The Gifts and Callings of God, Part 1

Rev. James Allen
Rev. James C. Allen

I have a message that is not unusual, but it is something I want to deal with. It comes from Romans, one verse, chapter 11, verse 29. Let me start in verse 26. “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is the covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake. (Here is my title.) The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” I would like to add, which I never thought of until I got up here, I would like to add one more passage of scripture which comes from Ezekiel 33, verses 1 thru 11. I am going to be dealing with the gifts, but I first want to deal with the ministry today. In chapter 12 of 1st Corinthians, I will get to that later, but in this he lists the different gifts. When he listed them, he listed three of the ministry along with the gifts. He said apostles, prophets and teachers, I believe that is the way it was. In my study of this, I could go back to the Old Testament into the book of Samuel. I can see David there, having many opportunities to take out Saul. But when it came to the opportunity he had, he speaks against taking out God’s anointed, which was Saul. The anointing of God was placed upon Saul, then what he did with it was his problem. We find in Saul’s life, that he became very jealous of David. When Saul asked if there was anyone that would go against the giant, David volunteered and said he would go. He tried on Saul’s armor and everything he had, none of it fit. He said, I have not tried these things. So he took a sling and went against the giant. But God had already anointed him to be king, even as a young man, they say possibly seventeen years old. He had already experienced things in his life as far as his calling. He had experienced a lion, which at that time, I was looking the other day at one of those programs where they have the different animals. It showed lions, which they said at one time, lions were in the Middle East. That verified what both Samson and David had done. We know that David said he had killed a bear. Then came his opportunity to stand up for the army of Israel. He stood against the giant and slew him. On the way back home everybody was happy and rejoicing. Here came a bunch of the young Jewish girls singing, Saul has killed his thousands, David has killed ten thousands. From that time on David was the enemy of Saul. It was not his choice to be an enemy, but he was Saul’s enemy. There were at least two occasions where he took the mantle of Saul, cut a piece off of it, and took his rod another time and began to holler at Saul over on the next hill. Saul, of course he repented, he said I was the one that was wrong, but David did not trust him. He knew that spirit would come back. After you sell yourself to something, it is amazing how that will control you. This is what happened to Saul, I just use that as an illustration. I said I wanted to go to the 12th chapter of 1st Corinthians, I will go over all of this other later, but right now I want to go to what I was talking about awhile ago. Verse 27 says, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” Every one that is in the body of Christ is a member. You were not voted in, you were not put on a waiting list. I remember when I was called to preach, I lived in Cincinnati Ohio and went to an independent church. Going to this independent church, the pastor had got his license through an organization, which I do not remember the name of right now, but he took me there to see if they would give me a license to preach, because I had already been called of God to preach and I had already preached a few times. They said no, you have to be put on a waiting list for a year and you have to dress according to our mold, and to what we believe. They put a lot of restrictions on you at such a time. I had already been called to preach, and I knew I had. If you are called of God to preach, you do not have to have someone come along and tell you that you are supposed to preach. No, that is not the call of God, that would be the call of a man. God will not use anything like that to call a man to preach His gospel. When He calls, it is a true calling of God and you know it. I knew it. I felt the call to preach one day when I was coming home from work. I just happened to drive by a man’s clothing place: I looked in the window and saw some suits. I felt then that God had called me to preach, but that was not good enough. A few weeks after that, as I mentioned before the call on my life to preach, God spoke to me. (It does not have to be like that with everyone who is called, like it was with me.) But God spoke to me, and I could not say whether it was with audible voice, or whether it was just in my heart, but I knew what He said. He said, I did not only call you to peach: I called you to pray for the sick also. If you have ever heard me once, that is what I have said every time. That was strange to me, because I had felt the presence of the Lord many times before that. I prayed when I got a chance and I read my Bible when I had a chance. When that happened, I had never had anything to happen like that before. That happened to me again when I understood baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. I had argued for trinity. It was presented when I went to school in Columbia Kentucky. I had a teacher that had a class on religion. There was a young man there that was going to be a preacher. He asked the teacher, what do you think we will see when we get to heaven? Will there be one? Or will there be more? The teacher said, I don’t know. I put up an argument, well God spoke from heaven to Christ, about this trinity thing. However God spoke to me later, concerning Matthew 28:19, which is about baptism, and I realized it does not say, in the names (plural) of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, it just says, in the name (singular). As soon as I heard that, something clicked inside me. From that very instant onward, I no longer believed in a trinity. It was a change instantly. I was in the Methodist Church, had been in there for two years. Then my troubles began. I was this little old preacher that had five churches, but nobody knew me. When I made my stand for the Lord, the whole district knew me, the whole Methodist conference knew me. It is strange, how quickly the word spread, but it did. I am just trying to give you a background of the call of God on my life. I truly believe, that every one who has been called to preach, you will not someone else tell you. It is not something you will just pass over. I will now read verse 27. “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” This body is compared to a human body, but here, it is speaking of the gifts. What this is speaking of, is the gifts that are manifested in that body. When he mentions that, he says, not every one is an eye. He is really talking about the gifts. Every member of that body cannot be a hand, or a foot. You will find the first eleven verses is talking about the gifts. He does not leave that when he is talking about the body. That is not just the body of Christ, but it is the way the body is made up in gifts. In other words, he is saying not everyone has the same gift. “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, (See? There are two that are left out there. But this is 59 A.D. When you come on up to 66 A.D. you have increased from these three, with two more.) after that miracles, then gifts of healings,.” I would like for you to notice that it says, gifts of healings. It makes every one of the others singular, but this one is plural, gifts of healings. Every one that has a gift of healing will not be exactly the same. It will be the same results, but it will not be every one doing the same thing, praying the same way. Some feel they need to pray longer, some shorter. I remember Bro. William Branham lining up people for prayer. They lined up all the way around the church house. He laid hands on people, one after another, after another, heal my brother, Lord, heal my sister. And there were many healings that took place from just that. He did not have time to go into a long prayer over every person that came for prayer. On the other hand, I have known him to talk to people before praying for them. He would say, well I am getting their spirit. He did it in that way. It was not always the same way. Then at times, I remember him saying, you back there behind that post. (He could not see them). Then he called out, you are from so and so, place: God has just healed you. I remember one young woman came up for prayer, she walked back about half way through the church house, he spoke to her, God just healed you. Another woman had cancer, laying on a cot behind him while he was preaching. He got through and turned and said to the woman, get up or you will die. “Then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: (That is not saying one gift is better than another. It is really saying, covet the best gift for you. Because God placed in His Church, gifts, so that He would have people that would not try to copy somebody else. He said covet, actually the gift that is best for you. In one place he said desire spiritual gifts. I am not in this part of it, but I just happened to say that. I have other things to deal with.) and yet I show unto you a more excellent way.” I want to go to Ephesians 4, a chapter we have used many times. It just seems to keep coming back. