Spoken Word #95
The
Seed Life is known by its Characteristics
Brian Kocourek
May 17th, 2009
This morning we will study the thoughts that brother
Branham is laying out for us in paragraph 71 of The Spoken Word is the original Seed, 72 Jesus is the Word of God, and He
was bursted open, that Life, the Life that's inside the Seed, that this
Life, which, is Spirit, Water flowing over, the Spirit over the
Seed of God will bring forth the Life of the Seed. And to bring forth
something else, there's some other kind of seed there then. Amen. Do you
understand? If the Spirit of God comes
forth to water the Seed, if it's the Seed it's watering, it'll produce the Life
of the Seed. That clear? Produce the
Life of the Seed, for that's what It's give for.
Now, God also identifies
Himself By His Characteristics. But most everything is identified by its characteristics.
Now, a characteristic of any thing identifies what it is. Like in all of
nature; flowers are identified by their characteristic. If they're close
together, of one specie to another, the characteristic of that flower will
identify what flower it is.
In hunting you have to
know the characteristic of the animal you're hunting, or you can be deceived. If you don't know the difference when you
were tracking a sheep, or a deer, you couldn't tell the difference unless you
were a very a smart hunter, because both the deer and the stone sheep make the
same kind of tracks, and they bound when they run away. And when you see one
standing at a distance with his head hid, you would hardly know the difference.
They're about the same size across the backside, and both are white, just like
the deer. It'd be hard to tell them apart. But the horns identifies their
characteristics. The sheep has a horn that’s round, and a deer has prongs that
run out.
Another thing that sets
them apart is that deer won't go as high up the mountain to feed as sheep. And in
a goat and a sheep, there is a characteristic that you'd have to know in order
to know the difference in them when you are up high in the mountain, because
they both dwell high in the mountain. You have to know the differences. But if
you notice, a goat stumbles as he walks, where a sheep sets his feet down as he
walks. That is the characteristic of the way he makes his track. Therefore, you
identify your game by the characteristics of what it does, and how it acts, and
what it feeds on, etc. Animals identify themselves by their characteristics.
Birds are the same way,
though they may look alike, you watch how they fly, and the pattern of flight
they take, and that indicates what type of bird it is. The yellow hammers, or Flicker
and a jaybird are both yellow and look alike and about the same size. Unless you
see the two flying, they appear to be about the same kind of bird. If you can't
see the color, but just watch them, you can tell which is the yellow hammer. The
jaybird flies more or less in a beeline, but the yellow hammer, as he flaps his
wings, he goes down and then up, down and then up. That's one of the
characteristic of the yellow hammer, the way he flies.
They can be identified
by their characteristic in flying, of which bird they are. Therefore, if you
just heard them, you can’t tell. But watch them a while and they will give
themselves away by the characteristic of their flight, or feeding habits.
I used to hunt when I
lived in
Now, as for men and
women, although both are human, yet they are very different in their make up
and characteristics. Why is for women,
is color so important? Why do their
shoes, purses and hats all have to match their dress? Show me a man that
takes the time to match his clothing, and I will show you a man that is missing
a chromosome. Women know what clothes must be worn for each occasion, whereas men
just think red is nice, pink is nice, so dear why not wear them together?
And if you
sisters expect your husband to be interested in helping you to pick out
curtains, forget it. Men have no
opinions about curtains. Women pick out curtains for the effect, the mood, the
ambience, the color, etc. but men look for how much light they can block out so
they can get an extra hour of sleep.
And
speaking of sleep, for men, 2am is time for sleeping, not for discussions about
whether you didn’t do something right 8 weeks ago. You know what puzzles me is
that men go through life seeming to have Alzheimer’s disease, because we do not
remember details because we do not pay attention to details and yet statistics
show that that the majority of Alzheimer’s death’s are women.
And
concerning clothes, men buy shoes and pants for comfort and fit, and as for
color, men’s colors, and black, brown and blue, and a man can pick out and buy
a pair of shoes in 90 seconds over the internet. Women’s colors would take too
long to name, and I lost track of how long it takes them to pick out a pair of
shoes. That’s why I don’t go shopping with my wife for clothes. The last time I
did, I waited and waited and waited and so I struck up a conversation with the
another guy waiting, and I asked him, why do people put spikes in their noses
and tongues, and he opened his mouth and showed me his 16 penny nail through
his tongue, and I scolded him right there on the spot. That’s why I don’t go
shopping with my wife to buy clothes. I get myself in trouble. But women can recall
every outfit they have worn for the past two decades. Men cannot remember what
they were wearing yesterday without looking on the floor next to the bed.
