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Sermon Texts Beginning With C
Christ Is The Mystery Of God Revealed (63-0728)
| Christ Is The Mystery Of God Revealed (63-0728) |
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1-1 Thank you, brother. God bless you. Just remain standing a moment while we bow our heads for prayer.
1-2 Gracious heavenly Father, we are approaching Thee again this morning for mercy and for guidance of the Holy Spirit today, as it's dawned upon us that we should meet together this morning, and to teach Thy Word, and that we might know how to live in this present day, and what is the time of day that we're living. We'd ask Thy holy guidance to our thoughts, our hearts today, that You would direct us to every word that is necessary for us to know; that You'd open our mouths freely and our hearts also to receive and--that which You would speak to us, and would close our mouths to the things that are not right, knowing that only You can reveal the Word of God.
1-4 Bless our dear beloved pastor, the shepherd. We pray that You'll anoint him with the Holy Spirit of Thy Word and reveal to them and feed the flock. 2-1 The Lord bless each and every one of you now. And I believe just before we start, we have a little baby here--Collins. I met the father just a few moments ago, and--and he had a little baby he wanted dedicated; and we want to do that now, if Brother or Sister Collins, one, will bring the little one forward so we can have the dedicational service for this little fellow. 2-2 Leaving, you know, why, it causes... As these are loyal members or--of the Body of Christ... You notice, I never said of the Tabernacle--of the bodies of Christ, this body here, part of His body. And they got a little fellow here they want dedicated. And this is always a job I think my--my wife envies me of: to hold the babies. Brother Neville, if you'll come forward, if you will.
2-2a [Brother Branham conducts dedicational service--Ed.] What is your first name, brother? This is Brother and Sister Clyde Collins; he's the brother to our precious brother here, Reverend Collins, Wilbur. And they've had a increase in the Collinses here; I see, and a very cute little fellow. How old is he, Sister Collins? Almost four months. And what's his name? Mark David. That's a very fine name. And he look like a very fine boy. Say, he's kind of a big boy too. 2-2b Heavenly Father, as this young father and mother comes with this little precious lump of human flesh that's been given to their union, placed into their hand for keeping for the Lord God, they reverently bring this little Mark David here for dedication to the Almighty, Who has give this precious little boy fine health and a fine boy into their care to be raised for the glory of God. Lord, bless the father and mother, and may the barrel never be empty at house or the cruse ever run dry. May the father be well and able, Lord, to work and to make food for the little fellow. May the mother be well and able to prepare it, and their hearts prepared, Lord, to teach the little fellow, to raise him in the admonition of God. Grant it, Lord.
2-2c Now, from their arms to mine comes this lovely child, little Mark David. And I present him with the Elder of the church here to You in the Name of Jesus Christ for a life of service. Grant it, Lord. Get glory out of his life. May he live a long life, even to the coming the Lord Jesus, if that be pleasing to You. And if so, may he come to pack the message of the Lord God in the age that is to come. Grant it. Keep him healthy, happy, and may his heart always be set on doing the things which is right before God. In the Name of Jesus Christ we offer the child to You in dedication. Amen.
Bring them in, bring them in,
Bring them in from the fields of sin;
Bring them in, bring them in,
Bring the little ones to Jesus.
I like that. See, bring them to Christ before the Devil even has a chance. They're already presented to Him then for a life of service.
2-5 Does anybody know whether the Dauch family, any of them got down today or not: Sister Dauch? Brother Brown, are you here, Brother Brown? Yes, I'm glad... And the... Brother Dauch is still with us? Wonderful! Brother Dauch almost left us. See, we can't say too much or ask too much; he's already twenty-one years a-past the time that God told him to live. That's a ordinary lifetime, a-past the--time that God told him he could live.
2-6 But we had a call the other morning that he was--he was dying, and we rushed up there, and the Lord God was really good to him and spared him. Just... I think he's--he's ready and just waiting the coming of the Lord. But you know, we all hold on to one another. We just... The old fellow is like a--like a dad to me here. I remember him setting right down here in the old tabernacle (the old part). When he--that Light flashed across on that water baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ, right out of there he come, at about eighty-seven or eighty-eight years old on a stick; come right up here and said, "I want to go right in there and be baptized." Somebody went and got him some clothes. He couldn't wait till the next time; he had to come right then, right then. So I--I like that.
3-3 And I said, "Now, the only stereoscope that I have is the Bible (See?) for the soul." And I said, "I'm going to give you the test." I said, "St. John 5:24 said, 'He that heareth My words...'" I said, "That isn't just setting and listening to it; that's receiving it (See?), receiving it. You believe it. Something inside of you tells you it's right. You've accepted it; you believe it; it's yours. 'He that heareth (it's already yours) My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me...' You believe that?"
4-1 Now, I know it's hot today and I--looks like it's hard for me to call you people together for a service where you set jammed in like this, but yet, I--I thought by the grace of God that I would have another service before I had to leave you all--for a short season, I trust. 4-3 Now, if you're around in that area or up there... It's to be a regular--it's just a regular evangelistic service like we have at any time; most of the Messages will be primarily on something that's been taught here, 'cause here's where we make our tapes. You see? Out there they can fuss, but if they get tapes made from here, that's up to them if they want to listen to any tapes. It comes right from here; this is our own pulpit. So out there, usually I try to pick around on something not very deep, because many of them are shallow in experience and what comes in... But here, I feel I have a right to say whatever God puts upon my heart to say from right here. So our tapes are all made from right here. See? And they're right in the room there now; you can see their heads up over the clouded glass in there, where they're setting with their recorders. 4-4 Now, and if you want to come to the meeting, we'd be most happily to have you. Just... If you get there, don't just know where to go, why, just contact any of the Full Gospel people, or--or Brother Carlson, and he'll--he'll tell you that's... He can advise you. Or the Philadelphia Church or any of them, they can tell you right how to get to the place.
