MARK 16:14-20 WE ARE PUBLISHING THIS MESSAGE, WITH THE SINCERE HOPE THAT IT WILL HELP SOME OF YOU TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND WHERE YOU STAND. WILL YOU STAND FOR THE WORD OF TRUTH, OR MUST YOU HAVE THE SIGNS AND MIRACLES, EVEN AT THE EXPENSE OF SACRIFICING TRUTH IN ORDER TO BE WHERE THEY ARE? READ WHAT WE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE CHARISMATICS, THE FOOLISH VIRGINS, THE ACTIONS THAT FOLLOW GENUINE FAITH, AND WHAT WORLD RELIGION IS DESTINED TO DO. THEN, IF YOU FEEL THAT THE BIBLE TEACHES DIFFERENT FROM THIS, WE WOULD BE GLAD TO HEAR FROM YOU. WE FEEL THAT THOSE WHO DISAGREE OUGHT TO HAVE SUFFICIENT SCRIPTURE TO ESTABLISH THEIR DISAGREEMENT, AND NOT JUST AN OPINION. DO ALL ROADS REALLY LEAD TO ROME? IS GLOSSOLALIA, ONE OF THOSE ROAD BUILDERS, AND WHERE DOES MR. PENTECOST FIT INTO THE PICTURE? THEN, LASTLY, JUST WHAT IS GOD OBLIGATED TO CONFIRM? YOU WILL FIND THE ANSWERS IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES.

In the 16th chapter of the gospel of Mark, we find some of the last words that Jesus spoke to His disciples during the short interval of time that He spent with them after He arose from the dead. I would like for us to read these words together, and then you will hear me ask the question, “WHAT IS GOD TO CONFIRM?” I believe we can determine where we are, scripturally, if we will examine the word of God in the light of present day conditions. Realizing that we are living in an hour when people are doing everything that one could imagine, in the name of some religion, and they all have a scripture verse that they use to make it look legitimate; we must, of necessity, ask ourselves the question, just what is God obligated, by His word, to confirm? I will leave that question for you to consider, and we will begin our message by reading verses 14-20. In the earlier verses we learn that when Jesus arose from the dead, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She reported it to the other disciples, but they did not believe her. Then he appeared to two of them as they went on their way into the country, but the other disciples failed to believe their report also. That brings us to the 14th verse where Jesus appeared to the eleven apostles. Let us begin reading there. 14, “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he has risen. 15, And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17, And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; (or demons) they shall speak with new tongues; 18, They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19, So then after the Lord has spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20, And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and CONFIRMING THE WORD with signs following.” THE COMMISSION First we want to notice that, after Jesus finished rebuking them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, He gave them a commission. “Go into ALL the world, and preach the GOSPEL to EVERY CREATURE. He that BELIEVETH and is BAPTIZED shall be saved.” Please notice that the gospel was to be preached to every creature. Jesus did not tell them to go out into the world and search for the predestinated seed of God. They had no way of knowing who was predestinated anyhow; only God knows that. What God wants from mankind, is a vision for all lost men to be saved. When we do not have a vision for lost mankind; we can not carry the genuine love of God for them. Therefore, our commission is to preach the gospel to every creature. We do not 2 have any responsibility in saving lost people; that rests in the hands of a sovereign God. It is He, who has foreknown every true seed, elected, and predestinated them before the foundation of the world. It is He, and He alone, that will make sure every last one of His predestinated seed will find their way home. How will he do it? By having the gospel (the good news) preached around the world. Now you may say, “What if there be one somewhere that never hears the gospel?” I will have to answer by saying, “Is God unjust?” Look again at the words of the commission, “Preach the gospel to every creature, He that BELIEVETH A-–D IS BAPTIZED shall be saved; BUT, he that BELIEVETH NOT shall be DAMNED.” Now, who is to be damned? Is it not he who fails to believe the gospel? The real problem in our day is not that they do not hear; it is what they hear, and how they respond. Jesus said, “He that BELIEVETH and is BAPTIZED shall be saved,” but there are multitudes of people in our day who will use John 3:16, or John 5:24, and rule out everything else that is written in the Bible. I want you to understand that John 3:16, by itself, merits no salvation. Neither does John 5:24. That is another of those delusions that Satan has heaped upon mankind. If he cannot keep a person from hearing the word of God, he will try to get them side-tracked with one of those verses that fail to present the whole story. There is no salvation in just believing on Jesus with the mind. James said that even the devils believe, and tremble, but are they saved? He went on to say, “Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” In others words, we would have to say that faith, without corresponding action, merits no salvation. Well then, some of you may say, “Just what is the corresponding action that goes with believing?” Let us look at the answer Peter gave to those who asked him that question one day. Acts 2:37-38, “Now when they heard this, (the gospel) they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do (to be saved)? Then Peter answered and said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

WHAT IS BELIEVING UNTO SALVATION?

When we speak of believing on Jesus, it encompasses the whole word of God; not just a verse or two that has been used out of context. All of the word of God is entwined so that a person does not have a choice of believing only a part of it, and rejecting the rest, while claiming to have salvation. Genuine salvation rests upon believing the whole word of God; therefore when we believe the whole word of God, there is some corresponding action that makes it effective. It was when men began to take scripture out of context, that creeds, doctrines, and man-made ideas began to form into division among the worshipers. As a result of such, we are living in a world that is filled with religious divisions and traditions. Nevertheless, to come back to our thought, baptism is essential in God’s plan of salvation, and it must be scriptural baptism, instead of the devil’s substitute. Trinity minded people hold to Matthew 28:19, as the formula for baptism, not knowing that it requires a revelation of the scriptures in order to carry out the command fully. They read where Jesus said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the NAME (SINGULAR) of the FATHER, (WHICH IS A TITLE, AND NOT A NAME) and of the SON, (WHICH IS ALSO A TITLE) and of the HOLY GHOST: (ANOTHER TITLE) Teaching them to observe ALL THINGS whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world,” and it seems that, without revelation, they try to put one scripture against another one, instead of realizing that it takes them all to make up the complete word of God. I have heard people say, “I would rather do what Jesus said, instead of Peter; for Peter was not very stable in his ways.” What a shame for people who profess to be believers to talk like that. It proves that they are without understanding, for Peter’s instructions were exactly in line with the command that Jesus gave. Peter knew that God’s redemption name for those titles in Matthew 28:19 was Jesus, (J-E-S-U-S) “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, Acts 4:12, And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the NAME of the LORD JESUS, giving thanks to God and the Father by him,” Col. 3:17. Please notice that it was not Peter who spoke these words, it was the apostle Paul: the very apostle who held the line on the word of God among the Gentile churches. The very apostle who would not leave those disciples of John the Baptist, which he found at Ephesus, until he had baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus, Acts 19:5. 3

SALVATION OR DAMNATION

Brothers and sisters: I know that most of you who will read this, do not need to be convinced of the necessity to be baptized scripturally, but for the sake of the few who need to hear it, we must keep on saying it until God closes the door of grace to the Gentiles. As we said before: only God knows who the predestinated seed are; therefore it is still our duty to preach the gospel to all men. Then after we have done that, those who believe and follow through with proper baptism will be saved, and those who believe not will be damned, or condemned. That is God’s formula and we cannot alter it. Jesus went on to say, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my NAME shall they cast out devils; (or demons) they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; (that doesn’t mean they will be snake handlers) and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” I would have to say that he gave a real thorough description of what the believer’s life would be like, and while they were thinking on what he had said, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. Not the first person of a trinity, but on the right hand of God: Eternal, Omnipresent Spirit. The right hand speaks of authority and power. Matt. 28:18 Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” In the language of God, the right hand is where authority is delegated from, while the left is for visitors or friends, as in a king’s palace. So with Jesus having all power and authority, in heaven, and on earth, the disciples went forth, (verse 20) and preached everywhere, (In other words, they went forth preaching the unadulterated gospel, not Methodist, Baptist, Catholic nor Pentecostal doctrine, but the very truth that Jesus had taught them for 3 ½ years) the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Praise God, he did not confirm creeds, traditions, rituals, nor man-made dogmas; he confirmed the word with signs following. Now that is exactly as Jesus said it would be. He said, “You go into all the world and make disciples; teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and I will be with you, even unto the end of the world.” There is one thing sure; if Jesus is with you, and you are preaching the pure word, apart from denominational opinions, there will be some signs following your ministry. As we go into the book of Acts, we find that those early disciples truly went everywhere preaching the unadulterated, revelated word of Jesus Christ, and where ever the word was preached there was always signs and miracles present, and believers added unto the Lord. The book of Acts covers approximately 30 years of apostolic history; in which we find many accounts of the gospel being preached and people turning to the Lord. Not one of them ever tried to skip, or avoid water baptism. Every last one of them was baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, as Acts 2:38 tells us it should be. Now let me make something clear concerning water baptism. Just being baptized, without understanding what it is all about does not merit salvation. Some seem to think that just as long as they get wet everything will be alright. That is not God’s formula. An effective baptism must be proceeded by genuine repentance and a revelation of what God is offering. It is sad, but churches, or I should say church buildings are filled with people who have stepped forward, shook the preacher’s hand, and been immersed in water, but without any change in their way of life. It has become just a ritual with no more salvation in it than you find in any other pagan practice. Let me say to any young person who may read this, or to anyone else for that matter; if the experience you have had did not bring a noticeable change in your habits and general way of life, then by all means, seek God until you get the real, genuine, Holy Ghost, life changing salvation that we read about in the New Testament. Then, when you find it, cherish it, with all of your strength.

