Spoken Word no 48
“All Scripture must be Fulfilled”
The Voice
Brian Kocourek
Now, this morning I would like to continue in our
study of brother Branham’s sermon The Spoken Word is the Original Seed, and in
paragraph 35 we
will begin our reading. “Jesus said the
Scriptures must be fulfilled. That is, that all that's written in the Scriptures... Now bear this in mind,
'cause you who are getting the tape now; at the end of these tapes you'll find
I come back to that again, that all
that's in the Scriptures must be fulfilled. Now, let that soak just a minute, class. See? All that's in the Scriptures has got to be fulfilled. Then if God said anything, there you are; It's got to be
fulfilled. Or if it isn't, that's not the Word of God. Then if that isn't
the Word of God, then where are we at? Let's get something that looks like God
or anything we want to do: as the Bible said, "Eat, drink and be merry for
tomorrow we die." See?
Now, notice that He said, “all that God spoke
must be fulfilled”. Not all that you speak or all that I speak, or
all that anyone else speaks, but this vindicated prophet says, “all that God speaks
must be fulfilled”.
Now, remember, part one of our study concerned the
Shout of 1 Thessalonians 4 15-18 which Shout brother Branham taught us is the
Message. This morning I would like to continue on our mini series showing that
the next thing for the bride is the Voice which is the resurrection of the
sleeping saints.
For starters we began by examining the chronology of 1
Thessalonians 4 in order to know what must take place in this age let’s turn to
the Word of God.
1
Thessalonians 4:13 But I
would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by
the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore
comfort one another with these words.
We see here in these verses that Paul is speaking of
the Presence of the Lord coming down and doing three major things. A Shout, which is the Message, the Voice which is the resurrection,
and then the Trumpet which is the calling to the marriage supper.
Therefore, we are looking at the Parousia Ministry of the Holy Spirit doing three
things.
Now, this Voice is the resurrection. That’s what Brother
Branham taught us in his sermon, the Rapture. The Voice is the resurrection.
That is what he said. Rapture the 65-1204
P:88 The first thing is the shout, and then a
voice, and then a trumpet. Shout, a messenger getting the people ready... The
second is a voice of the resurrection. The same voice that, a loud voice in
Now, there are basically two things that will occur at
the time of the resurrection.
1) The world will go into tribulation, and the foolish
virgin will be hunted down and slaughtered,
and all who do not take the mark of the beast will suffer
a great boycott and will not be able to buy or sell.
Now, I do not wish to say too much about this because
that is not for the Elect, and I do not like to focus on anything outside of
what is for the elect, as that is the pattern in which William Branham also
followed. He did not say much, and therefore I can not say much about what will
come upon the entire world during that time.
However, we do know that the Wall-street Jews own the
paper and the Catholic church has the gold and when the paper is cheap enough
she will buy it all up and back it with her gold, then she owns it all. And if
you do not belong to her then you won’t even have a job, because she will own
the wealth of the world, so that means she has gotten the world’s wealth and
she owns it.
For more information on this you will have to see my
study on the end-time depression judgment on our website under end-time
conditions, or last Wednesday nights sermon in which I took the first eight
pages of that study.
Now, what I wish to cover this morning is what happens
to the elect, because that is what we are by God’s Grace, and as His elect,
that is what our focus should be on.
1) Therefore this morning we will begin
to look at the time of the resurrection, which is the voice
of 1 Thessalonians 4.
Now, the resurrection is not something that takes
place in the moment or twinkling of the eye. That is the body change. The
resurrection will consist of a period of time. Brother Branham alluded to a
time somewhere between 40 and 70 days that the event of the resurrection will
take place.
Letting Off the Pressure
62-0518 Can't you see we're at the end time? It's all
over. The next thing will be a sweep of
getting that little group together, and in a month or so she'll be gone - as soon as she's gathered together.
We're at the end; there's no hopes left anywhere. Run to Christ, people!
Now, this is scriptural for we see the same thing took place in the
Alpha ministry of Christ.