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you (What is he saying? I am in prison now.) that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. (A vocation, because he is talking to the ministry.) With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.” He is not talking about a spur-of-the-moment thing, a preacher getting angry and jumping on everybody because he can. I have seen that happen: just because they are mad at them. I remember Bro. Jackson talking to one preacher that preached here years ago while he was gone, he came back and told that preacher, you acted like you wanted to chop somebody’s head off. The preacher turned around and said, some of them need it. The Bible does say something about being angry, but it says sin not. In other words, though you may get angry, sin not. What he did in his anger was sin. “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” There is more to these verses than just a calling. The calling includes a lot of things. Don’t ever wish you were a preacher. If you call yourself to preach, sooner or later you will fall out of it. You cannot stand it. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” He is talking to Christian people. One God who is above all, we always need to exalt Him, not ourselves. People get in trouble with self exaltation. Through all, and in you all, that is talking about the Holy Ghost. “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, and led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” He gave gifts to men, it is His gifts. That is why I titled this what I did, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. In other words, it is not saying without your repentance, it is God does not repent of the calling of any man. As the Bible says, many are called but few are chosen. I am not disputing the call, but I know the difference is in the chosen. A minister is not just called, he has a responsibility, a responsibility for truth and for standing for that truth. Sometimes you do things you normally would not do. I slept about four hours last night because of this message. “Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? (That is what Peter says.) He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things. And He gave some, apostles; (It is His gift. I am just a responsible vessel. Bro. Bud is responsible for what God has placed on him. He will agree with that.) and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” See? He puts the others in here, but then he separates these. He separates these from the other gifts, which he mentioned in chapter 12. This is about five years later. Let me go to Ezekiel now. Remember where he gets what he is talking about. “Again the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, (It is not his word. Surely he would not think up something like this for himself. What man would want to put this on himself.) Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman. (Watchman here, is speaking of a ministry.) If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. (He did not take warning.) He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.” The whole responsibility that he is giving here is to the ministry, to the watchmen. I remember the first time Bro. Crase ever sang the song “Watchman.” “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. (That is getting serious.) So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the Word at my mouth, (Hear the Word at my mouth, it is God’s Word and it is God’s calling.) and warn them from me. (Warn them from me. I have a scripture where Paul is talking and said, we are ambassadors of Christ, as though God spoke. He goes ahead to say in the person of Jesus Christ, so I speak. Jesus is not coming back to preach, but He has a ministry. Maybe I should not say it, but He has a loaded ministry.) When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus shall ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” He is speaking to the house of Israel here. God has set Him a watchman in the time that we are living in. I remember when Bro. Jackson preached about the responsibility of the priests and the high priest. He was talking, that they should not walk up steep steps, and that was so others would not see their nakedness. I have spoken, Bro. Bud has spoken, if you come up here to sing, make sure you are dressed right. That is something that carries over into your daily life. We are not just preaching churchy things: we are preaching the living for God kind of things. If this was so important for the priests when they went into the temple, then it has to be important to us now. Now we are the temple of the living God. I know, a few weeks ago I said something about young people wearing shorts. Regardless of where you are, a soccer player, a ball game, or wherever you are, you must do the right thing. We are finishing this thing up, if we could just see exactly how close we are, I am sure everyone would realize how important it is to present ourselves to the public in a godlike manner . Those blood moons are not just silvery moons. They are not happening on the day that they are, without something being ready to happen. They are not coming about on the 4th of July. It is the Jewish most holy days that God identifies in His book. The next one is on the feast of trumpets, (Sukkot), the feast of trumpets. Everything is happening in order in this hour. I have to feel responsible for the truth. Brethren, I am not talking to the ones that left us, we have a responsibility, a responsibility for truth. My responsibility to stand for the truth is not for my family’s sake. This goes higher than family. This goes higher than friends. You have placed yourself in the hands of a Glorious God, and you are going to continue that way until the day the Lord comes. I am not here to lift up man. I am here to lift up the Son of God because this is what we preach. Now I want to go back to Romans 11:29. “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” I am going to take that to Matthew 24 also, but not right now. Romans 12:3 says, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” To every man there is the measure of faith, if we are living for God. This is not for hit and miss Christians.When we get it in our heart’s that we would rather be with the saints of God than any other place, more than watching TV on nights the Church is meeting, then, is when we get to the place that God is all in all in our lives, and then, is when the gifts will come. I, for one, believe the gifts should be in the Church. You cannot take it away from me, I believe that. If you feel there is a gift in your life, then you should pray for God to help you use it in the right way. He will do that. Give Him a chance to watch over that gift in your life and anoint you to use it. There are more gifts than just speaking in tongues, because the Bible says there are some that are less seen. You do not see wisdom, but it is very important in the body, as well as in your personal life. You do not see knowledge, but it is very important. These are gifts of the Holy Spirit. Knowledge and wisdom are very important gifts. We will go into that a little more later on, just what they are, and what they are supposed to be used for. “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” I could almost get angry at this point. God called a ministry: it was not called of man. “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, (It is all according to the grace that God will bestow upon every one, but the thing about it is, God will, as I went through that 12th chapter, the last verse about the best gift, which is the gift best suited for your individual being. Every true Christian is equal in God’s sight, but not the gifts. Not everyone can be an apostle, neither can everyone be a prophet, nor a teacher. God placed these offices and gifts of the Spirit in the Church as it pleased Him. Hold that in your mind, the 5th verse. We, being many, are one body in Christ and every one members one of another. “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; (See? All of the gifts work by faith.) Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; (In other words, not just hastily jumping into it.) Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.” He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness, that is the way you tell whether someone is really showing mercy or not, if it is done charitably. I want to go to Galatians, chapter 1, starting with verse 6. “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? (Am I changing God’s mind? That is the whole thing about it, you do not change God’s mind. He has a pattern right here in His word to go by. I can not and I will not tell you to stay out of this church, but I will say this, if you wear shorts, or you wear pants, do not come up here to sing. I say that to the sisters. It seems that some have let down the bar, but God never lets down the bar for anyone, regardless of how beautifully you sing. If He demanded that of the priests, as they walked up to the temple area, where they had a long bunch of steps going up, it is no different here, where we have steps. I am not following anybody to see how they dress, but there are preachers that know people are not dressing right and say nothing about it. I say to them, Are you afraid to say anything? I am warning, just as Ezekiel did.) or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Regardless of who it is, family members, or whoever, you are expected to please God above family members. This is a little separate from what I have been talking about. I got an e-mail a couple weeks ago. I had preached a message on this same order. I got an e-mail from north Norway, but it seems this e-mail was sent to other places, down in Kentucky to Bro. Spencer’s church. It did not deal with what I had preached about. It was dealing with boosting up a certain preacher. The whole thing was just lifting up of a man. I have more than one person that spoke to me, they did not appreciate it. I am not saying this to hurt anyone, but my name was mentioned in it. About six months ago I got a phone call from a brother in Norway. He said in the south they were not having Wednesday night services, would it be alright if I could send my Wednesday night messages down there? Well I really did not see anything wrong with it at the time, but it should not have been me that was called: it should have been Bro. Svein. It was not my business. Before our fall meetings started Bro. Svein started having services again on Wednesday night. What I am saying now is, do not send them any more. What I am saying to the south, go back to Bro. Svein’s church if you want to live right. You are kin folks. Some have said Bro. Svein is not called to preach. How would such a person know that? You said he did not have any calling. Why would you say a thing like that? I know what I am talking about. Why? This person said he did not have a calling. The brother asked him why? Is he with another woman? No. Is he living some kind of immoral life? No. Why then, can he not preach? Well, he just can’t. He don’t have any right. I am saying to somebody, you had better repent, because as I read the Bible, there are going to be some people that are left out because they think they know more than anybody else. I am saying this morning, I stand solid for Bro. Svein, that he is a minister of Jesus Christ. Bro. Bud and I are not the same preachers. He has his way of preaching. He may jump up on that front seat. I am going to be happy with him when he does because I know he is not putting on a show. He may run up and down the aisle, I may not, that does not make any difference. Some people are judging ministers by the way they do things. Bro. Frank and Bro. Kurt does not move around. Bro. Svein runs. Does that make their ministry any less because they do not run? Or because they do not move or get excited like he does? Or if I don’t get excited like Bro. Bud, does that make me wrong? I know I have been called. Does that make me any less of a minister because I do not do as Bro. Bud? I am not copying anybody. I did not copy Bro. William Branham. I did not copy Bro. Jackson. Bro. Bud does not copy me. I don’t copy him. We have our own way of ministering. Let me say this, whether you be a family member or whoever you are, get this straightened out immediately, if you want to go in the rapture. I do not like to preach like this, I have lost sleep over it. I love all my brothers. I have been treated like a king. Bro. Steve and Sis. Elsie will tell you we have been treated like kings in Norway, both north and south. This has nothing at all to do with upholding truth. If there is somebody that does not want to do what is right, we have a responsibility to tell them, either get in and stand for what is right, or get out. Just do not let them rule your congregation. You may hate me after this, but I cannot help it: I had to do it, because it is necessary, if we are going to uphold righteousness. We are not meeting together to play games. We are too close to the end for that.

THE GIFTS AND
CALLING OF GOD
5-18-14 PM

Click here to watch the services from when this Contender was preached.
Click here to watch the service where this Contender was preached.

I appreciate each one of you tonight, for your kind words to me, concerning what I was dealing with this morning. Bro. Kurt has texted Bro. Steve. He read it to me awhile ago. Bro. Steve texted him back. He was thankful for what was said this morning, he took it very well. I appreciate that, and I pray that everyone else has the attitude he has about this. When you see something begin to tear up, then that is when you begin to seek somebody that knows how to fix it. The Holy Ghost is the One that fixes problems: it is not me. The best I can ever expect to do is to be led by Him, not taking rule over God’s heritage, but believing Him for the things that are to be done in this hour of time, that we may all reach perfection. It is not a message to build up any man: it is a message to build up a revelation that is going to let us know what time and what day and hour we are living in. The best I can do is go into the Word and look at it, to check and see what hour we are living in. Paul even expressed it, we are not blind, we are not walking in darkness, we are all the children of light, because we are children of the day, not of the night, so that day should not overtake us unaware. There is too much in scripture to let this hour pass us up without recognizing the hour we are living in. Being grounded in truth will do that for us. We are not just probing in the dark, hoping that we are going to hit something sooner or later. That is what the world so-called churches are doing, saying, (for one thing) that He could come tonight, He can come before we get out of this church service for any individual person, but not for the rapture of all bride saints. Don’t ever take what I say and add your own ideas to it. That is what some did with Brother Branham’s messages. There are ways you can take a message and put your own ideas in there. I remember when they used to splice Bro. William Branham’s message together. They would take something out of context, something he had said in another message, and splice in into a message he had preached, to make it say something he did not say in the message they placed it. We are not irresponsible people: we are responsible people. We do not want to pervert anything. There is a difference in irresponsibility and responsibility. I don’t want to fall into that category of irresponsibility. If the Lord shows me something, I want to be true to that. You have to look beyond the flesh, and hear what God is saying. When Jesus talked to Peter that day He had said to the disciples, who do men say that I am? Oh, so and so, they have given different prophets that people have said he was. But who do you say I am? That is what He said to the disciples. It comes down to a question when it comes to us. Who do you say I am? Peter said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. In other words, that is not just man’s idea. That is exactly what He was saying when He said flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you. You did not get it out of books of learning. It was in this book, the Bible, all through the Old Testament, His sufferings and all. In chapter 13 of Zechariah, and also chapter 12, you find the nail prints in there, and you find the spear in His side, you find those things as well as in the Psalms. You will find how they plucked the hair out of His face, and how they treated Him. You find these things, but it took a revelation to put them together. In other words, we would not have a Bible today, if God had not revealed His Word to some apostles. He did not just choose anybody to write His book, they were written by chosen men, chosen to do that. In Matthew 13, He talked about a scribe, like a man which is a householder, which brings out of his treasures things new and old. He also goes ahead to say, (Let me read it, it is not part of this message, but it will be. I will make it a part of it.) I will start with verse 47. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, (He says again, He is not repeating something that has already been said. But He is going to another thing that was to be added at the end time. The kingdom of heaven is like a net, this happened in Bro. William Branham’s ministry. God told him, do the work of an evangelist, why? Because the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. So this is the part of the scripture I do have, what I quoted then.) that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind.” Methodists, Baptists, Pentecost, all of them, when they still did not know what Bro. William Branham believed, they gathered by thousands, because he was to do the work of an evangelist. He did not tell them he believed in water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, not at the beginning. He did not tell them how he baptized new believers. He did not tell them these things, because it was not time. You see that his hearers were gathered of every kind. The Assemblies of God supported him more than any other group of people at first, but when the end came, they hated him more than any other group. When he preached serpent seed, they quickly said, That is of the devil. Some of the top religious leaders said praying for the sick was of God, because they were all ignited from that, their ministry, Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborne, Kenneth Hagan, and many others. Kenneth Hagan was a close follower of Bro. William Branham until he heard about serpent seed. He was one of the first ones to jump on it and say that is of the devil. He even said Bro. William Branham preaches that the devil had relations with Eve. What a lie! They all went topsy turvy, they could not figure it out. It was not for them to figure out. Then preachers began to say they had blood in their hands and they had oil coming in their hands, and Brother Branham rejected all of that stuff. (Back to the net that was cast out and gathered of every kind) “Which, when it was full, (It had to get full, it had to come to 1963. When 1963 came and he preached on the Seals, that done away with all of them. These great ministers, A.A. Allen, W.V. Grant was already off the scene by then. Others that started, God blessed their ministry: Some of them had healing ministries. Jack Cole was one. He died in 1956, I believe that is when it was. That was the ministry that started in 1947, but they did not keep up. The revelation would not take them that far. They had a revelation of divine healing, but then when it came to the Word, they said he did not know what he was talking about, and that he could not even read right. They began to pick on his language because he spoke like a hillbilly. It was even said, that he was right in his heart, but was wrong in his head. They even said he did not even know how to dress right. He would wear a pair of pants that did not match his jacket. He did not know how to dress. Just look how it is today. I saw some singers on television last night. There were three men in the group. They had on ties and jackets, but then they had on blue jeans. These blue jeans were fixed up, to where they were showy. That makes me sick to see such as that. Don’t sing gospel songs if you cannot dress right. We are not putting on Hollywood shows. Gospel singing itself is not putting on a show. It is not who can sing the best, but it is who has the attitude of wanting God to lead them. A good voice is a great blesing. I have nothing against that. (Back to the net) Which when it was full…) they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.” See? There is a lull in that, they sat down. “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.” Sever. When God does that, He is not careful. “And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” You hear these preachers now, that have been called of other preachers, that do not know the first thing about explaining what most of the scripture really mean. They will criticize us for what we do. I am not looking for an opportunity to put anybody out of the body of Christ, because that is not my job. However if you are a tare or chaff, I cannot hold on to you, you have to go. True seed and tares cannot dwell together this close to the end of this age. “Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe (Every scribe, talking about men called of God, they are not re-writing the Bible, but they are dividing truth rightfully. Dividing truth for the hour we are living in, because to divide truth, is to give people portions, what they can understand. Not everyone understands everything that is taught. That is why you have 30, 60, and 100 fold.) which is instructed (I have got instruction through the years. I am still getting instructions by a true ministry in this hour, I am still getting instructions. After all, there is a five fold ministry, not just one. Some people seem to be so worried about us, that we don’t have enough to make up seven thunders. Do not worry about that even for one minute, God always has a ministry to fulfill everything He has purposed to accomplish in the world. The only thing I do is, like Paul said, peach the Word, be instant in season and out of season. At times, it takes rebuke. Every scribe which is instructed…) unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.” Bro. Jackson made that clear to us. He went over that and said the householder represents Bro. William Branham’s ministry. But every scribe is like unto that ministry, able to bring out things new and old. Because it is all by the same Spirit, the same eagle that still flies. Let us go to Matthew 24. It says in verse 42 “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” What hour, is that telling you anything? Well we just don’t know? The closer we get, the more we are going to know, because things are going to begin to hit. One, two, three, four, just like that, they will hit and we will catch it. Bro. Danny can be driving down the road, all at once something hits him, I never did understand that before, but now it makes me happy. Others also, as you go along the path of life, you are going to understand more and more. I am saying, we will understand more about the time we are living in. I don’t want to miss one glitch of it. “But know this (See? He said no man knows the day or hour, but know this.) that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.” He is getting closer and closer unto the end, to let us know. He is just going to lead us from one horizon to another one. Then we will be able to sing the song, “Over the next hill, we’ll be home.” “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, (That is a question. Who then is a faithful and wise servant…) whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?” Meat, as I preached the blood moons, it said in Genesis 1:14, that the sun, the moon, and the stars are put up there for signs and seasons. That season is here, and there, is also a part of that sign. The seasons are represented in time. That is why it was on feast days. That is different seasons of the time that we are living in, not just fall, winter, spring and summer. All around the world, they do not know anything about that. If you were in Manila in the winter time here, you would not know it was winter there because it does not fluctuate more than ten degrees. The only thing they know about the spring time in South Africa, is when the blooms come out. So that is not necessarily what it is, because it does bring around the seasons and all, as far as the natural goes, but when you look in the spiritual, then God has seasons of things. Let me go over that again. Who is a faithful and wise servant whom his lord had made ruler over his household. Whom the Lord has made ruler over His household, not to rule and reign with an iron fist, but for what? To give out meat in due season. See? Right there, is the season again. “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.” It is going to go right on up to the end, the ministry of God is not going to slack up from here out. It will keep going and keep feeding the saints of God. “Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming.” That time is coming. People are going to get more lethargic because, what they felt at one time, is going to subside. They will just live on the past. I am not speaking against the past. On the other hand, we keep reaching forward, making one step at a time, waiting on the Lord, seeking the Lord, following after Him and a message of truth that cannot die. It cannot fade, it cannot go into the background, it cannot go into hibernation. 1966 and 1967, when I finally left the Tabernacle in 1967, I did not make a habit of going back, because I did not feel that they had anything for me to go back to. The last time I was ever there, they were playing a tape by Bro. William Branham, and when Bro. William Branham would say raise your hand, everybody would raise their hand. That was a tape. He would say, say Amen, you would hear everybody say Amen. All at once there was a man over here that said Amen when he did not say it on the tape, and everybody in there turned and looked at that man, because he said it out of place. I used to take people down there, who were from other places, if there was somebody there to let them in, they would go into the vestibule and you could talk a little bit. But as soon as you opened those swinging doors to go into the Tabernacle part, I have seen preachers that would not say a word, because of the sign up there that said, Be still and know that I am God. Is that the way you want to live? Do you want to live under an enforced church order? One day God let me loose, because I heard a message of truth that told me to go on. I remember the dream Bro. Jackson had in 1967 or 1968, whichever one it was, he dreamed he was going out west. He drove out west, it seemed like two or three days. All at once the horizon began to change and it began to turn, or as he went west, I better put it that way, he pulls up behind a black car. He did not recognize at first who was in the car. Then in the dream Bro. William Branham looked up, he saw him in the mirror, and knew it was Bro. William Branham. So he falls in behind him. As he falls in behind him, his car began to speed up, and Bro. William Branham began to motion to him, go on, go on. He began to put on his brakes, but the brakes did not work. All the time Bro. Jackson is pulling back, Bro. William