Rapture #1

Happy privilege to be here this morning in the house of the Lord. And I always am happy to be with God's people because where I am, there aren't too many of us. And so it's so nice to get around and fellowship with the people of the Lord all around the country. It's a real blessing. So I know it's going to be a blessing to be here with you in the days in which we're together. Now, I want one night for question and answers. I don't know just what night for sure. That'll be a Thursday or Friday. And you write them out. And I like doing this because it gives me an idea where I go, how people are thinking. That may sound strange to you, but it's true. I like to know what questions people have in their minds, see if they're like the questions I have in my mind.

See just which way they're thinking. I've had two question -and -answer periods, one over in Walker, Louisiana, and one in Manning. And both were very, very interesting. I can't guarantee answers. Doctrinally, I believe that I could say many things that might be very positively correct. And then there are those things which are... being revealed a little line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. But I find it beneficial to have one of those nights, and if I can't answer your questions, I'll tell you. Many questions I cannot answer. But there are some that I believe have a good, straightforward answer from the tapes, and then there are also those questions which, when one or two points are cleared up, it causes much information to fall into line. So you get them in, oh, say about Wednesday or so, and I'll be able by that way to sort them out, put them in, categorize them, to see what we may be able to answer. Now, I

want to take about three messages on one subject, which is the rapture, and then I want to take assorted subjects. which have appealed to me relative to the message of this day. And I think this morning we might start with the rapture because it will give me a chance to speak twice today and then on Tuesday with no message on Monday or on Saturday. And this is helpful also to have a couple nights off because people work hard and some come from a distance, making it very difficult to... attend service i found that if we cut down a little bit during the week then it's a little easier to have more people out and that way you're able to convey what you have in your mind your heart in a little better way so that'll be tuesday wednesday thursday friday and then next sunday at least one service on sunday if not the two i'm not quite sure about sunday night but i Suppose that I'll be here even on Sunday night. Well, you will know when the time comes. Now, we might bow our heads in prayer for a little while. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you now for the privilege of letting us come together, Lord. You protected us over the roads. You provided for us, my God, in all things so that our lives have been well comforted and taken care of so we could get here in health. And we also thank you above all that your spirit is here in order to bless us and guide us into the word. Now, Lord, we know this morning that we do not pretend in any way to have any revelation of ourselves. For we know, my God, that in the end time, a prophet was sent to us who would give us the revelation. But we do know, Lord, that the revelation basically given has so many facets and many, many scriptures on each revelation. that it would take a prophet of maybe lifetimes to come here and speak to your people. And so we're happy this morning, Lord, to know that there are little bits here and little bits there that are given to us in order to make even more clear and fuller the truth that we have been given in this last day. So I pray now, Lord, that whatever is said this morning shall be 100 % from your word inspired by the Holy Ghost. that we could say with the prophets, thy word was altogether in my lips. And then, Lord, that the people might hear, that they might hear the word of God, and then it might be given to them in such a way to understand the word also, until it becomes a veritable part, the greater part of each one here, that we might be people who are really word Christians. So we commit ourselves into your hands, believing, Lord, that... that this is the only kind of prayer we can pray and it's 100 % according to your will and therefore it is heard and therefore it is also answered and it shall be abundantly evident in the days to come. We pray this and believe this and thank you for it. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, the scripture given to us is in the first book of Thessalonians, the fourth chapter. Beginning about verse 13.

unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Now, you remember when Brother Branham took for his text the 16th verse, For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. He brought out that the Lord was doing all of these three things himself, but that the shout was the message, the end time message, the voice of the archangel was the calling forth of the dead out of the graves, and that the trump of God was the summoning to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now, I know that this sounds strange to most people because they have in their minds an understanding that the shout is a great noise. And that's because the language that the people themselves have have already designated that this would be a noise and would likely be quite a great noise. Of course, it perplexed the majority of them because if the rapture is supposed to be secret, then how could there be a loud noise? And others, of course, found that wasn't too difficult to understand as far as they were concerned because they said, well, only... certain ones would be able to hear it. And that seemed to take care of the situation for them. But it's a fact that this word has a meaning in the ears of the people that it did not have in the mind of the speaker. And that's a common problem today in understanding much of what is in the word and much of what Brother Branham taught. Because it's simple to say, well, I heard him say it and I can quote it. Now that's good. That's very good. But to have in your mind, when you hear it, what he had in his mind when he said it. Now that's a different thing entirely. Remember Brother Branham said that to hear the word in scripture meant to understand it. Now that is exactly right. Because in the 13th chapter of the book of Matthew, where the sower went forth to sow, Jesus mentions that there are those who hear the word and do not understand it. And when you hear the word and do not understand it, it is as when a sower sowed the wheat upon the barren road in the sidewalk, and the devil came, or the birds of the air came, and took away the seed. So you see, you say, well now, I can hear and I can understand and that's fine. I can hear it and that takes care of it. And I just simply believe it because he said so. Now, that's all right. If that's good, that's the first step. But you're not going to find that that is what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches to hear is to understand. And to hear the word of God, then to understand it, Do we really know what it is saying? Do we really know what Scripture is teaching us? And so this little word here of a shout has meant for many, many years. And we who heard it when Brother Bram said it was a message, you say, well, now how can that be? On the word can a shout be a message? What authority would he have to say that this is a message and not just a loud noise? Well, if you look into the Bible, you may pick up your amplified version. You could pick up the Diaglot, you can pick up various translations, and you will find that, much to our amazement, the word shout is not the word that should be used in order to convey to us the meaning of the speaker. Because the meaning of the speaker is entirely different from a shout, which is a loud noise, because, strange to say, this word is never used as of a loud cry. Now, I read an article the other day by a Cleveland, Tennessee preacher. And I suppose I can mention his name because it's in the article. His name is Mr. Lowry. And Reverend Lowry says that this shout is the scream of the Lord saying, Come up hither. Now, of course, that's not bad in the sense that he's got at least something intelligible there. But it's not a scream. It's not a loud cry. It is never used as a loud cry. Under no consideration was it ever used as when Israel shouted a great shout or as when Herod gave his after dinner speech and the people shouted with a great shout. Nor is it used just to gain attention. It's not used just to gain attention as when people cry out to somebody else. But the actual truth of the matter is that this word is found only once in the entire New Testament. In this one place and it's found no place else. And it basically, it is called the word of command which puts in motion. Now, there again, you see, you can come to a place where you say, well now, a word of command. Well, a word of command is just a word. All right, let me ask you this question. The Bible speaks of the word of promise. It speaks of the word of God. Is that just one word? No. It's not just one word. The involvement of many words are in it. But the thought of an understanding from it is where you would get like one word. Like one word amongst us today. It is one word amongst the brethren concerning this certain thing. What does it mean? Does it mean just one word? No. It means the merging of the minds upon that particular subject. Now, a further use of the word is, The cry of incitement or of urging on. Now, what does it mean to have a cry of incitement here concerning this word which is going to put in motion something or other? Well, now, we go to our Bible and we find out that the word exhort is the same word as incite. It says prophecy is exhortation. Unto edification, exhortation and comfort. Now, the word exhortation is incitement. Incitement. Now, so therefore, if we're going to have a cry of incitement, how can you incite anybody? To incite somebody is to dwell long enough on the subject until he is definitely encouraged and excited to do something about it. Now, you can't find that in one word. It's utterly impossible. It wouldn't work out. So we go a little further, and we look at the word a little stronger, and it says, it's the shout which assembles. Well, now, if you're going to assemble somebody, and the people now, mind you, are all over the world, and it's going to be that which brings the people together, well, now, do you mean to say that there's going to be just one word given that's going to bring them together? Well, that wouldn't make sense, because the basic meaning is not just bring them together, it's also to put in motion and incite them. So if you're going to bring a group of people together, you're going to put them in motion, and it's going to be a word of instruction, a word of command, and you've already got lost on just somebody saying, hey, you've already got lost on just one word coming forth. It can't work. Then it's also used of the clock swing when he gets the rowers together, like maybe in a galley ship or some ship in those days, they're all rowing. Now, you get people and they're not rowing in time. you're going to get a drag and a lag. You'll never get your boat across the line in time. In fact, you'll never get anywhere. Without somebody calling the time and those oars in unison, you just may find you're going around in circles. See? Well, so there's something in there. There's an implication in that respect. Now, what are you going to say about this thing? How can it be all of this? What is this Paul talking about? when he said the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with this shout. And this shout is a word of command to put the people of God in motion. Of course, it's going to end in the rapture. We know that. What is it when he says that they're going to be assembled with this very same word? Why, the dead even haven't even come out of the grave. So it can't refer to the dead rising with the living bride in midair. It can't be that assembling, brother, sister, and don't think for a moment it is. Because, you see, the dead haven't even come out of the grave. He's not talking about the assembly which shall be in midair. Can't be. Can't be that at all. And then again, how can God give a sense of direction to the people that are dead? Those that have died in Christ, to sleep in Christ and they're in paradise. What sense of direction do they need? There's no sense of direction involved there whatsoever. They've already got their sense of direction. We're the ones that don't have the sense of direction, if a person wants to know it. What about then the men that are rowing? They're not rowing. They've run their course. They've finished the race. There's nothing involved for them here. This does not have an involvement with the dead in Christ. It's impossible to have this. Now, let's go a little further here. It distinctly says here in the Greek, and I have my Dr. Hogg and Vine, which perhaps were the greatest teachers of the Greek over this last many years, since Dr. Vincent passed on. And Dr. Vine brings out that the shout is not said to be the actual voice of the Lord. Now, you've got God descending here with the shout. God descending. with the voice of incitement, the cry which will put the people in motion in order to assemble, that which will urge them on so they can get across the finishing line. And yet the scripture distinctly says here that this is not the actual voice of God himself. See? Now, you've got to stick with what the Bible teaches, not what you think the Bible says, not the way you read it, but what it really means. See? And it's strange that a prophet of God, without any Greek background, without any studies of word studies, without anything at all, would stand up in a pulpit and tell the people point blank that the shout was the end time message. You say, well, that's ridiculous. It's not ridiculous. You see, we're getting someplace now to see that he had a right to say what he said. And we're getting someplace to understand why he said it. Because it is scriptural. It is thus. says the Lord, that the descent of the Lord and the gathering together of his bride in midair is started with a message, but not God's own voice doing it, but God himself doing it. Now we're going to have a little bit of a problem here to reconcile this. How in the name of common sense can anybody say that the Lord himself is descending and yet it is somebody else doing the talking?

There again is where you've got to find out what does the Bible mean. You just can't take and adapt your own thinking to it. That's why there is no such thing as this word being understood apart from Revelation. Because somebody's going to have to have the understanding of the mind of God in order to bring to the people that understanding because their mind is not the mind of God. So if their mind is not the mind of God, they don't know what's in God's mind. So somebody's got to come and tell you who has got the mind to God. You see, oh, Brother Vail, don't Brother Vail me. I've got scripture for it, honey. Never preach without scripture. 1 Corinthians, the second chapter. And let's find out if there's a possibility of somebody who can do what I'm talking about. Now, if I can't find the Bible, don't you listen to me. But if I can find the Bible, you'd better listen to me. Because one day you're going to answer to God, and that may be in a hurry. Now, in 1 Corinthians 2, it says here, but as it is written, notice, as it is written, something is written that says, eye has not seen, nor ear heard. That's the outer eye and the outer ear. See, neither hath entered the heart of man. In other words, you can't get it by simply thinking it's going to come to you. Say, well, I'll get it from the inside. Something inside will tell me. The things that God has prepared, I love it. You say, that's the millennium. No siree. You say, that's for the future. No siree. If all I've got is to look forward to is what God has prepared, how am I going to, what has he given me at this moment to get me ready for what he's prepared? See? As Brother Branham said, they're all the time looking back to what God has done and what he will do, but they forget what he's doing now. See?

Let's not forget what God has for us now. Notice, but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. See? For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. Now, what's the deep things of God? The deep things of God is that which is in the mind and the counsels of God. See? For he said, as your thoughts are not my thoughts, and your ways are not my ways, for my thoughts are as high as the heavens above the earth. See? and there is no limit to the height and depth of the riches of the wisdom of God, according to the Book of Romans. I don't know if I can find that, because there again, no, here it is. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments. What judgment? How we pronounce it? No, the Word of God are the judgments of God. Read them in the 119th Psalm. And His ways, what ways? His ways are the Word, because the Word alone reveals the ways of God. and his ways are unsearchable. Now, the scripture says, but you can know them. How? By the Holy Ghost. Now, what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him. Now tell, she's making a comparison here. Man knows man by the spirit that's in him. It says, now even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. See, there's only one way to know the things of God, and that's by the Spirit of God. That's why this book was written by the Holy Ghost. Holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. It is not a book of man. It is not a book from man. It is a book for man by the Holy Ghost. It says here, we have received not the Spirit of the world. Now, it wouldn't do you any good for God to give you double dose of man's spirit. You'd just be twice as keen concerning the things of man and twice as lost. Wouldn't do you any good. See? Now, it says, but the Spirit which is of God, it orders that. we might know, and that's to experientially have in your life the things of God. See? Now, in order that we might have experientially the things that are freely given to us by God. See, the word is not a basic mental knowledge. It's experiential knowledge. See? Now, notice in verse 13. Which things also we speak, said Paul. Imagine.

Imagine this. Paul says only God knows the things of God. Man doesn't know them. And he turns right around and he says, I'm going to tell them to you. Lay them right on the table. Lay them out there. And he says, notice, in the words, in words here, which things also we speak, not in words, which man's wisdom teaches. You see, your best scholars can't get to the bottom of this. Your greatest theologians can't get to the bottom of this. works that money can produce when it comes to the Greek because I'm not a Greek student. I've got the best books you can buy. $22 .50 a volume some of them cost. So I've picked the brains of the great brains of all ages and they can't put it together.