WHAT ARE YOU FOLLOWING

Now let us go to Hebrews, chapter 2, and read a few verses. 1, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, (in other words, meditate upon them and remind ourselves), lest at any time we should let them slip. (Forget about them, or treat them as unimportant.) For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, (or unmovable, because God does not change) and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; (meaning to 4 overlook, set aside, or prolong. For this salvation is a great thing.) Which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, (that is why I read Mark 16) and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Mark recorded, what Jesus told them to do.) God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers (different kinds) miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? If we will look at the scriptures honestly, we will not have any difficulty determining what God puts His approval on. We will all discover that, any where there was a condition (in that first church age) that was contrary to the truth, or the principle of how truth was to be expressed, the Holy Ghost always reached out and began to correct the situation, whether it was an individual person, or a condition involving many. In other words, God immediately corrected that which was not right. Why? He was establishing truth, and the Bible tells us that the church of the Living God is the pillar and ground of the truth. In other words, those of you who are familiar with construction work, know that a pillar is a holding support for something that is being constructed. It does not necessarily shelter you, but it does hold up something that will shelter you. If you can catch my illustration, what I am saying is, that the church was ordained of God to be the very pillar and ground of truth. It is to remain unshakable regardless of what may be going on all around it. You realize of course, that I am applying the word, CHURCH, in this statement, only to that universal body of baptized believers who hold up the apostolic truth of the word of God, and not to the great multitude of sign seekers out here who call themselves the church. We are living in a day when the great multitudes who refer to themselves as the church are seeking out leaders, or maybe I should say, following after those who have the greatest miracles, or the most signs following their ministry, completely forgetting the fact that Pharaoh’s magicians could produce the same signs that Moses and Aaron had with them. The true church of the Living God is holding up truth, and the signs follow as God confirms his word, but the world church is holding up signs and wonders instead of truth, and the sign seekers are following after that. I have people coming to me, and, also, calling me on the telephone saying, “Bro. Jackson: What about Reverend So and So? He sure is having a lot of miracles in his services. Is he a servant of God?” Then you pick up newspapers and magazines and read those excitable testimonies, in the religious section, where people have been healed of just about every disease imaginable. Naturally it causes many people to look at the advertised results of these great gatherings and think, “God just has to be in that, or they would not have results like that.”

DO ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME?

Let me first make it perfectly clear that I will never be guilty of discrediting God for anything that He may have done, or that He may do in the future, but this ecumenical, charismatic spirit is leading multitudes away from the word of God, and into the devil’s trap, with their chicken suppers, rummage sales, and their ability to produce excitable testimonies. I am sure some of you think I spend too much time warning honest hearted people about this image of the beast system that is capturing the attention of so many, but please try to understand that we are approaching the day, when all who are not forewarned, will be deceived, misled, marked and damned. For instance, I recently read an article in one of the weekly publications that you find lying around in waiting rooms, and on airplanes and such like, that ought to cause every Holy Ghost filled child of God to realize that the time is short. It was about the life and charismatic ministry of a well known female celebrity in the field of religion. It seems that she has emerged from the charismatic movement to be recognized as a spiritual therapist who effects healing on her followers by dealing with their mind and emotional problems. She is referred to as the best known woman in American religion, and she readily confesses that, to her, Jesus was just a man, but a man who was ordained of God to carry the burden of all the negative thoughts and feelings of all human beings who ever lived. And I believe, she said, that through the Holy Spirit, God can be in me just as He was in Jesus. Such a statement reveals that she has no revelation of who Jesus Christ actually was, (GOD IN FLESH). One of her influential admirers stated that he believes she is effective precisely because “she doesn’t carry around a 2,000-year-old bag of doctrines.” Tell me where a person could get a doctrine worth carrying, if they did not get it out of this 2,000-year-old Bible? We read in 2nd John 9, that, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the DOCTRINE OF CHRIST, hath not God. He that abideth in the DOCTRINE 5 OF CHRIST, he hath both the Father and the Son.” Then verse 10, tells us, “If there come any unto you, and bring not this DOCTRINE, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: (THAT IS TO SAY GOD BLESS YOU) For he that biddeth him (or her) God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” Now you may say, “But, Bro. Jackson: People are being healed, and people are getting answers to their problems through the ministry of Sister ——.” Yes, I know, and she is leading everyone of them right to old mother Rome. As a matter of fact, one of the statements that was made in this article was that she feels most at home these days in the Roman Catholic church. Much of her ministry is with Catholic people, and it is stated that she frequently substitutes the Virgin Mary for Jesus in her guided meditations. She says Protestants would be surprised at the large number of miracle cases she has had with people who could not relate to anyone but Mary. She even goes so far as to say, “Who knows, maybe God was in Buddha just like he was in Jesus.” People like this have no more regard for Bible truth than a hog does for a nice clean spot in the barn yard, and world religion is falling for her kind of leadership, hook, line and sinker. You can hear testimonies for these meetings, where thousands got filled with the Holy Ghost, and great numbers healed from every conceivable disease, yet there is no truth among them. That is why we must ask ourselves the question, WHAT IS GOD TO CONFIRM? Many of these people are actually being healed, but I seriously doubt that very many of them are receiving the Holy Ghost: for if they receive the Holy Ghost, they will never stop until they find the truth that their soul hungers for. It makes no difference how many times they have laid on the floor, nor how many times they have talked in other languages, the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Truth, and he will not allow his vessel to be satisfied with Satan’s program of deception. It is written, that he will guide that person who is truly filled with him, into all truth, John 16:13.

RECOGNITION AND RECONCILIATION

Please do not misunderstand what I am trying to get you to see, and please do not think that I would lift a finger to stop any of the things that are taking place in the realm of religion: for I am fully persuaded that everything that is taking place, is fulfilling something that is foretold in the word of God. These things are not just happening; God is fulfilling His word, and He is not the least bit confused or discouraged, and we who know the truth, ought not to be either. With revelated people, it is a matter of recognizing the day we are living in, reconciling ourselves to the fact that world conditions are not going to get any better until Jesus comes to rule on earth, and learning how to walk with God, right in the midst of all these deceptions. You will remember that Jesus did not pray for His disciples to be taken out of the world before the time, but rather, that they should be kept from the evil that is in the world. Then what did He pray? John 17:17, “Sanctify them (Set them apart from the world. How?) through thy TRUTH: thy WORD IS TRUTH.” While the charismatics are raving about a worldwide revival, the bride is seeking to become settled in the word; knowing that what appears to be a great revival, is nothing more than a gathering together, to form the image of the beast. Remember, there has to be something to draw them together. That is why, when people say, “If we be the bride of Christ, why do we not have a miraculous ministry in our midst?” I always say, “If we had signs and miracles that attracted a lot of attention, that bunch out there, would be here, following the signs, instead of the word.” Look what a hard time Bro. William Branham had trying to preach the word of God with so many sign seekers present. Look what many of those sign seekers said about him, when he began to bear down hard on the oneness of the Godhead, and scriptural baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They began to say, he was right in the heart, (because of his compassion and love, which was easily recognized), but wrong in the head. Why? It was because he preached the word, from a revelation of the scriptures, and it was contrary to their man-made creeds, and their way of life. They go for this charismatic gospel, because there is nothing about it that demands a change in the way they are living. If they are homosexuals, they just love Jesus and keep on being homosexuals. These perverts and filthy dreamers are assuming the roles of leadership in many of the old line churches, and anyone who lifts a voice against it finds the odds are against them, and they are soon silenced. Go to the church of your choice, they say. Just as long as you love Jesus, it doesn’t make any difference whether we all believe alike or 6 not. What Bible does such garbage come out of? It doesn’t come out of any version that I have ever read. What thrills me though, Brothers and Sisters, is to see that elect seed of God work his way right through all of that, and come to the truth of God’s word. God knows His elect. He knows where every predestined seed is right now, and He knows how to lead them right out of the Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, or whatever church system they have been imprisoned in, and guide them right into his truth. He may, very well, heal their sick body, while they are still in one of those systems. I have no pick with a thing like that. It is God’s sovereign right to do anything that will further His purpose among mankind, but I do have a scriptural right to judge these things by the word of God, when I find people trying to build the kingdom of God with healing testimonies, and speaking in tongues, and such like. What God confirmed in the first church age was His word, and that is all we have any right to expect Him to confirm in this last age. It was when that Antichrist spirit began to invade the church in the first century, that the word of God began to be crucified. In other words, a little cut here, and a little cut there, until they had destroyed the power of the word of God in their midst. Then, in came man-made doctrines and traditions to replace those Bible doctrines which had been set in the church by the Holy Ghost. History proves that the church lost her signs and wonders that had been present to vindicate truth, and from there she went right on into the Dark Ages, where there was very little light left, but God preserved a little light through that dark period, and gave those reformers something to start with, as He began to move the church back to truth. History will also show that, every time God moved, through those reformers, to reveal a Bible truth, there was always a measure of the Holy Ghost that moved right into that revelation to vindicate it, and put God’s approval on it. I have said, many times, and I do not hesitate to say it again, Brother Branham did not restore the great Bible doctrines that our faith is established by, back to the church. God did that through the reformers, such as Luther, Knox, Calvin, and those other men who, through great persecution and conflict, stood for a truth that God revealed in their hour. The need for Bro. William Branham’s ministry was caused by the fact that, the followers of those reformers built denominational fences around the truth that came through their leader, so that, by the time Bro. William Branham came on the scene, there was a need for all of these Bible truths to be collected together and presented to the bride of Christ. That was Bro. William Branham’s calling, and he fulfilled it well. The spirit of Elijah that was upon him, is a God identifying spirit that points the way for believers to approach God. That spirit will cut down traditions of men, and point to Bible truth. It took that ministry, to give the living element of the bride of Christ something to hold on to, when God began to withdraw His spirit from the Gentiles here at the end of the age. We are now living in the days that the apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 8, 13, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, (Is this not what we see all around us?) Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, (You know how it is today, when we try to live by our God-given convictions, especially out here in these factories where many Christians work, there is always one of these characters around to make fun, and to ridicule. If you continue to hold up a standard of truth and right living, they will despise you, but do not be alarmed, they are fulfilling scripture that must be fulfilled before we get out of here.) Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; (We are living in a pleasure mad society. Everything is geared for pleasure. Necessary things are secondary.) Having a form of godliness, (This is the charismatics, and world religion in general.) But denying the power thereof: (They deny themselves of the true power of God, because they deny the truth,) from such turn away.” In verse 8, he says, “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.” They want to believe only what is convenient for them. They want the benefits, without living the life. They do not want to be lost; they do not want to go to hell, and if they get sick, they want to be healed, but when you try to talk to them about truth, they get mad and stomp out, many times, telling you to mind your own business. They will believe what they want to believe. Then, those who do not get mad are usually the ones who will say, “Bro. Jackson: I don’t think it is so important what we believe, just as long as we have love one for another.” When you tell them they do not have any scripture for that kind of belief, they will say, “It seems more important that 7 we are right, in our spirit, than to worry about doctrine.” Let me tell you, when you get right, with God, and line your life up with His word, you will have the right spirit, and it will cause you to have love for one another. Then if you begin to go to seed on one certain scripture, so that you become haughty and proud, God has a verse or two somewhere in the Bible, that will deal with you about that too. That is why I say, when the true love of God is cultivated in the lives of those who make up the family of God, you will see a people who believe the same, and share the same revelation. Remember, the apostle Paul admonished the Christians of that first age to be of the same mind, one toward another, Rom. 12:16, 2 Cor. 13:11. He also told them to speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among them. This is ecumenism, the way God meant for it to work.

