WE ARE GOING TO DEAL WITH A MESSAGE WHICH WE WILL TITLE “THE MYSTERY OF GOD:” BECAUSE I FEEL THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE VERY MIXED UP IN THEIR MINDS CONCERNING THIS MYSTERY THE APOSTLE PAUL AND THE APOSTLE JOHN WROTE ABOUT. IT WAS A MYSTERY IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES; BUT IN THIS HOUR OF TIME WE ARE LIVING IN, THERE IS NO REASON FOR IT TO BE A MYSTERY TO ANY TRUE CHILD OF GOD. IT IS JUST A MATTER OF ALLOWING THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO SPEAK TO YOUR HEART: WITHOUT HAVING YOUR MIND SO SET UPON A CERTAIN OPINION YOU WILL NOT EVEN CONSIDER ANYTHING DIFFERENT. WE HAVE ALL HAD OPINIONS ABOUT MANY SCRIPTURES IN FORMER TIMES; BUT GOD HAS GIVEN HIS TRUE CHILDREN MORE LIGHT HERE AT THE END TIME; SO IT BECOMES OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ALLOW THAT LIGHT TO PURGE OUT OUR OPINIONS AND GIVE US REVELATION IN PLACE OF THEM. THEREFORE I ASK EVERY ONE OF YOU TO LISTEN PRAYERFULLY: AS I ENDEAVOR TO PRESENT THIS MESSAGE THAT I BELIEVE WILL BE OF GREAT BENEFIT TO THOSE WHO DESIRE TO KNOW THE TRUTH.

SCRIPTURAL FACTS PRESENTED IN SCRIPTURAL LIGHT

We will read two scriptures, Ephesians 3:9, and Revelation 10:7; and then I want to make some comments I hope everyone will receive the way I mean them. (Ephesians 3:9) “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 10:7) “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” Right here at the end time, in the Branham movement, there are those whose minds are completely locked up. When I say this, I say it as humbly as I know how to say it: without making it sound like I am being critical, indifferent, or that I myself have a negative attitude. However this one verse of scripture, Revelation 10:7, has so many minds so completely locked up, there seems to be no way to get to them. It is almost like a Railroad cat that has been brought down the main line and shot off into a network of tracks that go behind a bunch of warehouses: They have lost their record of it. Where is car No. 328714? They do not know whether it is in Detroit, St. Louis, San Antonio, or where. It seems to have disappeared after leaving the mainline of tracks. There is only one way I feel we can really deal with it: to give it its proper setting. As we read from Ephesians 3, keep in mind that this letter was written by the apostle Paul while he was in prison, in Rome. He had been away from Ephesus for quite some time; but he Ephesian Church was established by his ministry according to the 19^th and 20^th chapters of the book of Acts. Paul was the star messenger to that Age represented by that name. There in prison, he no doubt did a lot of meditating upon the past; and upon what had been going on for the past number of years. There is no other epistle written, that really contains the scope of things that this epistle does. Therefore as we read, I want us to read with this in mind: that when the Bible says, in Malachi chapter 4, verses 5-6, that the spirit of Elijah is to turn the children, which would mean the Christian children of the New Testament covenant, back to the fathers, it means back to the apostolic faith of the fathers. It is their type of faith and revelation we are to be turned back to; and they were in no way to be considered foolish people. Let us go to Ephesians 3:1-5 and notice how the apostle worded his comments. (1) “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, (2) If ye have heard of the dispensation (meaning if you have heard of this period of time) of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: (3) How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, (4) Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) (5) Which in other ages (meaning the Old Testament period of time) was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; (This puts it in the new covenant age; and here is what the mystery consists of.) That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”  The King James translation says, Who created all things by Jesus Christ; but neither the Hebrew, nor the Aramaic text have those last three words in that verse. They both say, Hath been hid in God who created all things. Therefore we have to realize that those men who translated the King James version of the Bible, being Trinitarian in belief, added what they though was a fitting end to that verse; but by doing so, they put Jesus as a person, all the way back at the creation of all things; and we who have a true revelation, know Jesus was not a person (except in the mind of the Creator) until two thousand years ago when a young virgin woman gave birth to him: after having conceived him by supernatural means, which was by the Spirit of God Himself. It was God that created all things. In other words, God created all things for Jesus Christ, not by Jesus Christ. There