Matthew
27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over
all the land unto the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour
Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to
say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47 Some of
them that stood there, when they heard that,
said, This man calleth
for Elias. 48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with
vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49 The
rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
50 Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And,
behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And
the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came
out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and
appeared unto many. 54 Now when the
centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and
those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the
Son of God.
Now, we know that the day of Pentecost did not take
place until 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead, so he was with the saints
during that time. We know very little about that period of time from Scripture,
but we know that when Jesus led captivity captive he took the dead saint up in a rapture.
Rapture
the 65-1204 P:98 David said over there, "Lift
up, ye everlasting gates, and be ye lifted up.” He
led captivity captive and give gifts unto men.
When the Old Testament saints went in with Him, they said, "Who is this
King of righteousness?" "The Lord of glory, mighty
host." Here they come in, marching. Jesus led captivity captive.
And here He comes with the Old Testament saints, and went into the new gates up
there, and said, "Lift up, ye everlasting gates, and be ye
lifted up, and let the King of glory come in.” The voice come from the
inside, said, "Who is the King of glory?""The Lord, mighty in battle.” The gates flew open. And
Jesus the Conqueror led captivity captive them that had believed on Him, and
the Word had come to them. There the Old Testament saints laying in there
waiting. He led captivity captive,
ascended on high, took the Old Testament saints, and went in. There's one rapture already passed. The next rapture takes place
is II Thessalonians for the church, the
Bride, to be resurrected to be raptured into glory.
"We which are alive and remain
(That's the body that's left on earth.) will
not prevent or hinder them which are asleep; for the trumpet of God shall sound
first, and the dead in Christ shall rise. (See?)
And we which are alive and remain shall caught up
together with them."
Next we will see Brother Branham speak of the
condition of the living and that of those saints which are asleep in the graves, and what will have to happen with each in order for
them to go in the Rapture or catching away. He says from his sermon Who is this Melchisedec,
In the sermon, Who is this Melchisedec
65-0221E P:47 Brother Branham reads from
Scripture and says, II Thessalonians tells us so: "For we
which are alive and remain shall not prevent (or hinder) those which are
asleep; for the trumpet of God shall sound; the dead in Christ shall rise
first; we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to
meet the Lord in the air." Perfect, all these types...Therefore the theophany, if you have died and entered into that theophany, what happens? The theophany
comes to the earth to pick up the redeemed body. And if you're here in the air,
you take the body to meet the theophany (There you
are.), and caught up and go to meet the Lord in the air.Who
is this Melchisedec but God?
And from his sermon called Life 57-0602 P:23he
says, And then when we die from this life, we go into the body which... If this earthly tabernacle is dissolved,
we have a theophany to go into, a body celestial.
Then at the coming of the Lord Jesus, this body is picked from the earth again
and made in a glorified state to live in His Presence forever. Then all the
perversion, all the things that was in the perversion all goes out of
existence. Flesh goes to its punishment. Hell opens up her mouth and swallows
in all the evil and the perversion. And God and His beloved Church, His Bride, takes their stand for the eternities to roll on. That's the
great hope of the Christian Church.
Therefore
instead of our focus on the condition of the world, as we see it’s financial kingdoms crumbling
all around us, our focus should be on God’s promise for us in this hour that we
live in.
Notice
he said, if you are among those who have already died, you enter first into
that theophany. Then with that theophany,
you come forth to get your redeemed body. if you
have died and entered into that theophany, what
happens? The theophany comes to the earth to pick up
the redeemed body. Then once that redeemed body is joined to the
Theophany, it becomes a glorified body.
On
the other hand, those of us who are among the living,
will get our body change and then go to that theophany
to complete the glorification process. And if
you're here in the air, you take the body to meet the theophany
(There you are.), and caught up and go to meet the Lord in the air.