When a
woman looks for a car she is not interested in what’s under the hood, what
she’s interested in is what colors does it come in? And men can drive without
having to look at themselves in the mirror.
When we
communicate, men speak in sentences, but women speak in paragraphs. And men
never seem to get it right when trying to communicate with women. Men use I or
me when they should use we or us. But that’s not so bad, women use we or us
when they should use I or me.
Women enjoy
planning a wedding too, but to men it is the most boring thing on earth, next
to the wedding showers, and baby showers.
Women make
lists upon lists of things for their husband’s to do, when they know very well
they will never do them. And if a man knows an acquaintance has given birth to a
baby, he will remember the gender and name - if you’re lucky. If a woman is
told about a birth, she remembers the names (first and middle), The height and weight,
the time of birth, how long the labor took and whether medical intervention was
required. And women have the ability to brain dump their entire day when they talk
to their spouse at night – but men, they can only remember whether it went OK or
not. And men cannot watch sports or a movies and talk to their wives at the
same time.
And
finally one more difference between men and women. Some men look good with a mustache,
but there are no women who look good with a mustache.
Now, we have had fun
with this so far, but that is not the purpose of what I wish to bring out this
morning. What I am trying to do here is to get you to understand that the Life
from every seed is known not while it is in the seed un-manifested, but is
known by the manifested attributes or characteristics. So the Life is known by
it’s characteristics.
Many people are
left-handed and right-handed. Their characteristic, the way they handle
themselves you can tell whether it's a right, or left-handed person by the way
they conduct themselves, and the way they reach out, always with that left
hand, or right hand. And remember, the two hands are almost the same. They've
got the same kind of thumb prints, fingerprints, five fingers, small, index,
and so forth. Just as the right hand and the left hand has the same kind of fingers
normally, same size hand, just exactly, and the only difference there is in
them is, one is left and the other one is right. That's the only difference you
can tell. One is left, the other one right.
And Jesus said in
Matthew 24, that the characteristics of the two spirits would be so close in
the last days, it would deceive the very elected if it was possible. You take
your hand and just hold it up. See, if you don't notice, one of them looks like
the other in every way. But one of them is left, and the other one's right.
That's the way the two spirits will be in the last day. They're almost alike,
but they have each have a characteristic that identifies them. One is right,
and the other one's wrong. And it can be identified by its characteristic.
You stand in front of
the mirror and hold your right hand up and the guy in the mirror is holding up
his left hand. In every detail they are so much alike that it could deceive the
very elected if it were possible, and yet just the opposite of each other. And
that’s the way that the two spirits are to be in the end-time.
The Spirit of God can
be identified by Its characteristic as well. See the Spirit of God, and the
spirit of the church... There's a church spirit. And the Spirit of God that's
absolutely not like the church spirit at all. And in fact Brother Branham said
that the two spirits that would be so close is the Spirit of God in the Elect,
or what we call the Bride, and the church spirit which is the make-believers
spirit.
From his sermon, Seed not heir with shuck 65-0218 P:42 brother Branham said, Notice, see how close it looks. St. Matthew 24:24,
said that the
two spirits in the last days, the church spirit of the church people
and the Bride Spirit of the Bride people, would be so close together till it would
deceive the very elected if it was possible. That's how close. Look how it's come
through the stalk.
And from his sermon, Mark of the beast 54-0513 P:74 Now,
you see what the mark of the beast is?
It's the mark of apostasy. It's a
person who just thinks that, "Well, I belong to church, and I'm
just as good as the next fellow. Am not I belonging to this church?"
And you realize where your church organization that you're depending on, where
it come from? Do your realize? The Bible said, "He that worships the
beast, receives his mark, or the letter of his name (Now, watch.) in forehead or hand." That's knowledge or deed. That
don't mean you got a big tattoo on your face. It don't have to be that. It's
not talking of the outward. It's talking of spiritual. You watch him and see what he knows about the Scripture. Listen to
him and see where he goes to. "If any man don't have this doctrine,
there's no Light in him," the Bible said. See? See? Watch where it goes
to. Watch what he does. You say, "Well, I belong. I'm Protestant. Yes,
sir. I belong to this certain church. Yes, sir." And on Sunday you just
have about enough respect for it to come in out of the rain. He goes down, instead of going to prayer meeting, you'll
close up the church and set and watch television. He goes out here and
he drinks and carries on and acts like the rest of the world, yet he belongs to the church. Remember,
that's the mark of sin.