is a great difference. Why did God design all of this as He did? Notice this next verse. “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God.” To me, when Paul wrote this, he gave us a base, foundational fact. Paul is telling us that God had made known to him something that had never been made known in other ages back. He caused him to know and understand what was now going on in the beginning of the New Testament covenant period. Remember that, and let us go to the verse of scripture in Revelation 10:7. We only want to read the 7^th verse. We are going to cover a lot of things that have taken place on down through the period of this Grace Age. “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” There, John is speaking exclusively of the writings of the Old Testament prophets. That is what we have to understand. He is not saying one thing different. Paul, when he says in Ephesians 3 how that God hath made known unto him the mystery of his will, things that have been hidden unto the sons of men in ages past, that is what John is talking about: because all these things Paul is referring to, John, here, declares these things had been spoken by the prophets in the Old Testament. That is the way we have to look at it. Now let us go back in the Old Testament and we will see how this thing stared. We will go to Genesis 17. Keep in mind, until the call of Abraham as far as the world we know, there was no written scriptures in existence at that time. We can say though, that there were no doubt a lot of oral stories handed from the patriarchs to patriarchs to patriarchs. Each generation know what had taken place; but there were no written records for anyone to go to. Abraham has been called. We realize Abraham was the beginning of God calling a man out of a certain environment to begin foreshowing His type and plan of salvation and redemption to the human race. Here in Genesis 17 God is giving Abraham a promise. In this promise there is a covenant, so let us read here. “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.” There are many things in this: It says He will multiply him exceedingly; and we are going to see from two sources how this is brought about. “And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, AS for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.” That is one promise. That verse carried right on through the centuries. Even Abraham, as this was told him, was not really aware of what it was implying, what it really pointed to. Even on down as the other prophets come along, and as they wrote similar things, neither did they understand what they were prophesying about. That is why they are all promises of God for some future manifestation, at which time they will be made known. Let us read on. “Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful,a nd I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, (That is why it is called the land of promise; and that is the reason for all of the problems in the Middle East to this today: It is like a powder keg, always ready to blow.) All the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” As we look at this covenant, there are two things that stand out. First when He says, as for me, behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations, let us look at it in this light, that he (Abraham) truly is the father of the faithful. All that will believe in Jesus Christ who is actually the appointed promised seed, that makes Abraham the father of the faithful. That is the way we have to see that. However on the other hand, the land of promise was not necessarily promised to his natural genetic seed. Therefore this is the way we have to look at this line. But we realize all through the Old Testament as prophet after prophet, type after type is being written and laid out, and in the giving out of the law, many types were put in there. The Jewish people saw these things. They were compelled to keep the observance of the rituals and the ceremonies of these things, but in doing that, they did not know what they were really doing. After they were brought out of Egyptian bondage, God gave them a law; and through this law there was much said about the Gentiles. They see every Gentile as a heathen, and an unclean person. This develops an attitude that Gentiles, somehow or other, are a bunch of dirty dogs; and that they should have nothing to do with them. They have cultivated through the centuries of time, an image of the Gentile people, that they are untouchable, like poison. They are unclean people; so have nothing to do with them. They do not realize or recognize the scope of what their ancestral father had been promised. Therefore through all the generations of Jews that has remained to be a mystery: What does that mean? Nevertheless the promise stood steadfast and sure right on through the ages.