Next I would like to share several quotes from Brother
Branham and several Scriptures to confirm the order of the resurrection as Paul
declared to us, and as William Branham reconfirmed the order of the
resurrection. For if the resurrection will be a period of time more or less
then there must be an order to it. The resurrection just doesn’t happen and
everyone suddenly appears and poof we are gone. There is a period of time, and
as a period of time, there must be an order to the events.
Jehovah Jireh #1 -
62-0705 And then, remember, if we go before He comes, we will be
up and in His Presence, or, raised before the others are changed. "The
trumpet of the Lord shall sound, the dead in Christ
shall rise first. Then we which alive and remain shall be changed in a moment,
in a twinkling of an eye, and be caught up together with them, to meet the Lord
in the air." Look at the order of the resurrection. See, God
knows that we long to see our loved ones. And if we got there to meet Him
first, we'd be looking around to see if mother or dad and the rest of them was
there. But see how, the Holy Spirit in His wisdom? We meet one another
first, and then when we get there and sing "Amazing Grace," that's
when there's going to be a time of worship.
Notice
brother Branham speaks of an order to the resurrection. You see, God is a God
of order. He set the World on it's frame in an orderly
fashion, and that is the way the resurrection and rapture will come as well.
There will be a shout, a voice and a trumpet.
Q & Answers 64-0823 1M
Across the world, they won't be gathered in one
place to have things in common. But little groups of them will be scattered all
over the earth. I believe, maybe if the Lord permits, this is a little group of It. Maybe another little group in Asia, one down in
Seven Church
Ages 54-0512 "Behold He cometh
with clouds." Now, let me stop here just a moment. Clouds
doesn't mean that He's coming on a big thunderhead as mama, bless her
heart - she's sitting here somewhere. I remember her voice, she used to set and
tell me, said, He's coming on, a great big cloud gonna
raise someday and God's gonna come on. Now the Cloud that He's coming is, if we
just had the time to get this back, and get the real background and the whole
thing. Now the Cloud He's coming in is
not a cloud, like a thunderhead, but it's a Cloud of Glory He's coming in.
See? Now, when Jesus was overshadowed by God on
What Is The Holy Ghost? 59-1216 Now, the Spirit of
God has worked under Justification under Luther, Sanctification under Wesley,
the Baptism of the Holy Ghost under Pentecost; and here It is in the last day
performing and doing the very same things that It did when It was in Christ!
What is it? The Church and Christ has become One. And
as soon as They connect together, that last link, She
will go through the sky shouting. Up will come Wesley, Luther, all the rest of
them back in those days there. He that's first will be last; he that's last
will be first; and there'll come the resurrection.
Q & A
64-0823 1M The time of the rapture will be the awakening
of the dead and the get together with the living, for the rapture to take
place. And Jesus can not
come until a church, a body of believers and the ministry that He once...?... will have to be the same as it was then to... And
then, that brings... "Them without us is not made
perfect," Paul said, Hebrews 11. "Without us they cannot be perfected." They must have this ministry to raise up the
Lutheran, Wesleys, and all them down through their
ages.
Now, in reading from 1st Corinthians
chapter 15 which Paul speaks of the resurrection, I want you to look for two
things.
1) an order to the
resurrection, and
2) the need for the body
change that is associated with this resurrection.
1
Corinthians 15:12 Now if
Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that
there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no
resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And
if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and
we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he
raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For
if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And
if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye
are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are
fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we
have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of
them that slept. 21 For since by man
came death, by man came
also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that
are Christ's at his parousia. 24 Then cometh the end,
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he
shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he
must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things
are put under him, it
is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things
shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him
that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if
the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized
for the dead? 30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? 31 I
protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32 If after
the manner of men I have fought with beasts at
Brother
Branham tells us the order is that the Holy spirit Who is now in our midst will
leave the midst of humanity and when He does, He will
take us with Him, and then we will meet the Son of God, and when God incarnates
His Son Once more, then we will crown Him King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Now, here is the quote from Brother Branham, FIRST SEAL THE 63-0318
161-3 {301} Notice,
and when this Holy Spirit that we have, becomes incarnate to us, the One
that's in our midst now in the form of the Holy Ghost, becomes incarnate to us
in the Person of Jesus Christ, we'll crown Him King of king...?... That's
right. See?
