Preached on August 25, 2022 – pm

A Dark Time

 

 

 

 

 

 We have a wonderful privilege in this hour to be able to spread the Word of God, in this age of darkness. As Bro. Jackson preached in his last two messages, Darkness Is Setting In (Ed. November 28, 2004). You have never seen anything like the darkness we see in this present hour in which we live. The president has gone so far as to wipe out many of the student loans, but the ones who have paid off their loans are wondering what their benefit is. This is not right. Then what about the firefighters, schoolteachers, and all the others that are underpaid. Also, many colleges have made co-ed dorms that they can put women and men in the same room, and they are forcing that on the students. I would have to say, if you are thinking about going to college, you better think about going to a local school that you can drive to, and not think about going off some place and staying in some dorm. This may not please you, but colleges are getting awful. Many students are alcoholics. There were five college students in a wreck this week here in Indiana. Four of them were football players, two of them were killed. They were all drunk. God is not looking at football players or the poor peasant on the street when these things come about. It does not matter who you are, where you come from, or what is your family background. If you place yourself in a situation like that with all the drugs and things going on, then you can expect anything could happen. The president and the government are letting whoever wants to, to come across the border. Since Biden has been president, there have been five million people illegally cross the southern border. They know where four million are, the other million have just slipped into the country and ‘disappeared.’ They do not know where many people from the Middle East, and many of those that came from Afghanistan, are now. They do not know how many of them are terrorists. This is now a country that we can only dream about what it used to be. It is all because of leadership as it speaks of in Ephesians 6:12. You may not think it is that bad, but it was in the news this week that in New York schools, they are passing students without an education. Many schools have their multiple-choice tests set up so that if you pick answer “C” on every question, they will pass you. This makes no sense whatsoever. This was in the news; it is not just something that I am hatching up. It is just craziness from local governmental leaders all the way up to the president. Schools are teaching children from five years old up through grade 12 this immoral lifestyle and giving them drugs to change them from what gender they were born to be. We are in a time when we need to know what our children are learning, because the devil is out to get them. I am saying these things, not to hurt your feelings, but as a warning. It is not infringing on their rights to see what books they bring home from school. Many little children do not even know what is going on, but as they move up in the grades, they do know.

Harvest Time

Faith Assembly has been a place where you have been taught differently. I know this teaching goes throughout the world. We receive wonderful e-mails from Kenya. There are several people from that country who watch. I praise the Lord for them. Bro. Dustin showed me tonight where the connections were from this past Sunday. There are many countries and peoples represented that watch our broadcast. It shows there is much interest. They are watching for some reason, and I know it is for the right reason. Many of the e-mails that we get from other countries let you know they are much in line with the teaching here at Faith Assembly and the other ministers that come here to minister. We are able to send the message out to the world. There may be a few left to come in, but as Bro. Kevin said last Sunday, there are not that many to be brought in because we are at harvest time. You can begin to see when it is harvest time. I saw some corn fields this week in the country that are beginning to turn brown. When they do, another grain of corn cannot grow because it is harvest time. There is a song that says, ‘It’s harvest time, the grain is falling, The Savior’s calling…it’s harvest time.’ We want to be ready. That is my aim and purpose, even though I am not preaching too much on that. But the message is getting out, by Bro. Kevin and other ministers, about the end time harvest. I appreciate that.