Branham is motioning for him to go on. Finally he had to go into the passing lane and go on around him, thinking all the time, this is not right. But the car accelerates on its own and goes on, and gets in front of him. When he looked back in the mirror, Bro. William Branham is motioning, go on, go on. I remember Bro. Jackson driving out west to tell Billy Paul about the dream, because Billy Paul was in the dream. Then he turns and comes back this way. When it finishes up, his car just floats away into the sky when he came to the east coast. Did it change anything? No. Even in the late 1980’s they were down at the cemetery, believing Bro. William Branham was going to raise from that grave. Every Easter they would gather down there. This was not what I wanted, it was not what I came here for. Bro. William Branham said, I must decrease, but there will be another ministry that will go on. I know I grew under Bro. Jackson’s ministry, I know I did, I know I learned a lot of things, because I sat here, over on that side, as a willing vessel. Some of you preachers thinking you are adding something by saying Bro. Bud and I were seeking the time when Bro. Jackson would pass off the scene. What a lie, a lie from the devil. I did not know a bit more about that than anything, I was not expecting it at all. Whoever is believing that, you are believing a lie. But God had something better for Bro. Jackson. Bro. William Branham preached back in the 1960’s there is a Sodom condition in this land. I wonder what he would think today, when television is filled up with it, the streets are filled up with it, the restaurants are filled up with it. You cannot go anywhere any more, without finding that it is there. They advertise it. They think it is the best thing that has happened to them since corn flakes came out. “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming.” When some of you began to preach against what I said about the blood moons, I did not say the Lord is coming next year, but I do say those blood moons mean something. I said it could be two or three years off yet. If it is three years from now, and I am still here, I will say next year in Jerusalem. That is what the Jews always say, next year in Jerusalem, because I am not giving up. If the Lord permits me to stay, I am not giving up. “And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day (See? This is what I said to Bro. Bud the other day, he calls them servants, that means they have been called, but if the lord of that servant, and I do say we are close to the end, shall come in a day…) when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.” An hour he is not aware of. That is putting it down close. “And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The things I am saying here are not easy. I would not just jump in the water to be a preacher because somebody else said so. Let me go back to the 3rd chapter of 1st Corinthians, verse 9. “For we are labourers together with God: (That is a mouth full. We are laborers together with God. With who? That is speaking of the called ministry. We are laborers together, not one pulling this way and one pulling that way, and one saying this one has no right to preach. You were not the one that called them. You were not the one that appointed them. How do you know what is in another brother’s heart?) ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” God’s husbandry, which is His heritage, we are workers together with God in His heritage, or in His husbandry. You cannot grow a crop, one planting it in the ground, and another one pulling it up. There is a necessity for respect of the ministry that is over you, because he is planting together with God. My subject is, as we look at this, “The Gifts and Calling of God are Without Repentance.” We cannot dismiss ourselves when we have accepted a ministry, we cannot just decide to go some other way. You are still responsible, just as I am responsible. That is why I read Matthew 24 where it speaks of that evil servant. You have missed the mark. You could have been wise, you could have stayed in what God was moving in. I take this responsibility because I feel responsible. You are God’s building. This picture here (on the chart) is showing the framework of it. It is not completed, but I believe it is more completed than what this is. Maybe all there is to go into that building is trim work. God’s building is not going to be half built. I can see here, that there are some pretty important beams in there. When Bro. Bud and I were working together, we put up some beams that you could have put an elephant on them and they would not have swayed. Because it was plywood, and it had wood on top and on bottom, and then plywood there that was glued together. This building, when it is through, is going to be glued together with gorilla glue. That stuff is tough. You are God’s husbandry, God’s building. “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, (That is Paul speaking, not me. But I hope I can gain a little bit of his wisdom. He did not care to tell what his position was as a wise master builder. He did not care what they thought on down the road. He did not care what they thought back in Rome, and he did not care what they thought in Jerusalem. I care what all of you think, but I do not care what the outside thinks. I am not preaching to them. My ministry is not unto them. I will not be careful what I say unto them.) I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.” He goes all the way down to the bottom, because he knows he has laid a foundation. If your foundation is not right, your building is going to crack. Before long, you are going to have seepage. I can begin to see seepage now. The old enemy gets in. I am not talking about here. Because I know we will stand for truth, all that we know. Everything we know to be the truth, we will stand for it. I think many times when Bro. Steve prays for the ministry, he prays that we will be able to keep out error, preach against error, preach doctrine. As Paul said, Timothy, preach the word, be instant in season and out of season. Rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they will not receive sound doctrine. But after their own lusts, will they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. From such, turn away. This is not a man made ministry. God will not accept a man made ministry. I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. He was not rejecting the one that was building on it. He said another will build on it. The foundation is not the building. The foundation is what holds up the building. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” You cannot lay another foundation for this gospel truth. “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; (That is not talking about the forest fires out in the west. That is not talking about any fire like that. Every man’s work will be tried by the Word of t God. There is fire in this Word.) and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Just what did he mean by that? I guess that has been a question in my mind through the years. If a man’s work is burned, then how can he be saved? That is talking about a man of God that will not make a complete and solid stand for this Word. He does not reject the Word, but circumstance, people, family members, and things of that nature is going to cause him to hold back on the truth. He will have eternal life, because he was saved by the grace of God, but his works will not stand because he was unwilling to make a stand for truth to everybody. He would lighten up to family members and friends. Brothers and sisters, this is a serious hour of time. God cannot honor a man’s work if he does not have a back bone. He has given us something to stand on. Look at the foundation Paul built, look through the Word. He tells you about the end time. He talks about the friends that left him, having loved this present world. I would say to any minister, if it be family, or if it be friends, you had better stand for truth in the face of all odds. I just cannot be wishy-washy to some. I love my friends, and I love my family, but I cannot compromise the Word of God to please any of them. If I see something wrong, I better make it right. You might think, oh, that is just your idea. We will see. Every decision you make for the Word of God, is not expected to go over good on those who pamper their flesh. I am talking about my flesh as well as yours. Sometimes you just have to be like those old race horses: you just have to lay your ears back and run for the right purpose. Not one leg of the race, not two legs of the race, but give me the whole thing that I may be able to rejoice at the end, knowing that I have not just been beating into the air. You will never win a fight just beating in the air, because there is nothing there. “If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” That is what we have to protect. When the Bible says you are not your own, you have been bought with a price, you must realize that is true. Brothers and sisters I cannot stand here just on feelings: there is too much at stake and the race is about over, and we have to make sure we run this race lawfully, and willingly, not fearing the consequences of what is set before us.