HIDDEN NUGGETS IN THE SCRIPTURE

Let us go now to the 2^nd Psalm. Many of the things we could bring into this message I am skipping over because of the amount of time it would require to get all of it in. In the 2^nd Psalm, in the 8^th verse, we find a promise. It is very small, space wise, in the Bible; but yet it is all fulfilled in Jesus Christ. “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Again we have a mystery for the Jews: What is the Spirit of God talking about? To whom is this promise being given? We have to realize that this is a promise that the Spirit of God, through the prophecy of this Psalm, was foretelling, concerning how Christ in His mediatorial work would reach out to the Gentiles. After He ascended back into heaven, having already offered His life as a ransom for the sins of mankind, the promise in Genesis 17, and in this Psalm were activated. That is what reached out to you and me. That is why He is coming after a Gentile wife. Notice what it says, “I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” We have to admit that it sounds very insignificant when you read it; but it was all fulfilled through the mediatorial work of Christ: as He interceded for us before the Father. When the time came that the gospel which had first been given to the Jews, was rejected by the nation as a whole. God began to give the apostle Paul this revelation found in Romans 11. As the Jew began to turn it down, God just took this promise of a covenant to them and more or less laid it up on a shelf while He dealt with His foreknown Gentile element. Before very long, the gospel that was first offered to the Jews began to be exclusively for individual Gentiles. It was for everyone to hear, many to believe to some degree, and only a very few percentage wise to get a true revelation of and follow faithfully to the end. Those believers of the first age had it straight from the mouths of God’s revelated apostles; but through the centuries that followed, the true revelation became very perverted. Nevertheless the Spirit of God has been perfecting a bride for His only begotten Son, chosen from among the Gentile people of the whole world. His promise to do that was lying there in the scriptures all along: but were hidden until the time for them to be activated. The mediatorial work of Christ had to coincide with the plan of God that caused the gospel to begin to be given to the Gentiles. The two had to coincide. You could not have preachers running this way, and the mediatorialship of Jesus Christ interceding for something else. We can say this, Once the gospel had been committed to the Gentiles in full preeminence, the Jews began to be cut off. Once that took place, the mediatorial work of Christ included another phase of God’s redemption plan that had to be fulfilled. This is why all these prophecies, though some are major, and some are minor, all fit into the overall picture. The great Creator designed it all according to His sovereign foreknowledge and wisdom, before He ever created the first star we see in the ehavens at night. Let us now go to the 102^nd Psalm for an informative glance as to the application of the promise we just read. We are in the 15^th verse; so let us compare these two verses. The 2^nd Psalm is a promise, ask of Him and He shall give you the heathen for thine inheritance. Now this Psalm is speaking of how it has already been applied. “So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.” We can say this, Once the gospel had been given, and as it moved from nation to nation and race to race, this Psalm tells you exactly how it was applied. God did not just decide to include Gentiles in the gospel plan because the Jews rejected it: We were included from the foundation of the earth. WE can go tot he prophecy of Hosea: to see where the types begin. The nation of Israel had become divided. The ten northern tribes had been led astray to worship Baal and a lot of other deities; so God tells Hosea, a prophet, but a man that would have been completely unthought of as a holy man in the eyes of the Jews, to do a thing completely contrary to the way the law was written governing the moral image of the Jewish people. This took place at a time when the major part of the nation of Israel had become just like a woman of ill fame. Hosea was told to take a wife by the name of Gomer. (In order to hurry this part along, I am going to begin reading in the 6^th verse. This is where we get the background. “And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, (Hosea) Call her name Loruhamah: for I will not more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.” This second child announced a penalty which covers a dispensation of time: which meant once God causes these ten tribes to finally be dealt the final blow of their judgment and chastisement, He scatters them to the four winds of heaven. That is what has happened during the centuries past. For a period of time they will never be dealt with by the hand of God. That is why as the ten tribes when He set the stage for the first advent of Christ. He dealt exclusively with the southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin; so let us read the 7^th verse now. “But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.” What does that verse imply? It means this, The ten tribes were taken away approximately 728 B.C.; but the southern tribes were taken away on three different occasions, starting around 608 And on down to about 598 B.C. They were taken captive, to Babylon, for seventy years. During that seventy years, God did that