Now,
let's find this in the Scripture. II THESSALONIANS
2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet
with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he
who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of
the way.
Now,
this may sound a little confusing to you, so let me read it from the Wuest
translation, and you will find the same thing brother Branham is telling us in
this quote. That the Holy Ghost Who is now in our midst will at this time leave
the earth.
Wuest Translation II Thessalonians 2: 5-7 Do you not remember
that while I was still with you I kept on telling you these things? And now you
know with a positive assurance that which namely, the departure of the
church, the saints being assembled to the Lord, is preventing his being
disclosed as to his true identity, in his strategic, appointed time, for the
mystery of the aforementioned lawlessness is now operating. Only He, the
Holy Spirit, who is holding the lawlessness down, will do so, until He
goes out from the midst of humanity. And then shall the lawless one be disclosed
in his true identity.
So
we see here that this Scripture speaks first of the Saints assembling to the
Lord and then it speaks of their departure from the earth. Then, as if in the
same breath, Paul also tells us this will happen when the Holy Spirit departs
from the midst of humanity. Now, the Holy spirit could
not depart from the midst of humanity if He were not here. And if we are to be
gathered together to Him first, then when he goes we go,
for nowhere in scripture does it speak contrary to this. Nowhere in Scripture
does it speak of the Lord leaving at a different time from the earth than the
saints leave. So, if we are gathered together unto Him first, then it is He
that takes us up from the midst of humanity just like Jesus took Peter James
and John up into the Mountain.
Mother's Day 59-0510M
81 And as the light begins to spread we'll know as we're known;
we'll understand. And we'll remember our acquaintance and the ones that's been there. And there'll be many there that we didn't
even think would be there, for you know it's at that time that I believe that
the bread that we have cast upon the human troubled waters will return to us,
on that day. When we see the effects of
our testimony on people that we didn't understand their actions towards it,
will probably be there. What a day that will be!
And then the seeds that we sowed not even thinking what they would do, but here
they are. They brought forth precious fruits and we'll see them on that day.
Mother's Day 59-0510M 86 As that great light begins to spread all - as we begin to
look around, and the great circle will be getting and greater and greater; it's
all just reflecting the approach of Jesus. And after while, as the song said, And I shall we see Jesus at last. He will be waiting for me,
Jesus so kind and true, On His beautiful Throne, He'll welcome me Home After this day is through. Then as we see Him...and
we'll not be as we are now. We'll know how to love Him more. We'll not stand
back with a little fear, because we'll be like Him. He'll be more of a relative to us than He is now. We'll understand
Him better, because we're so far away in the mortal bodies. Then we'll have a body like His glorious
body. We'll know how to worship Him. And when we see what the Presence of His Being
has done to us, changed us, the old back young, all the deformed straightened
out, oh, we'll understand then why His power healed us. The
questions that's been in our mind, "How can He do it? What would
this?" somehow, mysteriously, they'll all fade away. The
knots that's been tied in the back of our minds, "Will it be this?
How could it be?" somehow, or another, majestic fingers will just
untangle, unravel those knots, and it'll all fade into the one big crown of
love.
Jehovah Jireh - 62-0705 And then, remember, if we go before He comes, we will be up and in His Presence, or,
raised before the others are changed. "The trumpet of the Lord shall sound, the dead in
Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be
changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and be caught up together with
them, to meet the Lord in the air." Look
at the order of the resurrection. See, God knows that we long to see
our loved ones. And if we got there to meet Him first, we'd be looking around
to see if mother or dad and the rest of them was there. But see how, the Holy
Spirit in His wisdom? We meet one another
first, and then when we get there and sing "Amazing Grace,"
that's when there's going to be a time of worship.