Eagle Food

I have scriptures that I want to go to, Matthew 16 first. I will go to Luke after that. I am still on the same subject that I have been on for some time now. We see here that Jesus is finishing His ministry on earth. It is near the end of His second year of ministry and going into the third year. He does not have long to live, but He is beginning to teach the disciples something about the end time, because these are His last messages. At the beginning of his ministry, He talks of Peter and the other apostles being fishers of men, which later they were, and they did. Then at the middle of His ministry, He talks about the way the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and all of those, are treating the Word of God and blinding the people. He talks about the blindness they are causing people to be in. Now at the end of His ministry, we find He is beginning to instruct His disciples concerning their future and the future kingdom in which they will be. But He is also telling them how they will be hated and mistreated. Sometimes we think that will only be at the end time. Bro. Branham talked about the suffering of the church at the end time. But the church suffered a great deal at the beginning also. Many of them died violent deaths. All the apostles except John were killed, even Matthias. Some in the time of Bro. Branham said Matthias never did amount to anything because men appointed him. They did not read in the Old Testament (Ed. Psalm 109:8) that another was to take Judas’ place. Then it says, his bishopric would be taken and given to another (Ed. Acts 1:20). It is strange that people who seemed to think they knew so much about the message, missed everything, and ended up completely out of the Word of God. I knew several of them, and several of the preachers. But if we do not follow the truth, we are going to wind up in something else. That void that we have when the Lord is not with us will be filled with something. My aim and the aim of all the ministry is to fill your life with something you can count on. Somewhere you can find safe harbor when the trials come because they will come. We all go through trials and tests, even the ministry goes through trials and tests. They must make a stand for truth because the sheep must be fed. Where the eagles are gathered together, there will be food. If that was not going to be true in the end time, why did Jesus say that? He knew there would be an eagle message in this hour so, He spoke it in that way. He knew there would be ministers that will feed the people a rich diet that will make them stronger and stronger.

The Gates of Hell

I will read Matthew 16, verse 13, this will give us the whole meaning here. “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, (We know where Caesarea Philippi was and that the people there worshiped other gods. I went over that several months ago. The ‘gates of hell’ was a place in Caesarea Philippi. Herod Philip named it after himself. Jesus took them there for a purpose.) he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” Jesus is asking them. “And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” First we will look at His answer to Peter, then we will go to Luke and see what He says to all of them when they begin to jostle for position. We should never jostle for a position, we should always let the Lord lead us and guide us into all truth, not just part of it. Verse 16 again, “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” The Catholic church latched onto this next verse with the wrong revelation. Verse 18, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” They were at the gates of hell in Caesarea Philippi, as they called it at that time. This is where the water came out of the rock and the people threw babies in there to kill them. Sacrificing them to a pagan god. They would throw a baby in there and if it screamed then they let it drown, if it did not then they would take it out. You can imagine how very few survived. Kind of like people are killing babies today. (The Native American Indians did similar things here. They worshiped many gods: the wind, the sun, the stars, every kind of god they could think of. People tell many things about the mistreatment of the Indians, that the white man just took their land away. It may seem wrong, but God gave this land, not to just white people, but to people who wanted to live for God. Just like Israel in the Old Testament, God had them take the land from the heathen worshipers of all kinds of gods and gave it to His people. I am part Indian myself, so I guess I have a right to speak a little bit about that. I remember Bro. Branham talking about the Indians. He was more Indian than I am. He was one fourth, and I am one eighth. I have nothing against the American Indian people. Neither am I talking about the Indian people from the country of India. They are not the same race of people).

 

Verse 19, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: (Just what is He talking about? We see those keys given to Peter on the day of Pentecost. The keys opened the door to salvation. But he said keys: it is the message of Peter that goes from Pentecost on into Samaria, on into the house of Cornelius in Caesarea where he opened the door to salvation for the Gentiles. God used those keys in this way to open the doors of understanding to people. He gave Peter the revelation. He was not making Peter a pope, He was making Peter someone that He could use. You can see in this just how it is to be). and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” It was Peter’s message that was brought about to open the door of salvation unto the Jews and then to the Gentiles. These are the keys He was talking about. Verse 20, “Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.”

