the Assembly of God church, the Assembly of God headquarters; that's where, the reason they're like that." And a whole lot little sisters setting in there with water head hair out like that; that was the students. Little "Ricky" and all of them out there, you know, carrying on; all of them packing a Bibles under their arms.


  48   So we watched them till they all went out, snickering, laughing, carrying on just like the modern, that's the crop of Pentecost coming on for tomorrow, if there is one. Why? Why? Why? Because that's the seed's been sowed.”

 

Notice Brother Branham keeps going back to Genesis 1:11 The Law of reproduction, “every seed must bring forth after its kind”.  

 

Then he says, “Exactly right. When she went out, all of them went out, this little lady come back around and said, "Could I do anything for you all?" I said, "I'd like to ask you a question." "Yes, sir?" I said (like, as a stranger, I thought she might know us), and I said, "Isn't that a Bible school across there?" She said, "Yes, sir, it is." I said, "I guess you get a whole lot of trade from there." (Now, that was Brother Fred Sothmann setting out there and Brother Banks Wood, two of the trustees of the church.) And I said... She said, "Yes, it is." I said, "I suppose you belong there?" She said, "No," said, "I'm sorry, I don't." And I said, "The reason I thought that was because that pretty long hair you have. And I suppose that's your mother?" She said, "No, sir"; said, "she just works here." She said, "No, I don't..." said, "I like long hair. I've got a little girl, and I just have her to wear long hair too." and said, "My husband likes long hair." I said, "God bless him." And so she said, "Well" She said...


  49   I said, "Why, it's strange. Was them the students in here, them girls with them pushed out hair cuts like that, like the first lady?" "Yep." When we walked... I said, "Thank you"; walked out. I said, "God put that woman there for a rebuke to that bastard born bunch of kids over across the street." That's right, illegitimate, after the things of the world. How many women after Jezebel, the first lady of that land, how many of them you think is in heaven tonight, today? See? The things of the world... If you love the world or the things of the world, the love of God is not even in you. There, What is that? The cream of tomorrow's crop in Pentecost, the biggest movement in the nation. There you are. That's the bride. I don't get it.

 

I guess I could say, I don’t get it either, except for the fact that Br. Branham hit it right on the head when he referred back to Genesis 1:11 that “every seed must bring forth after its own kind.”  

 

What it comes down to is this; The first real teacher of Pentecostalism, or seeking the Holy Spirit and looking for some evidence to know that you truly had received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was Charles Parham. If you go to Wikepedia you can find out a lot about this man of God. What interests me the most is the fact that he was totally against fanaticism which early on crept in the with Asuza street church. He was also against forming a denomination, and hated church hierarchy mindset. He was totally against organization, and this caused a lot of hatred against him by the big organized churches of his day. Let me reas to you some of the article that is in Wikipedia about him.

 

Charles Parham who lived only 56 years like William Branham, was born in 1873  and died in 1929.  He was the most influential and instrumental preacher in the formation of the Pentecostal movement. In the beginning the press reports were favorable in some areas he ministered in, but some of the large main line churches, and church hierarchy in Zion City, were not pleased with his ministry and did what they could to discourage furtherance of his teachings. As a result some of the press reports became more negative as his ministry approached its peak in 1906 and 1907.

 

Charles Parham was controversial throughout his ministry due to his opposition the mainstream Christianity and church organizations. One News Paper wrote of him in 1916, "He is one of the most loved, and at the same time one of the most hated, men in the United States”. His detractors were still active enough at the time of his death in 1929 that, his eventual grave marker was postponed and an unlabelled marker was used to avoid having the grave harmed.

 

He was born in Muscatine, Iowa, 4 June 1873, and began working among other ministries by the age of 15 and by his early adult life he already made a name for himself. He was affiliated with the Methodist and Holiness movements, but disagreed with the hierarchy of the Methodist church, and later, would alienate many of his followers by declaring their worship style invalid because he felt their worship was becoming filled with too much excessive emotionalism and lacked spiritual leadership. By 22 years old he had already broken away from the mainstream Methodist denomination and established his own ministry, staying free from formal structure and organization outside as he remained outside the formal church for the remainder of his ministry.