See? They can't do it. I'm going to preach a better sermon this morning based on the clues the prophet gave that any living theologian since the time of Paul and I'm not boasting I'm giving you a plain unadulterated fact.

Because it's been put together not by man's wisdom, but it's been revealed through the wisdom of the one that gave it. See? Notice now he said, but the Holy Ghost teaches. Comparing spiritual things with spiritual. These men, the best they can do is take the laws of Greek grammar and cut each other's throat. That's right, they do. That's where he denomination to me. Now, if you want to hear some brilliant scholars, you listen to the Church of Christ, boy. Yes, sir, they're sharp. They were shocked the day that they sat with Brother Branham and tried to cut him to ribbons. It was Bruce Cliburn, the man that can speak in Greek. He doesn't just know Greek, he can preach in Greek. He doesn't just know Hebrew, he can preach in it. Preach the seven languages. He just put Brother Branham aside. He said, let me deal with them. When he got through, they slunk lower and lower. They slunk out. Cliburn cut them to ribbons with the Greek. But he said, Brother Branham is just a poor, misguided man. Very sweet man, but very misguided.

Where does his Greek take him? You don't compare. The spiritual is the carnal. It's got to take the Spirit of God to point out the spiritual. See? That's why you don't fuss around and say now about this or that. You go right to the Word and see what God has said. And if the Holy Ghost is teaching you, it goes right down the line, which is what Brother Branham did when the pillar of fire chopped him concerning the seals. Now, he knew it was God, but he went right to the Word to check it all down, word for word. Now, the next verse. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, and neither can he know them, because he hath spirit that is earned. But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judging no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we, said Paul, have the mind of Christ. So there's your answer. Here is positively a man. who knows that he knows what's in the mind of God. There is the possibility laid out in Scripture that certain men, not all men, no sir, not for one minute, but certain men can know the mind of God by the Holy Ghost. So they not only know what the words are, but they know the meaning of the words and what lies behind it. It's what old George Fox, the great Puritan, said. that old Quaker rather said many, many years ago. He said the trouble with the people in Moses' day was they couldn't understand Moses because the spirit that was in Moses was not the spirit in them. Had the same spirit been in the people that was in Moses, they would have got it. That's what Christ said. That's what the prophet William Branham said.

You've got to have that spirit of God. That's the evidence of having been baptized with the Holy Ghost. See? Not that you speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues is simply the historical account of how the Holy Ghost fell. But there's not one scripture that says you're baptized with the Holy Ghost by speaking in tongues. Well, that is the evidence. The scripture distinctly said when the Holy Ghost came and you were baptized, he would lead you into all truth. He would teach you all things. He would take the things of God and show them unto you. Now, brother or sister, he's showing things to come. That is exactly... What the evidence came out after the seals, showing you that the prophet was not one minute away from the word of God, but exactly in the word of God, with the mind of God, proving he had the Holy Ghost. So you see here now, when we come to this word, we have got the understanding that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with the shell. But it says distinctly that this message which is coming is not one which God himself preaches. See? Now, how is it going to be? It's going to have to be a plot. All right. Let's look at this scripture in order to cover all the points. The Bible says again now that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.

The question arises. If it is the Lord himself descending from heaven with a shout, how come it is not the Lord himself descending with a shout? See? You say, well, that's double talking. No siree. I want to show you scripture.

Himself descends from heaven with a shout. If I can do that, we're on Bible ground. So, we turn to the book of Exodus, the third chapter. Now,

we're going to take our time. Wherever I get tired of preaching this morning, the time has quit, we're going to quit. And tonight we'll go on. What I don't cover tonight, we'll take on Tuesday. It's going to be just that simple. In the eighth verse of the book of Exodus, God Almighty. Jehovah Elohim, Almighty God, said, I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians. What did he say he'd done? I am come down. Did he come down? He

only got as far as a pillar of fire hung in the sky.

You say, when did Brother Branham teach that? Third Exodus. I

didn't get my clue for myself. Don't think I'm smart up here. I'm just smart enough what Brother Branham taught. I

am come down. Wait till I show you something, though. Just wait. Just hold on.

Come down to deliver them. And to deliver, he was going to bring them out to take them in. He said, I am come down to deliver them. Verse 10. Come therefore, Moses, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. To

bring them, and

in verse 12 he explains it, I will be with thee. Was he with them? He certainly was because the scripture says that when the showdown came, when the 70 elders needed the Holy Ghost, what did God do? He took part of the Holy Ghost out of Moses that he put in there and put it upon the 70. By the Spirit of God. Now listen, the Spirit of God has got to be in the true prophet. Now he can anoint the false prophet and he's not in him. There's a true prophet, he's got to be in him because the Holy Ghost was in the prophet. Don't think for one moment he wasn't. Because he had to be. And he said, certainly I will be with thee. So that God says he came down to deliver the people by the prophet in whom he was by the Spirit of God for this special occasion. Now, in the verses 18 and 26. And they shall hearken to thy voice. See?

Let's read verse 17. And as I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites. And so on. Verse 18. And they shall hearken to thy voice, and thou shalt come, and the children of Israel, the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt. And he shall say to him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us. Now let us go. Now notice, he is bringing a message of self -identification.

He is in a crucial period. That's

the people to receive him.

Verse 19. And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go. Verse 20. And I will stretch out my hand. Whose hand went forth? Moses' hand. Whose hand did the work? God.

You can see here by scripture that God coming down in order to do a work amongst his people, particularly which is typical and types the end time. When God will remove his people out of Egypt and deliver them, because remember, we are not yet delivered. All creation is groaning, waiting for the deliverance, which is the redemption of the body. I don't care how south -saved you are, how full of the Holy Ghost you are, how sanctified you are, how perfect you are, you are still in a body which demands redemption before all of God's word can be fulfilled. Amen. Your deliverance is not complete. God says, I'm going to come down and deliver. And he did it by the prophet bringing the word and God backing that word up in the prophet. Now, let's go further by going back to the book of Genesis, the 18th chapter. Now, here is where God appears to Abraham. Now, and the third verse, Abraham said, My Lord. If now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and so on. Now, they did it, as God appeared to Abraham as a man. See, there's no doubt about it. He ate the flesh of the calf, drank the milk of the kid, and so on. Now, notice over here, as we go down, in verse 17. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, and so on. And then in verse 20, And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it. which is come unto me, and if not, I will know. And the men, the two angels, turned their faces from fence, and God went down by two messengers.

Your

contusion means to come down. I

like to sound rude and mean, but this is my way of saying it in order to just jar you where you can be jarred.

It's just your tough luck. I'm

trying to tell you, get to know the mind of God.

tongues and by your gifts. Because there never was a person in a tongue.