When Their Eyes Were Opened 56-0420 The time of the gathering of the people is at
hand, and we must look forward to great things to happen.
Greater Than
Solomon Is Here - 58- 0625 So I pray that
someday I'll see that great uniting
together of all the body of Jesus Christ coming together at one great big body;
then the rapture shall come
In MATTHEW 16:28 we
read, ¶ Verily I say unto
you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they
see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
Now,
I want you to notice the promise is that some, not all, but some of you shall
not die until they see the son of Man coming in His Kingdom. Then immediately
we see Jesus taking some of them, three in all because three is a witness, to
see this scwene he has just told them would come.
17:1 ¶ And after six days
Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth
them up into an high mountain apart,
Now,
the word “bringeth”
comes from a
Greek word anaphero which means to
carry or lift up to a higher place. So we see that it is possible here
that these brethren did not just walk up the mountain side following behind
Jesus as though He was just leading them. Actually the combination of the
words, taketh and bringeth suggests a closeness or a
gathering together to himself as though embracing them and then lifting them up
with him. This would suggest to us then, that they
were sort of lifted up in some manner, perhaps in some supernatural way up to
the mountain top.) 2 And was transfigured before
them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the
light. (now, notice, something
supernatural is taking place here. Something is happening to the physical being
of the Son of God. The Bible tells us that Jesus is transfigured which means he
is being changed into another form.) 3 And, behold,
there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
Now,
remember we are talking about the order of the resurrection. Then if there is
an order of the resurrection, the order must have some meaning to it. Notice Moses is seen first. Then Elijah. Now can anyone tell me the difference between
these Two prophets of God. I am not speaking of the
difference between their ministries which were full of the Miraculous. But what
happened to Moses at the end? Did he die? Yes He did. Did Elijah Die? No he did
not. Notice it speaks of Moses first and then Elijah. And notice they are
separated by the word AND which is a conjunction. And what does a
conjunction do? It links two things, right? And what two things are these two
men representing? Remember, we are examining the ORDER of What? The Order of the resurrection.
Moses
then, represents the saints that have died, while Elijah represents the saints
that have been caught up without dying. Then what do the three Jews standing
there, watching represent? I'm talking about Peter, James, and John. What do
these Jews represent? They represent the 144 that Jesus will return to manifest
Him self to, in His glorified state. The
next thing we hear is God, the father of the Son speaking and telling them that
He is pleased to dwell in His Son.
4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us
to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and
one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my
beloved Son, IN WHOM I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when
the disciples heard [it], they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 7
And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be
not afraid. 8 And when they had lifted
up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.
Now,
this was a foreshadow of the Coming of the Lord Jesus.
These men were given a glimpse of the Order of the Second coming. And John was
privileged to actually see it take place in a vision before his very own eyes
years later on the isle of
REVELATION 1:7Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every
eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. John then tells us how he heard a VOICE and turned to
see it, And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13And in the
midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps
with a golden girdle. 14 His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool,
as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like
unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of
many waters. 16 And he had in his
right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged
sword: and his countenance (his face) was as the sun shineth in his
strength. Now, remember,
the last time john saw Jesus like this where His face shown like the sun, was
when he had been caught up into the mountain when Jesus was transfigured.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his
right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last (The last time John was privileged to see Jesus in
this Glorified condition he also fell to his face and Jesus came to him back
then and said the same words this time that He said the last time, Fear not I am the
one who was transfigured before you the first time, and I am the same one now
again for good, this time. 18 I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold,
I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Revelation chptr 4 pt1 60-1231 180 Peter, James, and John, and them standing
present, when Jesus spoke to them and said, "There's some standing here
will not taste of death until they see the Son of man coming." He
didn't say "all" that was standing there, but "some." And
they went a few days after that, and saw the order of the resurrection
rehearsed, and the coming of the Lord. Elijah represented the dead
saints--I mean Moses, and being resurrected. Elijah represented the translated.