5-1 Then I come back next Monday evening sometime--afternoon or evening. And Tuesday we go back to Arizona for our--to put the children in school and so forth. And then I don't know just exactly when to be back again, because the Lord... I want Him to lead me on just what to do. 5-3 Now, we come back here and--and to visit. The climate in this place I certainly don't like 'cause it... I'm... Just breaks me down as soon as we get here. And I just... I can cross the top of the knobs up there and come down in this valley, and then I'm here about ten minutes and I've got hives, get sick (weather), swimmy-headed; everything looks spooky, dark, and I--I just have to get out of it. See? 5-4 And the other day I was talking to the wife... But what brings me in first... What brings me in here is you people (See?), this church. I tell you, of all the places I went in life, this is my favorite place to come preach the Gospel. And looks like that we can make a tape from here; it's ten times better than anywhere else. See? See, that's the reason I say, "Where God's a-doing something, then stay right with that." But I think where the great thing is, that was me failing to go out at the first time when He called me; and therefore, He makes it kind of rough on me when I come in. Obedience is better than sacrifice. 5-5 And then I'll be coming back and forth all the time, preaching in the Tabernacle. And you people that's from out of town, you'll be notified. Billy Paul will be here, right in the office, and--and he can be reached at any time through him. And we'll be coming back here to hold... And then the Seven Trumpets is coming up right away, the Lord willing, Seven Last Plagues and the Vials, and so forth, just as we can, get a little cooler weather or maybe or something, however the Lord leads... 6-1 And now, the other day coming in, I--there was a question brought up about, something about someone had given me a check and said personally, exactly, just to me and me only, tax paid, free, everything else. Well, we went and... Billy knew that I kinda had need of that check, and I... He went and asked the attorneys if we could cash it. He said, "Why, he's an American citizen; why can't he cash it?" See? Says "'Tax paid and everything else--free.' Any citizen can do that." 6-2 So then, he couldn't be satisfied with that (Billy), so he goes to the public accountant, and he said, "Why certainly, he can cash that." Said, "He's a citizen of the United States." So well, he couldn't think good about that, so he called Merle Miller (that's the head of the--the tax association at Indianapolis that was our attorneys), and so (Issen, Miller)--and so, "Sure, it's all right. (See?) Sure he can have that check. It's--it's made out to him, endorsee only." I can--only one can endorse it and so forth, and it couldn't be stamped with our...
6-3 See, I don't cash no checks. That's what they got me for the other time. Somebody'd bring in a bunch of checks, and say, "Here, Brother Branham..." at the meeting. I'd say, "William Branham, William Branham..." Well, the government was taking care of all of that all the time. And I was signing them to myself and was paying the debts out there, but they said I owed delinquent taxes on all of it, anyhow: $300,000.00. So--so then, that's where the fuss came. 6-4 And Brother Lee Vayle setting here (I guess it is all right to say it,) we just... He come down, and this fine scholared Baptist here (I baptized him in the Name of Jesus Christ here in the pool the other day.)--Brother Lee Vayle. And so, he's really a fine man, a brother in Christ; he's preached for us here before, highly intellectually educated, and besides that, a Spirit-led man. When the Light flashed across him, he said he tried to get away, but just couldn't do it. So I baptized him right here the other morning. Couldn't stand it any longer, so we just come down here, put on our clothes, went in, and was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
7-1 Well, I thought being he had taken that fine spiritual food, maybe to talk a little bit, we'd take some natural food. So we goes over to the Blue Boar, sets down, was talking. And the subject come up, "How do you let people talk about you like that?" Now, Brother Vayle is one of the finest men I ever knowed, but he's just a little too quick on the trigger, I always told him, you know. And so he--so I said... (I hope that's all right, Brother Vayle.) So he--I said, "Don't fly loose all at once; set still. God's the One that's a-doing it." 7-3 So I said, "Look, Brother Vayle..." We was sitting at the Blue Boar. I said, "David, one day after being throwed from the throne by his own son, run off the throne, mutiny, Israel divided, and David took off the throne by his own son, and was going out of the city, weeping... And a guy that didn't like his last day Message, you know; he didn't care for him, little old fellow, kind of crippled up, going along there making fun of him, and he spit on David. And that guard drew that sword, said, 'I'll let the head of that dog stay on him and spit on my king?' David said, 'Let him alone; the Lord told him to do that.' See? Spit on him; making fun of him and then spit on him. Said, 'The Lord told him to do that.' Well, we know the story, how it returned back." Brother Vayle thought that took a whole lot of grace to do that.
7-4 So no more than coming back and entering the office, the public accountant called Billy Paul and told him about this. So Brother Vayle went up the house with me, and I walked in; I said to the wife (long about sometime in the afternoon)... We went in a room. I said, "I got something to tell you, honey." 7-6 And so, walked back, and I told her about it like that. So I just turned around, laid my hat up, and somebody said something about, "Oh, this tax collector...?..." Just kind of raved it out, something like that... Not thinking of what I had told of Brother Vayle, I said, "Let him alone. Maybe the Lord told him to do that." I no more than said that, till a Light flashed on the wall and wrote across there (Brother Vayle and my wife setting there), "Come on back to Arizona." With letters wrote across the wall, "Come on back to Arizona." That's right. So, here I go (Amen!) back to Arizona.
8-1 Now, this week has been a week of great blessings. We had private interviews this week of people who'd been waiting since the Seven Seals. And I don't doubt but some of them of 'course was called in from out of the town--across the nation. But the morning before the interviews started, setting in the room, the Holy Spirit let me write out exactly everything they knew, everything they wanted to ask, rotate the questions just the way they wanted to, and tell them their dreams and interpretations before they ever told me. 8-3 I said, "Now, remember, we have assembled here not for fellowship; we haven't come here to fellowship with one another. There is a question in your mind, in your heart that--that you've stumbled into and you don't know what it is. And maybe I'll be able by the help of God to do it." I said, "Remember, the Queen of the South had some questions too when she came to Solomon. And the Bible said there wasn't nothing revealed, or held back to what Solomon couldn't answer for." And I said, "A greater than Solomon is here. (See? That's right.) The Lord Jesus promised, 'Wherever two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am in the midst of them. (See?) And whatsoever thing they can think of or desire and--and shall ask, it shall be given to them.' And now your question is something you don't know about, something you don't know how to approach about, something you don't know what to do about." 8-4 And I said, "Again the Scripture said this, that the Angels of God are encamped about those who fear Him. So in another world where the five senses does not declare... The five senses only contacts this world. If you had no feeling, you couldn't feel nothing. Feeling wouldn't mean nothing to you; that'd be another world. If you had no sight, what you look at would be another world to you; you'd know nothing about it. So these five senses is the only thing that God let us loose to. Now, there is another one called faith. But by faith you walk up a ladder, and finally you can get so high until you break into another world, which is visions. There you can see; just like if you never knowed what this was you was feeling, with your sense of feeling, never seen it, then your eyes come open, you could see it. It'd be all mystery to that person who never could see. It'd be a mystery to him. But yet, that's it." 9-1 And in there, the Lord... Before we got here, to people from across the country, everywhere, from north, south, west come in for these interviews; and as soon as they'd get through talking, just exactly the questions they would ask, the thing that they would ask about, I'd say, "Watch here," raise over and there was a piece of paper with every question, in rotate, just exactly the way they asked it (was going to ask it), their answer down here to the question, just the way it was answered out. The Lord is great; He knows all things. But yet, it taken me about three days to come out of that afternoon, what it was, such a tear-down. 9-2 And now, I thought to get it though, before we left... And there is the proper way, the real way of--to individuals. Now, they's things can be said, and if the people's here that knows that secrets of hearts that was revealed that would absolutely; it would be horrible; it'd cause crime; it'd cause somebody to shoot another, or something, if that'd be revealed right here at the platform like this, in a public--before the public. It would cause penitentiary offenses, and everything else that would... 