5-25-14 AM

We are still in the message I have been on since last Sunday. I started out with the ministry, which I want to continue on today. I will get to the other gifts as I continue on. I have been thinking on some of them in the last few days. There are certain parts of the gifts I want to look at, to see where they are, where they are working, and where they are not working, and think on the responsibility we have with what God has given us, especially the ministry. When you look at the 12th chapter of 1st Corinthians, where I was last Sunday, there are only three of the ministries that are mentioned there. One of them, I guess we put less emphasis upon, which is teachers. Of course the emphasis upon the apostles and prophets, which are two things people are afraid of. These TV preachers do not hesitate in telling what they are. They are quick to tell you they are apostles, or they are prophets, they are deacons, and whatever else. That is what they make themselves to be, some become masters over people. During the Dark Ages, the priests in the Catholic Church, had big churches that had been made by slaves. They would have the priest standing up almost as high as the ceiling in a little booth, because they wanted people to feel they were above them. That spirit is still active today. If you look at those television ministries, the ministry thinks they are untouchable, that nobody can approach them. That is why they have so many underneath them that are to meet the needs of the people while they are out golfing. That is the truth. Maybe they should have a golf ministry. I just want to say this right here, When we come to church, we should be empty of all those things of the world. What I am talking about, the things we do, the jobs we have, and everything else like that should be left off from our thinking, that we may enter into His gates with praise and into His courts with thanksgiving. This is the purpose of our coming together like this. The purpose of our salvation is not just to get to be a better person, nor to have a home some place in heaven. The purpose of our salvation is to live a holy life according to what is written in God’s Word. We are to live every day according to this gospel. If we do not, we are going to come up short and miss God’s purpose. I don’t want to see people come up short in this way of life. Each day we are putting a new peg in another hole, that we may climb a little higher. You never see anybody make a half step on a ladder. If they do, they are going to fall off. When Jacob saw that ladder to heaven and the angels on it, he was at the bottom. That is where he started out. He started at the very bottom, because he had been taken care of like a little chicken by its mother. When God got hold of him, he grew up real quick. He was not holding on to mama’s apron any more. I feel today that there are people that don’t ever want their children to get out from under mama’s apron. That is not right. Each child has to grow into adulthood, and especially in the Lord. The Bible tells us to grow in grace. That applies to everybody. If you are accepted by the Lord, that should start a growth process that will eventually lead to perfection. Perfection cannot be reached as long as we are interfering in somebody else’s salvation. Salvation was not purchased by me. It was not purchased by you. It was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. You have heard many times, that God does not have any step children, or any grandchildren. Each one is a child of God. Sometimes the devil gets in the midst. I know one thing, I have to guard myself. But then there is a guarding process, because He gives us an armour, the whole armour of God. He is not talking about taking a little part of it. That is not good enough. Let me put it this way, there are a lot of steps down to the Word. We start here, then we go to the breastplate, then we go all the way to the foot. After that, then we can pick up the sword and shield, that is why I say we must go down to get to the Word, because we have to be fully clothed before we pick up the sword. The sword is the Word of God. I had not planned on saying anything like this, because I don’t have any notes to use. If you see me looking at this, it is because there is a scripture there. I am not saying anything about people that do use notes, because I used to. But then I found one day that they got in my way. I was thinking about what I had wrote down, but what it is, you get the Word in your heart. Then there are scriptures that come to you, some you never even thought of because you have surrendered, not only your life, but your ministry unto the Lord. That is why God has a variety of ministries which is known as five fold. I am not Bro. Bud. Bro. Bud is not me. I am not Bro. Jackson. I have never tried to put myself in his place, that would be foolish. I am not Bro. William Branham and never have thought about being that. That is not a thought in my mind. In the 4th chapter of Ephesians, it is called a vocation. It is just like water seeking its level. We must seek our own level and put our confidence in the word of God. I cannot preach what these television preachers preach, on prophecy. It has probably been thirty years ago that Billy Graham preached on the four horsemen of the apocalypse. He had them all riding here in the end time in a clump. They do not belong in the end time. The thing about it is, every prophecy preacher jumped on board with Billy Graham, and Billy Graham did not have authority on the Word of God. He preached a message on salvation. That was about it for him. He never went into the other things because he did not know them. When he was in India, they talked to him about praying for the sick. He said that is not my ministry, praying for the sick. He did say there is a man in the United States named William Branham, he prays for the sick with results. He did acknowledge that. See? This message is more known than what people think, but it is losing its influence because you have another generation on the scene now. You have the Millennial’s now. It is a bunch of young people from fifteen to thirty five that do not aim to listen to anybody, because they are a group of their own, just like the hippies and yuppies were in another time, and we are Millennials. Let me give you a little advice this morning, I do not mean to make anybody mad. This texting, they said on television, if you take these things away from children, in twelve hours they are in depression. Think of that, just twelve hours and they are in depression. Some times they would be better off out kicking a can, or getting a little bit of exercise. They will have carpal tunnel in a short time. I am not looking around to see who is doing what, I am not looking at that, but I am just telling you the facts of what I hear on the News. There is a withdrawal to it, just like with drugs. When are we going to get serious? This thing is not going to go on and on. We are not going to look at this thing five years down the road and say, I will change then. It is just about like the old saying, it is now or never. I am not standing here trying to be mean. I am standing here telling you the truth. There are many things to occupy us. Take your child and talk to them about the Lord. Tell them what the Lord Jesus can do for them. I don’t know who I am talking to, or if I am talking to anybody that is hearing this, but I am talking. I am serious about it. Our lives are more than things. I can stand here, Bro. Bud can stand here, another minister can stand here and talk, but if nothing is ever done about it, there will be no change. Sometimes I just have to talk to myself. I am not talking about getting out here where somebody can hear me, it is inside me. The tactics of the enemy are many. I pulled off Veterans Parkway on to 31 this morning. I did not know who was in front of me, but there was a car in front of me, I thought it could be some of the church people. The man slowed down, I should say brother, but I did not know at the time. He slowed down, and what if I had just thought, I am in a hurry, get out of my way and went around him. I had not