We
would see Jesus 61-0409 P:40 So don't place sin on smoking, drinking, gambling; that's not sin;
that's the attributes of unbelief. Sin is unbelief. You might never touched a
cigarette, drank, or never done anything evil in your life; if you disbelieve
God's Word, you're still a sinner. Sin is unbelief. There's only two spirits; one believes and the other does not believe.
God of this evil age 65-0801M P:31 The
two spirits, one of them God's Holy Spirit, the other one the devil's spirit
working in deception.
The people of the earth are now making their choice. The Holy Spirit is here calling
out a Bride for Christ. He's doing it by vindicating His Word of promise to Her
for this age, showing that It is Christ.
If the finger's supposed to move in this age, the finger will move. If the
foot's supposed to move in this age, the foot will move. If the eye is to see
in this age, the eye will see. See? The Spirit of God, as It's grown into the
full statue of God is... The age that we're now living in, the Holy Spirit is here vindicating the Message of the hour. And the Holy Spirit is doing this, so that
the people that believe God will be called out of this chaos. The devil's unholy spirit is here calling
his church by the error, as usual, by perversion of the Word of God like he
did at the beginning. See it coming right back to that seed time again?
From
Mark of the beast 61-0217 P:31 Now, therefore the great church making
itself ready. We find out that Esau and Jacob, before either child was born,
God said He loved one and hated the other. And remember, they were twins: same
mother, same father. Get it? Twins. Every
revival produces twins. Certainly does. There's twins born in natural man and the spiritual man. It was
back in the garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, the same thing. Started from there,
just keeps coming on down. And look at the church, Jesus the Pastor, Judas the
treasurer, brothers, out of the same tribe, so forth, right in the same group, same church. One the Pastor, and the other
one the treasurer. One a devil and one God. That's the way it goes. Jesus said,
"In the last days the two spirits
would be so close it would deceive the very elected if it was possible."
Amen. If it was possible, but it isn't. And it... They'll never do it. All
right.
Ten virgins 60-1211M P:113 All right, now, during this church age...
Oh, here's something so beautiful. I like this so well. During these church
ages, there is two spirits working
almost alike right down through here: one is the denomination; the other one is
the Holy Ghost. And Jesus said they were so close that they would deceive
the very elected if it was possible. These
two spirits are marking their people for future judgment. Satan promised that
he would have more than Christ, and he has. Now, watch this real, real close
now as we get to this: more than it would be, marking the people.
Hear recognize act on word 60-0221 P:47 Now, about two thousand years ago, it came
to a head, and it headed up in two men: one of them, Jesus Christ; the other,
Judas Iscariot. Now, Jesus associated the coming, of His second coming, that
these two spirits would be a lot different than what they was back there. Now,
here's where I want you to put on your glory garments. These two spirits are going to be different. Because Satan come and
lived in a man that was a church member, Judas Iscariot, lived in the
carnal church, and was a friend to the church all the time. But
he come in and deceived, or thought he was deceiving, his brother. He come in and pretended to be one of them,
tasted the good things of God, moved right along in the Spirit, seeming to be,
went out and preached the Gospel, and cast out devils. But down in him, all
the time he was Judas to begin with. The Bible said, "He was born the son
of perdition."
I will restore 54-0620A P:22 Now, watch these two spirits on these boys
spring up here in Genesis, and watch it end off in Revelations. And let's bring
it through the Bible a few minutes on these two vines. I'll take Cain to my
left side, Abel to my right side. Now, and now,
both of those boys was religious. Both of them were worshipers of God. Now,
remember, Cain built an altar to the Lord. In other words, he had a church. And
if a church membership is all God requires, Cain was just as good a man as Abel
was, and as just as Abel was, if God only requires a man to go to church. Cain went to church. Well, you
say, "Wait a minute now." All right. Cain was also a worshiper of God. Do you realize that you could belong to church and worship
God and still not be a Christian? Cain in the beginning... Now, don't
fall out with me. Just set still a minute; let's look at it through the
Scripture. See?