because it shows the southern tribes had failed seventy Sabbatical years to let the land rest. There they were in Babylon, in captivity; and God has said He will save them: not by battle or bow, or anything like that; so what was the plan? When you go back to the history of what happened, you see how God raised up a king by the name of Cyrus. I believe ti was Jeremiah that prophesied how Cyrus would be God’s anointed king for that hour. When the hour came that Cyrus the Great was brought on the scene, then these Judaean Jews found favor with Cyrus. He was the one that had the insight on what to do. When he made a decree that all the Jews who out of a willing heart, and voluntarily would go back and build the temple to their God, could be released, he started the ball rolling, so to speak. They were free to go. They were given certain material things to take along with them to help them in their work; therefore we can see how they were saved from their dispersion in captivity, in Babylon; and it was not done by any kind of warfare on their part. That is what that verse expresses. Let us go on to verse 8. “Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.” This bring us to the second picture. This is Judah. First God saved Judah; and I ask for what purpose? By bringing her back to build the city, to build the temple, clean up the ruins and all the mess, they got the stage set for the first advent of Christ. The tribe of Judah and the half tribe of Benjamin really you might say were the representatives of the overall nation of Israel. They were brought back home then; but this second child presented a type also. We can see when the Messiah was manifested to the two southern tribes, right in that appointed time that coincides with the seventy weeks of Daniel, that this was why God gave it to them as a yardstick. Still that southern tribe rejected and refused the promise of the Messiah; so when God cut Judah off the next time, what was He going to do? Is He going to stack His promise on a shelf and say, I will just wait until a later time? No. Because right there is where it coincides with the High Priestly work of Christ on behalf of the Gentiles. In that period of time when God was saying to the Judah tribe, You are not my people; and I will no longer be your God, right there, is where the apostle Paul picks it up in the Romans letter: that in that place, (The word place means period of time.) Where Judah was out of the land; and there was nothing left there that God would be dealing with, God then turned to the Gentiles, and in that period of time, is when you and I were brought in. In that period of time they shall be called children of God. Now when we look at this, I have to say thank God He saw fit to deal with us Gentiles. I would hate to think of myself being looked upon by God, through His written word, as a heathen, without any hope of salvation. It is bad enough to be looked upon as a sinner; but to be looked upon as a heathen, completely outside the commonwealth, or the promise and plan of God in the overall structure of what He has for human beings, would be awful. I would hate to think that I fell into that category. Therefore in that place, that period of time where history proves that Judah has not been there in her land, (At least not until the last half century) God has been dealing with, and calling us His children. That is exactly why the Jews that are back there today do not understand why we accepted that man their forefathers crucified. Why do the Gentiles accept that man called Jesus as being the Savior of the world, they say? It is a great mystery to them. Because of their spiritual blindness, they cannot even see it through their own writings. I say that in this light: It is absolutely that same spirit of blindness that is going to fall on this Gentile world of religion. Not the drunks out there wallowing in the gutters; and not the women of ill fame, but on this Gentile religious world that is so proud of their theology. In a sense they are only going in circles anyhow. When you watch some of the preachers and evangelists on that Trinity Broadcast Network, sure they are preaching about Jesus, and some of them see things going on that are relative to truth: Jesus is coming soon. They are all saying it. Sure, that is a promise; but they do not have a picture of how this thing is progressing; and of what is bringing it all to a climaxing point. So we can say this, We are children of God by faith in Jesus Christ; because it was promised to Abraham: That in thee and thy seed after thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Thank God I am in on that promise. I thank the Lord for including me; but I realize this also, This promise, or this opportunity to come in under that promise is not always going to be accessible to us Gentiles. We Gentile nations through the centuries, once the printing press was invented, and once men began to raise up that did have the ability to translate the word of God from language to language, have printed

Bibles in every known language. American Publishers have printed the word of God more than any other people in the world; but that does not mean this is all being done with a revelation that is consistent with the revelation written therein. People just do it mainly because they have a religious enthusiasm about doing something for God; or because of a monetary motive. Only God knows the thoughts and motives of all who claim to be serving Him. Nevertheless let us be thankful for the good that is done: whether it be done with a right motive or not.