 

He was quite an evangelist but what I like most about him was his desire to teach from the Bible and to challenge formal organizational churchianity. He left the ministry a few years after beginning for a short period. I am sure it was because he was so put out by all the politics and organizational spirit he encountered amongst the ministers and churches. But after a time of self examination he re-committed his life to preach the gospel but on one condition he made to God, and that was that he "would not have to take collections or beg for a living". Br. Branham was very much like Charles Parham in this respect as well.

From that time on Charles Parham stepped out by faith into a faith based ministry, operating on that basis for the rest of his life.

 

At the age of 22 while attending an ordination service for some ministers, he realized that Methodist preachers "were not left to preach by direct inspiration" and he immediately surrendered his license to preach and severed all his connections with that denomination. From then on his primary focus was as an evangelist.

 

William Seymour, who began his ministry in Cincinnati, Ohio and went on the road for several years as an evangelist ending up in Houston Texas as a replacement for a woman preacher named Lucy Farrow. She encouraged him to seek out Br. Parham and so he soon left to attend Parham's bible college in the winter of 1905. He didn’t stay more than a few weeks, and then went to Los Angeles to preach where he was invited by another woman preacher to come and preach holiness in her church. He taught not only on holiness but began to teach that tongues was the initial evidence of the Holy Ghost. For this he was locked out of that church so he went to the home of Asberry’s home and began holding prayer meetings and Bible studies there.

 

When Seymour was in Los Angeles and the Azusa Street revival was beginning, a request came for Charles Parham to go to Zion City to hold some meetings. Parham responded, held meetings there, and as a result many in Zion City, including FF Bosworth, John G. Lake, received their Pentecostal experiences.

 

After 1906 in Zion City, Parham's ministry continued until his death over 20 years later, but it was not long before he began to decline in his national influence. This decline was caused by a number of factors. Resistance to his ministry, hatred, bitterness, strife, and persecution arose, and scandal was created against him by those who opposed his ministry. Many did not accept his teachings and lack of organizational structure, and others did not appreciate his stand for "discerning the spirits"  and his stand against excess emotionalism, "fanaticism and wild-fire" he called it. Parham's wife said that he did not let bitterness come in, and he did not retaliate, and he preached non-resistance, because Charles Parham taught that these were the ways of those who refused to accept the truth that was presented. The decline of his ministry began when the head of Dowie's church in Zion came against what they saw as am intrusion into their religious community and they did what they could to resist his influence. The next major thing that caused a decline in his ministry is that when he visited William Seymour at 312 Azusa street, he tried to provide correction to Seymour regarding the “emotionalism and other things” that he saw, and he was asked not to return. The final strike to his ministry were those who tried to have Parham start a formal organization so they could be placed within it, but they turned on him when he refused to go along with their organizational spirit.

 

I hope this little background will help you to see that the founder of the modern Pentecostal movement was Charles Parham but it was taken over by William Seymour who encouraged seeing for the gifts of tongues and who taught that tongues was the initial evidence. What is ironic is that when William Seymour later on in his life saw where it was going, he tried to minimize the tongues experience but by then it was too late and many came to the movement no longer drawn by the holiness teaching but by the  tongues experience. And if you look where it went to you can see what took place when the seeds were being laid 100 years ago.

 

Lord just once more 63-0628A P:44 Did you know the Roman Catholic church was first the original Pentecostal church? It taken it two thousand years to get in the condition it's got today. If this Pentecostal organization keeps on another fifty years, it'll be worse than the Catholic church. That's right. Sin heaping on every side... Now, you might not think that I... You might think I'm crazy, but I know where I'm at. See? It's true. You just wait; you'll find out. Yes.