CHARISMATIC’S PURPOSE IN GOD’S PLAN

In Louisville, Kentucky they have a Catholic charismatic church where they meet on Saturday nights, and the entire time is spent praying and singing in tongues. It is open to all charismatic people, from all denominations. Do not think that I am belittling the experience of singing, or praying in other tongues, but Brothers and Sisters, when an entire service is built around that, some one has stepped over the word of God somewhere. The Bible doesn’t teach any such thing. God does not allow anything to have the preeminence over His word. Singing in the spirit is a wonderful thing, and I believe in it, but when it comes to conducting a church service, there must be something that will discipline and direct our lives in such a way that they will line up with the word of God. If not, it will not be too long until we are side-tracked, or even derailed. At any rate, you will need some help to get back on the main line, once this has happened, and that help can only come from someone who is on the right track themselves. The charismatics can not help you there, you must find your help from someone who has the revelated word. Let me go on record, right now, by stating what this charismatic movement is for, and what it is really doing. First, it is the spirit of delusion that the Holy Ghost inspired the apostle Paul to write about, in 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 2. We have used this scripture before, but let me re-state the fact that it says, “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, or, the lie, (Why?) Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” What is the result? Verse 12, “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Now, when was the delusion supposed to come? Not in the Dark Ages, and not in the period of the reformation, but in the last days, just before the revealing of the son of perdition, the mystery of iniquity. Who is the delusion meant for? Not the drunk on the street, nor the criminals who defy the law, but the pleasure seeking, loose living, religious world, that has gone after the signs, and rejected the revelated word of God. Now you know what a delusion is. A delusion is a mirage, something that looks real. I have read testimonies, and you have too, of men who were going across the desert and run out of water. (Water is the first thing the body begins to cry out for.) After awhile the body begins to dehydrate, affecting the psychological reactions of the person. Before too long the body dehydrates to a point where it causes the mentality of the person to become hysterical in its reactions. Then the eyesight is affected, and because it is water the body is crying out for, they finally get to the place where they imagine they see lakes of water on up ahead of them. They use every ounce of strength left in their body to run, crawl, and finally, to drag themselves on toward that imaginary lake of water. Most of them die, lying face down, as though they were drinking from a lake of water. Only a few have lived to tell the story from these extreme cases. Now, I ask you the question, what is a delusion? It is a state of mind. Brothers and Sisters, this delusion that looks so real to the church world in general, must continue to hang there until it has fulfilled the purpose of God. You will recall the parable in Matthew 25:1-13, dealing with this last age, when mankind was to be awakened by a shout, and made aware of the soon coming of Jesus Christ, who is to be the bridegroom, and is to be wedded to his true church. In the parable there were 5 wise, and 5 foolish virgins, and they all slumbered and slept, but when the shout came to awaken them, the wise, who had oil in their vessels, arose, and trimmed their lamps, but the foolish, who had neglected to fill their vessels with oil, (oil signifying the Holy Ghost) began to say to the wise, “Give us some of your oil; our lamps have gone out.” The wise answered them, “We cannot do that lest there be not enough for us and you: (The Holy Ghost that you have is just enough for you; you cannot give 8 part of him to someone else.) But go ye rather to them that sell, (the charismatics) and buy for yourselves.” In other words, go out there where they specialize in that type of ministry, and find your own experience with the Holy Ghost. Brothers and Sisters, that is the other reason why the charismatics must continue awhile yet. So that every foolish virgin will have an opportunity to get oil in their vessel. Can you see it now? First, a delusion for them that have no love for the truth, and secondly a filling station for the foolish virgins who have waited too long, before they come to realize that there is a truth to stand for, and you must have the Holy Ghost in order to stand for it. Maybe we could say it a little differently. They wake up, out of their denominations where they have always believed in a rapture of the church, and are made to realize that it takes the Holy Ghost in your life in order to be in the rapture. That is when they begin to inquire about he Holy Ghost, and they are told to go to those places where they deal in a message of baptism of the Holy Ghost. That is their main ministry, and it is serving a purpose, fulfilling the parable that Jesus spoke. Every word in the Bible must be fulfilled; therefore it is necessary for there to be something around to fulfill it. Some of you will say, “Bro. Jackson: could they get the Holy Ghost here?” Yes, a hungry soul can be filled with the Holy Ghost any time, and any place that they fully submit themselves to God, but that is not our main ministry here. We are trying to stand for a message of truth, that will work to perfect those who are born of the spirit of God, and those people who are seeking to be filled with the spirit of God, want to hear preaching that deals mainly with that.

THE DOCTRINE WITHOUT THE REALITY

This Pentecostal message, that began to be preached around the turn of the twentieth century, has produced an interesting drama over the past 70 years. In the beginning, all the denominations treated the experience of Pentecost like something Satanic. Their doctors of divinity wrote books, condemning the experience of speaking in tongues, and being slain in the spirit. That is what kept the denominations as a whole, away from it. Only the spiritually hungry individuals from those systems, who dared to face the ridicule and reproach of their family and friends, sought the baptism of the Holy Ghost in those early days. The fundamentalist who rejected the experience caused the whole of denominationalism to move through the next 50 odd years, blinded. The Methodists who were sanctified, wound up being crankified. They built all their Bible schools on the doctrine, D-O-C-T-R-I-–E, of sanctification, and the question was, Is it instantaneous, or progressive? Later, as they thought, theoretically, they had the doctrine of it all straightened out, they found that they had lost the experience of sanctification, the reality of the experience. That is why you see Methodism today, just as formalistic and dead as all the rest. They have the doctrine of sanctification, but they do not have the reality of the experience. That is why, if God had not sent us a prophet messenger in this age, we would all still be wrapped up tight in one of those systems, headed for a calamity. I do not elaborate on the human side of the man, but I do like to give credit where credit is due. If God had not raised up someone with a spiritual vision, and an insight into the word of God, how would any of us ever have gotten free from our spiritual bondage? But thank God, he raised up a little man by the name of William Marrion Branham, and placed a gift in his life that, to me, outshined every other manifestation that has taken place down through the years of church history since the days when Jesus walked on earth among men. I see it as, God manifesting the same gift to the Gentiles in this age, as He did to the Jews, through the Lord Jesus Christ. I realize when I say a thing like this, there are those who will say, “Be careful what you say Bro. Jackson.” I do not deify the flesh of our dear departed brother, but I certainly do have respect for what I saw God do through that little man. I have never read, nor heard, where any other man except Jesus Christ himself, including the apostles, ever was used in the way Bro. William Branham was. I have seen them stand 18 or 20, in a line, and he would stand there revealing the very secret things of their lives. In other words, things that he, from the human standpoint would not have known. Then he would pause, lift his head, and look way back in those large auditoriums to call out a particular person that the Lord revealed to him, telling that person what state they were from, calling their name, and many times giving their address, street number and city, perfect every time, then proceed to tell them what they were praying for and pronounce it done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That was exactly as it was the day Nathaniel came to Jesus, and Jesus told him 9 that he saw him when he was still under the fig tree, before Phillip called him. The fig tree, no doubt, was quite a distance from where they were; therefore, as soon as Jesus said that, Nathaniel answered and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. You see, Nathaniel knew the scriptures; therefore, he had no trouble recognizing the Messiah they had been expecting for so long. He knew this had to be God fulfilling His word. The reason some people believe Bro. William Branham was God, is because they saw him doing the same things that Jesus did. The difference lies in the fact that there is scripture to vindicate Jesus Christ as being God in the flesh, and there is not one verse anywhere in the Bible that gives anyone the right to apply that to any other man. However, there is scripture that tells us that God would send that spirit of Elijah to forerun the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that is exactly what the ministry of Bro. William Branham fulfilled. He brought a message to this age, and God vindicated it in a miraculous way, because His message was destined to draw a people out of these denominations, and set them apart as the true church of the Living God. I know what some men have done with it. They have brought disgrace upon the message, and reproach upon the name of the man who was God’s instrument, causing the denominational systems to proclaim, “It is all of the devil,” without realizing that their rejection of the message he brought is driving them back, back, back right into the arms of the Antichrist. They are so proud of their traditional interpretation of what they call the word of God, that they cannot afford to bend and admit that they are wrong, so they just stand there with their fist clinched, losing more ground with God every day. But praise God, He knows how to get His elect out of those systems. He begins to expose them to just enough to create a hunger in their individual souls, then He fills them with His spirit, which is the Spirit of truth, and by the leading of that Spirit, they come to realize that they cannot remain in those systems. The more their leaders condemn this message, the stronger the desire to hear more about it. Then as they begin to hear it, as it should be preached, truth strikes their heart, and the Holy Ghost being there to bear witness to it, they are lead to a people who stand for, and teach that truth. To sum up the situation in few words, the bride is being washed with the word, the foolish virgins are seeking oil, with very little regard for the revelated word, and religion as a whole, is running straight to Rome, right in to the arms of the Antichrist.