But remember, Moses was first, and then Elijah. Elijah was to be the
messenger of the last day, that with him and his group would come
the resurrection; would come the... Well, it would come
the rapture, I mean. Moses brought
in the resurrection, and Elijah brought in the raptured group. And there, both of them was
represented right there…
Now
we could skip this next paragraph to save time, but since wee just came through
this stud he is going to talk about, I thought this would be interesting to see
how he perceived it. 184 Oh, tomorrow we got a great lesson, the
Lord willing. Tomorrow we take the judgments; we take the sardine stone, see
what it represents, what part it played. And we take the jasper, and we take
the--oh, all the different stones, and we take these all down through
Ezekiel, back into Genesis, back over to Revelations, come down in the middle
of the Bible, tie it together, these different stones and colors, and so
forth. And then we bring it right straight back to that and see if that
ain't right. See? See if it ain't the same color and everything, just the
same thing. And the same Holy Spirit, the same God, showing the same
signs, same wonders, doing the same thing just as He promised...
185 He told Peter, James, and John, and them standing there, all of
His disciples, said, "Some of you will not see death until they see the
Son of man coming in His Kingdom." Said to John, said... Peter said,
"What are You going to do with him?" He
said... "That fellow, what's going to happen to him?" He said, "What
is it to you if he sees Me coming?" And He let
him live to see it. After the rest of them was dead and gone, John lived to see
the coming of the Lord rehearsed in power, the whole scene set from his time
until the judgments was over and the millennium was issued in. John saw every
bit of it, and the millennium over, and the Kingdom age started. So He
keeps His Word, doesn't He?
Paul
also speaks of this order of the resurrection in I
CORINTHIANS 15:20 ¶ But
now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits
of them that slept. (Now, notice that the use of this word first-fruit
shows there is an order to the resurrection. Christ first,
then the rest.) 21 For
since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive. 23 But every man in his own order: (And notice what
that order is?) Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at his (Parousia).
Questions
& Answers 59-1223 And then, when God's
people begins to gather back together, there's unity, there's power. See?
And whenever God's people
gets together completely, I believe the resurrection will take place
then. There'll be a rapturing time when the Holy
Spirit begins to gather it up. It'll be
in the minority, of course, but there will be a great gathering.
Uniting Time
& Sign 63-0818 We find that now the
time comes when the Trumpet sounds, and those sleeping saints back there that
could not be made perfect without us (there's many of those Hebrew brethren),
and when they come together, they unite
with the living ones. The Church uniting with the Word, then the Church and the Word uniting
together, being come one. The dead saints with the living saints uniting together to be one; and
all going together to unite with Christ yonder, for the Wedding Supper of the
Lamb. And to think of us standing, (in a moment, in a twinkling of
an eye, when the world won't know what's going on), but all of a sudden, you'll see appear before you, your loved ones that's
gone on has come to unite with you again. And we'll be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye; and be caught
up, together, to meet our Lord in the air. Let's get ready Let's get ready for this midnight cry. It's coming in a hour when you think not. There'll be a cry, not amongst
the unbelieving world; it'll be a secret.
How Can I
Overcome 63-0825 1M Sooner or later we're going to have to give each
other up. But that won't hurt the rapture now. See? No. They come first then. Them are privileged that's gone on. They come
first, See, we which are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord will
not hinder or prevent those that are asleep. The trumpet of God shall sound,
and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then when our eyes behold our loved
ones, then we'll be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye, and with
them shall be caught up together.
Going Beyond
The Camp 64-0719 2E And you know, we'll be caught up together to
meet the Lord in the air. Think of it! Missing people, they can't see you no more, but you're getting together with the rest
of the group. "They which are alive and remain to the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent (or `hinder,' the word is) those which are asleep."