9-3 But when you're sitting together like that, the Holy Spirit--just two of you together... But we understand this, that what they ask me is private. I say nothing about it. And what I say to them, it's up to them whether they want to say it or not. See? But it would be known between us--the interview. That's taking a person one by a time and sitting there until everything is completely settled (See?)--the Holy Spirit. 10-1 And then, to think of the grace of the Holy Spirit telling me all about it, to each one (a whole line of them) before they ever even got here; across the country, coming people I never seen in life. And write it out so that they would know, just a routine according to the questions the way they would answer it... 10-2 One brother had questions on the serpent's seed that I didn't get to answer just exactly, 'cause their little half-hour was up. I hope that he got it all right--the answers to it on the paper. I... He had it wrote out, and he didn't get to all of his answers, so--so I just give him the writing back--the answers on the paper. If he hasn't, Billy Paul has it. I know the man's sitting here; I just looked at him just a few moments ago. So if he--if he wants to find that, it's wrote out on a piece of paper: your answers to your questions. 10-3 Now, oh how good the Lord is! I hope everybody's feeling good. And now, let us remember... And now, when I pray for these handkerchiefs, to remember Brother Dauch; he's a precious brother, and we want to remember him in prayer. 10-4 And I--I see Brother Ungren, but I can't see Sister Ungren anywhere, whether she's all right now... Yes, sitting right out from him, sure; yes. I'm glad, 'cause we was called out the other night, just a emergency case of her and her daughter, Sister Downing, run off the road, and just the grace of God or they'd both have been crushed to pieces right there. And here they come right on to church, got on a train and come on. I'll never forget you all. I love you. God knows that. I love you. 10-5 How across the country through slick weather... When I look at some brother here from Georgia, and Alabama, and different places, and Tennessee, and around, where they ride their car down the road where the ice sliding, and back and forth like that, to come here for one service...
10-6 When I had that emergency call to Brother Dauch the other day, I didn't realize that Lima, Ohio, was so far away. Just I thought that was a little skip, hop, and a jump. But my, I left here real early that morning, and never got there until 1 o'clock that afternoon, driving everything that the speed limit would allow and on dual highway. And I think how close that is to way down in the south where these other people come from, way out in the north and west, where they come. 11-1 And the old-timers... I see Brother Creech and them setting back there now, and the ones that's been with me all these years and things, and how we come up together. I was looking at Mary Jo's picture (I believe it was a couple of nights ago): just a little, bitty, tiny thing when we first met; and now she's married, I guess, and got children. Brother Creech and Sister Creech--young, black-headed and Meda and I; and here we are gray and stooped over. See, there's something about people like that; it--it grips you. See? You--you want to stay with them. See? There's something another that--that always makes your mind pull back. Just giving them for examples to others that's here, young and old; we look forward for the coming of the Lord. 11-2 So this morning I have put it... God, I believe, put it in my heart to teach a Sunday school lesson here this morning, God willing, for a lengthy time. And I... This being my last service for a little while, as far as I know, the... And I want you to remember that Brother Neville here left in the church in the charge of this Tabernacle under the Holy Spirit that he's left here, and he believes this Message and teaches It just the same as I do. Right. 11-3 And any time that you'd want to--you can see fit to come to hear Brother Neville, he certainly would do you good, I'm sure. He's a great servant of Jesus Christ. I've knowed Orman Neville since I was a little boy, and he hasn't changed one speck, only got closer to God. I remember when I first saw him on a... I was invited to his Methodist platform. And when I come back here to the Tabernacle, I said, "Someday I'll baptize him in the Name of Jesus Christ." And here he is with the Message now, going on--a real gallant servant. 11-4 And Brother Neville goes through many strains and heartaches that... He doesn't show it here at the Tabernacle, but being that the Lord lets me have a little sight into people's life, I know what he goes through, whole lot of it. See? And he certainly goes under a lot of labor and strains and things. And you--you people here hold him up like Joshua and Caleb held up the hands of Moses as he's bringing the Word. 12-1 Love one another above everything. Love one another. Don't... No matter what the devil tries to say... Now, you're all one great, big, sweet group now, but remember my warning. See? Satan won't let that stay that way. No, sir. He'll shoot everything, if he has to bring somebody in to make his target. He'll bring some critic or unbeliever in, set him down, and cause him to fellowship with you under the quietness and things. Then he will shoot that guy with some kind of poison stuff, and he'll start through the church with it. Don't you take sides with it. Don't you have nothing to do with anything else. You stay right loving and sweet and kind to one another. Pray for that man that he'll be saved too, or that woman, ever who it is. Just pray for them and stick one with another and stay with your pastor. See? He's the shepherd and you give him respects. He'll lead you through, and--cause, he's ordained of God to do so.
12-2 Now, do you remember that? The enemy will come. And when he does, just cling that much closer together. And the one that the Devil is using for an enemy will either get out or come in and be one of you. That's all. Don't never clan among one an--or talk, make yourself clannish; we are one. 12-4 And now, you've got tapes on that. You've got tapes on what we believe. You got tapes on discipline in the church: how we behave ourself in the church of God, how we got to come here together and set together in heavenly places. Don't stay home. If God is in your heart, you can't hardly wait for them doors to open out yonder to get in here to fellowship with your brothers. If you don't--don't feel that way, then I tell you, it's time you got to praying, 'cause we're in the last days where the Bible exalted us--exhorted us to--to much more as we see that day approaching, to love one another with Christian love and Divine love, to assemble ourselves together in heavenly places in--in Christ Jesus and love one another. "This will all men know you're My disciples when you have love one for the other." 13-1 That's right. Stay right together. If the brother, you think he's a little wrong, or the sister, say, "Lord, don't let me ever have the root of bitterness spring up, 'cause it'll--it'll affect him, and it'll take the Christ right out of my life." That poison acids of malice, and jealousy, and hatred, that'll just take the Holy Spirit right away from you. It'll run Him from the Tabernacle here. It'll kill the Spirit of God or drive it away from here, hurt your pastor; it'll do everything. See? Don't you do that. You just wax that much closer together. Draw up the... Take the buckle, as the brother testified (a minister here the other night) about having a buckle (seeing it in a vision). Just... That buckles on the whole armor of God; just put it on, tighten up, move right up close to one another. Love one another anyhow. Talk nice about one another. Say nice things about one another, and then God will bless you. 13-2 Now, this morning, the Lord willing, by His help and grace, I got quite a bunch of questions here--of Scriptures, rather. And now, before we approach It... (I think I heard the recorders click on in there.) We are going to bring the message now, by God's grace. First, a word of prayer.