SEPARATING – PURIFYING

Realizing what the charismatic move is, (that delusion sent from God to those who have no love for truth), and realizing what God is using it for, (to supply the foolish virgins with oil), we know that the movement will, of necessity, have to circle the globe before the end comes. Do not ever allow yourself to think that the wise virgins come only from North America. No, the church of the Living God is a universal church, made up of people from every little section of the whole world. Therefore, if this message be what we believe it to be, a revelation, and restoration of the true apostolic gospel, then it will have to be preached around this world until every elected and predestined soul has had a chance to hear it. Twelve years ago when God took His prophet off of the scene, certain ones began to teach that Jesus Christ was off of the mercy seat, that there is no more salvation, and God will not do this, or that any more, because the prophet is gone. Let me be quick to tell you, more people have hear this message since Bro. William Branham’s death, than they ever did while he was alive. There is no use for you to disagree with my statement. If you care enough, you can check it for yourself. While he was alive, people the world over heard about him as a man who had a miraculous ministry, but they knew very little about the doctrine of Christ that he stood for. Very few of those people in foreign lands, who were touched by his ministry, ever knew what he stood for, and preached, doctrinally, but now, the world over, people know what he represented doctrinally, to this age. They now know what he taught, plus all of what various ones claim he taught. Yes, it is sad, but they have this message, as well as all the confusion that seems to go along with it. They have it in Africa, they have it in India, Norway, Canada, the Philippines and every other place that we are in contact with. If we could look at the scriptures right we would have no trouble realizing that it must be like that in order to fulfill prophecy, for those spirits that follow this message have a purifying and refining affect on the pure seed. Any farmer knows you do not blow the straw out of the back end of a combine with wind. The straw rack carries it back. That is what this big ecumenical movement is, as far as separating that which 10 obviously does not belong in the bride of Christ. In our natural parallel, the farmer must use a fan and screens to get all the husk, culls, and little beat up bits of straw out of the grain. That is what all of this foolishness that follows this message is. It is the fan in Christ’s hand, to fan away every carnal person who does not have a genuine revelation in his heart. That is why I have said over and over again, “If a person is truly filled with the Holy Ghost, they will not take off and follow after every carnal teaching that someone comes along with.” These things will not move you off of the word of God. It is written that Jesus will thoroughly purge His floor in his word. He does not pile straw on His word, He piles the pure grain on His word. Knowing that the scripture says, His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, we ought to take courage when we feel like we are being tossed and turned. Remember, He will roll us around a bit, on His word, but He will never blow us off of it. His fan is working to blow all impurities from the true seed grain. To make it as plain as possible, let me say it another way. In every assembly of believers, there are usually a few who, even though they come regular, and take part in the service every chance they get, they still do not have a revelation of the word of God in their spirit; therefore, they are very likely to go running off after some other teaching, when it is presented to them. Or they are likely to become offended if the anointed word strikes them a little hard. Do not fret about this, though, for it is the purpose of God to thoroughly purge His bride church before the end comes. What better way could He have chosen to do it, than to let the winds of false teaching blow through our midst every so often, either in the assembly or in the community. He doesn’t have to worry about the genuine seed who is filled with the Holy Ghost; they will not run after every wind that blows. They are patiently waiting for the Lord to reveal His word to them in the proper fashion. When you come to realize that God has a five fold, apostolic ministry set in the church, for the perfecting of the saints, it isn’t necessary to beat the bushes all the time trying to stir up something. At any rate though, God’s fan is working and the floor is being purged. That is why it is necessary for this charismatic thing to look exactly like the genuine Pentecostal experience. If it didn’t, it could not serve it’s purpose as a delusion.