There never was a means

to lead you non -plot

becomes revealed. Your faith is established and you know that you know that you know. Paul said he knew he had the mind of God because he did have the mind of God. Now according to the mind of God for God to descend and according to the scripture is that he came down by the prophet. Let's

go a little further.

In the book of John, the

third chapter,

It says, verse 13, And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.

If you've never been confused before about what it is to come on down, figure that out. Because this one was down while he was up, and up while he was down.

That's exactly why the scripture could say the Holy Ghost could descend upon him. Even a voice could be heard out of heaven saying this is my beloved son. And again when he was hurt was spoken to again and they said it thundered.

And yet it was God manifested flesh as son who prayed to the father yet he himself was father. The mystery of the Godhead. And the mystery of how God revealed himself. But this is not my purpose to talk on that. My purpose is this. And no man hath to send it up to heaven. But he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. Now, what came down from heaven? Say, the Son did. That's very nice. That's very nice. Word

of God to find out. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. The Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And over in the 18th verse, No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father. He hath exegeted him. He hath thoroughly explained and revealed him by the use of words. See? The Logoth came down. Now, when John says here in the third verse, the thirteenth verse of that third chapter, when he said no man hath ascended, that is true. No man hath ascended to heaven. Nobody could get up there. It would take one to come down. Who came down? The Word came down from heaven. Now, in John, the sixth chapter, just hold that in mind. In John 6 and 33, it says, For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth his life to the world. Now what is it? It's the Word, it's the Son, it's the bread. In verse 38. For I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. What's he doing? He's revealing the will of God, which is the word of God, because he is the word of God. He couldn't reveal anything else because he was. How can a plum tree reveal anything but a plum tree when it is a plum tree? How can the word reveal anything but the word when it is the word? See? Now, a little further in verse 41. The Jews then murmured at him because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And in verse 50, this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and never die. Verse 51, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eateth this bread, he shall live forever. And the word which I shall give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. And in the 58th verse, this is the bread which came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat, and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. Now, what is the bread of God? The bread of God is the word of God. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. How did God come down to Moses? He came down by the bread, which is the word. and the word of God was fulfilled because the word was living in his day. How did he come down? By his word, the psalm and the mora. He came down because of his, through his word, and his word was manifested by the fulfillment of that word. So therefore, in the end time, if the Lord himself is going to descend from heaven with a shout, he is going to have to come down as the Bible declares it. He has that word of God. He will, he'll come down by the prophet. And that word will be fulfilled and thereby revealed and manifest in his days. See, now it's just that simple.

Let's just see this. Again, let me show you something here in the book of Ephesians. Because I may never get a chance to get into oneness of the Godhead except very sketchily. In the fourth chapter of the book of Ephesians, it says, where from verse 8? When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now watch. Now, he that ascended, what is it? But that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things. Now, the casual reader, once more, because of the understanding of the human mind, predisposed to build upon what you already know. See? You're fooled. Because you know that he came down and rose. And you say in your mind, well, Paul's just saying the same thing in two different ways. He's saying that the one that came down is the one that went up. Then he says the one that went up is the one that came down. I've got news for you. That's what the Greek theologians call tautology, which is nothing but repetition. And God cannot be accused of repetition. It has nothing to do with repetition in tautology. He's saying two different things.

different things. Now let's read it. Now, he that ascended, he that went up above all principality and power, see, of the very throne, what is it but that first of all, what is it but that he also first descended into lower parts of the earth? He had to die and rise in the resurrection to ascend above all principality and power. Now the next verse says, he that descended, See, he's a descendant. It's the one that went up. He's

saying the same thing in two manners, two ways. He's saying that Christ descended, went up, and came back already. Did he come back? Yes, he came back as the Holy Ghost. The

shout that would consummate the coming together and the putting in motion. This is an in -time event we're talking about. So he's not talking about the Holy Ghost. There's where people go wrong again. They say, if I've got the Holy Ghost, I've automatically got it. That is true in a limited sense if you're truly baptized with the Holy Ghost. You are sealed in. But this is not that. It is not Christ coming as the Holy Ghost sealing you in in this end time. It is Christ the Word coming back because it's a shout. It's the voice of command. It's the exhortation. It's that which puts the bride into motion. Sure. You follow me? All of you are not, but it's all right. It's on tape.

If you don't think I'm telling the truth, Get Vincent's word study in the book of Ephesians, because this is not my thinking. It is the actual thinking of the authorities. And this poor man, not realizing that what he said destroyed his Trinitarian doctrine, said it anyway. That Christ came back as the Holy Ghost. So if he came back as the Holy Ghost, there's only a Father and a Son. But I'm going to get rid of the Son in a minute. Because the Bible says I'm the first and the last. So there's no middle party.

One God. You

don't need to know your whole Bible. Just know that much. That's enough. It says that he came back as the Holy Ghost. It was the Lord who descended at Pentecost.

Now he's coming back to bring those end time people together. And it's not to those in the ground. They don't need encouragement, exhortation, and excitement. They've been sitting back there in their spiritual bodies some for 2 ,000 years. fanning their brows, so to speak, having a great time, praising the Lord, all lovely, all happy, and they're just waiting there, gloriously relaxed. Not to them at all. But it says the Lord is descending. He has descended with a shout. The Lord himself descends. Now, let's go a little bit further here. I

mentioned the fact that Jesus is the bread. He's the word. Who brings the word? The prophet brings the word. We know that. There is no place else but what we know the prophet brought the word. I know some people don't agree with that maybe, but I've got to agree with it because the Bible says so. And it says over here in the Scripture that, let me get it for you now.

Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And again it also says, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched. Who brought the word? The prophets brought the word. See, how did God come down? The time of Moses, he came down by prophet. How did God come down himself? He sent the two messengers with the word. Now, we said a while ago to you, however, that this scripture here, this word, meant that it would be the cry of incitement, the call of summons, the shout which assembled. It's the assembling shout.

Let's check the scripture on that. Let's show you. that this does not refer to the assembling of the saints in the air. We go to 2 Thessalonians, the second chapter.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.

Make it that simple. That's his coming, and we're gathering. So that'll be gathered in the air, and that's very good. But now hold it. Don't just stop there. If it's that simple, Oh, why does he go on to say that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word or by letter as from us as that day of the Lord is at hand? If

the Greek is right again and it's a matter of tautology or repetition, then God has simply, Paul has simply said here, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the gathering together. Why does he say it? He doesn't say it.

He said, we beseech you by the coming and by the gathering. And

the peculiar thing is the complete gathering of the elect. Not to have to do something with the people at the end time because he says that you soon be not shaken or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word or by letter as much. Now, this lets us know that there is a threefold thing that could happen quite easily. Spirit and letter. Put

it right in here. And he said, watch all three. Watch the Spirit. Watch the Word. And don't be fooled by anybody that comes and says, well, I've got a revelation apart from it. Paul really didn't mean it. Now I'm going to explain what Paul really meant.