13-3 Lord Jesus, speaking to this body of the church, that they should hold together with God's unchanging hand, their Absolute, the Word, warning them as Paul warned his flock that there'd be wolves enter in. You're the same God today as You were then, and that enemy is the same. May this fellowship and bonds of love always exist amongst these people in Christ Jesus. 13-5 Bless these, Thy children. They're in here this morning from many different parts of the nation. A hot, sticky morning, but yet we feel the Presence of the Holy Spirit in all this. We think of John Wesley, and Calvin, and Sankey, and Knox, Finney, and many of those, even without an electric fan, where people set in halls and perspiration running down their faces. The women, well covered and dressed, set in the audiences and perspired till their clothing was soaking wet, listening to the Word of God feeding their souls. Now, we feel, Lord, that they are at rest somewhere yonder, waiting the coming of the Lord. 14-1 Keep us together, Father. Let the Holy Spirit guide us and direct us. Give us long life of service for You. Give us this great message this morning that we're expecting out of Thy Word, that it might go to each heart. Make the lips that speak, Lord, speak Truth. Make the heart that hears be fertile to receive Truth. And may it grow into great trees of Eternal Life to be shining lights and read epistles of all men, they might know that Jesus Christ has raised from the dead and lives among us. Make us so full of love and the fruit of the Spirit until other men and women, boys and girls can see the results of the Life of Christ still living in us after two thousand years from the great event. Grant it, Father. To honor Thee, we ask in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen. 14-2 Now, I want to read some out of the Scriptures. And I trust now, that you've got your pencils and papers and everything ready. And, Brother Neville, you're setting still; I'm just going to take my coat off. Excuse me for taking off my coat, but this--this is awfully warm up here.
14-3 Now, I want you to turn to the Book of Colossians, the 1st chapter of Colossians. And then, while we read this, beginning with... I want you, when you go home, to read the entire chapter of these Colossians. But I want you to read this morning with me from the 15th verse, 29th inclusive. And now, just be as patient as you can, for I feel that in this here, if God will help me, will reveal and bring into your mind all these other things that I have talked on all through the days of the Tabernacle: why I have said what I've said, and why I have done what I have done. This is why. Now, from the 15th verse...
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborned of every creature:For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in the earth, visible... invisible, whether they be thrones,... dominions,... principalities,... powers: all things were created by him, and for him:And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in him should be all fulness dwell;--should all fulness dwell;... (Let me put a little emphasis on that again--this 19th verse.)For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven... (Watch where that reconciliation went.)And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, you now has he reconciled.In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy... unblameable... unreproveable in his sight:If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and not be moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is bound--behind of the afflictions of Christ in... flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the Word of God;
Even the mystery which has been hidden from age and from generation, but now is made manifest to his saints:... (And I want to read that verse again.)... Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:Whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we might present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:Whereunto I also labour, striving according to the working, which worketh in me mightily.
16-1 Now, for a text, I want to take out of there this for a text, basing it upon the entire Bible, but I want to title this "Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed," Christ being the mystery of God revealed. Now, I took it in order as a Sunday school lesson so we could all read together and have this fellowship together. 16-2 Now, God's secret mystery He had before the world began... Now, back in the back part of God's mind, there was something that He was trying and was going to achieve, and He had a motive in doing it, in order to let Himself be expressed. Because first, there wasn't even a moon, star, atom, molecule, or anything; He was God. But He exactly wasn't God at that time, because God is an object of worship, and there wasn't nothing to worship Him. So in His great mind He wanted these attributes to be expressed. And in Him was love; in Him was to be Father; in Him was to be Son; in Him was to be a Saviour; in Him was to be a Healer. And all these great attributes that we see already expressed, they were in God. 16-3 So my opinion, the first thing that He made was Angels. And then they worshipped Him and that made Him God. And He started from there (as in previous Messages I have tried to explain it, break it down)... And now, then when Angels began to worship Him, that was before there was even a molecule in the earth; there was nothing. It was all darkness; there wasn't no sun, or no moon, no stars, no nothing; then He was God. As He asked Job, "Where was you when I laid the foundations of the world? (See?) when the morning stars sang together, the sons of God shouted for joy?" See? Now... "Where were you?" See? That was way back before the earth.
17-1 Now, God had a purpose and a hidden mystery. And that's what I want to speak on to the church this morning: the hidden mystery of God that He had in His mind before the world ever began and how that it's unfolded itself right down to this present hour that we're living. See? Then you will understand clearly then (You see?) on, I believe, what is being done.
17-3 Jesus, when He was on earth, they wanted to know when He would come. He said, "It's not... Even the Son Himself don't know when it's going to happen." See, God has this all to Himself. It's a secret. And that's the reason there was silence in heaven for a space of a half hour. And Seven Thunders uttered their voices, and John was even forbidden to write it (See?)--the coming of the Lord. 17-4 Therefore, the entire Bible is the revelation of God's mystery in Christ. Huh? The entire Bible is an expression of one goal that God had, one purpose He wanted to achieve in the entire Bible, and all the acts of the--of the believers in the Bible has been in type and expressing what God's great goal is. And now in this last day He has revealed it and shows it. And God's help, we'll see it right here this morning: what the Lord has had in His mind all along and has expressed it. Therefore, you can see the great meaning of what it's been to know this and then try to bring it to the people. See? And then you don't... I haven't went into details and tried to explain it as God has revealed it to me.
17-6 Now, if you want to mark this down... I've got so many places I want to read from. And now, in--in the Book of St. Luke, the 24th chapter of St. Luke, we find out it's--it is--the two of the apostles on the road to Emmaus. And Jesus stepped out after His resurrection, and they were on their--their road to--over to Emmaus, going along the road thinking and talking and weeping on account of His--His death, and how they seen Him suffer for what they thought was no value at all. They took their Lord and crucified Him. And--and they were going along there weeping, and He stepped out from the roadside and begin to talk to them about Christ. 18-3 And now, reason I never took to preach this morning was because I thought in teaching we would understand it better than just to take a text and skip over it; we'd just teach it.
18-4 Now, He was saying that all the Psalms and all the prophets spoke of Him. Well, there--therefore, that shows that all of the Old Testament, all of the New Testament, and all of the Psalms, the singing, the songs that were sung, were sung of Him.