Not dead, no, Christians don't die. They're just taking a little rest (see?);
that's all. Oh, my! "And the trump of God shall sound, and the dead in
Christ shall rise first, appear to many.." And
all at once you happen to stand and look, and "Well, there's a
brother..." And you know it ain't long. In a few minutes we'll be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an
eye, and together with them be missing
on earth, caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Q & A
64-0823 1M Then you believe that
Jesus Christ is that Word, and that Word is made flesh now among us, fulfilling
exactly what He said He would do in this age. Now, the first thing happens when we're
resurrected ... The ones which are
a-living will just still remain ... The resurrection will set in first, the
resurrection of those that are asleep. There'll
be a wakening time, and those which are asleep in the dust now will be awakened
first, and - these corruptible
bodies will put on incorruption in the rapturing
grace of the Lord. And then we'll all
get together. And when they begin to
get together, then we which are alive and remain shall be changed. These mortal
bodies will not see death, but just of a
sudden, there'll be like a sweep go over us, and you're changed. You're
turned back like Abraham was, from an old man to a young man, from an old woman
to a young woman. What's this sudden
change? And after while you're traveling like a thought, and
you can see those then who are already resurrected. Oh, what a hour! Then we'll
gather with them and then be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. Yes, the
Church will all be together, but after, after the resurrection and the rapture
has set in.
Now
we know there was an order to the first resurrection, and as Paul taught, Jesus
was the first fruit and then the rest could come after he came. MATTHEW 27:50 ¶ Jesus, when he had
cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did
quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the
graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And
came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy
city, and appeared unto many.
Notice
that Jesus cried with a Loud Voice and the graves opened, and the saints which
slept arose, but notice that they did not come forth as resurrected beings
until He came forth. So the order of the
resurrection is a very important thing. And look, what is a resurrection
anyway? Isn't it a coming back to life? Isn't it a re-awakening of the body
that was asleep in death? And doesn't it have to do with Life coming back into
the body? And if the body was at one time active, and then it fell asleep or
went into such a deep sleep that it was constituted as dead. But a resurrection
is a coming forth with the same life that it had before it died. Not a human
coming forth with a gorilla life, or a cat life or a goat life. And not with
someone else's life either. But their own life, that
was ordained in God before the world was framed coming back into that body
again and raising it up. And there is only one life that will do that, and that
is the God life you had in Him before the foundations of the world.
EPHESIANS 2:1 ¶ And you [hath he
quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Now,
I want you to notice that Paul is speaking of a people who have been quickened.
Now, this statement should be read in the context of chapter one where Paul
speaks of a people who are elect and were in Christ before the foundations of
the world and who have been predestined to a great plan and purpose of God who
wanted to have children, and these children would come in like fashion as His
Only begotten Son came. He speaks of this plan calling for a quickening by the
baptism of the Spirit, which Paul calls the earnest of our inheritance,
or the down payment.
II Cor 5:1 ¶ For we know that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of
God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be
clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3 If so be that being
clothed we shall not be found naked. 4 For we that are
in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be
unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 5
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given
unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing
that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we
walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to
be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9 Wherefore we labor,
that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
Now,
a down payment we also call an earnest payment because it shows we have made an
earnest or sincere commitment to honor the contract. And when we receive a
portion of God's Spirit, by receiving His Word, we receive in us the sincere
pledge by God to finish the work that He has begun, And the word quicken that
Paul uses here in Ephesians chapter 2 is the Greek word which means
to restore again to life, to animate or rather to re-animate. That is why brother Branham could say in the
message, FUTURE HOME 64-0802 34-3 "You wasn't saved on any
day. You was always saved. Amen. Jesus just come to redeem that, but you was saved from the beginning,
because you had Eternal Life to begin with."
In
fact the word redeemed means to buy back, and how could it be redeemed or
bought back if he did not own it to begin with. And how could
your Life and Soul be redeemed if you didn't have it to begin with. You
see, what we are here is only a reflection of what we are somewhere else. I
believe we are dealing with a dimensional principle that we know so little
about. But, brother Branham said those very words.