You've got a lot of those. And they're all in disagreement, too. Not one's vindicated. Now, if anybody's going to come and say anything, he's got to be vindicated. He can't be a man that's unvindicated. Paul the Apostle came vindicated. And that second chapter, 1 Corinthians, where he brought up the fact that he was anointed to God for his message. He brought out the fact of his vindication, which he certainly did have. Now, it says here now that there is going to be the coming and the gathering. How does God gather his people? Well, that's simple. He just says come up higher and they get caught up in the air. Now, that's very nice if that's the way you understand it, but you can't find Bible for it. Now, if you had Bible for it, we'd be all right. We've got no Bible for it. The only Bible I've got for it is what the Bible itself teaches. So, going to the Bible, we go to the book of Luke, the 13th chapter, I think is what I want. And

we start at verse 34. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets. Now notice, Jerusalem has been identified. The identification of Jerusalem is killing the prophets and stoning them that are sent unto them. Often would I, I, said God, have gathered thy children together. As a hen gathers her brood on her wings, and you would not. I have news for you. The word gathering here is the identical word of 2 Thessalonians 2 and 1. Now

the word kusma means, and it's the shout which assembled. To assemble is to gather together.

And he said in the end time there would be a gathering. And it would be by the living saints of God, because the others are already gathered. They're gathered to the fathers. Amen. There was Peter, James, and John and all the rest of them. Paul. Oh, yes, they're gathered, but not with Christ. He's in a separate place. See, they can't be before the throne because the resurrection hasn't occurred. If you believe that the 16th chapter of the book of Luke is not a parable that you get judged when you die, well, then you see us throw everything out of kilter. There's no rhyme or reason to the Bible. There's no future judgment. You're judged now. The good go to hell. The bad go to heaven. It doesn't say that. They're not the presence of Christ. They're gathered through the fathers. That's where they are. They're with Paul and James and John and all the rest. They may be even gathered in layers where each church age has its own group. It's quite possible. But they are not in the presence of God. The people that John saw in the presence of God are the resurrected Old Testament saints which came out of the ground and were taken up with Jesus Christ in the glory. So you see, he's not talking about that gathering. He's talking about a gathering here. How often would I have gathered thy children? See? Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. See? Now notice, Jerusalem. I sent you prophets in order to gather the children. God

said, I gathered, but you refused to be gathered. You killed them. See? Now notice, your house is left desolate. Watch it. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. See, thou make all things according to the pattern which I showed thee in the mouth. Building

his people and the prophets, healing the people out by the

living stones placed in the temple of God. See? Oh, Jerusalem. See, identify. And

when they turned down the prophets, they turned down God. And God could not gather them, but he scattered them and destroyed them because they wouldn't come under the wing of God by the prophets. Now, I know people hate it. They say, Brother, I've got the Holy Ghost. I know this. Oh, you've got a big mountain.

You've got itchy ears. You've got a heart of a Pharisee. Right, but not God.

See? Jerusalem on earth kills the prophets and stones them and persecutes them. It never fails. Jerusalem is identified by destruction. And she herself must be destroyed. And she was because the blood of all the martyrs was found in her. And Rome's the same way. How

has the blood of the martyrs entered? See, the St. Peter's Church is built right on the old Roman Colosseum or the grounds where they had the circus and all. The blood is found right in there. Old Jerusalem, you killed the prophets, you stoned those saints, you would have gathered your children. See? Now, the

children of Jerusalem would not be gathered. But who does become gathered? The children of the prophets. You know there's such a thing as children of the prophets? Certainly that's exactly how their hearts are turned back to fathers. Because the prophets are the fathers. See, they bring the word. Children of the word. Now he said, your house is left desolate. Truly I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you shall say, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. That time's coming. There's a time coming when they shall say, God, we have missed the boat entirely. Everything we thought for these thousands of years has turned out wrong. Now, send somebody in your name and we'll take it. And they will, just before Christ comes, they'll be screaming that. You watch and see. You won't be here. We won't be here. That's going to happen. Now, let's go to Matthew 23, 29.

We'll read a little bit further this time. Warn you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tomb of the prophet. Notice why he called him hypocrite. See?

Unto the prophet to leave. The story is always one of God, the so -called people of God being too late and missing it. Mr. Rapture, you bet them, Mr. Rapture, by the millions. Because they never catch on to what's going on in their day. They never caught on in.

Those who wrote the Word. A scribe is a man, according to the Bible, who is a man that is well -taught and is able to teach others. Wise men are those that not only are well -taught and able to teach others, but they don't simply teach what they're taught. These people taught what they were taught. But the others, the wise men, have illumination. So they can teach further which is true.

And say, no, and build the tombs of prophets and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous. And say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore, be witness unto yourselves that you are the children of them which killed the prophets. See? They're not children of the prophets. They're prophet killers. Fill you up to measure of your fathers. You serpent, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you up prophets, wise men, scribes. And some of them you'll kill and crucify.

Some of them you'll scourge your synagogue. You may persecute them from city to city. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel on the blood of Zechariah, son of Barakai, whom you slew between the temple. and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. That doesn't only mean the people living at that day. It means this breed of people. And that breed of people will receive their reward. Now notice. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Again, a Jerusalem is being identified. Thou that killest the prophets. Not Jerusalem that receives the prophets. Not Jerusalem that's from above. Not Jerusalem the free woman. Not Jerusalem the bride. But Jerusalem that kills the prophets. Or turns them down. Or turns the people down that God sent. See? And stoners send their sin unto you. You don't have to just pick up stoners to stone a person. You can kill them with words. See? Notice. How often would I have gathered thy children together? Even as a hen does gather chicks under rings, you would not. Behold, your house left deaf. And notice again, he sent prophets to gather them. But they wouldn't be gathered. So what's the gathering we're talking about? The word which gathers or assembles is the word of God, the prophet to the people. And those who receive the prophet, because remember, this shell is not said to be the actual voice of the Lord, and indeed it is not. Not

the voice of the Lord, it's the prophet. And he said, your house is left unto you desolate. The book of Luke again.

The 11th chapter. Go

on to you. Verse 47. For you build the sepulchers of the prophets and your fathers kill them. Truly you bear witness that you allow the deeds. In other words, you stand for those deeds. For they indeed kill them and you build their sepulchers. Therefore also said the wisdom of God. What's the wisdom of God? The mind of God. The word of God. I will send them prophets and apostles. And some of them they shall slay and persecute. That's the blood of all the prophets which was shed in the foundation of the world. may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel and the blood of Zechariah, which perish between you all in the temple. Verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation. So we see here, according to the word of God, that there was to be a gathering of the people of the Lord. And it was to be done by the prophets of God who would bring them the word of the Lord and thereby gather the people. Now, just turning a bit over here to the book of John. The first chapter. And

notice in verse 23. This is John before the coming of the Lord. John himself. In verse 23. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. What was he? He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. What did he say? He said the word of God. Make straight the voice, the way of the Lord. Accept the prophet Isaiah. See? And what did John do? John came as the prophet messenger of his day. He definitely was the prophet messenger. And remember that his ministry in forerunning Christ was to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, which he most certainly did. And so therefore, there was a gathering together before Christ appeared the first time. And the gathering together was by John. Because he brought the Word. He had a foreordained commission, and he was the voice of that one crying in the wilderness. Now, the

Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a voice. Because you can't shout without a voice. He never came speaking different dumb languages by his fingers. He never wrote on a blackboard. He didn't write a book. John never wrote on a blackboard. He never talked deaf and dumb language or sign language. He spoke. See? The Lord himself descending from heaven with a shout. But it wasn't the actual voice of the Lord. See? Right?