18-6 Now, listen close, 'cause now I ain't going to even pay attention to what that clock says. I want you to get this. See? I don't care. See? So you can see here, basically in the beginning the very thought that God had in His mind, He hid it from all of those scholars. And that just a number, a selected predestinated number, a predestinated people was the only ones that heard it. 19-2 Now, notice. Again He said, "Search the Scriptures for they are they that testify of Me." Search the Scriptures, the Scriptures, the entire Scriptures. What am I trying to do? To show you that this Bible is the thing that's right. 19-3 The other day, standing in a hospital room talking... A sister had asked me to explain about denominations, why we was against denominations, with some denominational people. You see, it's got to come back to the Word because the Word is God. See? And Jesus declaring the same here that the Word is Him. You can't make the Scripture contradict Itself. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word... made flesh." See?
19-4 Now, here He says, "Search the Scriptures; they testify of Me. In them you think you have Eternal Life (and that's true), and they are the one that bear record of Me, and I'm bearing record of them. And if I do not the works that's promised that I would do, then don't hear Me. But if I do the works and you can't believe Me, believe the works," because they testify that He is the Word. Oh, it looks like it couldn't be any plainer. See? All right.
19-6 He is the principal Theme of the entire Bible. If you read the Bible and don't see Christ in every verse of It, go back and read It again. See? If you can't see Christ in every verse of the Bible, then you read It again, because you've missed something. The Bible is Christ. He is the Word. When you read, "In the beginning God created..." there's Christ. See? Every... From that to the "Amen" in Revelations is every Word testifying of Jesus Christ. 20-1 And that's why people has added those and got their--their--their jigsaw puzzle all mixed up. See? They can't make it right "same yesterday, today, and forever." But if the thing's put together right, there's the entire picture of the fall and regeneration, the whole picture of creation, and God's whole plan revealed right in Jesus Christ. Amen. That's the whole picture set together, every little crook and corner. It's just like... Now, I don't mean to be sacrilegious by this, but it's just like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. That's why we've got pictures today that looks horrible: say, "We are believers," and a cow picking grass up in top of a tree. It don't work. That's when they say, "Yeah, He's every way, but just of a certain... He's the same yesterday, today, and forever all but a certain thing." See? Then you ruin your picture. The Bible said He is the same.
20-2 St. John 5 or St. John 14:12, He said, "He (he, anybody)--he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also."
20-3 Now, you realize that any of these places here you could take a text, and it's just hard for a preacher to hold his peace. He look like he want to keep going with it, but you got to get back to what we're teaching on. 21-1 And, you inject something in there that doesn't make Him the same yesterday, today, and forever, Brother Lee, where do you go to? You got an awful picture there. For He was the history (See?), and He is the Prophet; He is the Psalms; He is everything. And if you can't make Him everything and the same, where--what's your picture look like? Do you see it? All right. 21-2 He is the same. He was the prophets; He was in them; He was in the Psalms; He was in the history; and He is the things to come, the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrew 13:8, if you're writing it down). He should be then... He should be the principal... If that's what He is, and we believe it, don't we? Then if He is that, then He should be the principal Theme of our talking, of our thinking, of our singing, of our walks; He should be the principal Theme of our life. If He's the principal Theme of the Bible, and the Bible is in us, then He should be the principal Theme of everything that we do, say, or think, should be Christ. Is that right? All right.
21-3 Since we think this, since He's been made the Head of all things to us... The Colossians said so here. He's the Head of all things to us for He was made for us, which we are considered all things. You say, "What about the sinner?" He was made to be the Judge of the sinner, if he don't accept it. He was made the Glory for the believer who does accept it. So there thing... All things was made by Him and for Him.
21-5 So all things was made by Him. And since He was made--all things--made for all of us; all things was made for--by Him, then since that is true, we should make--our identification should be with Him. We should be identified, ourselves, with Him, because He has identified Himself with us. We should be identified with Him. How? By living for Him, not just a confession.
22-2 But the only way that you can actually be a Christian is for Christ to identify Himself in you. How... We got some a stinger there. I hope everybody on the tape gets that too. See, see? 22-3 Say, "I spoke with tongues." Devils does, too. "I shouted." The Mohammedans, Buddhas, and everything shouts. The Indians scream at the snake dance. See? Sure. They all do. Cults, clans and everything else scream and holler. They holler and shout at a baseball game. But when Christ is identified in you, identifying Himself, then you are Christ-like; which the word Christian means to be Christ-like. There's your identification. All right. Now... And since He is our identification, then we should be identified with Him by living for Him. 22-4 Notice, God has had a threefold purpose in this great mystery secret. God, in His great mystery secret that He had before the world began, He's got a threefold purpose in it. And now, what we want to go upon this morning is: What is that threefold purpose? See? Now, I believe by the help of the--of God, Who's present, and--He--He'll show it to us. 22-5 Now, if He had this threefold purpose... We want to find out what is this threefold purpose. The first thing was that God wanted to reveal Himself to the people. He couldn't do it as a great Jehovah God Who covered all space, time, and eternity. He could not. He's too great to ever be revealed to people, because it would be too mysterious. How could that great Being that never did begin, that after you went beyond the cycle of a hundreds of billions and trillions and trillions of years of light space, and on out into the infinite, into the eternity, and a great Creature that was all that, and still is... 23-1 But what He wanted to do, He loved Fatherhood, for He was a Father. And the only way that He could express it was to become a Son of man. That's the reason Jesus kept saying, "The Son of man." See, they didn't know what He was talking about, many of them. But now you get it? He wanted to express Hisself. That was His, one of His great threefold purposes, was to express Himself, identify Himself with human beings, to reveal Hisself in Christ. 23-2 Secondly: to have the preeminence in His body of believers, that is, His Bride, that He might live in people. Now, He could do that in Adam and Eve, but sin separated them, so now there had to be some way to get it back again. Oh, my. Oh, when I... This--this is rich to me, just to even think of it. See? See what God's purpose was? 23-3 Now, why didn't He just keep Adam and Eve like that? Then He would have never been able to express His Fullness, His full attribute, because... He could been a Father there; that's true, but also He's a Saviour. You say, "How do you know He was?" He is, 'cause I've had the experience. See, see? He is a Saviour, and He had to express that, and how could He do it? Only through Christ. How could He be a Son? Only through Christ. How could He be a Healer? Only through Christ. See, all things are wound up in that one Person Jesus Christ. Oh, my. 23-4 And I--when I--when I think of it, I--I just see denominations pass off the scene, everything else just going. See? When I see God's great purpose: revealing Himself, and having... First, to reveal Himself in Christ, the Fullness of the Godhead bodily, and then to bring that Fullness of Godhead bodily into a people that He could have the preeminences, the oversight, the leading...