 THE EVIDENCE

One man told of an experience he and his wife had when they accepted an invitation from a strange girl they met in a town out west, to go home with her, for she was excited about the gospel. They found themselves in a sorcerer’s house, and while they were sitting there they heard someone suddenly begin speaking in tongues and praising God. When they inquired, and were shown into the next room, they were astonished to find that it was a very beautiful parrot that had been trained to speak in tongues. That man asked a question after he finished telling this story, and this is what it was, “Does that mean that parrot was saved and filled with the Holy Ghost?” We all know better than that, but it had the evidence, didn’t it? If speaking in tongues is the evidence of the Holy Ghost, you would sure have to admit, that parrot had the evidence. Another interesting thing was what the archbishop from England was heard to say in a Kansas City charismatic meeting. “IF YOU THINK THIS IS GLORIOUS NOW, JUST WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR, WHEN WE ARE ALL UNDER ONE HEAD.” Now we all know what that was having reference to, whether it comes next year or not. Certainly it can not be long now, until the Antichrist moves upon the scene as a great peace maker and head of the church. In the meantime those assemblies which at one time stood for the Pentecostal message, such as the U.P.C., the APOSTOLIC FAITH CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, the PENTECOSTAL HOLINESS, the CHURCH OF GOD OF PROPHECY, and others, only have a lot of noise, and very little truth. They yell louder, scream and holler louder, pray louder, and lay on the floor speaking in tongues. Then later you can find them in the wash room gargling a sore throat. I believe in worshiping God too, and I believe some noise goes with it, but I do not agree that we ought to major in the noise area. They explain it by pointing to the fact of all the noise in heaven. I agree that there is noise in heaven; there are some creatures there that never cease, day nor night, to cry HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, but their throat never gets sore; that is their job, and they never have to gargle a sore throat. They were not made to come down here and plow corn, or combine wheat. That is our job. Their job is to cry HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, day and night, before the throne of God and they do not get hoarse doing 11 it. Some people have the idea, the louder they get, the more power with God they have. That is not true at all. Sometimes they get so loud that God cannot break through the atmosphere to speak to them anymore. I believe there is a Holy Ghost noise that God is really in, and I am fully persuaded that there is a carnal noise that God will have nothing to do with, and some people cannot tell the difference between the two. Brothers and sisters, I have seen the Holy Ghost lift people up into a state of ecstasy where they would sing like a lark, but I believe people are so guilty, anymore, of just making noise, that it has come to a place where that is all they know how to do. In other words truth has been left behind, and they have compromised on just about every conviction they ever had, until noise is all they have left. That is all they have to fool people with. Saints, please do not misunderstand what I am saying. I do not mean to imply that truth will shut us up and make us quiet; not that at all, but it will cause us to know when to open our mouth, and also, when it would be best to keep it closed. Truth will keep us in the middle of the road, and it will be the right road too: with a proper balance of word and spirit. GLOSSOLALIA It is sometimes very amusing to look back to the beginning of what is now called the charismatic movement. As the great healing and deliverance crusades began to taper off, and many of the outstanding preachers of those movements compromised with the devil, there began to come into focus something to take its place, something that would eventually be known as the charismatic movement. In the beginning, we will say, in the early 50’s, when attention began to be focused on the experience of speaking in tongues, those fundamentalists from the various denominations insisted on referring to the experience as glossolalia, which is nothing more than a Greek word to dress up the experience of tongue chatter. They did not want to be identified with the old Pentecostal Holiness movement that they had been so quick to condemn in the past; therefore they referred to their new experience as glossolalia, and it was confined mostly to small house meetings and places of that sort. Before long you began hearing testimonies of how Dr. So and So., from the Baptist Theological Seminary had this wonderful experience with the Lord, and this bishop from such a place, and father So and So, a priest from the Catholic Church. Then they began to come out in the open with it, having these great men stand for hours, giving their testimonies of how the Lord had moved upon them in the experience of speaking in tongues, and how he had healed their bodies from sickness and disease, and many of them told how circumstances had working in their lives since their experience, to make them very wealthy. All of that generated more and more interest until it has reached the place where we see it today. Deliverance evangelists, such as Oral Roberts, W.V.Grant, and dozens of others, had to join the ranks of the glossolalia people in order to keep going. I never will forget a question that was asked of Bro. William Branham, back in the early stages of this movement. Someone said, “Bro. Branham, what about all this glossolalia movement?” (NOT AN EXACT QUOTE) He answered, “This is foolish virgins going to seek oil.” Now, if that be true, and I believe it was, then, let us watch and see what has transpired since then. As we said, it has moved out of the basements, and the home-type meeting places, and captured the No. 1 spot in religion, the world over. It is no longer referred to as glossolalia, (tongue chatter) but it has taken on a more sophisticated title, charisma, which speaks of special charm, special favor, or special appeal; therefore, the same movement is now referred to as the charismatics; and their special charm and appeal is attracting people by the thousands. Even people who sat under the teaching of truth for years, are now being drawn to that, because of the signs. That is the reason we are safe to call it a delusion. People who never really had a revelation of the word of God, even though they sat in the congregation where the word was being taught, are being drawn to that by the signs. Their minds are becoming deluded to the point where they expect God to confirm the signs with His word, and His only obligation is to CONFIRM HIS WORD WITH SIGNS, and we cannot force him to do that. He does it for His own glory. FULL GOSPEL BUSINESS MEN 12 The Full Gospel Business Mens Fellowship, which was in existence before glossolalia began to be promoted, used to push Brother Branham as one of their principal speakers. That was in the early years when they were looked upon as more of a deliverance movement, but the time came when they had to make a choice, whether to go with the word, (for they had their opportunity to line up with the truth), or align with the glossolalia. We all know what their choice was. Every time you hear anything about them, they are promoting some man’s or person’s dramatic testimony. This month it may be the testimony of a convicted murderer: all with a heart stirring testimony of how the grace of God has worked in their lives. I know what some of you are thinking, without you even bothering to say it. You are thinking, “Bro. Jackson, what is wrong with that?” Well, I will tell you what is wrong with it. In the first place, those testimonies are all they have. They do not have one bit of basic apostolic teaching that could help an honest hearted person become established in truth, and secondly, what is even worse is, they do just like Billy Graham and all the rest who have a ministry that stirs the emotions of people. They tell them to go back to their church and stay there, as a witness to what God has done in their lives. At a time when the person needs to be taught the first principles of the oracles of God, which would equip them with something worth standing for, they are sent back to an old, cold, denominational church, with nothing but an experience to hold on to, with the commission to be a witness in their church. What can the poor souls witness to? A witness is required to tell what they have seen and heard, and hearsay testimony is not acceptable in any court of man, so why should God settle for something that is not good enough for man? Therefore, all they have to tell, many times, is what they felt when the spirit of God was strong upon them. It is no wonder they are soon discouraged to the point where they fall right back into the same old rut they were in before. Now, you will say, “Bro. Jackson, maybe such people were not predestined to follow truth.” That may be true, but they have been counted and advertised among the thousands who supposedly got saved and filled with the Holy Ghost in such and such a meeting. There is your delusion. It makes these movements appear to be a great move of God toward a world-wide revival, but those who are familiar with the word of God know that such a thing at this late hour of this age, would be contrary to the scriptures. I am thankful to God for every dope addict, murderer, prostitute, or anyone else that truly receives the gospel in a salvation experience, and I enjoy hearing the testimonies of such people, but to think such testimonies would call the bride of Jesus Christ out of this world of filth and corruption is ridiculous. Don’t ever thing that they did not have drug addiction, prostitution, and such like, in that first age. These are not new vices; they are just revived with more intensity since the gospel light has begun to leave the Gentiles. Do you think those seven devils that Jesus cast out of Mary Magdalene, all pertained to insanity? I seriously doubt that. I believe she was a woman that could be looked upon as one of the lowest, trashy people that you could find anywhere, yet, when Jesus got through with her, she was looked upon as one of the sisters that ministered to him, even to his grave. But, tell me, where can you find any place where apostles put her up to give her testimony when they had a crowd of people gathered together? Take the time for instance, when that bunch of politicians had those apostles arrested and thrown into jail. When the angel came to loose their bonds and lead them to a place outside of the prison gates, he told them to go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of his life. There was probably hundreds of Christians down there, who had a living testimony of what Jesus had done for them while He was here in corporal flesh, but this business of building the church as the pillar and ground of truth, was not going to be accomplished by having people listen to healing testimonies from those in the congregation. Lazarus was probably standing around there someplace. He could have given a wonderful testimony on how wonderful it feels to have been raised from the dead. If this charismatic bunch had Lazarus, they would have him up in every meeting they could get him to, and anyone would enjoy hearing such a testimony, bu the church is built upon a revelation of truth. It can be, and is, made up of people who have come from all walks of life, some having been saved in a miraculous way, but it is all a result of someone preaching the gospel of truth to them. You let someone stand up in one of those charismatic meetings and begin to testify how God has led them to truth, and see what kind of reception they get. That is not what they want to hear in those places. A testimony of healing, or deliverance from Satan’s bondage in some other area, is a thrilling thing, but it serves no purpose in vindicating the word of truth; it only serves to call attention to the grace and mercy of a sovereign God. Many people who have had miraculous 13 healings in their body, never did become Christians. Should they be trying to minister to people who are hungering after God? Yes, there are a few who are genuinely seeking God when they go to those meetings, while there are others who just go for the excitement of it all. Nevertheless, it has grown to such a magnitude that it has caught the attention of Pentecostals, and they have all jumped into the same barrel, oneness and trinity together, and they are dragging along on the tail-end of the movement, when they ought to be the very ones leading this message of truth we are in, being the recipients of the last major truth that God restored to His church, just before the prophet messenger came on the scene. As we said earlier, God began to pour out His spirit upon people, right around the turn of the twentieth century. Then, not too many years later, Pentecost split into two branches, as one group began to receive the revelation of the oneness of God, and water baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the group that should be leading this message of truth. They should have accepted Luther’s revelation of faith in God, Calvin’s revelation of eternal security, predestination by John Knox, sanctification by John Wesley, and added it to their baptism of the Holy Ghost, and their godhead revelation. This would have put them into a leadership spot in the real thing, instead of dragging along on the tail end of a delusion. Naturally it could not have been like that, for the book of Malachi, promising to send the prophet Elijah, to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, had already been written, and had to be fulfilled. But, just for the sake of pinpointing the oneness Pentecost movement: I said, they should have been the ones leading this message of truth.

REVIEWING SOME OF BABYLON

It gives one a strange feeling to review the history of the reformation. For instance, you couldn’t get a Methodist to believe in eternal security of the believer, for they would say, “The Baptist’s believe that, once saved, always saved, doctrine, and we know that is of the devil.” Then on the other hand, you had the Baptist’s who would not believe the message of sanctification, for theoretically, they were convinced that a person must sin a little each day, yet, some of those Baptists who did not believe in sanctification were just as sanctified as any Methodist could ever hope to be. Then when you look back at some of those old time Methodists, you realize they had just as much eternal security as anyone else, for they had a genuine experience with God which gave them the benefit of the provision, even though their eyes had not been opened to receive the revelation of it, and because it was not yet time to take all those doctrinal truths and put them back together again, Babylonianism was formed, a mass of confusion. The charismatics feel that they have found the secret formula for eliminating the confusion among denominations: that is, to get them all to forget their differences, love one another, and worship together, regardless of what they each believe. In reality, that has only added to the confusion. Now, most of them do not know what they believe. I could not help but notice, as I read one of those articles dealing with this great movement of brotherly love, recently, who some of the main speakers at their international conventions were. Names are unimportant at this time, but I will say, priests and nuns from the Catholic church topped the list of speakers. Then, in one of the pictures it showed Jimmy Carter’s sister, who claims to be a preacher, an evangelist for the charismatic’s, standing there with a big Catholic cross hanging on her chest. That has just about as much virtue in it, as carrying a fishing pole, when you are going to the market to buy beef. People have gone absolutely crazy with this thing of wearing something around their neck that will make them look like a Christian. Every bit of that is vain, and completely without the least bit of virtue, but that is world religion in our day. At Topeka, Kansas was David du Pessis, along with Catholic priests and nuns as their main speakers.