AMOS PROPHESIES DISASTER

Let us go to the prophecy of Amos, chapter 9, and begin in verse 8. Right here, is where Peter picked up his revelation expressed in 1^st Peter 3:12. Amos was a prophet that prophesied before the ten tribes were ever carried out of the land. This gives us an overall picture how god looked upon Israel just about the time He was starting to strike them with disasters and judgments and things designed to scatter them. “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.” In other words, He would destroy somewhere in that beginning, the overall major portion of them, but He was going to save some to continue on the progression. “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall (meaning that least predestinated one) upon the earth. (Meaning it will not be lost) All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. (Here comes the promise.) In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David (That speaks of the rebuilding of the temple.) That is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; (talking about the walls) and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.” Now among Gentile church people, and especially among a lot of your holiness movement, they spiritualize that. They look at the overall church world and somehow view it as spiritual Israel. Well we do know that Paul used that term; but in this promise we have to realize you cannot spiritualize this prophecy. It is dealing with the household of David, of the house of Jacob, which is Israel. It is talking about what God will do in a future tense of time. I will raise up the ruins, and build it as in the days of old. “That they may possess the remnant of Edom, (There, is that prophecy of what is to come about in the later days, how Israel is to cross over the Jordan River and possess the land of Edom; and the Moabites and the Ammonites shall serve them. It is at that time, when Numbers 24 drops in place, and Israel shall do valiantly. Where? On the field of battle, when she is absolutely turned loose to fulfill that very prophecy, so here is where the apostle James got his revelation.) And of all the heathen, which are called by name,” Take notice, that at not time in the Old Testament was that promise active. Here is Jerusalem, between the fall of Jerusalem, we will say 600 B.C. till around 530, Jerusalem lay in ruins. Then the two southern tribes came back to rebuild the ruins. Just keep in mind, There was no heathen called by the name of Jehovah. They went on their merry making way, believing in their pagan gods. Therefore this promise has somewhere a future tense, in the ending of time. When Judah was thrown out the second time, it was then, that these other promises came in and blend right together; and God turned to the Gentiles through the preaching of the gospel, to set this in motion. Therefore with this in mind, let us go to Deuteronomy 32:21. When we read this, put yourself in that element of Jews coming out of Egyptian bondage. I am sure that as these people realized they were no longer subject to the dictates of this power of Egypt, for them to use and abuse them, and they are traveling through the wilderness journey, not having to plant gardens, nor be subject to hard labor, they should have been overjoyed. They had manna every morning. They had quail meat to eat at evening. There are a lot of people in the world today, that would like to eat like that. They hate to think of planting a garden and such like. But while those people were journeying through the wilderness, God speaks through Moses; and that is what we are going to read, in the 32^nd chapter, 20^th verse of Deuteronomy. “And he said, I will hide my face from them, (God is speaking through Moses because He sees attitudes and behavior among the people He has delivered from bondage that He does not like. God spoke through Moses concerning that; so let us notice what He said.) I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very forward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: (If the children of Israel at that point of their journey, was already vexing God, having experienced what they did when God borught them from Egypt by a miraculous means and fed them, without them having to work for it, do you not think He is also vexed with the attitude of this Gentile world of religion that has partaken of His grace for over 1900 years, and are now just as pagan and full of vanity as those Jews were back then? They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. This Gentile religious world has a lot of teachings and ideas, that are nothing but vanities also.) And I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; (Think of it, way back then, 1400 years before Christ, God was telling those Jewish people, The day will come when I will cause you to be jealous: because I will do something among a people you do not know a thing about; and you will be jealous of it. That is why Jews still question us, Why do you accept this man Jesus, as your Savior? Jewish tradition has it, that He was a bastard child and not fit to associate with. Therefore you can see why that prophecy hangs over the Jewish people. For 1900 years, think of it, God has literally provoked that nation. What is even worse, is the fact that most of what they see represented as Christianity, is Catholicism, and what a shame. Now the pope and the political elders of Israel are shaking hands, establishing diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel. However just