Let's go to the book of Revelation and explain this. You still with me? I'm going to take this thing and milk it as dry as I can. Every single facet to bring to your attention so that if you're going to be founded on what the prophet said, you're going to be really founded. Not that I can do anything more than he did, but the point is, the word has been brought to us. Now we're going to take every single pass that we can get in order to strengthen ourselves. Because when you really know where you stand in the word, that's where your faith is. Now, watch it in Revelation 1. In

the Spirit, on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice as the trumpet. Now what's the trumpet do? The trumpet is of different types. First of all, there's a gospel trumpet, which is a spiritual trumpet, which, when it blows, signifies a spiritual war. Because it is God manifesting himself by the word and by vindication, and then the devil comes against it. So there's a war going on. This is not a critical trumpet, we know, as we shall see in a minute. It is a spiritual trumpet. Now, notice in verse 12.

Now, read it the way it's written.

to see the person. That's fake with me. It doesn't say that, does it? Now, why doesn't he?

Because he can't. We're dealing in scriptural language. We're dealing in the Bible interpreting itself. And I turned to see the voice. He did not turn to see the person. He turned to see the voice. You say, but there can't be a voice without a person. Correct. There can't be. But

he turned to see the voice. It says, see it. Now you can't see a voice. This is spiritual perception. Notice also it says, that spake with me. This implies conversation, not simply an address.

This man could talk to God the same as Moses talked to God. There was God bringing something into manifestation here which was very wonderful. Now, I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden channels. Now notice, When he turned to see the voice, he saw, first of all, the seven candlesticks. The

emphasis now does not lie upon the voice, although it really does. It's played down so you're going to get a truth here. It's the seven candlesticks now that have the engaged attention of John, and the voice has everything to do with the seven candlesticks. It's

not a person. Well, you see, it is a person. Just look at it. This book is a book of pictures. Let's just deal with the book as it's written. A voice, right? And then in the midst of the seven candlesticks, I saw one like the Son of Man, which was the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, notice in the triad verse, and the mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. I'm going to tell you what they are. The seven stars are the seven messengers to the seven churches. And the seven canals that you saw are the seven churches. Now, the seven church ages unfolded to John. And in the midst of the seven church ages was the voice, which is the word, which is the bread, which is without leaven for seven days, which is the church of God. See? You follow it?

The seven stars go with the seven churches, which are seven ages.

Star in the Greek is what we must follow. Not a luminary which shines in heaven. But it's the very word the whole world uses in the 20th century. That woman is a star, a movie star. That man is a star, a movie star. That man is a star, a football star. Now, in the Greek, the word star means the preeminent one amongst many like him. You take the movie star, she's like any other woman. She's especially endowed by gifts and talents, but you put her under a microscope, cut her in pieces, she'll have come out just like any other woman, unless she had a few vitamin shots or something. Be no different whatsoever. She'll analyze. Just say she's a human being. You take a man, he's a football star, except for the fact he's got very fast weights and he's got better reflexes than any. Analyze it. He's just a human being, an ordinary man. So, the seven stars of the seven ages are human beings like any other human being. But he's preeminent because God said he was.

He's the one in the age that is the preeminent one. Why? Because he's the voice of God in that age by the Holy Ghost. The seventh year before the throne. See, for every age. Now prove it to you. No use saying it if you can't prove it. Chapter number two, verse one. Unto the messenger of the church, not of Ephesus, but in Ephesus. These

things saith he that holds the seven stars. Who is he?

so on, so on. Verse 7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying. See? Holy men of God speaking by the Holy Ghost. Behold, I send you apostles and prophets and some of them you'll persecute and some of them you'll kill. Chapter 2, verse 8. Unto the messenger which is of the church in Smyrna. Not of the in Smyrna as it says here. And he said something. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says. Every single chapter says the same thing. Seven church ages have seven messengers in seven locations, and they hear the Spirit of God speaking. Now, the Scripture says, he that hath an ear, let him hear. Now, what is it? But you can't hear. Why? Because God doesn't talk to you. He talks to the messenger. See?

That's right. God does not talk to individuals, per se. He talks to the messenger. And the messenger receives the word of God for every age. And the people hear from that man the word of God for that age. And in hearing they make the bride. Because why? Every age is gathered on earth. By the word. God

gathered you. How does God gather? By the word. Brother Branham often says you are gathered together because of the word. Right? Every time he told the people how sorry he felt because they came so far and they risked their lives. But he said, you're not here to fellowship. You're here to worship God. You're here for the Word. It's the Word of God that gathers God's people. And it's right here at this age that we're gathered for the last time. And it's by the Word. It's not in Jeffersonville. Now, somebody up there may say, well, you've got to hear me now, since the prophet's gone. Somebody in Tucson may say, you've got to hear me, the prophet's gone. Somebody down here in Beaumont may say, you've got to hear me, because the prophet's gone. Somebody in Anderson, you've got to hear me, because the prophet's gone. Somebody in New York say, you've got to hear me. Oh, no, no. They're not gathered in New York and Pennsylvania and here and there and the other places. That's strictly incidental. It's the Word.