The Five-Fold Ministry
Are Servants

Let me go now to Luke 22, starting in Verse 24. “And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.” They are not getting what Jesus is saying because they are still in the flesh. They believe He is the Christ, and that He is the Son of God, but without the Holy Ghost they are still in the flesh. They are not going to receive that until He is glorified, until He is raised from the dead, and until Pentecost. “And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.” In this next verse He is telling them their position and He is telling the ministry of this hour their position. “But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; (The oldest of the Jewish clan was the head of the house. Then the younger ones took their seats lower than his. He is talking to the ministry here, that they get not puffed up in their minds or in their thinking). and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, (He is talking of you, the Church body, not of the ministry). or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? (The servants are the ministry. The ones who feed the body first and eat last. These preachers on television and in these big churches have taken over congregations. They have made themselves to be the head of everything. They are making themselves lords over a group of people. There are many today that are unwilling to be servants. But you see what Jesus is saying here, the ministry must be able to serve the people and not get ‘big headed’). but I am among you as he that serveth.” These words were spoken by Jesus as He gave them the last supper. When He was finished with the supper, what did He begin to do? He began to wash their feet. He began to be the servant, just as He said here. He came not to be ministered unto, but He came to serve. A true minister in this hour is the one that serves. He is not doing it to get the accolades. He is the one that is to provide something that is prepared. This is the duty of the ministry, to provide the people with food that is fitting to eat. This is our aim and purpose in the hour of time in which we are living. Verse 28, “Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.” He is not talking about the cross. He is talking of the many temptations that He has already been through. About how people have argued with Him, demeaned Him, and belittled Him. Even His mother and His brothers stood without, desiring Him to come out. But He rebuked them and said, ‘Who is my mother? Who is my brother? But whosoever doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. The same is my mother, my brothers, and my sisters.’ Verse 29, “And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;” He is talking about the Millennium. He is appointing them a kingdom. He is appointing unto YOU a kingdom. We do not know altogether what it will be, but we can read of the beauty of much of it in the Word. We see through a glass darkly now, but I would say, in the hour we are living in, that we are the most enlightened generation that has ever been since the apostles. Speaking from the time of Bro. Branham until now. We have grown in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Because God has given us the opportunity to be able to flourish in His kingdom. Not that we are making ourselves to be anything. If we do, then we make ourselves little. Verse 29 again, He says, “And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me. That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, (That is going to be wonderful! He was not just talking to them. There is going to be a table set and I believe by the Word of God there will be food on it.) and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” That will be in the Millennium. He is talking to the eleven apostles; Judas having already gone out. Of course, He knows that Judas will betray Him but that another man will take his place. So, there will be twelve apostles in the Millennium.

We Do Not Give Up

I want to go to Hebrews Chapter 12. I went over Chapter 11, which talks about Abraham looking for a city that had foundations, whose builder and maker was God. Paul continues the conversation here in Hebrews 12:18. “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,” He is referring to what Moses went through beginning in Exodus Chapter 19. We find that there was a trumpet that kept sounding. The people had to stop their ears because it was a trumpet that God was sounding. They did not want to hear that blasting sound. They wanted Moses to speak to them instead of God. Verse 18 again, “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, (which is Sinai) and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,” We have seen a video of that mountain, where the top part was black from the burning of the Spirit of God. “And the sound of a trumpet, (This trumpet just kept sounding and sounding and sounding, and it worried them.) and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more.” They did not want to hear any more. When they did that, they got themselves in trouble and made themselves a molten calf. They were asking that Aaron take them back to Egypt. They had given up on their journey. But whatever comes our way, we do not give up. It is not in us to give up because we have something just before us, that we believe in. We know that it is out there, but we believe from our hearts because we know that one day there is an inheritance. Verse 20, “(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)” He feared and quaked because of the presence of God. “But ye are come unto mount Zion, (Not the physical mount Zion in Jerusalem (it was not even called mount Zion in the time of Moses), but the heavenly mount Zion.) and unto the city of the living God, (You know what city that is, that is the new Jerusalem.) the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.” Paul is realizing something here as he speaks. The angels are encamped round about them that are appointed heirs of salvation. We do not talk to angels, we do not communicate with angels, but the angels are watching over us and over the word that is being fed to us. Do not get in your mind that I am preaching that angels should be what we are interested in. The interest that we have is in Jesus Christ. The angels are below Him and ministered unto Him. Why would I worship angels when there is a Saviour that is over the angels? Verse 23, “To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, (The church of the firstborn is born again people. This is not to be some name for a church organization.) which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.” God is making us perfect in this hour. We have a perfect revelation. It is up to date in this hour, and it keeps feeding us and it keeps leading us on. We do not stop after a journey of one day. When the children of Israel stopped, they stopped for almost forty years. They never gained any ground. God waited until that unbelieving generation passed off the scene before He let them go on over. But we are the generation of people that believe God! We believe that we are on a journey that will lead us out of here one of these days. “And to Jesus the mediator (This should tell us something because Jesus is our mediator. He is our go-between. We do not approach unto God without Jesus Christ. Jesus is our approach unto God, it is His blood that reconciles us and takes away our sins that we may approach unto God. “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” We remember how the blood of Abel spoke from the ground. This blood is more perfect than the blood of Abel because it is the blood of Jesus Christ. Verse 25, “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” We know that shaking is coming. I heard on the news about NASA recording a voice that comes from a dark hole in space. I do not want a voice from any dark hole when there is Light. I would rather have the Light than a voice from the dark hole. “And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, (He is talking about the things that will be shaken because heaven and earth will pass away. Those things that will be removed are the works of men. They are causing more pollution by trying to get rid of pollution. If the government has its way, the whole country will be filled with electrical grids and windmills. All our food will come from other countries. If they had another fifty years, there would not be enough farmland left for people to produce food. They think they have the answer, but they do not have the answer. Verse 27 again, “And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken will remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom (He is speaking of every believer, not just in his time, but all believers. As in the song that Bro. Crase sings, He Included Me, Thank The Lord.) which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.”