 

Presuming 62-0610M P:94 There's where you Pentecostals missed it by a million miles. You went after sensation, instead of waiting for the Word to be fulfilled. That's right. That's why you organized. That's why you listened to those...It's always the leaders that gets the people out of the will of God. It was Korah. It was Korah, that uninspired leader, that said, "Hey, Moses tries to think he's the only holy man. Why, we've got as much holy men here; we've got groups out here. Didn't God put the spirit of prophecy upon all these people? Took it off of Moses and put it on here. So we'll just listen to this group. Moses thinks he's something." God told Moses, "Separate yourself from him. I'll sink him and his group, his whole organization." Right. Moses was God's leader. Moses was vindicated to be that leader; all didn't listen to him perished. Jesus was God's Leader. The Holy Ghost is His Leader. And all that don't obey the Holy Ghost, Who wrote this Bible, will perish. Amen.

 

Thy seed shall possess gate 62-0121M P:8 Now, when I first started to come here to Phoenix years ago in the Pentecostal move, had an opportunity to start an organization myself. The Latter-Rain brethren came to me and said, "This is it. Let's start. Why, we'll be--be bigger than all the rest of them." I said, "Mercy, that's not it. That's not the thing, brethren, you're a million miles off the road. God will never bless it. Read your history; read the Bible. There'll never be another organization come out of it that come from this." That's right. This will organize and go into the... It's in the Laodicean condition now. But I'll tell you, brother, there's no more God blessed organizations to rise up. There'll be nothing of this. We're at the coming of the Lord. See? And God will take the remnant out of this big ecumenical move that's gone on now for the Bride, but there'll never be nothing to organize spiritually anymore. See? It's finished.

 

One of the meanest men in town 61-0429B P:38 See, they had their own idea about religion. They had their own idea about God, but it was a million miles from the real thing. That's the way today: We have our own-made creeds and our thoughts about it. "As long as we're Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, or Pentecostal, it's all right." But for me, I'll take tears of repentance. Take my life and all I got, to help wash that dirty name of holy-roller away from that real Lord Jesus; that true Son of God thought of today as some fanatic, a telepathy, or some mental-upset person.

 

Entombment 57-0420 P:16 And we people as we come on, we Lutheran want to walk by faith, we Methodists want to shout to get It, you Pentecostals want to speak with tongues to get It, but that's ten million miles from It. It is a Divine revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Person of His Being made manifest in the heart, "Upon this rock I'll build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." It works perfect with  St. John 5:24, "He that heareth My Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Everlasting Life; and shall never come into condemnation, but has passed from death unto Life." Not because you had any move, any emotion; but because you have been the privilege of having Christ revealed to you from heaven, "Upon this rock I'll build My Church."

 

Corinthians book of correction 57-0414 P:24 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,... though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it avails me nothing. See, all your good works, all your good deeds, all the spiritual things you have, all the gifts you have, all the sensations you have, all the joy you have, all the peace you have has nothing at all to do with it to begin with. Think of that just a moment. And think of the churches today. Our great churches, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and denominational, they think because they say "I believe," come in, put their name on the book, that settles it. How far are they're off. Our Pentecostal people think, well, because that they got a little sensation, they felt good, they spoke with tongues, they got a little blood in their hands, a little oil on their face or something, "We got it." Oh, ten million miles off. You get it? See how the devil, the god of this world has blinded the eyes of those? And they just go right on living like that. Listen. For though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body... burned, and have not charity, I am nothing. Look at all those gifts, all those good things. "I feed the poor, I've got a good heart about me. I do this. I do that. I go to church. I speak with tongues. I prophesy. I heal the sick. I preach the Gospel. I do these things." Paul said, "Still I am nothing." All those things can be carnally impersonated. Now, what does he say? Charity suffereth long,... is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself,... not puffed up, Does not misbehave itself unseemly, (just think)... not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Charity is love. What is love? Is God. How does God come to you? By birth. See?