 MR. PENTECOST

I believe it was in 1964, when David du Plessis felt he was inspired of God to go to Rome and witness his Pentecostal experience to the Vatican Ecumenical council, which was established for the sole purpose of winning Protestantism back into the Roman ranks, and that he did. Before very long many of those priests were 14 found to be visiting glossolalia meetings. Then they began receiving the experience of speaking in tongues, just like the Protestants were doing, and the news of it was broadcast all over Europe. It was right along about that time, I made this statement, “If the Pope ever speaks in tongues, all of Pentecost will run and jump right into his lap.” Now I have not heard that the Pope has spoken in tongues, but I have read, and no doubt, many of you have too, how that, some time ago there were literally thousand of the world’s charismatics, standing in front of St. Peter’s Basilica waiting for the Pope to come out to address them. David du Plessis was among those on the front row when the Pope came out, and it was stated that the Pope pointed his finger toward David and said, “You are Mr. Pentecost.” He was a well known figure in trinity Pentecost, having held the presidency of the Pentecostal World Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, and there is now a book on the market, written about Mr. Du Plessis, explaining how he felt he was led to do what he has done. He has helped to turn Pentecostals around, and tie them, as an organization, to the Vatican, the false church. Now I ask you once again, “What is this charismatic movement doing to fulfill the word of God?” No. 1, they are bundling tares with their deception, fulfilling Matthew 13:40-42, and the strong delusion that holds them spellbound is fulfillment of 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, and because they furnish a place where the foolish virgins can go to receive oil, (the Holy Ghost), they are fulfilling Matthew 25:1-12. Now I want to take a few minutes to elaborate on verse 10 which reads like this, “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.” The wise had said to the foolish, “We cannot give you our oil, but you can go to them that sell, (those who merchandise the baptism of the Holy Ghost), and buy for yourselves.” Then we come to the verse I just read, and many people are prone to believe the statement, “And the door was shut” means the rapture had already taken place when the foolish virgins returned, after getting oil in their vessels. Brothers and sisters, the wise going in with the bridegroom and the door being shut, cannot possible pertain to the rapture of the church. Remember, this parable has to apply to the wise and foolish virgins in every little area on this old globe; therefore if you can make the foolish virgin part of it work as an instantaneous thing, then I will have to agree that the wise element could be raptured instantaneously, but you cannot make the part pertaining to the foolish, an instant thing, for, since it is a world wide thing, it will necessarily involve a period of time, and furthermore, if it pertained to the rapture, and someone suddenly called out, “Here comes Jesus,” what would the wise virgins have time to do in the way of trimming their lamps, when the apostle Paul makes it very clear in 1 Cor. 15:51-52, that the resurrection of the dead and the translation of the living element of the bride will take place in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. If that still does not convince you, then think about this, it was a midnight cry that awakened the virgins, and when it is midnight here, it is already 7:00 in the morning over in the middle east. Now I ask you, How could there be anything take place instantly, at midnight, all over the world? Let us look at it realistically now; the midnight cry covers a period of time when the prophet to this age was calling to the bride of Christ to come out of these denominations and prepare themselves to meet the Lord Jesus who is soon to return for her. Those who are to make up the true bride (the wise virgins) have been coming out of those systems, and going into a revelation of truth. That covers a period of time also, and going into that revelation of truth involves a purifying and perfecting process that is not accomplished suddenly, but nevertheless, by the time those foolish virgins have heard or seen something out there in the ranks of Catholicism and the charismatics, that causes them to turn around and seek the word of God, the little bride will have already reached her state of perfection and be shut up in her revelation with Jesus the bridegroom, ready to take her flight. There will not be enough time left to take in the foolish virgins, and perfect them. That is why it is said to them, “The door is shut.” Then as they cry, “Lord, open the door and let us in,” he answers, “I never knew you, or, I know you not,” meaning, he has not had an opportunity to know them intimately. It doesn’t mean that he had no knowledge of them at all. Probably the thing that turns the foolish virgins around will be a law or decree, or a statement from the Papacy, concerning Israel, or the rapture of the church. Every genuine foolish virgin, charismatic person, believes in the restoration of Israel, and the rapture of the church, according to Bible prophecy, just the same as the wise virgins do. That is why I believe it will be some contrary word or deed on the part of the Papacy, that will cause the foolish virgins who are out shopping for oil, to flee from the system, and seek the word of God, for it is common knowledge that the Catholics do not hold that same belief. 15 Regardless of what it may be, something will cause those foolish virgins, who are out there enjoying those charismatic meetings while they are seeking the Holy Ghost, to come to their senses, flee those systems, and try to get into this revelation of truth, but it will be too late. The bride will already be lined up with the word, and God will be moving on the scene, vindicating His word through them. In other words, the last bride person who makes up the complete bride, has already moved into her revelation of the word of God, and the door to the revelated word is closed to bride candidates. You know how these tourist motels operate: when they rent their last room they put up a no vacancy sign, and then they do not even open the door, when someone else tries to get in. It will be the same way when this parable reaches that stage of its fulfillment. I have said many times, there will not be one extra plate at the table when the bride of Christ is ushered in to the marriage feast, neither will there be anyone there without a place at the table. God keeps a perfect record.

FAITHFULNESS LEADS TO SEPARATION

Now, I will ask you again, “What is God to confirm?” Thunders? Deity of Bro. William Branham? Bro. William Branham being the white horse rider? Every one of you know, as well as I do, that God is not going to confirm any such nonsense as that. He will confirm His word. He has left us to be dealt with by His word, to mold within us a character that can only be molded with truth, and that truth creates within us a determination to be loyal to truth. Spiritual fornication is out of the question, for there is no more desire to fool around with those trinity systems. Like Jesus said in Luke 9:62, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Therefore, when you see truth, the natural result is for it to separate you from something or someone, or both. Sometimes it will even separate us from our own families, and that is in line with the scriptures, regardless of what some of you may have heard. The very words of Jesus, in Matthew 10:34-38, make that crystal clear to us. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I come not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” I believe there are some of you out there who are truly desiring a greater experience with the Lord, because you have heard truth, and you have determined to follow it. Maybe some of you have not yet received the Holy Ghost, but you know you have heard truth. Stick with that truth. God will do His part, and give you the Holy Ghost when you submit yourself to Him. Some of you may not know it, but when the Holy Ghost began to fall at Azusa Street, in Los Angeles, California, the man who was the main instrument in the hands of God, did not even have the Holy Ghost himself when he went to California to preach. Ole Brother Seymour, a Nazarene, had contacted the Nazarene church in Los Angeles, and went there for a meeting. But just before he left for California, he heard a message on the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on a group in Topeka, Kansas. (They had an initial outpouring Jan. 1, 1901, which was 5 years before Azusa Street.) He believed what he heard, and determined that he must have this experience he had just heard about himself. He thought to himself, “If I go to California I will have to preach this message, even though I have not had the experience myself.” After thinking it over, he was about ready to cancel the meeting, but as he kept on praying about the matter he felt led to go ahead with it, knowing he would present this message of the Holy Ghost to them, there. When he began the meetings, he started slowly to build up to what he wanted to present to them. Then, before too long, Ole Bro. Seymour, (who was a colored man), came out with the baptism of the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues. It split that Nazarene church wide open, but it started something that will be long remembered in religious circles far and near. Those who liked what they heard that night, went with Bro. Seymour, and rented a building, where Bro. Seymour stood night after night preaching about the baptism of the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues. Then one night, one of those who had come with him fell right out in the spirit. It wasn’t long until he began speaking in tongues. (I am telling you this, Brothers and Sisters, to show you how God honored that man’s revelation.) Night after night he kept on preaching it, and Nazarene after Nazarene received the experience. Then one night Bro. Seymour himself, 16 was slain in the spirit, and that was actually what forerun the great outpouring of the Holy Ghost at Azusa Street that lasted for three years. That man was loyal to something he believed, and God honored his faithfulness, in due course. That is why I say, “If you know what truth is, stand by it; it will not be in vain.” God is going to allow something to come along to test us from time to time, but if we will stand by truth, He will confirm that. Then, one of these days, that bunch out there is going to come knocking, and those who have stood for truth will already be shut in with the Lord, and he will not open the bride perfecting truth to them. That does not mean they will be lost. But they will have to give their lives to martyrdom, to wash their robes and make them white during the great tribulation. Remember, it was said to John, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the lamb.” You see, that group had white robes, which were robes of salvation, but take a look at what the bride is wearing, when John speaks of her in Revelation 19:7-8. He heard the voice of what sounded like a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”

WHO ARE THE FOOLISH?