because the pope does that, it does not amount to the signing of the peach agreement that ushers in the seventieth week of Daniel. When that week of time is ushered in, it will be more than just the Vatican and Israel establishing diplomatic relationship so they can talk back and forth together. That covenant of Daniel has to include something about the monetary system, the trade system, and peace for the future. It has to include the whole works. The main thing is, God has told Israel in advance, I will provoke you to jealousy by a people that are looked upon as heathen.) I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” For 1900 years that has been the picture; but it will soon change. Grace for Gentiles has just about reached its terminating point. In Isaiah 65, the Lord speaking through the prophet Isaiah, after the ten tribes had already been scattered; but Judah was still in the land, gives a prophecy that is so constructed in the overall line of prophecies, it just becomes overlooked by most everyone. Notice,  “I am sought of them that asked not for me; (That is talking about you and me.) I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.” Think of the Gentiles worshiping deities, gods, altars, temples, shrines, groves of trees, parks and so forth, all of which went on for hundreds of years. Then, all of a sudden this little insignificant prophecy became activated. God gave them the gospel; but not before the nation of Israel as a whole had rejected it. God could then begin to cut them off. Then God in His love and mercy, based on all these promises which had been given to the Jewish people, because the promises were first to them, began to deal with Gentiles. He gave those Jews many types in the law that should have told before the time, of things to come; but those types meant nothing to that bunch of pious Jews. Nevertheless once the intercessory work of Christ began to ascend unto the Father on behalf of the Gentiles, every one of these passages of scripture dropped right in place. The ministry of that hour of time were finding themselves led by the spirit of God. No wonder when Paul was in Asia, in his second journey, he had purposed to go into Bythinia, which is in northern Turkey, yet one night in a vision he sees a man of Madeconia beckoning him to come over there. That was across the Dardanelles Straits, over in the part which is Yugoslavia today. That man was saying, Come over and help us. You read that in the book of Acts. This gospel started out under the leadership of the Spirit of God; and I assure you, it is going to finish up the same way.

THE GOSPEL – IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Let us go into the New Testament at this time. Christ was crucified in 33 A.D. according to Jewish history. This ends the 69^th week of Daniel. Right there, at that time the atonement price was paid; and in that same year, the Jewish church was born. The Holy Ghost descended upon those who were waiting in the upper room in Jerusalem; and the Jewish Church was born. The Jewish Church received the preeminence and we will say, Had the spotlight of attention centered on Jerusalem. Just every so many days or weeks God was constantly adding to the Church such as should be saved. On the day of Pentecost, after the apostle Peter preached that famous sermon, three thousand souls were saved; and another time five thousand an on like that. It was not a small thing, that which God was doing in Jerusalem. However as time passed, the attitude of some of those Jewish saints in Jerusalem needed to be worked on. AS the apostle Paul expressed it, the promise was the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. It took the apostle Paul to say that, as he saw the light on it in the Old Testament. From 33 A.D. until 56 A.D., God dealt with the Jews. (The reason I go to 56, is because that was about the time God began to deal with Paul and lead him to the Gentiles. I am not overlooking the fact that God led Peter to Caesarea, as recorded in the 10^th chapter of Acts; to preach the gospel to a Roman Centurion and those of his house; but that was just a single occasion. It was a sign that God was going to deal with the Gentiles, which as you know, the Jews at that time could not in any way see God doing such a thing. Nevertheless, let us deal with this for a little bit. Put yourself in the hour of those Gentiles who loved back then: who knew by Jewish attitude, and by Jewish teachings, that no Gentile had any right or reason to expect anything from God. Yet on the other hand Jews were out to get proselytes to Judaism constantly. The Jews, if they could proselyte you in conversion to Judaism, then to them, that made you a Jew; but in reality it did not make them Jews any more than if you baptized a rabbit and called it a lamb. If you are a Gentile and somehow are converted to Judaism, you can follow their religious practices; but you are still a Gentile. That is exactly why, when you look at the Jews going back to the homeland of their forefathers today, many of them do not look like the Jews of their ancestral parentage. In 1968 when we were there on the Sabbath Day, working our way down to the western wall, thousands of Jews were coming and going. They were going to pray, going to sing, then going back the other way. Among them, I saw red headed Jews. I saw men with freckled faces. I saw women with blond hair. I just said to myself, Those people are no more of a Jew genetically than I am. We every one know Abraham was of