The Bride, The Lamb’s Wife

Now I want to go to Revelation 21. Verse 2 and then from verse 9 through the end of the chapter is concerning the Millennium. We know that we are a part of that city, but we have not received our inheritance yet. When Bro. Branham died, people began to say that we are in the Millennium. One man that was preaching we are in the Millennium, only had one arm. It did not profit him much, did it? He died without having received his other arm. Then they began to teach that whatever you were lacking here, you would not have it in the Millennium. Such as, if you were lacking a leg here, you would not have a leg in the Millennium. Somebody mentioned, then what about John the Baptist, he would not have a head, would he? Verse 2, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Verses 3 through 8 talk about the eternal age, which I will go into at another time. I want to go on to verses 9 through 11. “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” God uses one of the angels that He has used before. It would have to be that seventh angel that he is talking with here. He would be the one that will be connected to the last half of the week. “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” So instead of John seeing a city, he is seeing a woman, which is the heavenly Jerusalem. We went over that previously, the mother of us all. (Ed. Part 7, Galatians 4:26). Verse 10, “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.”

We Will Walk in The Name of The Lord Our God

I am going to go back into the Old Testament from here. I will go to Micah first and then to Habakkuk. Micah Chapter 4, Verse 1, “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, (He is talking about natural Jerusalem.) and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.” Speaking of what Jerusalem in Israel is going to be in the Millennium. Let us not get the two Jerusalem’s mixed up. One is in Israel, the other is heavenly. The Bride will be in that heavenly Jerusalem, which is going to be over all the earth. You Brothers and Sisters in other countries will be in the land from which you come. But it is intertwined in that the Bride will not be separate in thought, just in body. If something happens someplace else where you would need to be to advise, you will be there immediately. We will be as Jesus was when He raised from the dead. He appeared, He disappeared, but He was still a resurrected, glorified body. One of these days we will see Him as He is. Because that body will always be, wherever He is, which will be in the new Jerusalem. “And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; (That is in the Millennium.) and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” That is to natural people on earth; that is not to you and me. The word of the Lord will be broadcast throughout the earth, but it will be put in motion by Bride people. I hope I have made that plain. It is hard to put into words just what it will be like for the Bride of Jesus Christ. She is going to be over the earth. Then you have the law on the earth which will go forth from Zion (natural Jerusalem). We will not be under the law. Grace has taken us all the way through, and it will still be Grace for us. Verse 3, “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” We find Christ is King in the Millennium. It shows there is no ambition to get ahead. Man has struggled and done everything he can to get ahead here but look at this. “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; (That is talking of natural people.) and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.” That is not speaking of many gods, because that will be gone.

Victory Time of The Bride

Now let us go to Habakkuk. Chapter 2, Verse 14, “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” What a wonderful thing! The natural earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters that cover the sea. Even that natural man, that Jewish person, and the sheep people, they are going to have a good life. They are not going to tire; they are not going to wear out. It is going to be a blessed time, and the Bride of Jesus Christ is going to have their victory time. We sing, Peace, peace, wonderful peace. That is going to be wonderful.