When the bride is seen at the marriage supper, she is not only wearing something white, she is dressed in fine linen. This, of course, points to the fact that she is dressed in the purest and most costly material there is. His wife is going to be wedded to him in a pure revelation of the word of God. There is nothing else for the bride to dress herself with, but the word of God. A right revelation of the word, handled with a proper attitude, will produce righteousness in our lives. It seems that there are too many people with the idea that the Lord Jesus will dress them properly at the time of the translation; therefore they do not feel the urgency of the day we are living in. As a result, many who have referred to themselves as the bride of Christ in former days, are now, back out in the world, and many of them are living like the devil. Some of them have returned to the denominations for one reason or another. Do you think that kind of attitude will be accepted with the Lord? The scripture plainly tells us in Revelation 19:7, which we have already read, that his wife (the bride) hath made herself ready. When did she do that? Was it a few hours before the rapture? No, the bride (who was foreknown by him before the foundation of the world), is busy right now, washing herself with the waters of his word, and getting dressed in a revelation that sets her apart from the world. Some will even ask, can these be foolish virgins that are going out from our ranks and returning to the denominations? Let me just remind you once again, who the foolish virgins are. They are people who have been in denominations, believing the Bible as far as their understanding would allow them, believing in the second coming of the Lord, and looking for the rapture of the church. Then there comes a time when they realize that it really is necessary to have the baptism of the Holy Ghost to be in the rapture. This is when they are trying to trim their lamps and get them burning again. Now I believe, right here is where the parable states something that many are not able to understand. That is where (Matt. 25:8-9), the foolish say to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, our lamps have gone out,” and the wise answer them saying, “Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” Brothers and sisters, remember, this is a parable; you will not find these exact words being spoken in reality. The situation is this, every Bible truth that those people have believed through the years carried a certain amount of the spirit of God in it. Remember, Jesus said in John 6:63, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Therefore, when the basic truth’s that the various denominations believe and stand for, went forth in their hour of the reformation, they were spoken and believed, by the anointing of the spirit of God. Through the years they have lost the spirit. All they have left is cold doctrine, and legalism; therefore as certain individuals from those systems begin to hear Bible truths that stir their heart in these last days, one of the things that they are hearing is that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is absolutely necessary, and essential to a proper and acceptable relationship with God. That is when they begin to inquire, “How can I get 17 this experience for my own life?” The most common answer to that question is, go to such and such a place. They have a call for those who are seeking the Holy Ghost, in every service. Naturally, when they begin to go to those meetings and get caught up in the excitement of all that they are seeing and hearing they become spellbound by it all. They think, I have finally found what I have been searching for, and they get so wrapped up in what is going on in those meetings (healings and various other miracles), that they take no time to think of the fact that there must be a truth, a revelation to stand for along with this newly discovered experience. Time passes on until, when they finally do realize that, there is a revelation of truth to stand for, and come looking for it, the bride will have already moved into the final stages of her perfection. As I said earlier it will be too late to begin a perfection process on a new batch, for it will be very close to the time for the perfected bride to be called to the marriage feast.

FATE OF FOOLISH VIRGINS

In the 12th verse we find some more words that people misunderstand when they read the parable. It is where Jesus says to this group, “I know you not.” That causes the natural mind to think, “They are not even saved, the Lord doesn’t even know them.” The first thing to remember is, those foolish virgins went to get oil, knowing that they had to have it; therefore they would not have come back, trying to get in, if they had gotten no oil. But the fact that they do have oil, (the baptism of the Holy Ghost), proves that they are saved, even though they are not in the bride realm, and the fact that the Lord said, “I know you not,” simply means that he had not had that intimate relationship with them, that he has had with the bride. What does that leave for them? What will happen to them? Let me insert another question that people ask about these foolish virgins, and my answer will cover both questions. Some have wondered if their grandfather, or their grandmother, or some other person who never had opportunity to hear what we have heard, will be a foolish virgin? No, God has had bride people from every church age. People who believed, and lived, all the truth that was available to them in their day, but there has never been another age when there could have been foolish virgins to fit the parable in Matthew 25. You will notice, in Matt. 24 Jesus is speaking of a time when he will come suddenly, a time when two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left, a time when it will be as it was before the flood, when they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they did not even notice what was going on until the flood came and took them all away. He says it will be like that when he comes again. Using those last verses of the 24th chapter to speak along these lines, he comes down to the 1st verse of chapter 25, and says, “THEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.” The word THEN, identifies the time of the fulfillment of this parable. God will deal with people from every other age according to the way they believed, and received the revelation of His word, given in their day. But, here at the end of the Gentile age, there must be a large group of people to fulfill this parable. Every last one of them will give their lives in martyrdom. We pointed out earlier that the group seen by John in his vision, the great multitude which no man could number, included this vast number of foolish virgins. A group that had white robes, (robes of salvation ), but had to clean them up by giving their lives in martyrdom when the beast (during the time of the great tribulation), will demand that they renounce faith in God and take His mark or be killed. Some of you may be thinking, “Bro. Jackson, how do you know that?” Simply by rightly dividing the word of truth. In Revelation 13:15, we learn that as many as will not worship the image of the beast should be killed. Then in verses 16-17, we read, “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” By looking at this we are able to know what those who are left here when the rapture takes place will be subjected to, and those foolish virgins will have had sufficient warning, not to receive the mark of the beast, nor identify in any way with that Antichrist system, for those who do so will be damned. For the proof of that, we will go into the 14th chapter of Revelation, and begin reading with the 9th verse. We have just published a message titled, The Everlasting Gospel, with these scriptures explained in it, 18 but some of you may not have read that message so let us read these verses. “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. That should be enough to convince anyone that those who receive the mark of the beast will be damned, and those who refuse the mark will be killed by the beast. The next question then is, “How do we know the foolish virgins will not take the mark? So we will turn over to chapter 20, which deals with a period just after the battle of Armageddon is over with, and is leading into the thousand years when Jesus Christ will reign on earth. Verse 1, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” Now, saints, remember, the devil is a spirit, and you cannot put a huge log chain on a spirit. This is symbolic language that shows us, the devil will be forbidden, by God, to manifest himself in any way during the thousand years of restoration, commonly called the Millennium. Verse 3, “And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years shall be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” We know that the devil will be making his last great stand in this age, trying to defeat and change the plan of God for mankind during the time of the great tribulation. But we have just read scripture that lets us know, the tribulation is over, and the world order is being set for the millennial reign of Christ. So we will get the answer to the rest of our question from verse 4, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the WITNESS OF JESUS, (only the foolish virgins will have a witness for Jesus after the bride is gone, so this pertains to them), and for the WORD OF GOD, (Jews in dispersion among the nations, who do not have a witness of Jesus, but they will not renounce their faith in Jehovah God; therefore they are beheaded also, because they hold to the word of God). Now some of you may say, “Could not this be those who have been martyred down through the ages? How do we know it only applies to those who go into the tribulation? Because there has never been another time in history when saints were martyred for the reasons given here in the remainder of verse 4. Let us read it. “Which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Do you see now why this could not pertain to any other period of time other than what we stated? There has never been a time when anyone was faced with taking the mark of the beast, nor of worshiping the image of the beast, until the time that we are standing on the threshold of right now. Saints, it is later than some of you think it is. The signs that we are told in the word of God to look for are all around us right now. Do not be looking for perilous times and abominations to come in some future day; they are here already. It alarms me to hear some of the questions that people are still asking, after hearing certain things taught for so many years. It is almost as though they have sat in the services without even hearing what was taught. It alarms me to see the careless way so many, supposed to be bride saints are conducting their lives, and to see material things taking so much place in the lives of so many. I know we put a lot of emphasis on knowing what is written in the word, but just knowing what the word teaches is not enough. The virtue is in letting what we know, mold and fashion our lives to be more like Jesus.

CHERISH EVERY TRUE GIFT

Most of the people in this message of truth who are above the age of 30, have come out of some denominational church somewhere. Many of you had the idea that you needed to lay down everything God had done for you anywhere else, in order to be true to this revelation. If that is what any of you think, you are misinformed. God does not require you to lay down anything, or I should say, he does not require you to lay down any genuine experience that you have had with him. This is a message that should take every genuine, God given, experience 19 of our lives, and line them up with the word of God. If you received the Holy Ghost with speaking in tongues, please do not deny the experience just because you have found out that tongues is not necessarily the evidence that you have received the Holy Ghost. Just line it up with the word; cherish the gift of the Holy Ghost as the most precious thing that you could have, and let the gift of tongues have its scriptural place in your life. Do not treat it as something to be ashamed of, just because you did not know scripturally, what place to give the experience at the time you received it. You may have been in a meeting where the men had long hair, the women had short hair, with their skirts 6 inches above their knees, and the place filled with cigarette smoke when you received the Holy Ghost. That has nothing to do with it. Even though all these things are worldly identities, if you received a genuine baptism of the Holy Ghost, that was God; just be thankful that He has cleaned up your surroundings and taught you how to line your experience up with His word. That is why I say what I do about the charismatic meetings. I am aware that many people are receiving experiences that are truly God given, especially in the realm of healing and other miraculous manifestations. I would not rob God by saying that this is all of the devil, but I will say, there is no leadership in those places that will help a person take what God does for them, and line it up with the word. In other words, these are acts of God’s mercy, and not His true leadings. As I said earlier, all of this is fulfilling the word of God, and must continue until every elected soul has found its way into the grace of God, and been shut in with him, for these foolish virgins must stay in those places until the bride has gone into her perfecting revelation. After that you are going to see some genuine Holy Ghost experiences among the bride; not for a show, as it is out there, and it will not be for the purpose of converting the world. It will just be God confirming who was right, and showing up the wrong. He will put his confirmation and approval upon those who have stayed with His word while every demon that has been turned loose on society tried to lead them away from the word of God into the ways of destruction. It makes me shudder to hear some of these people get on the radio and television talking about a great world shaking, Holy Spirit led revival, when it is so plain to see that the love of many is waxing cold, and apostasy is running rampant. How can you have revival with sodomites and homosexuals in so many places of leadership and influence? How can you have revival when iniquity is abounding, as the Bible says that it will in the last days? There are a few people that the world looks upon as a bunch of fanatics, who are going to have rival in its purest sense, while the rest of the religious world just talks about it, and puts on their regular show.