seen what was in front of him. There on 31, between here and Veterans Parkway, were two deer crossing the road. I did not see them, but he did. It was a brother here in church. My view was blocked by his car. I did have enough sense when he slowed down, to think there must be something there. Sometimes we just have to slow down and look for the danger that is lurking in front of us. This thing gets down to where we live. It gets down to my home. I am not exempt. You might say, but you’re a preacher. I am, but I am not exempt from Satan’s because of that. That is why God gave us a full set of armor to put on. He said, Take the whole armor, not just part of it, because it takes all of it to fully protect us. That is the entire Word. There is a word I am thinking of, (replacement theology), what a word. Did you ever hear of that? Do you know what it is? “We don’t need the Old Testament anymore, because we are in the New Testament , so we have replaced it. We don’t need Revelation because nobody knows anything about it, let us put that out. Then they say we don’t need Paul’s teaching, sometimes he goes against what is going on, like the 1st chapter of Romans. We are getting close to the hour when, if you mention what is going on in this world, this gay situation, they can arrest you. We are getting close to that. Are we going to quit because there is a law against it? It is already a law in England, it is already a law in Canada. It is getting close to home. Replacement theology, it is just a hand full of the devil’s traps. When you begin to get into the Word of God with that attitude, and take out what you think you don’t need any more, you will have nothing left. I am still on the ministry, because until the ministry gets everything right, just think, if we cannot be in agreement, one with another, how do we ever expect unity? Unity is something that must become real to us. That has to happen, so if there are some that are unwilling to get on board with it, they are going to find themselves out in left field somewhere, missing the plan of God. I am in agreement with truth. The thing about it, truth will set you free. Truth will set me free. I don’t go to bed at night having something against somebody, and worrying because some do not agree with me. I know there are some that don’t, there were about a dozen preachers that sat right here one morning, then picked up their stuff and left, and never came back. I was invited to one of their churches just the other day, because they were having a thing to honor another preacher. Don’t try to pull something on me to get back in fellowship, just to be able to mix. Truth does not mix with error, and I stand solid with truth. I now want to go to 1st Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 19. “What? (Listen to that, the first word is a question, what? He is trying to get the attention of someone. If I just stopped here and said it that way, in that manner, What? That is what he is doing because he is having problems. A church that he has founded in truth, now is accepting something that is wrong. Nobody is doing anything about it, because there is not enough spirituality there to do anything about it. He just got through saying, some say that I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, I am of Christ. None of them were right. If you just say, well I am a Christian, to be divided, that is not right. Then here comes the answer.) know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you.” What are we feeding into our being? Jesus said to the apostles, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. That applies to taking in something that is unfit for your spiritual body. I am not talking against leaven used in cooking, but when you leaven the Word of God, you have already mixed something in there, that they have done today. Some of those people used to preach about hell, how hot it is going to be, and all this. They would be happy. But when you get on something they are doing now, that is meddling. I don’t know if I am meddling or not. I don’t know where you live spiritually, I may know where you live as a person, but I don’t know where you live in Christ. What I am trying to say is, let us make it all the way through. That is the whole purpose of living for God: to go all the way with Him. You cannot get mad at me about that, can you? Paul said, I am a fool for Christ, in the way they call heresy, so worship I the God of my father. Who was calling it heresy? It was the Jews, but he said I worship the God of my fathers, which were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, on down the line, the prophets which he was patterning this message after, and which we have of Paul’s messages today, because he went back in the Old Testament to tie things together. How can some say it is replacement theology? You would not have any letters from Paul unless you are able to go back with him to find out where he got it from. He even said we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you. Sometimes we have people come up here broken hearted because they just do not seem to be able to get through in prayer, good people, people that want to do what is right in the sight of God, but not understanding. Simply because the Bible says repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. That is a sure promise. But the Bible also says when you have done all to stand, then stand. Stand there, don’t let the devil cheat you out of anything before God does something that is going to satisfy you. I have to go back to what Bro. Jackson said. He said some may say, I don’t feel anything. He said, you will, if you stick around. God is not withholding Himself from you. If you have a need, stand for that need until it comes to pass. There are people that come up here for healing. I feel for you. I hurt for you. I have to ask the Lord, am I the one that is standing in the way of their healing. I am not blaming any of you, because I would like to reach in there and get hold of the devil and pull him out, shake him, and say be gone. I believe that is coming. “Which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” See? What it is, when we accept salvation, which it says the Spirit is the earnest of your inheritance. It is the down payment until the purchase possession, which is when your body is changed. That cuts the devil loose altogether. That is what we are waiting for. Bro. William Branham called this body the pest house of Satan. “For we are bought with a price. I am putting myself in the midst, in the mix. I am no better than you are. The only thing is I have a calling, which I did not get by somebody laying hands on me. If you were ever called, you were called from the foundation of the world. God had this thing planned out. We are just fitting ourself into His mold. Until we get the courage to stand against error, to stand against someone that would cause error. The devil must be put in his place. His place is not in here, because what did I read? You are bought with a price…) therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Your body and your spirit, you had a spirit before you ever came to God. That was your life, that was your thinking. My thinking was way off. I am glad when I was growing up they did not have all these computer games and all this stuff that totally occupies some. All I had to worry about was getting the mud from between my toes. I did go barefooted, not because of convenience, but because I had to. I came along right at the end of the depression. My dad would say, it is not a disgrace to be poor, just inconvenient. I do not regret even one day of how I grew up, because the thing about it is, God knew where I was all the time. When I decided to leave the little town of Liberty Kentucky and go to Cincinnati Ohio, I was getting further away all the time, it looked like, but in January 1959 something happened. I knew then that I needed God. It would have happened earlier, if I had been obedient. I remember, and I am almost ashamed to tell it, I remember one night back in 1957. I was sitting on my bed, and the first gift my mother-in-law gave us when we got married was a Bible