23-5 And other--the night... If you didn't get the tape that I preached here one night on "A Prisoner of Jesus Christ--Paul, a Prisoner..." See? When God gets you to be His prisoner, then you can't do nothing but what the Spirit says do. 24-2 Then, this little fortuneteller one day, who he knowed... Paul knowed he had power to cast that devil out, but he could only do it as God willed it. Day after day she followed him, crying out after him, but one day the Spirit give him permission. Then he rebuked her, the spirit that was in her. See? He knowed what it was to be a prisoner.
24-3 Moses: his intellectuals, he had to lose them in order to find Christ, to be a prisoner. Then when God got all the world beat out of him and all the mighty man that he was, and stand in the Presence of that Pillar of Fire that day, he was found just speechless. He didn't even--he couldn't even talk, he said. God had a prisoner then. See? You won't try after your own searching. Then God had to endue this man--endow him with power enough that he could go down there. And he said, "Lord, I told Pharaoh what You said, and he wouldn't do it."
24-5 Now, that's when He can express the preeminences. You see? He's got the man or the person so that he knows nothing but Christ. You get what I mean? All right. That's secondly. 25-2 Therefore, if any Trinitarian here would just let yourself loose a minute, you can see that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is not three gods; It's three attributes of the same God. See? It's expression. Father, He was--wanted to be a Father. He was a Father; He was a Son; and He is the Holy Ghost. And the Father and the Holy Ghost is the same Spirit. Don't you see? You get it? Not three gods, the Devil's told you them things to make an idolater out of you. See? It's one God expressed in three attributes: to be Father, to be Saviour, to be Son, to be Healer (See?) is His expression.
25-3 I want to coast just a little bit so that even people listening to the tape will get the idea, that can see. It would take me around, and around that clock, just each one of those subjects. But I hope I'm making it clear enough that you can see what I'm coming to. See?
25-5 What's His purpose now? Express Himself as a Son (See?), and now--that in Him might dwell the Fullness of the godhead bodily. I've got Colossians laying here, right before me. See? That... All through the Scripture that's what God's purpose was.
26-1 That's the reason... Watch down through the age. Whenever that Light hits some, they turn it away and flashed it away, and great intellectuals and them great priest standing there... There was rabbis from... great teachers in authority like different ones like Nicodemus and them, men polished in scholarship, and he couldn't even understand it. And there was those great priests stood out there, and rabbis who were taught in that Word. My, they knowed it intellectually. And He said, "You are of your father, the devil, and his works you'll do."
26-3 Now. Oh, the great revelation now... Now, to restore back His kinship. To bring back... Now, He had to let them get lost; you understand it? He had to let them sin, put them on free mor--. He could not make them sin and remain God and then punish them for something He made them do. But when He put man on partnership with Him, then let man act as a free moral agent... See? The same thing that He's got you on today. See, see? You act any way you want to; you're a free moral agent.
26-5 Now, notice Him. In bringing that back and letting that man do that, and knowing that he would do it (knowed he would do it), but what did it do? It displayed His attribute as Saviour. And the whole purpose then is left in Jesus Christ to become God Himself, to take the penalty of His own Law (death), to die to redeem the wife that was lost by rejecting Him.
27-2 Now, notice, again. Now, what's the threefold purpose? Manifest Hisself in Jesus Christ; to come into the Body by Jesus Christ to have the preeminence to what? Restore back Eden, bring back that which lost. That was the only thing out of order. All the rest of His things was in order.
27-4 God became from God and become me, to take my sin upon Him, that He might make me Him (Amen.), back to His great purpose of sons and daughters of God, for He is a eternal Father. That attribute was in Him (See?), so that had to be displayed. 28-1 Now, remember, it cannot and will not, and never will be, and never has been a denomination. He has to have the preeminences and He is the Word. Amen. How can any creed be injected in there? It's a... It turns the church into a prostitute to take any man's words, or any creed, or any denomination; it--it quickly is marked in Revelations 17 as a whore and harlots: the Roman Catholic Church being the whore and the Protestants being the harlots. It's exactly as clear as any person could read it. We've come through the Church Ages, and you can see that in those--those tapes if you desire it. Exactly. And anything that joins itself with a creed outside of the Bible is a whore in the sight of God. Done the same thing Eve did: got away from the Word, which is Christ. Oh, my. All right.
28-2 Now, we see His mystery He had hid in His mind before the foundation of the world. Now, would you just like to read a little of this? Let's just read it. Have you got plenty of time? We'll--we'll read it. Now, let's just all turn just for one reading anyhow to the Book of Ephesians, and let's begin at the--the 1st chapter of the Ephesians, to read. And now, as the Sunday school lesson goes on now, in this threefold manifestation of Christ, let's read.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God... (Now, watch, it's not addressed to the world, but)... to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
28-3 How do you get into Christ Jesus? by joining church? By birth. By one Spirit (I Corinthians 12) we are all baptized into one Body. See? All right. That's the ones he is talking to there; that ain't addressed to the outside world. We can't talk to the sinner on this, 'cause he knows nothing about it. Paul didn't address it to no sinners. He said, "This is to that--that--that group there that's in Christ Jesus."
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings... (where about?)... in heavenly places in Christ:
29-1 Heavenly places. Oh, how I wish I had time. Here I've got it marked right here in my Bible about heavenly places. What is heavenly places? Heavenly places (just for a moment) is the believers' position in Christ (See?), where the believer stands in Christ, in heavenly places.
According as he hath chosen us... (Listen close)... chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,...