It's the Word, because it's the voice of God in every age, and it comes by God's ordained man. The voice in every church age is the church messenger. That's why the scripture does not talk about Jesus himself. It is his voice that is heard in the midst of the churches by the seven spirits before the throne, which is the same spirit of God in every single messenger. See? That's exactly how it is. So, the Lord descends from heaven with a shout, but it's not said to be his voice. The Lord came down, how? To gather his people. The Lord came down. to put the bride in motion, to get her into step. Now, this scripture also, this definition also says here, and I want to bring this out because it might be a little bit of use to it. It says here that it is a shout of the rower. As I mentioned a while ago, that the rowers have to be in time or they cannot get across the finishing line. Now, God is going to bring his bride into step, as Brother Branham saw, which it has to be brought into step for this age. And I couldn't find the word rowers in the Bible whatsoever. So one day I made a little word study, and I found the word ministers. And to my delight, I found the word minister comes from two words in the Greek, which is hupo, meaning under, and ertes, meaning a rower. So therefore, it says the ministers of God are the under rowers. Now, the Scripture says the truly full of the Holy Ghost faith is an able minister by the Holy Ghost. But you can't do that. able unless you qualify by the word because no man can do god of service except in the will of almighty god which is the word so therefore now god is allowing his people to come back to worship him in spirit and in truth power by the word of god bringing into the place of the under rower under the exact direction of the holy ghost by the word of almighty god so you see you can look at you can take this greek word and you can you can absolutely die or analyze it. You can dissect it. You can put it into a blender and chop it up. It'll come out exactly, exactly right because it's exactly according to Bible. I wouldn't care if it's Aramaic. It's all the same thing. So we find here then, according to this word, it is giving us a great deal of light exactly as the prophet of God told us it would be. Now, the prophet of God, of course, in this end time, is the voice. It is the voice of God bringing the people into a place of assembly. However, Notice, in the last stage, the Bible distinctly says, Come out of her, my people. I heard another voice in him saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, that you receive not of her claims. And also, in the very end time, you've got Jesus Christ, according to this end time. Let's look at here now, the end time, Jesus, in the third chapter. He said, Behold, I stand at the doorknob, and if any man hear my voice and open the door and commit to him, I'll commit to him something that he would need. Now, most of us have used that as a personal worker's text, but it is not so. Because it says over here in the last verse, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to churches. So in the very last church age, we know that there is going to be a time when the people are not listening to Christ at all. They will not listen to his word. And the only way that you can be in the word is to come out of all those who are against the word, of which he calls Babylon, because they have put him out. When you put Christ's word out, You put Christ out. See? Now, I'll talk about this a little later on when it comes to putting Christ out by the word and retaining what they think is Christ by manifestation. It's not the same at all, Brother Sidney. There's plenty of scripture we can use to show it, as Brother Brannon brought up. But that's not the thought. The thought is here at this end time. The very fact is that Christ is not outside of the church. And he is saying, come out of her, my people. Now, how does he say, come out of her? See, he says come out of her by the messenger. Now, let me show you. Let's go to the book of Matthew, chapter 25.

Matthew 25, beginning at verse 1. Then shall the king of heaven be like another ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise and five foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, took no oil with them. The wives took oil in their vessels with their lamps. The bridegroom carried the all -slumbered and slept. The midnight of crime was made. Behold, the bridegroom cometh to go out to meet him. Then arose all those virgins and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said unto the wise, Give us your all, for our lamps are gone out. The wise said, Saying not so, lest there be not enough for you and us. But go ye round them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. They were ready with him to marry, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, don't open to us. And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. Now, Let us look at this scripture the way it is written. Not the way we think it's written, but the way it is written. In the first place, this word in the Greek, which means they went forth, is a very funny word because having a base word with a prefix that changes meaning. For instance, it can mean either come in or go out. Now, the Bible says here, according to King James Version, that she may have been like another ten virgins which took their lambs and went forth to meet the bridegroom. That's wrong. They came out. The Bible does not say they went forth. The Bible says they came out.

Ever since the dawn of the... mixed multitude particularly, before Israel's mixed multitude, way back in the time of even Noah, in his day, there was a call, come out and be a separate. See? You say, Brother Gale, why do you put a prey upon word? Why should you just try to be so strict for this reason? If it says they went forth, it signifies that the motivation lay within the people they went out from. But when it says come out, It signifies they had nothing in the group they were in and they had to come out to be with what was real. And there never was any time when God did not bring his people out. See, the cry has always been come out. So it says here, and Brother Brannan brings this out on page 16 of the little booklet now, of seal number one, paragraph four, that this is the picture of the entire seven church ages.

The cry went out. my people. Come away from this Judaism. Come away from your dogmas, your creeds. Come on out and meet Christ. Did they? They did. And who didn't? Perry. Right? Certainly. Now, five wives, five foodies. Listen, the original crime is, the original thought is, they went out to meet the bridegroom. Why? Because the church was not established till Pentecost. And by that time he had gone back to being a spirit. See?

Now, this is the original cry. Come out and meet with the bridegroom. Come out and be with the Lord. This went on for seven ages because it says until this bridegroom was really coming, they all slumbered and fled. All right, they fell asleep in Jesus.

Now, the last age, verse 6, and at midnight, brothers and sisters, this is the midnight hour of the church. This is the time when the age goes into total eclipse, which is Laodicea. Now, at the midnight hour, it says this,

Behold, the bridegroom cometh. It does not say that. You can take your pencils and cross out the word cometh, because it shouldn't be in there, either in the Aramaic or the Greek.

And it doesn't say, go out to meet him, it says, come.

And it doesn't say, cry, it says, great clamor.

In other words, the midnight hour signifies a time of great confusion wherein the multitudes who claim to be speaking for God, that's Laodicea. Huh? You say, you say, you say. See? And I'm out here in charity on my own. A bunch of you. Your last call, come out. Now, you're all talking, you're all confused. And you're all saying he's coming. What you're doing, you're not aware of it. The fact he's really coming because you're just lying there dead and you're messing your mouth. And he said, it's behold the bridegroom. Who is your bridegroom this morning? The scripture said God's coming. Well, who's God? Well, that means the Father. Well, you've got the Father coming. Good for you. In other words, well, I've got Jesus coming. Well, who have you got? Jesus or God?

Well, I'm married to the Holy Ghost. Who is your bridegroom? In the end day of the clamor, the

voices are saying, behold the bridegroom. The bridegroom is God. He's the husband as well as the father. And they're all talking.

The Catholic Church of Miami, Protestant Church of Darius. And in this clamor, they're trying to point God to the people. And they haven't got it because they haven't a revelation of who God is. See? But in the clamor, there has got to be a voice because the Bible says in every age there's a voice. And that voice is the voice of God by the Holy Ghost. So this age also has a voice. And the voice is God himself revealing himself saying, come on out to me now. This is the only time he says it. Come on out and I am right over here. Now, it's crying, behold the bridegroom. Then the people cry and claim that they have the revelation of God which is true. See, how do you say that? For the simple reason God reveals himself by the word. In the book of Samuel, the first book of Samuel, chapter 3, verse 21, it says the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. It said he appeared, didn't it? If he appeared, he was made visible. For the Lord revealed himself to Samuel and Shiloh by the word of the Lord. If there ever was an age when this word is nothing but a bunch of clamor, it's this age. Clamor, clamor, clamor. 900 or some denominations. And this is the first age where Christianity is the leading religion in the world. And thereby will even cause the commies to come into her. Now they will breathe. But the Bible says seven kings come into this alliance. and they hate the heart, and they're waiting to burn her flesh. And that's the commies bunch. Because Brother Brown said the commies burn her flesh, right? All right. So you see, then, the clamor, they're all screaming, We're revealing God! We're revealing God! And they've all left the word entirely, and their revelation is a phony revelation of the devil. But in it, there has got to be a voice who can reveal the bridegroom. Because it says, Behold the bridegroom. So there's got to be a man of the end time who reveals. the Amen, which is of the Laodicean age. And when he does, he brings the call, which is to come out of her, my people, come and meet with Christ the Word, and this is that which gets her ready to set her in motion for the very fact she now begins to go right out to meet him. In other words, she'll be going out. Because this is a personal meeting at this time now, in the midnight hour. But every other call... was meeting God and gathering by the Word. This time, it is a meeting and gathering of God by the Word in order to put her in motion with the rest that are in the ground that have their purity so that she'll be caught up. Because, brother, sister, I'll show you that if she doesn't get in motion by the pure Word of God, she's not going to be caught up. Now, that may sound funny, but we've got the Word of God for it. Now, it says here that at this very moment,