 

But what is it all about? It’s a delusion. tongues is no evidence. Balaam’s donkey spoke in tongues. But it was a diversion to get them away from the Word of God and looking to other things.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; 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. 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 of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

First seal the 63-0318 P:44 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness... (deceiving people by unrighteousness)... 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.

 

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, we know by our studies that this Glory that we are called to is the Greek word Doxa which means the opinion, values and judgment.  In other words, it speaks of the very mindset that was in Christ. Paul said, Philippians 2:5“Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” But her also said, in Philippians 3: 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing 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.

 

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 (so called) who claim to be following the ministry of William Branham do not have that same revelation as Peter had, that was 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. But what I am interested in is the Sons and daughters of God who are sitting under false shepherds who have not more revelation from God, than the Oneness Pentecostals do. 

 

Now 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 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 God had hidden but then uncovers or discloses so as to reveal or make that truth known to men.

 

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 true and does something to hide 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.

 

Now, I have taught the Message Doctrine to about 2700 ministers face to face, around the world, and I will not in any way say that all that I have taught have learned the doctrine. In fact I would be very surprised if 10 percent really understood or received what I taught.  Now, does that make me a poor teacher? I don’t think so, because the Holy Ghost is the real teacher. 

 

And in fact Jesus said in John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

 

So you see, even when God Himself is doing the teaching not everyone who is taught learns what he is taught. And we know the Holy Spirit is the real teacher anyway, but God uses men to do his teaching, but it takes the Holy Spirit to anoint that teaching to make it a divine revelation.

 

Blasphemous names 62-1104M P:56 Number 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 be--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 us 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 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.  that brother Branham says when these streams of Grace pour in upon our mental faith.  Then he 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 1 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 every thing 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 means 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 apocalupsis or Unveiling of the Mighty God. And it was to produce in us an anointing upon the doctrine and knowledge of Jesus Christ the Son of God 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 by the five fold ministry and anoints that mental faith with an ability to take on 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.

 

1 John 2:20  But ye have 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.

 

1 Corinthians 2:1  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3  And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:  5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 

 

And that is the problem that we have right here in this message, that men have received their learning from men but not from God. 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 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.

 

So we see that the doctrine is so vitally important, because it is the fertilizer upon the seed bringing it into manifestation of the life that lies within it. And Jesus said they did not want his doctrine, they wanted the doctrine of man instead an by teaching for doctrine the commandments of men they made the Word of God of no effect to themselves.

 

And Paul said, 6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9  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 knoweth. 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 teacheth; 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 spiritual 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 Christ.

 

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, and what you saw, you 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.

 

Now, I have seen this first hand in my minister meetings overseas. As I said I have taught thousands of ministers in this message, and having met them, and talked to many of them, and received questions from a whole lot of them, I think I can say that there is not a person I have met who claims to believe William Branham’s Message that can not quote you Malachi 4, Luke 17:30 and Revelations chapter 10. And all these individuals also know by heart the emphasis brother spoke of how Peter by Revelation spoke those most notable words. And yet if you ask them to speak those most notable words, I have my doubts that they could quote them, or at least they might quote them, but they do not believe them. Why, because they do not believe what Peter said that won praise from Jesus. “Thou art the Christ, the Son of God.”

 

So if the Word of God is shown to them, like it is shown to the real believer who believes it, but nothing happens to the other, then what happens to them? What about the delusion? 

 

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 give them, and no matter how many hundreds of quotes from Brother Branham you give them, they still refuse to believe what the Prophet of God and the Word of God say. That is one strong delusion, brother. I have talked to these men and they tell me they believe every word brother Branham said, but will right out deny and disagree with what he said. So instead of Revelation that feeds upon Word upon Word upon Word, they receive a strong delusion that feeds upon what other men have said, and thus they would rather believe a Lie than The Truth vindicated by Scripture and Prophetic utterance of Thus Saith the Lord. 