When did He choose us? Before the foundation of the world, when His great hidden mystery, His great secret... He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
... that we should be holy and without blame before him in... (What?)... love:Having... (a what?)... predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
29-1 Predestinated... There's the mystery. He'... Before Christ or anything else was ever on earth (You see His great mystery?) that He chose the Bride, knowing Eve would fall from disbelieving the Word, knowing that she would fall, but He would choose a Bride that would not fall, that would hold to that Word regardless of what all the rest of the world had to say about It; they would hold to that Word. They are predestinated to stand there. The adoption of children by Jesus Christ predestinated the Church to that great glorious stand. 29-2 Now, you see the secret? What to? To restore fallen Eve, as she was a free figure of the church. And now notice, as God opened up the side of Adam and took out Eve by his own flesh and blood, and divided his spirit from masculine and feminish, to feminish and put it in Eve, took the rib from under his side and made Eve out of it; so God did the same thing, taking out of the side of Christ the Blood and the water (and Christ is the Word), and taking the Word and making up His Church, Eve (See?), back to Himself again redeemed by the Blood that was come from His Body. You see it now? God's great mystery being unfolded that's been hid since the foundation of the world, but prefigured it all the way down through. Now, watch. We find that--that He did that. And here in Ephesians and many other places... But that'll give you enough to... 30-1 Now, down through the ages He has been slowly unfolding this mystery. Can you see now? Now, down through the... how that He... What happened in the prefigure now? He opened Adam's side and took part of his flesh, which was Adam, to make Eve. The Bride has to be the Word, for He is the Word. She cannot stand on creeds; She cannot stand on denomination; She cannot stand on good behavior; She has to stand alone on the Word, because She's part of It; She was taken from Christ. See? 30-2 And to be sure that the whole Rapture now... Luther was a part; Wesley was a part; the prophets was a part. If they aren't a part... just in the revelation that they was making up the Body: feet, toes, arms and so forth until the Head (which we get to that in a few minutes, see?) that makes the entire rapture. It's the Body of the Word, which is Christ. Amen. Outside of that, you're lost. I don't care how good you are, or what your relationship is, or what your fellowship is, or what your organization is; you're lost outside of that Word being in you. 30-3 "If ye abide in Me (the Word), My Word abide in you, then you ask what you will." because you and the Word are the same. He has the preeminence. He's got the rulership. You're a--you're a prisoner to Him. The world is dead. You have nothing more... You see the rest of the people living the way they do, but yet you do not do it. You're a prisoner; you're yoked with Him. "My yoke is easy." (Yoked with Christ, with His Word.) "I do that only which pleases the Father. And if you can't believe that I am He, then believe the Word." So perfect...
30-4 Notice. Notice now, down through the ages, He's been gradually letting this out, slowly unfolding the mystery through the prophets and through the types. Now, we can just go on to that... and expressing Himself.
31-1 He expressed Hisself in Joseph: born amongst denomination, his brethren. They hated him without a cause because he was spiritual. He saw visions; God was with him; he could interpret dreams, and his brothers hated him. He was sold for all--by his brethren by almost thirty pieces of silver just exactly like He was sold by Judas Iscariot, one of His brethren, by thirty pieces of silver.
31-3 Then he become at the right hand of Pharaoh, the king, that he dreamed and had the vision that he would set at the king's feet, and all authority in Egypt was given to him. His vision had to come to pass. He might've studied of it many times while he was in--in that prison down there, his whiskers growing out, and so forth, but he studied that someday his vision had to come to pass.
31-5 Notice in the seer how that when, you know, he's coming forth, he's divinely a-vindicated by foreseeing and it comes to pass. "If there be one who's a prophet, will speak to you and tell you certain things that's going to happen, and if it don't happen, don't listen to him. But if it does happen, then I'm with Him. You better fear him, because I am with him." See? That's exactly. There's the a-vindication. There, where you know whether it's the truth or whether it isn't. God is speaking back through His Word to His people, by people. 32-2 Now, we find Joseph then, that when... No man could touch or come to Pharaoh without first seeing Joseph. No man can come to the Father only by the Son. And when Joseph left the throne, they sound the trumpets; every knee bowed. "Joseph is coming forth." Glory. Someday every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, when He leaves the throne of His Father (See?) to come forth. Everybody will bear witness that He's the Son of God. You either... It was too late then; do it now. 32-3 Now, we notice that through the types... We can take even David (as I spoke of awhile ago) going off his throne, rejected by his own people, going up the same mountain (Mount of Olives) as he was going over to his prison. He was going to his prison house because he was rejected of his brethren and of his own people. He went up weeping. That was the Spirit of Christ in him to be rejected as he looked up over Jerusalem and wept and said, "Jerusalem, how oft would..." A rejected king. Eight hundred years later, the Son of David stood on Jerusalem, up there above Jerusalem, rejected, and wept over Jerusalem and said, "Now, your hour has come." That's right. See? 32-4 All those things typed Him (just in type), but yet the mystery was hid. Them men didn't know what they were doing. They only knew that they were led by the Spirit to do something. Now, holding it back in the last days for the great revelation, but expressing it... Express Himself in Moses, and David, and Joseph, and Elijah and on down through. You--we could take each one of those prophets and bring their lives out and show it expressed Jesus Christ perfectly, exactly, yet never giving His secret in full, waiting for to make it known in the last days as He promised, waiting for it to be fully comprehended (See?) before He could express it. If He told the whole thing... Because the Bible's written in mysteries; Jesus thanked the Father for it (See?), that It was wrote in mysteries.
33-1 Now, the coming of the Lord is in mystery. We don't know when He's coming, how He's coming, but we know He's coming, See? And so was all the mysteries of God waiting for this last day. After it's already been completed then He reveals, He shows what He's done. Oh, my. Never gave His mystery in full...
33-3 The reason that was such a tremendous thing, that He spoke of it here and showed those Seven Thunders and "Look" and "Life" my "Life" magazine there, packed that circle of cloud and light there that they could not understand and don't know it yet, but here telling, "Go there and wait for these mysteries to be revealed" and here months before it happened; and then it happened, and exactly the way He said it would do.
33-5 Here come Luther through. He only preached justification, just pounded away in that age. He didn't know what the age was. Here come Wesley through. He pounded his age through. See? Lot of our false come from it. The other churches raising up. And here come Pentecost, pounding away. They organized and went right back into death again (as we'll get to it in a few minutes), right back into death.
34-1 Do you get it? If you fail, come back to this tape again. I don't know how much longer I'll be with you. Remember, this is the Truth of THUS SAITH THE LORD. It's the Truth. It's the Scripture.
34-3 "Reveal," Webster says, is "to make known--make known, and especially," Webster said, in Divine truth"--that revelation means. Revelation, it is Christ's way of making Himself known to His Church.
34-5 But that wasn't what He asked. He said, "Who do you think that I am, now?" Now, there's the church He's talking to. See? "What does man think that I am?" 35-2 Now, you say, "I might know I was losing my mind. Maybe a man that loses his mind does that." But if you have the mind of Christ, Christ expresses Himself through you. Shows that it's Him and not--you've not lost your mind. Some people under illusions of things goes out and becomes insane. Well, that... We know that's wrong. That's the devil trying to impersonate the real thing before it gets here. See? There's always a bogus. See? But a real man is a lose his own thoughts and his own thinking, not come up blindly like that. No, sir. You come up with your right senses and Christ takes you over and expresses Hisself. And now, to the world you're an insane person. Now, if you're insane, you're actually insane, then there's nothing... The devil can't take you in complete control. He will make you do everything contrary to this Word, but when Christ takes you over, He will express that Word right through, because it's Him. He is the Word. See? And then you can see the expression of Christ, not some illusion of some sort, but a real genuine Christ, expressing Himself right through you. How beautiful.