Father the hour has come 56-1002A P:57 The time has come where there's a falling
away. The Bible said, "Except
there come a falling away, the man of sin won't reveal Himself." The Pentecostal church is living in
the final of all times. The time has come. The time has come for the signs to
follow the believers. We're at the end time. We're in the latter rain. We're at the time when
men will be heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, and despisers of those that are
good. Heady, high-minded...
The time has come when they're teaching
doctrines of devils, perverting the Bible's teaching into theories and
theologies to draw groups of people away after them.
Father the hour has come 56-1002A P:10 And we get our chartered set right towards
Calvary, and no matter which way the wind's blowing, we're still looking to
Calvary, whether it's opposite, or whether whatever it is, we still are set
towards Calvary. That's the true believer. And then we're not tossed about by
every wind of doctrines, and this comes in, and that comes in, and this takes
place; we just got that one pilot course that's right to
Jehovah
Jireh 57-0612 P:34 In
the days of Abraham, and in the Orient, the way they made a covenant, they
taken a beast, and they killed it, split it in two, just like you see Abraham
doing for God's covenant. And they split the covenant in two. Then they write
out their agreement, and then they take that, and tear it apart, give it to one
and to the other. And they take a oath over this dead body: If they break this
covenant, let them be as this dead beast was. What an oath. And this only way
this covenant can be manifested, is for both men to bring both pieces of paper,
and they have to dovetail together, just exactly like that, and that confirms
the oath. Now, what was God doing? He was showing Abraham how He was going to
be the father of nations; through Isaac would come Christ. And at Calvary, Jehovah God, the Father, taken
His own Son to Calvary, and laid upon Him the sins and sickness of the world,
and there tore Him apart, and took the body up into glory, and sent the Holy
Ghost back down for the church. And when
the resurrection comes, the same Spirit that was in Jesus Christ, doing the
same things that Jesus did when He's here on earth, has to be with the church,
the covenant church, for when they come together the same signs, and the same
wonders that Jesus did will have to compare with the body of Christ to make the
Bride. Amen.
How
can I overcome 63-0825M P:28 We see this age that we're living in. It's one of the grandest ages
of all ages. This
Ensign
an 62-0119 P:35 Then
there come another, which was King Nebuchadnezzar, and he was going to build a
city. And if you'll notice, sometimes those spirits that get onto man... And
it's a day coming, and is at hand now, where the Christian church, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ ought to be so spiritual, because that Jesus said that the two spirits would be so close till it
would deceive the very elected if it was possible. The enemy is so cunning.
Now, watch him with Nebuchadnezzar. He built a city just exactly a pattern of
heaven: as the river Euphrates flowed by the throne, like in heaven the river
of water of Life goes by the throne, swinging gardens and everything, just
exactly like it was, for before when Abraham was journeying, looking for such a
city... And if you're not spiritual-minded, Satan will blind you on these
things (See?) something that looks almost like it, but it isn't it. If it's
manmade, it's no good; if it's Blood-boughten by God, it's the truth. That's...
See, it's true. But if it's manmade...
We
would see Jesus 61-0409 P:40 So don't place sin on smoking, drinking, gambling; that's not sin;
that's the attributes of unbelief. Sin is unbelief. You might never touched a
cigarette, drank, or never done anything evil in your life; if you disbelieve
God's Word, you're still a sinner. Sin is unbelief. There's only two spirits; one believes and the other does not believe.
Matter, we have based all of our thoughts upon some kind of a holy act,
something we've want to do, and something that we've done. "I give Jones'
some coal, when they were... I got a right to a heaven." You haven't got
no right to heaven, till you've believe God, accept it by the basis of faith
upon the shed Blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Have no rights, for no
other way, no matter...You might be a staunch member, Pentecostal to the core,
Methodist, Baptist, or Catholic to the core; makes no difference what church
you belong to. If you've solemnly believed on Jesus Christ, and accepted Him as
your personal Saviour, and your faith's in Him. I don't care what church you go
to, you're saved by faith. And without that, there's... There's no holy church;
there's no holy people. It's the Holy Spirit in the people, what makes it holy.
A holy God that lives amongst people, what makes the holiness. Not something
that I do, something that you do, or something that we would've done, but it's
what God has done for us, through Christ Jesus. That's the Bible.