GIFTS BELONG TO THE BRIDE

Every gift of the Holy Ghost that these charismatics talk about, lies right in the body of bride saints. Every potential is there, but it is not there for a show to the world. We receive our benefits day by day, without very much attention being directed toward the wonderful things that God is doing for so many. But when the time is right, the whole world will hear about it, just like it was with Ole Bro. Seymour, but by then, the charismatics will be on the outside unable to get in. All those who have chosen the wide gate and the broad way will be past the point of no return on their road to destruction. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” He did not utter those words just to fill up space in the Bible, when Matthew sat down to record his words and deeds. There has to be a people somewhere that will fulfill that prophecy, and I do not feel that we have to look very far away to find them. Oh, Brother Jackson: You don’t have any right to judge. Maybe not, but I have a scriptural right to be a fruit inspector. Why did he say, by their fruits ye shall know them, if we have no right to inspect their fruit? How could anyone even think that God would accept these trinity preachers who sell the gospel (which is not the gospel at all, but they call it that), for a price, and charge poor unsuspecting souls for their prayers with a promise that they can have anything they ask for if they will not doubt. God is not going to hold this generation guiltless, that has continued to hold onto this pagan doctrine of 3 persons in the Godhead, when He has revealed His oneness to all who have an ear to hear. 20 Don’t tell me they haven’t heard. I know better. I have seen the reaction of many of them when someone would try to witness truth to them. They become angry, get red in the face, and you can almost see murder in their eyes. Can you believe a person who reacts like that is filled with the Holy Ghost? If you do, then maybe you had better check up on your own standing with God. I do not find the nature of God reacting so violently myself. What do you think Jesus meant in John 8:47, when he said to those Jews who were contending with him, “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” Read that 8th chapter of John, and see how those Jews responded to the very God man Himself, then go to one of those charismatic meetings where most of them are professing to have the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and tell them that God is one, that there is not three persons in the Godhead, and that they are believing pagan teaching. You will discover that they have the same spirit as those Jews who contended with Jesus. What did He tell them? Verse 44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is not truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Now, did I say that those people are murderers and liars? No, I said you will find them responding from the same spirit those Jews responded from, and that is what Jesus said to them. “BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM.” What do we mean by fruit? What is it? Look in the 5th chapter of Galatians, verse 22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONG-SUFFERING, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH, MEEKNESS, and TEMPERANCE. Many seem to have these qualities until you cross their traditions; then you discover that what they have is only skin deep. But please do not think that I am saying every individual among them is like that. I am not; those foolish virgins are still out there. We have already proved that by the scriptures.

GET YOURSELF SETTLED

Brothers and sisters: I am sure that some of you feel that it is not necessary to say these things, but let me remind you that unless you are in a place to know what questions people are asking about what is going on in our day, you would not know. Many of us have relatives and friends that are mixed up in the things that we are speaking of. Naturally that causes concern, questions and pressures, and many are calling for help, not knowing how to handle these situations. We are just attempting to identify these spirits of deception, so that those who would appreciate finding out the truth, may have the opportunity to do so. It is high time for people to realize that God did not make a dozen different routes into the kingdom of God. If what we believe is right, then anything that is contrary to it, doctrinally, will have to prove out to be Antichrist teaching. Therefore, if they can take the scriptures and prove us wrong; then let them do it. We have nothing to hide. I will say this, also, if we are not as convinced that what we have is right, as they are: then we will wind up in a worse shape than some of them, for if you are not convinced that what you believe is right, to the point where you are willing to stake your life on it, I’ll tell you what is going to happen. God is going to shake that somewhere down the road in front of you, and when that bounces up and comes back down, you will have to make a decision as to what you are going to do about it. May God help you to be so settled in what you believe, that when you are thrown up into the air you will come right back down in the same place, standing for truth and believing the same thing. Brother, I want you to know that the devil is gong to do everything within his power, to deceive and misguide people until he is chained up for the millennium. I just have to say this, brothers and sisters, there are things going on in this religious world so that you can gain a reputation for yourself if that is what you want. All you have to do is compromise. If you want to be known, if you want to be seen, and if you want attention, and you are not satisfied, sure, out there somewhere, you can find what you are looking for. It is lying right out there for you, but I want you to know, truth has a price to it, and that price of truth is self denial, caring not what the world may think about you. Truth will make you realize that those degrees and titles are vain, and that there is no salvation in any of it. They who pride themselves on these things will tell you that the little man whom God sent as a messenger to this age was of the devil, and that everything he taught was out of the pit, but that is exactly what they said about Jesus, and that is what they said about every one of the reformers: that their doctrine was out of 21 hell, but it was truth every time, and God confirmed it.

WORD REJECTED – SIGNS FOLLOWED

The Full Gospel Business Mens Fellowship enjoyed having Bro. William Branham as their main speaker because of the miracles and signs that followed his ministry, as God confirmed the truth he preached, but it was obvious that they did not believe what he tried to teach them from the word of God. For after he passed off the scene, who did they get to replace him as their main attraction? A woman evangelist. It is not necessary for me to call her name. Most of you know who I am referring to, and the rest of you can find out easy enough if you care to. It has now been made known that in the early years of her ministry, even though she preached purity and holiness, and was believed to be a perfect model of such, she broke up the home of another preacher, married him, and helped him to justify leaving his wife and children to marry her. It is also reported that all through the years of her ministry, she constantly lied about her age, and that she was very jealous of anyone else who received any attention. This is not meant to be gossip, but rather to show you what this world of religion, in the charismatic realm, chooses to follow. You may say, “But, Bro. Jackson, they did not know those things.” That may be true, but they should have known that women preachers are out of their place, and they also should have known that the Holy Spirit did not come into the body of believers to witness of Himself; He came to bear witness of the Word of God. Jesus said in John 16:13-14, “When he, the Spirit of truth, (the Holy Ghost) is come, he will guide you into all truth: FOR HE SHALL NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” Anyone who has ever read that scripture should know better than to preach about the Holy Spirit all the time. They do not want Bible doctrine. They have proved that, over and over again and agin. We ought to thank God for revealing Himself to us, and bringing us out of all that confusion. I will say, though, if you love truth, then just settle it; if truth has its right of way in your life, it means that in your neighborhood, you are not ever going to be able to talk freely of it. The day you open your mouth and let everyone of your neighbors know what you believe, and what you stand for, you will be marked. They will mark you, and they will shun you. They do not want to hear about it. That is exactly what Jesus was talking about when He said, “Cast not your pearls before swine.” Do you think a hog cares anything about a string of pearls? A hog doesn’t know a pearl from a piece of gravel. If you throw gravel into the hog pen, it will root in that, or if you throw a handful of pearls in there, it will root in them. Jesus used some pretty good illustrations when talking about truth, didn’t He? When He said, “Cast not your pearls,” He meant the things you love, the things you enjoy, the things your soul feeds upon. Don’t think everyone in this world is going to jump up and down, shouting for joy, just because you are that way. They will not. Most of them will say, “You are a fanatic.” They will even go farther than that, but I will not repeat what some of them say. Saints, I am glad for what God has put in my soul. I am happy about it; you are too. We love His word, and it is bread to feed our hungry souls, but you will not find too many who feel the same way about it. Most of them would rather watch a ball game on television. That feeds their souls; you can tell by the excitement it generates, that it does. Everyone loves excitement in one way or another. That is human nature, but what is really beautiful, is to find a group of people who are truly excited about the word of God, a people that have discovered from that word that truth truly does set you free. When you have that revelation in your heart, you can lay your head down on the pillow at night, and go to sleep without worrying about what is going on in the world. You know that, if you never wake up in this life again, you will wake up in the presence of God, because you have obeyed His word.

DO NOT LOOK BACK

Brothers and sisters: I am going to bring this message to a close, but before I do let me remind you once again not to look back. God takes no pleasure in those who are forever looking back to where they have been. Please remember the children of Israel when you feel like looking back. They saw the power of God in Egypt. They 22 witnessed many miracles. That was to convince them that God was on the scene. But then He spoke to them, and told them that He was going to take them to a land that flowed with milk and honey. He did not tell them that they would have trouble at the Red Sea. Neither did He tell them that they would run out of water three days after they crossed the Red Sea, or that they would run out of bread. They ran out of a lot of things He did not foretell them about, and every time they run out of something they grumbled and murmured against Moses and Aaron saying, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread until we were full, or something to that effect. That is just the way a lot of people are today. “Oh, Would to God we had stayed in Pentecost, we had more there than we have here. I hope if you are one who has said that, you will remember what happened to those Israelites who took that attitude, grumbling and complaining all the time; they died in the wilderness and their graves cannot be found. God let them drop and the sand covered them. They had partook of the grace of God, and witnessed His mighty works, but they did not believe Him. When they were given a choice at Kadesh Barnea, they chose to turn back, rather than to believe God. Maybe I am speaking to someone who feels that way right now, but praise God! I have to stay with Joshua and Caleb; the Bible says that Jesus is going to present the church to himself, a glorious church without spot or wrinkle, and I am fully persuaded He is going to do it, but He will do it by the washing of water by His word. Oh, saints, if you believe the truth that is in that book, love it, and cherish it, for just up ahead conditions are going to arise that will cause you to thank God you stayed with His word. Those who have the signs and miracles now, will one day be led right into a trap by them, while those who have stayed with the word will be enjoying the genuine move of the Spirit of God just before He takes them up. Conditions are just ahead that will reveal what we really believe and what we stand for. In the meantime let us be faithful to the one who has paid the supreme price so that we may have this privilege. When the conditions are right, you will see that the gifts of the Spirit are not just for some big meeting out here. They will be for leadership and survival as well. Like I have said many times; a rooster doesn’t have to force himself to crow, it just comes natural for him. That is the way being led by the Spirit of God is for those who love truth. May the Lord bless you. Amen.