the Semitic line: out of Shem. The Bible records show him as being genetically out of the race of the Syrian people. Even Eliezar was a Syrian, as we read there in Genesis. Remember, Abraham was married to his half sister; and you have to realize that she, genetically, in her appearance was compatible to whatever Abraham looked like; and I seriously doubt that you would have seen any red hair or freckles on them. Also, as you look at their descendants, you see that they stayed in the Semitic line in those early centuries. However coming on through the centuries, first they are in Egypt, and you have to realize there were many of those Jewish families that incorporated into the blood line Egyptian genetic traits. Then when they come back into Canaan land, some of them took on Canaanite seed. For instance, when the spies come to Jericho, here was Rahab the harlot. She was chosen for a wife and her line is recorded into the lineage of Christ. How many realize that? You can see that from the call of Abraham coming on down, slowly there were certain other genetic traits being incorporated into this Syrian blood line. Then after two thousand years of international dispersion among Gentile nations, where you have people of all races, colors and so forth, you now have Jews with all of those various features. The different colors of hair were found mainly among the Anglo Saxon people. I will never forget one fellow: He had red hair and freckles on his face; and that caused me to say, That fellow looks more Irish than Jewish. In a sense that is a fact. How do you know that Bro. Jackson? I am not talking about Irish people either. I hope we do not get our feathers ruffled because I am talking like this. I just have to do it to bring the picture up to date; because these centuries of dispersion have caused these races to become all mixed up in their blood line. Nevertheless that man was going to the western wall to pray; and which of you would dare tell him he is not a Jew? I saw one woman going toward the Western wall: whose hair was as blonde as you will find. That blonde hair did not come from Abraham. That had to come from among the Gentile nations. When the gospel came to the Gentiles around 56 A.D., this is when Paul was led, as recorded in the book of Acts the 19^th and 20^th chapters, to Ephesus. That was the beginning of the assembly as Ephesus, the very Church that represented the first Church age. In 66 A.D., the apostle Paul was dead. What does that constitute? Simply that the revelation of the gospel was complete. The embodiment of what we call, The New Testament Scriptures, was complete. The faith of the fathers was recorded in those epistles; and the apostle Paul wrote most of them: fourteen of them. Not only did Paul write all of those 14 epistles, the last two thirds of the book of Acts is a record of his ministry. All of that taken into consideration, anyone would have to agree that the apostle Paul was the apostolic messenger to the Ephesian Church Age. He had the complete revelation; and he delivered that revelation to that first Age. However 30 years later, in 96 A.D., John was the last patriarch left alive; and he had been put out there on the Isle of Patmos to get him out of the way; but much to his surprise God still had a work for him to do. John had no idea whatsoever what God would do with him. All he knew was, that he was being isolated there to put him out of commission, out of circulation with the Churches. That just goes to prove that no matter where a man is, if God has a reason to, He can speak to him. There is not a concrete wall, there is not a distance in miles, nor anything else that can stop God from talking to a chosen vessel when He chooses to. Think of it, 30 years after the death of the Church Age Messenger, there was no more epistles to be written, no other doctrine to be taught, and no more teachings on how Christians should live; but God still had something else He wanted the Church to have. All the principles of Christianity had already been explained in the epistles written by the apostles; but this prophecy we read in the book of Revelation, was given to John in 96 A.D., to give to the body of believers; and what it contained was information about things that are yet to be. When you see the introduction, the first three chapters, it puts every Church in proper order to represent the overall spirit of the Church Age it would correspond to. But once He speaks His last exhortation of the Laodicean age, the Age we are living in, the whole thing changes. John was taken up in the beginning of the 4^th chapter, when he heard the voice speak from heaven, Come up hither. He saw a door open. As he ascended, he heard the words, I will show thee things that shall be hereafter. Let us look at it now. When we read from chapter 4 and on, it was still 96 A.D., but if he is told, I will show you things to be hereafter, then God did not stop him in the second century, nor the third century: He took him up in the Spirit and projected him through time, all the way into the 20^th century. That is why when you read chapters 4, 5, and 6, and consider what went on back in 1963 when there was a little man in this Gentile church world, who was hardly recognized by the body of so-called Christianity, except for the unusual gift that followed his ministry; you ahve to realize God transported John right into our very day and hour of time. God dealt with Bro. William Branham on the basis of what we see in the contents of chapter 4, 5, and 