Natural Judah and Jerusalem

Let us go to Isaiah Chapter 2, the first five verses. You will see that this reads much like Micah. “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. (This is talking about natural Judah and Jerusalem.) And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; (It is as though Isaiah and Micah were writing each other a letter and said the same thing.) and all nations shall flow unto it. If you read Zechariah 14, the nations must go to Jerusalem, or they get no rain. Isaiah 2:3, “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (That is to the Temple in Jerusalem.) to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (It is the same as Micah.) And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” I hope something was said that helps you. May the Lord bless you. Prayer

September 01, 2022
PM Service

I have been on this subject for quite a while. I went into different things as I have gone along. This may be one of those times also. I have been listening to some of Bro. Branham’s messages lately. I have watched one or two of the seals. He may preach three hours on one seal, but the portion where the seal is revealed may not last over thirty to forty-five minutes. Then he would go into the lives of people. How they are living, what God is expecting out of people living a Christian life, and different things. But the messages all build together because we are living in the end time. Soon I plan to show a film about different people who were in services of Bro. Branham that have testimonies of his healing ministry. (Ed. Archives 9-8-22, The Millennium Reign, Part 18). They were biased against the message of truth which he brought, but that did not change their thoughts about what God did in his healing ministry. They are people that are or have been on television. I have not seen them lately, but I have seen them in times past. They talk about the miracles that happened. A couple of them mention that there has never been anything like what God did in Bro. Branham’s ministry since the days of Jesus and the days of the early church apostles. Even the apostles did not have the ministry that Jesus did, but there were still a lot of miracles done in their days. Bro. Branham had a ministry that lifted up the Lord Jesus (as Bro. Jackson said, ‘higher than anyone he had ever heard’). The message that lifted Jesus was what Bro. Jackson was talking about. But others just went for the loaves and fishes. When I show you this, you will see that the many miracles that happened could not have been falsified nor that Bro. Branham knew beforehand the people that were healed or the details about their lives.

The Fall

I want to go to Genesis Chapter 3. If you read Genesis 2, you will see it is the tree of life that is the right way for mankind to choose to live. If the tree of life had been partaken of by Adam and Eve, a Saviour or salvation would not have been necessary. Because they would have inherited eternal life and would have never died. They would have always been immortal and worshipped God in a natural body. We read that God created the heaven and the earth. We think of Him as God at that time. But God is not God unless He be worshipped. There had to be somebody there first, which was angels, to worship Him. Then He was God. But He always was and is The Eternal Being. We find that in Psalm Chapter 90.

 

I want to look at this in a different way. Genesis 3, Verse 1, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. (That tells you something. He was not of the reptile kingdom yet; he was a beast. If he was not a reptile at that time, and he was a beast, he always remained to be a beast. The only thing is that he lost his arms and legs. He crawled on the ground like a snake. Somewhere he is out there yet today. You will find that in Isaiah 65. We do not know which one he is, but God knows. People have tried to guess this and that, but there is no guesswork to it. There is one reptile out there now (that was not a reptile then) that is still a part of the animal kingdom that at one time had arms and legs and could talk. Bro. Branham once preached a message about the serpent. Since then, people have tried to figure out which one it was, but there is no way to do that. God does know which one it is. When the Millennium is over, the serpent will still be eating bugs and things of the ground during the eternal age. You can see how the fall of Adam and Eve began to work from that time. The fall led to the flood which took all the human family out of the world except for Noah, his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law. We find that there was a mark placed upon human beings because of the things that happened there in the garden with Adam and Eve. It says he was more subtil, in other words, smarter. Bro. Branham said science has been looking for the missing link. He said, ‘There he is.’ (the original serpent). He was created as that highest animal that was most like a human. Of course, man has portrayed him to look like an animated, cartoon-like snake. I am glad that one day we heard a message that explained these things to us. It lets us know why sin entered into the garden. Sin did not begin in the garden because of somebody eating an apple. It was a relationship. We know that natural fruits come from fruit trees. But the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a tree that did not bear that type of fruit. We even see where Elisabeth used the words ‘blessed is the fruit of [Mary’s] womb.’ So, we come from what they call a family tree which goes all the way back to the Bible. There were two trees in the midst of the garden. One the tree of good and evil, and one the tree of life. The tree of life was to be partaken of, but they partook of the tree of good and evil first. I have gone over that before. It would not have been written the ‘tree of good and evil,’ if there had not been a good part of it. Mankind would have taken of the good part, if sin had never come into the garden through the evil part.) “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, (I remember Bro. Jackson going over this. It was not just one time that he spoke to her. It was over time, almost like a courtship. Because the serpent was slipping around behind Adam’s back, coaxing Eve to take of the evil part of that tree. Whenever that happened, that brought a curse upon every human being from that time on. Even Abel had to bear that curse because Adam harkened to the voice of his wife. Then the curse fell upon every man.) “…And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:” Do you see the difference, “trees”? She knew better because she was quoting what Adam had told her. “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, (not trees, but the tree which is in the midst of the garden…) God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” She knew that. Verse 4, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” He had a knowledge that the rest of the animal kingdom did not have. He mentioned it, you eat of this tree, then you will be as gods. The devil always promotes himself to be like unto the most High. He was going to use whatever he could to foster his ideas. He had to have a vessel that he could work through, and he found it to be the serpent of the animal kingdom. He was more subtil than any of the other animals of the field. Of the cow, horse, dog, any animal. He was smarter, but he was more subtil. He was conniving (definition: conspiring to do something immoral). He had no desire for God. After he had talked to Eve, he knew enough about God and what He had said to Adam and Eve. I will read from Verse 5 again. “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, (Wisdom was what she was looking for, it was not a pleasure thing, it was a wisdom thing. She felt that if she ate of this tree, that she would be as God Himself, knowing good and evil.) “…and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, (He did not call unto Eve, He called unto Adam because he was the first of His creation. He was the head of the family.) and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” God knows that he has, but God wants an answer. There is salvation for us, but we need to consult God about it. The salvation of God is just as real as this was that happened in the garden. Verse 12, “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” I am not going to read any further, but you can see in the next two verses that even Jesus Himself was represented in the garden. You know the story, “…between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