35-3 Now, watch. He said, "Who do you say I am?" He's asking the Church, His twelve. Out of the millions of that day, He asked twelve, His Church.
35-5 But when the great ransomed Body through all ages comes up, then, that's going to be a great throng there. Revelations 7 express it: "a great number which no man could number" through all the ages that's come up, them that's walked in the Light of the Bible as far as It was revealed to them. And now, we know that Wesley had more Light then Luther did. We know Pentecost outshined Wesley. See? Certainly it does, because it just gradually let loose as it did down through the prophets and so forth till it was perfectly made known, the Godhead bodily in Christ.
36-2 Now, Peter, when he called, said, "Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
36-4 Look, Christ in you makes Him the center of Life of the revelation. See? Christ's Life in you makes Him the center of the revelation. Christ in the Bible, makes the Bible a complete revelation of Christ. Christ in you makes you the complete revelation of the whole thing. See what God's trying to do? 37-1 You say, "Well, I'm a Lutheran"; "I'm a Baptist"; "I'm Presbyterian." That don't mean one--don't mean [Brother Branham snaps his fingers--Ed.] that to God, not a thing, not a snap of your finger. What is it? It's Christ being revealed, and He is the Word. And when the Word is revealed, It expresses Itself. See? That's God's purpose for Jesus Christ, was to express Himself, to take His own laws and live by His laws, and fulfill His law by death. Christ, God died in flesh in order to condemn sin in the flesh that He might bring to Himself a glorious Bride, redeemed back, that will believe only in the Word of God and not swap It, like Eve did, for intellectual conceptions of men. You see it? 37-2 That's Christ's idea. That's God's idea. The new birth reveals this. And if a man says he's borned again and try to place these promises of Christ in this last day to some other age, making Him Christ yesterday, but not today, then that man or that person has been in a--a delusion by Satan. And if that man says that he believes that, and it doesn't manifest itself through him... Jesus said in Mark 16, "These signs shall follow them that believe... into all the world and to every age." Casting out devils, and speaking with tongues, and--and all of these great manifestations of gifts that would follow, that they shall--not that they maybe, they ought to; they will. And heavens and earth will pass away, but His Word won't. 37-3 So it's Christ expressing Himself in the individual, whether he's intellectual, or whether he don't know his ABC's. Half the apostles didn't know them. That's right. But they knowed Christ. They never taken heed to Peter and John, knowing that they had been out of some seminary. They said they taken heed and noticed that they'd been with Christ when they healed the lame man (See?) at the gate. They knowed they--they had been with Christ.
37-4 The new birth is Christ, is a revelation. God has revealed to you this great mystery, and that's the new birth. Now, what are you going to do when you get all that group together, where the revelation is perfectly in harmony, and God expressing it through His Word by the same actions, the same things that He did, making the Word manifest? Oh, if the Church only knew its position. It will one day. Then, the rapture will go when it knows what it is.
38-2 Did you notice? Paul never knew Jesus physically. Paul never knew Him. The only way that Paul knew Him was by a revelation, by a vision. Is that right? Paul only knew Jesus by the revelation, just like Peter did.
38-4 Men walked and handled Him and everything else. Paul had something greater than any of the apostles did. See? They said, "Well, I--I've got more of a revelation than you, Paul, because, you know, I walked with Him. I went fishing with Him one day. I heard Him talk. He set in a boat with me, and after He told me, 'Let's go over here and fish in this place, and we'll get more fish.' And we did it. (See?) See, we seen Him do things."
38-6 And here He is today in the same manner by the same Pillar of Fire expressing Himself and vindicating Himself the same, revealing the mystery of God that's been hid since the foundation of the world. See it? 39-1 But the only way that you're saved is by know Him by revelation. If I can take... I can take the Presbyterian doctrine and tie you Pentecostals till you won't know... I can take the Baptist doctrine and show you Pentecostals a million things that you know nothing of. That's right. But that's not it; that's not His Church. That's not His Church. His Church is Himself revealed (Amen. Do you see it?) and expressed by the Word Itself that He is God.
39-2 How can you say, "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" then and be baptized in it? Heathens. Right. How can you say you know Jesus Christ, He's the Word, when there's not a Scripture in the Bible, there's not a place where anybody was ever baptized in the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?
39-4 And Paul knew Him by revelation. That's how we know Him today, is only--the only way you could know Him. Not say, "I'm Methodist." That means nothing. "I'm Baptist." That means nothing. "I'm Catholic." That means nothing. But by the revelation that God has revealed the Word to you. He is the Word, and the Word, how you know It's revealed, It lives Itself and expresses Itself through you. Oh. 40-1 That expression--if you only--only knew the numerology of the Bible and knowed what "Elvis" or--or "Rickey" means to the Scriptures. Just like... Why did Jesus... You say, "There's nothing to that (your name)." There isn't? That name could only come in this last days for this last days' people. Why did Jesus change Abram's name to Abraham then? Sarai to Sarah? Why did He change Saul to Paul? Why did He change Simon to Peter, and so forth? You see? Certainly it means something. That name could not be spoken till this day. That's the reason we've got this hellish thing we got in the earth today, because of such things. The whole human race is corrupted. It--it's gone. See? And that's why it is. 40-2 Notice now. He was all right; he was in his day: Luther. And he had the revelation, but as soon as he left, look what they did. Wesley had a message; look what it did. The old early Pentecostals had a... Look what they did. They got a bunch of men together just like... Exactly the same thing that God, by grace, sent Israel a Pillar of Fire, a prophet, a sacrifice and showed Hisself among them, and brought them out of Egypt across the Red Seas. And they wanted a law so they could have great dignitaries, they could have something to do into it. And what did they do? They was left in the wilderness for forty years to wander, and not one of their organization ever went over.
40-3 Caleb and Joshua, the only two that stood out and said, "We're able to take it." Said, "Look at the Word of God." Every one of them died in the wilderness. And Jesus said they were eternally gone. Right. After He'd had showed His blessings and power in their ages, like Luther and Wesley and so forth... Did He?
40-5 All right, church has long forgotten it. They accepted intellectual message--intellectuals, membership, knowledge instead of the revelation of the truth of the Word.
41-2 A lady talking to me the other day, she said, "Well, all the churches are in harmony."
41-3 They said, "We received the Holy Ghost when we believed." 41-4 Oh, it just shows... What is it? It's a hybrid condition. Look here. You take a big fine grain of corn that's hybrid; and you take that hybrid corn. It's a pretty corn. But you plant it. What do you get? A little stalk comes up like th | ||||||