Q & A 54-0103E 143-191
What you are here... Get this in your mind now. I'm going to close. But what
you are here is a sign that you are something else somewhere. You've
always wanted to be in perfection, you Christians. There is a perfection, and that perfection is not in this life. But
every man and woman here that is a Christian, every person that is a Christian
here now is already glorified in the Presence of Jesus Christ. And you've got
another body. You won't have some other time; you have right now. Right now
there's another body waiting for you if this one should perish. Could you think
of that. Study that just a minute.
The Entombment
- 57-0420 Our
own life is just a pattern. It's just a shadow, and not the real thing. It's
the negative side. It takes death to develop the picture, to put
us back in the theophany we come from. Then in
the resurrection we come in His likeness, a resurrected body, what a beautiful,
not only beautiful but it's the real, solemn truth of God's eternal Word, that
we'll be like Him.
ROMANS 8:29 ¶ For
whom he did (already a done deal) foreknow, he also
did (another done deal) predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did (done
deal)
predestinate, them he also called (again it is in the past tense) : and whom he called
(past tense), them he also justified (past tense): and whom he
justified (past tense), them he also glorified(past tense). Therefore
it is finished. It's a done deal. You can't change the outcome, no matter how
hard you try.
Daniel 9:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt. In other words, this will be at the time of the Resurrection. 3 And they that be wise (This speaks of the Wise Virgin) shall shine (send forth light by warning and teaching and this teaching shall be) as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness (right-wise-ness) as the stars (brothers) for ever and ever.
God In Simplicity 63-0317 1M
58-5 God just speaks and the Rapture will come. It ain't going
out there and them Angels come down and shovel out the
grave and get out an old dead carcass here. What is it? It is born of sin to
begin with - but a new one made in its likeness. If we have this, we will die
again. See? Nobody can say, "The graves will open. The dead shall walk
out." That may be true, but not
open the way you say open. That's right. See? It won't be like that. It'll
be a secret, because He said He would come like a thief in the night. He's already told us this, the Rapture, then
judgments will strike - sins, plagues, sickness, and everything. The people
will cry for death to take them from the judgment. "Lord, why is this
judgment upon us when You said that there would be a
Rapture first?" He will say, "It's already come, and you didn't know
it." God hiding Himself in simplicity. Oh, my! All
right. "It's already happened and
you knew it not." Why don't believers believe the simple signs of His
coming? They're expecting all this things that's spoke of by the Scripture, and
the moon is going to go down in the middle - the sun in the middle of the day,
and there's going to be all kinds of things... Why don't believers believe the simple
signs of His coming? They're expecting all these things that's spoke of by the
Scripture, and the moon's going to go down in the middle of, the sun in the
middle of the day, and there's going to be all kinds of things. Oh, if we just had... I got the notes wrote here on it
(See?), to show what them things are, and we'll get it on the breaking of these
Seals this week anyhow. See, see? There it is, just where it's already passed
and you didn't know it. See? See if it is. If the Angel of the Lord will break them Seals forth to us... Remember, it's sealed with them
seven mysterious thunders. See? Now, why can't people believe the simple
simplicity of a humble bunch of people and the Voice of the signs of God?
Why can't they believe it? Just like it always been. The true
Word of God being made manifest. They're too smart and too educated to
believe the simple form of the written Word. They want to put their own
interpretation to it. "It don't mean this."
"It don't mean that." It DOES mean that. Listen. May I say
this right quick now? Even the visions
that God gives here at the place, it's so misunderstood. That's the reason
you hear me on the tapes say, "Say what the tapes say. Say what the
visions say."
Hebrews Ch7 - 57-0922 359-422 And
He took His dead body from the grave on the first day of the week, and brought
it up into Heaven; and sat it there as a High Priest, as a memorial, setting
there perfect, forever. And He sent the Spirit that He tore out of that body,
right back down on the Church. And that Church will have to have the same
Spirit that was in that body, or it won't dovetail with
It in the resurrection. Those two pieces must come perfectly together; and if this church isn't perfectly (just
exactly) the same Spirit that was in Christ, you'll never go in the Rapture.