The Serpent Was Meant
To Be A Servant

Bro. Branham preached a message, The Trail of the Serpent. I do not recall if I ever heard the message or not, but I can see what he was looking at here. The trail of the serpent goes right on through time, all the way to the end time. You see where he ‘crawls’ into the lives of people, and they become like serpents on the earth today. The serpent was to be a servant to mankind, but when he made himself known unto Eve, he had no care for the human family. And it continues in the line of Cain. You had the sons of God, who were sons of Adam. Then you had the sons of the serpent, who were Cain and his people. The family of the serpent is still living today. He still has his kin on the earth. They have never been removed from the picture. That is why you have so much evil. We have so much evil in this country today that our country is dropping below what other countries are in understanding. This opioid crisis is bringing down the average lifespan of Americans. When COVID hit America, the government got scared and began to put restrictions on people. But now there are three hundred people dying each day from opioid overdoses. That is better than a hundred thousand a year, but you hear nothing said about it. The Biden administration is letting it go and letting these drugs come across our border. In Denmark, the life expectancy is eighty-five years old. In America it has gone down from seventy-eight in 2019 to seventy-six in 2022. In a three-year period, America has lost two years of life. It is hitting young people very hard. From teenagers up to forty-five years of age; all through the child-bearing years. The devil is so sneaky. It is that serpent seed that is in mankind.

The Greatest Message

The Bride of Jesus Christ and the others that God has, like the great multitude, are the only ones who are going to escape. The rest will be lost. Big evangelists are talking about a revival that is going to hit America. But the revival days of old are over as far as man is concerned. There was a message that changed the outlook on the Bible. It brought the nation to a realization that there was more than just divine healing. God can heal your body. Many have been healed, but then they get into the denominational system (or into the independents as they call themselves, but they are not really independent) and they are expecting a revival, but there will be no salvational type revival. Only the Bride will have her revival. We are seeing a great upheaval in the world as we are living in the days just before the coming of the Lord. The United States is leading the way. They are leading the way in homosexuality, lesbianism, all these different things. Teachers and other officials are asking little children, beginning at five years old, ‘Do you want to be a boy or girl?’ What a foolish thing. God cannot help but judge this nation for what it is doing, especially what it is doing to young people. They are changing lives, and changing attitudes. You have teachers in schools and professors in colleges who have no morals. (I could say, ‘like a dog,’ but I do not want to put a dog that low). They are a part of the animal family, serpent seed to the core. God has given us the greatest message that has ever been on this earth since Jesus Christ was here. After He ascended, it did not take man long to dwindle down the message. In this end time, they have said that messages of truth, like serpent seed, and such, were of the devil. But God has raised up a few people. Not many, but I can see that He is moving right on in a group of people. Young people, you have the best thing that God could have ever given you. To know Jesus Christ is to know better than the whole world. The Bible says, ‘If you gain the whole world and lose your soul, what do you have?’ We find that people do not want the truth. They say it is too strict. They said the same thing when Noah, a preacher of righteousness, preached as he was building the ark. But when the rain began to fall, then they were outside wishing that they were inside. One of these days the ones that have made fun of this message and called us old fogeys (old fashioned) will be outside again. Call me what they want, that does not bother me. I would rather be an ‘old fogey’ than be in some church where the men and women come in with their shorts on. That is ugly! The serpent has wound his way in. Not only in the denominational system, but also, as the Bible says, that ill-famed woman, and she had daughters, which are denominations and abominations of the earth. People will look at us and say, well they think they are something. I think we have a message that is something. It will never fail. It will never fail you, young people. Live right for God and you will come out on top.