6. That is where John was projected to. He was projected to the 20^th century. He saw all of that. Think of it. He saw things in heaven just as though that was the way it looked in 96 A.D.; but we have to believe he saw it as would relate in time to 1963 A.D. because then is when the seals would be broken and the revelation of them dropped down to be understood; and it would not be based on the fact it was going to be John that saw them. It was going to be a true prophet to this very Age: that would receive the revelation. It just took John to write it at that time: to be understood later. What God revealed in 1963, closed with the revelation of the 6^th seal: putting everything in a true continuity order. The flow of revelation stopped right there; and there is still one seal left to be opened; and seven thunders yet to sound their voices. Let me take a little time to explain a little bit of what we are talking about. Coming on through the centuries of time, when we come to the Laodicean age, we cannot just pick up 1903, or 1906 as the year this Age started: We just have to settle for the fact that it was in that period of time somewhere. However we do come to the time in the Laodicean Age when somewhere, somehow or other, scenes in heaven are going to definitely be related to time on earth. That brings us to the time of 1933. That was the beginning of God speaking in a profound way to the man we are convinced was the prophet messenger to this Age. He was advised of his purpose and calling in relation to this Gentile Age. That is why down here at the river in the month of June 1933, God began to speak to him. I realize the Gentile church world despises the very thought of anyone talking about what took place there; because they all reject the idea that Bro. William Branham was a prophet messenger to the Age of Laodicea. I have had people call me on the telephone, Bro. Jackson, I just cannot see Malachi 4:5-6 the way you do: I see no where in the Bible that God has ever sent a prophet to the Gentiles. I said, Do you believe we are living under the same covenant of promise that was given to the Jews on the day of Pentecost? Yes. Do you believe that we are actually recipients of that same covenant? Yes. Then you have to keep in mind that it is that covenant: not the Old Testament covenant. He sent the writing prophets to the Jews under that old covenant; but when He came to start another covenant, it is true He gave the covenant and its potential to the Jewish people first; but when the Jewish people rejected, then He picked up the promise to Abraham, Thou shalt be a father of many nations. The apostle Paul gives it to you in Romans 4, so when we see this covenant being given to us Gentiles, I pointed out to him, 2000 years later, which is approximately how long we have had this covenant of promise, we are in the same shape with this covenant: that the Jews were with the old one. Look how we have interpreted it. Look how we have traditionalized it. As end time children of this covenant, keep in mind, it is the promises and teachings that we received through Paul, Peter, James and John, that makes them our spiritual fathers. I told the fellow this, You have to realize we Gentiles have strayed a long way from their original teachings. So Malachi 4, in its last advent fulfillment, is not talking back to the Jews: it is talking to us Gentiles, how He (God) would send that spirit of Elijah to turn the Gentile Christian children, who are children of the promise, the second covenant, back to the apostolic faith of Paul and those others. Stillt he man could not see it. He just could not see how such a thing could be possible. Naturally I realize, if God does not give it to you by revelation, you never will see it clearly. You will never receive it by theology either: that is for sure. Words mean nothing when people have not a spirit inside of them to put a picture together. When we come from back there to 1933, we come through a few short years; but the religious world at that time did not know what was about to take place. Just like the Judaistic world did not know what was about to take place in the time of that first advent of Christ. As I look back and realize how my life has been benefitted by the teachings of this man, to me this revelation delivered to this Age by that little man is a part of my inner being. Sitting in the Methodist Church, not aware of what God was doing at that time in the world of religion, I was content to sit there in that old system and ride on, just like a lot of Methodists or Baptists are still doing today. However after God almost took my life, and I realized when I woke up in the hospital, that the wreck had not happened for nothing; but was designed to bring me to Christ: things have been different ever since. When I finally did give my heart to him, and as I have said many times, Sitting there on my couch that cold February morning, I just picked up the Bible and it fell open to the 1^st chapter of Luke. I read where Zechariah went into the temple to burn incense, and how the angel Gabriel was seen there at the right hand of the altar of incense. He got Zechariah’s attention and told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth was going to conceive. She was going to give birth to a son. His name shall be called John. Then the angel told Zechariah this son will go before the coming of the Lord in the power and spirit of Elias to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and he stopped quoting Malachi.