The end -time virgins wake up out of their death, which is anti -word. And they go screaming, and they say, We want the Holy Ghost. And it's at this time, as they're claiming to receive the Holy Ghost, that they don't get it. All they're doing is get anointing, which is another subject. But the point is here, many people think they say, Well, just a minute, Brother Dale. Doesn't it say over here that the foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them? But didn't they say that they actually had oil in their lamps and went out? It doesn't say that. It says right off the bat, these are a bunch of liars. They're deluded. It says they didn't have any oil. Didn't have any oil, didn't have any oil. Certainly, they thought they did, but they didn't. And when it came to the crisis, the best they could do is say, well, we've got doesn't work. Now remember, Brother Branham says in Volume 3 of Number 7, which is Christ and Mr. God Review, that the Word has been already demonstrated in power. Ask one to science miracles. There's no end to that. But the Word's got to be manifested another way. See?

But this end time won't work. This is something coming that this group will never imitate. See, which we know is the word, the bride becoming the word herself. That's another subject, I say. Now, at this time, of course, these people are looking for the Holy Ghost and they missed it. Now, remember, they think they've got the Holy Ghost because that's what the Odyssey says. You see, they say that we have the rose, we lack nothing, we've got everything. And then Jesus said, you come to me for gold and for the raiment and for the eye salve, proving that they don't. heavy. See, the ears are not anointed. The eyes are not anointed. They've got an anointing on their flesh. See, they can talk in tongues, do signs and wonders, miracles. In fact, they will grin at that, but not for the time being. See? Now, notice I said that they took their lamp and went out to meet the bridegroom. Three million people left Egypt to go out to meet with him. Didn't they? How many got in? Two. Two that were above 20. Of course, the kids below 20 got in. We know that, so we're not going to argue about it. We just know that the adults that came out, too, got in. Showing a very small percentage of those who really come out and go in. There'll be a lot of people keep coming up, but they won't win. You see? Now, this

gathering, God bringing his people together by the word, which is like a hen gathering his chicks. You ever think how a hen gathers its chicks? When does it gather its chicks? Under its wings. Time of trouble, right? Usually when a hawk is coming up. When the devil is about to be cast out of the upper spaces, that's when they... You've got to really watch out the end time, see? And what does the hen do? It makes a certain particular sound, which is chicken talk. See? So when God gathers his eagles, he makes a particular talk, which is eagle talk. Because where the carcass is, there the eagles gather, which is the word of God. But you see, it's intelligible only to those who have the spirit so they know what God is doing in the end time.

We've come this far. We've got down to the place where we see that there is an end time messenger. coming according to the book of Revelation in chapter 3. Now, let's go back to that chapter 3 for a second. I'm

to the messenger of the church in Laodicea. Where's Laodicea? You say in Asia Minor. Well, fine. But Laodicea is the seventh church age. Right? All right. What does Laodicea mean to Texas? Laodicea means people's rights. The rights of the people. Democracy. Tell me what nation was built upon democracy, only one nation, America. No other people left the nation in order to be democratic. He said, what about Israel? Most of them, theocratic. Not democratic, theocratic. Dictatorial. God the dictator, God the king. But America said, no king, no dictator, nobody but us. See? People's rights. So, where is Laodicea? America. Last

day man arrived. America.

It will be to the people of America, which is the Odyssey and Church Age. Now, this man coming on the scene will begin to reveal the word of God in the end time, wherein God is revealed in order to gather the bride together. Now, let's turn to Revelation 10, verses 1 to 10. And

I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, close the cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head. He feet as it were the sun, and his feet as it were the sun, his feet as it were the fire. And he had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot upon the sea, his left foot upon the earth, and cried with a loud voice, and when the land roared, and when he had cried seven times out of the voices, and when the seven times out of the voices, I was about to write, and I heard a voice in heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things with the seven thunders uttered now, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth was of his hand to heaven. I swear by him to live forever and ever, who has created the heavens and the things that therein are, and the earth and things therein are, and the sea and the things which are therein, that time should be no longer. Now, that can also be translated, time should be no longer delayed. Both are correct. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, messenger, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as God hath declared, by his servants, not to his servants, but by his servants, the prophets. Now, We know from the ninth chapter of the book of Revelation, verse 13, and from the eleventh chapter, verse 15, that this man mentioned here is not an heavenly angel who is sounding in heaven, because each heavenly angel sounds in heaven, and what he does is but for a split second and starts cataclysms which end upon earth. Notice verse 13, chapter 9. And the sixth angel sounded. And I heard a voice from the four horns of golden oil, which is before God, saying so and so and so and so. All right? Chapter 11, verse 15. And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voice in heaven. Notice these are both in heaven. But this man here does not have something in a split second, and it is not from heaven. It is his voice, which is taking a period of time, and it fits in the day. See? Not a moment, not a fraction, but in the day of the voice. Of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as God hath declared by his servants the prophets. Now, let's watch this here carefully. The word declare in the Greek is to announce the good news, which is the gospel. So it says, in the days of the voice of the seventh messenger, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished. as God has set forth in the gospel by his servant's apostles. In other words, the gospel age comes to an end under this man. And all the mystery that God hath exegeted, declared in his word, revealed, will now be fulfilled by the ministry of this man.

What did Brother Don say? God is the Word and the Word is God. So therefore the full revelation of God takes place in this end time by this man whoever he is that says it right here. The complete mysteries open up. The complete mystery of God from the beginning prophet to the end, which is Moses, wrote the first five books. The mysteries from Moses to the end, which is John in Revelation 22. The entire gamut, now listen, as pertaining to the gospel. That's why Brother Branham could not preach the prophet. Hasn't got anything to do with the gospel.

Not an angel.

To the Jews. No need to preach the Bible. What this man preaches is up to the rapture.

Okay?

Takes you right to the rapture. Now, in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, messenger, when he shall begin to sound. Now, what's he doing? He's blowing the trumpet.

Certainly. Behind me, voice as of a trumpet. It

starts with the trumpet. It ends with the trumpet.

It starts with the gospel, it ends with the gospel. The prophet kept saying, you can't go back to Pentecost. Why? Because Pentecost started, but this finishes it. You don't go back to springtime and harvest time. You ever saw a farmer out there with one of these, you know, what they call them, cedars, a cedar. Out there he's supposed to be with the combine. It was the sound of the cedar that they heard in Pentecost.