The Salvation of God

Let me go to another scripture. Second Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 9. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,” He did not say that you would never be tempted. He says that the Lord knows how to deliver you out of temptations. Jesus was tempted and tested. While He was on earth, His ministry was always tested. Especially when you read John Chapters 6, 7, and 8. He introduces himself as the Son of God. They did not like that because they did not know where His birth came from. God bypassed what the serpent had brought, and He took a virgin womb that had never known a man and placed a little seed of life in there. The first thing He did when He was born, was cry just like all little babies do when they get their first breath. He received the breath of life. It was just eight days later when He was circumcised, as was the custom. Then after Mary’s purification was completed, they brought Him to the temple. An old man whose name was Simeon had been led by the Spirit to wait for Him there. The Spirit of God showed him which child He was, and he came to Him and began to bless Him. Simeon talked to Mary and Joseph about Him, about what would happen and how she would be pierced to her heart because of Him. Simeon called Him ‘God’s salvation.’ Prophesying that He would be the salvation of Israel by means of His death. Then when John the Baptist saw Him, he said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.’ He was also looking at His death. When they asked John the Baptist, ‘Are you that prophet? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘No.’ He was not Elijah, but he had the spirit of Elijah upon him. He also said, ‘the axe is laid to the root of the trees.’ When an axe is laid to the root that kills the tree. Israel was soon to die as a nation, not to be revived for two thousand years. Then he said, ‘there is one to come after me, greater than I, whose shoe latchets I am not worthy to unloose.’ John was introducing Him to be salvation to a Jewish people, but they rejected Him that he would become salvation unto the ends of the earth (to us Gentiles).

The Best Is Yet To Come

Later John the Baptist said, ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’ I see something in that. Bro. Branham had that same spirit of Elijah on him. He said almost the same thing in 1963, speaking of a ministry to follow his. God has everything planned. Everything fits together in His plan just like pieces of wood dovetail together. That is why I can look at you as my brothers and sisters. Somewhere God saw that you fit into His plan. God is working. He has a ministry that is going to finish this thing out, by the Grace of God. We have not seen anything yet. You say, well you keep saying that. Just wait and see! We used to sing, ‘The Best Is Yet To Come.’ It is! We keep looking for it. If it were ten years off, we would keep looking for it, but I do not believe that it is. Not the way America and the world is tonight. Bro. Branham said, ‘I am a dying man in a dying world.’ He knew something was getting ready to happen because he told Bro. Jackson, ‘Something is getting ready to happen and when it does, stick with the Word.’ Bro. Jackson said, ‘I will.’ Men have hazarded their lives to bring forth a truth that we might be able to live amid a generation that knows not God, but God is still visiting with His people.

Hold To What God Gives You

Back to Second Peter 2:9, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts, (that is serpent seed) made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; (That is a shame, that hurts. They are not afraid to speak evil of those things. That film I want to show you is something that if anybody has any spirituality about them, they will recognize that gift that was in Bro. Branham.) and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; (their own corruption) And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you.” We have seen that. There have been so many that have walked through these doors then left to go into something else that has no soundness to it. They walked out, not on me and you, but they walked out on God. Verse 14, “Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;” That is the church world today. Many years ago, I read the life story of a man that came to America around 1888. His name was John Alexander Dowie (See: The Contender, June 2024, The Millennium Reign, Part 5). He and his wife and family came to San Francisco with only about thirteen dollars. He moved to Chicago in 1893 and began to have meetings. On one side of the street was a Buffalo Bill show, which had many people going to it. Dowie was on the other side of the street, praying for the sick. Two weeks after the meetings started the show closed. The people had left the Buffalo Bill show and came over to his meetings. They hauled off crutches, wheelchairs, and all kinds of things as people were healed. It caused such a stir that the revival lasted for twenty years in Chicago, long after Dowie had died. By the time the revival finally faded out, the gangster, Al Capone, was in control of the most unethical city in America. Chicago went completely in the opposite direction.