Choosing
of a bride 65-0429E P:70 Now,
just a moment now; that's it. He chooses
a Bride to reflect His character, to which the modern churches of today
certainly misses His program here a million miles, 'cause they deny this to be
the truth. So how could it be? Now, He's
looking for the day for that Bride to be formed (Hebrews 13:8) just exactly like
He was. It's got to be His same flesh, same bones, same Spirit, same
everything, just exactly built up, and them two then become one. Until the
church becomes that, they're not one. The
character of Him, the Word for this age, must be molded... She must be
molded like He is. Now, in closing I want to say the reason that I've said
these things, and I'll--I'll close.
Now, we know that in the last days the two spirits
would be so close that it would deceive the very elected if it were possible,
but it’s not. And we know that in other ages gone by there were always twins to
cause the people following the message of God for that day to split apart and
take sides, because that is God’s plan for every age.
You see, God characteristics identified in Moses: a
Pillar of Fire was leading him. He also had the atonement in action, not
speaking of it, but he had it in action: not what will be, what is right now.
Notice. He had a brass serpent that had been lifted up for the sickness and
diseases of the people. Therefore, Moses was practicing Divine healing. He had
the atonement, the brass serpent symbolizing that God was in the camp. And the
people were looking on that brass serpent and being healed. He also had a
smitten rock following him. And that was identifying God to keep the waters of
life among them: joy and salvation, that they would not perish, but had
Everlasting Life. It was a type of... That smitten rock in the wilderness was a
type of Christ being smitten. Then they were traveling in the line of promise.
That was another identification showing God's characteristic. No matter how
fundamental Balaam was with the Word, Moses had the fundamentalism plus the
identification, and the characteristic of God among them. God identifying
Himself with Moses.
But notice God allowed two prophets to pull the people
apart. Both of them prophets, both of them fundamental, but God identified His
characteristics in Moses, because he had the characteristics of God with him.
Now, again, God's characteristics is always
supernatural, because He is supernatural. God is supernatural. It's unusual
always to the modern trend of thinking of the day. You know that. Gods always
has upset the apple cart for the religious groups in every age that's ever
passed. And not one time did ever a person, or group of people, ever organize
them self together upon a message, but what they died and went on the shelf and
never raised again. There's no history of a group of people taking it and
organizing it, and continuing on with God. The Lutherans, the Presbyterians,
the Methodists, the Baptists, the Pentecostals, and so forth, never raised
again. When they go to grouping it, God just leaves them.
God deals only with one individual at a
time. God is so unusual to man’s way of thinking... God comes down with His
Word that He promised, he gives it to one man in an age, and then He backs up
that man with His Message through vindication, and in that God identifies
Himself in that Word that was given.
But the group who were attracted to the Manifestations
and not the word, can't go with what God has done, because they don't believe
in a one man ministry, because they want to have their own input into it, and
when they do that it dies right there.
If it's identified by the Word, then its
characteristics proves what it is. It's God in action. Joseph should've known
this. He should've known a virgin shall conceive. But he was honest about it.
He didn't want to put her away privately, but he was thinking on doing it. And
then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. Did you ever wonder why He appeared in a dream? There were no
prophets of them days. The dream was so simple it needed no interpretation.
Said, "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy
wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." See? Then
that settled it. See, He came to him in a dream, secondarily. But you see,
there was no prophet there to identify that Word, that this was the virgin that
shall conceive. See? So therefore, He appeared to him in a dream, because he
was honest, and just, and a good man.
And I believe
God will come to any good man in some way, and identify his doings to that good
man for the age, if that man's called of God for that age. Now, but it was
so unusual they just could not hardly grasp it.
We also read over in II Peter that the
whole Word of God was written by them. Men of old moved by the Holy Ghost wrote
the Bible. They were prophets. The Word come to them, and they wrote it, wrote
it down under inspiration. First, they were identified prophets, then
they--they wrote the Word of inspiration. And they had the interpretation of
the Divine revelation, because it was God in the men. That's the way He showed
Himself in His characteristics of identification. Their visions being
a-vindicated was God's characteristic in them, making Himself known to the
people. Now, that's the only way He was in Christ. A prophet was just a little
speck; Christ was the Fullness of God. And God was in Christ, reconciling the
world to Himself. And His characteristics identified Him, what He was, insomuch
that He said, "If I do not the works of My Father, then don't believe it.