at Christmas. She did not have much, but she did give us a Bible. I began to read it, and conviction came on me, and God became so real that I felt like I could reach out and touch Him, but I did not accept it. I am ashamed to tell that today. It took me two years on down the road, but I thank God I have felt His presence since. It was not always in church. Much of the time it was while driving; and also at home. It was on the hill down at Burkesville when I would go, I made it a place to pray. I did not go there for somebody to see me. I went there because of a need. In the spring of 1961, I heard truth from God’s Word. I heard the truth about baptism. I had a decision to make. My decision did not suit a lot of people. It did not suit my family, my mom and dad, and especially my mom. They were having what they called a revival. They called and had me to come up there. We were having a meeting also down in Burkesville. They had me come up there, because my young sister, which was only sixteen, was so concerned. Having that meeting, she got under conviction, she was so concerned, she told them, they always called me J.C., and she said, whatever he is in, I want part of it. They wanted me to stay that night. I said I cannot stay: I have a meeting going on and I have to get back. They got a bunch of preachers together and talked to her, told her how wrong I was. My sister did not go back to church, she quit. A bunch of preachers getting together, is about the worst thing that could ever happen. That is what they had planned for here in 2008. God always has a way of letting you know about such things. Nobody can convince me that my teaching on the third day is wrong. If you ever think I am going to change on that, you just as well get it out of your mind, whether you are a preacher or whatever you are. See? We are bought, we are paid for. I did not know that this was all going to happen before I got to heaven. I thought being a Christian took away all your enemies. How wrong I was. If you are being troubled by the devil today, that is a good sign, because he don’t like you, and I don’t like him. I listened to Bro. William Branham, he was so warm, just sitting in the meetings when he would be there, because you knew that God was going to appear. I am talking about the Holy Ghost, because God and the Holy Ghost are the same. The Holy Ghost is the way God works through mankind, through Christians. We are stewards of the mysteries of Christ. Here is a picture of a bank president. (On the chart) He has the whole shebang, everybody is depending on him for their money. If he is a good steward, he will take care of what you have entrusted him with, what you have invested in the bank. He will not look for more than what is coming to him, neither will I. I will have to go along with what Paul said. He said, I am not looking for yours, but I am looking for you. On his head was a responsibility. He was a steward of the mysteries of Christ. In other words, the riches. I had been told so many things about Raymond Jackson, that he was a black bird, and every other thing you could think of, before I came here. I did not know what to think about it all. I am just being truthful with you. Bro. Jackson was not a popular man in the Tabernacle crowd. A lot of that church order was from the deacons, always running to Bro. William Branham, telling him what was going on. One deacon said to me, I cannot even take my Methodist family to church at the Tabernacle, because somebody will get up and speak in tongues and run them off. I don’t care how much that deacon loved Bro. William Branham, he did not love truth. I am just being honest. I will not say the best move, but one of the best moves that Bro. Jackson had to make was when he got off the pulpit and got down here in front and said, Faith Assembly will not go by church order. He said, I will not even stand behind the pulpit when I say that, because he knew the repercussions, he probably did not know them all, because I remember him telling about how he was in Missouri. He was standing beside his car, he had to hold on to his car because he was about to fall when his head began to spin. He came back and went to the doctor, the doctor asked him, have you been under pressure? No. But he said at that time, it seemed like somebody came and took scissors and cut a cord from around him, and when that happened, he was loosed. See? The armor works, the whole armor. Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful, but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of man’s judgment, yea, I judge not mine own self. I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified. But He that judgeth me is the Lord. Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Faithful to what? Faithful to truth. The hardest thing sometimes, is to stand for truth. Because you are going to lose somebody. But what is more important to you? I remember a certain preacher years ago, he was talked to, two or three times by Bro. Jackson. Bro. Jackson finally just said he wanted Bro. Bud and me to talk. Bro. Jackson was tired of hearing the same thing all the time. Then afterwards, because the preacher as pastor, was always coming down here, calling Bro. Jackson, do something, do something, when he was afraid to do anything. He wrote to him, Bro. Jackson, when this preacher goes anywhere to preach, he takes all my best people with him, my musicians and all. That is how he felt, but he would not confront him: he wanted Bro. Jackson to do it for him. I remember Bro. Jackson going over that. Finally the two preachers came here, there were some other brothers here with Bro. Bud, myself, and Bro. Jackson. That preacher waited until he was gone, he was not going to listen, he was not going to listen to anybody. That preacher said, just wait, there are some names going to be mentioned, there are going to be some things changed, but by Wednesday, he was saying, if I do anything, I will lose half of my church, I will lose half my church if I do anything about it. Bro. Jackson did not have to fool with that anymore, that was the last time, because the preacher was wanting Bro. Jackson to do everything, and he would sit by and not take any of the blame, because he did not want to lose any of his congregation. If somebody walks away, I have not lost anybody because it is God’s doing. See? We are stewards of the mysteries of Christ, stewards, just like that man at the bank. He is responsible for every account, whether it be saving, checking, or whatever. He is responsible for that. A ministry is responsible for everything that he stands for in the Word of God. You cannot get out of it. I am not going to keep going on into this, because I have other gifts to talk about. Until the ministry gets straightened out, the body is not going to get straightened out. Ephesians 4 says so. I think unity is mentioned three times in the Bible, two of them are right there in Ephesians 4. Let us go there, we will see. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” That you walk worthy of the vocation of which you were called. “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. You have to have unity of the Spirit. When Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem, after they had had a discussion of all that was going on in their ministry, and how some were talking about except you be circumcised and all this, which Paul had preached against, you had those renegades from Jerusalem that always went back and forth, traveling menaces. They were always telling what was going on with Paul. Oh he is teaching against the Law and all this. “There is one body, and one Spirit, (That Spirit is not going to tell one person one thing and somebody else another.) even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” One God and Father of all, above all, through all, and in you all. The Spirit that is in the ministry is no different than the Spirit in you. I will go on down and read where it speaks of unity again. Verse 12. “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Unity is the key. Bro. Jackson preached unity and there was no doubt that he wanted that. Continued next issue.