 

Well, if revelation is to anoint our mental faith and create in us a supernatural understanding and bringing us into a readied state for adoption, then deception will do the opposite. It will cause to fall away from The Faith which is The Revelation and there is only One Revelation and that 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 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 the Truth with an incorrect understanding, that’s how they hold down the truth So you see by teaching error instead of the Truth they hold it back from the people. So 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 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.

 

Now, in order to teach a lie they do not come right out and deny the Scriptures. No, and they will not say they disagree with Br. Branham, but then 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. I told them, “why don’t you just go off and preach your own message since you are not teaching what brother Branham taught.” I said, “why do you still hold him up as your prophet when you don’t believe him.” And I said, “he is no more your prophet than Peter was the first pope.”

 

So what they do, is they tell the people the Scripture does not mean what is says. The Scriptures says that Jesus was not His own Father, so they just won’t share those Scriptures with the people. The scripture says that God left Jesus in Gethsemane, and God entered into His Son in the river Jordan, so they just won’t read those Scriptures to the people. The scriptures tells us that Jesus was the Son of God and that he was born so “he had to have a beginning”, so they just won’t read those Scriptures to the people, and pretty soon they won’t read too much of the Bible, so they end up quoting other men or just yelling and screaming in a so called worship with lots of music and no more word.

 

And don’t think when Brother Branham preached the Indictment he wasn’t indicting a whole lot of ministers that claim to follow the Message but outright deny it.

 

 Indictment the 63-0707M P:116 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.

 

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 as Brother Branham said,

 

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 for ever. 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. The creature instead of the creator.

 

And so they will not believe the record that God gave of His Son and do they in essence 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. Ninety-Nine percent of the Message preachers do not preach what you are hearing from this pulpit. And they do not want you to hear it either. So they call it two gods, which is a blatant lie, because they know we do not preach two gods, but they say it anyway, for the purpose of suppressing it. Spirits don’t change, they just move from one vessel to another. They caused the people to be afraid to follow Jesus, They say he preached two gods, because he said, I am the son of God.  And they said anyone that follows him will be excommunicated from the synagogue. And they did the same thing to Brother Branham. They did the same thing to Luther, and to Wesley, and Jesus said they will do the same thing to you. 

 

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.  

 

Then Jesus said,  23  He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24  If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25  But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

 

And they hated William Branham without a cause because he came to them and did what no other man could do and they turned down his doctrine to hold to some silly denominational teaching that Jesus was his own Father.  And so they do not know what to do with the Body and so some say it went back to gases. You talk about silly women laden with diverse lusts, and endless wives fables. We got it right here among us in this Message. 

 

But listen to what John says, 1 John  4: 6 We are of God: and he that knoweth God heareth us; and he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error, the spirit of delusion.

 

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.

 

Brother Branham said in The Indictment 63-0707M P:99 You can never come in the Presence of God again when you turn down the Holy Ghost and make fun of It.

 

The Indictment 63-0707M P:49a  Notice, "They," the worshippers, the men who had looked for the promise, the men who had looked for it through years and ages and with nothing to do but in that constant seminary; but they had divided the Word according to the teaching of the seminary, and they had missed the very truth of It. "They," the priests, the ministry of that day; "there," at their headquarters, "they," the ministry of that day was killing the very God, the very Lamb. The very One that they claimed they were worshipping, they were killing. And today I indict this bunch of ordained ministers. In their creeds and denominations they are crucifying to the people the very God that they claim that they love and serve. I indict these ministers in the Name of the Lord Jesus, upon their doctrine,

 

The Indictment 63-0707M P:49b  Upon any of these words that they have substituted creeds for, I indict them as guilty, and the Blood of Jesus Christ upon their hands, for crucifying afresh the Lord Jesus the second time. They are crucifying Christ to the public, taking from them the thing that they're supposed to be giving to them, and they substituted something else in Its place: a church creed for popularity.