If I don't have the character of My Father, then don't believe Me, don't
believe My claims. If I haven't got the character of My Father in Me, then
don't believe it at all."
Now, His characteristics never changes. God cannot change His character no more
than a lamb can change its character, or any other thing changes its
characteristics. Because as long as it's in its original, it's original. And if
you change anything, then you've changed it from its original. It's just like
you can take a hog, and you can wash a hog, and put that paint on his toenails,
like the women does, and fix it up with lipstick, and put it on a nice dress,
turn that old sow out, and she'll go right straight to the water and wallow
again. Why? She's a hog; that's all. But you know, you wouldn't... A lamb
wouldn't do that. He won't even get in that mud. He don't want nothing to do
with it. It's the characteristics of it. See? You might dress him in the same
kind of clothes, but he sure won't go. The outside doesn't matter; it's the
inside.
Now, God being the
Source of all life... Don't fail to get this. I'm trying with all that's within
me to get you to see something. See? And I'm trying to get you to see what God
really is now. He's His promised Word.
He always is the Word. And He
identifies Himself by the characteristic that He promised a certain character
would rise at a certain time; that's in the Word. Then the characteristic of
this person that is supposed to rise, identifies that that is the person.
That's the reason Jesus had to be Who He was. They should've seen it. No wonder
they were blind. The things said... Though He had done so many miracles, yet
they could not believe, because Isaiah said, 'They got eyes and can't see, and
ears and can't hear.' See? Each age, not only his age, but every age, how God
in sundry times, in divers manners... Still they just couldn't get it.
30
Now, His characteristic never fails. It
always is the same. Now remember, His characteristic, the characteristic of God cannot fail. If it does, then God's
failed. And the Bible said in Hebrews
13:8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Therefore, He is the unchangeable God. Whatever character He was at the
beginning, He is still that same character. Every way He worked, any time He
ever done anything, He does it the same
way every time. If He doesn't, His character has changed. See? And His
characteristics would display something that wasn't of God. See? So we wouldn't
know where...
31
Like Paul said, "If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound who will know to
prepare for battle?" If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound... Now, if
the trumpet is supposed to sound "retreat," that's what we got to do,
retreat. If the trumpet sounds "charge," that's what we're supposed
to do is charge. But what is the
trumpet? It's the Word of God. It identifies God. Whether it's "Go
up," "Set down," "Retreat," "Stack arms,"
whatever it is, it's God's trumpet sound. And when the Bible says a certain
thing's supposed to happen, somebody says, "Oh, that's for another day,
that's..." Then there's a uncertain sound there. Then you don't know what
to do.
Jesus said in
Now, if He had
lived in Moses' time, it wouldn't have worked. And if Moses had lived in His
time, it wouldn't have worked. If He'd lived in Noah's time it wouldn't have
worked, or if Noah had lived in his time. Noah was prophesying of things for
that day. And his characteristic and what he done identified him with the Word
of God. Moses did the same thing. And here Jesus come. And the Word as promised
for that age is identified in Jesus Christ by the characteristic of the Word,
which is God. Amen.
The pouring out of
the Holy Ghost in the last days upon the common people has identified God's
characteristic with the people. He promised it. It's the Word. He said He'd do
it. Nobody can take it back. He said He would do it. So all these things that
He's promised, that's what He does. It identifies His characteristic. Yes, sir.
"Don't believe it, don't believe My claims, if My characteristic isn't
that of God." Now, notice in John
14:12, "He that believeth on Me,"
He said, "has My identification, My characteristic. He that believeth on
Me, the works that I do shall he do also." That identifies that the
character of Christ is in him, displaying
the characteristics of Him. Amen. I feel pretty religious right now, if I
am hoarse. Yes, sir. Oh, my.
See, there's no
mistake about it. His life... "He that believeth on
Me, the works that I do shall he do also." See, that identifies the characteristics,
same thing He said. "If My character doesn't identify Myself, God in
Him," then don't believe Him. Now, He also said that He would be
identified in that. Then that, if it doesn't identify Him, then He isn't what
He says. And today if Christ doesn't identify Himself, the characteristic of
Christ identify us as being of Christ, believing the Word... Jesus was the
Word, so He had to believe the Word. And how can we say that we are of Christ
and deny any Word in that Bible? The Holy Spirit of Christ is God in you. And
it'll punctuate every promise with a "Amen." The Bible said, "These signs shall follow them that believe."