 

If a person does not fill their heart with something of God, then God will turn them over to the devil. John Alexander Dowie began to think he wanted to make a place where just righteous people would live. He built a city about forty miles from Chicago called Zion, Illinois. It was not long until he had twenty thousand people there. He was going to build Zion’s all over the world. Every kind of sickness and every kind of demon had been cast out under his ministry, but then he began to elevate himself, make himself to be Elijah. He died of tuberculosis (TB) and cancer in 1907. The things that he had seen cast out during his ministry killed him. We cannot elevate ourselves above what God made us to be. God will give you something; you hold to that. If there is any elevating to be done, God will do it. We just need to be humble, walk with God, and live for God. As Jesus died for us, let us die daily for Him, taking up our cross. I would rather have the presence of God in my life, than to have a bank full of money, or the finest houses and cars. That is what the ministry of this world is looking for today. Those preachers have the big salaries, the best cars, and things like that because they want to be known as a big shot. I remember a man that I used to watch on television sometimes. His name was John Osteen. He was the dad of Joel. He was getting up in years when Joel began to push him to make his ministry big, but he would not. He said, ‘I am too tired, I do not aim to do that.’ Finally, God took John home. He would not become big like Joel wanted him to. Now look at Joel. His mother was healed of cancer. He saw some of the things of God, but that is not what he wants. It does not matter that we have seen some things of God. What matters is what we get out of what we have seen. Verse 15 again, “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb [animal] speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.” That reminds me of a story. There was a fellow from the east who went out west to Wyoming one time. He was out one day with an old rancher that had lived there all his life. It became cloudy so this fellow from the east said, ‘We better hurry and get home because it is going to rain.’ The old man from the west looked up and said, ‘Those clouds are just a bunch of empties.’ That is what these natural brute beasts are, just a bunch of empties, without God. They have everything they want, just like Laodicea said they would, but they have missed the One who would have helped them. Verse 18, “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh,” That sounds like the serpent talking to Eve. Let me read that again, “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.”

Plain Truth

I will go to one more scripture before I close. Jude, starting in Verse 8. “Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” That does not mean they are necessarily thinking of something immoral. They are filthy dreamers because they have a dream of becoming big, and that is filthy with God. “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, (serpent seed) in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.” He covers three different ones that fell. He goes from Cain, to Balaam, to Core (Korah). Men in the Old Testament that tested God. God spoke to Balaam, but he would not listen. Then God caused the dumb animal to speak to him, but nothing stopped him. Core challenged Moses. There are those that challenged the ministry of Bro. Branham, they challenged the ministry of Bro. Jackson, and they have challenged us. But that does not faze a servant of God, we go right on. There is no need to stop. Verse 12, “These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.” I can remember being at the Tabernacle after Bro. Branham was gone. When it was time for the sermon to start, the deacons would get everything in order and start the tape of Bro. Branham’s sermon. Then they would go to Jerry’s Restaurant because they knew exactly when the tape would end. Bro. Neville was preaching one time and said, ‘It is hard to preach to twice dead people.’ That was the truth. Many of those people only cared about a position. Now look where they are today. That is not Bro. Branham’s fault. Verse 13, “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Against who? Against Christ. What I just read is in The Bible that they claim to believe. Surely, they have never read this. This is something that they either pass over or strike it out and never mention because if they did, it would have an effect on them. Verse 16, “These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.” At first, these people speak great swelling words showing their great admiration for men who stood for Truth (like Bro. Branham and Bro. Jackson) for the sake of their own gain. But now these same men are their enemies because they do not fit their agenda. Verse 17, “But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” That is very plain, isn’t it? Prayer

To be continued in next issue…