The Spirit of God said, "Amen."
See? One of them said, "No, that was for another age. That was for
disciples only." "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every
creature. He (anywhere, all the world) that believeth, these signs shall follow him,"
same thing, same yesterday, today, and forever, the characteristic being identified. That makes Hebrews 1:1,
"God of
sundry times, speaking to the fathers by the prophets,"
identifying Christ resurrected today by
the same characteristic that He did in sundry times.
Did you notice, God
never changes His way. In the old Bible, when a dreamer dreamed a dream, and
there was no prophet in the land to see if this dream was right or not, they
had another way of finding out. They took that character, ever who dreamed the
dream, took him down to the temple. The breastplate of Aaron, who was the high
priest, hung on the post. And this dreamer told this dream. No matter how good it sound, how real it
sound, if there wasn't a supernatural light flashed on those stones, which is
called Urim Thummim (Bible readers understand.), then I don't care how real it sounded, it wasn't so. The unusualness of
God, the character of God had to display
its characteristics in the supernatural to show that He identified Himself on
the message. Amen. I say the same
thing tonight. The old Urim Thummim's gone, but the Word's still the thing that identifies the characteristic of God,
the promise of the hour that we're living. There
is God's characteristics, identified by the promise of the hour that we're
living in. That makes God the same as He was in sundry times.
Look. In divers manners He spake to the fathers by the prophets.
And the law and prophets were until John; since then the Kingdom of heaven.
Notice, but in this last day, speaking the same thing He did then through His
Son, Christ Jesus... God in sundry times, divers manners, spake to the fathers
through the prophets; in this last day,
doing the same thing, speaking to the people, the fathers through His Son
Christ Jesus. Has raised Him up from the dead and He lives within us,
identifying Himself and foretelling us things, that He's the Discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and
forever. "God
in sundry times, in divers manners, spake to the fathers through the prophets;
but in this last days through Jesus Christ, His Son." The
Scripture cannot be tampered with. It's exactly...
As I've said
before, God don't need anybody to interpret this Word. He interprets His own
Word. When He says anything, it happens. That's the interpretation. See? He
don't need anyone to say, "Well, I
believe it means this..." God identifies it by His own interpretation.
Moses was the Word made manifest for that hour. Elijah was the Word made manifest for that hour. Christ is the Word made manifest. And the promises that He made "A little while, and the world seeth Me no more. Yet ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you, even in you to the end of the world. The works that I do shall you do also." He promised these things. What is it? It's the characteristic of God displaying His Word like He did in all ages.
Malachi 4, He said, "Before the great and
terrible day of the Lord shall come, behold, I send unto you Elijah the
prophet. And he will restore the faith of the children back to the fathers
again, before that day come." He promised it. Jesus said in the 17th
chapter of St. Luke, "As it was in the days of
Notice. God spake to Moses in sundry
times. In Deuteronomy 18:15, said, "The Lord your God shall raise a
prophet liken unto me." Now, watch. That's the Word. That is the Word.
That was God; that wasn't Moses. How would Moses know that? He was a man. But
God speaking through Moses said this. You believe that? All right. Now, notice
Jesus. Watch how His--His characteristics identified this promised word true.
He certainly did. He was identified by this characteristic that Moses said He
would be. Many of them... Like today, they want to see some great leader,
"Oh, this is Dr. Ph. so-and-so. He's out of
"God in sundry times..." we read here. God
in sundry times (That's old times.) in divers manners (many ways) identified
Himself to His prophets by visions. That was the characteristic of a prophet
was when he foretold things and it happened. Now, that was his characteristic
of his identification, that God was with him. Then that give him the rights to
interpret the Word for that day, because the Word of God come to the prophets.
The characteristic of the prophet that he foretold...The Bible said, "If
there be one, and what he says comes to pass, then you hear him. But if it
doesn't, don't believe him, don't fear him. But My... My Word's not in him. But
if it does come to pass, then My Word's in him." That's his
identification. That's the characteristic of a prophet. Now, God in sundry
times, that's how He showed His characteristics of identification of Himself to
man, by speaking through a man that was called to be a prophet. Now, the Bible
says that God in sundry times, divers manners, spoke to the fathers through the
prophets.